tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61831036863681771372024-03-05T19:58:49.115-08:00All Those YesterdaysLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-61979383269393829142014-06-04T21:09:00.003-07:002014-06-04T21:09:51.361-07:00Getting caught up: Lake TahoeI'm extremely behind with blogging what's been going on around here but I am determined to get all caught up this summer!<br />
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First up: our trip to Lake Tahoe in September. I know it was ages ago but since this is a journal of sorts I think its still worth posting about. My dad was out visiting from England and had planned to go hiking/camping up there so Josh and I thought it would be fun to take the dogs and join him - except that we rented a cabin (we are not into camping). It was the off-season so it was pretty quiet up there and we loved it! We stayed in King's Beach on the north shore. <br />
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This was our cute little cabin:<br />
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There are so many cabins to choose from but we specifically wanted one with an outdoor space for the dogs and this one was perfect. (That brown blob behind my car is bear poop - it didn't thrill us that they came so close to the cabins at night. My dad was strangely obsessed with the bear poop and examined it to try figure out what the bear had been eating - gross!)<br />
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They really committed to the rustic cabin theme - there were SO MANY ANTLERS!!<br />
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Love those kids!<br />
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There was this big deck along the back of the cabin that led down to a big yard - it was so nice sitting out there and relaxing in the afternoon.<br />
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This was the view out the kitchen window - that cabin was slightly bigger and fancier than ours ha!<br />
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My dad planned to hike up in the mountains from Tuesday until Sunday so we dropped him off with his extremely heavy backpack on the Tuesday morning and made plans to meet him at the same spot on Sunday morning.<br />
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This is the beach near our cabin:<br />
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Really gorgeous but unfortunately it was a "no dogs" beach so we followed the signs to the dog beach off to the side. <br />
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It wasn't exactly what I would consider a place where dogs could have fun. They tried to play on the rocks and in the water but we gave up pretty quickly. <br />
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A few days later we found another dog-friendly beach and Zeke had a good time splashing around. The water was really cold so he didn't get very deep. Zoey was not interested at all and stayed far away from the water.<br />
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Out of nowhere it got really cold and snowed overnight. It was completely unexpected for that time of year so we hadn't packed any really warm stuff (not that we have any anyway living in this roasting hot climate we live in!). I thought it would be fun to go for a hike in the snow. Josh wasn't thrilled about the idea but he agreed to go. We drove up to this Meadow Trail up in the mountains.<br />
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Zoey had never seen snow before and she got confused and lay down. She's weird. It was pretty cold and I think I had at least 2 - maybe 3 - pairs of yoga pants on and 2 hoodies. <br />
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It was so pretty and such a novelty because we never get snow here. We posed the dogs on a rock and got this gem of a photo that I used for our holiday cards last year. I know I'm biased but I think they are such beautiful dogs. <br />
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The next day Josh and I left the dogs at the cabin and went exploring. First we went back to King's Beach to get a few photos.<br />
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Then we headed to Sand Harbor. I bet this place is packed in the summer. It was bit strange to be bundled up at the beach (believe me it was much colder than it looks in these photos!) but the scenery was so beautiful we didn't mind.<br />
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After that we headed to Chimney Beach. We had read that it was quite a hike down to the beach but we were still not at all prepared for the steep climb. We made sure to follow the instructions and turn right at the fork in the path - apparently if you turned left you would end up at a nudist beach - no thanks! <br />
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Once we got down close to the water we could see how far we still had to hike across to get to the actual beach (it was pretty far) so we decided to just enjoy the scenery where we were and then hike back up.<br />
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You can't see it too well in the photo above but that's the chimney that gives Chimney Beach its name. Apparently there used to be a little house there and the chimney is all that's left.<br />
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We didn't take any pictures of ourselves because we were slightly sweaty after the steep hike - we were peeling off layers as we climbed!<br />
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The next day we went out for breakfast and when we got back to the cabin my dad was sitting out on the deck. We were so confused because it was only Friday and we were supposed to go pick him up at the trailhead on Sunday. Apparently the weather was much worse up in the mountains and his tent had broken so he decided against sleeping exposed to the elements (and animals!).<br />
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We thought he might enjoy the little Meadow Trail we'd gone to a couple of days prior so we went back up there with him. Zeke had cut his paw pad on something so we had to bandage him up to keep it clean so he had a cute little sock.<br />
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On the way down we stopped off at a scenic view spot where you could see almost the entire lake. <br />
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On our last day we hung out and relaxed, did a little driving around and checking out scenery and then went back up to the lookout point for some sunset views.<br />
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Then it was time to pack and go home. It was sad to leave this gorgeous place - its really one of the most relaxing places I've ever visited.<br />
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And finally this funny photo where Zeke is sitting like a human!<br />
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<br />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-53801782948809202932013-12-22T18:40:00.000-08:002013-12-22T18:40:11.403-08:00Decorating the Christmas TreeSomehow it's been 6 months since I last posted. This poor blog is so neglected. I do plan to write some catch-up posts soon, but in the meantime here's a little video from a couple of weeks ago of us decorating our tree. Its not the greatest quality but its a nice memory captured :-)<br />
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Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-33352607916732095272013-06-15T18:52:00.000-07:002013-06-15T18:52:06.701-07:00Hello?I've been MIA for quite a while. Just been far too lazy to sit down and write blog posts. I've made some tweaks around the house which I will hopefully get around to documenting soon. In the meantime here's a summary of the past 9 months ...<br />
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In September we celebrated our five year anniversary (half a decade flew by way too fast!) with a weekend trip to Missoula, Montana. We went for a Pearl Jam concert but also checked out some of the local attractions.<br />
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Tired faces (6am flight = 3am wakeup)<br />
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Looking a little more awake post nap.<br />
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We were pretty excited about seeing bison at the National Bison Range.<br />
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Our first stop was looking at the map to figure out the best driving route to take. I was wearing flip flops and a little mouse ran right over my foot resulting in much screaming from me and hysterical laughter from Josh. With a start like that we should have known the outing wasn't going to go as planned.<br />
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We drove and drove and didn't see a single bison. I saw some brown dots far away on a hill and jokingly said to Josh "I bet those are the bison way over there in that fenced in area."<br />
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At the end of the drive we stopped by the visitors center and guess what? Two days a year the bison are rounded up for herd maintenance or something and we happened to come on one of the 2 days. Those "brown dots" I saw were the bison!<br />
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Luckily they had a stuffed bison at the visitors' center so we still got to see one. Not quite as good as seeing one in the wild but better than nothing I guess.<br />
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They had all these animal heads mounted to the wall and I thought the bison head was pretty cute. Josh's favorite was the guy next to the bison head. <br />
