Today was American Girl Club at our home. Our homeschool support group formed and American Girl Club. This was the second meeting and we were hosting Felicity. Seven girls were in attendance. We started by making a "Tussie-Mussie." We used roses from Sam's and Basil Angelique picked out at the store. (Angelique is disappointed we didn't start this when she was younger.) Then we had a Plantation Picnic with Chicken Salad, Lemon Tarlets, and Cranberry-Apple Punch. After the picnic we played several parlor games, "Hunt the Ring", "Frog in the Middle", and "Hide the Thimble." I sent the girls home with a ziplock bag with a little book we made for them that had directions for the games and crafts and recipes of the food we sampled. We also included in the bag fabric and ribbon to make a mob cap like Felicity would have worn. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Here are some pictures. I forgot to get a group picture (I guess I will next time).

Dragon Head

Thomas needed to make a dragon head for Cub Scouts tonight. Their Blue and Gold Banquet is this Saturday and the theme is Chinese New Year. His den was asked to make large dragon heads for decoration. Here are pictures of how Thomas' dragon evolved.

Raised Vegetable Beds

Here is what we are doing.

Building at least 2 beds, 3ft. by 6ft and 12 inches deep. We are using 2X6 boards for the sides and 4X4's for the corner posts. It will be lined with chicken wire because we have moles in our yard and I don't want them to get in the garden. I have not decided yet what I'm going to fill it with but I'm leaning toward a promix blend from Yard Dogs garden center that is near us (I just have to find a pickup truck to get the dirt home, delivery fee is $25 and the dirt will cost $26.) I got a book about companion planting called "Carrots Love Tomatoes" by Louise Riotte. We are planting broccoli, oregano, tomatoes, basil, potatoes, onions, and radishes in one bed. In the other bed we are planting Marigolds, pole beans, carrots, lettuce, parsley, cucumber and radishes. We'll see how it goes. We have not seriously gardened in about 10 years. I thought this would be a good start for us. We have really bad soil here so the raised beds are good for us. Also, we will know what type of soil we are putting in the beds and that should cut down on weeds. When we get the beds built I'll send some pictures. I bought the wood we just have not built the beds yet. I bought the seeds at Lowe's while I was there getting the wood. But someone told me Dollar Tree has seeds that do just fine. I also got free carrot seeds online from the "Plant a Row for the Hungry" program. http://www.humeseeds.com/free1.htm