Foodie Friday

Welcome to Foodie Friday.

I'm ill with pneumonia, so without further ado, here is the linky party.

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Foodie Friday

traditional staircase design by minneapolis general contractor Erotas Building Corporation

Welcome to Foodie Friday.

No food from me this week. Family illness has pretty much taken up my thoughts.

But I stopped by Rattlebridge to check out the progress. We'd planned to update the staircase (see above photo from Houzz--the square post caught my eye).

But first, let's look at the new porch. The pea gravel was removed, and a herringbone

base was installed. This idea came from Susan at  Between Naps on the Porch.

The transformation is amazing.
Before:

During:

As you can see, the door still has two colors. 

I like how the red (Between Naps on the Porch's color--BM's Heritage Red, I think) works with the brick porch. But I love the black (SW Tricorn Black), too.
Then again, our roof sustained hail damage, so we will be getting new shingles. Now is the time to do something radical, maybe dark brown shingles. Would love shaker shingles, but I don't know if they'd be hard to maintain. My main concern with a roof is durability. No leaks. Note to self: check out Consumer Reports.

What do you think about the color? Red, black, stained, or brown?

The bricks on the back of the house have been painted. We went with Sherwin Williams's Tennessee Limestone.

I usually have paint woes, and I'd fully expected that I'd have to tinker with this color. But we love it.

Remodeling calls for a special kind of patience. The path twists and turns like a narrow alley in Marrakech. Back to the newell post. I'd meant for the curved end of the banister to be chopped off and replaced with a column (like the first picture in the blog post). Something was lost in translation, however.

The result was so unusual, I took a picture of it. :-)

Two weeks later, we have an updated post. Or as my husband calls it: The Post That Ate New Jersey.True, I'd given an inspiration pics (see above), but I hadn't included specs. I wouldn't know how to design a post that would fit the scale of the room. But that's where trouble begins. The scale of the newell post should fit the staircase, not the room. This foyer is small. I'm going to ignore its smallness.

If the post fits the staircase, it will fit the room.

It's a pretty post, to be sure, just a tad too big. :-)

And too square.

Notice the details on the newell in the first photo. They give the illusion that the post is narrow at the top. The trim makes the eye "stick."

We also had a bit of a problem with the trim over the library door (see below). It was very asymmetrical. In small spaces, asymmetry will leap out in a photograph. Since this is a traditional space (not contemporary, where asymmetry might be intentional), it demands the precision of the Egyptians.

Here's the opening before--it was a bit asymmetrical.

(Actually, I didn't notice it--my husband did.)

Back to the staircase.

We don't want to change the spindles, and they look

small here. Also, the curves don't work with the post's straight lines. Eek. This is another problem in remodeling. One thing can lead to another.

But I am determined to keep these spindles.

I run into this kind of problem when I'm writing or revising a book. Something will be too big, maybe a subplot or a backstory, and it threatens to overshadow the rest of the project. All I can see is the big-ness of a character's history. So I take a sharp knife and chisel and chisel. I step back. Still too big? Chisel a bit more.

Here at Rattlebridge, the problem is scale. If you look at the Houzz photos (above and below), the square newell posts look fine with traditional spindles.

As my mother always says, "What man breaks, man can fix."

Nothing broken here. But it's an excellent lesson in proportion.

traditional staircase design by other metros general contractor Markay Johnson Construction

We knocked down the wall between the foyer and the dining room.
Before:

During:

Trim:

Thank you for stopping by Foodie Friday today. If you are contributing a recipe to this week's linky party, locate the blue Inlinkz frog (below, left) and follow the instructions. You might notice a red "X" on your submission--only you can see the "X." It allows you to delete your link
if you'd like to edit or change your photo. 

                                  The Foodie Friday Button:

If this is your first time to participate in Foodie Friday, or if you aren't sure how to add a permalink, a short tutorial is available. If you are linking a recipe to Foodie Friday, a FF button can be found on the sidebar. If you'd like to add it, simply copy-and-paste the code beneath the button (located on the right-hand sidebar).

