A HUGE Garden Update!

It's been far too long since I posted about my garden, so get ready for a LONG post folks! In addition to updating you on all the old favorites, I plan to show you some new garden goodies and their progress since I planted them a few weeks ago!  So without me going on and on, let's look at my ever changing balcony garden!!!

First up...the Lime Tree!

A night shot.

Look at all those blossoms!

I hope this means I'm going to have lots of limes!

Now let's have a little look at some of my flowers...

Railing flowers

More railing flowers. 

Growingggggggg!

Railing flowers with the Climbing Jasmine.

New Geranium #1

New Geranium #2

New Geranium #3

They're doing so well!

And growing like crazy!!!

They have new blooms ALL the time!

I love the new colors so much!

Flower Corner

With a NEW Poppy Plant!

A week later!

Look at that beauty!

Oh hello! Just two weeks later! 

I LOVE seeing the progress!

Aren't they beautiful???

Flowers are pretty, but let's get to the edible stuff!!

The herbs: Sage, Dill, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano.

And Basil too!

Growing, growing, growing!!

Parsley, Mint and Basil.

Just two weeks after fixin' this lil garden up, 

and it's doing quite well!

Look at that growth!
AND this is after using basil earlier this week.

Oh look - a new Jalapeno Plant!

Getting a lil bigger.

But no flowers, or even buds, yet! :(

And did you think I'd forget a Tomato Plant?

It's not the same without one these days come Spring/Summer.

I can't wait to see if it gets HUGE like it has in the past.

Check back soon for more updates. I hope they aren't as infrequent, but I can't make any promises. I've been busy, and having fun too, but I hope to get back to posting more frequently soon.

Homemade Slime

I was hanging out with a couple friends recently and somehow we got on the subject of homemade slime. I mentioned that I'd seen a recipe and that I'd try to find it again. It wasn't too hard, so of course I found the recipe agan.

A couple weeks went by and I had plans to hang out with those same friends again. I had some free time earlier that day, so I decided I wanted to purchase the ingredients to make this homemade slime! Borax is NOT easy to find, or at least it wasn't for me! I have tons now though, so I don't think I'll be on the search for it again anytime soon.

Take a look at our homemade slime. It's super easy and fun for all ages!

The Goods:

Borax

Water

Food Coloring

Glue - White of Clear

Green with White Glue, Purple with Clear Glue

The homemade slime is very similar to Nickelodeon Gak I remember playing with as a kid. While both the white and the clear glue worked, it was a unanimous decision that the white was far superior and more similar to the original Gak. 

Banana Nut Pound Cake

I grew up eating my mom's homemade banana bread. I've made that same banana bread - usually with the addition of chocolate chips - numerous times. I've made it into muffins and little mini loaves a few times too! I blogged about it here,  here, here and a few other places too!

If you couldn't tell...I'm a BIG fan of Banana Bread! But this post isn't about banana bread, it's about something equally as tasty, but a little different! 

I was very excited when I ran across a recipe for Banana Nut Pound Cake while looking at a Better Homes and Gardens a few months ago. I instantly ripped the recipe out and told myself I needed to make it soon! 

I saved the recipe for awhile, and then finally made it out of the blue on a weekend I didn't have much going on. Confession - I made this MONTHS ago, but am just now getting around to posting about it...sorry, I've been a lil busy!

I think I've rambled enough at this point, so take a look at the pound cake making process, folks. 

The Goods:

flour

baking powder

cream cheese

butter

sugar

eggs

bananas

milk

vanilla

chopped pecans

powdered sugar

The original recipe - or inspiration! 

Beat the Cream Cheese and Butter

Add sugar and mix until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time...

Mixing in between each addition. 

Egg 2...

Mix again.

Egg 3...

Mix again.

Final egg! 

And done mixing!!!

Mashed bananas, milk and vanilla mixture.

Add some of the flour mixture:

flour, baking powder and salt.

And mix that in!

Add some of the banana mixture.

Now mix that in too!

Alternatively add the rest of the flour and banana mixtures. 

Until you end up with something like this!

Lastly, add the chopped pecans!

 Pour mixture into a greased bundt pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 70 to 85 minutes.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. 

Remove from pan and once fully cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.