Pottery Painting

I've gotten some angry comments lately about my lack of blog posts.

It's been a wild ride the last few weeks, but I did manage to squeeze in a crafty day with my mother-in-law Diana. We painted our own pottery. Check this out.

And.... the finished product all glazed up. It's amazing how the colors were changed by the heat and the glaze while cooking in the kiln.

Mandy's Misadventures in Stripping

Did the title get your attention? It was meant to... but I think we all know the kind of stripping I'm talking about.

So about 2 weeks ago, I took my Grandmother's table in an effort to refinish it for her. The table was a bit odd because it always felt a little sticky. My thought was that it had a varnish rather than a stain on it. It seems I was right. Luckily, it being varnished helped while I was stripping it. In my experience, varnish strips much more readily than stain does.

one side stripped, pre-sanding.

I was so pleased with myself. "This is going to be so easy!" I practically cackled. So after the stripping, I sanded down the same side. It looked lovely, such nice naked wood anxiously awaiting a stain.

post-sanding

Why did I only strip and sand one side at a time? Good question... because I didn't know which stain would match the varnish color. Since the pedestal of the table was the same varnish color, the table top had to match. So with one half of the table displaying the original varnish, I found that "provincial" was the correct stain to use (as you can see towards the top of the sanded half).

So then I stripped and sanded the other half of the table

see how easy the varnish stripped off?

After I sanded and cleaned the other half, I got busy on the stain... Only, the stain didn't take evenly. Aside from which, even after 2 days, it was still wet/sticky.

By this point, things were not going as easily as anticipated. So what did I do? I stripped again.

But nothing came up.

So I sanded... and EVERYTHING came up. Everything, as in, the entire layer of veneer that was on this table that I didn't know about until that very second. I stopped sanding when I noticed the dark spots.

"Oh shizzle" I thought... "I just ruined my Grandmother's table."

So that's where we stand right now. I didn't take any pictures of the ruined table, but I'm pretty sure it can't be saved... not for staining anyhow. I'm trying to convince the Gramma to take my table, but she's being ridiculous and wont agree to it. Although I don't think she truly understands that I don't care about my table, and if she has it, then I have an excuse to find a new one.

Anyway that's the story of my misadventures in stripping. Hopefully we will find an answer to this crisis on Friday when Gramma finally comes to see the extent of the damage done.

And while I'm here, I want to catch you up a few things:

1. the Blue house I was obsessing over has sold to someone else. Probably someone with far less vision. Tear...

2. The Pumpkin cinnamon rolls were just OK  I think maybe letting them rise overnight was a bad idea. They seemed a bit heavy for rolls.

Obsessing.

This week I went to look at a house for sale in South Windsor. It was on 5.5 acres and it had a pond. The house was small and looked dumpy from the pictures, but it warranted a look for $189,000.

IT WAS A DISASTER.

And the disaster of it all was that it made me realize how nice our current home is. We may not have granite, but at least it's a level counter top that no-one has put their cigarette out on. Anyway friends, this led me to understand that while I have no problem moving into a house that needs a bit of a facelift... I would really prefer not to start from absolute scratch. It would be great if we moved into a house that didn't need ALL of the flooring replaced IMMEDIATELY. Anyway, the thing is, my Sporting Mister got all obsessed with the pond place. He did not go with me to look at the house, do he didn't believe me when I told him how bad it was. Again, obsessed with the pond that he thinks he would have played hockey on all winter long.

Anyway, we had a big "discussion" about the pond place and how much we can afford and blah blah blah. Cut to the fact that he had no clue mortgage rates were around 3.25%.

We are now refinancing our current mortgage and I have convinced him we can afford not only the home below, but also some renovations on said home. So, yeah... I'm obsessing over it.

Aw. What a cute little cape... it's so small and cute and "charming" and small....

SHAZAM! It looks like that cute little cape had a tumor the size of a... well, of a whole other house.

It's got 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2.5 acres, fireplaces, basements, and, check out that 3 season porch. Did I ever tell you how badly I wanted a screened in porch? I can't really understand why a screened in porch is not as basic to a house as a bathroom is. Anyway....

Here's what I really like (aside from the porch):

1. It's at the end of a cul-de-sac on a quiet street... no lines on the road.... local traffic only.
2. There is a neighborhood, so if we have kids someday, we don't have to drive them 5 miles to the nearest house. However, it's got 2.5 acres of private loveliness, so we don't have to listen when someone gives the neighborhood children whistles.
3. As far as I can tell, the kitchen and dining room are one humongous room. I really like that because it's not as wasteful as having a fully separate dining room.
4. It has a finished basement. I actually have mixed feelings about a finished basement. On one hand, it's a space for my craft room that is separate from any bedrooms. Its also a nice separate space from the main level where football fans can get rowdy without alarming the sleeping babies, or perhaps more accurately, dogs. However... finished basements are lost storage spaces.
5. The price. At $282,000 it's far less than other comparable houses.

Let's take a stroll through the inside.

The front entry is a bit crowded with those steps right there, makes me wonder if it would be easier to just close up the wall on that side and leave it open on the other. Gotta love that ancient doorbell thing on the wall. Oh, and all the wood trim. I'm fairly certain that would get painted white immediately.

