M for Monster....

Pretzels, peas, pansies, and pilfering

2012-01-22T19:07:00.006-05:00

Lisa got a lot of flour for Christmas. I mean, A LOT. In addition to the flour we already had, we

maxed at over 30 pounds of flour in our freezer and fridge.

Don't think I'm complaining, though. If there is one thing I love, it's carbohydrates. A few weekends ago, Lisa was busy making bread and pancakes (or was it waffles?) simultaneously. I think I hit the jackpot.

Last weekend, she entered the new world of pretzel making. Yum.

Before:

and after:

Right now she is busy in the kitchen making naan....can you smell it?

Our winter has been pretty mild this year, and although we are still waiting for it to start, the calendar says we should get ready for it to end. So, it is officially pea season. We started the seeds indoors by placing them in wet paper towels, and when they began to sprout, we set them out. Here they are today, just showing their heads above ground:

Our trellis is already up and ready, even though it will be a few months before the peas are big enough to need it. We are doing things a bit differently this year as you may notice; we made the flower garden a little bigger (bedded down with pine straw in this photo) and let the main veggie garden fill in, minus a little strip for peas and maybe an eggplant or 2 as the summer kicks in.

It was a little hard to decide to fill in the garden, but the last 2 summers were so brutal and it was impossible to keep up with it. We still have our raised bed, and we'll focus more energy on our containers, since everything seems to do well there. Pennywort, I raise my white flag and surrender the yard back to you. I can't believe I thought I had a chance...

Things are looking pretty good in the front yard, too. Our magnolia bush is putting on new buds, and you can see our little yellow pansies we planted to give the garden some winter color. We saved them off the "I'm dying" rack at Lowe's -- got about 24 of them for $5. None of them have died. Yet.

What's new with the pets you ask? Well, Vivian has a new stolen item of choice lately: the cat's food. Not the actual kibbles, but the container of cat food. We were a bit amazed that she routinely chooses this rather cumbersome container, and I have yet to personally see her do it. Lisa was lucky enough to catch her the other day and got the tail end of the escapade on film for your viewing pleasure:

And never play hide-and-seek with Caretta. It's boring:

broccoli and cookies

2011-12-18T15:55:00.003-05:00

Our broccoli made some nice little crowns this fall. We decided to harvest and eat them sooner rather than later, considering we are about to leave town and these guys would probably bolt before they got much bigger. Here they are still in the garden, with the lettuce and arugula well past their prime in the background. We still have parsley and cilantro doing well, too.

Here they are close-up....so cute!

And only 30 minutes or so later, they transformed to delicious broccoli tofu stir fry:

Lisa and I have been pretty organized with our Christmas shopping, etc. So on this relatively quiet weekend, we both felt it was a perfect time to get in the holiday spirit and make cookies! We put some Christmas music on and got to work.

Don't they look just perfect?

Yes, that is a sea star, but it works. We showed great restraint by only testing one (ok, 3) to make sure they were OK. The rest were packaged and frozen to be frosted and decorated at Holden Beach for "Clusemas 2011."

We'll see many of you soon -- can't wait!!! Merry Christmas to all and safe travels!

What's old is new

2011-12-04T19:36:00.004-05:00

We have been re-purposing, resurfacing, and in general making old stuff new again lately. A few weeks ago we dug our old hibachi grill out of storage and turned it into a fire pit. Not as fancy as some, but it was nice to enjoy the deck on one of the many mild nights we've been having. Mmm... marshmallows roasting on an open magnolia cone fire....

We recently visited my parents in New York, and the agreement for free room and board is that we have to take sh%* back with us. My parents are a little overrun with family "heirlooms" so we did what we could to lighten their load. After a little Old English, Lisa had this little dresser looking like new!

We did get a knob for that bottom drawer, although it isn't exact and needs staining first. I'm glad Lisa finally has her own dresser -- she had been using shelf space in the hall closet.

Look Mom and Dad -- the waste basket looks so cute in our bathroom! Mystery piece solved -- it is definitely the lid and kind of cute that it angles inward. Plus the hole on top lets you put little stuff in without lifting the lid! Those early 20th century potters were so clever:

And finally, we replaced the top of Vivian's bed with new sherpa (or sheepie, as we like to call it). We even had enough to re-do her pillow as well. It looks like new, and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. Vivian is pretty psyched about it too.

(and yes, that is a Tupperware container of granola behind her). That's a new one.

Vivian goes to the beach

2011-10-26T19:50:00.008-04:00

Hi everyone! It's Vivian! My moms are busy doing things (I'm not sure what, but they are awfully busy) and haven't had much time to blog. So I thought I'd share my photos of our trip to the beach. (Not that beach, a different beach).

It all started with not one, but two boat rides to get there! Doggie's 1st ferry ride:

Wheeeeeeee!

The house where we stayed had beautiful views of the ocean. I spent a lot of my time just sitting on the deck contemplating life:

All that thought made me tired, so I napped a lot too.

We did Tai Chi every morning. I got the feet right, but my ears never cooperated:

Happy hour! Even I got a gin and tonic:

There was lots of cooking going on so I supervised:

We also took lots of walks.

The waves were loud and a little scary, but I liked sniffing all the new weird smells. Sometimes I even found gross things to put in my mouth! Bonus!

When we weren't walking or eating, we were mostly reading. Well, I didn't get much reading done, but I made sure my moms did.

They say home is where your bed is (do they?), and it sure was nice that my bed had a view of the ocean for a week:

Don't we make a great looking family? Too bad Caretta wasn't here, but she'd just use the beach as a giant litter box anyway.

Sunset!!!

It sure was nice to go on vacation. Paradise Acres is ok, but most of the dogs at camp are such whiners. I hope I was good enough that they'll take me again. I feel so loved.

Disclaimer: This was a Vivian reenactment. Were this the real Vivian, she'd probably say she didn't care that she got to go and that we were boring. But she'd still feel loved.

Happy Halloween!

Hodge Podge

2011-08-14T17:42:00.009-04:00

Sorry for the summer hiatus everyone! To be honest, there hasn't been much to report in the garden. In a nutshell, all is dead. It has been super dry and everything has reached (or is nearing) its last gasp. We even lost our little Japanese maple tree. The good news is that Lisa has only had to mow twice all summer!

We did manage to squeeze a few more things out of our garden. Although small, the eggplants actually did OK in the poor conditions, and the peppers faithfully produced in their pots on the deck:

They quickly became this tasty stir fry --

Our leeks should have been in the ground quite a bit longer, but they were wilting so badly and had ceased any growing. So we put them out of their misery. Seven leeks gave us only 2-3 cups; they look more like scallions here:

No matter. They were still delicious in our potato leek soup:

I know, soup in 99F heat. But sometimes the 82F air conditioning seems downright chilly!

One surprise in our garden has been our "crabapple" trees. We ordered these from Arbor Day, so one would assume they would have the variety correct. These are the biggest crabapples I've ever seen:

Apparently the only difference between an apple and a crabapple is just the diameter of the fruit. We hope these are edible but I'm not holding my breath. Lisa always said she wanted an apple orchard...

Our lone persimmon is still hanging in there, but it will be a few months still before it is ripe. I do hope we get to eat it.

Had to share the delicious chocolate chip scones Lisa made last weekend:

And Caretta has claimed her new favorite napping spot. I call this her Maru "more small box" impression:

Don't know Maru? Watch this: Many too small boxes and Maru
(it's a little long, but watch the whole thing. "Slim box" is the best.

And finally, Lisa had a really cool find a few weeks back:

A dried leaf? No...look closer:

It's a moth! How cool is this guy? We think he's some kind of sphinx moth, but we are not quite sure. This other blog, At Altitutude, called it a blind sphinx, but I don't know. They have some cool pictures of it, though!

Parade of Dahlias

2011-05-27T19:25:00.007-04:00

Have we mentioned we are proud of our dahlias? They are blooming like crazy right now, and are just so beautiful. Over time, their colors kind of fade in the sun, which gives them this antique look. We can't get enough of them!

Most of our new garden is filling out rather nicely. Our nasturtiums are blooming, as are our sky & ice daisies:

Our new hydrangea (one of them) in our shade garden is flowering, too. This is a special lacecap variety that has this flat flower head and only the edges bloom. Not quite as showy as the big ball variety. So pretty!

OK, enough with the flowers. Here are a few veggie pictures:

Cherokees and lemon drop tomatoes will be ripening soon. With as little rain as we've had, and as hot as it's been, they are probably going to be done before they even get started. But we will enjoy what we get.

