Tiny birds and big changes

Aaaaand where do I start?

Just gonna rattle it off I guess.

But first let's travel back in time for a second... To February 2009 when we first encountered Big Pink.

Yup. That's who we fell in love with... By the time we moved in we had the front porch of course and this week little sis over by the pastry shop finally got new gams. I know she's been waiting for this day.

James spent the week in Clintondale (lucky dawg) prepping the trim to be painted. He's getting help from Billy and between the 2 of them we are soon gonna have a dark green house. James busied himself with the bay window and got much done!

She's about ready for a paint job!

The J's also worked to finish Tom's side, our south gable.

There was a window where the white patch of shingles is and the trim around the door is also done. Still left to do: The two small windows up top will be moved to around the corner (pastry shop and bathroom) and we have ordered 2 taller ones to replace them. 

When there was a drop ceiling in the green room it didn't seem weird that the top of the windows reached about James' adams apple, but now that we have nothing but space - they look a little dwarfish. And lastly - the little rounded attic vent will finally become a real window

The boys built the frame where the bathtub is going to go.

This is the closed up window from the inside. Our plumber Scott has already started laying pipe. (Are there a lot of innuendos in this post or is it just me?)

Phew - I think that is it for work around the house. To be continued this week...

We had ourselves a 3 day 4th of July weekend and we got a lot done around the house but there was also some NIIIIIIICE relaxing and humming bird spotting... That's right. They apparently LOVELOVELOVE our trumpet vine and oweeeeeegot lots of it. Of course after the first sighting the city folk (us) got in Suzy Q (the new car) and headed straight to Lowe's (the building supply place up the road that feels like my 2nd home sometimes) and bought feeders and nectars! If they had had humming bird costumes that James and I could have dressed up in to attract them I think we would have bought one each and some extras for visiting friends. Very cute little buggers and something new to look out for.

Speaking of cute little buggers...

We had only one guest for the holiday but my was it a distinguished one.

Weasley, of Little Dog Orchard fame. An absolute pleasure to have around and there is really only one downside - the realization that 19 Maple Ave needs something furry. (See! Is that dirty - I don't even know anymore?

This fantastic muppet like creature is a little closer at hand, living in the cottage and all, so we often partake in his amazing fits and starts. The other day he got a hose bath and we couldn't figure out if he was playing again or if he really just thought it SUCKED.

I have a few stories to tell about UNWANTED furries around the property but I'll save that for another post. 

So who knows if I'm just getting up there or if the country has turned me into a semi hermit but crowds - meeeeeeeehhhh - don't really dig'em, so staying around the house on the 4th with a man and a borrowed dog was all I needed. I made pork loin and we watched fireworks by the mountain house. And we brewed. It's been a while so it was new and exciting again. The funnest part was doing it outside (we like to do it outside) on the burner kind Dirk has lent us. 

Our neighbors across the street, Suzanne and Butch, had a fantastic garage sale Memorial Day weekend and we picked up a lot of good stuff. One thing being this terra cotta cooking pot. So for the 4th we DIDN'T BBQ, but instead I made something highly reminiscent of my Scanditrash roots - pork and taters with a lotta salt and pepper. 

I made a rub with crushed garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. I precooked the potatoes a little and then put them in the pot with some cut up onions, along with the seasoned pork loin. Some fresh rosemary twigs on top and SKJUTS - in the oven! 400 degrees, about 25 minutes on each side. So juicy - so delicious - so easy.

We also took a small drive for ice cream to Tantillos farm. Softserve with homegrown peaches and raspberries.

Meeeeeeeh... I thought it was awright....

To round out a perfect (although STIFLING) summer weekend in the country, we stopped and picked some road side Blackeyed Susans and brought home. I'm Swedish and I take Allemansrätten with me wherever I go. (All mans right - to pick berries and flowers and mushrooms in the woods where one finds them)

We are back in the city for a week of work. Always with this work stuff getting in the way of fun. But soon it'll be weekend again and we'll be going home to the country.

