summer project

I neglected to take a good before picture. This one shows the refurbished shed right in the middle of repairs. The rotted wall was removed and replaced. The trim was replaced and the whole foundation sealed to keep the water out.

Mr. Wright did his magic and added power, a new door and spot lights. And then we painted.

Next step was to fix the surrounding area.

With the help from a friend...

Voila!

the fruits of our labors

I love home grown tomatoes. YUM!!!!

There is such thing as too many grape tomatoes.

The tomato cages lost the battle with those HUGE tomato plants.

We only had a few strawberries but that didn't stop us from enjoying our favorite new treat this summer - strawberries, sour cream and brown sugar.

And one pumpkin plant produces 14 pumpkins.

The goal for next year: Learn how to bottle tomatoes because I would love to have some garden tomatoes right now.

hosting a boutique

There are things in life we never expect to do EVER. I kind of have a list of things - you know like cruising around the world, having ten kids, being a movie star,...having a boutique at my house never even entered my mind. But if it had, it would have been on that list. So, here's to doing the unexpected!

this is what I've been doing

Visit me on www.freckledbeet.blogspot.com

lessons learned

Evidently, the pumpkin and watermelon plants needed more space than we realized.

It took us two years...but we did it!

WE HAVE A GARDEN...AND WE LOVE IT!

You decide...

Mister Darcy vs Mister Knightley

By far these two gentleman (and they are fine gentleman indeed) are my favorite characters of all time. I read a great blog entry today listing the pros and cons of each and I loved it. So make sure you read this before making your decision.

It turns out she makes a good case for both of them. But as for me, I am also going with Mr. Knightley because I too have always wanted to say "...now I may call you my Mister Knightley".

ps...Mr. Wright is not a fan of Jane Austen, so he doesn't have a clue that the reason I call him Mr. Wright and sometimes my Mr. Wright on our blog is because of "Emma". He thinks it's because he is my Mr. "Right"...and, well, that's true also.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Some of my favorite treats come nestled in a paper cup lined in a pretty box.


However, some of the nastiest flavors also come disguised as these yummy treats. Forrest Gump's momma was right, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." You never know if you will get the good chocolate or the nasty chocolate. For this reason I am a big fan of the insert thingy that sometimes come with chocolates to let you know what you will be enjoying and which ones to avoid.

The best solution to this problem is just create your own custom box at the candy store.

The next best thing is to go to Costco and buy the Milk Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Clusters. Every one of those clusters is yummy.


Better yet, have your husband surprise you on your birthday with a fancy chocolate box filled with those Caramel Macadamia Clusters from Costco. And as an extra touch have him make you an insert thingy so you know what you are enjoying and which ones to avoid. (by the way...none of them were avoided)


Thank you Mr. Wright for a fun and yummy birthday surprise!

Everything Edible

Chocolate shell, edible grass and chocolate covered oreos. It turned out pretty cute. :)

**taste bud disclaimer
The edible green apple grass is just awful! YUCK!

Exactly Equal

Easter brings with it many memories of coloring hard boiled eggs, the smell of vinegar, potato salad, Easter Egg hunts, deviled eggs, new dresses, The Atonement, Spring weather, plastic eggs filled with candy, a new beginning of sorts, spiced jelly beans...yum, flowers, hidden baskets, stuffed animals and personalized decorated chocolate eggs.

Back in the day the Easter Bunny (or should I say Mrs Easter Bunny) went to great lengths to make sure all of the Jackson kids had the same amount of candy. Exactly equal. I even suspect that she not only counted out each type of candy but also divided them out by color.


This information may help explain why I sort and eat M&M's and jelly beans by color. :)

But most importantly Easter is a celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the gift He gave to each of us equally...exactly equal.

two years, bread, love & sick...

Mr. Wright has been my Mr. Wright for two years now!

For our anniversary he gave me this nifty danish dough whisk.

You see I have recently learned how to make Artisan bread. When I brought home a sample for Mr. Wright to taste he loved it. The next day there was yeast and cornmeal in the cupboard. Did I mention he does most of the grocery shopping?

He loved it the first time I tried when it was too wet. He loved it the second time when it was too dry. We both loved it the third time (with the whisk) when it was just right!

Could the whisk have made all the difference?

