The Wellstead

Christmas - Mom and Sis DON'T LOOK

2011-12-16T00:28:00.000-06:00

I am so excited about this gift that I HAVE to share it...but SERIOUSLY, MOM AND TAYLOR DON'T LOOK.

What is it? 'A piece of art' you might say....but it's something else too.

Give up?

IT'S A CALENDAR!!!

My mom, sister and I have celebrated Calendar Day for many years...even now that they live in Portland, I still get a text on the first of each month celebrating the new beginnings and ripe possibilities.

During my search for cool made-by-us gift ideas, I came across a dry-erase calendar made from paint swatches: http://go.tipjunkie.com/dc/1979/theaestheticwriter.blogspot.com/2011/10/diy-dry-erase-calendar.html I KNEW this was the gift to make for my mom and sister. Once I started digging through my paint swatches, I realized that I either had to go raid the paint dept. at the hardware store or adapt the idea.

What I ended up doing was re-creating segments out of a Valspar color grouping. Then my husband printed it on the 48 inch printer we've got lying around.

We decided to make a big one for our public creative studio. I'll post pics when we get it installed :)

Oats to the Rescue!

2011-12-11T13:06:00.001-06:00

I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm super excited about this little green terrycloth pouch. Jason whipped up some to go with a Christmas gift and we had a few left over. So there is the set up.

We were heading out to Tillie's birthday party yesterday and the shirt I wanted to wear was not quite acceptable. It wouldn't necessarily classify as dirty but it smelled.....off. I REALLY wanted to wear this shirt. What to do? I filled one of the terrycloth pouches with a cup of old fashioned rolled oats...

...and added a few drops of my favorite essential oil and popped it in the dryer with the shirt for a few minutes. You know what? IT WORKED. Not by masking the smell with another smell...the oats actually sucked the smell up! This will certainly not become a replacement for actually washing clothes, but in a pinch, this trick works like a charm.

Don't have a terrycloth velcro pouch lying around? Just use a sock that has lost its twin! Pour a cup of oats in it (add a couple drops of amber, sandalwood or your favorite essential oil, if you'd like) and tie it up tight. A few things to note:

Don't use it on wet clothes or the oats may turn into oatmeal

Make sure the sock has NO holes in it

Don't use the packets of Maple & Brown Sugar - or any other flavored quick oats. The flavor powder may seep out of the sock and yuck up the dryer.

Christmas Crafting

2011-12-05T09:08:00.006-06:00

I've been up in the art loft all morning knocking out Christmas gifts...I'm biting my lip. It's all I can to to NOT post what we've done so far!

Here is a gift that Jason and I made from last year.

Every year I say that I want to make the things I crafted for Christmas to sell...this year I've got some G-R-E-A-T ideas and it's looking like a public art studio is in our near future. I will keep you posted!

Update from the Man Cave

2011-12-04T21:06:00.001-06:00

Jason and I went, over 4th of July weekend, to visit my family that lives in Vermont. My father is a pen turner who LOVES to share what he knows...and Jason LOVED learning about turning pens. Now we have a whole corner of the workshop converted into a wood turning shop. Here are some of Jason's latest creations, just in time for Christmas.

Never Done.

2011-11-26T14:31:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was fast approaching and we were hosting the family meal as well as having friends stay with us - who are AMAZING cooks. Our kitchen is not the best room in the house. The bright turquoise color I chose was a serious lapse in decorating judgement and our spices were in complete disorder. Last Sunday night, Jason and I filled all the pretty chrome storage jars we bought that afternoon up with the random bags of beans, rice and dehydrated veggies that were piled up on the bottom rack. This opened up Pandora's box. After weeding out old spices we re-jarred and labeled everything and added an awesome floating shelf above the stove to hold our 'top shelf' spices, oils and condiments. It was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L...except that it made the wall color even more out of place.

I woke up at 7:30 the next morning and went straight to the hardware store to pick up paint. By the time our out-of-town friends showed up that night, we had a warm and inviting kitchen...and we cooked up some delicious feasts!

Home Away from Home

2011-11-17T14:38:00.003-06:00

Jason took me down to visit friends in Austin for my Birthday a couple of weeks ago. By the end of the trip, we all shook hands in going in halvsies on an old Airstream trailer. Our plan is to gut it and turn it into a dorm/lounge that we can use on the Wells family land near lake Texoma. Two weeks later, let me introduce to you our 1971 27 ft Overlander Airstream that is currently settled in our back yard. It's been gutted and scrubbed down. Now for the lipstick and rouge~

Fruitful

2011-10-04T20:39:00.001-05:00

Thank God for soaker hoses....and my husband who bought them. It's not the prettiest garden, but it's the prettiest one I've ever had a hand in creating. We've got peas, beets, sweet potatoes and a swiss chard that somehow snuck its way into one of our seed packs or transplants.

The Circle of Life

2011-09-26T11:33:00.002-05:00

One of the things I love about our home are the toads that come back every year. Lately I've noticed these two...they are inseparable. Maybe they will create a new crop of toads :)

The Art Loft

2011-09-04T16:22:00.001-05:00

I have always had some sort of space where my art supplies are stored...and some sort of space where I can make art. The problem was, the space where I stored supplies and the space I made art in were two separate spaces.

We have a little loft in our house that was built over the garage. It is tucked away which made it the perfect dumping ground. Anything that we could not find a home for ended up there...including the cat box and the 600 National Geographic magazines dating back to 1951.

Over Labor day weekend, we changed all that. We found homes for the randoms, slapped a new coat of paint on the walls and ceiling and gave ALL of my creative supplies a well organized new home. I see ALOT of art making in my future :)

Food Fun

2011-08-14T20:05:00.002-05:00

After picking up some yum yums from the farm market yesterday and raiding our basil (the only successful crop in the garden this year) we decided to make some pizza dough and have a build-your-own-pizza fun night...

yum.

Chillin

2011-07-30T20:20:00.001-05:00

We've got three young squirrels that live in one of our pecan trees in the back yard. Rather than fighting with them, I gave them a section of the wild garden bed to create wallows in so they can keep cool. They took over our fern too.

How close can I get? - Goddess Dressing

2011-07-26T13:03:00.012-05:00

My name is Amanda and I am an Annie's Goddess Dressing addict. Jason will wake up and find me drinking it straight from the bottle in the middle of the night...which would be fine except it's REALLY expensive and REALLY REALLY high in fat. I enjoy preparing food...especially if I add the challenge of also making it gluten free, lighter, healthier or vegan. Since this dressing is already vegan, my goals were to make it lighter and, thereby, healthier.

