TGIF :-)

Ah, the joys of mid-Spring!  The black flies are out.  I cleared some brush in the front yard yesterday.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

(I'm noticing the Befores and Afters don't look that different- Believe me they are! I guess because the brush itself is still there?  It's just cut down now!)

Anyway, as I was clearing brush, the black flies came out.  It had been so nice to be out before, I kinda forgot about the bugs!  We have plans to move our dirt piles over the brush to smoothen out the front yard so it's easier to mow.

BTW, we finally started cutting the grass May 19 (Victoria Day).  Even though we had such a long winter, the grass is right on schedule.  We cut it at the same time last year!

HH got the sailboat set up in the yard last night.   

DS has signed up for a 2 week sailing camp this summer (the same one HH took when he was a kid!) so HH and DS are both pretty excited to go sailing.

I got a bit of work done on the breezeway yesterday.  I finished framing up the windows and screwing in the extra plywood around the windows.  

I also started some trim work which I'll hopefully finish up today.  

I'm mostly using leftover 1x3's from the old kids' room.

Look what happened to our new coffee pot. 

Our old one was super slow, so HH got a new one a few weeks ago.  I don't really like the interior design where the coffee grinds sit and the carafe lid pinched my fingers a couple times while washing.  So, I accidently broke it. I set it on the counter to dry with some other stuff and it slipped off!  What a mess.  Now I'm using an old pot I had stored in the cabinet above the fridge for my coffee!  It seems to work ok.  I wonder if we'll end up getting a new one?  I just donated our old carafe to the Salvation Army.  I may have to go there and see if they have a replacement! 

Have a great weekend! :-)

Kimchee

Hi!

I finally found some Napa Cabbage at the grocery store to make some Kimchee.  Remember when I made it before?  And I didn't have the right kind of chili powder?  Well, now I have two kinds.

I decided to use the one on the right.

Here are the ingredients.

(I didn't have daikon radish or green onions.)

Here's what to do.

 Soak chopped cabbage in 9 c. of water with about 1/2 c. sea salt overnight. 

Rinse well.

Mince 1 bulb garlic.

Finely grate about the same amount of ginger.

Coarsely grate 3 carrots.

Mix with rinsed cabbage along with

slightly less than 1/4 c. fish sauce

1 t. sugar

1/2 c. chili powder.

Put into jars.

(I used one of the Seoul Foods' Kimchee containers!  It's great- I wish I'd kept more of them!)

Let ferment.

I soaked the cabbage Tuesday night and made it up on Wednesday. I checked this morning (Thurs.) and there are bubbles so something's working!  Although when I tasted yesterday, it still seemed a bit salty to me.  This happened the last time I made it back in July, 2013. I'm not sure I rinsed the cabbage well enough or maybe it soaked too long or maybe I need to decrease the amount of fish sauce... I use the Thai Fish Sauce.  Maybe there's another kind that's more Korean (and less salty!) I'll keep experimenting.  It seems to get easier the more I make it!

Update on the Kimchee:  It fermented 2 days and seemed to be done.  It's the best one yet!  Not too salty or spicy!  Although, it probably could've fermented another day for extra ripe-ness.)

Tasty Tuesday

Mornin!

I'm on the local Friends of the Library Board and we held interviews for the summer student job last night.  We interviewed 5 young ladies.  It's fun to be on the other side of the interview- not so much pressure!  Everybody did great and we chose the best of the bunch to work at the library this summer.

So, here's another un-inspired menu for this week.

• Mon- Rotini, Spinach Cheese Red Sauce, Kale Chips, Carrots
• Tues- BBQ Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower, Frozen Mixed Veggies Roasted Beets
• Wed- Red Lentils Cheesy Bean Enchiladas -with leftover Punjabi Beans and Home-made Enchilada Sauce, Spinach Salad
• Thurs- Salmon, Potatoes, Pasta Salad with Frozen Mixed Veggies
• Fri- Leftovers Grilled Cheese, Apple Slices
• Sat- Pizza
• Sun- HH's Soup- Chili

:-)

Breezeway Progress

Hi!  

How was your weekend?

We had a productive one!  Saturday, HH & I continued on the patio/breezeway work that I'd started last week.

I cut another hole for a window.

I cut the last hole and HH & I put in the first window!

  

The second window is in!

And then we got the last one in.

But man, was it cold Saturday! I kept thinking it was so cold and when we checked the temps, it was only 5C (40F!) with a windchill of around 0C (32F!)!  No wonder I was so chilly!  We have frost warnings this week.  Usually, the last possible frost date is June 15! I'm always astonished by that, since growing up, that was kinda like the middle of summer!

Anyway, speaking of summer, HH mentioned that the breezeway would probably get hot in the summer (whenever that comes! ;-)) so I thought I should rig up some curtains. See that green thing hanging in the background?

It's from an old canvas tent.  My family took a big trip in 1984. We went from Louisiana to Colorado (Mesa Verde, Denver), to South Dakota (Rushmore), Washington (Seattle), California, Arizona (Four Corners), Nevada, Texas and back home. I think this is the tent we had then.

HH & I ended up with it.  Here it is up in NJ (?) on the way up to Canada in June, 1996.

 (insert pic)  

We actually camped in it while we were starting to build the cottage. You can kinda see it in the back. This is in August, 1996.

(Sorry for the blurry pics- I took them with my phone from a photo album!)

Then we used it a few times and it got stored.

In preparation for a camping trip back in June, 2010, we set it up in the back room. 

The camping trip was to the Bay of Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, where we met my oldest brother and his family.