Our peppers are looking great. We even have one bell pepper that we overwintered and it now has something like 15 peppers on it. No joke. The others are looking great, too and I'm glad to see the ants hard at work fertilizing our Hungarian purples:

We'll have more garden to share soon! And I know you were all wondering: where has Stan been? Don't worry, Stan the toad is back, and has made a nice little nest for himself in the garden below the kitchen window. He is so cute:

Although I haven't heard any calling from that area at night, so I'm wondering if Stan is a girl? Stanrietta? Stanlyn?

And finally, dessert. Lisa has exposed me to the wonderful world of midwestern custard pies. Rhubarb custard, peaches and cream, strawberry pie (I know, strawberry pie isn't custard-based, but it is in the same genre of topless pies). Here is a delicious rhubarb custard we ate this week:

I'll have to introduce her to northeastern fruit pies (pies with tops on them). Mom, can I get your peach pie recipe?

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!

Ode to Moms

2011-05-08T10:38:00.008-04:00

As today is Mother's Day, we'd like to take some time to honor the two women we love dearly.

Who love us unconditionally, especially when we aren't at our best:

Who taught us to cook, but that every night doesn't have to be a gourmet meal:

And who showed us the beauty and wonder in gardening, but forgot to mention the backaches:

So here's to you, Mom! We made you blueberry pancakes and mango for breakfast (it was delicious):

Complete with a "bouquet" of fresh flowers:

Happy Mother's Day to you and all the moms we know. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Early summer, fast growth

2011-04-29T20:24:00.005-04:00

We sure did enjoy spring, all 7 days of it. It seems like it went from chilly to 80 degrees in about 2 weeks and we were yet again gypped of the lovely spring weather this area sometimes offers. We actually broke down and turned the AC on for a few days this week. Ridiculous.

The warm spell has definitely helped the plants along, though. We're glad we put the peas in so early, because they are already slowing down in the heat. They have been great -- we harvested about 3 gallons of sugar snaps (they are just about done) and the pod peas are almost ready to pick. Look at how loaded we are:

Our kale is also looking great:

Here's a shot of our beets, eggplants, garlic, and snap peas. The peas will be done before they crowd out the garlic anymore:

Lisa's potatoes:

The chard was a little slow to start, but it's gaining speed now:

And of course our favorites, basil:

peppers (pepper butts already!):

and tomato (this is our best looking Cherokee; it's twice the size of the ones in the garden):

A lot of our tomatoes already have flowers on them. Our magnolia tree is blooming already too. It looks like it may cool down a little this week, but we may be in for a rough summer. I guess it's a good thing everything is coming along early -- it'll probably all be dead by 4th of July!

Finally, an update on our front garden. Quite a few of our seeds didn't take (not surprising) so we had to supplement with some bought plants. We may hunt for some zinnias this weekend. But the nasturtiums and all our other early starts are doing well:

Especially our Dahlias, which look like they could bloom any day now...

A whole new kind of crazy

2011-04-03T21:14:00.007-04:00

This weekend, Lisa and I ventured into yet another (and probably our last) home improvement project. The project sounds simple enough: put in new flower bed in front yard. Oh yeah, and in order for it to look right, we'll have to re-direct the front walkway. I attempted to keep it simple, with simple stone edging, slate step stones, and pebbles filling in the space between. We weren't even going to rip up the old walkway. Well, I got a good dose of reality in how not simple my project would be. While at Lowe's buying supplies, one of the guys helping us said he thought we were crazy to take on that project. He obviously doesn't know us.

We mentioned in an earlier post some of the site prep we had been doing. We had almost all the lawn torn out last weekend, in anticipation of this weekend's work:

This project took a lot of supplies. And they were all heavy. We didn't even really get going on the actual project until after 2PM on Saturday, because it took so long to move all that heavy material.

Here's a little slideshow of our weekend...

Ripping out the last bit of lawn (the dirt/compost pile we had delivered earlier that week):

Smoothing and leveling out the walkway:

We then added a thin layer of sand (which was painful to buy, considering our soil is nothing but sand) and weed fabric:

Then came the edging:

Sunday morning -- Lisa makes sure it's all straight:

Another layer of sand. We also started aligning the stepping stones to determine their final layout:

Sand is done and the compost is (somewhat) spread evenly for the garden:

We obviously got very busy for the next 2 phases: setting the stepping stones and filling in with pebbles. We took no photos of either event. Let me tell you, it's harder than it looks. You can't just "sprinkle" a 50 lb. bag of pebbles delicately.

It is incredibly hard to imagine that we went from this:

to this:

in about 24 hours. We are tired. So tired, in fact that we ordered take out for dinner TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW. We're never too tired to cook. Until now.

We did find time to plant a number of our plants in the new garden. Wanting a front garden was how this all got started, but funny how the planting took all of about 30 minutes.

The plants look small now, but hopefully it will be gorgeous in another month or two...

Spring blooms

2011-03-26T10:04:00.005-04:00

There are so many wonderful things flowering in our yard.

Tulips:
Iris:

Redbud:
Our crabapple bloomed for the very first time:

Hellebores (lenten rose):

These guys actually flower during the winter, but we just added these to our shade garden and wanted to share how cool they look.

Last weekend we bought 2 new trees to add to our yard. That puts the total up to 11 trees planted since we moved in. That doesn't count the ones that didn't make it or that we gave away. We got a persimmon tree (I've never tried them, but Lisa says they are good and thought it would be something different) and planted it near the birdbath:

She is leafing out a little; we'll post another photo once she's a little more visible!

We also bought a saucer magnolia, which is more like a bush than a tree. The flowers on it are so beautiful and it smells wonderful.

She is going to go in the front yard, where we have started yet another project. We want to change the placement of the front walkway and create a nice garden in front of the boxwoods. Here Lisa is just getting started with the digging:

And here is our progress:
Slow going, but we're moving along. We just love to make work for ourselves.

Look what is going on in the vegetable garden:

Hooray for peas! We will be eating them very soon...

And our seedlings have gotten so big:

These are our tomatoes, a few daisies (white petals and bluish centers), and lots of dahlias. The dahlias will be the main focal point of the new front yard garden, but we grew a bunch so that we could add them in other places around the yard.

And what would a blog post be without the latest of Vivian's antics? What did she steal this time?
A bag of potting soil,

that she managed to drag all the way

to her bed.

Busy bees

2011-03-06T17:02:00.006-05:00

We've had lots going on in the past week and have many photos to share.

1. Trip to Charleston.

We took a little mini-vacation last weekend and explored the city of Charleston. Lisa had never been, and it turned out to be a great time to go down there. Weather was beautiful, and so many things were already blooming.

The city,of course, is known for its architecture, but also its gardens. We loved what they used as bedding plants in one of their main parks:

Parsley! They used swiss chard a lot, too, which looked really neat with all its color.

We took a little jaunt outside of the city in an attempt to find this landmark. I'm amazed that we found it (we had no directions and no good map; it wasn't that well marked and it was down a dirt road) but we did! It is called Angel Tree and it is a live oak that is hundreds of years old. It was really amazing to stand under her -- you could really sense how old she was.

We then returned to the city for some more sightseeing, shopping, and of course good food.
The next day we drove to Cypress Gardens before heading home, and took a hike through the swamp:

There were signs warning us of alligators everywhere, and we kept expecting one to leap out and grab us! A bit unnerving, especially since we were practically the only people there. No signs of alligators until we got almost all the way to the end of the loop:

He didn't look like he was going to do much leaping.

Aside from diligently watching for man-eating lizards, we did get to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. They had lots of blooming camellias, daffodils, saucer magnolias, and azaleas.
I love this photo:

2. Lisa's 30th birthday.

Lisa is 30 (finally)! She celebrated the big day by skipping work and spending time with our seedlings. She got a number of things transplanted (with Caretta's help, of course):

I then came home and immediately started making her cake. I remembered flowers, too (I'm a good one).

Dinner, wine, cake, presents...sounds like a good day to me!

3. Garden

We spent this entire weekend outside weeding, moving and transplanting lots of things. The days are getting warmer and longer and it is definitely showing. Today while it was raining, I swear I could see the yard greening up right before my eyes.
We cleaned up the strawberries and made room for 2 new raspberry plants, and then cleaned up the main bed to get it all ready. We've already planted garlic and beets, and transplanted the little kale plants. Notice the daffodils blooming along the fence?