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Foodie Friday: Kitchen Elements

source: Houzz.com traditional kitchen design by san francisco interior designer Fiorella Design

Welcome to Foodie Friday.

Great cooks can be found in a kitchen. Great cooks can be self-taught, learn from an experienced friend or family member, or take professional courses. Great cooks are sometimes born, but more likely, it takes time and many experiments.

But what makes a great kitchen?

It goes without saying that good food can be created on a campfire. Bad food can come out of a magazine-quality room,equipped with a Wolf range and Sub-Zero fridge.

What is your ideal kitchen?

What are your must-have elements?

Equipment? Design? Natural light? Storage?

source: houzz traditional kitchen design by new york interior designer Marlene Wangenheim AKBD, CAPS, Allied Member ASID

A clean, crisp room? White cabinets? Uncluttered counters?

Plush seating?

traditional kitchen design by minneapolis interior designer Martha O'Hara Interiors

Do you need cookbooks, a view, or colorful pottery?
A gentle reminder to "relax?"

traditional home office design by san francisco interior designer Kathleen Burke Design

Thank you for stopping by Foodie Friday today. If you are contributing a recipe to this week's linky party, locate the blue Inlinkz frog (below, left) and follow the instructions. You might notice a red "X" on your submission--only you can see the "X." It allows you to delete your link
if you'd like to edit or change your photo. 

                                  The Foodie Friday Button:

If this is your first time to participate in Foodie Friday, or if you aren't sure how to add a permalink, a short tutorial is available. If you are linking a recipe to Foodie Friday, a FF button can be found on the sidebar. If you'd like to add it, simply copy-and-paste the code beneath the button (located on the right-hand sidebar).

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Foodie Friday

Internet issues are a pain in the patootie. But at least it's still Friday.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Without further ado, here is Foodie Friday.

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Foodie Friday

This has been one of those weeks.

I haven't had time to set the table, so I pulled out an old tablescape. I had so much fun choosing the dishes and flatware, finding a tablecloth, planning the menu.

Was it just this past winter when I planned this meal?

I'd been writing and writing, but I had a life, too. Now it's just me and the book. It's hard to describe how something can just take over your life,

and suddenly you don't have time to unload the dishwasher.

 This has been one of those weeks where I found plot holes and things that didn't go together. I had to cut, paste, delete.

I do the same thing when I'm setting a table. Sometimes I can't see where I've gone wrong until I take a few photos. Then I'll realize the scale is wrong or I've used crazy colors. Sometimes I don't know what I've done wrong; I just know it looks horrid.

So I revise the tablescape.

I guess it's inescapable. We make errors because we're human. But God gave us the ability to try and correct those errors...even if it's a book or a tablescape. It helps us see that we are capable of fixing bigger problems in our lives.

The winner of the garden basket is--Alea Milham! Congratulations, and thanks to all who entered the contest and took the time to leave a message. I'll be hosting another giveaway soon. Alea, please send your address and I'll ship you a basket and a book.
Thank you for stopping by Foodie Friday today. If you are contributing a recipe to this week's linky party, locate the blue Inlinkz frog (below, left) and follow the instructions. You might notice a red "X" on your submission--only you can see the "X." It allows you to delete your link if you'd like to edit or change your photo. 

                                   Look on the sidebar
                                           for the Foodie Friday Button:

If this is your first time to participate in Foodie Friday, or if you aren't sure how to add a permalink, a short tutorial is available. If you are linking a recipe to Foodie Friday, a FF button can be found on the sidebar. If you'd like to add it, simply copy-and-paste the code beneath the button (located on the right-hand sidebar).

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I'm happy for you to "pin" my original photos to Pinterest. However, the photographs in Foodie Friday's thumbnails belong to the bloggers who posted them. To visit these blogs, click on the Foodie Friday inlinkz icons and read their policy on Pinterest. Please pin from the source blog, not the blog that's hosting a linky party. Thanks!

Happy Recipe Hunting!

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