A Mile In Our Shoes: The Last Six Months

A long overdue update on the happenings over the last 6 months. A LOT has happened.....

SPRING

There is no end to the little construction projects we have to finish up around the house. We started this whole remodeling thing back in 2010 and just when we think we are about finished, we look around the house and realize we still are not enjoying things like sitting on our little window seat to drink our coffee in the morning sun. Soooooo, when I realized I wanted to do just that, I got right to finishing that little project. To make the project easier and faster, we went and special ordered a couple of prefab window seat drawer units at our local home improvement store. They are now offering special heavier duty base cabinets just for window seats. We got two units with drawers and then built them in to the space we designed for the seat in the dining room. We sized the cabinets a bit deeper than the opening so the bench seat would be wider for laying down and taking those morning naps in the sun :o) All you have to do is space them out, secure them to the floor/walls and frame them in. We then had to build in the angled corners back to the wall and seal in the kick plate at the floor.

.....PRESTO! We added the drawer pull hardware, a few random cushions we had laying around just until we get a proper cushion top made, and now all we need is the sun to come out so we can sit and have that morning coffee. Oh, and NAP!

Next project (oh yes, there is ALWAYS more).........was to get the built in hutch made for the entrance to the kitchen. First we had to build a small wall next to the fridge, sheet rock it, etc. You have to know how excited I was about the prospect of sheet rock dust in my house again!!! UGH! After the mud had dried, I sanded the wall with the shop vac hose in one hand and sanding block in the other.

Nancy Hiller, a local cabinet maker and furniture builder designed and built the oak hutch for us http://www.nrhillerdesign.com/ . She will also complete the rest of the kitchen cabinets in the style of our original 1950's existing cabinets later this year, so stay tuned for that.

The hutch will be a transitional piece between the bungalow style of the dining room/entry and mid century style of the kitchen.

The piece came out just beautifully! I am in love with the big drawers in the bottom cabinet. We are just delighted with the piece and can't wait to see what Nancy will do with the kitchen!

Next on the 'to do' list........getting started planting the yard. Our friend Jonas is helping us construct and plant a permaculture garden - go here for information on the permaculture concept: http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/key_concepts/ Our goal is to be able to eat from most of the plants we put in our yard or have them bring things to the yard like bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. We are also working on developing a natural watering system for the yard. Here is the beginning of that..............

We are creating berms and swales in the yard to naturally collect water run off from rains. Here is Rowan and Jonas working on that for the front yard.

Jonas brought in a load of really good compost dirt, natural poop fertilizer and mulch.

The rain water will naturally run from the house towards the street and be caught in the berm. The water will seep into the berm to keep the plants on the berm deep watered for much longer than top watering will.

Planting was next on the agenda and since food is such an important part of our lives, the vegetable garden was first. These photos are from about 6 weeks after planting.

Kale, Radish, Garlic, Tomatoes....

Chard and Spinach

More Tomatoes, Bok Choi, Rhubarb, Parsley, Onions

Carrots, Radish, Cucumber

Lettuces

Early Summer dinner fixings from the garden

Dinner! :o)

We are also planting a considerable amount of food producing plants in our front yard landscape as well as some ornamental's.

Sage, Rosemary, Lavender, Alpine Strawberries, Lilac and various Hosta

Hosta

Red Twig Dogwood and two Gooseberries

In May we headed for Seattle to attend a conference, visit some family and get married :o)

We saw many old friends from all over the world at the conference.

Jenni, Arvydas, Rowan, David, Ina and Carol

A random driftwood sculpture we found on a walk along Lincoln Park in West Seattle.

The Russian spa we went to with Arvydas. Hot pools, steam baths and relaxation.
Part of our beauty treatment before getting married :o)

At the Space Needle in Seattle Center.

Making pizza with sister Pat

Another spa visit with sister Pat. This time to Olympus, a Korean spa. We will be soooo relaxed after this one, and extra gorgeous for our wedding!

Going to the Justice of the Peace at the Seattle courthouse. Our pals Alex, Natalie and sister Pat in attendance. We really couldn't believe this was about to happen in our lifetime. How far we have come since Stonewall!! What a great day for equality and LOVE!