Renovation Diary: What Would You Do

 

Renovation Diary:

What Would You Do?

 

First, a little background.

 

This was my kitchen in November 2012:

 

Then I found an inspiration photo on Houzz:

 

 Attic space was directly above the kitchen, so the ceiling was blown out.

 

So far, so good.

 

 Until these columns were added above the hood. You can read about that over HERE.

I had assumed that the carpenter would make finials of some sort on the top portion of the trim, but he made columns. They were dubbed "the fire hydrants."

 

In every home renovation, there is a moment when nerves are frayed and sleep is lost.

Little things turn into a behemoth.

 

What to do.

 

The inspiration photo had shown a bit of raised trim above the hood, one that included a clock.

(I'd nixed that, mainly because if the clock broke, it would stay broken, most likely.) But I

liked the way the arched trim echoed the window's arch.

 

 

In any event, the fire hydrants were so long, they would have blocked the cabinet doors.

 



 

 Would corbels work?

We are using them on the extended portion of the island.

 

I asked the carpenter to remove the columns and add the corbels.

 

The result still looked a bit "off."



 

I hoped that the trim would be less noticeable after it was painted.

 

So the painter primed the cabinets.

(Paper covers the upper cabs and looks a bit confusing.)

The corbels looked better.

However, shouldn't corbels have a function, like, to support a shelf or a structure?

 

Another look at the inspiration photo:

Though I'm not getting a clock, I still might want an arched structure

above the corbels. Rather than having one made, we decided to borrow the refrigerator's

cartouche.

 

Along the way, we got distracted and tried the cartouche on the hood (we just propped it).

I loved it.

But now, the kitchen was starting to look formal

(and I'm an informal cook).



 

  I could still see an arch/shelf/something above those corbels, so

we placed the cartouche on the tip top trim above the hood.

   In person, I thought it might work.

 

But when I got home and looked at the photos, the cartouche was too small.
In trying to repair the columns/corbels, I'd introduced an issue with scale.
Oy.

 

I had always imagined a blue ceiling, but I tried to imagine more whiteness.

Would the overwrought hood cease to be a problem if the woodwork was painted?

 

The primer is blinding.

But that goes along perfectly with my own snowblindness.

 

Hmmm.

Did the corbels look better without the cartouche?

Does the cartouche look okay? Should they come down?

Do the column remnants need to come down?

My GC thinks it will be too plain.

I don't know.

Maybe I should do the clock!

 Do you have any ideas?

Any advice will be very, very welcome! 

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Foodie Friday

Welcome to Foodie Friday.

I'm a little under the weather this week, thanks to 1000 mosquito bites.

Without further ado, here is a super easy recipe that Bandwidth and Will cooked (and they even took pictures for you!).

 

I hope you'll enjoy their recipe! 

 

 

Pork Kabobs

 

2 packs of boneless pork ribs, cubed

1 bottle teriyaki marinade

 

Marinate pork cubes for at least 45 minutes.

 

Cut the following vegetables into 2" chunks:

1 red onion

1 white onion

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

 

1 carton pre-cubed pineapple chunks

 

Arrange pork cubes, vegetables, and pineapple on metal skewers.

Grill 7 minutes on each side, or until vegetables and meat are cooked.

 

  Don't you love how men cook?

 



If you are participating in Foodie Friday,

please take a moment to read the guidelines.

To participate in Foodie Friday, locate the blue Inlinkz icon and follow the directions. The red "x"

will allow you to delete your link if you made an error; the "x" is visible to you only.

For a complete guide to this linky party, click HERE. If you have still have questions, click HERE

for a detailed Foodie Friday tutorial.

** By adding your link to Foodie Friday, you are granting us permission to include a photo of your FF recipe in a feature story.

** Would you like to add your recipes to the "Consuming Passions" group board at Pinterest?

It can be found HERE. We're a small, sociable group; Foodie Friday folks are always welcome to "pin" with us and chat about food. Just leave a comment on one of my recent"pins," so I'll be sure to see it, and I will send you an invitation. Or you can email me.

**I would like to ask pretty please if Pinners will visit the host blogs to pin photographs.

 Thanks for visiting us today!

Now tell us all about your recipe.

Russian Sage



 My husband looked up from the garden and yelled, "Oh, no! Dear!"

"Yes?" I called.

"No, not you," he said. "I meant the four-legged variety."

Oh, deer.

The critters had ransacked Will's garden.

 

The oak leaf hydrangeas had taken a hit also.

Bandwidth and I pulled the remains out of the ground and replanted them at Bald Hill,

a mostly deer-less place.

 

 

My mother said, "Buy Russian Sage. The deer won't eat it...usually."

Perovskia atriplicifolia is noted for its deer resistant and drought-tolerant qualities.

It likes sun and can grow 48-inches tall and 30-inches wide.

 

I've spotted large and small pots for sale at Home Depot and Lowe's.



