A Frugal Li'l Road Trip Basket

Goodman and I often take short day-trips around the area and like to take a few things with us ... like real coffee cups, a thermos of good strong coffee and maybe a snack or two so I needed something other than a grocery bag to hold the cups and snacks.

Lily-of-the-Valley

Y'all know I like practicing frugality whenever possible.  And now, more than ever, it pays as so often when buying something new the quality you expect just isn't there.  I found just what I needed at a tag sale last year. The price on this li'l basket with a padded liner was just a few dollars so I snapped it up and took it home.

The elastic closures were shot, but it was in good shape, otherwise. It really just needed a good cleaning and some sprucing up.  Love the padded liner complete with hot/cold pack.

So I scrubbed the basket clean and washed the liner then got busy making a few flowers and leaves with polymer clay...

Source

 I used these tiny cookie cutters to make the flower shapes. 

Baked them in the oven and let them cool...

 Then used a glue gun to apply them to the lid of the basket.

 And those little elastic ties were replaced with new ones that I perked up with more flowers and leaves.  I'm very happy with it.

 Goodman gives me a strange li'l grin when he sees it in the backseat of the car, but I don't mind. ;)

Hope you're enjoying lots of spring blossoms.

Bearded Iris

And birds, too.

Fastidiously clean Mockingbird

Shared at The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration Linkup

May Flowers & More Showers

Happy May, Y'all. It's the best month for flowers around our place. A clematis that is supposed to adorn the deck likes to climb in the poplar tree. We're getting lots of rain lately. We burned a large brush pile yesterday evening, and a gully washer from heaven put the fire out for us. We felt a few sprinkles and hurried, but by the time we got into the house we were drenched! Ah well, that took care of our weekly baths. ;) This yellow iris smells like nutmeg...mmmm.
I've had these irises for years and years. They just smell regular-like.
Miss Frilly...not to be confused with the purple iris I showed you last week. This one is ruffled and lighter in color. Most of my irises are compliments of my neighbor-down-the-road a bit. She gave me two buckets of them last summer and some the year before that. Would we all had a neighbor like that. :) One of our favorite things to do is go yard-sailing (I know..chuckles) We went to several sales last week, and had the best time. The grandgals were here, so we took them along. Everyone found some nifty prize they couldn't live without. Mine was this very cool, little two-cup teapot. I paid a little sweet lady fifty cents for it and went happily on my way.Why is it so cool, you ask... It has it's own strainer! It's perfect for my home remedy, herbal tea infusions. Honestly, I don't think it was ever used as the label on the bottom was snowy-white and clean. Can't wait till my chamomile blooms...These honeysuckle blossoms are growing on a bush on the fence line. As soon as I put the bouquet on the counter of the old Hoosier cabinet all the peeps gathered 'round for a sniff. I've been knitting, yes, but not on the shawl, Y'all. We'll talk about it next week. :)
Hope you're having a grand week!

Chicken Cordon Bleu & Bubbles the Fish

Our nice neighbors down the road a bit gave us several kinds of irises last summer. This purple one has a light candy smell.
We had Chicken Cordon Bleu for supper Saturday, and oh, it was good. Goodman had to work all day even though he doesn't like to work on weekends, so this being one of his favorite meals helped a little bit. ;)
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Serves 4
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices ham, thinly sliced
1/2 stick butter, melted slightly
2 small or 1 lg. garlic clove, minced
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
dash black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F
Pound chicken breast flat with a smooth object. ( I use a Corelle coffee cup, flattening the chicken with the bottom of it. One helpful thing here, it keeps flying chicken debris off the counter, your clothes & your face if you cover the chicken with plastic wrap before pounding...learned that the hard way. ;)
Lay each chicken breast skin side down & top with one slice ham & 1 slice of cheese each.
Mix 1 tablespoon of the slightly melted butter with bread crumbs, sage and black pepper. Place an even amount of crumbs over each chicken breast.
Roll up from narrow end and secure with toothpicks; leave them visible for removing before serving.
Place chicken fold side down in baking dish.
Combine the rest of the butter with minced garlic, stir and pour over chicken.
Place in preheated oven & bake for 40-50 minutes or till done. (Place a tent of aluminum foil over chicken halfway through baking to prevent over browning. Baste with juices about 2 times while baking to prevent drying.
Remove from oven, take out the toothpicks & place on serving dish.
This dish is great served with whole green beans cooked with 1TBLS. bacon drippin's & baked sweet potatoes smothered with butter & brown sugar. (Oh, yayuh ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm havin' a little battle with tennis elbow, so my knitting is at an all-time low. I just couldn't resist doing up this little guy though. Isn't he a cutie. Bubbles the Fish by Susan Mrenna can be found here. There's a Bubbles with Fins. And the basic pattern is, also, available in French. Cool, even you don't know a lick of French like me. I used Susan's basic pattern & just added a little ol' eye for him to see with. (Checkout her site as she has several patterns, free & for sale.) I think it'll make a cute washcloth for a baby or small child. I used P&C Pink Lemonade for this one.
Happy Bluebird family peeps are gettin' bigger fast. This little guy heard me tap on the box & nearly leaped out..I'm sure he thought Mama had arrived with a big, juicy worm. Ah well; thanks for the great shot, Junior. I won't bother you again till you start tryin' out your wings. Another of the irises Neighbors gave us. Iris you a happy week, Y'all!