2014 – Page 4 – Search For Seven

2014 Strawberry Preservation

September 21, 2014June 24, 2022 Keira

I didn’t get nearly as many strawberries as I wanted to, this year. By the time I realized I wouldn’t be moving “any day,” most of the strawberries were already gone. and there was that time I waited too long when I HAD purchased some strawberries and I had to throw most of them away. We won’t get into how happy THAT made me. Especially because my brother saw the boxes of strawberries and said I must really love him to have bought that many, and if I weren’t his sister he’d think I was intending some romantic gesture. For my not-so-affectionate little bro, that’s huge.

I did get some strawberries in the freezer, and I dehydrated a TON (That somehow only filled 1/2 a gallon bag. Seriously, if my little miss didn’t like them so much, I wouldn’t do them. But she won’t each much fruit, so the fact that she loves dehydrated strawberries makes them totally worth the work).

The rest of the strawberries turned into strawberry preserves and strawberry jam. I am experimenting this year, so I tried a few different recipes.

Strawberry Preserves

Strawberry Lime Jam with Apple Pectin

Pectin-Free Strawberry Jam

A Day in the Life

The Eyes Have [Them…]

September 17, 2014January 9, 2018 Keira

Glasses, I mean.

Not mine. I still have about perfect vision. I was a little far-sighted, he said, but not enough to bother putting glasses on. Basically, if my eyes get tired, I should exercise them by looking at something far away for a few minutes (like out a window).

But the other members of my family? Yup, they’re all glasses-wearing super-stars. Ranger has had glasses since he was in elementary school… but he NEVER wears them. And never isn’t an exaggeration. His best friends had no idea he even wore glasses. And he’s known them since before high school. He also got contacts this time. And he’s worn them about as long as it takes to leave the doctor’s office, go grocery shopping, and come home. Then he took them out. He’s supposed to ease into them and go back to see the eye doc. He hasn’t made it that far.

He looks like a sophisticated stud in his glasses. Too bad no one will ever know.

The girly got glasses, too. But they’re the same prescription as last year. She will only wear them if NO ONE comments on them. And since she never wears them, when she does people ALWAYS comment on them. So they get left at home quite often, too. They’re just supposed to be for reading, so it’s not really a big deal, but they definitely make a difference.

Educational

Name That Book

September 12, 2014June 24, 2022 Keira

So… I’m stumped. I’m trying to remember 2 childhood books and I just can’t remember them for the life of me! They were old favorites. One my family owned (but no one but me seems to remember) and one that I always checked out from the library. They were both picture books. If I had any readers I’d create a prize for knowing the titles of the books. Maybe I will anyway. I’ll make up a bookmark or something.

Book #1: It was basically the same concept of Love You Forever,
but it was a girl as the main characther. And it didn’t have a mother sneaking into a room. It was a mommy feel-good book about a girl growing up. I remember a few of the pictures. One had the daughter riding through on a skateboard with her friends (yes, a girl skateboarder), and another illustration of the girl hanging (sitting? is it sitting if your feet are on the wall and your head is hanging off where your knees should be?) upside down on the couch talking to her friends via corded phone and eating pizza. Does this ring a bell to anyone? *** update 8/17/2020: I found it! It reminds me of Love you Forever because it’s the same artist! So, I looked up the artist (Sheila McGraw), and then looked for her other works. The name of the book I’m thinking about is called My Mother’s Hands.***

Book #2: This book was about a little girl who did not clean up her house. It never showed her parents at all in the book, and to me it seemed as though the only human in existence was the little girl. I specifically remember that she left the cap off the toothpaste and water in the soap dish. The house suddenly becomes human-like and gets mad at her and kicks/locks her out. Somehow, they are able to converse, and eventually she convinces the house she’ll be a cleaner little girl and is able to come back in the house.

I have Googled and Googled these books and I still get nothing. First of all, they are probably not still being printed. Secondly, without a name of any sorts, Google searching really has limitations. Even for this Google-junkie.

A Day in the Life

virtual tour

September 6, 2014February 28, 2023 Keira

I’ve shown you all the work I’ve done, and glimpses of the house, and I’ve even shown you the yucky bugs! But I haven’t ever shown you the actual house! So here’s your virtual tour.

