Spring Forward 1: Edible Bird Decorations

Materials:

• 18 oz lard
• 3 1/2 oz coarse oats, nuts (peanuts are a good choice), dried fruits, seeds (sunflower seeds)
• Garden Wire
• Old tennis ball or similar, sliced in 1/2 & with a small round hole cut out of the top. Resealed by wrapping a length of wire around the ball and twisting the wire ends together, securely.
• Garden String

Directions:

• Put the lard in a saucepan & melt it gently over low heat, mix the dry ingredients together seperately
• Add handfuls of the dry food to the melted lard and mix them toether. The dry ingreidients should be well-coated in the lard.
• Insert wire which is a little longer than the mold into the center of the mold. Pack mix in around the wire.
• Leave the seed mix in the molds to cool completely, then remove the molds, attach string to the wire and hang up high.

Remember if you start feeding birds that they will believe you will continue, so don't do it if you don't plan on continuing to feed them throughout the year. Hang high enough that squirrels and rodents can't get to it but the birds can. There are bird feeders available that sense when the weight is too heavy for a bird and will drop the squirrel.

You can also try any of the awesome ones on Pinterest (so many different ideas). This is a great way to start off spring, helping out   

**Please note this isn't my recipe, I have had it in my collection for a few years and the journal I had it in was damaged so I don't have who the recipe came from. If you know please leave it in the comments and I will add the attribution. **

Happy Crafting My Loves

Book Review: About Last Night

Book Title: About Last Night
Author: Ruthie Knox | Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads

Publisher: LoveSwept, Random House Digital
Format: ebook

Cost: $2.99

Pages: 248

How I got it: NetGalley

My Rating:★★★★1/2
Erotica Rating: N/A
Synopsis:

Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she’s made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her. Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family’s banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine—even her name turns him on—with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies. When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?

My Review:
I'll be honest, I didn't get much work done yesterday because of this book. It was slow at work so I read while I should have been doing 'busy' work, you know the crap that normally doesn't get done during a regular week, you do when there is nothing left. Yeah I said screw that & stuck my nose to the phone screen so I could read this book.

I was totally engaged and engrossed I almost didn't get any sleep trying to finish this book.  I knew I loved this book within the first chapter when Cath had me laughing out loud on a crowded bus.  Cath is witty, sarcastic, funny and the kind of woman I could totally be friends with, so I loved her as a character.   Plus she works with the arts, like knitting and the awesomeness of history and knitting, yeah I was all over that.

City, good gawd City, can I have one of him served up please??!!! What a guy, what a man. I just wow, He was everything awesome that scene with them after he blind date?? Especially when she said 'don't murder me" I was laughing and snorting so much on the bus, the guy next to me moved.  You could feel the chemistry from them, they were great from the first. Especially when you realized City liked her as much as she liked him

I really wanted them to get together, I just knew that the crap was going to hit the fan when he took her home.  I couldn't wait to read the fireworks between Cath & his mother, they were also awesome, especially when they went head to head, then Cath did what she does so well.  If I was Nev I would have kicked my siblings' a**, you not pulling this crap round here. Nope not going to happen sir..

It's a good engaging read. I had quite a few laughs at Cath's expense, I totally get that she doesn't want anymore mistakes, and Nev's answer to that just floored me.  I love them together, I really loved the ending, I personally loved that Cath had extensive tattoos and was such a buttoned up woman at work; & that Nev's job was so boring but he was such a passionate artist. Just goes to show you never know.

A definite must read, it was extremely fast and funny, & wasn't too outlandish like so many other romance scenarios now a days, which made it even more fun to read, because you could totally see this happening.

Have a fun time reading my loves.

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***FTC Rules require I state that I received this as a review copy from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review**** 

Paranormal Telly: Vikings

Show: Vikings
Seasons: 1
Run Time: 45 mins
Air Dates & Time: Sundays @ 10pm EST
Reruns can be seen: Hulu | History Channel
Synopsis:

The HISTORY® original series Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore—and raid—the distant shores across the ocean. His ambition puts him at odds with local chieftain Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne), who insists on sending his raiders to the impoverished east rather than the uncharted west. When Ragnar teams up with his boat builder friend Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard) to craft a new generation of intrepid ships capable of conquering the rough northern seas, the stage is set for conflict. But for all its warfare and bloodshed, Vikings is also a story of family and brotherhood, capturing the love and affection between Ragnar and his wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), a respected warrior in her own right. It is the tale of Ragnar’s brother Rollo (Clive Standen), a fierce fighter who simmers with jealously; of Earl Haraldson’s wife Siggy (Jessalyn Gilsig), a dutiful beauty who may be less than loyal; and of the monk Athelstan (George Blagden), whose Christian morals clash with the Vikings’ pagan society. As ambition and innovation rattle a civilization, these characters will be put to the test—and their way of life will never be the same again. Vikings was created and written by Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, The Tudors).