I found some recipes where people used tofu to replace the weight that the fats had, but they would always preface: "It's not quite like the real thing, but...". I'm aiming for 'as close as possible". So, instead of using tofu, I opted to use chia seed gel in place of the oil and a some of the tahini. Chia is an AMAZING salad dressing base that is incredibly nutritious. Here is the recipe:

1/3 cup tahini

2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1/4 cup of unsweetend almond/soy/coconut milk

5 small green onions, chopped (white and green parts)

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos

2-3 fresh garlic cloves (I used 3 because I like the extra bite)

2 teaspoons sesame seeds (not critical)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

I use a Magic Bullet for this recipe – it's the perfect size for small batches of dressing and I can keep the dressing in the container I blended it in. That being said, a blender or food processor will also do the job.

Start off by putting the water and chia seed in the receptacle. Put a lid on and shake the seeds up to prevent clumps. Let sit for 20 minutes. (the longer you let it sit before blending the seeds, the thicker the liquid will become)
after the chia seeds and water sets up into a gel, blend for about 30 seconds
Add the remaining ingredients and blend for another 30 seconds...do not over blend.

It will initially be runny, but after an hour in the fridge, the chia gel will thicken back up.

Wicking Beds

2011-07-22T17:03:00.007-05:00

I've heard people who come to visit Oklahoma say that we seem a bit schizophrenic...it's because of the weather. A common local saying is: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute". Which is usually true...but we are in the midst of the worst drought and heatwave in Oklahoma history. Jason recently bought me enough soaker hoses to fill all of our garden beds...partly to save on water and partly because it's just TOO HOT water for an hour every night and partly because our city has banned watering during daylight hours. That means I get up before dawn (no thank you) or contend with the mosquitoes after sunset. The garden is doing okay. It's been an average of 103 degrees for the last month...and it's only rained (for an hour) twice. It would have been nice to be able to collect that water where it counts. Enter: Water Wicking Garden Beds. They are built using the same philosophy as a self watering pot but on a huge scale. You can either put water in it or store rain water that falls into the bed:

.............................................(image found at: http://www.urbanfoodgarden.org)

Below is a great Youtube video that records the whole process:

...and I found a how-to with basic specs on building a wicking bed here

Too bad it's too hot to actually make one. It looks like our cinder-block composter and the greenhouse frame will have to wait until September.

How Close Can I Get?

2011-07-21T12:13:00.001-05:00

Jason and I recently went up to Vermont to visit my father and family. We ate A LOT of cheese while we were there...if you are a cheese lover, Vermont is the cheese Mecca you should travel to at least once in your life. My sister, Haley, had recently become an ethical vegan...so she just looked at the cheese longingly. She might love cheese as much as I do, but I thought 'If she can do it, I can try' and when I got home I bought a pack of Daiya cheese. I ate it like Charlie ate his chocolate bar...man, that cheese is expensive. So I decided to search online for a vegan cheddar cheese recipe. I found one that had a long string of "YUMEEEEE" comments, so I decided to give it a try. The flavor, when melted, is AMAZING and the texture is indistinguishable from real melted cheese, except for the tiny chunks of cashews that the food processor couldn't blend. (post note: if you soak the cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes - not offsetting the water called for in the recipe - it will cream amazingly)

I don't think I will ever become a total vegan...I prefer to apply the 80/20 ratio. This will keep me from going on a cheese binge that will require a colonic when I'm done. Enough of that...here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-sharp-cheddar-cheese-130826

I'm in Trouble

2011-05-27T09:55:00.004-05:00

I think Jason is going to hide the dehydrator at some point... I've been dehydrating EVERYTHING I can get my hands on. We may need to remodel the kitchen to accommodate all the jars of dried pretties.

Lunch with a friend

2011-05-26T19:25:00.001-05:00

I had lunch with my friend Whitney yesterday. I brought over all that I could harvest from my own garden and put it together with yummies from her garden...

We had an exceptional lunch and goodie swap... on the menu: veggie packed tuna salad sanwiches and blueberry kombucha tea.

She shared what she knew about Kombucha and I shared what I knew about chia (the sauce on top of the sandwiches was a veganaise/chunky mustard/chia seed spread {yum}.

I will be posting more about Kombucha and chia in upcoming posts...so stay tuned. I'll post more after Memorial weekend.

Multiple Defenses

2011-04-20T12:03:00.003-05:00

I just returned from the farmer's market with a lovely little gem of wisdom. Plant collars work pretty well but aren't a surefire defense against cutworms if you put it on with a cutworm sleeping at the base of the plant, which is what happened to another plant last night. I discovered that cutworms cut down a plant by circling the base. If you put a toothpick or scewer at the base of the plant, it can't fully circle it! Problem solved...now I need to find out what is stripping the leaves off my pepper plants.

Lipstick and Rouge

2011-04-19T17:37:00.002-05:00

Our neighbor, Dock, gave us this chair last year. I am enamoured with the aging process of things that rust and get round with time. However, rust has a way of making things fall apart. Rustoleum to the rescue!

I was afraid to sit in this chair in clean clothes, but now it's my favorite seat in the garden.

Garden Tea

2011-04-19T15:32:00.003-05:00

Last summer, during a dry spell, the plants' main water source was city water. Although they were grateful for some moisture, they didn't look too healthy - with all the chlorine and hard water stuff...especially the rhododendrons. Lately, I've been researching compost tea which gave me a great idea. The instructions state: if you are going to use city water, set it out for 24 hours to let the able chemicals evaporate - like chlorine.

There was a small pale of water that was brown due to the leaf litter steeping in it for a few days. Instead of throwing it out, I watered a nearby plant with it. It seemed to REALLY like this brew...so I found a bucket and filled it with water and leaf litter to set out overnight. Every morning I'll give the herbs and veggies a cupful of water...they have responded amazingly well!

Not only am I conserving the amount of water I give them, I'm giving them a mild nutritional boost every morning...like a power drink. (post note: the mosquitos REALLY love the tea too, so put a wet towel or a screen over the bucket so you don't have to share your yard with blood suckers)

Simple Solutions.....

2011-04-18T10:18:00.006-05:00

...that make me feel silly for not thinking of them sooner.

Last year, I went to war with what I finally discovered to be a cut worm. This is a completely illogical creature as it only cuts off stems. It does not eat anything...it just enjoys destroying property. Like this:

So I called Mike McGrath from "You Bet Your Garden" on NPR and he suggested 'plant collars', which is a can or plastic bottle with the top and bottom cut off and buried halfway in the ground around tender, young plants. I have been having friends save bottles for me and I've tediously repeated this 'plant collar' process on dozens of my vegetable transplants.

This morning I was planting new lemon and spicy globe basils to replace the ones that were stripped (because I DID NOT put collars around them) and I decided to used some of the little plastic pots that have been piling up under my garden bench. As I was cutting off the bottom, I glanced over at the new plants to realize that I would be taking the plants out of one plastic pot and stuffing them into another - damaging the roots in the process - and it occurred to me: "why not just cut the bottom out of the pot it's in and bury that one?" Duh.