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They had this massive pile of antlers outside the visitors' center. I was scared to get too close in case I had another run in with a mouse.<br />
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After that I got a little lazy and didn't take many photos. Missoula is a really cool little town and I would love to live somewhere like that. Very eco conscious and dog friendly, with a beautiful river running through the downtown area.<br />
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Josh had to pose with this guy at the airport.<br />
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And then we flew off into the pretty sunset ...<br />
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In October I got really sick one day. I had a pain unlike any I'd ever experienced in my upper abdomen which was so bad I could barely breathe. Then I started vomiting. Oh the vomiting. That went on all night and I resisted going to the ER but was at Urgent Care as soon as they opened. The doctor insisted I had food poisoning, but I knew it was something else. I didn't feel well all week and finally went back to the doctor 5 days later and was sent for an ultrasound. Guess who was full of gallstones?? This girl. Over the next week I started to feel better so like a dummy I decided to postpone having surgery. My gallbladder behaved for a good month or so but then I started getting really sick again in December so I scheduled my surgery (which wasn't until January). The 2 weeks prior to surgery were so bad but I really wanted to hold out and have outpatient surgery vs going to ER during an attack, being admitted, and having to stay a couple of days. That pain is no joke though - I hope I don't have to go through anything like that again. <br />
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These are the little (big) troublemakers.<br />
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The dog-children turned a year older. <br />
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We would be lost without these two :-)<br />
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Since then life has been pretty quiet. We went to Philly in April for Josh's best friend's wedding but besides that we haven't done anything exciting. You'd think I would have more to report after 9 months of silence, huh?!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-90115633340437988052012-09-03T16:31:00.000-07:002012-09-03T16:31:00.015-07:002012 Vegetable GardenI am a little late in writing about our garden seeing as our squash plants have produced a ton of zucchini and yellow squash and are now almost dead, and the tomato plants are getting crispy in the relentless end of summer sun. I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but better late than never, right?!<br />
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I was so proud of my big 6 ft by 6 ft raised cedar beds that we built last year. Turns out they were too big for me to reach into and I had to practically climb in to get to the plants in the middle. So for this year's veggie garden we decided to cut them in half and make four 3 ft by 6 ft beds.<br />
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The photo below was the scene at the end of winter. Josh just pointed out that its so ugly it looks like we purposely made it look bad so it would be a good 'before' photo. Sadly that is actually what our side yard looked like for a good 5 to 6 months. Embarrassing!<br />
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It was quite a bit of work to move the gravel<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (have I mentioned before how much we loathe the previous owners for dumping a million tons of gravel all over the back yard?!)</span>, move the soil, cut the wood sides in half, add new wood, refill with soil, and then put the gravel back. There may or may not have been an embarrassing incident where one of us tripped while stepping out of a bed and face planted into the gravel. There may have been multiple cuts and bruises and a mouth full of dirt and gravel. And there may have been a husband trying to be concerned while stifling hysterical laughter. <br />
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Despite all the hard work we were pretty happy with end result.<br />
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The smaller size was much easier to work with. We planted our garden towards the end of April. Usually we plant earlier but with our trip to England and having to reconfigure the beds we got a bit of a late start.<br />
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We used chicken wire again to deter neighborhood cats from using the garden as a little box but apparently it makes a comfortable bed! Those are baby zucchini plants she's sleeping next to.<br />
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We make our own compost and there must have been some tomato seeds in it because a bunch of volunteer tomato plants sprung up.<br />
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I hated to pull them out but realistically we didn't need 100 tomato plants. I did throw them in the compost bin so at least they will add some nutrients to next year's compost.<br />
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This is about a month after we planted the seedlings. You can see how the squash plants really took off! Its funny because last year our squash plants looked sickly all season and produced maybe 3 squashes. It was really pathetic and sad. <br />
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We decided to make pathways around the beds to make it look neater and also to make it easier to walk in all that gravel. We used the 98 cent pavers from Home Depot and picked up 10 every time we went so it took a while to do all the pathways.<br />
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Yellow squash trying to keep up with the zucchini.<br />
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The first zucchini. We picked this about a month after we planted the seedlings. From this point on we were over-run with zucchini and couldn't eat them or give them away fast enough. <br />
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This might sound like an exaggeration but we got around 60 zucchinis from our three plants - pretty amazing! The yellow squash didn't do quite as well but we definitely had more than enough of them too.<br />
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This is about two and a half months in and you can see that we were almost done with our pathways.<br />
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I love how the pathways look and I think the dogs appreciate them too - I've noticed that they try to keep their feet on the pavers and off the gravel.<br />
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The tomato plants always grow fast but it seems like the fruit takes forever to ripen. The waiting is the hardest part!<br />
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This is about three and a half months in and you can see how the squash plants are starting to look a bit raggedy. They started producing less at that point and slowly started dying. We noticed that they rotted at the roots. I'm not sure if that's a normal part of the life cycle - I need to look into it.<br />
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The tomato plants always seem to outgrow our staking system and become an overgrown mess. Those wooden stakes are 6 feet tall!<br />
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Whenever we pick tomatoes Zeke and Zoey expectantly wait for their portion - I think they are convinced we grow the tomatoes for them!<br />
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We are thinking of trying some new veggies next year. Any suggestions? Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-5969503978961880242012-06-30T18:16:00.000-07:002012-06-30T18:17:31.411-07:00England part 3My parents both turned 60 this spring so we had a nice dinner at my mom's house to celebrate. Don't they both look great for 60?!
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My mom has a cute little Jack Russell named Oscar (but pronounced Oscah since he's English!).
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He really liked Josh :-)<br />
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My mom lives close to Bath so we went in a couple of times and did some sight seeing and eating (we had an amazing sausage sandwich the first day and one of the best meat pies I've ever tasted the second day). In all the times I've been to Bath I'd never gone inside <a href="http://www.bathabbey.org/">Bath Abbey</a> so I wanted to check it out. The Abbey has been around since the 1500s and is really beautiful - unfortunately my pictures don't really capture it very well.<br />
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The Abbey is still actively used - can you imagine attending church in such a gorgeous building?!<br />
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The ceiling is very intricate - its amazing how detailed these old buildings are considering how long ago they were built and without any modern machinery.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The walls are lined with burial plaques - some grander than others.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I was kind of disgusted by how many people had carved their names into this one.</span><br />
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A beautiful building inside and out.<br />
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Bath was originally settled by the Romans who built a spa around the hot springs sometime in the 1st century AD so its a pretty old city! We didn't visit the Roman Baths because it was getting late and we wanted to eat but I did take a photos of the entrance (below). Yet another cool looking building!
