Kitchen Panorama, Coffee Tables, and Holidays

People who know me know that I'm a nerd. While in some settings I try to hide it, I never actually succeed for long. But sometimes my nerd spills over and manifests in funny ways. This week that was one of those times, where I felt like I had all these thoughts about how I want our new house to look but they were all scattered. So I decided to draw what I want my kitchen to look like.

So I got out my daughter's drawing paper and a pencil, and started remembering the perspective rules my art teacher taught me in 6th grade. It's fairly large; I didn't crop the laptop out of this picture on purpose so you could see that it's about 14 inches tall and 4 feet wide (I'm estimating; I didn't measure). 

I haven't inked it all yet, here is the hearth. I haven't inked it because I'm not perfectly satisfied with it. Maybe a mantel? We want a wood stove, and you can see our "Command Center" in the background. It was a good exercise for this wall especially, because we realized we could cut into the bottom of our pantry for the firewood storage and we could cut into the middle very slightly for a cubby for phone charging, mail sorting, etc. Behind that door is a bathroom. The tiles on the bottom sides of the hearth are dragons from Earth Song tiles (found toward the bottom of the page at this link) and the hearth is brick. 

This is the kitchen island, with a door to the outside (deck?) on the back kitchen wall. We're thinking ivory subway tile for a backsplash, lighter wood cupboards, and just laminate countertop. I don't mind laminate and have always had it. So I just don't see a good reason at this point to spring for quartz or granite. If you've been in our current kitchen, you will think this looks a lot like it!

For a backsplash, I like Earth Song Tile's tree of life tile (found toward the middle of this page). We can pick whatever glaze we want, and we're still debating that. I just really want a kitchen that in 10 years someone doesn't walk into and say, "Oh, that kitchen is so 2014". It seems like the current trend is white cabinets, black granite countertops, vertical multi-tone grays narrow glass tile backsplashes, and stainless steel appliances. Although the stainless appliances have been around for a while. 

  I know they are going to look at me like I am out of my mind, but I fully intend to walk into a kitchen cabinet store, unroll my drawing, and say, "I want THIS."

In less obsessive compulsive news, we had some holidays recently. My stepdad helped us pick out the right cedar tree on Thanksgiving day, and I have to say this was the nicest tree we've had. Maybe because Ryan didn't just wander out there on his own and grab the first tree he saw. :-)

As a case in point and a study in contrast, here is our 2010 tree:

Even now I am laughing at how completely ridiculous that tree is. 

Also as part of the holidays, we found and refinished some coffee tables for my sister-in-law. Here they are before (fresh from Goodwill!)...:

...and after at her house. We distressed them a bit, resealed the wood with polyurethane, and made the top center chalkboard paint (she has two girls age 4 and 2). They are quite sturdy and I like how they turned out. 

Then we headed to visit my dad for Christmas and to go to Lake Tahoe to see my brother get married. I don't have official wedding pics yet, but this is (apparently) the one picture I took of H as a flower girl. She did a great job and I didn't take many pictures because the photographer seemed to be taking many. 

Both kids were fairly enamored with the whole plane thing, here Z is pointing at our plane. Yes, his onesie says "Daddy's co-pilot" because he already owned that onesie and I simply could not resist. 

H checked out our plane, although was also interested in the other young passengers sitting next to her.

Z is so far a typical Boy, loving trucks and electronics. Here he is at my dad's (who's house is not so very toddler proof although it's not bad) holding a Playstation 3 controller and fiddling with the myriad of black electronic boxes available under the TV. It was Z's bliss.

H continues to like to be outside, even when weather is dismal. Here she is with our first lamb of the season (who is also our first bottle lamb. Stupid ewe. She lost her baby and Ryan didn't find it until a half hour later, when she had a second one and decided the first one wasn't hers. Five days later she is still the only ewe to lamb and we have a bottle lamb). The are both bouncing up and down, with H imitating the lamb. 

Today we had someone looking at our house for a second time (hurray!) but that happened during the kids' nap time. So for what we think is the first time ever, H fell asleep on the couch. She was watching The Incredibles and we came into the living room to see her all curled up. 

Good night!

Driveway and Steampunk

So recently we decided we weren't going to be able to make much progress on the driveway at the pace we were going. Here are some pictures Ryan took in early November after he did some more dirt moving.

He was making some progress, but the little tractor's backhoe was badly underpowered for the amount of dirt that needed to be moved.

A lot of the work was in taking down the trees, which Ryan did do. So we hired a local guy to dig the driveway. One Monday Ryan went out to the site to do more tree clearing and found this waiting for him:

So with the right tools, the guy did it in about a day. I feel fully vindicated by the whole process because everyone kept telling me how crazy this driveway was going to be, and it was going to be steep, and yadda yadda yadda. But I did the math (those of you who know me are not surprised by this) and suspected it would actually work quite well. You can see the road off to the left in the picture above, so you can also see that the driveway isn't parallel to it. Yet I think it's perfect and it avoids the dreaded waterline the county decided they didn't want in the ditch.