My gift to him was a little fat book of love. I saw the idea online and it turned out so cute...take a look.





But for now all the bread and love in our whole house isn't helping my poor Mr. Wright feel any better. He's been sick for the past 3 days.

Snow anyone?

If it were up to me I would say - no more snow! At least in the valley. Let it snow in the mountains all it needs to. Now I'm not trying to get rid of the season all together or even ruin our water table. I would just prefer not having anymore snow at my house.

Mr. Wright on the other hand...although I don't think he enjoys the snow...secretly wishes for more snow. You see he is a fixer. Since we have been in our house he has found some great deals online. Two that come to mind are our snow blower and our edger. He cleaned them up and worked on them until they worked like a charm. ("worked on them" means he did something to get them from not running to running but I don't really know what...although he explained it to me in detail**sigh**I forgot.)

With the snow blower he also had to replace the blades. And because you can't just buy the blade separately, it created a challenge but he was up for it. He first went around to find some rubber. Now it had to be hard rubber and of a certain thickness. Well, Mr. Wright found it and he got it for free. He then had to drill out the rivets that held the old ones on, cut out the new blades and bolt them on again. What a great job he did but I still don't want it to snow.

The old rivets.

The damaged blades.

The new rubber.

The new blades.

The finished project.

got Voles?

The poor vole gets no recognition.


Everyone has heard of the mole. But most people go their whole lives without ever so much as hearing about "voles," let alone practicing vole control.

Voles construct well-defined, visible tunnels, or runways at or near the surface, about two inches wide. Vole runways result from the voles eating the grass blades, as well as from the constant traffic of numerous little feet beating over the same path.


And if any lawn and garden pest can literally “beat a path” through the grass due to their sheer numbers, it’s the voles. Rabbits don’t have anything over this fertile rodent!

Voles can burrow into the root systems of landscaping shrubs and trees, They can damage flower bulbs and potatoes in the garden. But mainly voles eat the stems and blades of grass. And the runways they leave behind in the process make for an unsightly lawn.

Even in winter you're not home-free with respect to potential vole damage. Voles will use snow as cover as they attack your landscaping.


So, YES, wish us luck cause we got VOLES!!!!!

The above pictures are of our very own vole runways. Mr.Wright saw the signs and has already started the vole control. Another reason I love my Mr. Wright.

He can take care of all your pests too. (shameless plug for Wright Pest Control...)

Could I really be Kristi?

When we were young my Dad would ask us which one of us was Kristi and which one was Kelli. I remember thinking it was kind of cool that he couldn't tell and I would proudly inform him that I was Kelli. Then he would follow up with the question that haunts me today..."How do you know that you are Kelli? How do you know that I didn't switch you in the middle of the night and you just woke up in Kelli's bed."

What!?

I know, how mean right? And by the way, for my sibling out there with this same personality trait (you know who you are), I hope you can see that you take after Dad.

As a little kid, I was troubled for a moment about this question but decided that I was right because I would certainly know if I was really Kristi...right?

So the other day when Mr. Wright and I were talking about childhood memories, I was really bothered that in some of my memories I couldn't remember which one of us did what. Do I have memories of Kristi and memories of Kelli? Why can't I define these things in my head? Could I have been Kristi for a week, month or year before my Dad remembered to switch us back? Who am I?

Highlighting 2009

I know, I know, it's really late for this but as the saying goes..."better late than never".

I have mixed feeling about this year we have been calling 2009. It was full of sorrow, fear, sadness, hardship and yet it also brought us joy, love, growth and many other blessing.

Lessons learned or re-discovered:

* There is not time for everything.
* Things don't have to be purchased just because they are on sale.
* Mr. Wright is not only a handyman but he is truly a handy man!
* Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons.
* Good will prevail.
* The power of the priesthood can quiet a worried mind, heal sorrow and comfort fears.
* My family means so much to me and I enjoy spending time with them.
* Children make me smile.
* Chocolate gives me heartburn.
* I'm grateful for my parents and all that they are.
* Darkness can always be eliminated by light.
* Prayers are heard.
* Disappointment is a part of life.
* Fasting brings strength.
* My heart is full of thanks.
* My mom is amazing.
* Discouragement is my biggest weakness.
* Game nights are always needed and always fun.