Spring is in the Air

This weekend the hub and I were kid free and we took in the Winter Garden Bloom and Grow Festival.
On the way there, I spotted a side-of-the-road tool sale so we busted a U-ey and dug through plastic trays filled with old tools and treasures. I was immediately brought back to my dad's workshop in the basement when I was a kid...that greasy but not dirty smell of old tools...and it was nice :)

Digging was worth it because we scored these old school kitchen gadgets

and the hub scored an old FORD belt buckle that he promptly ressurrected with some love and some Brasso.

I've always loved kitchen gadgets, old and new and I'm weighing display options for these goodies now.
I could do a shadow box idea on top of my cabinets. They don't go all the way to the ceiling so the soffit is free display space. I was also thinking maybe a mobile or chandelier...
I'm sure something will come to me.

What I DID figure out is that I need to bring my camera on these escapades. The old guy running the impromptu tool sale was a wealth of information and had a cool story for every funky item there was! He had old horse tail combs and shoemaker stands, a great accent and a warm weathered complexion with more smile lines than wrinkles although his hands told a hard working story. My camera isn't a little put it in your pocket number, but it takes amazing photos and I have committed to getting to know it better...so in the truck it's gotta go. The case will give me a good place to clip my sigg bottle.

We met a local beekeeper who holds montly beekeeping potlucks. He doesn't charge for his classes, everyone needs to bring a covered dish. We share a meal and then go out to work with the bees.
I am UBER excited about this because I've wanted a bee box forever but the hub doesn't want it on our property for safety reasons (makes sense). Mr Bee Man said "there are plenty of folks who will let you keep bees on their land." WOOT WOOT! "And, you can pay them in honey" WOOT WOOT WOOT!
So, the next 'dinner class' is May 23rd and I'm gonna try to get us a reservation!

Downtown Winter Garden is a pleasant stroll even when there ISN'T an event going on. This weekend was definitely a pleasure cruise! Local gardeners and craftsman without the cheesy crafts or the upscale art, just comfy with people from all walks of life and dogs everywhere ;)

It's a downtown district that has fought to keep it's charm with many of the stores in restaurants occupying buildings that have been in families for years. They've recently restored the downtown theater and have great performances and movies less than 10 miles from our house. The latest buzz is the produce guy who moved in not long ago...farmers market freshness 7 days a week! LOVE IT!

Further down the road were all the food vendors.

Now, I usually don't even LOOK because it's either fried (eww fried twinkies really?!?) or glutenous
But...there was an Arepa Stand! Arepas are GLUTEN FREE (we quizzed the guy to make absolutely positively sure) mmmmmm it was sooo good! I forgot how much I loved them and it made a GREAT lunch. I think I might try creating them at home because they'd be great with some fresh veggies inside and we should be harvesting soon!

I don't have picture updates but...
tomatoes are doing great
cubanelles should have a few ready this week
bell peppers are belling
harvested some cilantro...MAN I love that stuff!

rosemary brother is a half brother now...but neglecting him as a reader suggested, has at least revived part of the plant

...and this is the newest addition to the porch...I think I'll use it for Chives
I've always wanted one.
I first saw them when I was preggers with Bm and selling candles on the festival circuit but we lived out of a warehouse so hanging plants was not high on the list of priorities.
I spotted these hanging as soon as we started strolling down the street and picked one up on our way out.
Can't wait to use it

What should I put in it?
Chives on the bottom and what in the top?
Top pots are 4-inch bottom ones are 6-inch
Ideas please :)

mmmmjuicemmmmm

Well i didn't get the mac daddy fancy schmancy will juice anything, make nut butters AND milks juicer that I wanted...but I DID get one

I opted for The Sharper Image Super Juicer at Bed Bath and Beyond because it was 70 bucks AND THEN the cashier gave me a 20% off coupon coz I left mine in the junk drawer in our kitchen...

This morning I made juice

yummy juice

carrots, an apple and a pear

OMG it was delicious and I was AMAZED how satisfied I felt all the way through mid morning

Out topsy turvy garden is 1 1/2 for 3...one japanese cucumber plant is doing FANTASTIC, our tomato plant just so so and the other cucumber plant just died :( the hub thinks the wind broke off the stems...I think it was an animal, but either way we'll have to find a replacement plant

We bought the pieces we need to complete our rain barrel, we have a design for our compost bin, and we have 25 strawberry plants, 2 dwarf banana trees and one hardy tree on the way.

