Happy Monday #6

Although a lot of our plants have suffered hail damage from all of the wet weather we have had in the past few weeks, the bright pink colors of my Phlox are a still a beautiful sign of summer.  Especially as we think of the terrible wildfires that our friends in northern Colorado are dealing with right now.  As well as the recent flooding up in Duluth, both help remind me of how lucky we are.

Have a Happy Monday!
~Melissa

Blueberry Granola Pancakes

On our vacation in Chicago we found the best breakfast place called the West Egg.  It was perfect for us to go have a big breakfast each morning and then spend the rest of the day walking around & seeing the city.

The first day I had what they called Crunchberry Pancakes (gotta love the name!), which were Blueberry Pancakes with granola in them.  They were AMAZING!  So of course that is what I had the next two days as well!

When we got home & I saw blueberries for sale at the grocery store, I knew I had to try to re-create the recipe at home!  Here is what I came up with:

Blueberry Granola Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour (you can use white flour too, but I only had whole wheat flour at home)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup granola

Mix together flour, baking powder, and sugar.  In a seperate bowl beat egg and add vanilla, and milk. Mix the egg/milk mixture with flour until well incorporated.  Add blueberries and granola.  Heat a medium skillet with a bit of butter or cooking spray.  Pour in batter and flip when the top gets bubbly.  Serve with toppings of your choice.  We added a few fresh blueberries and of course Real Wisconsin Maple Syrup!

All in all, I think they turned out pretty good!  If you eat the pancakes all by themselves they seem to need a little extra sugar in the batter, but after I added syrup the amount of sweetness was just right!

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 8 - 14

I'm a little behind on posting my 30 Day Photo Challenge.

You can find my prior photos here
Days 1 - 7

I'm a sucker for a salty snack, especially chips. Any and all kinds, I love them all.  I actually can't even buy them anymore because I just eat them until they're gone. They call my name.  

I couldn't just pick one "someone" I love. So I picked them both. My hubby  and Mr. C. 

This one kind of needs some explaining.  My mom is the Laundry Queen. Growing up, if you were looking for her, odds were Mom was in the laundry room.  There was always a stack of neatly folded laundry on her dryer.  

Every year since we've lived in our house, we have a robin who lays her eggs in a nest underneath our deck.  We love watching them grow and eventually jump out to spread their wings and fly on their own.  

Pink sunset looking across our street. 

How could I NOT fall in love with those eyes! Oh Mr. C, you have mama wrapped around your finger! 

Happy Monday #5

Have a Happy Monday!
~Melissa

Chicago, Chicago - That Toddlin' Town

We're back from Chicago!  It was an amazing time!  I need to catch up on my 30 day photo project.  But first I want to share a pic from the top of the Sears...ugghh I mean...Willis Tower.  Whatever you call it, the views were amazing! I could have stayed up there all day!

Now back to realty, I guess. And laundry.

Landscaping...finally!

We have lived in our house almost 3 years now, and it has been a struggle to put a yard in.  Now that we have a decent start on our grass, we thought it was time to finally do some landscaping!  We're really happy with the finished product & think it looks so much better already.  Its going to be exciting to see it fill in over the next few years!

This is the view from the street of the front of our house.

View from garage - we took out my pear tree that died last year :( But we got to add a Variegated Maple which I LOVE and a raised bed.  I've always wanted to grow tulips, so I'm going to plant bulbs in there in the fall! 

This is the back corner of the house.

This area of the yard is the lowest so after heavy rain or in the spring when the snow melts, this back corner gets flooded.  So we put plants and trees that tolerate being very wet back here.  I call it my "Swamp", but my husband says I should call it a "Rain Garden" because that sounds better. It also defines our property line  somewhat and gives us a bit a of privacy from our neighbors.  

Have a great week everyone! Hope to have vacation pics for you when we get back from Chicago! 

Happy Monday #4

We're going to be on vacation in Chicago this week. So I thought this was a fitting quote for today.

Have a Happy Monday!
~Melissa

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 1 - 7

Here is my first update of the 30 Day Photo Challenge I'm doing.  You can read more about it here.  I re-posted my Day 1 photo so I have the full Days 1-7 in the same place.  The pic of the marigolds, I was laying on my stomach in my In-Laws' front yard.  Good thing my Mother-in-Law (MM) is as bad as me when it comes to trying to get a great picture, so she understood!  

Happy Monday #3

Have a Happy Monday!
Melissa

Saturday up North

We went up to visit my husband's parents on Saturday because his grandma was here from out of town.  It was the perfect weather to sit outside and spend time with everyone.  Mr. C enjoyed checking out all of the the plants that my mother-in-law (MM) has.  Well, and I did too, I had fun taking pictures of them all.

Mr. C checking out a bumblebee

This is the underside of those pink flowers  

MM had the biggest marigolds I've ever seen! 

Love these purple flowers. Anyone know what they are? I've been seeing them everywhere & I want some! 

My in-laws have a motel, loved seeing all these boats lined up in the parking lot. They were all from a fishing tournament. 

Even though we were just up there for a day, it was such a great time to relax and recharge.  Sometimes I really miss  it up north.  Just feels like home.