The peas are looking so good (and you can see one of our young garlics on the bottom right):

We transplanted a lot of our seedlings into bigger pots today, and Caretta decided to join them under the grow light. We think this means one of 2 things: 1. She's jealous of all the attention our plants get and is trying to "blend in," or 2. she wants a base tan before heading to Cancun for spring break. If she starts packing up white t-shirts, we'll know.

Look at our cute little crocus!

We just planted these this fall so it is exciting to see them. The bulbs I mistakenly planted upside down were the first to bloom. Just sayin'.

4. Ice cream!

Here Lisa is "making" ice cream in our brand new maker:

All done! It is like magic...

We put this batch in the freezer to harden a little bit more, but not without a taste test first. Delicious!

Seed planting weekend

2011-02-05T14:03:00.002-05:00

In just 9 short weeks, it will be April 9. That date in particular bears no special meaning; it just happens to be the weekend that we will be safe to start planting our tender veggies in the garden. Which means this weekend we have to start planting those seeds. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants -- their lives will start today (or maybe tomorrow). It's all very exciting.

So far, our spring plans are coming along nicely. Look at how nice our little plants look:

Kale babies line the left side, with spinach (ready to be transplanted already to the raised bed) in the middle. Way in the back, you'll notice our row of little leeks. I'm actually super-excited about the kale. It is by far my favorite green, and we haven't had much luck with it in past years. Our very first gardening year we had a huge kale plant that wouldn't quit, and we were fooled into thinking kale was easy to grow. This year, we bought all new seed, new variety, and so far so good.

Dill:

One of our successfully overwintered herbs.

Lisa liked the way our aloe and agave looked on their stand in the mudroom:

And finally, this was a pizza that Lisa made a couple of weeks ago. It was awesome. The crust was perfect chewy/crispy, and it was topped with pesto (homemade!), caramelized onions, and Parmesan cheese. We sprinkled it with fresh basil, too. It was amazing.

Snow fun

2011-01-23T12:16:00.003-05:00

Final total: 4 inches.

Today is a gorgeous day so we got out and enjoyed it a little. We took a nice walk down the street (except for dodging the morons who were driving around towing inner tubes and boogie boards with children on them). We frolicked with Vivian in the backyard:

Then we built our snow family:

The temperature is rising fast and I've been told Caretta's tail has already fallen off.

We didn't want our neighbors to miss out on our creativity so we made a little snow posse at the end of the driveway.

They should melt by the end of today, but if not, I'll have to run over them in the morning. Lisa finds this funny.

Update:

2011-01-22T15:39:00.001-05:00

MORE snow?

2011-01-22T10:36:00.003-05:00

Yup, we're getting more snow today. Luckily, it's Saturday and we don't have a thing planned. So we'll just sit here and watch it fall:

We planted our peas last weekend, but they don't mind the cold. Lisa likes to force germination by placing the peas in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel in the warm laundry room, so that's why they look so far along. When we planted them in the ground, they all had roots already, and some had green shoots up.

Although typically our garden is mostly sand, that lite stuff is the snow. So far, the soil hasn't looked too bad.

Seedlings are up! Our spinaches came up in a record 3 days. Crazy.

Do you remember Pigs In Space? It had a spin-off show that unfortunately flopped. I present "Cats In Sinks!":

Snow, seeds, stealing, and....bread

2011-01-16T17:35:00.007-05:00

It is never very impressive, but it is still pretty exciting around here when we get snow. And when it sticks, well, that's cause for celebration. Or statewide shutdown for 2-3 days. Both Lisa and I had short days on Monday, which gave us plenty of time to sit around and watch the snow fall. It was really quite pretty:

Vivian loves the snow, and especially loves to eat it. She got to romp in it a little, but it unfortunately all melted by mid-day Tuesday.

It's hard to believe that was just a week ago, since today we got all our seed starting stuff out and planted our first of the spring seeds (spinach and leeks). We even got outside for a bit this evening to start working the soil. It feels so good to be out there again.

I know you don't believe us, but we are going to be very disciplined this year and only start one flat. We are growing a few new flowers that can all be direct sown, and we're attempting to really cut back on our veggies. We'll see what happens!

Those of you who know Vivian well know her affinity for stealing. Her usual targets are shoes, face wash (or lotion), and spaghetti.* Lately she's shown a fondness for the bag of kitty litter. She actually has to squeeze her head in the door of the closet where it is kept and drag it out, which makes it a fun challenge for her.

I love the look on her face -- it looks like she's guarding it, but Lisa tells me she was actually mid-sneeze when the photo was taken. Notice the other flotsam she has accumulated...

And finally, more delicious bread. Jen is letting us borrow her breadmaker and Lisa has been making a fresh loaf each week. Here is a little wheat loaf from last week:

Today she made some non-breadmaker bread, a white and a rosemary. We've already cut into the rosemary loaf -- Yummy!

*From May, 2009:

Final touch

2010-11-20T16:41:00.005-05:00

To add to the finishing touches to our bathroom, we were going to have Lisa's dad build us a shelf. We had a nice piece of chopping block left over from our kitchen redo, and thought we could put it to good use.
Today, however, at a rummage sale in town, we found a little shelf that kinda matched our size and style. And it could be ours for just $1.50! What a deal. Now look how cute it looks, complete with a camellia from our yard.

Lisa's pride and joy this week has been our final harvest of peppers, the only thing we did right this summer. Look at them all!

Now they are all diced and ready for easy wintertime meals:

So yummy! Now on to one of our favorite holidays -- Thanksgiving! Stay tuned to hear all about our tasty treats!

In loving memory of Lulu. We miss you.

Voila!

2010-10-27T21:38:00.005-04:00

Sorry to be so slow in getting the finished bathroom photos posted -- between a trip to Canada, getting married, throwing a party (or 2), and finding a new job, we've been busy! We'll be sure to post a few shots from BC soon. And if you haven't already seen, check these out by our awesome wedding photographer:

http://www.laraeichhorn.com/photography/weddings/wendy-and-lisas-elopement/

Sooo.....back to the bathroom. It looks fabulous. I know many of you got to see it for the first time in person (yay!), but for those of you who haven't seen, here ya go.

First, The Way We Were:

ewww....

They Way We Are:

Can you believe it is the same space? It looks straight out of a magazine. Here are more:

No more pink tub!!!!!!

Now what do we do??????

Progress!

2010-09-26T08:28:00.005-04:00

We have made incredible progress in the past week or so. The plumbing has been re-done, a wall has been rebuilt, and the drywall has been smoothed and sanded.

We moved the placement of the lights, so here Lisa is repairing the old holes. We even got a few coats of primer up-- look at how nice:

We almost didn't pass the test, but the Inspector Kitties finally OK'd the work:

We started tiling! This is a very exciting step in the process. The prep work was a bear but the actual tiling is kind of fun. We'll see what we think once we start the grout...

If I get a chance, I'll try to post another photo later today -- we may have an "oohh, ahhh" moment!

Demo, 99% complete

2010-09-13T21:19:00.004-04:00

We are making progress. All but the plywood under our 2nd toilet has been pulled out, and most of it is already at the dump. The demo phase is the worst -- lots of mess and it always looks worse before it gets better! Here are a few fun photos:

Most of the subfloor has been repaired (we discovered a rather large hole right underneath the toilet -- it's a wonder we never fell through!):

Look at our new plumbing, and we finally have outlets! No more hair drying in the guest room:

When we ripped out the tile in the 1/2 bath, we left a very nice open wall in between the 2 bathrooms. So, we just tacked up a towel for privacy!:

Here we are scraping about 10 layers of paint off the wall. As you can see, the original color was pink. When we moved in, it was seafoam green, and it took us 4 coats of white to cover it up. There was another white and I think a beige layer in there, too. We're pretty sure some of those layers have to be lead-based:

Then all the walls of the small bathroom were removed, including the one the sink was attached to! There was an attempt to keep this one working at least for a few more days, but unfortunately it has seen its end. It is currently hanging out in our carport, and I hear it trembles in fear when it hears Lisa's car approaching:

So what is still working in our bathrooms you may ask? Well, the shower still works (that's cardboard behind the plastic protecting the beams and insulation):

The toilet, although I hear that might be coming out soon. Good thing Food Lion is nearby!:

And here is our new bathroom sink, aka the kitchen sink. It's kind of like camping.

I think we may have just about reached the valley, and the only way to go from here is up!