The show is based on the Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok, a legend in the Old Norse. It is an amazing show. I'm not a Norse follower, I do know enough to know they have done an excellent job capturing as much as possible, sharing great historical details about the housing, the methods of war, even the system of hierarchy within the Norse communities.

Each week we are introduced to something new going on within the community under the Jarl's protection and we see the very beginning of the tradition of Norse raids in Britain   I LOVE this show, from the wild Floki to the hot Rollo, we are immersed in a world of politics, violence and just straight craziness.

I really love that they're showing the Shield Maidens and that they Norsemen allowed women to go to war with them. I like Lagertha, Ragnar's wife, she's pretty freaking kick a**. I highly recommend this show, especially because they show how integral the Gods are to the Norse way of life.

Nerdy moment:  I just however wish they would point out that being called a viking is actually incorrect, "a viking" is the name given to raiding/ or going on an expedition, the Norsemen were actually going 'a viking' when they travelled to England, they actually aren't "vikings" but the term had become synonymous with them and has stuck.

It's still a good show however. I highly suggest you tune in.
Happy Viewing

Prayer for Boston

Today in Boston MA, someone set off two bombs, killing two and injuring hundreds. At the moment Boston Red Cross is saying they have enough blood and aren't looking for any.  

I'm not linking to any of the news coverage it's all over if you interesting in seeking it out. 

My heart goes out to those who have family and friends who were attending the event and to the thousands of runners who were almost done with their challenge.  My heart especially goes out the hundred of witnesses and survivors of the blast.

Please keep these people in your prayers.   

Book Review: How to Sell Your Crafts Online

Book Title: How To Sell Your Crafts Online
Author: Derrick Sutton | Author's Website | Author's Twitter

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: Paperback

Cost: $21.99

Pages: 206

How I Got It: Borrowed From the Library

My Rating:★★★★☆
Synopsis:

With over 400,000 sellers on Etsy, how can you make YOUR shop stand out and increase your sales? This is a key question for many crafters and artists who are selling online these days. Now here are all the answers and much more from author and Etsy seller Derrick Sutton. Based on his self-published guide, and drawn from his practical experience, you will learn how to boost your Etsy sales, attract more customers, and expand your online presence. Derrick shares his proven online sales and marketing knowledge in an easily accessible format, complete with simple actions steps at the end of each chapter. Learn how to completely optimize your Etsy shop, website, or blog, and much more.

My Review:
My sister is a businesswoman and she has been pushing me to make my scarves and sell them for years now. Before I jumped into the fray I decided I needed to know more.  This book is great for those who have never used Etsy before and wanted to know how to use the craft site and promote your products without going to a website developer.

I have personally played around with Etsy for a little while. I was once going to start selling my crochet crafts but decided to focus on finishing school first. Maybe one day I will go into selling my stuff online and because of this book I will be well versed in how to get it done and done well.

The books is very easily laid out. The author is well informed and makes using Etsy extremely easy. The author shared so many great tips on how to maximize your viewership & search ability as well as your optimization of your website. Along with how to link and share with others your site, how to get your name out there, how to add other features onto the site and even how to make your pictures of your products look great.  I especially liked learning how to use the stats section of the website, so you know who is viewing & what they are looking at, which helps with product productions and sales.  I also especially loved learning more about apps I already use but haven't completely taken full advantage of for instance Google's Document Section.  This gave me tons of ideas for regular use, not just for the suggested options in the book.

Everything you need to know to START an Etsy is in this book, but for more detailed business aspect information you will have to look at other books, the author does give some great resources wit the book on finding more information and how to expand your brand. But of course no one book can give you everything.

I would highly recommend this book for those looking to jump into Etsy, as it's specific to Etsy but it's also great for those who need some information on selling crafts online.  It's a crafter's resource, especially because it's set up artistically as well. Many of his suggestions are great for us bloggers as well. So when you see changes around here, you know where some of it is coming from.

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