A cut worm barrier needs to be a minimum of about 2 inches above the surface and two inches below. After I cut the bottom out, I gently pressed the plant down a bit:

After planting it, I sprinkled a couple of tablespoons of pre-minced bottled garlic around the outside and spritzed the plants with the soap/baking soda/olive oil soap spray (last spring blog entry) with a bit of fish emulsion mixed in for good measure. I will keep you posted on how that works.

The collars reduce the amount of water it can soak in from the surrounding soil, so it is important to mulch with well crunched up leaves inside the collar (making sure you don't create a cutworm bridge) and often check the inside soil for dampness. Once the plant matures, you can cut the collar off with a pair of shears. Another option I read about is to affix two Popsicle sticks around a stem with twine. I'll try that out and keep you posted ~

A trellis for our Tomato Tree

2011-04-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

Jason and I found a HUGE young tomato plant at the Cleveland County Farm Market today. As I was carrying it around, people came up and asked "What kind of tree is that?". I've been learning about how to prune tomatoes to create a thick bushy plant and felt like this would be a great one to prune. Jason wasn't too keen on the idea and our tomato cages were not big (or pretty) enough to cage this beauty in so I told him I wouldn't prune it if he made me a trellis tower...so he did :)

Serendipity

2011-04-16T13:55:00.003-05:00

Jason and I went out to a little town near Lake Eufala - Checotah - to do a sign installation. I've been through this town many times and never saw the town until today. While Jason went to work, I decided to walk around the neighborhood and check out the front and backyard gardens scattered around. One garden really pulled me in...I stood at the fence for quite a few moments soaking in the roses and vegetables and statuettes and other bobbles and ornaments decorating this back yard. An older man turned the corner from a hidden part of the yard and saw me gawking at his space...he invited me in to take a look AND BOY WAS IT AWESOME.

I followed him around, asking "what's this?", "what's that?", "what does this do?", "what's that for?" He was so gracious and come to find out he is a master rosarian who is (or was) president of the Tulsa Rose Society. After 20 minutes or so of him showing me around, Jason pulled up to the yard and joined in on the tour. Other than rose gardening, Troy (that's his name) had quite a vegetable garden...here is what I found so exciting...all of the vegetables were covered in these jars:

These are gallon size glass pickle jars that he cut the bottoms out of. Once he planted the seeds, he put the jars on top to create a micro climate. He was taking all of the jars off today, now that the last cold spell is behind us. I don't know if you can tell how big the tomato plants are in the picture, but they are twice as big as they would be - even if they were started in a greenhouse at the same time!

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET AHOLD OF SOME JARS AND TRY THIS OUT!!!

Green house

2011-04-12T14:22:00.008-05:00

I have been trying to post for a month and could not find the time! So, I will be retroactively filling in the gap between here and the February post. The biggest upgrade so far this spring is the addition of our greenhouse...this will be a lengthy process and may not be complete until it's time to take the plants in for the fall, but it is already becoming a functional staging and storing area for spring gardening. We bought a metal greenhouse frame last fall, but recently decided to create a wooden frame around it to hold windows and the awesome door we found at the Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity Re-store when we went to pick up the two pallets of re-purposed bricks....here is the inspiration: The greenhouse will be attached to the east side of our workshop in front of a window that is near the workshops gas furnace so we can easily warm the plants during the super cold nights. The north side will have no windows (which will help keep the brunt of the winter wind from getting in) and will, instead, have hangers for 'shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction' (name that movie). The south side will hold a very open screen door that lets in ALOT of light with a clear plastic insert for the colder months. The east side will have a bank of four windows that we will be scouring The Restore for and the ceiling will be framed in corrugated plastic sheeting. Enough of the explanation...here's our progress:

It was so hot Saturday before last that we decided to start the digging after sunset...

The next day we put in and leveled the gravel and sand, then laid the landscape fabric...

We started laying the bricks last Saturday night...

and finished on Sunday afternoon...

by Sunday evening, we had the inner frame set up and all the pots, soil and amendments set up in their new spaces....

Next up is the stem wall and frame :)

First Toad

2011-03-27T19:03:00.001-05:00

It's started warming up enough to begin clearing some of the leaves out of the beds. I lifted up an overturned pot in one of the shady beds and found what looks like Jim Jimminy (Jason's toad) hanging out under there. Last year we didn't see any toads till mid April, but I wasn't digging around quite as much.

2011-03-11T14:00:00.001-06:00

We planted a variety of little bulbs all over the property last fall....they've all started popping up through the dead leaves.

Lovely.

Adding a bit of Reality

2011-02-25T15:06:00.002-06:00

I spent the day refining my Vision. Jason likes seeing examples...so do I.

Dreaming

2011-02-24T16:40:00.005-06:00

This morning was the first spring shower. Between that, the sporadic warm weather days and a shock of blooming bulbs, I'm itching to get outside and dig in the dirt....instead, I drew up my plan with my handy dandy computer drawing tablet. It was almost as fun (without the backache tomorrow)

New Renovations

2011-01-05T13:42:00.006-06:00

Okay, so it's been a while....I've actually been chastised for the length of time that has lapsed between this post and the last. In my defense, it has been very busy for the inhabitants of the Wellstead....lots of work and play.

The first phase was getting our new room ready...we turned the garage into our master bedroom with a spacious laundry room/closet.

Jason and I have been promising the kiddos their own rooms by Christmas, which didn't exactly work out, but over the holidays, we began renovations and I am glad to say we are finally at a (momentary) resting point.

(ignore the messy bed)

The next step was turning our old room into Tillie's new room:

I can't tell you how much FUN I had getting her room together. The big reveal is tonight :)

Once we can see the floor in their current room, we will give Jesse a makeover for his room too. One step at a time (breathe).

It's HOT

2010-08-02T10:31:00.002-05:00

This is a six foot tall marigold. If anyone can tell me how it is possible that a marigold can get that tall without fertilizers, please fill me in.

Okay. It is HOT and the garden is crispy. The hearty things are surviving and should thrive next year...Since I'm still new at this I don't know what is an easy plant and what is a diva plant. The diva plants are dying. I don't have time for them.

We are turning the extra room (once a garage) into our bedroom so Jesse and Tillie can have their own rooms. Hopefully this process will be complete by Christmas time. I'll keep you posted.

ROCKS!!!

2010-06-05T17:08:00.002-05:00

Jason just scored me a ton of rocks...the kind that all the structures are made of in Medicine Park!!!! Now the wild little shady nook is looking a bit more cultivated. Not too much, though.

Memorial Weekend

2010-05-31T18:17:00.000-05:00

Last year the irises and blackberries were the only bright spot in this weedy grass patch. I'm surprised that it took us until January to figure out that it could be something more. Well last night my husband said that he couldn't believe that I ever believed that I had a black thumb. I did. Apparently it took the two of us to be able to create something so weird and wonderful. It has very little rhyme or reason...but it is lovely. And alive.

