Master Bathroom Renovation, coming soon!

Starting soon we will be dusty & dirty while we are demolishing our master bath to make way for the new!
I am very excited and nervous at the same time. We just ordered hardwood floors to be installed in the "art room" next week and also for the new bathroom.
But first we need to get the whirlpool tub working, demo the closet in the bathroom, remove the sinks, counters, and existing vanity. Rip out the floor, then temporarily take out the toilet to move the drain and the water source. Plumb in hot and cold water and a drain for the "new" whirlpool tub, and put in electrical for the pump. Then Rory needs to build a tub deck, and a new vanity. We need to order a lot of tile and install it all.....yikes! And then we should be proud DIY-ers of a new master bathroom.
This may take us a while to do, but I think in the long run we will be happy we are starting it now, and not during jetski season!
Wish us luck, and here are some inspiration pictures of what we would like.



Two hand painted Talavera sinks, we haven't picked out a pattern yet but here is the look.

Christmas morning and no power

We woke this morning to a beautiful Christmas day. We were enjoying the fire and our coffee as the cinnamon buns were rising. We opened our presents while the oven preheated, and then the power went out! We waited... and waited... and walked the dog.... then waited a bit more....
Around noon the power came back on, and we were smelling our cinnamon rolls baking shortly after.


Rory was very excited for them and we were both so hungry by then.




My cool Cowboy boot remover, Rory thought I would love the shape of it. He told me a funny story about the women in the store telling him what they thought it was. One said, "it's a cricket!" Another said, "I think it's a cockroach" We were laughing at that although it's similar, we both thought it was quite obvious what it was in the shape of. Do you know? It one of my favorite ancient symbols, and is also one of the logos of Rory's favorite car paint company.


Baxter had a great Christmas day, with a new toy and two walks. Plus a bonus dinner of left over mashed potatoes and prime rib drippings and kibble!

Christmas Eve Dinner, in "a real house!"

We just had our first successful Christmas Eve dinner in our new home.
Last year the tradition started with Rory and I hosting Christmas Eve dinner, and my immediate family joined us. That was our first Christmas time meal in our own town! But with such a small rental home then, it was quite cramped, even with just the 5 of us.
This year in our new home, with a real dining table and beautiful Denby dishes, we could all sit at together and enjoy a wonderful grown up meal. We are both so thankful for all we have been blessed with this year, and thankful to those who made it possible.
Well I got a little excited about the big dinner and ordered a 5 rib bone-Prime Rib. It was an 11lb monster about 16" in length. I was worried it would be WAY too much meat, but we all had plenty at dinner (except my dad, who I made a vegetarian stuffed portobello) My bro took a nice chunk home with 2 ribs, Rory and I will have Christmas dinner tomorrow with the remaining and even Baxter took a nice meaty bone outside and enjoyed his dinner! Lucky boy.




We also had fresh steamed asparagus, sauteed carrots, mashed Yukon gold potatoes, with gravy, and a delicious salad brought by my mom.


For dessert I made an English Raspberry Trifle. It was a layered delight of lady fingers soaked in Meyers rum and raspberry jam, vanilla custard and fresh berries, and I whipped triple sec into the whipped cream, and it was to-die-for!
I was so excited about all the food I spent all day cooking I forgot to take pictures of most of it :(
But it was all beautiful, especially the dessert.
We are so full from dinner, and tomorrow there's more with the Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. After all this wonderful food for the holiday's I am looking forward to the New Year and a bit less consumption!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good Night!

Forgive my ugly Rugelach!

I made Rugelach for the first time today. Similar to Baklava in difficulty, it must take generation after generation to have the hand at making these tricky little guys. They may not be perfect or at all attractive. But they are so delicious, I can't wait to share them with family.

A day of chocolatiering

I spent most of this damp day in the kitchen making candies. Candied Orange slices and Marzipan orange ganache truffles. One of my favorites.
They were not easy on me today though, the chocolate tempering went less then desired, and the oranges cooked faster then expected on our new stove top. Maybe it was the weather!
They may not be perfect, but they still taste good and that's what counts.




Plus here's a cute picture of Baxter. He jumped up like he was going to have a cup of Joe and relax.

I won!

I entered a contest to win one of many prizes given away on one of my favorite blogs. The blog posts wonderful DIY makeovers including furniture, fixtures, decor, and much more.
"The DIY Show Off"


I won an 8x10 print of my choice from Etsy seller Hirondelle Rustique

Her Prints are on Archival paper and look lovely in a matte and frame, which I plan to do with ours. Here were my other choices, but I could only pick one. I love the tree, but we have nothing with those colors. And the fox is so whimsical and just our style.


I chose this subtle neutral beige and white botanical print to go along with our botanical theme in the Master Bedroom. I can't wait to get it! And I still can believe I won something, that never happens.

Wood choices

Well the extra bedroom, which I am calling my "Art Room" needs a floor. The existing Linoleum is definitely not staying. I need a flat hard surface to cut material for sewing projects, so tile is out, it can't be carpet either in case paint or charcoal gets on the floor. The floor we choose is also gong to be put in our master bathroom as we currently have white tile and old carpet in there now.
So we have decided to put in a dark stained, distressed hardwood floor to go with the distressed Saltillo tile and the new brown carpet. Here are two options we are considering.

Option #1.
This is the lighter of the two, a staggered size plank in 4" 5" and 6" plank widths.



Option #2.
Here is the darker of the two, in a thinner 3" plank all uniform in size.
(It looks like two different colors but this is the same sample, just my picture taking skills at work here)

The Mezzanine is up!

Rory finally had the time to buy the materials and build his garage mezzanine this weekend. He finished it today and is very happy about it being done. He has tried to do this project for about a month and hasn't had the time. It looks great and we will start moving all of his extra engine parts and jet ski gas tanks up there so I park my car inside! Yeah!


I had a weekend full of shopping and I am happy to say I am mostly done. I spent the evening cooking and making these pine cone ornaments for our tree.

Cookies and Shopping

We had so much fun making Halloween cookies over a month ago, that we decided to do Christmas themed ones last night. These are simple butter cookies decorated with a royal icing in a flooding technique and we used little nonpareils for decoration.


After Baxter's walk this morning I will be heading into town for some Christmas shopping, and errands. Wish me luck!

Oh Chrismas tree...

...Oh Christmas tree, Why did Baxter get stung by a bee?
Here is our tree all lit up and decorated.
Now that we can have a nice large tree in our new house I think we might need a few more ornaments to cover it.
We did get a new topper, a rustic star with pine needles.





Poor Baxter was stung by a rouge indoor bee. We were eating our dinner when Baxter ran in looking especially scared and like something was hurting him. I could figure out what it was, until Rory was dive bombed by a bee that was descending to her death, since she stung our little "B" right on the face! We washed him and after blow drying him I noticed the sting spot. Ouch!