At least I think it’s week 6. I lost track, life has been a bit hectic the last few weeks. I’ve been stockpiling fun DIY ideas for the wedding in July, many of which involve succulents, my favorite of plants. So I headed to Pistils Nursery where I buy all my plants, and bought half a box full. Lucky for me, they had a Groupon for 60% off today! So I can buy more guilt free!

I’m buying them early in hopes they grow in size a bit before July. Now i’m on the hunt for dried cotton plants…

In other news, the herb garden is still growing. Although I think something isn’t right. They have true leaves, but they just don’t seem to be maturing very quickly. Is that normal? Also the lavender doesn’t seem very lavender ish yet. Anyone have any thoughts?

Last night and today has been a cooking frenzy for me. I really should be studying and getting caught up on reading, but apparently the kitchen calls! I started out last night making my first ever tamales! So yummy! Piet and I are going to a Cinco De Mayo party on Wednesday, and I shuttered at the thought of mounds of delicious food covered in cheese. I really wanted an alternative to eat guilt and bloat free. So I went out on a limb and made vegan tamales which will be served with Tofutti Better than Sour Cream.See this recipe and others after the cut below.

Next was Bran Muffins. This only came about when cruising the Winco bulk (our favorite place in the world) and discovered whole wheat bran, so I snatched some up. This recipe of course uses apple sauce in place of eggs and since they are on the healthy side, I decided to top them with a sprinkle of Sugar in the Raw mixed with cinnamon.

And last is another loaf of my French Bread. It is the newest addition to my bread repertoire and the most simple. I think everyone was getting sick of my rosemary olive oil haha.

Recipes and a note about veganism and me below.

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Its moving right along! Nothing new to report really, the cilantro exploded upward and got a little too big for its britches because it started to get droopy. Really looking forward to cooking with fresh basil and driving my cats nuts with catnip!

Speaking of cats, Eskimo has an upper respiratory infection, which he is prone to. But this time our vet gave us Greenies Pill Pockets for his medication. They are amazing! Eskimo loves them and gobbles it right up! I highly recommend them to anyone who need to feed their cat a pill.

Week 2 of my windowsill herb garden and all my seeds have sprouted and  been planted! Basil (on the left) was the first to sprout, Lavender (on the right) was second runner up, and Cilantro and Catnip and Sage are a little behind but have all poked their bright little faces through the dirt to say hello.

Also, heres a cute picture of my cat and the little succulent Piet surprised me with when I got home from work the other day

I have dreamed of a little window-sill herb garden all Winter. With school and work I hadn’t had the time to get things started. My one and only goal for Spring Break was to get everything set up. Using a mixture of recycled jars, and mixed matched pots set upon the lovely little shelf Piet put up for me I will grow Basil, Cilantro, Lavender, Sage and Catnip!

I’ve started the seeds out in a damp cloth sealed in a plastic baggie. This will speed up the germination process. Stay tuned for week two!

Yes Spring is here..albeit early, but here indeed. Our courtyard is in bloom. I adore the fact that we only need to walk out our front door to have a lovely stroll through a garden.

I also found this little yellow jem of a cactus at Ikea of all places. So I rescued it, re potted it and gave it a nice sunny home in on our front window sill.

More images after the cut (more…)

These Berkley Illustrations make my heart joyful.

Even better you can find them on Plywerk at Fawn & Forest!

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Day 3 – Grand Duke Alexander

Yesterday was my first day back on campus for Winter term. Its going to be a difficult one involving the dreaded Finance 303 and my senior capstone, Animal Aid & Grant Writing…which i’m quite excited about.

I took the camera to campus but the battery was dead, evidenced by these two photos clearly taken at home. Tomorrow i’m off to Atlanta for a week to work the Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market for Mosey whom i’ve been interning for since beginning of Fall term.

Day 4 – The Basement

Piet and I are settled in our new home. We even set up our first Christmas tree together this evening. The apartment is wonderful, sporting steam heat which we can use as much of as we want. Piet’s brother says “they live in a sauna”. Its really nice in this below freezing weather we’ve been having. The cats seem quite happy here as well. All is well, and Merry Christmas!

Check out the whole post for more images

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Between moving, Thanksgiving and school I haven’t had much time to post. But here is an amazingly cute free calendar I found today, i’m definitely putting this on our new fridge.

Its by Yasmine Surovec and it’s free! You can download it here.