Here is the Bay with low tide.

  

And high tide.

  

Another view of low tide.

  

And high tide.

This trip is when we discovered that the tent leaks! Because it rained and rained during the night and it was (we were) soaked!

So, we eventually got a new tent.  And the canvas tent got stored again and then it got mildewed in spots.  So, I cut it up into pieces, thinking I could eventually make something out of it.  And now I'm going to make curtains.  Or basically just hang the pieces up to block the sun!

Have a good week! :-)

Patio Plans

Hi!

So, Thursday, I was sick! I woke up at 3am feeling nauseous, and it lasted the whole day. I was a bit surprised as this is not something I usually feel (unless it's morning sickness-- which it's not!! ;-)).  I felt weak and just wanted to sleep, but I got the kids off to school and laid down pretty much the whole day.  I also had a slight fever.  DS came home from school and said he felt a bit woozy too.  He threw up and then felt better!  DD was a great help with helping HH fix dinner and then cleaning up the kitchen after all by herself!  Friday I was feeling better.

Last sunny Friday afternoon, sitting on the back patio with HH, I had a great idea to re-do the space. I've been thinking about it for a while, but wasn't sure what to do.

I definitely wanted to remove the cedar wall for the breezeway or perhaps just replace the top half of the wall with storm windows (which we already have).  Well, Wednesday I tore things up and got started on that project.


Then I discovered that instead of 4 storm windows, we only have 2 that aren't broken.  So, I've decided to use the windows we got from our inlaws and the window that used to be in our kitchen.  This involves a bit more framing, but I think will be quite nice.

Since there's now a big hole in the wall, a bird flew in! I tried to take a picture, but the bird is hard to see.  It's just behind the top left cross thing in the door.


So, I'd like to have the breezeway be more of a sitting area, sorta like this.

It used to look like this.


We have plans to put in a deck in the breezeway so you don't have to step down. Wouldn't it be fun to paint it like the back room floor?


Anyway, back to the patio plans...
 I want to have a picnic table that's movable. Perhaps we can build one like this from Pneumatic Addict Furniture, except bigger.

Kinda like one of these tables.

(I remembered that the old ReStore in Summerside sold kitchen tables for $10. I thought this might be a great solution to my picnic table problem.  However, when I went to the ReStore in C'town, their tables were $50!  So, a lot more than I thought-maybe I'm remembering prices from when the S'side store was closing, but I think they were always that price! Needless to say, I didn't buy one but will keep it in mind...)

 I can move my favorite stump that holds up the current table to the breezeway to use as a side table in the sitting area.

I was looking and I guess I never did a post on the Stump table!  I found this stump down the road where we go to put the canoe or sailboat in the water.  I tried and tried to get it in the car, but it was too heavy so HH went later to get it for me.  It stayed in the corner of the front garden for a while and then I decided to use it to make a picnic table. I took the old cover of the Canoe-zzi,

put some stain on it and made it the top of the table. We attached one end of the table to the breezeway wall and the other sits on the stump.

I also made the benches from some extra wood we had.  HH says they need a triangle cut out at the bottom so they're not so rocky, but I haven't done that yet!

Ok, focus! Back to my patio plans....

I want to bring over the cedar bench (that used to be in the old living room- Here it is covered with some fabric),

and make the other cedar swing  into a bench by adding legs (from wood we already have).

I can put a cushion (which we already have) on one of the benches and cover the other with a blanket (which we already have).  Then I'll move the fire pit over and make a living room-like arrangement around it with the cedar benches, black wrought iron chairs and the Adirondack chairs.  I can put cushions (which we already have from the old red couch)

 on 2 or 3 Adirondacks.  I can pretty up the sink with a skirt of fabric (which I already have).  I can basically do this whole thing without spending anything. Which is good!

This arrangement will be perfect for Spring because it's a sheltered spot on the southwest side of the house.  However, in the summer it gets too hot and mosquitoey.  Last year (and the year before) we had the screened room up. This pic is from June 2012!

Maybe we can rig up another screened room this year. They're great to have, but the wind ends up blowing them around and tearing them up.

So, lots of exciting projects to do...

Have a great weekend! :-)

Front Garden

(Oops, forgot to post this Tuesday...:-))

Remember when I tried to move the cedar tree in the front garden? 

Well, I did got it done on Monday!  It came out fairly easily.

Here it is being tested out in its new spot. 

I tried it in the front, but it was way too tall.

And here it is all situated.

(Now to finish the skirting and move the rest of the plants in place!)

Oh, I also moved that 6x6  that was in front of where the cedar used to be and put in the concrete things.  We still have to put more fill in the garden and also some more gravel for the driveway.

My FIL got us some little hydrangeas to go in the front. 

They will grow 6-8 ft wide, and 6-8 ft. tall.

I'd wanted evergreens in front of the front porch, so I think we'll plant these close to the porch, then in front of them we'll have some low evergreens- maybe boxwood....

Wacky Wednesday

Hi!

The week is flying by...

HH went away last weekend to visit his sister in Ontario with his dad.  They had a good trip.  They left early Friday morning and arrived home last night.  We were all glad to see him!

It was a long weekend with Victoria Day on Monday.  Our weekend was nice here, too. Saturday the kids were gone in the afternoon, DS to a birthday party and DD to a friend's. Sunday, there was a Rubber Ducky Race down in the Valley at the pond.  There was quite a good crowd and it was a lovely day.

  

Can you see the rubber ducks kinda at the back of the picture below?  They're all together in a row.

It is going to be cooler for the rest of the week.  Good for getting some gardening done! :-)