We had our first back yard party with about thirty of our closest friends and family over at different points. Jason and I sodded the back yard with fescue a couple of weeks before which REALLY added to the growing loveliness of the space. We scattered tiki torches and paper lanterns around the hammock and dining areas and Jason put up a mist tent in the way-in-back, next to the home made game of 'washers'. I held all the babies while Jason manned the grill. It was the BEST first backyard party I could have imagined.

When I was a single woman renting a garage apartment, I dreamed of the day that I was a happily married homeowner and our back yard was our paradise. I can finally mark that one off my list :)

Spring Weather

2010-05-11T10:46:00.003-05:00

Oklahoma got hit with some crazy tornado weather yesterday. Jason and I stood outside and watched a mass of funnel clouds poking in and out of the storm just south of our city. The wind was INSANE...so I was amazed that the garden was spared. At around sunset we drove around the countryside to glimpse some destruction...we found a crumpled car resting upside down on the side of the road and some felled trees.

Okies are an odd lot. We get curious and social after destructive weather. The countryside was teaming with lookie-loos and all of the drive-in restaurants were packed.

New Weapon

2010-05-04T13:31:00.005-05:00

The irises, peonies, garlic and day lillies that Helen planted years ago are in full bloom...which makes my half eaten baby garden look much nicer. Last week I got to chat with Mike McGrath - of You Bet Your Garden - about my basil and marigold dilemma...as well as a certain spot in my garden that kills everything I plant. He suggested that in the 'death zone' I cut both ends off a metal or plastic can and bury half of it below ground and half above ground. It could be a cut worm. Well it's been over 24 hours and the newest plant is still very much alive...which is longer than any of the other poor plants lasted.

I also received a secret all natural plant nursery insect repellent recipe. Here it is:

1 gallon of water

5 tablespoons of BLUE dawn soap

5 tablespoons of baking soda

5 tablespoons of olive oil

I sprayed all of the plants that have been having bug issues yesterday evening and everything seems to be doing no worse. That's good enough for me...for now.

It's WAR

2010-04-19T11:39:00.002-05:00

Something has been butchering the basil and marigolds...it took me a while to formulate a theory on why a creature would be chopping the leaves and flowers off my repeller plants and I've decided that it's probably the robins who are taking out the plants that repel the bugs that the robins like to eat. So I bought more basil and this GIGANTIC marigold (and a pack of smaller ones) and rubbed garlic all over the leaves and stems of everything that's been disturbed. Then I threw torn up garlic chunks in the bed that has been getting the brunt of the damage...it's the one that the dog can't get to.

We'll see.

Spring Rain

2010-04-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

A weekend of rain is really bringing the flowers out.

Sitting Back

2010-04-16T14:31:00.003-05:00

The garden is planted and almost everything seems happy...a few plants are being chomped on but a little soapy water seems to be doing the trick for the most part. It's too early for weeding so most of my time in the garden is spent laying in the hammock and soaking everything in until the mosquitos drive me away.

Fun in the Workshop

2010-04-09T10:18:00.003-05:00

After weeks of gardening, the workshop had become a disaster. At long last the workshop was clean and we decided to make use of it...so while Jason was building a bird house, I decided to break into the bag of clay I bought last fall but realized I needed a specific tool to be able to pound the air bubbles out. So Jason and I made a wedging board out of stuff lying around: an old canvas that I cut from the frame; a guitar string from Jason's old guitar; and a peice of MDF that I had attempted to make art out of; and a few other impliments. While I was working on our first toad abode Jason finished the woodpeckers' new home...now all we have to do is hang it 15 feet up in a tree.

The Ultimate Companion Garden

2010-04-08T19:20:00.003-05:00

This is what I aspire to...but with my touch. Who knew that a vegetable garden could be so beautiful.

Experiment Update

2010-04-08T10:40:00.004-05:00

My experiment on growing used green onions and fancy lettuce from the grocery store has been successful after 12 days. The onions are at their original length and the lettuce has grown by about 30%! The next step will be a taste test.

On another note, it looks like all my little green babies have made it through the night...and the moth is still hanging out on the porch. We've got one more chilly night (fingers crossed) before the nighttime weather stays in the 50's and 60's.

I'm That Gardener

2010-04-07T19:45:00.004-05:00

...that gardener. Dammit. I just went out and covered up most of the plants with pots or mulch because a good ole Okie howling spring freeze is blowing through tonight...and, of course, it will be 70 degrees tomorrow.

And so it begins with the neurotic maintenance. I really should have listened to the "don't plant before April 15th" gem of wisdom for Oklahoma gardeners. Next year.

New Momma

2010-04-07T12:00:00.004-05:00

I finished planting our vegetable-herb-flower garden yesterday evening...three hours before it started hailing. I was sitting inside trying to talk myself out of being one of those gardeners who runs out to cover everything up. I felt a little twisted up. I had a taste of the dark side of gardening...the truly obsessive side that wants to keep all the tender little babies unscathed.

After it was over, I went outside (to take the pot cover off the ONE plant I new would not make it) to check out the damage. It wasn't bad. On my way back inside, I noticed a toad taking a dip in our little pond!

This morning, Jason called us all outside to look at this beautiful (and very cold) moth.

Hopefully it will have flown away when I get home.

Phase One DONE

2010-04-06T19:14:00.004-05:00

With the help of Jesse and Tillie I finished the melon patch which has okra, basil and marigold as well as the cantaloupe. I especially love the curvy path between the two beds :)

Jesse and Tillie's favorite spot is definitely the hammock...until the strawberries and raspberries start popping out.

Easter

2010-04-05T15:10:00.003-05:00

I know it's a bit early (10 days) to plant the seedlings but we couldn't imagine a more lovely way to spend Easter.

We enriched the soil in the squash patch, planted flowers and herbs between all of the vegetables and covered everything with mulched leaves from our yard. FYI, if you have a mulching mower then rake all your leaves in a pile and mow the crap out of it. I have never seen or bought mulch as good!

We also made a nice lounging area. It's my favorite space now.

New Tree

2010-04-04T14:30:00.003-05:00

Jason and I planted our first tree...like every young couple in their first home should do. I believe it's a "Red Dragon" variety of Japanese Maple and should live quite happily under the shade of our Red Maple in the side yard. Now we have 10 trees (not including the teeny-tiny maple I bought Jason last year that isn't quite a foot tall), four of which are maples...three pecans...two fruit trees...and a partridge in a pear tree :)

2010-04-03T16:52:00.003-05:00

The Cleveland County Farm Market opened today...Jason and I went NUTS. We mostly bought plants for the gardens and picked up a few goodies for the pantry.

I Couldn't Help Myself

2010-04-02T14:21:00.004-05:00

I went to the home improvement store with a list. It didn't work out so well.

