Backyard Explosion!

It's time to take this blog on the road again. I'm leaving for Sweden tonight and as much as I have time this blog will go from designing my dream house/cooking madness/garden porn to production journal during the shooting of a limited budget horror short film in Sweden. 

As my job in Mexico proved, filmmaking is pretty much universal but our cultural differences lend themselves to interesting and funny situations. Also I will be shooting which is still a novelty for me and I'm so ready to jump right in and create. Lovisa, the director and I see eye to eye on most things and have had a long relationship as friends, travel buddies and partners in film crime and I am super ecstatic for this opportunity to work together again. For those of you who haven't been to the Buster site (what?!) please visit cause this is what we do.

So the last post is about the yard. That decided to go crazy a few weeks ago. I think that you can literally sit and watch the knot weed grow. 

It's outrageous. But other things are growing too. This is last weekend.

And this is this weekend. With a new camera mind you, so they are looking extra FINE. Yes, I finally did it. I bought a 7D and now I fancy myself (even more of) a photographer. Who is available for your special occasions. Babies and pets and parties and you name its.

Little Hostas are thriving as well.

Inherited creeping Phlox that is getting bigger and better.

Happy happy Hydrageas. I fertilized them about a month ago and today I saw little bud clusters. Praying for big blue flowers!

The lovely dogwood tree.

Rhododendrons came into their own but the flowers only lasted about a week unfortunately. Will they bloom again? They are looking very healthy and are sprouting new leaves like crazy though.

The first Azalea to pop was the powder pink one.

Cheery cheeky pansies in a pot.

So this guy still hasn't found his way home. I think he may have moved in for good. Is anybody missing a rooster?

My cousin Åsa makes these incredible cakes and pastries (her blog here) and on her page I found a link to the ultimate pastry porn blog. Linda writes in Swedish and English and if you speak neither you can just enjoy the photos. Most of her stuff is way too advanced for me, but there was a recipe for caramel that I remember from being a kid and making Christmas candy. We tossed some together last weekend just to drown our ice cream in. Super yums.

Boil 2 deciliters of sugar until it becomes brown and bubbly. Be careful not to burn it, it will take on the taste immediately. Add 1 stick of butter cut into small pieces. Finally 150 milliliters of cream and stir until you have the perfect consistency.   

I've been obsessing about my black bean soup and decided to make that our last meal together in the house for about a month. I think it's the tastiest soup I have made so far. Buuut I always want to take the opportunity to try something new even if it's just a little side thingy and I decided on corn fritters.

They are tasty just the way they are but can stand to be more savory OR more sweet so it's what you're in the mood for.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. baking powder
1 can of corn

Drop spoonfuls in to hot oil and fry until done. 

The hummingbirds are back with a vengeance. We saw more dudes yesterday than we saw all of last summer. They are incredible to watch.

They don't take many breaks but we've seen a lot of them perch this weekend. I would be tired too if I flew all the way from Mexico on those tiny wings.

These photos are quite bad but they are hard little buggers to catch and I have all summer to get some good shots.

I will leave you with a house for sale. This one has a twist to it! I am linking you back to one of my earliest posts so you can read about our history with this absolute turkey!

Weston Road has finally been vacated and is going for $74,000. Here's the amazing listing! Look at the photos - these people left in the middle of the night. Notice the open drawers in the kitchen and one dish glove on the counter and one on the floor. The only details missing are some raccoons going through left over garbage and a tumble weed rolling across the floor. I love how they describe it as a "summer project". Oh boy, more like all year round for many years. I CAN vouch for the amazing property though. That is what we really fell in love with. But sometimes James and I look at each other and at our beautiful house and and say "Thank gawd. Thank somebody that we didn't buy that house."

Instead we bought 19 Maple Ave. I'm at the airport and I already miss it. But on to great things!

Happy Easter! Glad Påsk!

The Easter lilies are on time!

The Star magnolia was the first to pop though!

