Back to blogging

So it's been a while since I've dropped by here.  I think I even have a few sets of projects pics I completed but didn't post. 

Overall, my house is pretty much "done" but I do have a few pieces of ugly furniture I never improved last year.

I was busy, but due to a surprise "elimination of my position" I now have loads of free time.  In order to not go crazy with boredom as I will now spend the majority of the day in my house, I am setting goals for myself:

• Research my career (engineering/IT for healthcare, if you were wondering)
• Search and apply for jobs
• Work on final house projects
• blog completed house projects
• Search and apply for jobs
• Exercise more (Kinect in my basement, and walks around the park when it warms up!)
• Cook good food for myself and friends
• Keep a healthy garden (seeds are started!)
• Volunteer at Banner (get out of the house)
• Network
• Search and apply for jobs.

The last time I was out of work it was for 3 months and I pretty much stayed in the house all the time clicking "Apply" to anything remotely related on CareeerBuilder, and went a little crazy over time. 

This time will be different,  This is also a time to focus on me and think of life outside the 9-5.

Patio complete!

8 days after it began, construction was complete.  The contractor said 3 days.  Contractor man, why can't you just overestimate and tell me 10 days, then leave me really happy when its completed early?  Instead I'm left frustrated.  If someone asks I'll say it was good work, but have to tell them about how it took more than twice as long as your estimate, you woke me up early for stupid questions, and you rushed cleanup, leaving concrete speckles on my door and trash cans.  Sigh, enough negativity.  Here's the pictures!

 Before:

(of course I waited until the crew showed up to snap pictures) 

Cellar door that I would never have been able to open.  And look at the nasty broken concrete!

Old gate.  No privacy.

Gregory the cat wondering why this looks so ghetto.  And in case you were wondering, IKEA Lack tables were not meant to get rained on.

During:

 Goodbye, wall!

Goodbye, door and stairs to basement!

After: 

Hello, place for Prius!!

Hello, private patio! (Gate is open in)

Hi, herb and vegetable garden!

From left to right, Basil, Tomatoes (I forget which kinds made it from seeds, so I will be surprised later.  Some Big Boys, Cherry, and heirlooms were planted at different points), Jalapeno pepper, green peppers, chilli pepper, eggplant, and squash. Not pictured: Dill, parsley, and Blue Basil to the left, Cucumbers to the right.

Grill where the awful metal door was.  Wildflower seed sprouts on the table.

New locking gate.  Red chair and cute pillow from Home Depot.

I also have a bunch of pictures on how I built the vegetable bed (it's pretty much the size of a coffin, and of course I had to get a pic of me laying in it.  Because I am weird.) that I'll save for another post. 

I'll probably hang some flower beds off the fence for more color in the future, but I'm invested enough time and money into this area for this month.

Time to grill some farmers market goodies (peaches, corn, eggplant) and steak tonight!  I don't want this long weekend to be over.

Construction!

Construction! is going on in my back "yard."  Having contractors around has been...interesting.  I got a million (or 6) quotes from different people who came recommended by neighbors, and went with the cheapest (big surprise).  After meeting him a few times to talk about the project, I signed a contract Saturday morning and gave him a check for a third of the project cost.  (A bit scary handing that check over)  He told me he would start Tuesday morning at 8am, given there was no problem getting the permit on Monday.  I called and checked on Monday afternoon that everything was good, and he said he'd be there at 7:30am. (Which is when I'm usually rolling out of bed and into the shower, grumpy.)  I got up (and dressed) early and his crew appeared at 7:15!  I guess early is way better than late or not showing up at all.

They've started early the last few days.  Yesterday he rang the doorbell right as I was getting out of the shower, causing me to run down in my pink robe, and got another peek at the robe as I had just hit the snooze button when the damn doorbell rang.  Plus, the house sounding like it is under siege (pounding, scraping, jackhammers) is freaking out the cats. 

I'll do a post when it is finished with before, during, and after pics.  This will be a busy weekend, as though I could have asked them to build one for me, I'm convinced I have to build a raised flower/vegetable bed by myself.  My plants (most from seeds) will finally have a home!

Here's a pics of my flowers out front.  Sunflowers (from seeds) and daylilies I bought at the Farmers' market last year that decided to come back for this spring!

Ahhhh....

After an early morning of helping a friend with her moving away yard sale, hitting the Waverly farmers market, gardening, and grocery shopping, despite multiple invites to drinks, here's my Saturday night in:

Mmmm... berries for dinner.