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We walked over to Sally Lunn's house, which is supposed to be the oldest house in Bath. Its probably too small to see in the photo but that black circle to the right of the second story windows says "The oldest house in Bath 1482, Sally Lunn lived here 1680".<br />
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Shaun talked me into climbing into that red box for a photo op.
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Then he returned the favour by posing with this ice cream cone. What is it about hanging out with siblings that makes you act childish? Or is just us Whitmore kids?<br />
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I can't remember if it was the same day but we walked around some of the neighborhoods and looked at the homes. Many of them had these courtyards below street level and I loved the simplicity of this one. I definitely wouldn't mind owning one of these homes!<br />
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On the day we left my mom's house we went down to the stables with her. She goes down morning and night to take care of her horses. Quite a lot of work for 1 person!
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<span style="background-color: white;">This is Tango on the left and Lacey on the right.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Merlin belongs to my mom's friend and is still a foal (under a year old). He's going to be a stunner when he grows up!</span><br />
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I don't remember taking this photo but I'm so glad I did hahaha!<br />
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I'd love to have my own chickens so I was a little obsessed with these free range chickens and their coop. Maybe if we ever move out into the country we can build a coop just like this.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">A restful place to spend the day ...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">This old house is privately owned but used to be the Bishop of Salisbury's summer home in the 1500s. The house next door is owned by my mom's friend (who was on vacation so we couldn't go in) and has the same low ceilings, crooked walls etc. Because they are so old there are only certain renovations that can be done in order to keep the home's original architecture intact. </span><br />
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The last day of our England trip was spent walking around London with Shaun, Lizzy and Mark and I decided not to lug my big camera around with me so there are no photos :-( At the time it seemed like a good idea because we walked A LOT but now I kind of regret it. Oh well there's always next time.<br />
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And that concludes our quick trip to England!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-54469576676024078412012-06-29T22:40:00.000-07:002012-06-30T10:13:22.181-07:00England part 2One of the days we went to <a href="http://www.corsham-court.co.uk/">Corsham Court</a>. It was built in the 1500s and has been owned by the same family since the 1700s. Part of the home is open to the public where you can view an amazing collection of paintings and 18th century furniture. Unfortunately they didn't allow photography inside the home so I could only take photos outside.<br />
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Outside the entrance to the home is the church - I guess if your house is big enough you get your own church!<br />
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After we'd checked out the church we headed towards the house.<br />
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Once we walked through the massive archway we saw the gorgeous house. I love english architecture and thought it was absolutely stunning!<br />
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Can you imagine living in such a house? After we finished looked at all the rooms and paintings we went around the back to walk around the grounds.<br />
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So pretty.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"> There was this random bath house on the grounds that looked like it hadn't been used in quite some time.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"> Shaun considered mowing as a backup career.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Not sure what's going on here!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Our pastiness blended right in with the English!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">My favorite photo of the entire trip hahaha!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">There were peacocks all over the grounds.</span><br />
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Very cool place to visit!</span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-70863606567933375682012-06-24T18:22:00.000-07:002012-06-24T18:22:03.225-07:00Catch Up - England part 1I've been an extremely lazy blogger but after 6 months its time for an update! We've made some changes around the house and in the back garden but I will start with our short trip to England in March.
I hadn't seen my mom and 2 of my brothers since our wedding in September 2007 so it was mostly a trip to spend time with family but we did do a little sightseeing. One of the days we drove to Shepperton where my grandparents lived their whole married life until they passed away. I last visited Shepperton in 2002 a few months before my grandma died and haven't been back since so I wanted to visit the church grounds where my grandparent's ashes are scattered and also drive by their bungalow one last time. On the way there we stopped in Camberley and drove down the street my parents lived on when they were first married.<br />
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This is the first house I lived in - we lived there until we moved to South Africa when I was 3. I don't have many memories of living there but I do remember the wallpaper in my bedroom - strange that I remember that of all things!<br />
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My Grandparents' bungalow. We moved a lot when I was growing up but this house was always a constant and we would always stay here when we came back to England to visit my grandparents. The oldest memory I have at this house was watching Charles and Diana's wedding with my mom and grandmother.
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Shepperton Church. Apparently there has been a church on the same grounds since the 7th century but the current building was built in 1614. Its a small church but very beautiful.
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This is the wall in the grounds where are the plaques are displayed.<br />
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Granny Jean (who I was named after) and Grandpa Big Boy (I started calling him that after he told me that if I ate my vegetables I would grow up to be big just like him).<br />
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Where Granny's ashes are scattered. See that gravel in front of the headstone? There was some brown mushy stuff on the ground that I pointed out to my dad. He took a look at it and said "oh its probably melted toffee" and proceeded to poke it with a stick. Turns out it was dog diarrhea so we thought it best to cover it with gravel before taking the photo. Then we laughed for about 10 minutes about my dad assuming it was toffee - you know, because its totally normal for there to be melted toffee lying by a headstone next to a church!<br />
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Where Grandpa's ashes are scattered.