Demo phase, 70% complete

2010-09-07T21:58:00.002-04:00

This was taken around 4 PM yesterday:

That big pink square is where the mirror used to be. Those brown streaks? Fifty years of nicotine stains. Gross.
We tried to stop for happy hour, but it was too cathartic ripping out that awful vanity so we kept going. Here we are hauling out one of the sinks:

I hated those sinks. They are now sitting at the curb -- maybe someone in the Morehead City area would like a pair of pink porcelain planters? I have a feeling they will be reunited with their cousins, the Pink Toilet sisters, in the local dump.

And voila, the current state of things:

I like this photo because Caretta is hiding the wood rot on the floor. There's another spot by the bathtub -- both spots we were mostly aware of, but it's still unnerving to have to look right at it. Especially when the hole it creates leads right to your crawl space. I hope we don't lose any cats down there, or gain some new critters coming up!

Here we go again

2010-09-05T20:51:00.004-04:00

Lisa's parents are down in NC again, their home away from home, for the next 3 months. We worked them to death last year with our kitchen remodel and new roof, but they are gluttons for punishment and are ready to help us tackle our bathrooms. We got right to it this weekend, and tile is already flying off the walls. This is really the last room that needs serious help, so it is so exciting (and scary!) to get it started. The transformation of 211 Virginia Ave is almost complete.

Just to remind you how terribly the bathroom needs help, here are a few "before" photos:

Mmmm....pink tile countertop...

If this sink wasn't all gunked up with hard water and rust stains, and had decent water pressure, it would be cool and retro. It is pretty awful, though. And pink. Have you noticed a theme with our house yet? The new bathroom is going to be very anti-pink. Probably no warm colors in the scheme at all. In my head it looks beautiful...we shall see soon!

Destruction has begun -- not an easy task with wire mesh and about 2 inches of concrete attached to the tile:

We managed to get the toilet out, remove the rest of the wall behind it, and put the toilet back (it may be a few days until the drywall phase. Don't worry, though, we didn't work all day. Today was a beautiful beach day and we did manage to sneak some leisure time in:

Stay tuned for updates!

Infestation

2010-08-27T18:49:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I noticed our parsley plants had become party central to a whole family of caterpillars. Today, annoyed with the destruction they were causing, started to yank them off one-by-one and tossed them into the yard. Those of you who know me well know I have difficulty killing insects -- I've been known to collect cockroaches in paper towel and place them humanely outside. I know they will come right back in, but I just can't kill them. Don't make me.

Plus, these caterpillars were beautiful. They kept shooting their stink glands at me when I tried to pull them away from the plant -- luckily not too strong but 2 hours later, I am still smelling a bit of caterpillar funk....About the time I had finished cleaning off one of the plants, I got nervous that these caterpillars could be Monarchs or something. They were just too pretty.

So I ran inside, did some research, and discovered they are Black Swallowtail butterflies. Horrified with myself, I ran back outside, picked the biggest caterpillars out of the yard (thank God I didn't kill them!) and put them back on the parsley. Sorry to see my parsley go, but it's cheap and easily obtained at the supermarket. I want butterflies!

If I am observant, I'll try to take photos as the caterpillars make their chrysalises (chrysalisi?).

Here's a Google image of a Swallowtail. Coincidentally, the site I pulled the picture from was from Northwest Ohio nature!

A Happy (and Beautiful) 4th

2010-07-08T16:30:00.003-04:00

We had gorgeous weather over the 4th of July weekend. Besides getting into the garden and doing some much needed weeding, we found some free time to appreciate where we live. The beach was just beautiful:

The water was this amazing shade of green -- really light close to shore and then darker further off. It wasn't terribly clear, but the color was kind of mesmerizing. We wondered if there had been a chemical spill nearby, but decided ignorance is bliss. We'll let you know if we turn radioactive!!

Fort Tomato

2010-07-02T16:45:00.007-04:00

While Lisa's parents were here this past week, they got our shade cloth erected over our cherokee tomatoes -- something Lisa and I have been putting off for weeks. We bought the cloth this spring, which provides 30% shade, knowing that it was necessary to give the tomatoes a bit of a break from all that scorching sun once summer rolled around. The cloth, of course, sat in its box while our tomatoes became sadder and sadder.

Luckily, the tent is finally up and since the cherokees seem to be hanging in there pretty well, I hope they might catch a second wind. The recent rain and dramatic drop in humidity and temperature are a plus, too.

We have quite a few fruits still ripening, and new flowers, too:

Unfortunately, it was too late for the paste tomatoes:

Yikes.

It wouldn't be 4th of July without corn on the cob. We have a few ears growing:

The close-up distorts the perspective-- these ears are about the size of my thumb (maybe slightly bigger). Oh well, maybe they'd be good in a stir fry? ;)

Some days I think we should just stick to peppers. Check this out -- there are at least 7 peppers on this one plant alone:

The great thing about chilies is that they freeze really well. We pre-dice them and freeze them in little storage bags. Definitely comes in handy over the winter!

Pepper Rowe:

Not the only one

2010-06-24T16:55:00.004-04:00

Since we aren't having the greatest luck with our garden lately, I was actually rather happy to see that our favorite local gardener, Ann Edwards (see her blog here: http://soundharvest.blogspot.com) is having just as much trouble. I don't mean to find pleasure in other people's misfortune, but I do like knowing we are not alone. Plus I strive to be Ann Edwards, so the more alike we are, the better!
Here's a look at our garden, taken a few days ago. It is from afar, so you really can't see exactly how bad it is:

That front right corner used to be zucchini. Take a closer look at what used to be a ground cherry:

That green thing is a weed. Go figure. If we could find a way to market Virginia creeper, we'd be sitting on a gold mine.

I can't complain too much, though, because despite how awful our tomato plants look, they have produced some pretty stellar tomatoes. Too bad the season won't last, but at least we got something out of them:

Even the paste tomatoes have been good. Good size, few holes and cracks, and no end rot. This cherokee purple looks so pretty still on the vine:

We also had a decent potato harvest. The Yukons didn't get very big, but check out those nice red skinned potatoes:

I think they are dinner tonight. And although we don't usually eat them (they are a 5 out of 5 on the spiciness scale), our fish peppers are gorgeous this year. Right now they are just beginning to turn.

Some of my perennials are dying, including my asters and a blueberry bush. My coneflowers wilt terribly every afternoon, but seem to be hanging in there. The coreopsis looks awful and I'm tempted to cut it back. My liatris, however, is in full bloom and looks great. I didn't believe the description when it said it could be 5 feet tall!

Dog wants in, cat wants out.

Parched

2010-06-17T18:48:00.004-04:00

Lisa and I think God (Allah, Mama N, or whoever) has a large invisible umbrella over Carteret County. Not even the whole county, just mostly our neighborhood and vicinity. Huge thunderstorms and rain events have this uncanny ability to break up into nothing when they reach our force field -- I don't think we have received more than 1/8" of rain in four weeks, despite the constant storms popping up around us. This has made both of us rather irritable, and despite our efforts to water our garden, it is quickly approaching dead.
Luckily, a few things are hanging in there (and we'll be saving seed for their exceptional drought-tolerance!):

Our cherokees are hanging in there pretty well, and we've already harvested about 5-6 really nice looking tomatoes. And no end rot this year! I'll have some more photos of them soon. Even though our paste tomatoes are looking pretty awful, we got some nice fruits off them, too. I think they are done for, though. Our potatoes never got very big before the plants died, but they are still pretty tasty!

Our pride and joy this year are our peppers, both the bell and chilis. They are just beginning to turn, and I love how nice and big the bells got:

I think having them on the deck, partially shaded by our bushes really helped. This photo is from just one plant.

And here are a bunch of photos from my seedballz:

It's a mix of flower seeds held together in a clay ball so they don't dry out or get carried away by birds when they are trying to germinate. It creates this neat bouquet effect. With everything else withering away, it's nice to see some unexpected color.

And finally, here's a glimpse of our little possum (opossum?) baby that was trapped inside our 5 gallon bucket and nearly gave me a heart attack (he's probably saying the same about me!):

He eventually scampered away and probably up the magnolia tree. Haven't seen him since.

