Hazel's Legacy

Sideways, but still...  Recently we returned to Georgia where I had the experience of sorting through the remains of my mother-in-law's particular legacy. In this case, boxes and boxes of fabric and cut fabric and blocks and quilt tops very near to completion. I was searching specifically for the last quilt we had been working on together - a kaleidoscope quilt that was cut and more blocks than not assembled. We found it the next to last box that was opened.  I did a happy dance and got teary-eyed at the same time.

This however, is not that quilt top. This is instead a finished top. I say finished, but obviously there were issues or it would have been quilted.  A couple of things that my inexperienced eye picks out 1) the center is puckered- was she concerned that it needed work?  2) the baby blue fabric in the fill spots is thin-like she used a sheet instead of fabric for the large pieces.  And too one of the corner squares has been pieced as if she had run out of a solid cut large enough to fit.  The more experienced eyes of the quilt fabric shop ladies pointed out that the triangle fill pieces are placed on the bias and will stretch when it is bound. Also, Hazel used two different reds - randomly - in the red stripes.  The ladies also said that the center would "quilt out" but that the triangular fills would need to be replaced.  The sole print fabric that was used seems to have little if any relationship to the solid colors that were used - the flowers are pink, teal, and maroon.

For all the flaws though, the piecing is spot on.  The star is vibrant and the size impressive. So what is an overextended girl to do?  Buy fabric of course!  The plan is remove the insipid baby blue fill pieces and replace them with (correctly) cut tone on tone teal fabric.  The teal will pick up part of the print, modernize, and coordinate with the rest of the solids in the quilt.  That is, once the sewing machine is back from the shop.

Some detail shots:

This weekend I ...

This weekend I planted some stuff: cilantro and basil(3 kinds) and rocket and butter beans and nastruisums and chives and peppers (3 kinds) and potatoes (4 kinds) and tomatoes (4 kinds).

This weekend I pickled some socks: to set the dye on some of my handmade socks I put them in a mason jar with a glug of vinegar and some water and then nuke for 3 minutes. Let it cool and hope the dye stops running when you wash your socks. Mixed results - the best of which is that the dye set the worst of which is a now variegated and slightly felted pair of purple socks.

  This weekend I made the house happy: things got put away and wiped and now I'm happier too. This weekend I put tape on the walls: we are down to the final punch list and should (fingers crossed) be done done done this week. I've got things going where I think they will live. Pictures please? Too many. But here's the final look! (dang it. I need to figure out how to do this from the phone. I'll edit this post tonight with pictures)(and spell check)

And some detail shots....

Kitchen Refresh, Weeks 3 and 4

We were out celebrating our 25th anniversary at week 3 of the remodel, so I'm doing a catch up here.

Last weekend found us with the windows and doors installed, and drywall from ceiling to floor.  The guys had pre-taped the drywall, ready for mud.  Sofits were built for the new wall cabinets and the window to the stairs has been closed off.  It's still open below the stairs, but all the treads are now blocked off from the kitchen.  Although we had intended to repurpose some of the cedar paneling for wainscot, it ended up not working the way we thought.

Week 3 was a short week due to the holiday, however, things moved along quite well.  Tuesday they finished the prep for the tape and mud dudes.  Wednesday the mud dudes came and did all of the seams, while Ralph and Sean painted the cabinets for the new hutch.  They were just finishing up for the day when we got home, ready to light a huge propane heater in the middle of the dining room to help everything dry - my eyes watered so much from the off-gassing.  Thursday was texture day and when we got home Friday night, everything had been primed.

This coming week should reveal the painted walls, along with the crown molding, the installation of the hutch, and maybe even start to refinish the existing cabinets.  I pick up the new oven on Wednesday, and I've ordered some of the new hardware for the cabinets.  I'm ready for this to be as fabulous as I imagine it should be. 



Kitchen Refresh - week 2

It doesn't look like much has happened this past week, as it's been mostly prep for the actual resurfacing.  However, I do have a new set of doors in the dining room.  The floor and walls had suffered water damage, as we suspected, and since we were looking forward to putting a door in, there's no time like the present. The floor was repaired and new frame was installed for windows to flank the door. 

It appears that the re-purposed boards have been cut down to size for the wainscoting.



And a new support box has been built for the incoming oven and microwave.  In addition, the air return for the furnace has been repaired.

Light fixtures have been installed.  Windows have been ordered.  And switches have been put into place.  The studs and joists have been "plumbed" so that when they install the drywall, it will be level. 

All in all, prep work.  Doesn't make for pretty pictures, but it is progress....

When life hands you lemons...

You gotta crack some eggs!  And grate some butter, and whisk some flour and sugar, and turn them into some of the best Lemon Bars I've had in some time.  Martha Stewart's Cookies rules again.

We picked about a half dozen Meyer Lemons off the patio trees, and had to turn them into something tasty. And thanks to the way that deconstruction has taken place, I was able to make the Lemon Bars from Martha's book this weekend.  I zested the skins into the lemon custard portion, hoping for that little extra zing, and found it successful.  I think my pan was an 8x12 instead of the 9x13 requested by the recipe, but that just led to a thicker shortcake and custard in each bar.  I must say they are quite delish.  If you get a chance, I'd say go for it!