Here is the equipment the guy used to dig the driveway; he's not messing around:

I was mad at Ryan for not taking a picture of his little tractor next to this monstrosity of a backhoe just to show how big it is.

We also now have gravel on this driveway, but we haven't been back out to look at it. I'll post pictures next time. Everyone seems to keep asking me whether we will pave it, and the answer is definitely no. This is one of those country/city things, I think. Not only would it be expensive (the driveway is something like 200 feet long), but you actually don't want a paved driveway if you are going to drive a tractor or other equipment on it. It's hard on both the driveway and the equipment tires (and those suckers are PRICEY!). 

Now back to the old place, we discovered that cattle will eat fallen leaves if they are raked into a bit of a pile. That and loaf in it. Here a mama and relatively new calf had a very autumn moment together. We don't manage our herd access to bulls very closely, so we basically have calves at any given time. We had one born just a couple of weeks ago. So far our cows have done very well with this, which is nice. Cattle have a long lead time to beef, but they are some of the easiest animals we deal with.

Sheep also spent some time in the front yard right before moving to their winter pasture. I love that sheep mean you really don't have to mow the yard. It's extremely easy to see where the manicured yard idea came from, because after the sheep our front yard really does look like someone mowed it. I think we had the mower out about 3 times all summer. The yard is a little brown in this picture just because the sheep had been there too long. You can also see cattle in the background on their winter pasture; we have quite a herd going. 

Another thing that happened this month was that I turned 30. Not much of a milestone, but a little one just the same. A lovely friend of ours hosted a joint costume birthday party for me and her husband (who turned 30 about a week before) and we decided to go steampunk. (Don, before you ask me what steampunk is, click the link and Wikipedia will tell you....) We were more "steam" than "punk" generally.

I had great fun making a costume. Ryan found this duster on Craig's List and made his fake gun out of a variety of parts. I made him a vest and kerchief. Z we just put in a vest we happen to own, he wasn't very steampunk. But at the age of one, he wouldn't keep any of that stuff on anyway. I'm wearing a corset I got years ago from Forever 21 and has been hanging in my closet, along with a basic button up shirt. Then I made a hat and used some safety pins to pin up the skirt I wear with my renaissance garb over a petticoat I'll be wearing under a bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding next month. 

I also made a necklace out of odds and ends from Michael's craft store, among other places. 

Here is the skirt pinned up. This worked pretty well, but the petticoat was definitely needed as well (and is under the skirt in this picture). 

And here's a closer view of the hat.

Here's H, who is actually wearing an Alice in Wonderland dress my parents had custom made for me at about her age. It's a little big for her, but it was OK and I steampunked it up a little bit. The hat had some cards (a queen of hearts, a 10 and a 6 in nod to the mad hatter) and feathers on it, along with a white rabbit. She's playing with a key and glass vial I had at her waistline, and there were a few gears scattered throughout. She LOVED wearing her hat and would not take it off. 

In other crafting, I tried my hand at ombré dyeing. I have a quilt idea in mind, but couldn't find an ombré long enough, so I decided to make my own. I rigged up what can only be termed a "contraption" in our kitchen sink to do this, while Ryan looked askance at me and tried very hard not to ask. I used supplies from Dharma Trading Company, and I have to say I highly recommend them. Good prices, fast delivery, good tutorials. I actually decided to mix up super concentrated dye, then lower the fabric a little at a time while also adding water. I think it worked better than trying to mix in dye and raising the fabric up out of the water if that makes any sense. I took enough pictures for a tutorial if anyone wants one (leave a comment and I'll post one). 

And here is the result! I'm very happy with it, it will suit my needs perfectly. I didn't need perfectly straight lines because I'll be cutting it up for a quilt. I just needed a smooth progression. Hopefully you'll see the quilt someday too!

Ryan also insists I post a picture of my Thanksgiving schedule.

Is this unusual? Don't other people do this? I save it every year, and then pull it out the next year and rewrite it. I still inevitably forget to put something on the schedule anyway, this year it was the stuffing. It doesn't take long, though, and I so far have always managed to remember it. We had a small Thanksgiving this year, with only seven adults and only my two kids. It was kind of nice to not have 16-20 people in my house, though. 

As usual, the kids are growing well. Here H is showing me a "friend bug" she caught. She has named box elder bugs friend bugs because they are slow moving (translation: easy to catch), do not bite, are common, and are surprisingly long lived in captivity. She doesn't much like spiders, but she could catch friend bugs all day.

Z celebrated his one year birthday, and Ryan's parents brought us a cupcake for the occasion. He basically posed for this picture. 

It's like these two pictures of the kids are the same pose! They are each a variation of "Look what I have, Mommy!!"