I don't think I went crazy but my impulse buys threw my plan for today out the window. It started with a fern. Then a rhododendron. Moon flower seeds. Lemon licorice. Jeez. While standing infront of the seed selection I struck up a conversation with a veteran gardener, which was really nice. I like learning new things through a dialogue with someone who's been there. I learned that winter wheat is an excellent 'green manure'.

Anyhoo, when I got home I went straight to work on my shady nook. My friends, Tara and Randy, have this wild shady section in their yard that looks like a forest floor and I decided that I wanted a forest floor in my back yard too...which is easy to do due to the six trees in our back yard. I added the fern, lemon licorice and rhododendron to the coral bell I planted on Monday...then raided my neighbor's back yard for the peonie that keeps getting mowed over. Then I added wild violets and wild geraniums (technically weeds - but pretty) as well as some baby spider plants and swedish ivy cuttings.

Although not technically a true wildscape, it looks wild and will be self sustaining once they all get over the shock of replanting.

Ready for Planting

2010-04-01T17:01:00.004-05:00

Well, two full days of hard work leaves me feeling quite fulfilled. Now I REALLY want a wood fence!

The Cleveland County Farmers Market opens on Saturday...I have a feeling that Easter day will be filled with planting our new plot :)

New Plot

2010-03-31T18:27:00.001-05:00

I've been watching how the sun settles on the backyard garden plot and realized that we needed a sunnier spot for the vegetables...the current bed will now be mostly for herbs and wildflowers. Next to the workshop is a wild rosebush and a stand of bearded irises that have probably been there as long as I've been alive. They are becoming the centerpieces for the new vegetable garden. I dug up a shovel full of dirt to see how fertile it was and four worms fell out!

I'm about to head back out to make the last push...I've been tilling it (mostly by crumbling the shovel full with my hands) with much care for the THOUSANDS of earthworms that are living there. I've been told that this plot has been a vegetable garden in the past.

My one new piece of wisdom about all of this is: when putting on sunscreen, cover EVERYTHING... not just what can be easily reached.

An Experiment

2010-03-30T16:32:00.006-05:00

A couple of years ago my mom sent me a blog article about re-growing used green onions...so I thought I'd give it a try. The onion at right has been in the water for about 72 hours. COOL. Jason said "I wonder how much more it would grow if it were actually planted in soil?" So I just planted the remains of my last meal's topping...which got me thinking. We've got one of those fancy heads of butter lettuce that still have the roots. We've already gotten a family sized salad and a few sandwich toppings out of it so I thought I'd plant it too.

I'll keep you posted.

Childish Things

2010-03-29T14:53:00.006-05:00

We bought a beautiful 16 inch wide ceramic bowl at our local home improvement store over the weekend after Tillie and I made the tiny toad wading pool in the front garden. I was able to spend the morning creating our backyard toad pool. My inner six year old is LOVING this. I used to make toad condos with pools and moss beds when I was a lassie and I see Tillie doing the same thing at six. I love that this particular flavor of strangeness is not necessarily genetic :)

The evenings this week will be hovering in the sixties so we should start seeing the toads coming out...and taking a dip.

My Mad Photoshop Skills

2010-03-26T15:05:00.006-05:00

As of today, this is what our house looks like. The white siding is DRIVING ME NUTS. The patchy lawn is DRIVING JASON NUTS. We have alot of work to do for it to look like this:

This is what I envision our house to look like after a few of years.

Baby steps (sigh).

The Little Things We Do

2010-03-25T14:56:00.007-05:00

It's almost time for the toads to come out of their burrows! I went to visit the Wildscaper Lady at K&K Nursery and she gave me some great insight into keeping the toads happy (as well as MANY OTHER WONDERFUL THINGS). Unfortunately we are not ready to create a full-on habitat where the toads can lay eggs and what not...so I made a little wading pool so they can at least take a dip. Tillie did some decorating. She's excited too.

The Squash Plot

2010-03-24T13:22:00.007-05:00

Most of the soil on our property is in spectacular shape...except for the little plot that rests between the sidewalk and our new garden path. It's full of clay. I added some partially decomposed leaf litter and a bag of peat to help it along. Then I decided to transplant some clover patches from the grass free parts of our yard. I'm just winging it...I think I'll join a forum.

In my forum joining search, I came across my new inspiration - Garden Girl. She has converted her Boston property into a giant garden with vertical gardens, raised beds and a mini orchard. I like her style and she's already done what Jason and I are wanting to do, so why reinvent the wheel when we can learn from someone who's already done it...and there's a forum :)

Some other good news...I went to a local nursery (K&K Nursery) in search of some native plants to start our wildscape off with. I mentioned to the fellow who was helping me out that I wanted to keep the frogs happy and his face lit up. He said a woman works there that is wildscaping wise and I was told to have a block of time free whenever I came to visit with her because she LOVES to talk about it. PERFECT. I'm going back tomorrow.

Coming along

2010-03-22T13:49:00.003-05:00

Okay, I think I am a seed addict. Every time I go to a store - it's not bags or scarves I look at anymore - but SEEDS...and little garden plants...and pretty pots. I'm hooked. The kiddos were out of school today so we decided to plant seven egg cartons full of seeds to add to the four peat pellet greenhouses that we did over spring break last week.

On another happy note...it looks like all the flower seeds and blooming bulbs I planted in the front yard gardens made it through the nasty weather over the weekend.

Now All It Needs is Plants

2010-03-21T13:39:00.001-05:00

I'm glad that we decided to lay the path early...it looks pretty in the snow!

Ouch

2010-03-19T09:16:00.004-05:00

Impatience is a virtue that generally causes me much soreness the next day (and Jason too). I'm told we are getting snow on Saturday so we decided to go ahead and make a push to get the garden path laid last night...the stones can cure on top of the ground or in the ground just the same.

It's about a third done and my glutes are really not looking forward to continuing this process, but my mind is saying (in Okie) 'GITTER DUN!'

Hardscaping

2010-03-18T11:04:00.008-05:00

(this is NOT our garden...yet)

Jason and I have been itching to do some hardscaping but after researching the cost of stone we thought we'd have to put it on the back burner until we had a grand to spend...until I saw the picture above. It looks like chunks of concrete shaped rocks. We thought we'd give a try at making a faux rock path - that winds through our kitchen garden - to the compost bin (see drawing in previous post).

We bought $10 worth of Quikcrete (240 lbs), sand and some little rocks. We thought about building some wood forms until we found a couple of 4x6 ft shallow boxes that would make a good container. After covering the boxes with plastic garbage bags, we mixed up the concrete with a bit of ocher pigment and poured the slabs about 3 inches thick.

We let the slabs dry for two hours and added some rough texture with a stick.

Then we mellowed it out with some crumpled plastic...a grocery bag works great. NOTE: wash your hands immediately after working with this stuff or, better yet, wear gloves.