Here’s the front room. I’m trying to decide if I want the couch to face the wall, and then consign myself to a TV upstairs, or if I want it to look out to the window, and keep the TV in the basement. It’s a c-shaped couch, so it’s either got to go with one side against the wall, one side facing the window, and the chaise closest to the picture, or it’s got to go with the wall with an entertainment center, the wall opposite the window with a couch, then the other side of the couch and the back of the chaise closest to the picture. I think I’ve lost you. Here’s a paint diagram… It’s not nearly to scale… but it’ll give you an idea.

-or-

I can’t get to the measurements right now, so I can’t check to make sure, but I’m pretty sure that if I go with option 2, I’m going to have to pull out the extra piece in the sectional. Which is no problem, I’ll just have to figure out where to put it. When I get into the house, and when I actually get my measurements back from a packed computer, I’ll be able to figure out where it would fit, but I can’t make up my mind either way. What do you guys think?

In our house right now, the TV is in the basement. It’s nice because that way it doesn’t become the focal point of the home. I think too many times, when the TV is easy to get to, people use it too much as an escape. It’s always on. I don’t want that. But then again, if the TV is in a central location, it’s easier to keep tabs on what is being watched. It also means that when Ranger and I just want to watch a movie as a couple and not as a family (Dates don’t always have to be out of the house), we could easily have little eyes watching from any vantage point in the hallway. We don’t watch movies that are inappropriate, but sometimes we just want to watch movies we don’t have to explain to a 9-year-old. And most of these movies are watched when she’s SUPPOSED to be in bed. I don’t know if a TV going on the same floor will make too much noise.

I’m pretty sure Ranger would love to have the TV upstairs, but he’s a TV junkie. I don’t think he’d care if I demanded it downstairs, but I can’t make up my mind, and until then, it’s all pretty much up in the air.

Here’s the other side of the front room, with the entry way. Right now it’s cheap linoleum, but in my head, it’s either hardwood or laminate flooring (I was pretty set on the “laminate is cheap and tacky” mentality until I realized that hardwood flooring is NOT like it used to be and is pretty much identical to laminate but with twice the cost. Pressed wood does not count as hardwood. And then a woodworking contractor told me that laminate is not like it used to be either, and is now extremely durable and realistic, and he’d pick laminate over hardwood any day. Now I can’t decide). Eventually, whichever floor choice we go with will most likely extend all the way into the kitchen (the room to the left of the photo), but for now, carpet will fill the space. Our lender requires that contractors install everything that is tied to the loan, and carpet HAS to be tied to the loan or already present. If we wanted contractors to install any other flooring besides carpet, it’s an extra dollar per square foot. And the carpet can be moved to the downstairs hallway when we get that far. Until then, carpet wins.

You’ve seen the jimmy-rigged kitchen.

Here’s the laundry room that will eventually be part of the kitchen, too.

clearly, the mess on the floor won’t be staying.

Here’s the huge pantry that right now is connected to the laundry room (see why it’s got to go? It feels like it’s such a long walk to go through the laundry room to get to the pantry. I know it’s not any further, but it sure feels further going through a doorway.

Really, though, the pantry is the size of a small bathroom. You have got to admit, that’s pretty cool.

back through the kitchen, you get to the dining room. The dining room has a perfect niche for an inset china hutch. That’s one other thing I’m begging my hard-working husband to build. It also has glass doors onto the tiny deck, but it allows for a picturesque view and lots of light. The Dining room’s not that big, but it’s big enough for my large kitchen table, so I’m content. I’m just hoping it doesn’t become a junk collector like my current dining room does. I dream of dinners actually at a table like the olden-days. I think that’s important.

From the dining room, you go down a hall and there are the rooms and bathrooms.

This room is either going to be my sewing room/office or my brother’s bedroom. I would love for my brother to move downstairs (it’s currently unfinished) because when he’s not a student he works at a refinery. He comes home smelling like old nasty stale grease and leaves a black trail of footprints. As much as I love him, I don’t want ruined brand new carpet. Ranger doesn’t think it’s nice to stick him in the basement again, though, so we’ll have to see. I’d love for my crafts to not get stuck in the basement (and therefore ignored or forgotten). Priorities.

