Weekend

Tonight we're having taco night at our house. We're making carne asada on the grill and all kinds of fixings. We're using the same marinade that the Hub's sister used when we went camping Memorial Day weekend, Tyler Florence's Mojo Marinade:
juice of 1 orange
juice of 2 limes, plus their zest
1/2 c olive oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

I tweaked it a little by adding the zest.

For dessert, I made Oreo Pie, from a recipe given to me at my bachelorette party by a college friend.

This morning I went over to the farm to check on the bees. I was going to add another super, and had it all put together and ready to go. But then I checked on the bees and the super we added a couple weeks ago had barely been touched. So I rearranged the supers, to put the empty one below a full one. I think we might harvest honey this year (fingers crossed)!

While at the farm, I also played with Freddy. We played fetch with the tire. I brushed him. I asked him to sit and smile, and he rolled over on his side:

I asked a second time and got this:

He's probably thinking "Mom, just throw the damn tire already!"

He's such a smart dog. Handsome, too. And ornery.

And a kitchen update:

Please excuse the construction equipment beside the food...

We started putting our island together again last weekend. The wall on the backside for the bar was installed, as well as the bar top. We decided to go with butcher block countertops. I've been rubbing them down with a butcher block conditioner that I bought at Menards. Construction is on hold because we're still debating on putting an electric outlet in - which requires chiseling out the floor and connecting the new outlet to the existing outlet by the dishwasher.

Tweet

Raindrops keep falling on my head

I had no idea it was going to rain yesterday. I shy away from watching the news and forecast on the weekends because most of the news is depressing and if I'm at home most of the weekend I can change clothes to accommodate the weather.

Yesterday afternoon it poured down rain. Two inches per my rain gauge. I'll always welcome rain because it helps the garden and orchard grow. But I had been waiting all week for the garden to dry out so I could weed (we had 3 inches earlier in the week).

Right before the rain started, my replacement plants from Burgess arrived in the mail. They have a great, hassle-free replacement policy. They don't even ask you to send back the dead plants, just the shipping label. About $100 worth of plants had to be replaced. They had been in the ground for over a month and were not greening up at all. I asked for replacements for:
Blue spruce x 3
Blackberries x 5
Red raspberries x 3
Gold raspberries x 3
Cherry bushes x 4
Creeping phlox x 6
Rhubarb x 1

Early this morning, I donned my galoshes and replanted everything. I also took a walk to check out the Norway Spruce that I ordered from the Conservation Department this year. On the lower side of the property, 5 out of 19 trees are alive. On the upper side, 19 out of 25 are alive. The differences: the upper side was planted with leftover Myke from when I put our live Christmas tree in the ground, and the upper part gets more sun. I expected the lower side to have a better survival rate because it is partly sunny and wetter. I ordered 50 trees; I have two leftover in a bucket of water, and the rest were DOA.

Yesterday, we bought most of what we need to finish the kitchen island: 2x4s, wainscoting (for the backside) and a butcherblock countertop. We were going to do concrete countertops, but I was dreading the dust all over our furniture and carpet, and the amount of time it would take to make the countertops, and was really concerned about cracking. An 8' butcherblock countertop cost us $160 at Menards. If we like it on the island, we may replace the remaining countertops, which are currently a (nonlovely) forest green marble laminate.

Tweet

Island oasis

This weekend I started priming the kitchen island cabinets. The doors still need a second coat of primer. I'm off next Monday for President's Day, so hopefully I'll finish painting everything next weekend. 

Tweet

Happenings

Today, I caved and started seeds: basil, dill, cumin, cilantro, and chives. They're in a small domed container on the seedling heat mat.
Also today, the hubs and I purchased the cabinets for the kitchen island. It will eventually have a concrete counter and breakfast bar. 7 1/2 feet of cabinet is A LOT of cabinet! Hopefully will make up for the lack of pantry in the house.

Tweet

Do you see what I see?

Let me get a little closer for you....

On our new property, we have not one but TWO persimmon trees! The deer haven't found them yet and Sunday night I enjoyed two fruits fresh from the trees. It's been half my lifetime since I last ate a persimmon.

The Hubs and I put flag-stakes in the ground for approximate locations of his shop, my garden and the orchard trees. Grapes and berries do not have their locations determined, but hopefully after my uncle comes and grades for the shop and garden we'll have a better idea.
Enjoying a new to me brew (tried it for the first time at Bagger Dave's yesterday) while the Hubs finishes mowing. The mower was a little too bumpy for me and my back started cramping. At some point we'll be in the market for a mower with a comfy-er seat and a larger mowing deck.

Tweet

Landscaping

Even though there was a couple that lived in our house prior to us, it seems like a bachelor pad. There was no landscaping around the house, despite the fact that the condensing unit is a huge eyesore on the front of the house, the downspouts send out rivers of rain, and the water softener has made a small pond in the backyard. 