 

 

Russian sage is lovely when paired with Black-eyed Susans,

but it remains to be seen if the deer will nose through the sage and take

small yellow bites out of the landscape.

 

Traditional Spaces by Millbrook Landscape Architects & Designers R Design Landscape Architecture Inc. P.C.

Traditional Landscape

If it thrives (and I've been told it's hardy and forgiving), look what can happen: a dream hedge.

Traditional Landscape by Seattle Landscape Architects & Designers AHBL

The best dreams start small . . .



 

 

  

... and grow into bigger dreams.

Contemporary Landscape by Minneapolis Landscape Architects & Designers Windsor Companies

 

Traditional Landscape by Pittstown Pools and Spas Liquidscapes

  Upcoming: Additions to the Path Garden:

 

   A Metamorphosis Monday  contribution.  

Foodie Friday: The Good Earth

"Land is one's flesh and blood."

--Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth

Last weekend, I planted a few perennials.

The false dragonheads looked like something that would grow in a pasture,

tall and weedy. They're called the "Obedient Plant," because the gardener can shape them any which way. They can also spread like crazy (viral obedience?). The variety I planted is called "Miss Manners" and isn't supposed to spread. I kinda hope they do. When (if) they bloom, the delicate white flowers will seem to float over the garden.

 

A few days later, wildness rose up inside me, and I decided that the false dragonheads needed something in front of them. Something low and sprawling.



 

At Home Depot, I reminded myself to buy in "threes," knowing full well that that I would never follow this good advice. I packed the Jeep with flowers and took off. I wanted to dig the holes myself--no help from the menfolk. So Bandwidth kindly offered to take photos with his iPhone.

 

He was rendered speechless.

 

I may have mentioned my poor hole-digging talents.

I had brought two shovels--a farm tool and a girly shovel--and a trowel. A long while later, I'd made little headway, what with the network of roots and irrigation hoses that snake through the ground.

Sweaty and frustrated, I finally found a patch of earth that was obstacle-free. I sat down in the dirt and attacked the hole like a burrowing animal.

 

"What are we, like, having for supper?" Bandwidth wanted to know.

 

"Go on now," I said. "I'm digging."

 

"I didn't think you were in the mood for gardening," he said.

 

 

"I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that.

Your mind must know it has got to get down to work."

-- Pearl S. Buck

 

 

Placing the liriopes 12" apart was dicey. I was lucky to find a patch of object-free earth.

 

Okay. Good.

I was red-faced, breathless, and half dead.

How did I let myself get into terrible shape?

 

I kept going.
I had a huge "to-do" list.





 

"But still one thing remained to him and it was his love for his land. "

--Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth

 

 

I planted five purple cone flowers...

... and three more white cones.

The goal was to create a streak of floaty white blossoms.
I tried to plant them in a pattern:

xx

xxx

 

The good earth would not cooperate!

Next, after dousing myself with the hose, I gave the flowers a drink and put out deer repellent. 

 Sometimes life is like an obstacle-filled flower bed.
 

Take root where you can and don't worry about what might have happened,
or what stood in your way.
 

 

Last weekend, the guys had helped me plant a few white cones.

 

I added newbies where I could. 



"Growth itself contains the germ of happiness."

 

-- Pearl S. Buck

Bandwidth helped me deadhead the lavender--we pulled up the long wands

and snipped.  (I've still got some trimming and shaping to do.)

The cuttings will be tied with twine and purple ribbon.

Won't they make fragrant Thanksgiving gifts!

 

 

I pulled juicy weeds and left them for the deer.
 

 

Tired to my bones, I gathered my tools and empty pots.
I looked like I'd been rolling in Devil's food cake crumbs, and I didn't care.
(I enjoy getting my hands into flour and dough just as much.)

Who knew that I would love gardening this much?

It's a gift.




"To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth."

-- Pearl S. Buck

 



Now I am pondering the empty spaces.
What would you plant in a sunny spot?
A dovecote? Flowers? Colors?

 



 

I'll fight roots and rubber hoses, and even electrical cords.

That's okay. I can't wait to step into the nursery, load my red wagon, and

sink my hands  into the good earth.

If you are participating in Foodie Friday,

please take a moment to read the guidelines.

To participate in Foodie Friday, locate the blue Inlinkz icon and follow the directions. The red "x"
will allow you to delete your link if you made an error; the "x" is visible to you only.

For a complete guide to this linky party, click HERE. If you have still have questions, click HERE
for a detailed Foodie Friday tutorial.

** By adding your link to Foodie Friday, you are granting us permission to include a photo of your FF recipe in a feature story.

** Would you like to add your recipes to the "Consuming Passions" group board at Pinterest?
It can be found HERE. We're a small, sociable group; Foodie Friday folks are always welcome to "pin" with us and chat about food. Just leave a comment on one of my recent"pins," so I'll be sure to see it, and I will send you an invitation. Or you can email me.

**I would like to ask pretty please if Pinners will visit the host blogs to pin photographs.

 Thanks for visiting us today!

Now tell us all about your recipe.



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