(I am wearing shorts, they're just true to their name.)

garden: before

OK, so my back area is one thing I will not be DIY-ing.  Not at first at least.  The way I see it, I need a concrete wall knocked down, break-up current concrete, reinforce with rebar (which I have embarrassingly called rhubarb in public), pour new concrete and add a privacy fence to have a parking pad and private patio/garden and be happy.  Once we get up to the finished fence, I have ideas ideas for making the most of the concrete.

This plan (currently in the picking a contractor phase) is not stopping me from starting my summer garden.  I started with a couple packs of seeds, and have moved my seedlings into increasing larger pots.  Practicing my patience to nurture those seeds...

(Except one day I cheated and bought some berry plants.)

Crappy back area now:

Gross, right?

Greggy is only allowed outside with supervision, so he loves when I'm out gardening.

 (Please ignore the huge styrofoam blocks.  The only part of a giant ceiling fan packaging that can't be recycled.  And the peeling IKEA table that was not meant for the outside.) 

 Close-up of the bigger pots.  Raspberries, strawberries, and a couple tomatoes.

Grow strawberries, grow!

Some deformed raspberries

Today's raspberry harvest. I should start a CSA!

And my topsy-turvy tomato planter:

All these pics are actually a week old, because I even procrastinate on blogging.

Now the little white pots on the table that held cucumbers have been replanted, and some yellow flowers have appeared on my tomato plants.

And the sunflowers and lilies out front are getting closer to their debut.  Pics will come when they decide to show their face.

More projects

My kitchen was recently featured on Better After, so if you came from Lindsey's lovely site, welcome!

Here's another little project involving slapping paint on ugly wood.  I found this little sucker at a yardsale and walked away with it, a teapot, and a paper towel holder for $11.

It needed a few nails to keep the rim on, a good sanding, and some attention.

A lot of sanding.  Looks like an animal used the lower shelf as a chew toy.

Luckily I picked up a handheld power sander. (craigslist <3)

And felt powerful.

Then after a couple of coats of red and white:

And the kitchen miscellany collected quickly.

And because I love surprises...

..I added leftover fabric from one of my first projects to the drawer!

More to come, when I get a free weekend.  I currently have a nighttable and two plaid 70s chairs to makeover in my livingroom.  And a wine cabinet that I've had for almost a year, that I think will be the first wood item I DON'T just paint over.  Actual staining will be attempted!

This weekend is visits from family, neighborhood things, and painting a bedroom and installing a ceiling fan.

Wednesday Night Steak

Haven't blogged in a while, so here's a quickie.

Picked up a book at the library that inspires me to learn to bake my own bread.  Stay tuned to see my adventures.

While picking up flour, yeast, cornmeal, etc to prepare, I grabbed a NY Strip.  It's a nice day, why not grill a steak on a Wednesday?

Lizzie the housemate returned from England just in time for impromptu steak and raved about my preparation.  I thought I'd share the joy.  I didn't take process pictures, as I didn't think to post about this until it was cooked.  And I can't tell you specifics on how long I cooked it, just a few minutes on each side until I guessed it was ready and it was!

Here's the magic part.  Salt the sucker with loads of Kosher salt.  You want so much salt you can barely see the red of the meat.  I read about this here:  How to turn cheap choice steaks into gucci prime steaks which has an explanation and cute little illustrations of salt crystals and rosemary springs invading the meat.  I guess I followed this to the T before, and did it by memory today.  Once I covered my 1"+ NY Strip with loads of salt, I coarsely chopped a couple heads of garlic and a twig of rosemary (from my 1 year old and still going strong rosemary plant, natch) and smushed it into the salt layer with a fork.  Then I used another plate to flip the steaks over and repeat on the other side.  Leave them alone for 45min.  Chop a potato or two into wedges, drizzle a bit of olive oil over top and bake at 400degrees for about 45minutes.  I'm pretty impatient, so I think only heated the grill for about two minutes with a quick spray of Pam before I threw the steaks on.  Here's the final product:

Steak, crispy wedges and a pool of Ranch dressing.  Mmmmmmm.  And the orange craziness is home brewed Thai Iced Tea, which is not as good as from a restaurant, but still pretty tasty.

And in case you're wondering? Perfect medium rare.

And yes, I am eating at the decoupage table in front of the TV.  Dining room tables are for dinner parties.

I picked up a cute nightstand to refinish, and found pics of something else I haven't posted yet, so house project posts will resume.  Currently I'm busy planning a neighborhood block party (there are over 300 hamburger/hotdog buns in my car) for Saturday to get people outside to socialize and also discuss the importance of filling out the Census.  Be counted!