Our first big bounty

2010-06-04T19:09:00.003-04:00

Not pictured: new potatoes, chili peppers, bell peppers

A trip to the big city

2010-06-01T21:29:00.003-04:00

Lisa and I got out of our bubble this weekend and explored the booming metropolis of Raleigh. We used our time wisely and managed to squeeze Thai food, the asian market (more mochi!), the art museum, and of course, Trader Joe's in one day. Look, here we are at the Arboretum:

I think it's funny that we took a break from our garden to visit a really large...garden. At least we suppressed the urge to pull weeds (not that there were many).

Unfortunately, Lisa's camera died shortly after this photo was taken, but we did manage to get a shot of this gorgeous dahlia:

They had a bunch of equally stunning varieties. They were huge, and something about their dark purple stems and bright colored flowers was striking. There was one that was literally fluorescent yellow. Not sure how much I liked that one, but the genetic feat was admired.

On a completely different note, I wanted to share with you our latest critter of the household. I think I'll name him Todd. Or maybe Stan.

Lisa says he's like an Easter egg because he just shows up in random places around the deck. I've never seen him move. I like how he made himself at home in our yogurt cup basil.

Back on track...maybe

2010-05-21T20:33:00.007-04:00

So we've gotten really behind on blogging, and now our garden is in full swing. We're hoping to be a bit more regular with posting now that crazy April and May are just about over, but now it's time to play catch up. Here are a whole bunch of photos to show you how things are doing so far...

This is the basil from Florida. Look how good it is doing still!!

Check out our awesome Swiss Chard:

Seriously, it's as big as my head!

Our peas did well this spring. Here Lisa is tending to them:

So pretty!

We also discovered that Vivian LOVES peas. Pod and all. We even caught her eating them right off the plants. I think she likes them more than Beggin Strips...

A few strawberries:

Beets:

The tomatoes are looking pretty good both on the deck:

And in the garden (they really like the tomato towers):

We'll have ripe tomatoes before you know it! Cherokee purple:

Amish paste (these are a new variety for us, and so far look awesome):

red onions:

We discovered a tip to keep the squash vine borers away -- plant onions in with your zucchini:

Ground cherries:

LOTS of ground cherry volunteers. So many, that Lisa potted a bunch and gave them away at work.

I just love this photo. The ant looks like he's saying, "hi mom!":

My perennial garden:

Chili peppers:

Our one major crop failure was with the corn, which was a new thing for us. We might try it again, but first we'll have to out-smart the culprit:

This bunny was about as big as my hand, and SO totally cute. I think Vivian cornered her under the deck last week (don't worry, no bloodshed), so I don't think she'll come around anytime soon.

We'll post more soon, we promise!

M for Mochi

2010-04-15T19:28:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Lisa and I visited our favorite Asian market on the way home from our trip to New Bern. We got our staples of rice and banh pho noodles, along with some preserved radish (for pad thai). As we were checking out, look what we saw:

Mmmm....mochi. We ate a lot of mochi in Taiwan, as there are so many flavors (and some not so tasty) but peanut (with the peanut coating on the outside) was one of our favorites. Kind of cool to find it in Havelock, NC. Plus a few weeks ago I found a green tea mochi hidden in the back of our pantry, which was exciting until I discovered it was as hard as a rock.

So we ate our peanut mochi and reminisced about our trip to Taiwan. Not as good as being there, but not bad.

Perennials -- the gift that keeps on giving

2010-04-09T19:20:00.004-04:00

It's been very exciting watching all the perennials come back to life and peek their little green heads out of the dirt (and I think it's time for me to get out more). The most exciting have been the perennials that I started from seed last year -- they all did so well over the summer but you never know how they will fare in their first cold winter. I'm glad to see so many of them made it. And so much larger, too! They will be ready to divide this fall for sure.

My most recent appearance was from my butterflyweed, which was extra exciting because she died off rather early in the fall. Here she is:

Three of the 4 liatris are back:

And 2 of the ox-eye sunflowers:

I put a bunch of these in a few other spots around the yard and they've all come back. One of them is HUGE! My ornamental grasses and coneflowers are back, too.

We decided to propagate our own sweet potatoes this year, instead of ordering them (which can cost about $15-20). Look how they are doing:

I wish I could say this is one of our sweet potatoes, but it's not. We tried using one of ours, but it was getting a bit old and wrinkly, so it just rotted when we soaked it. This guy just came from the grocery store.

This weekend we are headed to New Bern to view the gardens at the Tryon Palace. Plus they are having a plant sale. Because we need more plants.

Our first impatien bloom:

Yellow haze

2010-04-07T17:05:00.004-04:00

So the pollen rolled in this weekend. Literally. There was no pollen on Saturday, then on Sunday we could see it blowing down the street in huge clouds. So much for opening the windows to let the fresh air in.

Note that we had just powerwashed and stained our deck, so it was looking practically brand new. Everything is just coated in a thick layer of yellow dust:

Thank God for Zyrtec.

On another note, the Easter Bunny came to our house and left plastic eggs all over the backyard.

Due to the economic downturn, unfortunately, the eggs were empty. Given we had recently devoured about 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies over about 3 days, I'm seeing this as a blessing.

Most of our plants found permanent homes this week, either in pots on the deck:

Or in the garden. Now begins the arduous task of keeping everything watered.

We have another bed of tomatoes like this one, plus many in containers. In all, we have 25 tomato plants of 4 different varieties. Crazy? Yes, but I am a firm believer that you can never have too many tomato plants.

Here are our ground cherries, and soon we will transplant the eggplant into the space between them. They got a bit of a late start, but they are catching up nicely in this warm weather.

And finally, our peas are flowering!

It's only a matter of days until fresh snap peas. Not much is better than that.

Earth hour

2010-04-02T10:40:00.003-04:00

Sometime last week there was an international campaign to save the world by encouraging everyone to turn out their lights for 1 hour. Turning out your lights = saving electricity = saving oil, coal, natural gas, trees, money = saving the environment, discouraging war, increasing personal financial security = saving the world. Although Lisa and I debate as to whether saving the world is the way to go, we decided to participate.

We passed the time in darkness by playing Set by candlelight:

Therefore we did our part to save the world, and increased our mental sharpness. It was a win-win!!!

Odds and ends

2010-03-22T17:59:00.004-04:00

March is birthday month! Lisa celebrated on the 1st with a lovely vanilla cake with homemade fresh strawberry frosting:

And I chose a classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting (all homemade) for mine on the 16th:

Spring is here! We've had a number of nice days already and this week is supposed to be mostly clear. Lots of trees are beginning to bud, and our redbud is going to pop any day now...

Our plants are doing really well -- and getting so big! The tomatoes especially are much further along than they were this time last year. I think it was a combination of the correct lights plus the little layer of potting soil we put below the seed starting mix. They seem to like that early boost of nutrients! Now we are starting our slow process of acclimating them to the outdoors.

Here they are getting their first dose of light wind (and dog breath). All survived! We still have another flat of tomatoes that we just transplanted yesterday. They had a little bit of transplant shock so I haven't started setting them outside yet, but probably will soon. The sooner they can all live outside all the time, the better!

And finally, I wanted to share Caretta's unfortunate incident with some renegade packing material:

Like a good mom, I ripped it off her like a Band-aid when she was least expecting it. That's one way to get rid of that winter coat...

March madness

2010-03-04T21:15:00.004-05:00

We do this every year. We try so hard to keep our seed starting under control, but somehow it always gets out of hand. Last weekend, as we were discussing the need to move most of our seedlings to larger pots, Lisa summed up the scene quite well when she said, "Oh my god, what have we done?"

A couple of flats of seedlings doesn't seem too overwhelming, but that quickly turned into 3 flats, plus an assortment of pots that will (hopefully) sprout some nice wildflowers:

We KNOW that all of these cute, little seedlings are going to become nice, big, healthy plants needing larger pots and more elbow room. We KNOW that once all said plants are in said pots there will never be enough room under the grow lights, but we remain in denial until reality sets in. This year we really overdid it, and our makeshift set-ups from years past were not going to cut it.

Luckily, we did not panic (well, maybe a little) but figured out a way to accommodate all the plants. And it turned out to be a pretty good set up, with only one trip to Lowe's needed and a cheap bill at that. Behold, the triple-decker:

We made great use out of a shelving unit we already had, and it created only a minor fire hazard.

Notice the flat still on the bottom shelf? They will be ready to transplant in a week or so. Yeah, denial is setting back in...

So yes, we are a bit crazy here, but it keeps things exciting! Plus, look at how happy they are in their new homes:

They grow up so fast...

They're getting bigger....