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This pink magnolia tree was in full bloom - so pretty!<br />
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Next up: Corsham Court ...Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-3107183663915109862011-12-24T21:31:00.000-08:002011-12-24T22:25:00.218-08:00Christmas EveI didn't do a whole lot of Christmas decorating this year, and I've left it to the very last minute to post photos, but better late than never right?<br /><br />This year I wanted a change from the berry garlands on the staircase so I got some fake greenery and dressed it up with ornaments and snowflakes (although I think it could have done with a little more color).<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0583.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0591.jpg" /><br /><br />The area behind the sink got a little sprucing.<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0518.jpg" /><br /><br />Silver, green and white on the dining table.<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0531.jpg" /><br /><br />Photobombers :-)<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Zeke-Zoey.jpg" /><br /><br />A simple mantle (no stockings for the cats this year).<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0557.jpg" /><br /><br />This year's ornament. I thought the mixer was super cute and we finished the kitchen this year so it represents 2011 well.<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0599.jpg" /><br /><br />The tree is always my favorite Christmas decoration. I can't wait until the day its filled with the special ornaments we pick out each year.<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0604.jpg" /><br /><br />My view from the sofa.<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0605.jpg" /><br /><br />Waiting for Santa :-)<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Waiting-for-Santa.jpg" /><br /><br />Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-28087403125065716052011-12-23T12:58:00.000-08:002011-12-24T11:43:31.728-08:00Holiday Card outtakesThe last 2 years our Christmas card featured our pets so we figured we might as well continue the tradition and put Zeke and Zoey front and center this year.<br /><br />Now that our cards have made it to England I can post some funny (maybe only to me and Josh?) outtakes and the photo I loved but didn't use because I couldn't get it to fit the card layout.<br /><br />This is the card we sent out:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/2011-Holiday-Card-final.jpg" /><br /><br />I did the layout in PS Elements and then had them printed on cardstock at Kinko's. When the girl helping me saw the card she said "oh how cute - their names are Merry and Bright". I wish I could have seen the look on my face because, really, that was such an odd thing to say!<br /><br />These poor dogs have been pestered by me and my camera since they were puppies so they're getting pretty good at posing for photos. We thought having them in front of the tree would be cute so I set up our storage ottoman with a piece of faux fur thrown over it. For the sweaters I actually dug out my knitting needles after not knitting a single thing for 5 years because I couldn't justify spending money on dog sweaters that would be worn once. Luckily all the imperfections in my knitting didn't show in the photo :-)<br /><br />This test photo had us in hysterics - could Zeke look any more demoralized?<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0448.jpg" /><br /><br />As usual, Zoey wasn't quite as cooperative as her brother ...<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0453.jpg" /><br />... licking her lips ...<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0466.jpg" /><br />... and trying to bolt ...<br /><br />This was the photo I really, really loved but didn't use. I just adore those sweet faces.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0476-ed.jpg" /><br /><br />And then when it was all over it was nap time.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0489.jpg" />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-44077720094206365622011-11-28T20:55:00.000-08:002011-12-08T11:57:42.127-08:00O Christmas Tree<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:180%;">80s music channel + camera + decorating the tree = good times!</span><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mUsuxIq3SOg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br /><div>(Becca just brought to my attention that it looks like 3 trees at the beginning - its actually a fake tree that comes in 3 pieces. Now you don't have to wonder what happened to the other 2 trees haha!)</div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-81081539062376320402011-11-27T09:42:00.000-08:002011-11-27T09:42:54.351-08:00Family room projects - mirror and ottomanAs promised here are the 2 family room projects I worked on while my brother was visiting.<br /><br />I have always liked the Eagan mirror from Pottery Barn, but not the price tag:<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Eagan-mirror.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Eagan-mirror.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />$699.00??? There's no way I would pay that much for a mirror so I had the great idea to make my own. (I have since realized that my idea wasn't that original and found quite a few good tutorials online. Too bad I didn't find them BEFORE I reinvented the wheel!)<br /><br />I didn't take many photos of the process so here are my steps in fast-forward:<br /><br />1. Buy mirrors. I got mine at the Dollar Tree but you can get them at a variety of places. Actually I got them at 5 Dollar Tree stores because I needed 30 mirrors and each store only had a few. I almost scrapped the project at this point.<br /><br />2. Decide what you are going to use for the wood strips between the mirrors. I used screen molding from Home Depot.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Plywood.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Plywood.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />3. Figure out what size to cut your plywood backing so that it fits your mirrors and wood strips perfectly. Its a good thing I like math because calculating this was kind of a pain. I wanted to use scrap plywood we had lying around so I had to attach 2 pieces using flat brackets. Cut and glue on all the little pieces of wood. Surprisingly this wasn't the worst part of the project!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0049.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0049.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />4. Prime and spray paint. It took quite a few coats to get a nice, even finish.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Mirrors.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Mirrors.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />5. Gather your mirrors and start picking off the little foam pads on the underside. This took FOREVER and was by far the worst part of the project.<br /><br />6. Glue the mirrors on and wait patiently for everything to dry.<br /><br />Hang on the wall and admire:<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0261-ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0261-ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0370-ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0370-ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />I love how it turned out and I especially love that I saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars by making it myself (even if it was a little time consuming)!<br /><br />************************<br /><br />Next we have the ottoman. I was looking for a big, tufted ottoman but couldn't find exactly what I wanted in stores. So because I'm crazy I decided to build my own. Here are my steps:<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Ottoman-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Ottoman-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />1. Build a frame and then screw on the top piece. Mine is pretty big - 36 x 36 inches.<br />2. Mark where your buttons will go and drill holes.<br />3. Glue on foam. We used 3 inch so it would be nice and soft.<br />4. Cover with batting and staple into place.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Ottoman-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Ottoman-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />5. Get your fabric ready. I couldn't find the exact fabric I was looking for so I decided to use a fabric drop cloth and dye it. I was going for dark gray.<br />6. Here you can see the dyed drop cloth compared to pre-dyed. Unfortunately it didn't come out nearly as dark as I'd hoped. Cover the batting and staple into place.<br />7. Cover buttons with left over fabric and attach.<br />8. Attach the legs (after painting or staining them).<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0266.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0266.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />9. Victoriously place your snazzy new ottoman in the family room and realize its the exact same color as the rug - ooops!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0263.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0263.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0257.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0257.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />I should probably post a pic of what the room looked like with a coffee table for comparison but we have some other changes going on in the family room so I'll post another update soon.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-35823208102813132182011-11-26T10:02:00.000-08:002011-11-26T10:17:02.406-08:00Birthday dogs!November is birthday month for both of our pups (Zeke was born on the 4th and Zoey on the 26th) and its become a tradition to torture them by making them pose for birthday photos.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Zeke-and-Zoey-birthday-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Zeke-and-Zoey-birthday-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><div>The chalk board in the loft + a small ottoman + fabric from my stash = perfect photo spot!</div><div><br /></div><div>Zeke is a good boy and will stay put until excused. Zoey is wild and every other photo looked like this:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0326-ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0326-ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Which lead to Zeke thinking it was his turn again ...</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0335-ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0335-ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Love them so much! </div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=Zeke-and-Zoey-birthday-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Zeke-and-Zoey-birthday-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-23791105604669426142011-11-13T15:11:00.000-08:002011-11-13T19:38:07.407-08:00We're still hereAfter two and a half months of being lazy and not posting anything on the blog here's a quick recap of what we've been up to:<br /><br />1. I finally cut my hair after almost a year. I don't think I've ever gone that long and I'm not sure why I did but it was so nice to get rid of all the dead ends. I probably could have cut it all off and donated to Locks of Love but I already tried the short hair thing in high school and again in college (apparently I didn't learn my lesson the first time) and it was a bushy mess!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9479.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9479.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />I also haven't highlighted it in a year. I kind of miss the light blonde color - you can see how its darker up near my roots - but I don't hate my natural color so I'm going to see how long I can keep it au naturale.<br /><br />2. My boss picked up 2 hideous chairs from a thrift store and I made a muslin slipcover template for her to use to make real slipcovers for them. All the pets thought the chair was for them.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9386ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9386ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />Love Zoey's expression in that one!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9394.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9394.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9827.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9827.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />Amazing how much better the chair looks with that yucky fabric hidden. Zeke was sad when she took the chair back to her house.<br /><br />3. I started dealing with my clothing hoard. I can't stand clutter and love getting rid of things but for some reason I hold onto clothes. It was getting out of control so I forced myself to get rid of a few things.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9869.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9869.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />Okay so maybe it was more than just a few. Because I'm wierd I decided to sort everything by clothing type and fold into piles.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9871.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9871.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />I gave it all to Goodwill - hopefully the fact that it was all organized was helpful to them or I wasted a couple hours for nothing!<br /><br />4. We celebrated Josh's birthday (and forgot to take a photo).<br /><br />5. My brother Paul came out to visit. The dogs love their uncle!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9936.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9936.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9886.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9886.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />6. While my brother was here I worked on 2 projects for the family room - an ottoman and a knock-off Pottery Barn mirror. I just realized I haven't taken any photos of them so I'll have to post about them later.<br /><br />7. We celebrated our 4th anniversary. This is not a great photo of the 2 of us but its the most recent one I could find.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9613ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9613ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />8. I threw a baby shower for my dear friend Erin. It was a lot of fun and we played a game where each guest was given a balloon and had to make it into a baby. This is Erin posing with all the babies that didnt burst:<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_9968.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9968.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />9. We celebrated 3 years of living in our home. Its hard to believe its been 3 years already!<br /><br />10. Had out of town visitors: my freshman roommate Sasha, her hubby, and sweet little 3 month old Lucas.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/?action=view&current=IMG_0239-ed.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_0239-ed.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />I think that about covers it. Its finally cooled off here so I'm getting in the mood for the holidays. Cant wait to bust out all the Christmas stuff!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-21137698755482203742011-08-26T18:59:00.000-07:002011-08-26T19:29:46.939-07:00The kitchen is done!!First lets look at some 'before' pics.
