bathroom remodel (image heavy, sorry)

we closed on our house sometime in april 2010. the next day we took a hammer to a wall in our old bathroom.

 

 

discovering, gasp!, a window back there, we decided to rip out the wall, as well as the contractor's shower.

 

and then we tore up three layers of nasty flooring. 

 

but jp did a fantastic job at eventually making the floors look pretty. 

a year later, almost to the day, we have a fully functional, beautiful bathroom. everything but the toilet was replaced. we (actually it was all jp with some help from his brother and his father) did everything ourselves--plumbing, tiling, window installation, pouring the concrete sink, blah blah blah. i think my only contribution was hanging the shelves. and they're slanted. oops. 

voila!:

now someone with actual photography skills come take pretty pictures--i'm not-so-secretly fantasizing that EJA would be up for the task. i'm wanna submit this beauty to apartment therapy!

bottling kombucha

1. sanitize bottles

2. remove mother and store in new brew

3. remove scoby and store w some liquid (we passed it on to a reader of this blog) 

4. pour kombucha into bottle (we used a plastic funnel for ease)

5. let sit 5-7 days to carbonate

6. refrigerate

7. enjoy!

we didn't flavor our kombucha with anything extra (some people do ginger or fruit). we like the tangy, vinegary taste of this batch but will certainly try some other flavors for future brews.

necklace holder

i found this necklace holder (probably originally a key ring holder) at a thrift store. it was brass. i spray painted it shiny black. it hangs next to my side of the bed and helps me keep all my necklaces (and some earrings) organized and accessible. 

next i need to paint those metal screws black!

DIY sal suds all-purpose cleaner

for cleaning countertops, walls, floors, stovetops, even mirrors(!) i use this all-purpose spray recipe that i make at home. i still haven't quite figured out how to make it not so bubbly when it's first mixed together but once i get over the initial eruption it works great.

Sal Suds All-Purpose Cleaning Spray*

Need:

-- 1 spray bottle (I use an old method all-purpose spray bottle and so far it has never failed me. i'd say it's even worth splurging on a bottle of it just to have the bottle to use when you are through with it. all other spray bottles have given me a lot of trouble).

--1 tsp. Dr Bronner's Sal Suds (or castile soap)

--1 tsp. baking soda

--1/4 c white vinegar

--3-5 drops essential oil (i used tea tree)

Mix:

--Fill your spray bottle about 1/2 way with warm water. 

--Add the Sal Suds and baking soda

--Shake it up.

--Add vinegar and essential oil (this is usually when it explodes on me a little bit).

--Let it sit about 5-10 minutes to settle down. 

i've also just used sal suds mixed with warm water (and nothing else) when i was in a rush and needed some cleaner but didn't want to wait for the bubbles to settle down. it smells like pine and is glorious.

dr bronner's sal suds has many other uses! in addition to the DIY shower cleaner i showed you, i also, just this week, ran out of charlie's soap and was able to use a 1/4 cup of my sal suds for some laundry detergent. 

*adapted from this recipe.

good to go

in an effort to save money on a salon pedicure, i bought some new nail polish to do-it-myself at home. but you know what: it is really hard to give yourself a pedicure when you have a stomach the size of a basketball.

so i opted for just a manicure instead. i hate giving myself manicures. i am too impatient and nail polish ends up all over my skin and cuticles and i don't let it set enough and so it always smudges.

this, though, was all before i discovered essie's good to go, the rapid dry top coat that sets your nail color in seconds. no joke. there may be paint all over my skin and cuticles (as evidenced by the photo above) but there are NO smudges. it's amazing.

essie has always been my favorite nail polish: it's affordable, good quality, and has great classic and unique colors to choose from (this color is tart deco). i usually find my essie at target.

(essie did not pay me or give me more essie to write this. but i wish they did.)

DIY shower cleaner

with the sexy new shower that jp built for us, i needed a cleaner to keep it sparkly. as i've found over the years, anything that is sold in the cleaning sections of stores can usually be made for far less (and with far safer ingredients) at home. the same is true for shower spray. read below for what i put together.

in a fancy-schmancy (not!) home depot all-purpose spray bottle (the minimalist-looking one i bought at the container store sucked) i added the following ingredients:

--1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide

--1/2 cup rubbing alcohol (vodka works too)

--1 tbsp dr. bronner's sal suds (other recipes i researched advised adding a combo of dish detergent and spot-free dishwasher rinse [like JetDry] but i don't own those so i used this instead).

--1 1/2 cup water

--optional: essential oils for fragrance (i used geranium but tea tree is a good one [and a natural antiseptic too!])

spray this on after you shower. i also use a squeegee after i shower and before i spray but i'm also weird like that so a quick spray around your shower and on your liner should suffice.

kombucha, baby

on tuesday, jp and i got a baby, a kombucha baby (SCOBY)! we found out from our midwife, maren, that another midwife, jen, in denver brewed her own kombucha. we contacted her and jen happily gave us our very own baby to start our kombucha brewing process.

we'd been wanting to do this for a while since we LOVE (like, really love) kombucha but it is also fairly expensive to buy (about $3-4 a pop!). since jp has all the brewing experience with beer --and, let's be honest, he's just a master at creating anything ingestible-- i let him do all the research (read: work). jen gave us great directions on what items we needed, what we needed to do, and some other helpful heads-ups. you can find those directions at the bottom of this post.

right now it's living in the back room of our basement and we get to check on it in a week or so to see how it's doing. i'll keep you updated!

