April Snow Showers Bring....??

....dead spring flowers? Not sure. Hope not. I did take a few pre-cautions and cover up my little plants that were just peeking out of the ground. Glad I didn't succumb to that fleeting whim I had earlier this week to start planting things.
Things are blooming in the house, though! Remember that little pear tree limb I brought in from outside...well, it's really opened up now. Those sweet little white blossoms will be next. So glad I brought it in the house now. I'm feeling sorry for my little tree outside in the cold today.
These flowers I put on the table last week are turning out to be a pretty good buy. They're lasting a lot longer than I anticipated. Love it when that happens!
And here's the stairway transformation I promised. I hired this project out as I didn't feel confident enough to do it myself. The high ceiling/stairs combo sceered me just a bit. yah. Anyway, I just happened upon this painter dude who said he'd paint the whole thing for really cheap, so I ended up doing this with about a 4 day advance notice. And I didn't have my color picked out before that. I'm liking it so far, though. It's growing on me. A little more of an olive twang than I think I was hoping for....but it'll look good once I get the kitchen yellow finished. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.
I have to tell you about a neat little store website I found today. It's called Farmhouse Wares. They don't have a ton of merchandise, but what they have is kind of original and vintage looking, and I like it. Here are some examples of what they sell that caught my eye.

I seem to have a weakness for cupcake/cookie stands, and lately I've really taken a liking to the wire basket look, too.

This weekend was sort of a dud around here. We've had a bit of a stomach thing going on, so we didn't go anywhere and the kids were bored. Emily and Lauren decided to make and decorate a cake...or cakes in this instance. Emily has made this recipe before, but the frosting recipe was a new one...and not a real great one, either. Sticky and runny, but they had fun anyway.

This would be Lauren's finished product

And here's Emily's. Hope you like frosting, folks.

The only thing crafty I've done this week was to re-fashion a pair of thrifted pants into a skirt for myself. I was actually very pleased with myself on this project because I was successful this time, whereas every other time I've attempted this same thing it didn't turn out. Not sure what I did different (that's helpful, right!), but it worked anyway. I will try a tutorial at some future time if it seems someone is interested. There are certainly plenty of video tutorials on You Tube for this, though. I will definitely be trying this again soon, though. Who can beat a 50 cent skirt??

My recipe post for today does not include a photo. My sincere apologies. It's just a rub, though, so it's not really that pretty to look at anyway. Tasty, though! Yes! I got this recipe from a magazine several years ago. Can't remember which one, but guess that doesn't much matter. *update: It's from Midwestern Living June 2005 issue...I photocopied the page with the recipe on it - duh* This is called a rib rub, but I use it on chicken regularly. In fact, I usually buy fresh chicken thighs or legs (we prefer dark meat), par-boil them, then "marinate" them in this rub in a ziplock bag for about 12-24 hours and then slap 'em on the grill and baste with your favorite bbq sauce. We use Sweet Baby Ray's. Maybe 'cause my hubby's name is Ray. Maybe not. We like it, though. ;-) Enough of my prattle.

Rib Rub

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. paprika

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. ground white pepper

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Blend all ingredients together and either rub on meat, or put meat in a ziplock baggie and marinate with the rub for 12-24 hours. *note: rub is slightly spicy