A touch of the hairy vetch

Although it is winter and getting cold here (a chilly 55 F for a high today...yes, I'm rubbing it in for you Northerners), we have not been neglecting our gardens. They've actually been rather productive.

We are experimenting with a cover crop in our main bed this year. This is a winter hardy crop that will help add organic matter and nutrients back into the soil, help crowd out the weeds, and in the spring will act as a mulch for our transplants. There are a lot of different cover crops out there, so I did a little internet research on what would be the best for us. One of the plants we chose was hairy vetch. While I was Googling this particular plant, Lisa came up behind me and said, "that sounds like a personal problem to me..."

We also retrofitted our raised beds to make a cold frame:


The plants are loving it in here -- we're growing lettuces, scallions, cilantro, parsley, chard, and kale. I hope we can keep it going all winter long. We have garlic growing in our side bed too -- last year they didn't do so hot so hopefully this year will be better. We have been getting a lot of rain though...

St. Nicholas was here!

What a nice surprise awaited us this morning:


St. Nicholas came during the night and filled our shoes with delicious candy. Not being Catholic I know nothing really of this tradition, but I'm game for anything that awards me candy.

The final finishing touch

With just a couple days left before Lisa's parents leave, it was very fitting that we were able to get the remaining element of the kitchen done today.

Lisa and I had a bit of trouble deciding what to do for a backsplash, and we finally came up with a simple idea. It turned out wonderful, and a bit unique!


We ordered a vinyl decal from Etsy (and even better -- the artist lives less than 2 hrs. from us, so we score some local economy points). There are so many artists who do these and they are all really cool. Some are so big they fit on an entire wall. We liked this simple little clump of flowers best (it does fit us rather well).




It's sort of striking in its simplicity, don't you think?

I'm glad we took these photos, because soon after putting up the decal, we installed the glass over top that will protect the wall. The glass looks really great, it's just challenging to get good photos because of the reflection!


I think Lisa was sitting on the floor for that one. Here's another:

Now our kitchen is officially done! Hooray!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here's a little food preview:


It's just about time to put the turkey in, and I think we might be taking a break to cut into one of those loaves of bread. Gotta make sure it came out ok, right?

And look at all the extra countertop we gained with our new microwave. Thanks Mom and Dad!


No better time to enjoy the new space of a new kitchen than Thanksgiving!

***Update***

Lisa's loaded plate:


The sweet potatoes are what my sister refers to as "crack whore" sweet potato casserole. They are incredibly delicious, very sweet, and a bit addictive...

And even with all her Jedi mind tricks, Vivian couldn't get the turkey to fall on the floor.

So sad...but we did put a little morsel in her dinner!

If you can't buy it, build it!

The majority of the rooms in our house are outfitted with hideous square recessed lighting.


The light in our front hallway didn't even have a cover on it, so it was hideous lighting with an exposed bulb. It's always bothered us, but it is nearly impossible to find anything to replace it.

When we were in Taiwan a few months ago visiting Julie, Lisa instantly noticed this light in her apartment:


We loved it, and began to think up ways to replicate it in our own house. We never could find any type of fixture that looked anything like it. With just a few days before Lisa's parents go back to Ohio, we pitched it to her dad to build it.

And voila!


It's practically identical! Now our front hallway light issue is fixed. I think we might do a few of the others the next time they come to visit...

The final reveal

OK, I guess you all have been patient enough. We finally got our kitchen nice and clean and took a bunch of photos for you. To jog your memory, we'll start by reminiscing...









Now, a few tummy tucks and butt lifts later, here she is!!!!













And the photos don't really do it justice...so here's an open invitation for anyone to come and visit. Now that we have a proper kitchen, we are ready to entertain!


A bonus: here's a cute close up of our new roof:

Has anyone seen our marbles?

We are getting to the very end of our kitchen remodel, with just a few minor details left. So, last week when we noticed it was going to be beautiful and sunny all weekend long (and then some), guess what we decided to do to celebrate a job well done?

Go to the beach and have a picnic?

Nope.

We re-roofed our house.

On Friday, a large dumpster was deposited in our driveway, along with 2 pallets worth of shingles.



Jen and Dwight drove all the way from Asheville to help out, and we used just about every hour of daylight. It was exhausting.



I like how everyone is hard at work here, but I've been caught taking a beverage break:



This project was powered by Babsie's oatmeal raisin cookies....

Of course as Murphy's Law would have it, we didn't know when we got started that the storm of the Century (or something like that) would be landing on our doorstep on Tuesday. So we plowed through to get as much done as we could and got her ready for the storm (nail gun at 6:30 AM -- I'm sure our neighbors love us). The carport will have to wait until this weekend. After about 8 inches of rain, so far so good!