The last couple weeks there have been lots of perennials on sale at Lowe's for $1 to $3. I bought almost $100 in perennials. The most expensive were the lilac and elderberry which were $4 a piece.

Because of the water softener, I researched salt tolerant plants which include So Sweet Plantain Lily hostas, Entrapment and Stella de Oro daylilies, Tango Ladylike Asiatic Lily, Southern Comfort coral bells, echinacea and Sensation White salvia. I also planted a Brilliance Autumn Fern, which isn't listed as salt tolerant, but I thought might do well in the shade. I bought some of each and arranged them near the water softener outlet. This is kind of temporary for now as we're discussing regrading the backyard and adding a paver patio area with outdoor kitchen. It rained this weekend (finally!) due to hurricane Isaac and water ponds near the house in the backyard - no good!

Lilac at the corner

At the front of the house, near the condensing unit, is a mixture of Jade garden phlox, pink fountain gaura, "Jethro Tull" coreopsis, Sensation White salvia, Little Lemon goldenrod, and blue bomb speedwell. At the front corner is a Black Lace Elderberry. At the back corner is a dwarf Korean lilac.

Next on the list? Mulch!

Tweet

Making a House a Home

When the Hubs and I bought our house in Springfield, our house never felt like a home. I think because we both knew it was a temporary location until we were finished with school and decided where to raise a family.

When we looked at the house we recently purchased, the first thought that ran through my mind was "I could make this house a home." I can take this house and fill it with memories, good cooking smells and a family.

I typically arrive home before the Hubs. When he arrives home, I usually making dinner and he typically (slightly sarcastically) says "Lucy, I'm home!" and I feel like we really are home.

Tweet

House Progress

 We've been steadily working on our house. The bedrooms and bathroom are pretty much complete, except for some decorating.

Before

No after photo yet, but here's the inside of the drawers!

In the kitchen, I lined all the drawers with a patterned Contact paper. We painted the cabinets all white; they were polyurethaned oak and they made the kitchen seem really dark. I'm slowly unpacking kitchen boxes. It is taking a little longer than normal for several reasons: 1. The boxes have been in storage since October, so there is dust, 2. We bombed for bugs when we moved the boxes to this house because we saw some spiders and roaches when moving boxes from the storage building to the Budget truck, 3. I found mouse poopies in some of the boxes. Needless to say, EVERYTHING is getting washed before going in the cabinets.

Before

After

 The spare bedroom is painted and the bed is set up. We only have fleece sheets for this bed currently, so I will be shopping for new sheets and a comforter soon.

Before

After

 The bathroom was all beige and we painted the walls yellow and accented with grey. The shower curtain, bath mat and towels are all shades of grey. The white bookshelf looking thing in the lower left of the photo will be hung near the toilet. In our previous houses we've always had piles of magazines and books by the toilet. I told the Hubs we are only limited to what will fit in this bookshelf and then we need to downsize the pile.

Before

After

Our bedroom walls are the same color as the spare bedroom, except for the accent wall at the head of the bed. It is called "Grey Flannel" but appears purple, blue or grey depending on the lighting and what accessories are near it. We temporarily have our living room end tables in the bedroom, until we order our bedroom set. Then we'll finally have a headboard for the kingsize bed, with a matching dresser and matching side tables. 

Tweet

House work

This weekend we started painting the house. The crew consisted of my parents, brother, the Hubs, and on Sunday my cousin came over and helped.

Filling up the paint roller - kind of like a big syringe!

The Hubs decided to get this new toy from Lowe's. It's a paint roller, but the paint is stored in the handle of the roller. He painted the entire bedroom in probably less than 10 minutes.

The Hubs and my Dad were trying to use a Wagner spray gun to spray paint the cabinet doors, but the paint kept splattering. They thought maybe the paint was too thick, but even after thinning it down, it still splattered, so we decided to roll them instead.

Tweet

What's left behind

 This is the first time I've moved into a house and there was stuff left behind. Random stuff.

Some of the stuff I expected: light bulbs and fly swatters. The aluminum foil and silverware was a little odd.

And then what I found in the bedroom was even stranger. 

Both times that the Hubs and I looked at this house, it just felt "right". I've joked with him that both times we visited the house, the sun was shining through the trees and I could almost hear an angelic "ahhh-ahhhh" singing. 

Last night I was prepping the rooms for painting, removing shelves and wall mounted accessories such as towel racks and light switch covers. 

 And then this assembled puzzle fell off the top shelf of the second bedroom. An angel/fairy. Creepy? or a sign?

