Check Out That Rack!

You are all such perverts. I, on the other hand, was referring to this plate rack...

I love the rustic feel of it but am wondering if this would ever really work in a house. What do you guys think? Too "why the hell is there a pallet on your wall" or CHIC! CHIC! CHIC!

Michael Jackson

I know he was a strange-plastic-surgery-addicted-maybe-child-molesting-chimpanzee-loving man BUT before he was a punchline...he was the original Michael Jackson. Just try listening to Billie Jean without bouncing your foot up and down.

I remember watching MTV with my older brother Brian and the "Thriller" song came on for the first time. Oh the good ol' days of music movies. I swear to God I did not sleep for the next week.

As a tribute to him, here is the Thriller dance broken down on a chart so we can all learn it in time for Halloween parties.

Lookey What I Found

The kids that grew up in our house stopped by a few weeks ago to see the place. It was so much fun showing them the house and then having them tell us how things used to be. Apparently, the last time they stopped by the place (I believe they said early 80's) the basement was covered in velour and when they first moved in the stairs were painted red, white and blue. How patriotic of the previous owners. We are not going to be doing that. Anyways, here are some pics they sent us from when they lived here (roughly 1960-1970)

Before:

Now (picture taken before we moved in):


I am definitely leaning towards opening up the porch again. We also really like the look of the house without the little tin overhang on the bay windows sooooo we are going to eventually do away with that as well. What do you guys think? Likes? Dislikes?

Spice, Spice Baby

Ever since we moved into our house, I have been extremely unhappy with my spice storage situation. There were some spice shelves left over from the last owner but not all my jars fit in the little spaces. Plus, if I didn't cram things in just right, the door would not shut. Blah. As you can see from the pic below, there was mass chaos in the cabinet...
...and on the wall across the way. I have a lot of spices.
So what to do, what to do. After spotting this spice shelf at the Traveler's Lunchbox, I felt inspired to get all my spices in order. I settled on an old wooden cola crate that I picked up at the Sumpter Flea Market for $6. Next I found 4 oz. metal tins at Bella's Market in Baker. For those of you that don't have a Bella's Market nearby, I also found these little guys that would work too. Labeled and put into place, the spices look pretty sweet hanging on the wall. They are also really easy to scoop a measuring spoon into. Big plus.


I still have more spices to label when I get a chance. If I need to get another box, I think it would be cool hanging somewhere near this one. What do you guys think?

Happy Father's Day!

Been Away...

I have been away all week at basketball camp in Halfway Oregon. You have to look it up on the map sometime cause it is wayyyyy out there. However, there is the coolest little fabric shop here. I will post more on it and the latest project in the works next week. I promise!

Happy Birthday Bobo!

Hungry For Change?

My little brother and I were just discussing the topic of this new movie. Hopefully this will persuade him to take advantage of the local farmer's market...

The Future So Bright We Have to Wear Random Shades That We Found In the Shed

Maybe not that bright but we have been enjoying our new patio! Here is a little look at what we have been up to for the last three weekends.

Before: The back gate that was taken over by lilacs.

After: Now, a sweet new path so our gas meter reader does not have to wallow in the mud anymore!

Before: Two random herbs beds that were overgrown with catmint.

After: Even more herbs than before and tons of perennials that I got out of LJ's grandma's yard.


Before: I was so apprehensive about removing the deck.


After: But I love this space now! Jack has so much to play with and I don't have to worry about him falling off deck. Now if I could only curb his enthusiasm for rock eating, life would be great.

We still have a bar to build (the cement pillar-looking things in the distance), chairs to stain, a bench that will go against the outside of the house (any ideas on a design?), and basically the rest of the yard to work on since it looks like this:

But for now we are happy with our little retreat. More pics to come as I get all the flowers out (these shots were taken in between thunderstorms). By the way, coleus are no bueno in heavy rains. Mine now look like a very hungry caterpillar got to them.