It looks really nice -- we haven't taken any photos of the front of the house yet but we will soon!

And we promise to have finished kitchen photos soon. Here's a sneak peak:

Movin' on up

Eat your heart out, pink formica!

Working weekend

Last night Lisa prepared a beautiful fresh tuna steak. Here it is with a lovely lemon-garlic oil, fingerling potatoes and salad. I almost ate mine pre-grill (love me some sashimi!) but I held out. One of the many perks of living at the beach....


But, I digress.

My parents are coming for a brief visit this week, and at about the same time they leave, Lisa's parents' friends are coming from Ohio for about 5 days. So naturally, we prepared for our guests by doing this to our kitchen:


In preparation for our countertop install this week, we had to rip the old out and prep the cabinets. Unfortunately, the sink and stove top went out too making our kitchen really useless. We had a minor catastrophe this morning when a partly uninstalled sink was used to wash dishes only to find one of the pipes had cracked. Good news -- our floor finish works!

So, things look quite messy yet again, but I feel we are so close to finishing. Our next big step (to be started tomorrow) is the cabinet refacing. We started work on our built-ins:


Everything that is not painted is getting refaced or a new door. We'll paint the visible shelves white to match, and the rest of the wall will be painted whatever color we finally decide on. I'm sure there are tons of people that are cringing at the idea of painting/veneering solid wood, but we can't help it. Knotty pine in shiny chestnut is just not 'in' anymore. At least we are giving a shout-out to the 60's style of the house by not getting rid of the paneling completely (plus it was cheaper...).

One project we did recently start and successfully complete was our lighting. The two pendants above our sink look lovely:


Too bad they have nothing to illuminate but a couple of empty cabinet boxes! By next weekend, though, our kitchen could look very different...

chaos

Lisa wanted me to share a few photos of how we are living now, especially since the kitchen is pretty much off limits (see earlier post from today).

We have all entrances to the kitchen blocked off with large pieces of cardboard, chairs, etc. to keep our very curious animals from frolicking on the new floor. So far they have been pretty good; I think between the noise of the sander and the smell of the finish, they decided on their own to stay away, and now they have forgotten the kitchen exists. Notice the toaster and coffee pot...


Next we have the dining room, home to the refrigerator and what once was the dining table but what is now the food prep and general catch-all area:


We had to move the table over a bit to access the fridge, so you have to be very careful not to whack your head on the chandelier. We have an assortment of silverware and glasses (usually clean) on the table, and various other items that are normally stored in kitchen cabinets.

The rest of the dishes are still in the front hallway:


But we moved the other 1/2 of our island out of the back hallway and put it in front of the fireplace. So, to reheat leftovers, first go to the front hallway for a plate. Head to the dining room for a fork and grab the food from the fridge (watch the light!). Then walk back into the living room, reheat in microwave in front of fireplace, go outside to eat (often the only free chair and table space), then bring your dirty dishes back inside to the bathroom sink. If you need to refill the Britta pitcher, use the tub.

down time

We finally got the floors done this week! Hooray!


Doesn't it look great? Now we have to wait for the oil finish to cure so we're not allowed to work on it for a week. We can do a few things, but not much. We did get the doors put on the island so that is all done:



and you'll notice we got 2 of our 4 light fixtures hung. It's amazing how different a room can look with different lighting. The old lighting really made the kitchen look dated.

So far we are really happy with how things are turning out. In a week and a half, our countertops will be installed which I'm very excited for. Although, who wouldn't be? Pink formica covered in mold is not so appetizing...

Making progress

This weekend has been very rainy. That's weird for around here, since usually we get a passing shower and then it's done. Rarely does it just rain for the whole day (or weekend) unless there's a hurricane. Luckily for us, it's just rain (no hurricane), and being stuck inside with no temptation to go to the beach has made us very productive.

A lot has been done in the past week, but not much that has been really photo worthy. We've been patching, sanding, and painting the walls and ceiling, which is very messy. They look 100 times better though. The new holes for our lighting have been cut, and the old ones patched up. Soon we'll be done with the ceiling for good.

No more recessed fluorescent light! Woo hoo!

I thought I'd also share what the rest of our house looks like now that the kitchen is all pulled apart:

Most of the dishes now live in the front hallway. We also have the toaster on a little table in the middle of the dining room, and the coffee pot lives over by Vivian's dishes.

We also put our chopping block in the hallway. Good thing we're skinny.

Even with our prep table in the poorly lit hallway, it didn't stop Lisa from making bread!


And look at the progress we're making on the floor! We may have that done this week.


The vinyl is slowly retreating...