Visit Me at An Unedited Life

Work has been keeping me busy lately, and I haven't had much in the way of time for renovating, or decorating or even reorganizing The House. But, lest my loyal readers think I've disappeared from the blogosphere, I'm leaving behind a link to my other blog. Come visit me there when you have time--it's a whole different world from House From 1800, but it pays the old mortgage :)

Thanks for stopping by, and please visit me at An Unedited Life

My Precious

So in my spare time, I'm a professional freelance writer. This basically means I spend my days trying to keep my cursor away from Facebook long enough to make a little money. Unfortunately, I have a lot of interesting friends who have really cute kids and grand kids and dogs and cats and boats and lakes where they like to linger, so some days I just sort of follow them through cyberspace instead of doing actual work.

Also, we've been slowly working our way through "The Hobbit" movies here at The House -- you know, so the kids will grow up knowing what's really important and stuff like that.

But on those days that I do actually accomplish something that's not akin to stalking or slacking, I produce copy for several writing agencies.

My Boston-based company, WriterAccess, recently honored me with a featured writer spotlight, so I thought I would share it here.

It's my 15 seconds of fame, so I plan to milk it into old age.

Because, just like Smeagol and the One Ring.

"We likes it, We do."

Trash-Bag-Raiding Squirrel

So the trash guys haven't been around in over a week due to the snow that falls daily. This means we have a few bags of trash setting out on the back deck.

Today, the trash bags had a dinner guest.

 

In the famous words of Dug...

 

 

Squirrel!

 

 

Part of the appeal of The House is the back yard that borders Antietam Creek. In early spring we get wild geese coming in off the creek. They bring their babies whom we get to see grow up.

 

Geese grow amazingly fast, but that's a story for another day.

 

Do you have wildlife taking up residence in your back yard?



Cats and Dental Adventures

Remember that little plug I gave Santa Rosa gardens last week when cabin fever was causing a slight psychotic break?

Good, because today's post is along those same lines...but with teeth.

So two days ago I was up on the ladder, changing out the light bulbs that burn out like jet fuel around here, when I had a small incident.

Junior the cat loves ladders. When I'm changing out the light bulbs, she enjoys climbing to the very top of the ladder and batting at the pull chain on the ceiling fan. It's the feline version of racquetball, I think, and she's quite the champion.

But it's distracting. And those ceilings are pretty high.

I distinctly remember doing a Junior scan before getting on the ladder and she was nowhere in sight. What I didn't realize is that she was lurking on other side of the ladder, halfway up those rungs you aren't supposed to climb on. Just as my head cleared the top of the ladder, so did hers. For a heartbeat we were eye to whiskers and then she was gone. She had leapt from the top rung on the other side that's too far to reach. She scrabbled about for an instant, trying to get a paw-hold, and then she slid right off.

Because I'm pretty sure Junior is in a delicate condition at the moment, I made a wild grab in the dark to catch her before she hit the floor. Happily, I didn't miss. Unhappily, I chipped a tooth on the ladder in the process.

Now, the kids have a dentist, but he's just that -- a kid's dentist. I, myself, haven't been to the dentist in awhile. I had no idea who to call, so I did what any good freelancer would do. I turned to the Internet.

I typed in "find a dentist", and the rest is history. Within seconds, I found eight possibilities, all within just a few miles of The House.

To make a long story short, I called, I went, they fixed my tooth the same day. It was the most painless end ever to a less-than-stellar DIY story.

Yay!

Junior, however, is in the dog house. She really hates it too, can you tell?

Snow and Homemade Noodles

So, there's another 14 inches of snow moving in overnight. All the schools in three states are closed in anticipation, and everyone is on the snow watch here. So far it's just a light dusting on the windshield of the car, but by morning, the great outdoors should be quite impressive.

 

It was pretty darn cold and bleak out there today, so of course, this called for food -- homemade noodles. The ultimate comfort food.

 

 

I have no idea what the recipe would look like for these -- something like a few cups of  flour, an egg, a little water and a pinch of salt. I haven't measured the ingredients in my homemade egg noodles since forever. I just watched Mom and Grandma make them enough times that I finally got the hang of it. Drop a few handfuls of these babies into some home-stewed chicken broth and all the bad things go away.

 

Mine are still a little thicker than they should be, but all-in-all, they turned out pretty tasty. Someday it would be nice to have a pasta machine, but for now, the old rolling pin works wonders.

 

Do you have a favorite comfort food?

The Sweet Spot, by Kate Supino (Guest Post)

 

Today's guest post comes to us from my good friend Kate over at A Good Living. She has a lot of sweet things to say, and if you knew Kate, you'd know she means every word. Stop by and visit her when you get a chance...you won't regret it.

The Sweet Spot

I watched a movie the other night called “The Company Men.” It’s about a group of highly paid executives who get laid off one by one, and are forced to reevaluate their lives spent accumulating status symbols and possessions. It had Ben Affleck in it, whom I admire for his acting work. (By the way, I was a Ben Affleck fan long before it was cool. I even stuck with him through that whole J Lo debacle.)

The movie made me think about where the sweet spot lies between uber-wealth and abject poverty. When do our possessions begin possessing us, and at what point do we begin yearning for a mani-pedi and a hot stone massage?