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<br />Here's an old photo I took when we looked at the house for the very first time (July 2008):
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<br />It doesn't really scream 'dream kitchen' but we liked the size and layout.
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<br />This is early 2009. We had already painted over that yellow-ish color on the walls and were getting ready to start replacing appliances (which took about 18 months because we saved up for them one by one).
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<br />And here we are 2 and a half years later:
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<br />We really love how the island came out. It was kind of wimpy before but adding trim really made it more substantial looking. The white outlet cover isn't ideal - maybe one day we'll find a paintable one that will blend in more.
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<br />My favorite part of this photo is the shiny subway tile. Its so pretty when it catches the light.
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<br />The top of the fridge looked bare so I grabbed the few cookbooks we own and put them in this wire basket I found at Home Goods. The glass jar was part of a Christmas gift from my boss. The white tin had a former life as a Christmas tin full of popcorn. Add a coat of white spray paint and now it holds dog food!
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<br />Goodies from the garden. I found that little marble cutting board at Home Goods for $4 and had to get it - we couldn't get marble counters so at least I still have a little bit of marble in my kitchen :-) The dinner bell used to belong to Josh's grandmom Donato and he would ring it when he was a kid. When she passed away Josh's mom saved it for him.
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<br />I got this old postage scale last year. I had been on the lookout for a vintage kitchen scale but they were always so pricey so when I saw the price tag on this one I snatched it up. Most people don't even notice that its not a kitchen scale. The utensil holder is actually a plant pot from Ikea.
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<br />We are lucky to have 2 big windows behind the sink that let in a ton of light. Without them I don't think we would have been able to get away with black cabinets!
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<br />I've had a hard time figuring out what to put in that big area behind the sink. That succulent is the only plant in our entire house - our dumb cats chewed on every plant I've brought in (and then puked green stuff everywhere) but they seem to leave this one alone.
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<br />This is the area to the left of the sink. We put a hook in the side of the cabinet so we could hang a towel up there. We used to hang the towel on the oven door handle but the dogs always knocked it off so this is working much better.
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<br />This is looking back towards the sliding doors that go out to the deck. I got the EAT letters at Michael's and painted them green. Those cabinets above the EAT letters are the first ones that got painted (back in November 2009 - a little embarrassing that it took me 18 months to complete all the cabinets!) and so far they are holding up well.
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<br />Treats for our spoiled dogs. They know the sound of the metal lids being turned and come running as soon as they hear it! That frame with the bird/french fry wording is actually hiding a really ugly phone jack that we couldn't find the right cover for.
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<br />And just for fun here are those 2 'before' photos with current photos from the same angle for comparison:
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<br />(I think the black table and chairs makes for a bit of black overkill but there's nothing wrong with them so they're staying - I think adding a colorful fabric runner to the table will help.)
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<br />And in honor of National Dog Day, my favorite kitchen accessories :-)
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<br />And that concludes our kitchen makeover! We love, love, LOVE it!! Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-47705563676240518992011-07-30T10:40:00.000-07:002011-07-30T10:40:16.502-07:00Kitchen: Almost done!I spent the 4th of July 3-day weekend and the following week doing 2 coats of polyurethane on the cabinets, doors and drawers. It really shouldn't have taken that long but it was so disgustingly hot here that I could only work on it for about an hour early each morning before it was too hot and the poly was drying as I was brushing it on. (There also may or may not have been an incident where I accidentally knocked over an entire can of oil-based poly onto the kitchen floor but I don't want to talk about that - I still haven't quite recovered from that horrifying fiasco.) Refinishing cabinets is pretty tedious work and I know this sounds ridiculous but the day I finished that last coat of poly was one of the best days of my life!<br /><br />I found this picture I took right after the cabinet doors were sanded - this is my workshop dungeon where I spent countless hours working on those doors and drawers:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9086-ed.jpg" /><br /><br />(Embarrassing sidenote: we have never parked in our garage - its been a state of chaos ever since we moved in. Maybe this fall/winter we'll get a handle on it. Maybe.)<br /><br />After letting the poly cure for a couple days we put the doors and drawers back.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9377.jpg" /><br /><br />It was so nice to have the cabinet contents hidden behind closed doors again. We also loved having our silverware back in its drawer after using this system for over a month:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9375.jpg" /><br /><br />Although it was convenient having everything out on the counter, I am rather clumsy so I was always worried I would break one of the glasses.<br /><br />Here's a closeup shot before hardware:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9384.jpg" /><br /><br />And after:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9443.jpg" /><br /><br />We used simple knobs on the doors, and cup pulls on the drawers. I love them - they are like jewelry for the kitchen! We also replaced all the hinges - the original ones were brass so we switched to satin nickel to match the knobs and pulls.<br /><br />Even though we still had to tile the backsplash I couldn't resist putting everything back on the counters so we could have our kitchen back to normal for a while.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9464.jpg" /><br /><br />I think I need to bring in some more color - I love the black and white but it could probably do with a little pizazz.<br /><br />Last weekend we finished installing the backsplash tile. It was our first tiling job ever and we were really nervous. At first there was a little trial and error (okay a LOT of trial and error) but after that we picked up the pace. Here's a sneak peak of one area (still needs to be grouted):<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9515.jpg" /><br /><br />Still to do:<br />*Grout the tile (hopefully today)<br />*Get plywood for under stove - right now it sits about 1/2 an inch lower than the counters and we want to bring it up to the countertop height<br />*Touch up paint around the sides of the backsplash<br />*Bring in some more colorLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-21706353750042107752011-07-24T12:32:00.000-07:002011-07-24T12:32:15.434-07:00Veggie Garden Part 2Finally about 2 weeks later the sunflowers started poking through the soil! We were so excited because a couple of my friends planted sunflower seeds and nothing came up.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8858.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8922.jpg" /><br /><br />This baby bell pepper was so cute. (Fast forward a couple months and the pepper started rotting while it was growing so we didn't get to eat it - oh well.)