We threw in a few rocks for added texture. They will be pulled out later to leave divets.

After letting it set up for 24 hours...

...we set the form up on its side and let the slab fall out to break it up into peices then laid it out to cure for three days.

We'll be laying the pathway over the weekend...I'll share the results!

The back yard garden

2010-03-17T15:40:00.005-05:00

Here is the design for our cottage-companion-kitchen garden.

Our friend Amy lent us a gardening book called "You Grow Girl", which was birthed out of the website: yougrowgirl.com. This is where I learned about companion gardening, which is: placing plants together that help each other out...like tomatoes and marigolds.

Traditional cottage gardens used this knowledge and planted everything close together to reduce weed proliferation. Certain flowers, herbs and vegetables living snug-ly together help nourish each other, repel pests, discourage certain diseases from taking root and encourage beneficial pollinator and predator insects to come hang out and feast. The best benefit (as an artist) is IT'S PRETTY.

I'm heading off to the garden store to pick up a few goodies then to plant seeds in little cups :)

First Blooms

2010-03-07T09:17:00.001-06:00

And so it begins...

An (ALMOST) Finished Project

2010-03-06T18:13:00.001-06:00

At long last the scooter was ready to ride! I took it on a spin and gave it back to Jason to finish up the tweeking! Finally...

Great Water Collection and Filtration Ideas

2010-03-05T15:03:00.008-06:00

Jason and I are wanting to move our renovating outside this season since most of the inside of our house is done. We live in a city that has some serious flooding issues and discovered a type of landscaping called "rain gardening", which is a shallow, constructed depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants & grasses that slows down the rush of water from hard surfaces, holds the water for a short period of time and allows it to naturally infiltrate into the ground. A rain garden can be thought of as a personal water quality system because it filters the runoff from your roof and lawn, recharges the groundwater and conserves municipal water resources by reducing the need for irrigation.

I've been researching water collection containers, such as 'rain barrels', and came across a discreet and multifunctional system called a 'rain bench' by Second Rain.

It is connected to the downspout drain and collects water that can be used to water the garden! The kits cost about $70 per 60 gallons of storage. Jason and I are thinking about building some raised beds in the backyard with these benches built into the bases with a soaker hose hooked up to the water supply below.

I emailed the folks at 'Second Rain' about my raised bed idea and here is the message I received from them this morning:

"Thanks for the request, and this is exactly the kind of innovation that what we are excited about developing and sharing with others.

It is feasible to build a raised bed right on top of the rain bench. In fact, we have also been finalizing the details for a bench cap that would direct all water that falls on it through a filter and into the upper overflow fitting of the bench right below it.

What this means is, not only can you build the raised bed on top of your bench, but it can be set up so that any excess water that you use to irrigate this bed would flow back into the rain bench for reuse, increasing your water conservation further.

Cheers,
Scott Gear"

I love it when I have an idea that might actually work!

More Garden Talk

2010-03-04T10:14:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was such a GORGEOUS spring-like day that I could not think of anything I'd rather do than work in the garden. The bulbs we planted a few days before had not died so I decided to transplant a few dozen other bulbs that were scattered all over our property...as well as a handful of daffodils from Dock's yard that are just on the edge of blooming.

I scattered flower seeds around the bulbs that should start taking off once the bulbs are finished doing their thing.... poppies, chives, sweet basil, lavender, cone flower, chamomile and a few others. I forgot to mark where I scattered the seeds so it will be like Christmas when everything starts coming up next month and blooming over the summer months.

Spring is When...

2010-03-02T12:39:00.002-06:00

Spring, for me, is when the bulbs start poking out of the ground. This is the first spring at the Wellstead and it has been exhilarating to see what's been popping up out of the ground around our house. Many of the plants that are cropping up are iris bulbs that Helen (the previous owner) planted many years ago...so we decided to add to the early spring bounty that will be blooming in a few weeks. We planted - in our sun garden - a few different types of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth as well as dwarf cannas and and an elephant ear bulb that will come up in the summer.

Next up will be filling the shade garden with hosta and caladium bulbs, a couple fern roots and some lily of the valley and impatiens...as well as about a dozen spider plant clumps that were left over from our replanting session on Sunday. We planted a couple of spider plant clippings last year and they did surprisingly well.

The thing that I've found most exciting is seeing many of the perennials I planted last year beginning to sprout :)

Workshop Project

2010-02-22T19:50:00.002-06:00

Jason was raised with an array of two, three and four wheelers...I have never driven anything with less than four wheels and two doors. I suppose he thought that this doesn't seem fair so he found a great little scooter to restore. It's torturing me. I don't know why, because it's still too cold to drive but my inner eight year old is feeling VERY IMPATIENT.

Kitty T.V.

2010-02-15T13:06:00.001-06:00

The window that looks out into our backyard is our cat's favorite hangout spot...because of all the birds. Jason recently picked up an Oklahoma bird field guide which stays on the dining room table near the window so we can look up all the birds that frequent the bird feeder that we liberated from the curb in front of someone's house last fall.

At one point I identified eight different bird species hanging out all at the same time: European Starlings, Common Grackles, Mourning Doves, Dark-Eyed Junkos, a Downy Woodpecker and a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, a House Finch, House Sparrows and Cardinals. There must have been over forty birds out there!

We just bought some suet for the woodpeckers and added a new type of seed mixture to keep everyone happy (including the cat).

Big Snow

2010-02-02T14:34:00.000-06:00

We've had a REAL winter here in Oklahoma...during this last snow we all decided to take an evening walk to the park a few blocks from our house. Jesse and Tillie spotted this unusual work of art and got a real kick out of it.

New Years Eve

2009-12-31T14:32:00.003-06:00

Jason's mom got him a smoker for Christmas this year so we decided to smoke ALOT of meat and ring in the new year with friends in the 'man cave' - which is what the workshop is called when Jason is having boy time with buddies.

The house has been de-Christmassed and things are beginning to get back to normal around here. We are all sorting through our gifts and starting to fit them into our lives.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Addition

2009-12-30T13:16:00.012-06:00

Well, the corner chair that replaced the aging recliner did not make it. Although it was prettier than the barka-lounger, it was not up to Jason's relaxation standards...so I decided to buy him a new, comfortable AND pretty recliner for Christmas. He LOVES it. I picked it up on the 23rd and decided to give it to him early, since I had no place to hide it. He had the perfect place to kick back on Christmas day.

Hopefully we can find a new space for the old chair. I've been hauling that thing around for too long and spent too much time sanding and re-staining it to put it out on the curb.

Christmas

2009-12-27T12:30:00.000-06:00

A blizzard put a wrench in Christmas Eve plans. Fortunately Jason's mom came into town the previous day...we hunkered down and made the best of it.

It hasn't snowed like this since I was a kid.

This may be the last year we put out cookies for Santa...until we have a new batch of young ones.

