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I do not have a whole lot to say today.

The photos I am sharing, I took during the early evening in the old house. Besides morning,

it is my favorite time of day. The light is different at five in the evening. The old house is happy with a soft, warm glow. It inspires me to straighten up and decorate and listen to my favorite jazz stations.

We will be starting the smallish kitchen tune-up tomorrow. I am excited to share with you our progress,

so please check back in. Our part is slow-going... you know, the kitchen cabinet restoration. Sigh.

- traders joe's daffodils, vintage postcard, vintage flower frogs -

- the light from the dining room windows -

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scenes from our kitchen

I spent 15 minutes removing from a kitchen cabinet, one,
painted over too many times, original, made in 1908 nickel hinge. As I was standing there, cursing (in my head of course) the people that slopped the paint over these beautiful hinges, I began to question
my stamina for another big project.

There are 28 hinges, and 15 minutes is actually quick. Hubby spent 30 minutes on one a few weeks ago.
So, that's 28x15=420/60=7. Seven. Seven hours. Seven hours spent removing hinges.

After they have been removed, off they go to the crockpot spa for a 24 hour soak, and then back in our hands for another 15 minutes to pull off the paint, scrub and polish. Another seven hours.

7+7=14 hours of 106-year-old hinge restoration is feeling so much longer than 14 hours.
We started this whole process a few weeks ago, and now we have eight to go. The upper cabinets are complete. The lower cabinets are this weekend's project.

here are some before/during/after photos:

- before - five layers, including green and bright pink -

- after! - amazing, right? -

- lots to see in this photo - new plants, wine, nasty peeling paint -

- contact paper removed, bead board installed, and no more peeling paint -

- lots of sanding -

- glass installed, it's called german new antique -

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Are you curious what the plan is for the rest of the kitchen?
It is not a complete overhaul; perhaps, if this was our forever house, we would consider something
on a larger scale. For now we're just going to freshen up the original cabinetry, and overhaul the right side
of the galley (see photo below).

The right side will get new butcher block countertop, an undermount sink, tile backsplash, open shelving,
new gas range and a few other fun, small touches.

- this is from a few months ago -

- this is from a few minutes ago -

 
You can see above that I've tested out the chosen paint color for the lower cabinets. I'm excited!
More to come as we make progress!

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in the details:

let me know if you have any questions about anything you see!

crockpot spa for stripping old paint- idea seen on rehab addict, love this show

one of my favorite things

Dishtowels.

Here are a few I received this holiday season. You all know me well.

I have plans for a few of these. Yes, I do use most of my dishtowels, but yes, I also have a small collection
that remains crisp and clean. My Mom and I always talk about framing one. I think it may be time to
give the idea a try.

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in the details:

a few of my favorite places to find dishtowels-

crate&barrel, anthropologie, and be sure to pop into the local kitchen and gift shops

in your city or when traveling

half bath

Speaking of small projects, we've done a few small things in our half bath.

I do not love the location (at the end of our galley kitchen), but with three children, I am thankful it's there.

- see the half bath way down there? -
- i was torn about sharing this picture - the kitchen is next on the list for
a small makeover - paint, new hardware, gas range, etc. -

By the way, the end of the kitchen is actually an addition.
The doorway beyond the kitchen table and chairs had swinging doors when we moved in. Not super convenient for us, so they came down (don't worry, we kept them). And what we now call the pantry room, used to be laundry. While I do not love laundry in the basement, we needed all the kitchen space we could get. So, hubby and I ripped out cabinets and hauled the heavy appliances to the basement.

The pantry room not only has shelving for storage and a coffee station under the window, but also the refrigerator. No, not ideal for your kitchen triangle, but it was there or partially blocking off doorways on the opposite end of the kitchen. It works, and we're all used to it now. We do a lot of walking in the kitchen.

Now that we all know the background story, here are the half bath pictures.

- last winter -

- currently -

When we first purchased the old house, I had no affinity for the sconces. Now though, with the small changes, I love them! We also decided to keep the wallpaper. It is cute and works in this space.

The only thing left is a new mirror or a new paint color on that one. Any ideas?

One more note. I am sure many of you love the old sink. We do too, BUT it was so short. Hubby is rather tall and I am not short. Plus, the thing leaked and leaked and we were tired of fixing it.

The current sink is what was thrown into the main bath when they tried to do a quick fix-up before listing the old house. It did not match at all, so moving it to the half bath meant a new sink upstairs!

And if you must know, we also replaced the toilet in the half bath, but who wants to see pictures of that...

- here you get a glimpse of the wallpaper -

 

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in the details:

gray and white chevron curtains - hand made, fabric from hobby lobby

decor - from my stash/collection in the basement
old sink - the guy that fixed our french doors took it, he accepted it as trade/credit

the market

I feel fall fast approaching. In fact, I have been told by many new-city-natives that
the cicadas' hum is an early warning of frost- a siren, perhaps. And, while I love the fall season for cardigans, crunching leaves under my feet, football games, wide open windows and a new menu, there are things of summer I struggle to let go. The Saturday morning, local farmers' market will soon end and so will their fresh, beautiful produce savored by our family in the old house, all summer.

The early hours of Saturday mornings I reserve for my own time.