<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9058.jpg" /><br /><br />Then disaster struck! Its usually pretty warm and dry in May but this year we got a ton of rain and the squash plants didn't like it. Bit by bit they started looking like this:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9061.jpg" /><br /><br />They were actually getting smaller instead of bigger. A few died but finally in June they started to perk up. We still have yet to harvest any squash but some are getting close to being ready. I love summer squash and we buy some at the farmers' market every week but I cant wait to eat the ones from our own garden.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9406.jpg" /><br /><br />The tomato plants didn't seem to mind the rain at all and grew like crazy. We now have a tomato jungle!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9399.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9401.jpg" /><br /><br />Once they start getting fruit the hardest part is waiting for them to ripen. Tomatoes are one of my favorite things to eat but I am very particular about them - they have to be juicy and flavorful and you just cant find good ones in the winter so I usually skip them completely. By the time spring/summer comes around I am dying for them and I find myself checking the green fruit every day looking for signs of ripeness. Josh has also become quite the tomato aficionado so between the 2 of us the tomato plants are closely monitored.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9357.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9361.jpg" /><br /><br />Earlier this month they finally started getting ripe - picking a cherry tomato off the vine and eating it while its still warm from the sun is one of the best things ever!!!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9497.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9496.jpg" /><br /><br />These are the brandywines (an heirloom variety) - they are a little slower than the cherry tomatoes but worth the wait.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9494.jpg" /><br /><br />We get a plateful of cherry tomatoes every couple of days now.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9486.jpg" /><br /><br />One of the plants has these teeny tiny tomatoes that taste good but are a pain to pick.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9352.jpg" /><br /><br />The dogs LOVE tomatoes so we usually just pick a few for them when we're outside.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9353.jpg" /><br /><br />I made the mistake of showing Zeke where they come from and now he keeps shoving his snout into the bush and picking his own!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9364.jpg" /><br /><br />The sunflowers are doing well. The back row are giant sunflowers and in front of them are some ornamentals.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9499.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9505.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9502.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9414.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9408.jpg" /><br /><br />Hopefully they are attracting bees and other pollinating insects to our garden!<br /><br />Well I think that's enough on the subject of our vegetable garden. Happy Gardening!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-26602158556510862892011-07-24T12:11:00.000-07:002011-07-24T12:11:15.423-07:00Veggie Garden Part 1We started our vegetable garden at the beginning of April and because I am such a slacker I am just getting around to blogging about it now. Better late than never, right?! I am breaking it up into 2 posts because I am wordy and there are a lot of pictures.<br /><br />We built some raised beds last year and things were going pretty well until about August when suddenly all the plants got crispy and died. We watered them every day but we think that because the beds were quite small the soil just got too hot and dried out by the 100+ degree weather, which killed the plants. So we had to come up with a new plan this year!<br /><br />We started with this glorious scene:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/1IMG_8341.jpg" /><br /><br />Our side yard is such a thorn in our side. Its a good sized space but unusable in its current state. We still haven't figured out a plan to get rid of the gravel.<br /><br />We removed last year's boxes and built two new 6ft x 6ft ones out of cedar. We also decided to remove the gravel under them so they could sit directly on the soil, instead of on top of the gravel like last year. When we started moving the gravel we discovered plastic underneath - talk about a drainage nightmare! Once we cut the plastic out from under the box we realized that the 'soil' was actually orange clay - good thing we weren't planning on planting anything in the ground!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/2Boxes-clay.jpg" /><br /><br />When we priced out buying soil for the raised beds we found that having it delivered from a landscaping yard was MUCH cheaper than going to Lowe's/Home Depot and buying it in bags. After measuring our beds we ordered 3 cubic yards to be delivered to our driveway. We knew it would be a lot but we weren't quite prepared for this:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8696.jpg" /><br /><br />It took Josh and I about 7 hours taking wheelbarrow loads of dirt to the raised beds. I don't ever want to do something like that again!<br /><br />Instead of fertilizer we use the compost we make from our fruit & veg scraps and yard waste, and we also wanted to add some earthworms. We bought some from the garden center - there were over 200 worms in that small container!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/3earth-worms.jpg" /><br /><br />We planted tomatoes in the front bed and squash, a pepper plant, and sunflowers in the back bed. We put down chicken wire again to prevent neighborhood cats from using the beds as a litter box - how gross would that be?! The upside down tomato cages are protecting the sunflower seeds until they grow into little plants.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/4IMG_8803.jpg" /><br /><br />Then we just had to wait ...Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-47683642837134963102011-06-25T13:16:00.000-07:002011-06-25T22:02:04.389-07:00Faucet and WindowsillsIn my last post the sink area looked a bit sad and faucet-less.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9234.jpg" /><br /><br />Here it is after the plumber left:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9266.jpg" /><br />We thought about reconnecting all the plumbing ourselves but after getting a quote we decided we would let the professional do it - for some reason we thought it would be a lot more expensive than it actually was. Plus knowing our luck we'd do something wrong and wake up in the morning to a massive leak! :-) <br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>Most states don't require a dishwasher air gap anymore but California still does. We didn't want one so we just put a soap dispenser in the hole and if/when we sell the house we can take the soap dispenser out and have the air gap installed.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9260.jpg" /><br />Just for fun, here is a gallon of milk in the sink for scale. It really is a trough!<br /><br />This past Wednesday the windowsills were installed. Its so nice not to have those big gaps along the windows anymore.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9285.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9286.jpg" /><br />We are very happy with how the sills came out. We were worried it might look a bit weird but it blends in quite well.<br /><br />As you can see in the pic below our old tile counters had a thicker base and flowed right up to the window. Geez I really don't miss that small sink. Nor do I miss the "view" outside - a ratty deck partition and overgrown bush.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8651.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9281.jpg" /><br />This is so much better!<br /><br />I made some progress this week on the doors and drawers so hopefully they will be ready to go back in the kitchen by next weekend. Then we just have to do the backsplash and we'll be done. Can't wait!</div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-44143068978829592142011-06-15T22:31:00.000-07:002011-06-15T22:31:51.722-07:00Countertops are in!There was some delay with the countertop fabrication process so we didn't get our countertops until today.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/15-IMG_9192.jpg" /><br />This is how things looked this morning before the guys got here. Over the weekend we switched the white faux wood blinds to bamboo shades because we thought a natural texture would look better with all the black and white.