The garden has really taken off.  Everything is growing and blooming and producing!  To see it’s humble beginnings check out the April 8th post!  It is hard to believe it’s grown so fast!

Even the smallest tomatoes can be packed with flavor.  You can taste a big difference between fresh from the garden and store bought!

The Heirloom tomatoes are looking good!

Our first mini harvest!  Tomatoes, okra, thai chilies, yellow and zucchini squash.  Enough for a stir-fry meal!

I had read about this Gluten-Free Bakery that opened in Dallas.  We went to  check it out this weekend and I’m here to report… Wonderful…Oh My…Delish…You Must Try!

Welcome to Tu-Lu’s Bakery!  It was so cute inside and the desserts are so tasty I dare you to say you could tell they are gluten-free.  If you eat gluten-free you know baked goods can lack that wonderful fluffy texture at times!
Isn’t this wall too cute!  We celebrated our 21st anniversary this weekend and we literally ate all weekend !  My sweet hubby wanted to get sweets for his sweetie…and what could I say but Yes!

We went there for some dessert…but they serve lunch too!   They had just baked this Quiche  they had 2 different types I got the one with spinach.  The crust was so flaky!  I was told they also had a chocolate peanut butter mousse cake…excuse me you had me at peanut butter!  Okay this dessert was so delish I can’t even think about it without drooling!

Panini goodness…they bake all their breads in house…we left with a fresh-baked loaf to go!            Along with several baked confections!

Everything looked so good it was hard to choose.  I decided on the oatmeal white chocolate cranberry cookies…oh my these where dunk in your milk love!   I also choose a coffee cake, a chocolate marshmallow cookie and a red velvet cupcake!

Did someone say red velvet???  Well I will be making the drive back to Tu-Lu’s this week for more!   If you are in the Dallas area it is located on Sherry Lane in  the Preston North west Highway area…Worth the drive…I can’t wait to go back, stay tuned for my next report!

Our adorable cat Welby likes to scratch our chairs …of course I keep his claws trimmed but cats have a need to claw at things!  So I got him this new scratch pad which he has taken a liking to!  At first it seemed like it would be his new napping spot!  I heard scratching the other night and came running out of the other room to scold him…But he was actually using his new pad to scratch  and he has been using it more and more…thank goodness!

Well here is the 2nd garden post since we started.  As you can see it has really taken off!  We had our first tomato last night and it was tasty.  My okra plants had a major aphid attack but we were able to pepper spray and hand rub them off, I was more persistent than them!  I attacked them 3 days in a row and now check every few days…Determined to keep our garden organic!  It is exciting to see the flowers turn into little veggies and watch them grow…We have had great weather so far but living in Texas things start heating up, so it will be interesting to say the least!  Stay tuned for my garden updates…

The dove babies have arrived….

Ready to fly the coop …and test out those wings!

Mama dove always close by…the next day we watched as they left the nest …so sweet time to clean out the nest and see them next year!

Recently we dined at one of our favorite places.  Cole Vines in Plano at the Shops of Legacy.  This wine bistro is wonderful. The food is good but the pizza is the closest to New York we have found!  I eat gluten every now and then and when I do it has to be absolutely fan -tab- a- lous  (yes I make up words)   We like to sit out on the patio enjoy a little wine have some great food, watch the passers-by and enjoy the great weather before it gets to hot to say that!  Well on this visit I tried one of the featured wines it was so delicious I decided to buy a bottle since we had friends joining us!   This wine is a newer wine it is Gluten Free and smooth like silk yet rich.  The name of it is Golan it’s a Cabernet 2010 produced in Israel.  Of course there was quite a mark up on the bottle but I’m not sorry I tried it because we thought it was wonderful!  My hubby liked it so much we ordered a case… we found  it online at a fraction of the cost.  But if I had not been introduced to it at the restaurant I probably would have never discovered it.  So if you enjoy a rich dry red give it a try!