My country week

I'm really too tired to write but the J's are back and I gotta keep up with them. They come through like tasmanian devils and just get sh*t DUN.


I'm working in Monroe this week and have been commuting from the house. Whatta great thing. Getting a dangerously sweet taste for living here all the time. 


So while I have been doing this:

Aaaaahhh duuuuuuuh it's not obvious? It's a stoner-civil-war-spoof by the Whitest Kids U Know. It's very funny and spirits are high even though we're dealing with humid heat in the 90's and a treacherous field, low man power and limited time.

They've been doing this:

New door in place. That like just happened like today. I ordered a door handle and lock from The Door Jamb, a nice, simple black lever that sparked my Scandinavian aesthetic. 

When Bruce built our front porch he pulled the shingles off to anchor it and today the J's covered it back up so that we can get ready to paint. 

Tyvek is gone from the baywindow! Yeah J-boyz!

We have ordered the fixtures for the new upstairs bathroom and they will be delivered this sunday. I have decided on a black and white theme in there, with white subway tile around the tub and 2 white walls, the one with the window and the one with the door. The wall that goes in towards the house will be a charcoal accent wall and will have a vanity the length of the wall with one drop in sink. 

First, the J's were going to build a custom vanity, but this past weekend we found this at Lowe's and it will do just fine! We are going to tile the top with subway tile.

And finally - black slate floor. 

The inspiration for the whole bathroom look is this mirror that will go over the sink. Yum.

Gagagagaga. So. Much. Happening.

But it's all fun stuff!

The countdown to my sis and Giz's visit is another exciting thing!!! 3 weeks today! And then it's tubing, soft serve, miniture golf, Gunk Haus dinners and wine on the patio for 2 1/2 glorious weeks. It's gonna be a great time to visit - hint hint city friends! There will be sightseeing as well, and some city fun and a Martha's Vineyard finale. Now that's brilliant!

Inspirational plant of the week. The lovely trumpet vine! It's essentially a weed and grows all over but the flowers are strange and beautiful!

And last but certainly not least - the hosta!

My my my you are looking fiiiiiine!

Sommartider hej hej sommartider!

Today's yummy summer menu consists of shrimp ceviche and Gazpacho. 

I peeled the shrimp (about 1/2 pound) and cooked them for about 30 seconds by putting them in a colander and dunking them in boiling water.

I cut them up in quarters and squeezed about 5 limes on top. Then chopped cilantro and thinly sliced red onion. 

We will enjoy it on tortilla chips with avocado on top.

My first Gazpacho in the house was last fall and I followed the recipe again today but I made a smaller batch. 

Make it right in the blender:

3 tomatoes - deseeded

1 red pepper

1/2 red onion

1 big garlic clove

1/2 cucumber

fresh oregano from our herb pots!

olive oil

red wine vinegar

salt+pepper

And with this we drink Micheladas - of course!

Just ask the poster boy. (One addition since that last post - Old Bay seasoning and we got E! to thank for that little oh so important detail.)

The tiger lilies are poppin! 

And I am very proud of my morning glories who supposedly thrive in dry soil and that's no joke!

I'm sorry - these are my berries? OMG! These are MYYYYYY berries!!!!!!

Weekly hosta update - happy, healthy transplant.

This is the newest addition to the Maple Ave family. 

His name is Elliot and I'm gonna have to be a weirdo and once again take stalker photos of other people's pets here, because he's not mine but belongs in the cottage. He's half standard poodle and half great pyrenees. He's 4 months old and awesome. Like something out of Starwars.

He's quite shy still and I can get about 6 feet close to him and then he'll run away - just like this and it's the best part. I don't know who gave him those paws cause they just don't fit. Same thing with his tongue, it's like 3 sizes too big.

This has got to be the most uncomfortable dining experience of all times.