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9215.jpg" /><br />You cant see it that well in this photo but there is a little ledge / window sill along the windows. Our old tile counters were super thick and the tile went all the way to the window - we didn't realize this until we ripped the tile counters out. The new counter stops in line with that ledge so are having sills made out of quartz - hopefully it looks okay. Our other choice was to tile that area and we thought that would look weird.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9218.jpg" /><br />Here are the pretty counters installed! I love how shiny and seamless it is - I don't miss all the grout lines one bit!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9224.jpg" /><br />A detail shot of the pattern. Don't worry, those aren't chips along the edge - they are clear pieces of quartz.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9234.jpg" /><br />We love the huge sink! We have been calling it a trough! I put that arrow in so you can see the 1 seam we have. Its not too noticeable. When I got the quote from Home Depot they told me we would have to have 3 seams and their quote was $1k higher - glad we shopped around!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9250.jpg" /><br />A closeup of the seam.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9233.jpg" /><br />Where the window sill is <em>supposed</em> to be. Unfortunately when the guys got here they realized the pieces that are supposed to go there didn't make it onto the truck. I was a bit bummed but they say they will come back within a week to install them.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9225.jpg" /><br />And finally, a shot of the delicious slab on the island. Because we added some trim to the island and the counter overhangs slightly, the countertop is now 4.5 inches longer and 4 inches wider. It doesn't sound like it would make a big difference but the whole island feels much more substantial.<br /><br />The plumber came this evening and installed the faucet and connected the under sink plumbing etc. but I haven't taken any photos yet. I'll get to that soon!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-74534859158853080642011-06-12T18:19:00.000-07:002011-06-12T18:32:01.737-07:00The Dynamic DuoSince I don't have any kitchen updates to share I thought I would post some photos of our dog-children.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8417-ed.jpg" /><br />I found them in the guest room one afternoon, staring out the window. So cute.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8367-ed.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8474-ed.jpg" /><br />You'd think this photo was posed, but they were actually lying like that on their own!<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8612-ed.jpg" /><br />This is a common scene when we're working in the yard. Bored to death.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8775-ed.jpg" /><br />Again, bored.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8681-ed.jpg" /><br />I'm not sure why Zeke decided to sit on the back of the couch. Of course, before reprimanding him I had to take a photo.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9071-ed.jpg" /><br />Waiting to go outside.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8996-ed.jpg" /><br />Watching us cook, hoping for scraps.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8981-ed.jpg" /><br />Froggie.<br /><br />What would we do without these little dears in our life? :-)Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-33863084745531079922011-06-09T21:45:00.000-07:002011-08-28T18:00:29.931-07:00Kitchen progressThe good news: we found out today that our new countertops will be installed on Tuesday.
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<br />The bad news: we haven't powered through our to-do list quite as fast as we thought we would and are now running a little behind.
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<br />We (and by we I mean I) are learning that everything takes longer than you think it will. Josh is usually more realistic about how long things are going to take but I find myself saying things like "oh I'm sure we'll be able to cut and install all the trim for the island in 45 minutes". Haha very funny Laura.
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<br />I read somewhere that the formula for DIY projects is to double your time estimate and increase by a unit - so, for example, something you think will take an hour will actually take 2 days. Sadly this formula is not totally ridiculous in our experience.
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<br />Here is our progress in pictures:
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/1IMG_9128.jpg" />
<br />Patching the drywall was fun. Not. We could have bought a huge piece of drywall for six bucks. Unfortunately the huge piece would not fit in the car so we had to buy four 24"x24" pieces at $4.25 each. That was a bit of a bummer.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/3IMG_9189.jpg" />
<br />After taping the seams and spackling everything we spent a couple hours after work one night sanding everything smooth.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/5IMG_9112.jpg" />
<br />Next on the list was the island. The laminate floor was put in after the cabinets (there's linoleum underneath) and quarter round was put in to hide the gaps between the floor and the cabinets. I'm not crazy about how it looks so we removed it.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/6IMG_9131.jpg" />
<br />Isn't it just lovely how the island blends into the floor?
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/7IMG_9132.jpg" />
<br />Next, a thorough sanding.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/8IMG_9160.jpg" />
<br />Then some trim. I really wanted a more chunky looking island so we used cheap pine 1x3s and some baseboard trim. Its a little hard to envision the finished product with the 3 different colors going on but I thought it looked pretty good for amateurs like us.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/9IMG_9151.jpg" />
<br />The stove back in place and no more holes in the walls!
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/10IMG_9161.jpg" />
<br />We removed the quarter round from the rest of the cabinets.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/11IMG_9174.jpg" />
<br />And started sanding.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/12IMG_9173.jpg" />
<br />Some parts needed more attention than others!
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/13Island-gaps.jpg" />
<br />Our measurements weren't quite perfect so we had some gaps to fill.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/14IMG_9180.jpg" />
<br />And then everything got a coat of primer. Well almost everything - we stopped at 10:30 pm because we have to get up early so I still have to finish priming the rest.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/15IMG_9192.jpg" />
<br />Somehow the primer actually looks better than the orange oak.
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<br />The doors and drawers are still in the garage and have been put on the back burner while we work in the kitchen. This weekend I need to finish priming, and then paint the cabinets. The polyurethane will have to wait until after the countertops are installed because I like to give the paint a couple days to cure first. I'm going to have to be VERY careful not to get poly all over those babies.
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<br />Oh and in case you're wondering what we do for entertainment while we're working on projects ... our go to is the 90s music channel on Comcast. Good times. Although we might have to change to something else because we realized that the early nineties songs are now 20 years old! That was a pretty nauseating realization that we're getting old.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-69571457674729556672011-06-05T11:58:00.000-07:002011-08-28T18:02:25.933-07:00Kitchen: The PlanI'm not sure if I ever explained why we chose black for our cabinets. I really love white kitchen cabinets but we just didn't think the oak cabinets would look good painted white. Oak has a lot of grain and the idea of white grain wasn't appealing. Also, we have a lot of dark wood furniture in our open layout dining area / family room and having an all white kitchen at one end would probably have looked out of place.