And the walls come tumbling down...

It has begun.  Refreshing the kitchen has been on our minds for years now, and finally, after I taped down a(nother) rip in the linoleum with purple duck tape, we caved.  We called up our favorite contractor, Coastline Construction, and asked them to help us out.  And so, before...

All of the wood is great, as long as you aren't seeing it day in and day out.  And every little thing that spills, it sticks to the cabinets until the end of time.  I'm still not sure what the opening above the stove and through the stairs is all about, and forget that tiny little corner cabinet.  The microwave is ancient and weak, but tied to the electric oven.  And notice the duck tape on the dining room window?  You wouldn't believe the draft that was coming in through that window.


Wednesday was the beginning of demolition.  We aren't officially remodeling, as nothing is moving (or wasn't to start with!), but instead, nearly everything is getting resurfaced.  Our desire started with the floor, crawled up the walls and over the cabinets and ceilings.  It's happening in a somewhat more orderly fashion.  The first steps were to pull down the wood that clads all of the walls and ceilings in this part of the house and assess the damage time and water has caused.  

Damage was not nearly as bad as it could have been.  There appears to be termite damage in one of the headers, but it looks to be pre-construction.  And there is water damage under the big window in the dining room - but we were expecting that.  Ralph & Sean have repaired the air return to the furnace and the damaged header.  We've decided to replace the 10' long window with a pair of doors (6' wide) and some side windows.  We're putting in a large built-in hutch in the dining room for additional storage.  The hole over the stove is getting a face lift.  And bonus!!!  Ralph & Sean cleaned up the garage so that they could pull their trailer in to ease the removal of extras.

I'll try and keep you up to date with the goings on.  We're quite excited to see it done!

Weekend Wandering...

This weekend I went for a drive and ended up in Sacramento at my dear friends "quirky" apartment (her words, not mine!).  Since the day was more sunny than rainy, we made the in town stops as soon as possible (Hobby Lobby!  Chick-fil-a!)  and then headed up into the Sierra Foothills and Placer County to see what we could see.  

Our first stop was at the Courthouse in Auburn.  A fine, majestic piece of architecture that has been refurbished in a befitting manner.  In the right light, it has a golden glow to it.  Of course, I was on the wrong side of the sun, but it's still impressive. There's a small museum inside that we wandered about, before heading for the wine trails.

We managed to make stops at four wineries, but only tasted wine at three. One of the wineries smelled of something "off" and so it was a quick in-and-out stop.  We found out later they had a skunk in the roof of the hillside cave.  Oops!

Mt Vernon

Vina Castellano

View from FawnRidge (Have you been "fawndled" today?)

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset over Dona Dal Cielo

The next day found us up and out to Thunder Valley for a look at the breakfast buffet (pass...) where we instead had a delightful meal at the cafe' instead.  We christened the nav system in the new car "Trixie" as she correctly gave us directions to the "tricky" to find Lone Buffalo winery.  There's no way we would have found the place without her.  The owners of the Lone Buffalo recommended us to the Pescatore Vineyard who recommended we stop at the Wise Villa Winery, where we met Rolando and his horse J.T., of Cuba originally, although you could tell by his "hey y'all" that he had spent a portion of his life in the south...

Between Pescatore & Wise Villa, we ran across the Gold Hill Cemetery.  I'm always willing to stop at an old cemetery, just to wander around and check out the dates and names.  This is a small cemetery and old.  But clearly, still maintained.  One of the more unique headstones was covered in broken marble.  And this resin angel is standing guard over another's love. 

The drive home in the rain was uneventful, I think mostly due to the fact that folks were home watching the football games. 

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Wild & Domesticated

Found in the yard this weekend...

And growing on my kitchen counter.....

 Guess which ones are ending up in the dinner pot?

Cookie of the Week

This week - Cappuccino Chocolate Bites.  Just that perfect little cookie when you need some coffee and chocolate.  These cookies are so fragile, that you need to be extremely delicate when you slather on the filling to turn them into sandwiches.  The delicacy follows through in the light coffee flavor of the shortbread cookie and the whipped chocolate ganache' that fills them.  All in all - YUM.

However, these cookies have a lot of "wait" time - mix the dough, chill for 30 minutes, sit for 10 minutes, roll the dough, (and if you re-roll the dough for more cookies, it needs to chill - again - for 10 minutes) freeze for 10 minutes, bake for 10 minutes, rest for 5 minutes, move to racks and let cool.  Mix the ganache, chill for at least 30 minutes, whip, spread and chill some more.  Not a quick cookie.  And it's not a large batch.  I used 1 3/8 " round cookie cutters, and was only able to eek out 18 sandwiches.  That's a small cookie - maybe a bit larger than the end of your thumb.  Don't count on making these to take to a cookie exchange.

Notes:  I had some leftover mousse from the cupcakes which made a delicious sandwich filling as well.  When I whipped up the chocolate ganache for the filling, my bowl and beaters were still warm from the dishwasher and the frosting "broke".  Still tasty, but a bit grainy where it wouldn't have been if  my tools had been even room temperature.