fruits of my labor

 I know at least one of you is experiencing deja vu right now reading the title of this blog. Jenny entitled one of her blogs a few days ago the exact same thing. And then she showed pictures of practically the exact same thing. So basically I'm a big fat copy cat. But since imitation is the highest form of flattery, I'll just continue on...

Lest you think my gardens have been neglected this summer, thought you would like to take a glance at some of the beautiful bouquets I've been decorating my house with. Trust me when I say that few things make me feel happier and prouder than perusing my various flowerbeds, overflowing with color and shape and texture, and clipping exactly what I want to make a beautiful arrangement. It's intoxicating. I wish I could quit my job and be a stay-at-home-gardener.

This one I made a few days ago (and photographed today), so it's not as fresh as it once was...but still beautiful. I never knew zinnias could grow in so many shades of pink!

This mixed bouquet I made today, and yes, the jar-vase is much too big for the scale of the flowers, but I don't care. All my other smaller mason jars are already filled, and while I do have regular vases...to me, nothing quite compares to a mason jar. At least when you're talking about random wildflower mixes like these.

Same bouquet, different angle, same crappy photography. This bouquet was a mixture of zinnias (both double giant and pinwheel varieties), black-eyed susans, four o'clocks (orange and yellow), and a blue wildflower I can't think of the name of.

Is it sad that sometimes I lay in bed at night wondering what kind of flowers might be blooming the next day so that I can make more bouquets?? And that I dash outside in the morning to check??

Sometimes I think I've turned into my mother.

In other I-live-in-the-country news, tonight I went to a get-together called Bacon Fest. The theme was BACON. There were many dishes, and all of them featured BACON, that food of the gods. It was basically heaven on earth slash the best thing that's ever happened to me. I was too busy stuffing my face to get pictures. Dishes included bacon-vidalia pie, bacon-stuffed salted caramel brownies, a bacon beer dip, bacon-covered pineapple, dark chocolate-dipped bacon, bacon popcorn (which was vegan, strangely), and bacon jam. There were also a variety of beers to pair with the bacon dishes. I stuck with a double chocolate stout, and it was fabulous. In addition to bacon and beer...as though there were anything else in life you could need...well, there were also friends and good conversation and a copy of the Cake Wrecks book to browse through. All in all, an excellent night. If you are ever looking for a excuse to throw a party good party theme, I would suggest bacon. 

Now that we're all caught up, I'm going to go enjoy my flowers and my bacon hangover. Goodnight, yall!