Chores & Grafting

Ryan went out of town last weekend on a much-needed break, so that meant I covered farm chores for him. Contrary to popular belief, I don't usually do much with farm chores. Just when necessary. Ryan is Mr. Farm Chores. 

I realized we don't usually blog about the day-to-day, so here is "How to do farm chores," Janice style:

1. Get oats from the shop. A staple bucket is about the right size and handy. Keep an eye out for the skunk, he lives there and is currently too smart to be caught. But he stays on the other side of the building...

2. Get a sled of hay. If you're lucky and you're just covering one night, the hay fairy already got you a sled. If you're unlucky, pull apart a big round bale or a small square bale until you have a sled of hay. 

3. Offer the oats to the sheep. This is a distraction. They will try to knock you over to get to the oats. Be strong! Stand firm! This is the sheep version of the "feeder rage" we see in broiler chickens.

4. Pour the oats into an old chicken feeder. Deploy distraction!

5. Go get sled full of hay and dump it into the feeder. The feeder is a farrowing crate turned upside down, and it works really well. Lamb babies are already getting big!

6. Watch lambs eat. This year was much better than last year for lambs, we have around 20 and our mortality rate was closer to 10% instead of last year's 50%+. I'm not sure what happened last year, but either way this year was better. 

7. Roll eyes at the building chicken. All other chickens were moved to the new building, but this one stayed behind. She cleans up oats the sheep leave behind and generally has decided she doesn't want to leave. She doesn't like change. 

8. Get water for the sheep. Carry it back, cursing its weight, and try not to spill it on yourself. 

9. Fail.

10. Go up to the brooder and get the laying hen chicks some feed. Unfortunately, none came out so that you could coo at their cuteness. Laying hens stay cute MUCH longer than broilers. This year we have Black Australorps. We've shown this brooder hood design before, but I have to say it is AWESOME! We are not checking the brooder temperature every couple hours with this thing, they can regulate themselves. 

11. Close the door for the adult laying hens. 

12. Check on the adult laying hens. This is our new building in service, and it's been quite nice. Check that they have water and food, since we now collect eggs in the morning. 

13. Hello gals! We mostly have buff orpingtons right now, with some red stars and other miscellany mixed in. 

And then chores are done! Ryan worked very hard to make it easy for me; the cows have a hay bale in a bale ring and access to a waterer that is hooked to the well and manages itself. They'll be grazing soon, but spring has been late this year so they are still eating hay. 

Ryan also took a grafting class recently, which has been a new experiment. 

We have a couple of grafted apple trees hanging out in the bathroom where they can get light, but not direct light. That pretty, healthy growth you see on the one in the foreground? That's the root stock growing. Sigh. The graft does appear to be taking as well, though. Have you noticed I can't seem to take a picture of the interior of our house without a kid toy showing up somewhere? I have. 

I have been productive quilting-wise, but it is currently all for gifts that have yet to be given and so I can't share yet! I will share after I give the gifts.

As for the kidlets, little Z is growing well and as he should. In this picture, he has recently discovered the joy that is feet. I just LOVE the moment when babies find their feet; H did this too. It is the world's greatest toy! And it's right there, at the end of my leg! Whoa!!
Z can now reliably roll over front to back and back to front, his next step is crawling and he is determined to be mobile as soon as he can manage it.

H is still doing really well as a big sister, although she's trying to find ways to play with her little brother. Here, she is adorning him with post-it notes while he ignores her. She is almost three, and is full of all the drama and discovery that comes with being a three-year-old girl. 

And so, life goes on!

King of the Farm & Pruning Peach Trees

Our ram, Hades, is kind of an ornery old cuss. He's pretty convinced he's cattle, not sheep. This weekend Ryan moved him from being in with his ladies to being with the cows and bull.

Here, the cows are running in fear. It's a stampede!

Note that this ram is smaller even than the calves. But like I said, he is ornery. He and the bull are sparring occasionally, but Hades is winning.

Hades will do anything it takes to be the undisputed King of the Farm. 


We also worked on pruning the peach tree on Friday night. It hasn't been well pruned in years, we were trying to allow it to recover from some ice damage two years ago. Here is the peach tree before pruning:

I did lots of research about pruning peach trees, and apparently they do better with fairly severe pruning. So Ryan and I worked on it for some time and yet still didn't really get it all done.

Some branches had gotten a bit large and overgrown.

It's hard to see the lopers in that last picture, but you can certainly see Ryan trying to cut the branch off! Here are pictures of the peach tree after the pruning:

I feel like my camera is inadequate to capture how much we did cut off, but we really did cut quite a bit. When I was a girl, my mom used to cut branches off our apple tree about this time of year and put them in a vase. The buds still bloom, and are a bright cheerful greeting for spring. Since I had so many branches trimmed anyway, I made a big arrangement.

I will post a picture of it when it blooms fully!


And now for our Hazel pictures of the day. Ryan has some oats right now for our lactating ewes, and he's been filling containers of it for Hazel to throw to the chickens.

She loves this newest activity!