If you walk in the front door, you can go left into the fancy pants living room.

This would be either a nice library, or a family room of sorts. There is technically a better space for a family room in the basement, but I'm not sure how well that would function with little kids? Well, whatever we did, ditching the wallpaper would probably be our first move.

If you continue away from the front door you'll turn right into the massive kitchen/dining room area.

While it appears that this is actually 2 separate rooms, I would like to make it known that I would not keep them that way. I would continue the wood floor into the kitchen, get all paint-y with the cabinets, and who knows, maybe take that wall of cabinets that you are staring at right now, and give them a good twist, so that they fill the wall next to the french doors.

I kinda love this layout. Not sure why there is a TV in the dining room.... but we have one in our kitchen, so maybe I shouldn't criticize. There are a lot of options here, especially with the nice fireplace amping up the cozy factor.

Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I would never paint a brick fireplace....

If you noticed, the screen porch is right off of the kitchen/dining room.

It's so drool-worthy... this room (depending on its size) will absolutely sell this house.

Ok, calming down... back in the house, you can also visit the 4th bedroom/living/office on the first floor.

I would prefer that this be a library or office space. The only problem is, my Mr. plans on being messy in his next office, and generally speaking, messy offices without doors on the first floor make me a crazy person. Lets call it a library/guest room for now. And what do all library/guest rooms need?

Crazy Murphy bed. Oh yeah.

Upstairs are the master and two other bedrooms.

It appears to be a good size (king bed and a small couch fit comfortably). The only problem here is that I don't think there is a sweet master bath or walk in closet. I wouldn't change too much in this room, I love the wood floor and even the color on the walls. I also like the slight curve in the ceiling and the shutter style closet doors.

These bedrooms are perfectly fine for kids.. in fact, they look exactly like my bedroom growing up in Willi town.

Back down the stairs we go... down, down to the basement, which seems to be divided into two areas.

The laminate floor area is not shown in other pictures, but I think it could make a great craft room, don't you? Because it's pretty important for my craft room to be hidden from almost everything, including human eyes, 98% of the time.

But the basement space lends itself well to a cozy family room, and it even has a little natural light from the regular sized windows. Can't hate that! Plus, if it gets too hot with the fire going, you could always walk outside and sit a spell on the patio area.

Ok, so if you want to admit that you are obsessed too, that's ok with me. I think this place has great potential and I'm looking forward to checking it out, hopefully soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me, ok?

Three Things... All Fall.

Disclaimer: all three things lead to cookies.

First thing: Some of you expressed your concern about my statement about hating Thanksgiving. I don't know what to tell you... I just don't like the following things: turkey, stuffing, squash, sweet potatoes (unless highly salted and peppered) cranberry sauce (of the real or canned variety), gravy, or pumpkin pie. So basically, load me up on mashed potatoes with butter, rolls and a slice of apple pie. Yeah, I know those things don't constitute a Thanksgiving dinner, but I simply don't care. The other thing I don't like is having to choose which family we are going to spend time with. I also hate it when people put a ton of effort into a meal, then the meal is eaten and suddenly, there is a huge stack of dishes that are dirty. PIZZA folks... on paper plates with recyclable beer cans. I can be thankful for that.

Second Thing: I think pumpkin gets a little too much attention during the fall. Don't get me wrong, I really like pumpkin coffee, bread, cookies, and icing. But there are other "fall" flavors that get overlooked... like maple.

Third Thing: Ever not like something as a kid, and then all of sudden you're an adult and you need as much of it as you can possibly have, like... RIGHTTHISSECOND? There are two things that I have done that with, one is chili, the other is maple syrup. Yeah, I know it's pretty unusual for a kid to not eat maple syrup - but I think we all know I'm a bit "off" anyway. I don't know if it was the sweetness, the stickyness or I just liked cinnamon sugar on my pancakes better.... (I don't like french toast, so didn't need it there either). Anyway, I didn't really dig maple. And now we're on maple overdrive. In case you are curious, it still really annoys me that maple syrup is so sticky... I often wait for someone else to put our syrup-y dishes in the dishwasher because I don't want to touch them and risk getting sticky. 

And finally, the cookies.

These cookies are my slightly evolved version of Martha Stewart's maple pecan shortbread. The main difference is this: Instead of rolling a log and slicing rounds, I roll it out like sugar cookies and cut out these little leaf guys. They came in a set from Williams Sonoma, which I believe were given to me by my Mom. Anyway, once you cut out the shape and put it on the cookie sheet, glaze it with maple syrup. Then bake for 8 minutes or so. Trust me when I tell you that people go bananas for these cookies... and they're way cooler than breaking out the pumpkin first thing.

Please don't stop reading because I said I hate Thanksgiving and French toast. I do like pumpkin!

Pumpkin comes after maple....

Sometimes, pumpkin and maple go together... when I make pumpkin cinnamon rolls with maple filling. I'll let you know how they come out later - they're for our tailgate tomorrow. Because as you know, I love the early part of fall, and that means football games.

Happy Early Fall to you!

Big News!