2010-02-24T19:13:00.002-05:00

It seems like the seedlings look bigger every time I look at them (which is about 5 times a day). They take forever to germinate, a lifetime to unfurl, and then all of a sudden they shoot up like crazy. Our tomatoes have nicely formed true leaves now:

We put the grow lights really close to them (only about an inch or 2 above the plants) which has helped keep their stems from getting too lanky.

Here are our peppers (with a couple of impatiens and ground cherries in the foreground):

No signs of the eggplants yet, but I'm not giving up hope.

What a difference a week makes

2010-02-21T17:51:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we were in a snowstorm and ranting about how no one knows how to drive in the snow. This weekend, it got warm enough to get out in the yard without a jacket. Sun, blue sky, light wind -- it was just what we needed to rejuvenate and shake out some of the winter crazies.

Spring is coming back to our yard, and I took a few photos to prove it.

Buds on the redbud:

daffodils:

and tulips:

It felt good to get digging in the dirt again (although my aching muscles beg to differ). We got a few trees and bushes pruned, cleaned out our strawberry plants, and planted our blueberry bushes that we meant to plant last fall. Lisa also planted a few more pea seeds:

Ah, bliss...

Is it spring yet?

2010-02-17T20:17:00.000-05:00

Snow!

We got like 6-7 inches over the weekend:

Luckily, the snow didn't seem to upset the plants very much. Our peas have come up, and they weren't phased one bit by the cold.

Our cold frame stayed nice and cozy too:

Here's a peek inside at our lettuces that have been slow growing but have provided a nice supply of greens all winter:

Our little Ohio transplants that (thanks to Lisa) have become a bit of an invasive species in our yard. I have to admit, though, that it is fun to see where they will show up next, and the color in the middle of winter is nice.

The tomatoes:

Happy Birthday, peppers!

2010-01-30T16:34:00.000-05:00

Our first seedlings are up!

The fish peppers won the race, being the first up and open. Our bell peppers, chili peppers, ground cherries, and grass (the ornamental kind!!) are up as well, but still folded up and barely above the surface. So we spent some time today turning our mudroom into a greenhouse to get these beauties under light.

We planted our peas in the garden a couple of weeks ago, and hopefully they will be popping up soon, too. It has been really wet and rainy, though, so I hope they aren't all rotten. Oh well, if they are, we'll just try again!

Since we had to hang the shop light for the seedlings, the bundle of dried cilantro that had been hanging from our mudroom ceiling for months (6+?) finally came down. So here I am collecting all the seeds from it, which we should have done 6 months ago:

And it wouldn't be a cold, wet, house-bound Saturday without a fresh loaf of bread:

Lisa's new secret weapon: wheat gluten.

Instant gratification

2010-01-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

Last Monday I finally hung the hummingbird feeder that Jen and Dwight gave me for Christmas. I'd wanted one for awhile; we have hummingbirds year-round so winter is the prime time to help them out with a little artificial nectar.

I hung it just outside my office window so I can watch any that come to feed while I'm working (I love distractions), but realized that is not the optimal place for a feeder (out in the open, direct sunlight, etc.). I figured I'd give it a shot anyway, and if I had no luck, I'd move the feeder to another spot. It may take a while to attract them, but I was willing to wait.

Work has been really busy, and I've barely been at my desk for more than a few hours at a time. But to my surprise, the very next day I caught a glimpse of a hummingbird checking out the feeder! I finally got a photo of her yesterday:

I've been watching her flit in and out, about every 5 minutes or so mainly in the late morning. I figured it was just the one bird, until I saw this:

A male! So I at least have 2 birds using my feeder, and on a pretty regular basis, too.

And yes, I spent about 20 minutes looking out the window with the camera poised at the ready. The neighbors probably thought I was trying to spy on them.

How to make Lisa's naan

2010-01-21T20:17:00.000-05:00

Here's Lisa's naan recipe:

Whisk together:

2 cups flour (all purpose or bread flour)
3/4 tsp. salt

In separate bowl, combine:

3/4 cup soymilk (lukewarm)
1 packet active dry yeast
pinch of sugar

Add to liquid ingredients:

2 tbsp. buttermilk (you can make this adding ~4 drops of lemon juice to 2 tbsp soymilk)
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Add all liquid ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix by hand and then knead for 4-5 minutes. Dough may be sticky. Place dough in an oiled bowl, spray top of dough with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1.5 hours at 70-80 degrees. If your house is too cold, you can microwave a mug of water until it is boiling, then place the bowl of dough in the microwave with the hot water.
Close the door.

About 20 minutes before the dough is ready, chop about 1/2 cup of onion and 2 cloves of garlic and saute until soft but not browned.

Preheat oven to 475F.

Punch down the naan (literally).

Place a cookie sheet in oven for about 5 minutes before baking the naan so that it is hot.

Cut naan into fourths. Working with one at a time (covering the rest so they don't dry out), on a lightly floured surface, roll out the naan so it is about as big as your hand. Spread approx. 1 tbsp. of the onion mixture evenly on the naan. Fold it over, and then roll it out so that it is teardrop shaped and about 8 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Brush melted butter on top and bake 2 naans at a time for 6-7 minutes.

Makes 4 naan. Serve warm.

This was adapted from recipes in the Joy of Cooking and feed yourself (cucinabodanza.blogspot.com)

The most wonderful time of the year

2010-01-18T17:31:00.000-05:00

I love this time of year. Not because I haven't broken my New Year's resolutions yet or because we get a day off for ML King Day. It's the time of year that kind of creeps up on me, especially given it is still cold outside and pretty much all green life is dead. I sit down one quiet Saturday morning, take stock on what needs to be done around the house and exclaim, in complete surprise, "it's time to plant seeds again!"
In just 8-10 short weeks, it will be warm enough to plant our quickly growing seedlings outside. Which means we have to start them growing now. Not everything needs an early start, but enough that the whole operation becomes quite the to-do at our house.

So yesterday I got our first flat started, and set it on the dryer to stay somewhat warm.

I'll get another one started soon, but we are still waiting for some of our seeds to be delivered. The fact that we have only 2 flats this year, plus a few pots (that are living in the fridge right now for the all-important cold treatment) is an amazing feat for us. Check out our craziness from just 2 years ago:

Four flats never seems like much at first, but once things start growing and are moved into bigger pots, they take over. I think we are finally getting the hang of what grows well (and have toned down our enthusiasm to grow EVERYTHING) that we can now focus our energy on a few select varieties.

We'll post more as they start to come up....it's so exciting! (Feel free to comment on my dorkiness....)

Meanwhile, Lisa has been very busy in the kitchen. She coined yesterday the "Day of Bread" and had been looking forward to it all week. She started by making a couple of loaves of french bread:

We have a very busy work week ahead of us, so in preparation we made sure we had lots of easy meals planned out in advance. Lisa made pizza crust and even topped it so all we have to do is heat it up:

She finished up by making naan (indian flatbread) for dinner that went really well with the spinach artichoke dip she also made. I know, it has dairy in it. Sometimes we cheat.

Cats behaving badly

2010-01-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

Never leave your glass unattended at our house...

Apparently 3 water bowls are not enough for Lu. Or maybe she was hoping we were into the gin.

Today I noticed this:

Caretta had scratched and chewed her way through the Saran Wrap to nom the top off our apple bread. How do I know it was Caretta? Oh, I know.

A touch of the hairy vetch

2009-12-16T11:55:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-12-06T09:43:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-28T16:43:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-11-26T14:15:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-11-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-14T17:42:00.000-05:00

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?

2009-11-12T20:41:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-22T21:36:00.000-04:00

Eat your heart out, pink formica!

Working weekend

2009-10-17T20:43:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-10T13:24:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-10T12:58:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-27T12:05:00.000-04:00

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...

Ice cream on the grill

2009-09-20T09:21:00.000-04:00

Even with all the stuff going on in our kitchen, it has for the most part remained usable. But the other day it was a little too messy which proved challenging for Lisa and her mom who wanted to make ice cream. So they made it on the grill. Thank goodness for our little side burner -- it worked like a charm and yesterday we enjoyed homemade vanilla with fresh peaches over top. Right now they are making more...

We finished putting the island together (except for the doors which haven't arrived yet) and it looks great. Tomorrow the building inspector comes to check our wiring, and then we can hook her up for real. Photos pending...

Here's a good one though:

When the steel back plate behind our stovetop was removed, we uncovered two mysteries. The porthole to the universe (or an old electrical outlet?) and the seafoam green wall. Our walls were green before they were pink. I can imagine the conversation...."that green is hideous! What were they thinking? This pink is going to make this kitchen look SO much better..."