Check out the hanger set-up in the closet. Instead of a bar to hang clothes on, there are all these little hooks. I can’t make up my mind whether I think they’re pretty awesome or annoying. They’re unique, which makes them pretty cool, but they sure seem to limit how many clothes one could hang in a closet.

This will most likely end up the miss’s room. It seems a good fit. Pretty sure we’re going to paint one wall purple, and she’s pretty adamant about clouds on the ceiling. I don’t want them to be too dramatic, so they might end up subtle shades of the same hue. If the room ends up like it is in my head, it’ll be the coolest room I’ve ever gotten to create. I am hoping Ranger will have time between cupboards and china hutches to build a new bed. The one I found and love (and this kid loves too) retails for almost $4000! There’s no way I’m paying that much $$$! I’m half tempted to build it myself, but the things that require power tools usually end up crooked before I’m done with them… It might be a good time to overcome my fear, though.

The master bedroom has double doors. Tell me that’s not cool!

I know I want to paint my ceiling with crown molding that goes in about a foot from the wall and frames the top of the room, with a nice decorated piece surrounding the fan. I’m thinking a greyish purple. Something subtle enough to not distract, and grey enough that it’s still appropriate for a man to sleep there. And then I’m trying to decide if adding one grey wall is too much with the painted ceiling. What do you guys think?

Here’s a quick view of the master bath. There’s a closet and double sinks in the foreground, and behind the wall there’s a toilet and a shower. I want to take the door out and add a pocket door, so that the back room feels larger. Right now it feels pretty small back there, but it might be the rock slabs lining the shower, or the fact that it’s dark. I’d also love to take out the shower and put in a huge tub with a shower fixture. I relax with a bath, and right now the only tub in the house is a tiny one in the kid’s bathroom. Not ideal at all. I’m told that it’d be a shame, though because of how beautiful the rock shower is. It’ll stay for a while, I’m sure, since I have so many dream projects for this house, but I will probably keep dreaming of the tub I don’t have.

That’s the whole upstairs. Downstairs isn’t finished. And it probably won’t be for a while, with as many changes as I want to make upstairs. Never finish downstairs until upstairs is done.

At the bottom of the stairs, I’m probably going to put a few book cases. I have tons of books. They’ve gotta go somewhere.

Right now, this is a whole room just for the water heater. I think that’s silly. It will be a laundry room with a water heater, though, and that is MUCH less silly. I’m trying to decide if we should keep that window. It is in the way for where I want to re-build the deck outside, but if I take it out, there’s no windows on the whole corner of the house. I’m a fire-paranoid freak, and I don’t know if I like losing the only escape route.

There is another bedroom and a bathroom already framed in and plumbed downstairs, as well as a room perfect for cold storage (no windows and it’s on the same side of the house as the future laundry room), but the bedroom is going to need an egress installed. Then there’s a great-room.

We’re pretty sure we’re going to put a fireplace back here, since the only heat source currently is ceiling heat, and that was the dumbest invention ever. And we won’t keep the laminate under it (seriously, laminate under a fireplace!?!). Otherwise, I’m not quite sure how downstairs is going to work. Or what will end up where. Just because the walls are framed in doesn’t mean they have to stay the way they are, but we do have to stay semi-true to the structure, especially for any walls running length-wise through the house.

I’d love feedback. How should I arrange my couches in the front room? Is grey too much for behind the headboard in the master bedroom? Am I being too paranoid about windows in the corner of the house?

A Day in the Life

And It’s Not Even Ours Yet

September 2, 2014June 24, 2022 Keira

I have done more work on our new house than I’ve done the entire time I’ve lived in this old house, and it’s not even finalized yet! All thanks to a paranoid state housing department.

I can’t really complain. When we get in, this house will be the best and safest house I’ve ever lived in. It’s pretty sad, considering all the upgrades I know we will do to it in the future. It’s no where near as nice a house as it will be.

What can I say, I’ve lived in some pretty trashy places. Trashy might not be the right word… we’ll call them Ghetto. Which is derogatory, again. What can I say… Sometimes knowing the history of words gets me into trouble. For instance, in my life, I’ve lived in two single-wide trailers fastened together. I’ve lived in houses where I had to duck to get into my room. I’ve also lived in a house where my bedroom was on the other side of the bathroom. i.e. I had to wait to go into or out of my room whenever anyone showered. And then there’s the current model, that is falling apart and flooding around me. (Seriously, if we get any more rain, we’re going to have to wade in my basement. I’m NOT happy about it, and I keep telling myself it doesn’t matter because I’m moving, but my house smells like wet basement now. Not a fan). I can’t wait to move into a house that needs some personality, but doesn’t need new everything.