We get all kinds of birds at our feeder.

This guy was roaming our yard all day today. At first I thought it was Florence's rooster doing the walk of shame back home. He looks pretty busted. There's a lot of hens to peck in our neighborhood y'know what I'm saying. But then we realized he was just lost. But how do you catch a rooster in order to bring him back home?

It's been a long week. James in Long Island on a TV show and me in the city on a little movie that is shooting mostly nights. Got done at 6am this morning soaking wet in stinky Chinatown. I was definitely the happiest traveler on that 7am bus to new Paltz. I am going to be a vampire for the next 3 weeks and then I go to Sweden to shoot our short film. It's all good stuff but unfortunately the house suffers a little. But things happen in our absence too. This week for instance, Michael finished our wood floors, upstairs and downstairs.

We started with 12" yellow pine boards. They were all in longer lengths so we wouldn't have to have seems in the floor. 

We solved the issue downstairs by adding a little flush threshold in the arch. The finish was a bit of a headache to decide upon. We don't like a stained look but the yellow pine without a finish looks like a ski cabin. Eeks. So with Michael and Donald we decided on a whitewash and on top acrylic urethane in a satin finish. It looks gorgeous.

Kevin tiled the bathroom a couple of weeks ago. Scott hooked up the shower, toilet and sink and there are only a few small finishing touches to be done and then we are taking whirlpool baths and we will have his and hers toilet.

The tile is 3x6 subway tile from Lowes and the fixtures are Kohler.

I actually just premiered the jets and we worked out some kinks but only after the whole bathroom was soaked. They call that trial by fire.

We are still painting this wall dark gray but we had to get a little ahead of ourselves and hang the beautiful mirror that has been standing by since the summer I think.

Today was cuckoo for birds. 

The gold finches are back!

Definitely a first. Two red bellied woodpeckers on the cottage roof.

A wonderful house just came up for sale on North Ohioville Road. 

It's always been my favorite over there and when I saw the sign I had to pull in to the driveway. It's got a cute stone house out back.


Here is the listing!

Spring Thing

This guy just did a Maverick type fly by and scared all the sparrows off the feeder. I can't help but think they are so cool. I'm falling for the bad guy all over again. 

The bath tub alcove is built and ready for tile. It's been a long time coming but I think we may be able to take our first shower in here in about 2 weeks. Holy moly that's exciting stuff!!!

In an attempt to shape up our ratty old kitchen we had the boys build this island. We may have misjudged the measurements a little because right now we call it "the giraffe". It's a LITTLE too tall, but that's an easy fix. 

The top is butcher block from IKEA, and so are the chairs. The painting is by Rosemary and the bowl is by Kajsa.

Rosemary visited last weekend and brought goodies as usual. She finished seeeeeewing the yellow Roman shades for the bedroom! Very nice! We chatted about lots of house stuff of course and searched together for a coffee table for the living room. I hadn't seen one yet that I thought would fit, but Rosemary suggested Ballard Designs and the answer was not 1 table - but 2! We are always re arranging the living room to watch movies and be comfy and with 2 little tables we can do anything we want! Plus these are good looking and fit the space. The living room is really very done except for some art on the walls and a musical instrument OR big fish above the fire place.

Rosemary and I found an interior decorator blog that finally explained what IKAT is. It's so good I have to share it. Here again is the fabric we settled on for the pastry shop windows.

It's a print AND and a weave. And it's gorgeous.

The boys are laying the floor upstairs. 

We still haven't settled on a finish for the floor, all our testing struck out miserably so we are just going to leave it up to our floor guy, Michael.

I've posted these houses for sale before but I found the listings and thought I would share them again. The prices are TOOOOO GOOOOD. This one is on 44/55 in Clintondale.

This house is on Maple Ave.

Here's the listing for more details!

This is my favorite sign of spring!

Which means the focus is about to shift drastically around here from INSIDE to OUTSIDE. I'm ready to get dirty !

Happy spring!