Lisa and I are contemplating wall colors ourselves and are honing in on a color called black pepper. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Dumpster diving

2009-09-19T09:33:00.001-04:00

Here is the story on our flooring:

Last spring, we heard in a roundabout kind of way that Camp Lejeune (the Marine Corps base near us) was renovating one of their gymnasiums, and the old flooring was just hanging out in a dumpster waiting to be pitched. The boards appeared to be in good shape, and although it would take some work to clean up, they were there for the taking. So Lisa and I, along with one other family, rented a U-haul and spent an entire day pulling floorboards out of a dumpster. Between our share of the U-haul, gas, lunch, and the steel-toed boots we needed for the construction site, we got about 250 sq. ft. of solid maple flooring for about $60. Not bad.

It has been a lot of work though, and is not easy to lay when there isn't a perfect piece in the bunch. Almost all of the work has fallen to Lisa's dad, who has spent many hours throughout the summer backing out nails:

...and sanding off the paint and finish:

This is what they used to look like:

...and this is what they look like now, in the small area that is already down:

We still have more sanding to do once they are all down, and we'll finish them (although we don't think we'll stain them) but so far I think they are beautiful. They definitely aren't perfect (there are a few areas where flecks of red paint are still visible) but that adds to their uniqueness. And what a great conversation piece! How many people can say they have Marine sweat embedded into their kitchen floor?

Off with your bulkhead

2009-09-15T17:06:00.000-04:00

They always say things look worse before they look better....

The other day the hideous bulkhead came down. I hated how it never really matched the cabinets (it probably did back in 1872) and was a tad on the shiny side. They didn't even look like real wood. So, they've been torn out which unfortunately now just shows the dingy wall and ceiling it was hiding. But fear not, it will look so good when it all comes together.

Now we are working on building our new kitchen island. So far we have the base:

and here are the cabinet frames:

In order to put it all together, we need to have enough of the flooring down so we can start from the bottom up. A good chunk was laid today, but it is pretty slow going. It looks great though! Our flooring has a bit of a story so deserves a post all its own...

Going, going, gone

2009-09-12T15:12:00.000-04:00

One of the first things Lisa said when touring our house for the first time was, "that wall between the kitchen and the dining room has GOT to go...." Our Realtor tried to tell us to live in it awhile before doing something so drastic. Although I would agree with such rational thinking, that wall really needed to go. We've waited 3 long years (not because we wanted to be sure; other things just took priority) and now the wall has come down. It has been liberating.

Lisa's parents are temporary residents of Carteret County this fall and are helping us with our kitchen remodel. Here are a few 'before' photos to give you all an idea of how badly our kitchen needs an upgrade. Ugly duckling for sure.

Love that pine paneling. The wall behind our little island is "the" wall...

Don't worry, although we plan to bring this kitchen into the 21st century, we aren't touching the pink enamel 50's style wall oven. We love her. She gets to stay, and is the main reason Lisa isn't getting her red kitchen.

If you can't tell in the photos, the countertops are pink formica. Classy. The vinyl floors have little flecks of pink in them too. When we first bought the place, the walls were pepto pink. Perhaps it was some weird diet gimmick to make your kitchen as unappetizing as possible?

Here she is mid-demo, and you can appreciate the improvements already!

Foreman Vivian inspects the work...

(I spy a monster cat...)

Summer vacation

2009-08-11T17:18:00.000-04:00

I heard that school starts around here in 2 weeks, and teachers start up at the end of this week. I'm always surprised when the summer vacation comes to an end, mostly because it is so much earlier than up north, and also because there are no signs of fall weather anywhere. I do love the fall, though, so knowing September is right around the corner makes me happy. I doubt the pack of wild children that live on the corner feel the same.

Lisa's family came to visit a couple of weeks back. I unfortunately had to work quite a bit while they were here, but the nice thing about living at the beach is that vacation comes to you and you still get to enjoy everyone's company. We made 4 batches of homemade ice cream:

More on our dessert-fest later....

While playing Bocce on the beach one evening, Julie and Christie entertained us all with a series of well-timed jumping photos. Too funny.

Yes, Christie is smoking a candy cigarette. I hear they are going to ban them soon.

Hey Robin, didn't Mr. McSwain say that the way you jump reveals something about your inner psyche? I'm no psychologist, but I feel there could be volumes to analyze here!

The best one was of Julie, realizing mid-jump that her chosen style was not mini-skirt friendly. It ripped up the back about 2 inches.

It was Christie's skirt.

It's gettin' hot in here...

2009-08-09T19:25:00.000-04:00

Today was really hot. It may have reached 100, I'm not sure, but at 6PM it was still 91F. So what did Lisa and I decide to do? Can tomatoes.

If you've never canned tomatoes (or anything I guess), it requires standing over a stove with all 4 burners going on High. Since this was our first attempt at canning (Lisa had made strawberry jam a number of times, but this is a little different), we probably weren't that efficient but to get all 3 jars ready, with both whole and chopped tomatoes, we used all 4.

I wish I could say these were our homegrown tomatoes, but they weren't. We do still have a few tomatoes ripening, but not nearly enough to can. So these came from our co-op -- not organic but grown in NC. Hopefully we can pack a nice stash away for the winter.

While we were waiting for the jars to boil and seal, we relaxed with a nice Taiwanese black tea:

We then made a nice dinner of crab cakes, spiced lentils, and salad, and then checked on the final product:

They look pretty good! At first we thought one of them didn't seal, but it looks like the "button" is down now....
We may try another 3 cans before bedtime. Ever wonder what people without TV do for fun? Now you know.

Playing catch-up

2009-07-24T09:46:00.000-04:00

So we've been a bit behind in our blogging posts, partly because I've been lazy, and partly because Lisa let Christie use her camera on her recent trip to CA (such a good big sister). We took a few photos with my camera, but it is so inferior to Lisa's and I was getting frustrated. For example, this is what my camera thinks is a great example of its macro function:

"What? You want me to focus on the stuff CLOSE-UP? Hmmm....I don't know...."

So anyway, we've been slacking on the photo diary of our oh-so-exciting lives. But here are a few photos that are at least a little more in focus.

We dug up most of our potatoes recently, and these are some of the fingerlings that we eventually turned into this potato salad:

This recipe was a recommendation of Julie's, and we just got around to trying it. Definitely a keeper. Here's the link to the recipe, and we highly recommend it. Delicious.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/health/nutrition/23recipehealth.html?ex=1382587200&en=d8a1a5604271e9a1&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg

So the peppers in that first blurry photo were Lisa's nugget peppers. She loves peppers. In addition to the varieties that we bought and grew, Lisa snagged a few seeds from our friend Brett who was also growing interesting varieties. I think those peppers are called 'golden nugget' or something, and they have such a cute shape. Coming soon: fish peppers!

I'll have an update on the garden soon, but in a nutshell things are slowing down or dying because of the heat. We still have a few things going and are starting our late summer seeds, so I'll take some photos (Lisa's camera returns this Sunday) and share soon.

Clean Vivian:

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-06T21:26:00.000-04:00

We started our Independence Day celebration with a nice pitcher of Mojitos. Other than the gin and tonic, this is the best adult beverage on the planet.

lots of ice
a few shredded mint leaves
approx. 1 tbsp sugar
1-2 tsp lime juice (I usually like a little more)
white rum
club soda

Look! We got a grill!

Look at that surface area -- this beats layering things on the hibachi....Plus, it has a side burner. Everyone knows what that means...we can finally make perfect fried rice!!! We are already wondering what our neighbors are going to think when we drag our wok outside.

Lost and found

2009-07-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

This is Lisa. There has been a search this week for the missing red Michael Jackson doll. Look -- we found him!

Day off = day of food

2009-07-03T20:06:00.000-04:00

Our day today was completely centered around food. Lisa, Christie (Lisa's sister), and I took a drive to visit our favorite Asian grocery, and our favorite Swiss bakery is conveniently next door. It would be a shame to buy rice and spring roll wrappers and not pick up a pastry (or 2...ok, 6) at the same time. We then went blueberry picking :

Later that day Lisa made bread:

These turned out so well, perhaps her best attempt yet. Wonderfully chewy, crispy but not too tough on the outside. So good. I think I'll keep her. We also made eggplant parmesan for dinner. We bake the eggplant instead of frying it, and layer it with tomato sauce, parmesan, and peas. Apparently this is a more Sicilian version of eggplant parm, but it is nice and light, and very easy. I'd show you a picture, but we ate it before I thought to take one.

