Paint Shopping...

...is hard!  After over an hour of reviewing paint swatches we bought a quart-sized sample of one color that we were liked for our bedroom.  It is the color "Petite Blue" at this link. We are looking for a soothing blueish, grayish, greenish color that will be subdued but not too gloomy considering that it is always raining here!

I think it might be too dark but I'm so eager to have the walls painted so we can move onto the floors and finish up our room (so we can finish up the next room, and so on).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works once its up on the walls.  It will be kind of hard to tell without a light fixture installed yet. Hmmm maybe that needs to happen before we decide on a color?  It sure would be nice to have the light on while we are painting too! :)

Contractors

We have contractors at the house today.  They are putting drywall up in the bedroom and stairwell.

Tony did some major demo work in the past week and a half.  He removed all the plaster, re-wired and added several oulets, and light fixtures, AND added insulation.  He did this all while working a full-time job and we even hosted a party this past weekend!

 I am SO GLAD they are there!  I know Tony is too.

When the contractors are done the rooms will be primed and ready for fresh paint!  Then the floors will be finished in the bedroom and it will be DONE! (Well, the windows still need to be replaced and the closets need to be built out, and the trim needs to be cut and added to the windows and baseboards...but you get the idea)

Pictures to follow.  I promise!

Projects in Progress: Bedroom Part Ia

I'm trying to stay away from the house this weekend so Tony can do some demo without me in the way.  Here is what I could make out through the plastiic when I came home tonight :)

Book Review: Put 'em Up!

My mom came to town last weekend with a grocery bag full of tomatoes from her garden.  (My parents live in Eastern Washington, where the sun shines and tomatoes grow happily.)  When I looked through the bag the next day I realized the tomatoes didn't have long before something needed to be done with them. 

Thankfully,  I just got this new canning book, Put 'em Up!, which has a great salsa recipe.  I'm really loving this book because instead of being organized by food type (jellies, pickles, whole fruits) it is organized by food. 

At first I did not realize the genius of this, but it makes such great sense. Usually you would be preserving food when you find yourself with so much of it that you can't possibly eat it all before it spoils.  The way this book is organized makes it easy to find options for whatever food it is that you have too much of.  Another great thing is that it provides multiple options for preserving most of the recipes.  So you can make something with your tomatoes, for example, and have the option of refrigerating, freezing, or canning. 

I made the salsa , which gives you the option of refrigerating and canning.  I ended up with a little too much for the number of jars I prepared so I refrigerated the remaining salsa and canned four jars.

Flowers from the Garden

This lovely little guy has been brightening our living room for over a week.  I love the contrasting yellow with that blue vase. 

Pickling Party

Pickled Carrots

I had some girlfriends over last weekend to try a couple of pickling recipes.  We made spicy carrots and dilled carrots, both recipes I had never tried before.  I've been really enjoying the canning and pickling process since I got my canning pot but I think it is a whole lot more fun to do it with friends!

Here's hoping I've got some more food preserving parties in my future!

Close-up of dill carrots

Close-up of spicy carrots (you can't see in this photo but these ones have jalapeños!)

Mushroom Kit

Tony got a mushroom kit for his birthday from Fungi Perfecti a company in Olympia, Washington that sells various mushroom products.  Tony's mushroom kit is for growing shitake mushrooms.  It comes with a "starter" that has shitake fungi living in it.  The starter looks like a gigantic moldy marshmellow.

To get the mushrooms started the starter is soaked in water that has been boiled and cooled and then it is placed under a "humidity tent" to promote the growth of mushrooms. We got it going about a week ago.  The mushroom blob needs to be kept in a room with light (but not direct light) and misted regularly.  Funny how the mushrooms that pop up in my yard seem so much less high maintenance. :)

Preparing the humidity tent

After 7 days we already have some mushrooms to harvest!

Sunday...

I have been travelling all week for work and I can't wait to get home.  I have been dreaming about doing some garden clean-up since I left. The garden looked so sad before my trip.  After almost a month without any upkeep and a LOT of rain the slugs and weeds have invaded.  They are competing to see which species can multiply faster.  I have a lot of work on my hands.  But something about garden "work" is so appealing after a week of meetings, flying, and hotel rooms. I have yet another conference to attend this Saturday but Sunday...Sunday is all mine!