We also got some seeds this weekend. I've been saving toilet paper tubes for seed starters and the plastic containers our strawberries and spinach comes in for mini greenhouses so I'm going to start our brocolli and zucchini inside so they're ready to plant in July...we're going to put the corn and beans (2 different varieties) along the back fence line

I heard a story this morning on npr about grey water harvesting...sounds interesting may check into it. We already "recycle" water through our central air conditioning unit to water our lawn. Our A/C unit is a water cooled system and we divert the run off through a hose and sprinkler...so whenever the A/C runs, the lawn gets watered. We'll eventually get to a system that is programmed and switches zones on its own...for now we just move the sprinkler every once in a while.

We've also decided to use the side yard for a patchouli garden. We've figured out the best way to grow from cuttings and the side yard gets the perfect amount of sun/shade etc. I think I'll try to distill my own essential oil and I know we'll sell plants through the couple that gave me my very first cutting.

Okay...time to cook dinner

maybe I'll juice mine...i'm saving the pulp for some soup i'm starting from the fresh pork shoulder the hub smoked last week....yum

Mustard, Mayo, Catch-up later...

Well I realized there's a lot of 'stuff' to catch up on so first...

the Patchouli project...

the cluster method definitely worked best and mama has come back in nicely

 the water method netted the 2nd best returns...all those offshoots are in planters at my mom's now...I'll get pictures next time I visit

The Breakfast nook is completed (except the pop-tab window sil)

The curtains are banners with different quotes about gentleness and love (mustard curtains wound up in the mud room) and the herb pots hold basil and oregano for the kitchen. You can't tell from this picture, but the pots are made of sliced corks that mirror the circles in my original inspiration art (Klimt).

Then there's the no 'poo project

this was before...flat and frizzy... (and blurry but hey)

and this is after one week...not sure you can tell but I can, not as flat, not as frizzy and shinier :)

okay...now you're caught up 

I Want You...

Actually, I want your bottle caps!

Inspired by an ubercool cottage's kitchen floor, we're going to "tile" the inside of our window (that's not a sil, what's it called?) with bottle caps!

You may recall the painter's tape issue from a previous post...well, this seemed like a GREAT solution and carries on our theme of recycling things we have!

So...if you have any superfluous bottlecaps, or you'd care to join the cause and start getting bottled drinks...send me your email in a comment and I'll send you my addy!

Crafty Kitchen

The hub hung my herb shelf/curtain rod last night so it was time to figure out curtains

The kids and I went back to the original inspiration (Gutsav's Klimpt)

and remembered the mustard designs I drew on lil b's curtains when she was a wee one (we still have those curtains...they've since been camo'd and are now in Reed's room).

So, while in the kids' bathroom this morning I noticed a single sheer panel I had from a previous window incarnation and noticed it had stitched square spirals, which I thought was a nice twist on the swirls. It started out a white panel, so I used this morning's coffee grounds and soaked the panel to a a nice shade then traced the stitched spirals with french's yellow mustard.

I'll cut the panel in half and add some brushed aluminum grommets and they'll be the perfect length for the remaining 2/3 of the window and the wash out from the mustard swirls will mimic the mottled look in the original painting :)

And have I mentioned the cool new ceiling fan? it matches the shapes in my funky backsplash tin.

Stay tuned!

Sunshine for Breakfast

We're 99.9% there

I hope to have 100% by the end of the week but there are still some final pieces to acquire so I'd settle for the end of the month...which really gives me an additional weekend

unfortunately...the lesson learned today is "not all painter's tape is created equal" ughhhhh... for now I'm being lame and letting the curtains cover it but when I finish the soffit above the cabinets, I'll touch it up. I think I may decide to do something funky inside the window...maybe bottle caps or milk jug caps.

Reveal Day!

I've decided to get technical...technically, the kitchen is done! The "breakfast nook" will need another day for the final coat of paint and the herb shelf in the window...

kitchen re-do day 5

hanging cabinet doors

not typically a one-person-job

but this one person did it!

kitchen re-do day 4

23 doors

8 drawers 

prime

wait 30 minutes

prime

wait 60 minutes

color

wait 4 hours

color

good thing i don't have to be up early tomorrow!

kitchen re-do day 3

inspiration

Kitchen re-do day 2

A quart of red

A container of blue

and a stick of butter

now if you get THAT reference, you'll have to let me know!

Kitchen re-do day 1

My FAVORITE piece of the new look!