And doesn’t flood when we flush the toilets.

Let me tell you THAT’s fun.

Not.

It started simply enough. First we had to put these counters together. They DONT match and are incredibly cheap, like really really cheap, in that the center cabinet where the sink is doesn’t even really exist cheap.

We recruited our friend Mike to help with that. He nailed the counters together, and we nailed the top to them. It passed inspection, even though I hate it.

Untitled

As soon as we can actually sign the papers and move in, I’m going to tear out the wall connecting the kitchen to the laundry room. Right now the kitchen is pathetically small, and I LIVE in the kitchen. It’s not a good situation. But the laundry room can easily go downstairs. I know it means more walking for laundry, but I do laundry a few times a week. I cook a few times a DAY. A bigger kitchen is pretty important to me. I’ve had it all designed and graphed out for months. And when Ranger found out how much it costs to get cabinets installed (hence why Mike’s jimmy-rigging the counters in the previous picture), he agreed to make me a custom kitchen. He’s pretty handy, but getting him to make time is another story. He is always tired after work, and then there’s everything that NEEDS done… I might just have to make this kitchen a need… But anyway, it’s functional. And I hooked up the plumbing myself.

And between Ranger and I, we also got the toilet in … a more toilet-y location. As in, back where the toilet hole actually is and not in the tub. I hooked up the pipes to it as well, and I added the toilet mechanism all by myself. Call me Rosie.

Then, on to round two: We had to add a stair rail (which is silly, in my opinion) and fix the stucco in the back.

The stucco was fixed in the front and on one side, but the seller ran out of $ so that’s as far as it went (seriously, the cost of repairing stucco about equal to the cost of putting up siding! Pretty sure when we go about fixing the stucco in a few years (because stucco only lasts a few years), we’ll just upgrade to siding.

Most of the back of the house is just tiny cracks, and when we asked Lowe’s a while ago, they said if it’s just tiny cracks, you can get away with just painting over it and it’ll last an extra year. Since our extra income this year is going into GETTING the house (and getting out of debt), an extra year is just what we need. Also, the appraiser pointed out how the stucco wont stick to wood anyway and so it would need to be painted. So, I painted it. And in the process, I broke the paint can. So… I painted a little more than I would have liked. It looks Über-fab right now, but hey, it’s less I have to worry about when winter comes. We also calked up the obvious cracks. This wood slab really belongs to what used to be the deck. My guess is that the seller put up as small a deck as possible (it’s tiny!) in order to call it a deck after the wood deck needed replaced, and the wood slab is what’s left over from where the deck used to be.

Untitled

It’ll pass appraisal, at any rate. And at this point, I don’t care, I just want IN IT. No one sees the back of the house anyway… at least they don’t when the yard is non-existent.

Untitled

This is one of the few windows that still needs replaced. This one and two windows in the main part of the house are still aluminum. The rest have been upgraded to vinyl. You see that white half-circle up on the railroad ties? That’s what is left of the lid.

A Day in the Life, Archives

Happy Birthday, Adella (a post I never published)

August 28, 2014January 9, 2018 Keira

This is an old post I never got around to pushing the little publish button for, so you get it now… 3 months later than I intended. I’m great like that…

Most of my family has birthdays during 2 semi-annual spurts. Instead of having family reunions, then, we have family birthday parties. We used to ~~do 2 a year~~ attempt to hold 2 a year (we never seemed to get to the second one… and my birthday falls in that category. I was sick of getting jipped (I’m going to get history buffs and politicals mad at me for that word). So we made it an annual thing instead of semi-annual.

We share gifts with each member of the family (I don’t know how much longer that’s gonna last. I like it, but you never know. When we actually start getting a ton of grandkids/ nieces/ nephews, that will get expensive.)

Last year, we had big plans for the family birthday party… and they all got canceled. Instead we held a funeral for my sister’s stillborn angel.