This summer, I've spent these early morning hours with my friend, Jessica. We are running and training for
a half-marathon and like to hit the trail before the sun is up. I know I am deviating a bit from topic,
but running at this hour, witnessing the sun's rays reaching out over the fields of corn and beans and prairie land, has presented powerful and humbling moments. It is me and the Lord.

Our post-sunrise run routine is local coffee and a stroll through the farmers' market, chatting and
filling our bags with goodies for the week ahead. There is nothing better than warm sun shining on your face, coffee in hand, and the perfect medley of market sounds and smells. And, of course, those feelings of a day started before most, complete with a sunrise blessing and His shining grace.

 * * * * *

We are regulars to our favorite farmers. Father, Lord thank you for their worn hands and their devotion to cultivating, harvesting and sharing the riches of the earth.

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a few images from the market-

- don't you just want to buy the whole bin! -

- best eggs ever - we stood in a long line for the strawberries! -

- the best watermelon we've ever had came from the back of this truck -

- tomatillos and poblano before i turned them into salsa verde -
- and there's that best-ever watermelon! -

- here i purchased a beautiful hanging basket and many succulents -

- another morning haul - the peaches were amazing! -

- purple chinese long, green, and dragon tongue beans -

- all from the market, including edible flowers and goat cheese -

- my rustic rhubarb (rhubarb from the market) pie -

- all fresh from the market, including the ingredients in my pico de gallo! -

- weekend cooking and baking with my farmers' market goodies -

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in the details:

i am happy to share recipes - send me a message

(salsa verde, market salad, rustic rhubarb pie, pico de gallo, cucumber vinegar salad)

weekend spontaneity

By Friday afternoon I am completely spent.

Most Fridays we have family pizza-popcorn-movie night, but I had no energy even to make pizza.

I had already decided I wanted to get take out. Hubby called though and said we had been invited for burgers at our friends/neighbors house. Sold! I love spontaneous get-together's! I think life often gets in the way when we try to make official plans. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try or that we don't need get-together's,

but allowing ourselves to be spontaneous means those get-togethers end up being

much needed and more fulfilling.

Speaking of spontaneity, I was at the Saturday morning farmers market and got a text from our babysitter saying she was available that night. I guess I texted her a week prior to set up one last date night before she moves away to start life in the real world. Apparently I forgot, but thankfully she remembered.

Hubby and I got an impromptu date night, and I need to tell you, we had the best Thai food! It has been since our Seattle years that Thai food has tasted so good. Our favorite dishes:  pad see ew, panang curry.

* * * * *

Much of Saturday and Sunday was spent in the yard cleaning up and planting flowers. The children helped and also logged several hours on the neighbors' swing set.

Sunday brought thunderstorms, so I decided to bake. I made blueberry muffins and strawberry rhubarb pie. The muffins are one of my usual recipes, but this was my first strawberry rhubarb pie. I crafted it while hubby and our neighbor (remember Bruce?) fixed our leaking kitchen sink. The fix has been needed for a few weeks and Bruce just happened to pop over yesterday. It was crowded in the galley, but I persevered and the pie was a success! I even shared a few generous slices with Bruce and his wife. I wish I could pay for
all the work on the old house with baked goods.

 

- picked up the rhubarb at the farmers market -

I had to patch the crust and I didn't get the pie crust shield on early enough. It looks rustic I think. I used the Joy of Cooking as my guide for tweaking the filling, and the crust is a recipe my sister uses for her
dutch apple pie. Like Bruce said, any day is a good day if you have pie. I also think any day is a good day with a little spontaneity.

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fresh paint and homemade granola

Perhaps I have said this before, but cooking and I think painting, too, is like therapy for me.
I recently spent a rainy afternoon with S making my family's favorite granola and painting the pocket door in the kitchen... just the way I intended to when we moved into the old house last summer. The inset is now a chalkboard, regularly used for recipes, bible verses, kind sentiments and kid drawings.

 

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in the details:

chalkboard paint - rust-oleum, home depot- i did a double coat
granola- i cannot share, but after 50 tries, it's just about right - it is very loosely based on this recipe

kitchen: butcher block

The cabinets in the kitchen of the old house appear to be original.
They are also the fun, original height of 31 inches (current standards are no less than 36). Perfect for the children, but not for myself or my unusually tall hubby.

We thought we were ready to tackle the kitchen, but there are too many unknowns.
A possible layer of asbestos tile under more than one layer of linoleum, closed off mystery panel behind
the stove, abandoned duct work, plumbing... I mean, if you know old houses, you know you stop talking about it when plumbing comes into play.

You see, there is no easy answer when working on an old house. Remember my previous questions- click here. Our solution for this space is practical. Make it user friendly, decorate, embrace and love it.

Our first priority was to raise the one work surface in the kitchen. It is big and a great space, but we
have to hunch over to use it. To make it more functional, we decided a piece of butcher block would look great and give us a large and higher work space. I looked at many options, but decided to ask my uncle if he had any ideas. Well, he did, and he made us the most beautiful countertop. I sent him the picture below.

- before -

- currently - it raised the counter to 34 inches -

- the detail is amazing - we love it -

the next few steps in the kitchen:
get it plumbed for gas- we love to cook and you must have a gas range
 paint all cabinets, replace their hardware, insert glass into a few of the cabinet doors


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in the details:

how to take care of your butcher block - click here

thank you uncle john- while it may be a part of the old house now,

this piece has already become a family heirloom