A seemingly casual meal takes a dark and twisty turn (foreshadowing: you can see it in the eyes!)...
How do you like my incisors? I'm going for a Where the Wild Things Are vibe.
hmmmmm, do I detect a hint of ginger in the marinade?
It’s not hard to want to whip up a treat in the kitchen when you’ve got such inspiring tools to work with. Behold, the loveliest and jauntiest pot holder I have ever owned:
The combination of one of a kind bias tape, antarctic wildlife and polka dots make me want to plunge my hands into hot, gaseous situations every day. How's that for a testimonial?
Big thanks to my pal C., for her excellent taste when it comes to gift-giving. I wish you’d been around to sample some of these:
Scones with old cheddar, thyme and scallions. Nary a scorched fingertip in sight, either!
Here’s the basic recipe, via Orangette, that I like to use when the scone craving hits. And this recipe for fig and fennel scones, from the amazing food blog In Praise of Leftovers, is the next one I’m going to try! Num num num.
Thank goodness for hiring professionals to install our new floors. It’s been a long time coming and we are so happy to be able to check that one big matter off of our massive to do list. This time, we got off easy, just having to pack up our stuff and dismantle the kitchen. The crew that came to do the install worked crazy long hours to finish the gig and have my utmost respect. It is meticulous and physically demanding work. Did I mention they did a great job too?
The whole week was reminiscent of our first few months living in the half-renovated house…no kitchen, no tv, no internet, monoliths of furniture piled in corners, eating a lot of takeout and cereal, sleeping on a mattress on a dirty subfloor, and fishing through garbage bags of clothes, covered in fine layer of sawdust and rubble. I’m totally selling this whole home reno thing to you, aren’t I? Here’s an “in process” photo:
a photographic masterpiece I like to call "dog butt and new subfloor"
And the pristine, shiny surface of prefinished solid oak. So fresh and new, you could’ve eaten off of it!
Fresh out of the package and onto our subfloor.
Needless to say, Sadie quickly helped us get over the preciousness of the new floors, by inscribing her nail marks into the wood. We, in turn, suddenly got more clumsy and have been dropping a record number of gouge-worthy objects in the past couple of weeks. Sigh. I guess we could’ve paid more for the “distressed, antique finish”. Instead we’re DIY-ing it. We’re handy that way!
It wasn't me! Have you seen Hobo G's toenails lately?
One step closer to finishing the trim work and picking out paint colours. I can’t wait!
Did you think I’d forgotten about you? No way! I was thinking of you as I busily gathered stares at the local Food Basics outlet:
Apparently those are called Shepherd Peppers. All I know is that they make great ears and really pop up against that green background. Upon searching for the aforementioned vegetable in google image, I was taken to a seed buying site that offered a best-selling brand of pepper named Fat ‘n Sassy”. I can’t make this stuff up.
Sadie is enjoying our new modernist furniture. Mies van der Rohe, eat your heart out.
…and under paw, 43 boxes taking over our living room to be exact, as we get ready for some demo tomorrow. Although we are disappointed that there wasn’t enough life in the original hardwood floor for one more refinishing, I am excited at the prospect of being able to walk through the house barefoot without getting javelin-like splinters in my feet.
If I had the chutzpah, I would totally consider a Jim Lambie-esque floor treatment:
More photos to come. Back to packing up our stuff and taking it down to Possession Purgatory, aka the basement.