To finish off Christie is in the process of making homemade strawberry basil ice cream. We are using our lime basil, so I think it is going to turn out really tasty. She made coffee ice cream last night and we were all rather impressed so we are trying it again. The recipe is from a recent article in our Fine Cooking magazine -- they give you all these really crazy ideas for flavor combinations. Pine nut olive oil, whiskey gingerbread, lavender vanilla, orange Earl Grey. I'm not so sure about the pine nut, but the others sound yummy.

Yesterday's harvest

2009-06-30T10:56:00.001-04:00

Look at these colors!

We have potatoes! This is just the tip of the iceberg...we went a little crazy with the potato plants this year. But one can never eat too many mashed potatoes and home fries, right?

And yes, they too are purple. I guess purple was the theme this year.

Our beautiful chilis are turning red:

Last night we made tomato sauce for the eggplant parm we're making this week...yum! Nothing beats the smell of homemade sauce (especially from homegrown tomatoes) cooking on the stove. Well, maybe chocolate chip cookies. And apple pie.

Tomatoes!

2009-06-26T12:11:00.000-04:00

Lisa and I are like pigs in sh*$ at the moment -- we harvested our first Cherokee Purple tomatoes. These are an heirloom variety, meaning they weren't bred for cross-country travel or to look all firm, round and red in your grocery store, they were bred for TASTE. Since becoming a food snob I discovered the beauty of a truly delicious tomato. We started growing Cherokees last year, and I'm so happy that they are doing wonderfully this year. Look at these beauties:

mmm...so delicious. I think they look kind of like macintosh apples....

And keeping with our theme of weird purply - colored veggies, we're also growing a chocolate beauty bell pepper:

They are doing really well, too, and are just starting to turn. We could eat them now as green peppers, but we want to get the chocolaty effect. Yes, it is growing upside down. Why? Because they are cool.

I also wanted to add a few photos of my perennials for you to see. I started a new flower bed this year, made up entirely of native perennials. Many I started from seed, so when I put the little plants in the ground this spring, they looked very small and sad. I knew it would take them a while to get big and beautiful, and wasn't even expecting any of them to flower this first year. It has been a wonderful surprise to see so many of them in bloom already:

Butterflyweed, grown from seed

Bee balm, grown from seed

Phlox, mail ordered bareroot

The yellow flowers are coreopsis, which I bought as a small plant. It has tripled in size. There are also some Ox-eye sunflowers (grown from seed) behind it. They are also yellow so it's tough to tell them apart in this photo. I also have asters, liatris, and big and little bluestem in this garden...

Hello everybody!

2009-06-20T16:52:00.000-04:00

While in Taiwan recently, Lisa and I visited the world's tallest building, Taipei 101.

This was taken from a nearby mountain we hiked that morning, which gave us an interesting view of 101 and the city. Later that day, we went to the top of 101, to stare at the mountain we just climbed.

Not only is Taipei 101 the tallest building, it also has the fastest elevator (floor 5 to floor 89 in about 40-50 seconds...I was a bit creeped out), and is the only building to have one of its three wind dampers on display. What is a wind damper? It basically is a huge sphere set inside the building that keeps the building standing in high wind. They painted it a shimmery yellow and played really dramatic music to make it seem more exciting that it actually is:

To make it even more exciting (and I guess marketable), the Taipei 101 "people" created little animated damper statues which they call, of course, 'damper babies:'

This is one thing we love about Taiwan (and perhaps Asia in general?) -- their ability to anthropomorphize anything. Look:

They even put faces on their fried sweet potato balls!

Anyway, we fell in love with the damper babies and took many photos with the various statues (they come in different colors). We'll spare you the slideshow...for now. The best was the mural they have on the bottom floor right where you stand in line for the elevator:

If you're having trouble reading it, it says: Hello Everybody! We are Damper Babies!
I don't know why, but Lisa and I got such a kick out of this. That phrase became a bit of an inside joke; funniest when exclaimed at random times. I guess you had to be there...

What will it be?

2009-06-16T20:48:00.001-04:00

Lisa's artistic display of our harvest:

We usually have no luck with zucchini so we are pretty proud of those beauties. Two of them are already zucchini bread. The little yellowy things at the front of the basket are ground cherries -- they are related to the tomatillo and come in these little papery husks. Inside is a fruit about the size of a blueberry; I'm still trying to figure out what it tastes like...

Our compost is always sprouting volunteer vegetables, which we usually just let grow and see what happens. One year we harvested a good pile of new potatoes straight from our garbage! This year, we have a bit of a mystery. Squashes are pretty common to find growing amongst the discards and we had been assuming that this guy was another zucchini:

Until we noticed his fruit:

Last summer, Lisa's mom brought down some round zucchini, so perhaps this is the offspring of one of those. But it could also be a pumpkin or maybe a watermelon? I'll have to look up the leaves and flowers to figure it out. Or I could be lazy and just wait to see what he does!!

How many desserts did we eat this week?

2009-06-14T20:24:00.000-04:00

So this is what we are currently harvesting from our garden:
green beans
zucchini
ground cherries
beets
tomatoes (speckled roman and yellow pear)

Yes, we harvested our 1st tomato on June 6. She had a bit of end rot, but we just cut it off and ate it anyway. Isn't she beautiful?

We promise to have some more action shots of the garden soon...

Tonight for dinner we made Taiwan-inspired barbecue skewers:

We guessed on the sauce and tried a Ponzu sauce; not quite right but pretty close and still very tasty. It looked so nice and we reminisced about Taiwan. It was strange to be eating this at a kitchen table and not in the back of Ellen's car!

Note: the green beans and zucchini are straight from the garden!!

Now we move on to dessert. We're finishing the last 2 pieces of strawberry cake that Lisa made Wednesday night. Not bad that we were able to polish off a whole cake in 5 days. What's even more impressive is that we ate an entire peach crostada and strawberry pie in the days before that.

Caretta

2009-06-11T20:08:00.000-04:00

Our cat (well, one of our cats),* is a gray tabby. If you aren't familiar with tabbies, they all have the same characteristic 'M' marking on their foreheads:

Caretta is a bit bipolar, even more so than the average cat. She is super loving and affectionate one minute; the next, she'll bite your face off. She is also quite a spaz, and can keep us entertained (read: aggravated) with her crazy antics for hours. I get the impression that her personality is pretty similar to other tabbies, so when a co-worker of Lisa's was thinking about adopting a couple of kittens, Lisa warned her to stay away from the M. M for Monster. The funny thing is, she ended up with a tabby, claiming that she saw a 'W' marking, but not an M!

Lisa especially loves Caretta. They have an understanding and respect for each other and Caretta loves her more than me. Even though I'm the one that rescued her from death. That's OK though, because now I can blame all the craziness on Lisa's cat!

*any David Sedaris fans?

In the beginning

2009-06-09T19:18:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons why we talk about our gardens so much is that we are rather proud of ourselves. We bought our house in October 2006, and although we fell in love immediately, it had the most desolate, "blank canvas" of a backyard. Maybe that is why we loved it. This is what it looked like:

Note the ugly chain-link fence exposing our neighbor's pile of junk. Here's another one:

The point here is to show the sad, lonely bird bath in a sea of green. The poor birds...they felt so exposed...

It was a bit daunting at first, but we got to work right away to transform our personal landscape. Lisa's sister, Jen, built us a fence to hide the blight, and we went to work removing as much lawn as our skinny bodies could handle. Here's the work in progress:

So now, 2 1/2 years later, we tend to marvel at the progress we've made. And we still enjoy doing it. Our goal is to have no lawn at all, save for a small patch for Vivian. Here's the current status:

oohh, ahhhh.....

Just getting started

2009-06-09T17:23:00.000-04:00

When we're not working, Lisa and I tend to spend much of our time either in our garden or in our kitchen. We love it all, from starting seeds, watching little plants grow, tending to the garden, harvesting edibles, collecting seeds, composting, and making wonderful meals from our own produce. We talk about it all the time, and Julie (Lisa's sister) suggested we start a blog so we can share our photos, recipes, and stories with all our friends and family. So here we are. As an added bonus, it may help us keep in touch with friends without joining up for the dreaded Facebook.

We'll try to keep it updated but we'll just have to see how it goes!