Christmas Workshop

2009-12-23T15:18:00.003-06:00

(This is a small sampling of Christmas gifts we made this year)

I have always made my Christmas gifts. I always start late. By the time Christmas rolled around in years passed, my little apartment was a creative DISASTER and I'd be completely spent. Fortunately, I had a creative gift making partner, two little helpers and the perfect workshop this year. We had a great time.

Maybe we will start earlier next year...but probably not.

Our Awesome Antique Store Find

2009-11-30T14:53:00.002-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving Jason and I set out for Kansas City to visit my cousin and his family. They took us on a tour of downtown KC, one of the places being an antique store...a FOUR STOREY (yes, that is how you spell it. Thanks Google.) antique store. Ten feet through the front door I spot an awesome little coffee table. Jason reminds me that we have thousands more square feet to explore. After two hours, we return to the coffee table - which is STILL awesome - and decide to buy it. YAY. Now we have a place for our coffee cups and feet!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T19:50:00.001-06:00

Normally {meaning: every year except this one} my family has a potluck Thanksgiving at my Granny's house. This year, we offered to host the holiday at the Wellstead. So we did. Everyone was so happy with the arrangement that this may become the new tradition...and it will bring the two families together.

Jason and I were excited to put up the famous "kids table". So far, Jesse and Tillie are the only two that are old enough...but next year the kid crowd will be growing.

Jason shot WAY UP in Poppie's 'book' when he saw the workshop that Jason has put much love into...he even hung jelly jars from the underside of a shelf to store screws in. Poppie noticed.

Settling in

2009-11-15T12:22:00.000-06:00

As of today we've been in our home for six months. We are all settling in nicely.

Halloween

2009-10-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, my favorite part of Halloween was helping make my costume. Jesse and Tillie weren't sure what to think when I let them know that we'd be continuing this tradition...they were accustomed to 'buying off the rack'. After it was all said and done, however, they were converted to the custom costume way.

kid's room

2009-10-04T13:45:00.000-05:00

Although we painted Jesse and Tillie's room back in May, it has taken a while to get all the decorating wrapped up in their space. We put up 22 pieces of art and finally found a home for the colorful paper lanterns that were purchased for our wedding decorations (the rain kept us from using them that day).
With the help of Jason's mom, we set them up with an AWESOME bunk bed. So far, they are splitting time up between the bottom and top bunk very well. When the time comes for them to have their own room, the bunks split up into separate beds...although I have a feeling that we will end up buying another bunk bed to make sleep-overs easier.

The Evolution of a Space

2009-09-17T12:13:00.000-05:00

I love how spaces fill up and grow into themselves...and how the light is a part of it.

The plants LOVE their new home.

The Last Room...for now

2009-08-31T11:10:00.000-05:00

It was a rainy Sunday and I had HAD IT with our dreary little bathroom. The faux tile wainscot and the yucky tan, high-gloss walls made me want to get out of there as quickly as possible. A bathroom should be a sanctuary...so that is what I made it. A TEEEENY-TINY sanctuary.

While Jason had some boy time at a friend's house, I painted and found a home for the artwork that had been waiting patiently in the workshop for months.

This change even makes the mustard yellow linoleum floor look decent.

Our Creative Space

2009-07-14T10:47:00.004-05:00

We have a space, apart from the house, that was the deciding factor for us purchasing this property. The moment we saw the backyard workshop during the walk-through with our realtor, we both immediately looked at each other and said "This is it!" Unfortunately, this was the last space to get situated.

Now that it is situated, we are having GREAT FUN in this space: fixing cars, doing craft projects, BBQ-ing, tinkering and anything else that can be done in a giant workshop.

Spaces We Pass Through

2009-06-22T12:05:00.005-05:00

When renovating an entire house, it's the spaces we pass through that get put on the back burner. Our hallway is a perfect example. This was the last space that had (for over a month) paper still covering the floor, which was like walking on a medium grit sandpaper. We left for a weekend trip to California to go to my sister's wedding and I wanted to have it done before I left because I DID NOT WANT TO RETURN TO AN UNFINISHED SPACE.

It's a good thing I completed it because I got tonsillitis on our vacation and now I'm holed up in bed, but I can peek out the bedroom door and see our lovely hallway and that makes me feel a little bit better.

Now Milo has a new favorite resting spot.

A Bit of History

2009-06-15T12:38:00.010-05:00

To begin with: as of today, we have been in this home for one month! With all the progress we've made, it seems like much longer.

When Jason and I began our home search, it was very important to us that we be the perfect people for whatever home we end up buying...that the owners would be excited about passing the torch to us. It did end up happening this way for us, although the passing of the torch was bitter-sweet. Tracy, the seller and grandaughter of the previous owners, gave us this picture and a letter detailing some of the history of this house and the people who lived within it:

Jason and I knew that this house was very loved and had alot of love within it and we are honoring this spirit when we go through our renovations...like keeping the original wallpaper in the bedroom closets to remind us of the history here and planting around the existing plants in the garden beds. I sent the blog link to Tracy so she can continue to be a part of this home's evolution.

This morning we received an e-mail from another grandaughter, Diane, who spent much time in this house as well...here is some of her letter:

Hearing your words, reading your blog... gives me such pleasure and joy. The love, time, and energy you've put into making the house your home -- it is wonderful that you have shared it and included us in it. We are so happy to know that the house is alive with joy, laughter, love, children... my grandparents would be extremely happy to know that such warm, loving, special people get to enjoy a home in which they found those things -- and more.

Thank you for allowing us to share a part of your family's history. Of our family's history. You have done amazing things with the house -- things we thought of doing to "keep it in the family". But I think it is just where it belongs. God bless your family. Your home. Your future. I know you will find such joy and gifts in that house. In your marriage. Your lives. Take care of one another -- my grandpa would slip his arms around my grandma's waist as she did the dishes, standing at the sink looking out at the garden. And he would whisper to her. "I love you." And she knew this to be true. With her whole heart.

Blessings to you, again. And for the disjointed nature of this note, and the changes in subject mid-sentence, I apologize. As my son tells me, "I must have seen something shiny." Perhaps it was my tears. Of joy. Knowing that you love the home as much as did / DO, we.

Our neighbor, Dock, and I are battling over which one of us is the 'luckiest person in Oklahoma'. I think I am but he's got 55 years more than me so I'll let him keep the title.

Little Victories

2009-06-14T21:06:00.003-05:00

Now we are down to the nitpicky stuff that is hard to find spaces for. Our kitchen's storage is strange but there was a 5 ft. wide empty space to the right of the stove and underneath some really high overhead cabinets that had great potential. I found the table at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $10 that fit the space PERFECTLY and there was just enough room overhead for pot and pan storage.
Jason bought a closet rod, some metal rings and "S" hooks and VOILA! Efficiency is AWESOME.

