Raised Garden Bed

The absolute cutest raised garden bed with a shelf and wheels and hooks appeared on the Walmart feed and spoke to me.  My herbs were saying, “We need this new home!”

Walmart seems to have really upped their outdoor game the past couple of years.  Each time I see the perfect outdoor seating set or firepit or planters, guess what?  It’s from Walmart.

This rolling garden trolley was compelling enough with good looks and a price point about $50 less than a comparable Costco raised garden bed, I signed up for a free one-month Walmart Plus membership.

I’ve since used the membership to purchase a few essentials I’ve needed since cancelling Amazon Prime and Grove.

This isn’t a review on Walmart Plus, so I’ll leave that for now, and move on to the garden bed.

The strange weather we’ve had means that it still seems reasonable to plant herbs.  It’s not too hot or sunny and a little herb garden is always nice.  Rosemary, thyme and basil plants in my yard are all a bit long in the tooth and aren’t really producing reliably.

This wonderful garden bed has sturdy looking wheels to move in in and out of the sun and shade for optimal growing conditions.

We’ve planted parsley, basil, rosemary, trailing thyme and chives by seed.  On the shelf underneath are two pots of mint.  Since they tend to take over a garden, we opted to leave them potted separately

Assembly wasn’t much for hub, but I must say it arrived with no instructions.  Luckily Roxy was around to supervise and assist.

I’ll let you know how it goes and wish us luck.

First Picnic of 2023

Very random, but a free Friday afternoon and a deep need for some mountain juju (meaning time with God) motivated me to throw together our favorite picnic food and plan a last-minute late picnic on Good Friday.

I had an 11:30 appointment, so before I left, I made Grandma’s potato salad, peeled fresh veggies, thawed chicken tenders and (gasp!) made gluten-free cupcakes for dessert.  What?

I know!  I haven’t made cupcakes in around 30 years.  My cupcakes are always dry and hard and slightly burnt. 

I had a package mix from Thrive, whipped it up and made a dozen cupcakes in about 20 minutes baking time.  They turned out perfectly.  I was so surprised.

Montezuma’s Well is my favorite picnic spot about an hour north of us in the mountains.  It is very early spring there with grass just now greening up, sycamore leaves sprouting and robins hopping around looking for tasty worms.

We were the only people at the picnic area so it was peaceful and perfect. 

The National Park hike had more people and the rangers were looking for mama and papa silver fox who are expecting a litter any day, but we weren’t lucky enough to spot them.

What a wonderful spur-of-the-moment Good Friday afternoon and no better place to be grateful and feel God’s glory than the mountains.

It’s been way too long since I’ve gotten out and I loved every moment of it.

What I’m Eating

Only about 100 times before have I posted our favorite picnic items, but this time, we “fried” the chicken in our George Foreman grill.  Here’s what we did.

• Thaw 5-6 chicken tenders
• Marinate for an hour or two in milk to cover and a few shakes of Tabasco
• Coat in crushed corn flakes or gluten-free bread crumbs
• Spray George Foreman grill with avocado oil and cook about 5 minutes, flip and continue cooking until done.

This method gives a “fried” texture and taste without the fat or mess and hardly any time in the kitchen.  For small batches, this is two thumbs up!

What I’m Reading

DF Jamison Whiteman wrote a sequel to his Quietude of Calvary, The Shield Before Me.  After finishing up a backlog of Kindle books, I was able to get this started this weekend.

The gorgeous morning weather allowed me to put together a mocktail and sit on the patio and dive into this so-far-so-good book.

I’ll keep your posted.

If you’re wondering, my mocktail was:

• 3 parts diet ginger ale
• 1 part cranberry juice
• Fancy little ice cubes from hub’s new ice maker (details next post!)
• Frozen chunks of fresh mango

I might have had more than one of these drinks.  The adorable straw became quite limp by the end of the morning and was unable to keep up with me.  Ha!

Wrap Up

All in all it was a wonderful weekend spent catching up with friends and enjoying some patio time.  The cats were in heaven spending time outside and watching all the bird activity.

Low key, but so perfect and I’m so thankful.

Blessings on your week.