A Bathroom Redecorated...

I'd gotten tired of my first floor bathroom.  You know, the one that does double duty as a pretty guest bath as well as a convenient place to rinse off sandy children.  It was too dark (red, tan and brown) and just worn out.  After painting the kitchen (post soon to come!) I had a new fresh color to work with.  So with only the cost of a new shower curtain I pulled together a new look.

the new shower curtain

After raiding a friends dilapidated barn with only a single glove and a wonder bar (awesome), I scored this crate.  In its not so distant past it was a nest box in a chicken coop.  Needless to say I scrubbed this thing until my arms almost fell off.  Then after some sanding and a coat of stain, I had a nice clean box.  At first I was going to throw it in the corner and pile it with clean towels but I had been looking for a cabinet to hang on the wall.  Could I mount the crate to the wall?

Definitely.  It's rustic and old fashioned.  And no matter how hard I try or how much I want to avoid it, that is the direction this house will always take.  Use what you have...

The next project was something to fill the opposite wall.  I love browsing prints and frames at stores but can never convince myself to buy any.  I'm addicted to originals.  I built this frame using old fencing and staples.   (My first solo radial arm saw project.  I was scared to death!)

Some paint and some stain to distress it and I was happy.  I had seen bloggers framing sticks and thought I would give it a try with some of my grape vine trimmings.

Another hit.  Wow, could this room be coming together so fast with really nothing but time invested?

The soap dish?  The the base of a planter.  Painted and stained.

The curtain?  Ruffles?  Me?  Hmm... not so sure if I'll keep this one but I'm trying it.  Just muslin and literally scraps I ripped off an old table cloth in the basement.  The only thing I do like is the unfinished look.

Keeping with the "bird" theme (nest box, shower curtain, twigs... see it now?) two brass birds with a coat of white spray paint.  So pretty perched on my mirror ledge.  

Homemade milk glass with upcycled food jars... think vanilla extract, grinder spices and artichoke hearts.

I'm pretty sure that I took about one hundred photos of this tiny room. That's about 95 too many even by my standards.  But in my defense I have been suffering with this room for years. So just a few more if you please...

(Ok, a remodel  for the price of a shower curtain AND a stack of fluffy new hand towels...)

Overall, I like it.  So much brighter and clean.  For a couple days every time I walked past the room I had to stop, turn on the lights and sigh.

A finished project.

One room down...

I Grew That

Tonight was one of those moments that reaffirms why I want chickens and a garden. Trust me... I think ALOT about throwing in the towel. I am tired, worn, and it often seems like just one more chore and one more expense. I feel like right now the need for cheap food outweighs the need for truly clean, healthy, and wholesome. I do what I can with what I can afford. Then as I am quickly throwing together a cheap and last minute meal I am out of onions. Ugh! I just sent Gary to the grocery store so no chance of going back just for onions. 

Then it hits me. All the things in the garden that overwintered were growing in the warm spring weather we have been having. Fantastic, there were onions (although small) out there. Ethan was still sleeping and Wade was playing and watching "Cars", so I ran out the back door and did a hurried garden raid. My Tuna Cabonara would be on steroids tonight. Swiss Chard, onions, asparagus, and a big fat carrot (although I left the carrot out of the tuna dish). Then three homegrown chicken eggs and I felt like I was soaring. FOUR ingredients from my own yard. 

I came in feeling like a hero and a warrior. I have to fight to keep thinking of the positives of these extra chores in my life and I honestly felt rewarded for my efforts today. I guess there is good reason to scatter more seed in the ground... even if I am behind this season.

Happy Gardening.

Arrived!

Welcome our newest addition to Two Blue Houses! (No, it isn't Lauren's baby, but any day...) This arrival came via snail mail.  And I'm happy to report that the kids are loving their new little ones.

Another spring, another order of chicks.  I'm not sure if this says we are bad owners or determined to succeed.  Either or, filling the house with their surprisingly loud "cheeps" sure makes us smile.  Seriously, a sleeping day-old-chick is just about the cutest thing I can imagine.  They fall asleep and kind of just flap down.  You would swear they were injured by looking at they way they are awkwardly sprawled all over. Little overlapping piles of yellow fluff.  Sigh.  Adorable.

Since we are no longer day-old-chick newbies, our brooder has gotten less and less complicated and I think last year we nailed it so here it is again...

Three large cardboard boxes fashioned into one piled with a couple inches of straw.  Totally disposable, compostable, and my favorite, just about free.  Every couple days I gently scoot the chicks to one side and sprinkle some fresh straw.  They may be small, but boy do they "go" a lot!