Our Nighttime Visitor

2009-06-12T11:52:00.007-05:00

Jason, the kids and I enjoy spending some time outside after dark...our budding garden is a whole different world when the sun goes down. Last night I saw a camel cricket eating one of the many tiny mushrooms that pop up in the plot and we are getting a sense of the territories of each of the toads...now there are four. Their names are: Black Jack, Jackson Robot, Jim Jimminy and Ramona Mona. This frog (Jim Jimminy) spends his evenings near the garden in front of the grate that goes underneath the house. It seems to be working for him...he's getting plump.

Click here to see a gallery of frogs native to Oklahoma.

Wildscaping

2009-06-10T13:53:00.011-05:00

Jason and I are avid NPR listeners because you never know what you are going to learn. A few weeks ago, we were introduced to the concept of "wildscaping", which is a term sometimes used to describe the process of making a garden attractive to wildlife - by offering water, shelter and native plants to eat - which is vital in urban areas where native species of bugs, amphibians, birds and mammals are in serious decline (click here to listen to the program). After days of searching I found a book tailor-made for Oklahoma: Landscaping for Wildlife: A guide to the Southern Great Plains. If you live in the OKC metro, you can pop into the Wildlife Department headquarters just south of the Capitol and pick it up for $15.00 or you can click on the book title which will take you to a page where you can purchase the book.

We already have at least three toads and a family of caramel colored birds that I've never seen before, as well as robins, cardinals, blue-jays and mourning doves that frequent our lot...and some other birds we can't identify. I've been researching urban frog habitats to keep the frogs happy through the winter and reproduce in the spring. We'll see!

Finding a Niche

2009-06-09T12:10:00.000-05:00

Through this moving process, I've discovered that Jason and I have very different packing techniques. He packs quickly and sorts out the mess later and I sort through the mess before packing so the unpacking part is less stressful. I've not decided which is better but I can say that creating niches has been slower going since everything is in different boxes.

This is a photo of the shelf by the front door...for mail, change and keys to reside. I've never had a space like this before and I find that I lose stuff less. We used to have a catch-all box that was like Christmas every time we cleaned it out: "So THAT'S where that's been hiding!" was a common statement.

We still have a lot of niche creating left...but this is my favorite part.

A New Order

2009-06-07T23:36:00.007-05:00

We put the crown molding up in the living room at last. Everything (save for one box of randomness) has its place in the kitchen. All the books are unpacked and are finding their nooks. Most of the clothes are either bagged up to donate or resting in their proper places. The workshop is beginning to reveal itself now that the boxes are thinning out.

So, while Jason and I were tending to all these things, Jesse and Tillie thought they would do some decorating of there own...by covering no less than fifty feet of sidewalk, from the workshop door in the back yard and up to the front of the house. We took them out for ice cream for a job well done.

Saturday bounty

2009-06-06T12:22:00.005-05:00

It's Saturday...that means it's time to head out to the Cleveland County Farmer's Market! I took Tillie, a tote and $40. In the past I paid more attention to the vegetable assortment, but plants grabbed my eye more than anything this time. We picked up 3 hyssops, a basil plant, a drought tolerant fern, 4 tomato plants, some sort of hot pepper plant and a Japanese maple sapling. It's been four days and nothing has died in the garden yet which, for me, is a minor miracle...so I will keep adding to it as time, money and weather permits.

Click here for a list of Farmer's Markets around Oklahoma...and which ones are Okie grown.

The baby-new garden

2009-06-04T15:17:00.007-05:00

I've never planted a garden before...I'm excited and nervous and neurotic about it. I find myself going outside every half hour or so to make sure that everything is still alive. Until I met Jason I had a certifiably black thumb. Now, after living with happy living plants for a while, I'm going to give a try at not killing some plants for a change. Thankfully Jason can help me.

It seems like I am approaching it more like an artist than a gardener and I have a feeling that I will be learning ALOT about how laughable this first attempt will be when I look back on it but it was relaxing and creative and I needed that.

Our first drop-in guest...literally

2009-06-03T20:38:00.003-05:00

One of the tasks that Jason has been working on is thoroughly washing all the windows...he must have washed them so well that this bird didn't notice any obstruction. He (the bird) hit the bathroom window while I was in brushing my teeth. When I made it out, I swear I could see stars swirling over this poor bird's head...which made it easy prey for the gang of prowling cats in the neighborhood. So, he hung out with me until his senses returned...then flew away.

Click here to go to the Oklahoma bird field guide to see pictures and hear calls of birds in various parts of Oklahoma (and the country).

New life to old stuff

2009-06-03T10:03:00.011-05:00

Eating as a family is very important to us but that old "re-gifted" dining room table had to go. We found a 1950's chrome and laminate kitchen table at the Habitat for Humanity's ReStore that screamed for me to buy it for $10. I repainted it with chrome spray paint and we found a 4x8 piece of beautifully veneered wood and put the two together to give that old table a whole new life for a total of $55.
The aging barka-lounger didn't make the move either, so I put our new orbital sander to use to sand and then re-stain this mid-century modern chair that I rescued from a dumpster quite a few years back. I stored it in my garage because I had nowhere to put it but I knew a gem when I saw it...even though it was (cosmetically) in dismal condition. When I moved in with Jason, our dog Jasper used it as his favorite teething toy.
With a few dollars in Rit dye, I dyed the cushions from a faded wheat color to a subtle chartreuse. Total cost $10.
I don't know if this chair will make it either...he misses the comfort of a cushy recliner.

Before and After

2009-06-02T15:06:00.014-05:00

Our living room

before (midpoint, really):

after:

before:

after:

In between space:

before:

after:
(we still have crown molding to install)

Our dining room
before:

after:

before:

after:

We still have the bathroom, kitchen, loft, den, hallway and workshop to do but t's good to have something (almost) done.

The Fun Part

2009-06-01T14:58:00.001-05:00

Man was I nervous about this part. Jason decided to stick around outside the house while I primed the entire interior with a spray rig.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly...but if I never have to do this again I would be grateful.

Our hard work is beginning to produce tangible results...

Reconstruction

2009-05-31T14:49:00.000-05:00

This shows the very beginning of a process that made me think that Hell should be being forced to scrape and texture walls for the rest of eternity. The thing that got me through was knowing how stunning it was going to look when I eventually finished.

The Deconstruction

2009-05-29T14:30:00.001-05:00

On May 15th we got the keys to our home....we joked that we were going to have the bed in the back of the truck when we went to closing. It didn't work out that way, but the bed was in the livingroom by 3pm. Bright and early-ish the next morning deconstruction commenced.
We love this house, but the paneling had to go...what a chore that became, but well worth it to have flat, smooth walls.

Beyond the paneling was two layers of wallpaper that had to be dealt with...by hand......until we discovered that the compressor hose and orbital sander made the job much more fun.