Big news everyone, I bought a rug!

Oh, I'm sorry... is that not big news for you? I know... I say "big news" and you want me to say, "we bought a house" or "I'm pregnant" or "look what I got on the street for FREE!"

But, the thing is, I'm really excited about this rug, and I did a lot of hemming and hawing over it. It was $96 on Joss and Main, free shipping. The rug is 3'6 x 5'6. And here is the thing... it matches the pillows I just bought perfectly.

And the pillows... they tie the ENTIRE room together. Its like the living room has been waiting for these pillows and this rug for an eternity... or 4 years. Whatever. So, in my excitement, I designed this for you.

So that should tie you over, until the rug arrives. I'll take some "before" and "after" shots so you can really get a feel for how these little pillows and this $96 rug have really pulled this room together.

You may now go back to your daily business.

Yes, I noticed.

Showing you these pictures is going to make you think a few things. #1 - There is some sexy roofer on top of my barn. #2 - Its creepy that I'm taking the sexy roofer's photo. And #3 - it's hot outside.

#1 - it's ok, that sexy roofer is married to me. So, #2 - it's not creepy. And, just in case you think I didn't notice all of the pumpkin flavored everything all over the place, #3 - I am well aware of the fact that it is now fall. I bet you think that I didn't notice because I haven't posted anything fall related yet. Pace yourselves dear readers, I'm on it!

Before I let you in on my beef stew recipe, I want to talk about my relationship with fall. It is decidedly love/hate, in that order. When fall first breaks the oppressiveness that is Connecticut in early September, everyone rejoices. The cool air, the golden sunsets, pumpkin flavored everything, you get the idea. When its time for football games, soup counts as a meal and the days are still fairly long, I really love fall. I love everything about mid-September to late October. But then... November. Windy, rainy, dark November, with it's short days, barren landscape and stupid Thanksgiving. Oh yeah, I said it... I don't like Thanksgiving and I don't care who knows! So that, my friends, is the part of fall that I really hate. Luckily December rolls around, with all its Christmas Cheer and hot cocoa and my universe is restored...

Anyway. Beef Stew.

Growing up, I really hated beef stew. Kids are weird like that... hating things that are delicious. Fortunately, I grew out of that somewhere around 23, and have been in love with stew ever since. This recipe is pretty much a combination of all the best ideas my family ever had (relative to cooking... baking is the Hummers' real area of genius). So then... here's what you need:

1.5 lb stewing beef... more can't hurt.
32 oz beef broth
about 20 oz chicken broth
1 can tomato soup (don't add water)
2 individual packets of instant potatoes
celery
carrots
potatoes (about 3 medium)
onions
garlic
bay leaf
salt and pepper
oregano or whatever spices you like

1. So then, brown the beef while you cut and peel stuff. As a general rule of thumb I try to buy potatoes that aren't too lumpy because I really despise peeling them.
2. Once the beef is browned, throw it into a pot with the potatoes... make sure all of the fat and brown bits from the frying pan make it into the big pot... that's the good stuff. Add the broths and the tomato soup to the pot, and simmer.

3. Sweat the celery and carrots.

4. You can toss the carrots and celery into the big pot, and then fry up the onions you chopped.

5. At this point, if you are already hungry (I usually am) have a slice of American Cheese, or maybe some sour patch kids... whatever you have on hand basically, because this thing needs to stew for a while before it's ready to eat.
6. Add the garlic to the onions and get it a little hot.
7. Throw the onions and garlic into the big pot.

8. You should add the potato packets now, 1 at a time. These make the stew nice and thick.
9. Also toss in the spices, salt and pepper, etc. I tend to go wild on the pepper, but that is because Dan and I really like the hot stuff.
10. Wait.... wait for an eternity because that is what it will feel like. But, you don't really want to have crunchy potatoes in your stew, so you have to just keep waiting.
11. Make sure when you spoon yourself a bowlful that you don't actually eat the bay leaf. Not tasty.

12. Put it in the crock pot and eat it again tomorrow night.
13. Enjoy fall while we're still in the good part of it.

I'll be back with some other fall stuff later on this week!

Check and Check.

Just taking a minute to let you know what we are doing this weekend:

That's right, it's time for us to check those last 2 jobs off of our list: the lean-to roof on the barn, and painting the hallway.

As you may have guessed, I will not be doing any roofing. But I did patch some holes and "cut in" yesterday. Today its time to bring out the big guns... er, rollers. The hallway (which includes the stairs) is the last area in this house that has not seen a paint brush... and you can tell. I intentionally left out photos of the peeling paint, paw prints on the wall, etc. We really let things slide up there.

No more! Enter Chocolate Froth, my favorite "tan" by Behr. This paint may or may not be left over from all of the painting next door. Hey, save where you can, right? I just hope I'm not scraping the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket at the end of the day pleading for a little more paint.

So friends, wish us well! As soon as Dan finishes the roofing job, we're officially done with Glenwood, and maybe then our moving search might get a bit more real.

PS - if you are in the neighborhood and you hear something terrible, like a cat dying... no need to worry, it's just me singing along with the Wicked Soundtrack while I roll.