It is hard to believe they have been here for almost a week.  Only 19 weeks to go until they are laying eggs.  Patience... patience...

Any happy signs of spring at your place?

Oops turned Agricultural Experiment

I accidentally left soybeans soak way too long and by the time I found them they were sprouting. This is not what you want for making soy milk. I drained the water off and this is what I saw.

It reminded me a bit of potato eyes growing those creepy white arms and legs. Bummer. Then I remembered an article Lauren sent me about using store bought dried beans to plant and grow instead of seed stock. Lauren and I fill each other's inboxes daily with interesting articles and links to pretty things and this one stuck in my mind (definitely not pretty but on the interesting side). I remember skimming it and then filling it away in my mind as a must try. Little did I know that it would come in handy so soon. Even though it was raining I headed outside to do a trial plot. Please do not allow this one occurrence of immediate action fool you into thinking I'm incredibly ambitious. Nope, I'm only half dedication to growing my own food and half convinced that if I didn't plant right away the stinky beans would end up in the compost and I cannot waste anything. The guilt from throwing out a cup of moldy beans would surely send me into a guilt spiral. Okay, so maybe not that bad... anyway...

I had about a foot in my greens bed between kale and spinach that made a ideal place to try three rows of edamame.

The article said to plant them one inch apart possibly two in a hole, just to make sure something comes up since sprouting and planting is just a good idea not really a guarantee. But since it was raining, I rushed and ran a trowel through the soil and sprinkled a heavy layer of sprouted beans.

Guess you can see that my planting style is a lot like my cooking style, really no measurements and no fear of absolute failure. I also planted some by my peas, not wanting any beans to go to waste in case this experiment actually pans out.

I'm really hoping this style of planting works. It is so much cheaper to buy dried beans at the store instead of ordering the seed stock alternative. The price of edemame seed is crazy per ounce (I think I paid $2.29) and I got my organic soybeans for $0.99/lb. Oh, pretty pretty please work because I'm dying to have some of these dried beans growing in my garden this year.

Cannelini beans are the stuff that traditional Italian meals are made of. These were expired at the store so they were FREE! I think I feel round 2 of bean seed sprouting happening very soon.

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Also so very exciting news from the new raised beds...

I am dedicating these beds to called my kitchen garden. They will be growing the things that can be planted early (greens and peas) or are perennial (asparagus, herbs and strawberries). These plants grow fast and will be included in meals several times daily. So instead of heading out the the big garden and wandering through row after row of vines and late season crops all of these will be right out my kitchen door.

My Seed Starting Set-up

Today we are busy installing some indoor outdoor carpet in our basement to complete the remodel. There is still lots to do and consider like furniture and layout, but I'm looking forward to putting cool stuff up on those bare cream walls.

A week ago, I officially started my seeds. There are lots of new additions and my entire list is here. I'm not neat or fancy when it comes to projects, but I can get the job done. All of the planting took place in my dining room and later the pots were hauled upstairs for their dedicated growing spot. I'm really thankful for my bamboo floors throughout the house for tasks such as this. All I needed was a bucket of hot soapy water and the room was good as new.

So here they are a week later.

Don't you love my table, a section of board over two saw horses. Like I said, it may not be pretty but it works.

This our normal light with full spectrum compact fluorescent bulbs. We have them in every in fixture in our home. The light is switched on first thing in the morning and turned off when the kids go to bed.

Pardon my flash, but I wanted to show you the extra supplies stored under the table: a laundry basket with the rest of the seeds, a clear box holds more containers, and the tote has soil. The soil is from the woods behind our house, mixed with a small bag of organic potting soil and half a bag of vermiculite.

And if you look closely you can see even if it's inexpensive and unattractive, it can still work.

Chamomile. The package said it may take a long time and sprout erratically, but here they are!

Our first planting of broccoli. We start some every 4 to 6 weeks so we have a constant harvest.

This is my first year growing some ornamentals and flowers.

A pepper already! I'm a surprised as you are!

Hope you have a swell weekend!

Using What You Got: Re-potting Rosemary

Well it seems to be "one of those days" for me and my baby. He needs me and that is all there is to it so I am putting aside my crushing desire to get Christmas stuff done. Along with the design to clean my house until it shines and sit in a rocking chair holding my sleeping baby. I guess that isn't so bad.

