When You Least Expect It....

You can find the cutest things.

Had to run to Walmart tonight to pick up some craft supplies for the last few days of school and look what I found....

Now you just know I'm going to have to find some way to use that duct tape in my classroom next year!

It would fit right in!

Thanks for buzzing by!

Why Hello There!

What on earth happened to me?

As I was telling some of my friends, I lost my mojo.  It just disappeared!  I lost my mojo for cooking, for gardening, for.....everything!

Good news is I found it.  I cleaned out my closet this weekend and suddenly my blog mojo was back!

(Lucky for Worker Bee and Baby Bee, my cooking mojo came back a couple of days ago.)

So what will my 

first 

post 

lost

mojo 

topic 

be?

BAKING!

I really love to eat baked goods.  I can't say I love to bake them though, as much as I love to eat them.  But when I find a quick recipe that I don't have to be super precise with I'm all over it like salt on a potato.  (Ummm...yeah....I just made up that simile.)

So here goes....

(it's like riding a bicycle right? posting I mean.)

I adapted this slightly from the Cake Mix Doctor.

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 box of instant vanilla pudding

1 8 oz carton vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mixed berries (I used blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Butter and flour a 10 inch tube pan.

2.  Reserve 2 Tbl of the cake mix and set aside.

3.  Place all the ingredients (except the berries) in a large mixing bowl.  Mix on low speed for 1 minute and then medium speed for 2 minutes. (this batter will be thick)

4.  Toss the berries with the reserved cake mix.

5.  Pour the batter in the prepared tube pan.  Gently fold in the berries.

6.  Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the cake is golden brown.  The cake should pull away from the sides of the pan.

6.  Let it cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack.  Invert it onto a rack and let it cool another 30 minutes or so.

7.  Place cooled cake on plate and sprinkle sifted powdered sugar over the top of it.

Enjoy!

Still a busy time here at Sweet Bee Cottage so I won't be buzzing around too much but I just couldn't let another day go by without saying hello!

And thank you for hanging in with me during my blog break! 

I hope to be buzzin' along with you quite a bit this summer!

My Cottage Garden Is Buzzing Again

I love, adore, cherish, prize, and treasure spring at Sweet Bee Cottage!

Not only that...

  I am crazy about it, 

 nuts about it, 

 mad for it,

 smitten with it,

 sweet on it,

 stuck on it,

 think the world of it,

 delight in it,

 dig it, 

(whoa - that felt like a Brady Bunch reference)

 dote on it,

 fall for it, 

(now that's punny)

flip for it,  

go for it,  

have a soft spot for it, 

 a yearning for it,

enamored of it,  

and cherish it.

Wouldn't you?

Buzzingly,

All synonyms courtesy of thesaurus.com and me!

Linking up to
Show and Tell
at
My Romantic Home!

What Are You Buzzing About?

Wanna' see what I'm currently buzzing about?

I was poking around the internet and I landed on the J C Penney website.  I've been reading about them in the news lately.

  (I have to say, I'm kind of sad they fired their CEO because I was loving where Penney's was going with their new offerings - so fresh and bright and stylish and fun - and I loved the fair price deal, but apparently I might have been the only person in the country who felt that way.) 

Well, not only have I read about their CEO, but I also read that they were at last going to be able to sell the Martha Stewart line they had developed.  Now who doesn't love Martha?  I know I love her style.

There is a Martha Decor line, a Martha Create line, and the one I'm the most excited about.....Martha Celebrate!  It's filled with beautifully designed party supplies - paper plates, napkins, balloons, invitations, candy, and more.  And, of course, they come in the most gorgeous colors!

 Turquoise - 

Indigo - 

Apple Green - 

Plus yellow, red, black, and pink!

I'm not sure if it is in the stores yet, but you can see it all for yourself by going to Martha Celebrations!

Thanks for buzzing along with me!

Yummmmmm.....Chocolate Cinnamon Bread!

So, you might already know I am quite the Starbucks gal.  Some day I'll have to show you my personalized license plates for my car.  Well I've recently discovered a most delightful scrumptious treat during my occasional frequent  visits to Starbucks and it's called Chocolate Cinnamon Bread.  

It's got a nice dark chocolate flavor and it's not overly sweet.

Starbucks version!

Well I decided I needed to find a recipe for this tasty morsel and, lo and behold, the actual recipe is on the Starbucks website.  I got to buzzing in the kitchen immediately and whipped out two of these delicious loaves.  Oh so yummy! 

Sweet Bee Cottage version!

Can you tell which one is the professionally baked one?  

Oh well, mine might have looked pretty pathetic, but the flavor was phenomenal!

Want me to save a little for you?

  

Estate Sale Finds for Etsy and Something Just for Me

I went to an estate sale this weekend.  I love this particular estate sale company because on the second day everything is half price!  

Look at what I found for you!  

Look at all those Shiny Brites!  All those wonderfully vintage glass ornaments!  Love the original price tags too.  Now one day I'm just going to have to find some of those pokey inny ones.  

Like these –

source

I didn't find this time but one day......one day......

And there were also some great vintage non-Shiny Brites. See the cute little ones?

And then I found this pair of cute canisters.  

Condition is NOT excellent, but how can you resist that chicken wire?

I think these would be so adorable on a potting bench.  Cute, hunh?

Made in the USA of course!

 And then I found this cute teddy bear jar.

 I've never seen one like it before.  It had a KRAFT lid.  Do any of you remember jars like these from when you were a kid?

 Now this would be so charming in a child's room.

And I found a twin to one of my favorite milk glass pieces. 

It's serving bowl size.

 And I found all these sweet little jello molds. 

I haven't counted all of them, but there are a ton of hearts.

And then I found something for me!

 Do you know what this is?

 I do!  

I've often wanted one, but have never wanted to pay the price for a set like this.

I particularly loved that this piece was made in California.  

All three pieces are marked.

I searched a bit on etsy and ebay and google for similar sets and couldn't find any.  

Do you know what it is?

Now I'm going to have to have a little party to celebrate finding one of these.

Will you come?

Thanks for buzzing in!