We started out with this risotto crab cake with a spicy marinara sauce oh my….. Creamy rich mixture of risotto and crab…well let me just say this… it was so good we ordered a 2nd one and we had a large pizza coming!   I did not take a photo of Cole Vines Famous pizza but trust me it is the closest thing to thin crust New York Pizza we have had .  And we are pretty picky about our New York favs…I might add our waiter on this night,  moved here from The Big Apple and he said this was the closest pizza to New York he has found.  Thin ,crispy, flavor perfect, oh yea your mouth is watering …get to Cole Vines enjoy…

I woke up to a whole lot of quacking the other morning.  I thought yep…it’s nesting time the ducks are back!  I rushed outside to find this little couple chasing another female duck all over my backyard.  I ran to get my camera while they successfully chased the other duck away!  The male duck looks like he is very proud of himself in this photo!

Well all that chasing around makes a guy thirsty…

Here is the proud couple striking a pose!

As you can see these two don’t mind making themselves right at home…

Well time for a swim … and after this I told them they had to go find the pond and sent them on their way!   I know… they are so cute but last year they came everyday for 2 weeks, and I had to keep chasing them out.  As much as I would love little ducklings swimming around my pool it’s just better for them to be at the pond raising little duckies.  Where they can poop all they want and I can go visit them there…hee hee

Utica Square…it had been 15 years or so, the last time I shopped Utica square in Tulsa Oklahoma.  Me and the hubby shopped and ate lunch while enjoying the sites in Utica Square.

Utica has been around a long time…Many years ago one of the hair stylist I worked with moved to Tulsa he went to work in the salon inside a store called Miss Jacksons.  I drove up 2 times to get my haircut by him and shopped around in Utica Square.

Old school telephone booths surround the square…

Always need to check out Anthropoligie…Kev says this is his favorite store because he can relax on the comfy couches….This Anthro was cool, but I was disappointed they didn’t carry shoes at this location…I still managed to find a really cool pair of citrus lime color skinny jeans!

The shopping is set in a park like atmosphere great for strolling and a nice lunch on the patio at one of the many restaurants.

We had lunch at the Wild Fork.  We ate inside with a view to outdoors, it was very nice.  We shopped at an original Russell Stover’s candy shop were I stocked up on some of my favorites…dark chocolate roman nuggets loved them since I was a kid and I would get a box of chocolates and keep taking bites out of different ones till I found my Roman nuggets!  hee hee… come on, you know you have done that too, take a bite and try the next…

This cute Anole was putting on quite the show in the garden yesterday…

From the rock to the leaves he thought he was going to lose me…

On to this wood post wishing he could only turn brown and blend in…keeping an eye on me as you can see!

No need to get all puffy little guy…

He’s thinking surely this move will scare her away !

Totally giving me the major stink eye!

Really???  I can’t get rid of this lady…

Okay little guy…thanks for the photos!

In another area of the garden this lil lizard was definitely in blend mode. Well that’s my garden critter blog for today…

Everything is in full bloom… along with that comes all our nasty allergies…but when I look at this flowering snowball like fluff in my backyard and the smell is like honeysuckle…I may sneeze, but I am amazed and I have to smile all at the same time!

I took a little time today to smell the sweet scent of this flowering tree…it was nature at work buzzing bees and several types and sizes of butterflies fluttering everywhere!

so pretty…

I just could not stop snapping photos…

I think this butterfly posed for this shot…

Vibrant orange wings against the flowering tree…

This little beauty is blending in with the stone and leaves…

I couldn’t get a good still shot of this flutterer…but it was black with long tails so gorgeous!  And then of course there’s the one that got away…a huge Monarch but all the little butterflies were chasing him all around literally running him out of their sweet smelling territory!  Well this tree will hold it’s flowers for a couple more weeks before they all drop into my pool and make a big fat mess hee hee…In the meantime stay tuned for more nature shots…I took several today of the cutest lizards but that’s on the next post!  Well between the watery eyes and hay fever sniffles I hope these photos bring a smile to your face like they did for me!