We felt pretty productive today as we went and bought a new door and did some research on fixtures for our upcoming bathroom. The door was purchased at The Door Jamb in Shokan. Never thought I'd be excited about doors but this place is pretty great! I will once again use my crappy home drawn floor plan to explain where this DOOR will go.

This is where the mudroom will be once we open up the kitchen and I won't have dirty boots tracking mud through my KITCHEN. Use the back door, please!

Aaaaahhhh.... I love a summer bouquet picked by the side of the road. Don't you?

I love a parade!

It's about time for a new post! 

Work has been steady and good and I can't complain, but it does mean less house time, and when we get house time it means lazy time - so less to report. Finally we got some good weather so most of our days are spent in the yard.

When my parents were here we got 3 Hostas (Funkia) and planted around the house. We also transplanted a few small ones that we found back by the patio. My father - a gardener of many years - suggested these plants because they thrive in the shade. We have big beautiful trees surrounding the house, so it lies more in shade than sun.

Hostas from the store that are doing great!

Our transplants that are doing equally great!

We also celebrated the fact that we most likely have the knot weed beat in the flower beds around the house by throwing a bunch of seeds around. Morning glory, daisies and black eyed Susans. My dad and I also planted sunflowers on the south side of the house thinking they would love it there, but again, trees and shade mean unhappy sunflowers. About 6 guys are coming up though and we'll see how tall we can grow them. After all, they are Russian Mammoths so I have BIG hopes.

Not so giant yet - but just wait!

The Gunk Haus has been open for 3 days and we've been there twice. It is most definitely living up to the CRAZILY high expectations (mostly because we have anticipated their opening for so long and we've driven past soooo many times with our mouths watering) of the people round the hood and beyond. On saturday we went by for hot dogs and weisswurst in the garden and last night we brought a Sangria happy crowd for dinner and most of us went for the burger. Elizabeth's homemade Pretzelbuns are to die for! Delish! Best of luck to them and if you are in the area you have to stop in!


We spent Memorial day weekend in best patriotic style with good friends, good food and a parade down Maple Ave! TOOOO CUTE! Bagpipes, marching bands, fire trucks, tractors and civil war reenactors. C'mon! This is TOO good.

Alene, James and Taylor - flag toting and country lovin! 


If ONE more person tells us "oh the pink one eh - you got a lot work ahead of you." But looking at this picture I would unfortunately have to agree with them, grrrrrr. This is NOT her best angle. Yikes...


I thought this wet flirty cardinal was kind of cute. "Hey baby, what da ya say you let me in out of the rain and we'll take it from there."

Finally a decent picture of a red winged blackbird.

And a beauty shot of one of our beloved mourning doves.

Recovery this morning consisted of crabcake bennies. I made this sauce back in the fall and it was time to revisit THE REMOULADE. But if your clicker finger is tired and you just want the recipe RIGHT NOW here it is:

2/3 cup olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves

Mix in blender.

3 egg yolks
1 table spoon hot mustard or dijon

whisk together

Combine the 2 slowly to make mayo!

In a blender chop up:
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 tablespoons of capers (kapris)
1 jalapeno

Add to the mayo along with 2 table spoons lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of Worcester, horseradish, salt, pepper to taste.

It's time for some major changes around here, the biggest one being painting the outside of the house. I say midnight blue and James says dark green. If dark green means I get a yellow bedroom, then maybe. 
Next thing inside is wiring the pastry shop and the master bedroom and we are going to start ordering fixtures for the master bathroom. I have to stop talking about the NEW kitchen - I'm just so jazzed about it but it's still the 5 year plan. Here it is!

This is what we got going on right now. (Click on the pic to make it bigger.) Scale is 1:whatever. We got a crappy laundry room blocking all of our gorgeous view and a bathroom smack in the middle of everything. The proposed plan is this:

Moving the bathroom to the corner and opening up everything. Breakfast nook by the wall of windows, a big kitchen island and a bar window towards the dining room. 

Aaaaahhhhhh.... it would be so nice. 

It WILL be so nice.