Brewing Kombucha

Brewing

-boil a small pot of spring or reverse osmosis water on stove

-turn off heat. add 1 Tbs of organic tea (in muslin bag). Jen recommends gunpowder/jasmin and we used a green tea we were able to find at the asian market.

-cover and steep for 15 minutes

-in a clean gallon glass jar, add 3/4 cup raw organic sugar cane.

-pour brewed tea (minus bag, of course) into glass jar and mix until sugar is well combined

-add chilled spring water and bring up to about 3/4 gallon

-add kombucha baby and stock liquid (this is what we got from jen and what you see jp doing in the photos).

-cover top with thin cotton cloth or paper towel (jen suggests paper towel) and put a rubber band around the neck to hold it in place

-let brew for 2-3 weeks

-taste with a NON-METAL spoon at 2 weeks to see if it's vinegar tasting (not sweet).

Mixing with Fruit

-once brew is finished, take out kombucha baby with 10% stock (starter) liquid for your next brew.

-place in a glass jar and cover with paper towel/thin cloth.

-with brewed liquid, add 5% organic fruit (i.e. 1/2 a mango or 3-4 strawberries).

-cover and let brew for another week

-bottle (taking out fruit first)

-let sealed bottles sit out for a few days to build fizz.

-put them in the fridge and drink within 1 month.

Helpful Tips

-Kombucha hates metal and will take on a metallic taste so don't use any metal when brewing that could come in contact with the culture.

-if you see brown, thick discharge your kombucha probably needs oxygen. (this is why she recommends paper towels to cover jar).

--kombucha babies can be composted (chickens will love that, maybe), given away, or thrown out.

our chickens work!

after much squawking and anticipation, jonathan went out to the coop saturday morning to find this in the laying box:

i was one proud lady and tore through the house squealing with delight while trying to tug on my boots to run out and see it for myself. jackie o is the one responsible for this and she lays a beautiful--albeit a tad small--brown egg.

she had been acting a little funny recently: squatting down submissively if i moved my hand to pet her, squawking (and sometimes gobbling) a lot and very loudly, and isolating herself from the other ladies. she also didn't seem to mind jonathan and i as much and took to exploring the backyard--presumably looking for a better option for her eggs than the laying box we've had up for a while.
we weighed the egg (thanks mama and papa!). a perfectly small one. and then slow poached them (by this time we had TWO eggs) for our brussel sprout and bacon salad (more on that later).

jackie's eggs are a bit smaller and has a lighter hue than the grocery store eggs we buy. for now we keep them in the fridge w the other eggs. but once we start getting more--when the other hens decide to do their job--we'll be keeping them in an egg crate in the pantry. no need to refrigerate them since they are so fresh!

homemade granola

for the mornings where we can't

quite get out of bed to turn on the skillet,

this is our easiest breakfast.

Ingredients

4 cups oats

1 cup wheat germ or wheat bran

1 cup chopped almonds (or other preferred nut or seed)

1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup water

1 cup dried fruit of choice (i lean towards raisins)

After preheating oven to 300F, stir together oats, wheat germ, nuts, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.

make a well in the dry mixture and add oil, honey and water

toss until combined.

spread evenly on a cookie sheet.

bake 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to avoid burning.

let it cool.

stir in fruit.

enjoy!

bike bath

jp would die if i told you he was in his birthday suit when this photo was taken. so i won't.

for those of you that don't know us or know us well you may also not know that we LOVE bikes. and because we have been riding our bikes throughout this mucky winter they were a bit yucky. so jp took our disheveled ilsa and humphrey (yes, they have names [from casablanca], they are that dear to us) and gave them a good scrub down in our shower. when the temperatures are in the teens, it's the only place that makes sense.

please note: all-natural all-purpose cleaner was used as well as an old and recyclable preserve toothbrush.

community dinners

the lyndale and the palmer houses are trying to get in the habit of communing for wednesday night dinners. these nights are a good time to get together and reconnect with our 'village'.
jp and i often get carried away in the busyness and tedium of everyday going-ons. we remember to relax to greet each other but sometimes forget that we have beloved neighbors just three blocks away to catch up with and learn from.
these people are quite important to us. they have taught us much about marriage, parenthood, gardening, genorosity, music, service, church, fashion, gender issues, and on and on. it is their openness and honesty that we rely on to get a good idea of what life is like outside of our little family of three on palmer and to remind us of the importance of fellowship and reaching out.

we are big fans of all of this bc we love those on lyndale and also bc we love some family style cooking.

on this particular wednesday everyone came to our place.
jp was a cooking machine.

first he whipped up some homemade butter.
to do this at home, all you need is heavy whipping cream and an electric mixer, like our KitchenAid.
(oh, the joys of married life).
toss it in. mix. mix. keep mixing until finally the butter will separate from the buttermilk. ta da! half a pound of organic butter AND buttermilk for a little less than the price of store-bought organic butter.
it really is that easy.

it was soup and bread night so jp whipped up some sourdough (sorry, no photos) and this east african groundnut stew. yum-OH.
enough for everyone there and a handful of meals afterward.
here is the recipe. all i can say is peanut buttery goodness.

meet some of our family!
here is melissa, deacon and jason.
deacon loves pillows and sometimes he loves otto.
melissa and jason are all about deacon.

jp and jg model their tweed coats for us.
quite dapper we think.

please come join us sometime on a wednesday.
edit for hailey: you do not have to be married. not all of us are!