So this year, as we were sharing presents, we all took a balloon outside and let it go (Yes, I’m going to have the environmentalist groups hounding me now, too). It was a birthday present to Adella.

How did she thank us? Giant hail balls.

Grandma (my mom) barely made it in alive! Just kidding, she was fine, but that was still some scary hail!

At any rate, happy first birthday, Adella. Nice aim.

Brag

Brag post

August 26, 2014June 24, 2022 Keira

someone posted on a yard-sale group recently asking if anyone made belly sashes in the area. I jumped at the chance. My house is full of singed flowers that didn’t sell very well at the fair. I told her to come and take a look at what I had and that I’d give her a steal (I really did. Have you seen how much these retail for on Etsy? I should be making more of these!

She came over and we played with flowers for a little bit and I threw in a baby headband and a little girl headband.

Headband for her daughter

Headband for the future newborn.

I called up my prego sis and had her come model for me. She was less than thrilled, but did it anyway.

I know that I could make these pictures better in Photoshop (GIMP. I like GIMP), but I’m hoping to get pics from the actual photographer, and they’re guaranteed to be better than I can take (we know how great I am with pictues).so I’ll see what I can get, and you guys will have to suffer with awful product pictures. But aren’t these headbands super-cute even without my picture abilities? I’m pretty proud of them, actually.

A Day in the Life

How We Spend Our Freetime

August 18, 2014January 9, 2018 Keira

We spent many nights at the local movie theater/arcade. This is what happens when you’re the only kid still up on a Friday date night in a college town. She made bank! All the college kids handed her their tickets.

And spent her earnings wisely… Interestingly, her favorite color isn’t really purple. Sometimes it is, but she changes her mind so often, I wouldn’t say she’s really GOT a favorite color. But out of the colors there, purple won. Purple, soccer, and zebra. That’s how to be a cool kid, I guess…

We spent many minutes moving the location of this silly sticky hand.

Isn’t this a cool cloud formation? There’s been a ton of rain this summer. I am rained out! Seriously, you do not want to cross my path in February if I don’t get a little more sunshine this summer!

I made a goal to cover the whole driveway in sidewalk chalk. This is as far as we got, so I guess we’ll have to start all over again!

a sunrise and a very quick (and extremely inaccurate solar system rendition)

Mom, Dad, and Daughter. In a rainstorm

The new house doesn’t have that great of a driveway, so I guess I should embrace this one for the few minutes (translate: ages!!!! Seriously, I want to move! I’m so not patient enough for this!) I still have one.

the rest of the summer has been less than glamorous… We’ve been doing TONS of packing. 9 years in a house is hard to pack up. And then there’s the back and forth between lenders. And the just plain doing nothing moments.

But there was that one time that my Father-in-law trusted me to care for the buffalo while he was out of town on vacation, and I let them out… That was exciting. I’m happy to announce that I got them back in, all by myself! That has to make up for the fact that I let them out, right? The whole time I’m thinking “my father-in-law is never going to trust me ever again!” Luckily, I used the armor of the car to get them all collected into a corner of the driveway, right by the gate, and I was still strange enough that by the time I got out of the car, they’d figured that they’d rather be in the safety of the pen than to mess with a stranger. And I don’t think the bull fit through the gate, so they definitely felt safer on the same side of the fence with him. I definitely felt safer on the OTHER SIDE of that fence. Apparently, none of the men use the gate for just that reason. They all climb over. AFTER I let them out, Ranger told me not to use the gate because buffalo will keep track of how you come in and out and will work at that spot. Smart stinkers.

We’ve watched the babies grow up, too. That’s been pretty fun.

A Day in the Life

Huckleberry Heaven

August 16, 2014June 24, 2022 Keira

My husband, daughter and myself all love camping, but can never seem to find the time to go. Every time we tried, this would happen:

This time, we just gave up and went. It still sprinkled on us each night we stayed, but we had a blast anyway, and we didn’t let the rain get to us. We found an amazing camping spot, and plan to make a tradition of it.

We went just to go camping, but these little berries made it that much better! We ended up picking 2 gallons. Too bad most of them were used for a certain family member’s wedding… it was still well worth it though.