I thought I would post about using what you got, which I do a lot of. There is only so much stuff my tiny house can hold and only so much money in the pocket book. At the very end of summer, a neighbor came over and gave us a bunch of raggedy plants she had been given that was going to be thrown in the trash. It consisted of two beat up Rosemary plants that were never planted and a bunch of Spanish onions.

The onions got planted and will hopefully make it to spring and the Rosemary... well they sat upside down for a week or two blown over by the wind. Then another couple in the shade and some with no water on my outdoor swing with a water proof awning. I finally decided I better do something with them just before our first really snow and brought them in.

I love terrariums and beautiful potted plants but my house is fairly low light for growing much indoors. I thought it was a long shot to re-pot the Rosemary but worth it since they were free. Here is how I did it:

Found two "vases" I liked. Found potting soil in garage. Found "grit" for chickens. Found two beat up Rosemary plants.

Place towel or newspaper down on surface to protect it from a major mess. Get your dirt ready. Get your plant ready and start filling around the plant with dirt. Pack the dirt down because there will be settling. I added a bit of water for that process to help.

Add some "grit" to the top of the dirt to make it look "pretty". Find a sunny spot, water regularly and hope the poor, beat up transplants make it.

Guess what! They have new growth already. I am so thrilled that I might plant some of my other herbs early to have for winter cooking. You can also buy (fairly cheaply) potted herbs at your grocery store and re-pot those as you wish. My local Marc's has basil, cilantro, and parsley for about $3.00 each.

How do you use what you have?

Awesome Cloth Napkins

It was important to me to have cloth napkins at our fall dinner party. There is something about cloth napkins that screams... "I've got no kids tonight so lets go all out!" Of course, I wanted something that I could make for free using only what I had on hand (and I did by only about 2 yards of thread left!) No patterns! No tutorials! Just me and free... Here we go!

Step 1: Gather Supplies.

Sharp scissors, squaring tool, pencil, two contrasting fabrics (I was originally going to do brown canvass type of pockets but later decided that was too heavy to be used as an everyday napkin.)

Step 2: Measure and Cut.

I chose to make 22 inch squares for two reasons... 1) My main fabric (a full white sheet I snagged at Goodwill for a buck!) folded into quarters, minus hems, was about a 22 inch length and 2) I found that if I took a 22 inch square and folded it on the diagonal it would work as a bib. And since at this dinner party, most of the eating is done with your hands, a big napkin/bib sounded awesome!

Step 3: Iron rough edging, top and bottom.

Fold down about a fingerwidth of fabric and follow with a hot iron, being super careful not to burn yourself. When you get to the end, let the seam cool.

Fold down again another fingerwidth of fabric and iron. Doing this makes sure that there are no rough edges exposed which could fray with constant use and washing. It also makes the napkin look really finished and professional.

Step 4: Sew top and bottom.

Using a straight stitch, stitch the fold. You could make this look any way you want by substituting a contrasting thread color or using a zig-zag stitch.

Step 5: Iron rough edging, sides.

See step 3...

Step 6: Sew sides

See step 4.

(so basically you double fold all the way around the square then straight stitch.)

You have something like this now...

Step 7: *Optional*

I created a pocket for silverware by sewing the contrasting fabric onto a eighth section of the napkin. You can either fold and iron the unfinished edges of the pocket or leave it and have a more deconstructed look.

I cut a 4.5 X 6 inch rectangle, folded the "top" of the pocket about 3/4 of an inch and straight stitched it.

Then I folded and ironed the sides and bottom of the pocket. (You don't have to sew this time. When you stitch the pocket to the napkin, it eliminates the need to sew before.)

The pockets ended up all different sizes. Doesn't bother me a bit. I then folded the napkin into eights to determine where I wanted the pocket. I decided I wanted a neat napkin with no edges.

I lined the pocket up on the napkin where I wanted it and marked with my pencil where the two bottom corners met the napkin. Not one placement did I measure, just approximate. Afterall, homemade is all about imperfection! When I went to my sewing machine, I began at the right top corner of the napkin, stictched down the side as close to the seam as possible. When I got to the bottom, I left my needle in the napkin but lifted the presser foot up and turned my project so that I could now stitch the bottom of the pocket. Set the presser foot back down and continue to sew until you reach the next corner. Set your needle in the fabric, lift presser foot and turn you project so you now can stitch the last side. Set the presser foot back down and stitch the last side. Backstitch at the end.

So simple and yet so impressive!

A set for parties, a set for family suppers and a set as a gift!

A napkin seems so boring until you think of all the combinations of fabric and styles out there... what is yours going to look like?