Tweet

House Hunters: Rural SE Missouri Edition

Some of you may know that the Hubs and I have been looking for a house for awhile now. In January we made an offer on a house about 1-1/2 miles from the farm. The house was a short sale and in July the mortgage company selling the home decided they weren't selling it short sale anymore and that we would have to either purchase it at the courthouse auction or make an offer on it after it went through the foreclosure process. I was devastated. The house needed a lot of work because it had been vandalized and I wasn't looking forward to months of sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, flooring and painting, but I was looking forward to a home. 

In the meantime, the Hubs and I looked at another house. We looked at this house back when I first moved to the farm last fall, but at that point we didn't have enough money for a downpayment. And it seemed a little too far from the farm. (A whole 8 minutes)

Here are the specs on this house:

about 1300 square feet, no basement (slab house)

about 3 acres, with several spot places ideal for the Hub's dream shop, and a garden and orchard, and pool

no vandalism

requires repainting and new flooring, but not a complete remodel

8 minutes from the farm

Here are some before photos for you:

The front of the house. The two car garage is very small. We're thinking it will eventually be remodeled into a master bedroom suite. The house definitely needs some landscaping!

The living/kitchen/dining are all one big room. I'd like an island in the kitchen. And we need to figure out some new flooring; there are stains on the carpet.  I really don't like carpet, but wood flooring will cost as much as furnishing the entire house.

View out the back door.

The smaller bedroom had this lovely wallpaper border with bulldozers, dumptrucks and other construction equipment. My brother removed it while I was working on removing the beautiful wallpaper border in the bathroom.

 See? Lovely.

 The larger bedroom is a deep blue.

 

We have plans for painting this weekend! Colors are already chosen to coordinate with the new bathroom towels and bedroom comforter.

More before and after photos coming soon!

Tweet

House repair

This weekend, my parents and brother came out to Springfield with me to help me and the Hubs work on the house. There was cosmetic work that needed to be done outside (painting the siding, removing the huge unused antenna, and replacing the siding on the back porch).

Mom painting!

The weekend turned out to be pretty nice. Thursday afternoon, after stuffing ourselves with ham and all the fixin's, we painted and demo'd the existing siding on the back porch.

Dad removing the huge antenna and patching the holes.

Dad and Daniel measuring siding



The Hubs and Dad formulating a plan of attack for the window



Having beer and desserts with my BFF Melissa and my parents at Farmers Gastropub

 There's still some interior work to do, but we got some of the big items off the list this weekend. Hopefully the house will be on the market by January 1 and will sell quickly once people get their tax returns in!

Tweet

Scrapbooking

... but not in the sense of photos and keepsakes of family events with captions. One of the architects I work with told me he keeps an inspiration book. Instead of keeping 30 years worth of Architectural Record magazine, he clips out articles and photos that inspire him and puts them in a binder.
I kind of do this with recipes. I have a pile of Food & Wine magazines; I put sticky notes on the recipes I want to try. Last year I did that and tore the recipes out that I wanted to keep.
I need to do the same thing with the Architectural Record, GreenSource, Architect magazine, Ecostructure, ED+C and Construction Specifier magazines. (I don't pay for any of those subscriptions separately; they are all "included" in my membership dues for various organizations.) I have an entire bookshelf devoted to these magazines, plus several piles around the house. They can be condensed! (Think the Hubs could reduce the car magazines, popular mechanics and porn this way? haha)

What brought this on? Several reasons:
1. magazine pile overload
2. needing inspiration for a couple projects I'm working on.
3. I don't know when we'll move out of this house, but we'd like it to be in good enough shape that we could put it on the market and let people tour it. Right now, the Cloffice doesn't make the cut.

OK. So this is where I explain the Cloffice. The house that we purchased nearly 3 years ago is only 24'x28', not including the front and back porches. There are two bedrooms. To get our king size bed to fit in the front bedroom, we had to take out the (small, we're talking 3'x3') closet. So the other bedroom is the Closet-office, or cloffice. This is because my desk, my bookcases, all of my hanging clothes and my hopechest are in here. There is also a rack with our luggage, a couple boxes of pottery from my ceramics classes, the china I got when Aunt Linda died, seeds, and the growlights. All in a room about 10'x10'. I would take a photo, but it's quite embarrassing to almost be an architect and have a room like this in my house.
Why such a small house? We bought this house because of the low payments. Our rent was $600 a month and the payment on this house is less than $350. We're doing a snowball (I think this is the website the Hubs uses.) effect on our bills and when I graduated three years ago it was our plan to have everything paid off in 5 years: credit cards, school loans, car loans and house loan. We are down to my school loans, the house loan and a couple payments on the car. (We would be done with the car loan if I hadn't lost my job for half of last year.) It's an amazing sense of freedom to say "That's paid off"!

Tweet