It was so nice to get away from everything pending in our lives. Up there, it’s just you, your campsite, and the side of the mountain. Oh, and the family picking on the hill next to you that locks themselves out of their car, raids your huckleberry patch (she was determined that by picking the whole branch and then collecting the berries, she’s doing the bush a favor. I’m pretty sure she’s crazy. Anyone know if she’s really right?) All I know is she blazed through our berry patch and didn’t make me all that happy to have to share the hill. She also had strong opinions on everything. Her husband was cool though.

One thing we’ll check for next time: making sure the firepit is clean! It’s kind of a no-brainer for my eagle scout husband, but we were in such a hurry to get the tent up in the minimal time between rain and dark that we forgot. Ranger heard the pop and knew what it was, but we didn’t find the evidence until morning. Soooo glad it missed us all…

Seriously! I was pretty disgusted with the cleanliness of the campsite, anyway (why do people think it’s a good idea to mix beer, guns, and camping? sounds pretty …. not so thinky… to me…), but it made it pretty easy to leave it better than we found it!

On a much different note, did you know that there are lizards in this area? I had no idea! I thought they’d gravitate toward a much warmer climate. I’ve got my feet up on the rocks next to the fire while the kiddo is sleeping in the tent, and suddenly Ranger freezes, staring directly under my feet. That’s the thing of nightmares! WHAT IS UNDER MY FEET! But eventually, Ranger points to a crawly thing circling our firepit. He made a complete circle and went back up into the woods. When I got back to civilization, I looked him up. I think he was a Long-nosed leopard lizard. Apparently, there are a few varieties of lizards in the area, but they were all news to me! Lizards in Idaho! Blew my mind!

A Day in the Life

E+J wedding

August 15, 2014November 17, 2020 Keira

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted. I’ve had so much to say, but I managed to lock myself out of admin because I somehow only half managed to change the password somewhere. I finally had to delete all the shortcuts and apps in my browser and sign in all over again. Such is life.

Update is: there’s still no update on moving. We’ve been in the “almost… Just one more step” stage for about a month and a half. We really are “almost there,” though. We’ve done everything but sign the papers and get the carpet and windows in. I am soooo ready to be outta this house!

But now to the fun stuff. After about a 3 year absence from the cake scene ( my sister’s wedding really did me in!) I made a cake again! This time for my new sister-in-law’s wedding. It was so fun.

I admit I was so worried. The forecast has said rain all week. And the bride was DETERMINED to have an outdoor wedding.

The clouds hung threateningly the entire ceremony/reception, and about an hr and a half into the reception, it wasn’t a threat, but a downpour. I’m pretty impressed, though. It ended up working out amazingly.

This is before they added the wildflowers to the mug. it was pretty cute and incredibly cheap!

By then, the traditions had all been attended to, and it’s the part of the reception that just drags on, so when the rain came, most people left, and only the close friends and family stayed.

It turned into one big wet afterparty. With an amazing sunset.

(sorry I can’t take pictures! It’s pretty irritating. I keep promising myself I’ll take a class, but never find the time to do so)

I love this picture. I’m bummed it’s blurry. This is true love. You know the country song I don’t dance? That’s the song that goes off in my head each time I look at this picture. The lyrics are so perfect! I’m so glad my Father-in-law found someone that loves him so perfectly.

Anyway, the cake turned out amazing. After having such a long hiatus, I was pretty worried I wouldn’t be able to call on enough skill. Luckily, it seems that the cake-making skill stuck a little better than the “riding a bike” skill (fyi, I can’t ride a bike. I’ve learned twice and never really enjoyed it so I run while my family rides. I get a much more intense workout, and I actually like it better…)

and the cupcakes were divine! I came up with the recipes myself. That meant that when they were gone before the reception got rained out and that all the comments of “oh my, these are so good!” went right to my head. It’s pretty inflated, now. Probably not enough to make another cake, just yet, but I’m definitely suffering from an expanded ego.

The white cupcakes are white chocolate with huckleberry filling and white chocolate butter cream and sprinkles on top. The purple-frosted cupcakes are lemon cupcakes with huckleberry filling, huckleberry frosting, and huckleberries. I wish I had made a gel of the huckleberry liquid and drizzled it on top of the white chocolate cupcakes, but maybe next time someone wants to pay me good money for huckleberry cupcakes… those buggers are purple gold, I tell ya!