Kitchen Makeover Part Deux!

Finally FINALLY the kitchen is finished.  This last project--painting--was one that just dragged on and on.  But it's done!  And I really like the way that it turned out.  In fact, it looks so right that we had some people over, and they didn't even notice the new paint-job.  I take that as a compliment!  But in lieu of the fact that this is a blog about progress and projects, I'll post a before photo and an after photo.

In fact, here is a before photo from before we even owned the house!!!! 

And here is an after photo!  Crazy, huh?

Sorry, it's a little blurry...

Although it's not entirely clean here, the nice new coat of paint makes it feel cleaner when we do have it clean.  I didn't realize how grungy the kitchen felt even when we would do a deep clean. 

Oopy, another blurry one.  But it gives you a good idea of the new color. 

This project will probably the last one for a little bit.  I decided to do it during a time when I was really motivated, but when Peter was in a really heavy rotation.  So, I did all of the painting solo!  I'm exhausted from house projects!  Time to make some more art!  But no worries I'm sure I'll get a hankering to do some more stuff real soon.  Happy spring, y'all!

Tiger in the Grass!

Hello again!  I know I promised a post yesterday, but I just couldn't quite deliver this amazing post quite that quickly...I'm really not going to say much here, this post is going to mostly be a photo tour.  Your guide:  Kitty!  She's been coming out with me in the mornings, and it's such a treat to watch her explore.  She's never really spent much time outside before, and so everything she sees really seems to delight her.  Plus, she loves eating the grass.  While I love having Kitty outside with me, it also delights me that she's spreading her cat-smell all over the place.  It's got to be part of the reason that the rats haven't eaten everything in the yard...

Kitty with some greens. 

Putting the seedlings out for some sun. 

Kitty looking up at some birds.

This growth is literally from the past week and a half.  It's pretty crazy how fast stuff is growing. 

Alright, this post is becoming a little "Kitty obsessive."  It's not nearly as exciting to see the photos of her exploring as it is to actually watch her explore. 

One more picture of Kitty.  It gives you some perspective on how big things are, right? 

So much more green!!!

The hops have progressed...and in the lower right hand corner is a little rosemary plant!

Tomatoes!  I'm trying to keep them a little hidden.  I attempted some phytoremediation with some mustard greens (I've since been told that doesn't work, but we'll see...), but I've found that the rats hate it.  So far, so good.  The tomato plants are still all in one piece (knock on wood!).

Baby pawpaw!!!! 

Oooo! Look at all that greeeeen!

Alright, guys...so here's the thing.  I got a little behind with my posts.  So, these photos are actually from a couple of weeks ago.  What I really want to say is, "and you should see it now!!!!" because you should!  I'll post photos of what it currently looks like ASAP.  I promise.  But for now, look at all of this green!  At the time, this was such a huge success.  I really had no idea if anything would really grow in this soil; it was so dry and just hard clay.  But somehow it's working!  I have a lead test that's coming to me in the mail.  And hopefully the results from that will say that veggies will be safe to eat.  Then I'll get to direct seeding a bunch of things.  In the meantime, I've planted a few tomato plants, and one eggplant plant...they say fruit is typically always safe regardless of how much lead you have in your soil.  I should mention that you shouldn't look for the tomato plants in these photos, though, as I planted them this week, AFTER the photos were taken.  Maybe I should stop writing and save all of these things for tomorrow's post.  =)  Thanks for reading, guys!

Here it is!

That stick in the foreground is a fig tree that I've been nursing all winter.  It still hasn't put out any leaves, and looks really dead...and is yet green everywhere when I do the "scratch test."  I'll keep you updated...

That string on the fence is where the hops will hopefully grow.  The hops were a gift from a friend who is a really great home brewer.  I've promised him the hops I get from the plant since I wouldn't know the first thing to do with them...

Moss between the bricks and cement!  Adorable!!!

Close-up of Dave's hops. 

I finally put sand in between the rocks and bricks, I think it looks a lot better, and they're way easier to walk on. 

Another photo of almost the entire yard!

Raised bed, just in case there's lead!

Green!!!