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<br />We weren't really feeling brown or some other color so I started looking around online and found a few kitchens with black cabinetry and fell in love. (I saved these pictures ages ago and unfortunately can't remember where they came from.)
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/01_10.jpg" />
<br />I love this one except for the lights over the island.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/masl07_paltrow.jpg" />
<br />This is Gwyneth Paltrow's kitchen and I adore it too.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/mayinsp_1.jpg" />
<br />This is my favorite out of all the black kitchens I saw. I love everything about it! (I just wish I had a bigger picture of it.) Obviously that kitchen is more fabulous than we will be able to achieve but we decided to use it as our inspiration.
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<br />I love, love, love white marble countertops but they cost a lot more than we want to spend (also, we probably wont live in this house forever and a lot of people don't like marble in the kitchen because its a soft stone) so we went with quartz for the counters because they have white color options.
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<br />This is the color/pattern we picked:
<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/SC000630IV.jpg" />
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<br />Its called Iced White and we ordered from Ikea. I got quotes from 5 places who all use different brands and Ikea had the best price by far. It looks a little busy in that small square - its more subtle when its a whole slab.
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<br />You're probably wondering why we are ripping out white tile only to replace it with white stone? Surely we're crazy. After 2 and a half years of living with the tile I am sick of it. The grout looks bad and is a total pain to keep clean, and I miss being able to roll pastry etc out on the counters - I always need to use a cutting board because the tile isn't totally smooth. Not to mention the sink area - no matter how much we scrub the sink never looks clean.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9097.jpg" />
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9107.jpg" />
<br />This is after a good scrubbing - those stains never come off!
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/Sink-grout.jpg" />
<br />Yucky grout.
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<br />I am really looking forward to a nice smooth surface!
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<br />For the backsplash we are doing white subway tile. Simple and timeless. We also love colored glass tile backsplashes but with black cabinets and white countertops going for something neutral will probably look better.
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<br />We got a steal on the sink. We'd been eyeing this double width single bowl (we prefer no divider in the middle) at Home Depot and a couple weeks ago we noticed they only had the floor model left and it was on clearance for $100 off! We snatched it right up. The other day I noticed it had some weird black marks on it - oops didn't notice those when we bought it. Hopefully they come off.
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/jaa11229.jpg" />
<br />Sorry about the miniature picture - its the best one I could find online. I forgot to take a photo of the actual sink and now its at the countertop place.
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<br />Faucet shopping took a while. I was somewhat (okay very) picky about what I wanted and we also wanted to keep the price down so that really limited the choices. We finally had it narrowed down to 2 and couldn't make a decision. A week later one of them went on sale so that made our decision for us. I love it!
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<br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/ca87008srs.jpg" />
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<br />So that's the plan. I'll post some progress pics soon.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-68028611150879039632011-05-28T17:33:00.000-07:002011-05-28T17:39:15.316-07:00Mr. PatheticHere's Zoey sleeping on our bed ... but where's Zeke?<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9024-ed.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9025.jpg" /><br /><br />Apparently the dog blanket at the foot of the bed didn't meet his needs.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9029-ed.jpg" /><br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9033-ed.jpg" /><br /><br />Is that the most pathetic face you've ever seen or what?Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-44918840970446526932011-05-28T12:44:00.000-07:002011-05-28T13:01:00.275-07:00Kitchen-lessWell technically we're not kitchen-less - we're just countertop-and-sink-less which makes a kitchen pretty much useless.<br /><br />After painting the upper cabinets a year ago we decided to wait until we could afford to replace the countertops before painting the lower cabinets. We were worried that demo'ing all that tile would scratch and ruin the painted finish (and we were right). Well we are finally ready to continue the kitchen project - woohoo!<br /><br />First we removed all the drawers and doors so we could paint them. After getting a hefty quote for countertop removal we decided to do it ourselves - we figured it would take an afternoon (oh how wrong we were!).<br /><br />This is the kitchen last weekend on Saturday morning:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9109.jpg" /><br /><br />And here it is now:<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9118.jpg" /><br /><br />Yikes!<br /><br />Whoever built the countertop really went the (unnecessary) extra mile to ensure they would last the test of time so what we thought would take an afternoon actually took almost 2 days. It was pretty bad. And noisy. Imagine 2 people with hammers and chisels / crowbars banging away for 2 days. Our poor neighbors. About half way through that hefty quote didn't seem like such a bad price! Unfortunately removing the backsplash tore some holes in the wall so I cut it all out and will have to patch it.<br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_9115.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Our former sink. </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/rubble.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Backsplash mess on the left and countertop rubble on the right.<br /></span><br />It looks bad now (and we are still finding little pieces of concrete everywhere) but I am so excited for how it will (hopefully) look when its done!<br /><br />The guy is coming out to make the template for the new countertop next week so its a good thing we have a 3-day weekend to get the walls patched and all the other little things we have to get done before he comes.<br /><br />I'll post an update with our plan for the kitchen (countertops, backsplash, etc.) soon!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183103686368177137.post-19039003958191507982011-04-16T13:25:00.000-07:002011-04-16T14:09:19.130-07:00Laundry Room light fixtureI've been meaning to write a post about the light fixture I made for the laundry room. (I also still have to write a post about our homemade laundry soap - I will do that soon!) <br /><br />This is the light the room started with. Fine but blah. <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_5351.jpg" /> <br /><br />Originally I wanted a small chandelier to add some pizazz to the space but when the cheapest one I could find cost $50 I changed my mind. I know $50 isn't a fortune but its too much to spend on a light fixture for a tiny laundry room. <br /><br />When we replaced the living room light I saved it 'just in case'. You know, because we might need a dated, shiny brass light fixture one day! <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_6410.jpg" /> <br /><br />It had paint all over it because we painted the room before removing it. <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_4974.jpg" /> <br /><br />I took it apart and figured out which parts I wanted to reuse. That glass 'cage' <em>had</em> to go. <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_4977.jpg" /> <br /><br />Next I taped off the parts that I didn't want to paint and spray painted the whole thing white. Getting rid of the brass made a huge difference! <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8015.jpg" /> <br /><br />It looked a little skimpy so I added a large white drum shade and voila ... <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8368.jpg" /> <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8423-1.jpg" /> <br /><br />I really like it! The best part is that the only thing I had to buy was the drum shade so this project cost a total of $12.99 plus tax. Not bad at all. <br /><br /><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BlueSaffron/IMG_8485-1.jpg" />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06447048101088555569noreply@blogger.com1