HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY 4TH.

Feeling thankful, grateful and blessed. 

No wonder my hubby couldn't get in the car fast enough.

I did find a before picture of our little pantry. There's that water heater that I managed to hide. You don't always have to spend a lot of money, if you need to be frugal like us, it doesn't take much to make things pretty. I did have to do major cleaning, some crispy white paint, oh those blue metal doors.  Took out some of my baking pretties and now our little pantry is a pleasure to walk into.

Walk around the garden.

Zinnias, LOVE.

I know Zinnias are common, not as fancy as Roses or anything like that. But, I love them, never been able to grow them before. These I grew from seeds that my sister gave me. She got them from an elderly sweet man she met at a garage sale and he gave her a large mason jar full of seeds. She kept them but never used them. She said I could have them. All I did was just scattered them, no special soil, just in my soil. They are so beautiful and they make great cut flowers, as long as you keep changing the water.  

Our Pearly,

Our fur baby, sometimes she just looks so cute. It's amazing how much love we can have for our pets. She's the cutest sweetest little thing.  

My first time growing Bush Beans

I've haven't  grown any actual "food" in my Miami Garden, well I guess Coconuts and Papaya. We had such poor soil and it was so hot all the time, that I just went with the tropical ornamental look. It was beautiful and it was fun. But my new zone 8 opens up a whole new world for me. 

I just planted 8 Bush Bean seeds in two large containers, just to see how they would do. I used some soil from the garden and I did add some cow stuff, lol. They are prolific, haven't cooked them yet, been freezing them.    

I'm on a mission to only grow heirloom, I wan't to be able to collect my own seeds. But the none heirlooms are so beautiful and it's tempting.

Between rain drops.

Pantry reveal.

I don't have before pictures, but trust me, it was bad. I think I have never seen anything like this before, I'll save you the details. But I could see beyond all that mess. It took some decreasing, major cleaning, one coat of primer and 3 coats of paint. It had these metal doors??? and that's the first thing that came off. I wanted to be able to see what I was looking for because those cubbies really hold a lot. 

The actually groceries are to the left, you really can't see much of that. What I wanted to feature was the clever way I found to hide the water heater tank. I had this little shelving unit, and it was perfect. I did add some casters, so that it can easily be moved out of the way. I also checked with our electrician to make sure on the distance. I did secure the shelving unit with two small latches on each side. 

Not only is it a pleasure to walk in the pantry now and see my cute baking supplies, but it's functional too.  Why keep hiding your pretties, put them out where you can see them and be inspired to bake something beautiful and delish  

I loved my take on the Zebra cake, the sugar flower was beautiful. I need to get baking.