I’ve always shaken my head at the concept of placing one’s foundation in financial stability in the hands of a corporate giant that can decide to cut the cord on a whim, like in the movie I saw. I subscribe to Charles Ingalls’ ideology of making one’s own way in the world and owing nothing to anyone. (That’s not to say I don’t have a credit card and don’t shop with it. I am a girl, after all. Let’s be reasonable.)

But as a lover of the creature comforts, I can definitely see the allure of owning designer clothing and high-end kitchen appliances. I have no desire to struggle financially, or to “rough it.” So where is that sweet spot? When is enough….enough?

For insight into the answer, I can look to my good friend, Anne Goetz, owner of this blog that she is graciously allowing me to guest post on. Anne takes the ordinary and transforms it. What I might blithely buy at a yard sale and hang on my wall with nary a second thought, Anne would think, “I think I can make it better.” And she does.

One of my favorite singers, Sheryl Crow, has a great line in one of her songs. “It’s not having what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got.” I love that line. I think maybe the sweet spot between excess and poverty is in the ability to take what you already have and work with it. If you can’t afford a house, maybe you can have an awesome one-bedroom apartment. If you can’t buy a brand new car, get a used one you can afford and keep it immaculate. If all you can afford is yard sale items or your grandmother’s bedroom set, keep coming back to the House from 1800 for inspiring decorating ideas.

You don’t have to live up to anyone else’s concepts of wealth or success. Live cleanly, love your family and let them love you back. Pay your bills and eat your vegetables. Do all that and I think you’ll find the sweet spot in your own life.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

Thank you, Kate. You rock!

 

School Cabinet Possibilities

This is the school cabinet. For the longest time we kept it in the living room to house backpacks, boots, umbrellas, hats, coats, gloves and more -- everything needed for school -- all in one place.

 

Before pic of the school cabinet.

 

When we put the Christmas tree up this year, we had to find a new temporary home for the school cabinet and it found it's way into the master bath. It wasn't supposed to stay there for long, but I've become really fond of having it in there. When I put folded, fluffy towels in those deep drawers, they stay refreshingly cat-free. I like this.

 

A lot.

 

The finish is shot on the school cabinet though, and I can't help thinking how different it might look covered in a shiny enamel, two-tone paint treatment.

 

What do you think?

 

Something like this from the CreateInspire Blog ?

You know I'm loving this :)

 

Robin's Egg Blue Dresser redo from CreateInspire.

or maybe this? From OneCreativeCouple

 



The green dresser Redo from One Creative Couple






 

These colors speak to me :)

Low-Carb Tomato and Swiss Baked Chicken

So it's time for another totally-unrelated-to-the-general-blog-theme post about food.

Everyone here at The House is trying to go low-carb. It's a difficult row to hoe, but I've found if you take a little (a LOT) of time planning and strategizing, you can actually make quite a few tasty dishes that have little-to-no carbs.

Take tonight's offering for instance. I happened upon a four-pack of tomatoes for an insanely low price at the local Save-a-Lot, and instantly, this idea was born. Of course, it's been hovering at about 4 degrees here in Maryland lately so the tomatoes aren't local or in-season. They're nothing like home grown, but it's the middle of one of the coldest winters I can remember, and I needed some tomato love.

I tossed a few chicken breasts in a baking dish and seasoned them nicely with Adobo (my go-to spice for everything from meat to beans), basil and oregano. I topped them with a few tomato slices and baked them at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. When they were almost done, I added a few slices of Swiss cheese.

The rest will go down in history. These were maybe the best chicken breasts I've ever made -- perfectly seasoned, not over-cooked and a perfect reminder of the good summer things to come from my garden. Even the kids ate them, after peeling off the tomatoes, of course :(

It was only a small gesture, but somehow, it made this bleak winter day more palatable.

Tomato-chicken-y goodness!  And very low carb.

The Ode to Projects Left Undone.

Still fiending for spring here, and the sub-zero temps and cabin fever are dulling my creative notions. I should start another project. There are only about 186 different ones pending -- the vanity in the guest bath, the tile in the master bath, the master bedroom wall, the entire laundry room.

So today, in honor of everything I should be doing and am not, I give you...

The Ode to Projects Left Undone...

The kitchen cabinets I meant to paint white.

The white pitcher I meant to paint teal.

The fall Centerpiece I couldn't get to work and so tossed pine cones in a bowl and
pretended that was how it was supposed to look.

The table that I meant to convert to a plank-top farmhouse table and the chairs that I meant to paint and recover.
Oh, and the fridge I meant to clean off.

The rustic wreath that I meant to fashion into front door decor, hanging on the wall I meant to wallpaper.

Hello. My name is Anne, and I'm a procrastinator.

Spring Coupon Code to Beat the Winter Blues

So possibly the worst part about living in a house built over 200 years ago is the drafty awfulness of bitter cold winters. Temps today dipped down to 20 below zero with the windchill. I was in the middle of running a load of dishes through the dishwasher when the pipes froze solid, and frozen they've remained all day.

As pretty as our addition is, with it's vaulted ceiling and open floor plan, I suspect there's not much in the way of insulation under the floors or in the walls. Brrrr, is all I can say.

Hubby is down cellar now, at 10 p.m., trying to thaw out water pipes. Of course it's no warmer now than it was at 10 a.m. when the insta-freeze happened. How many days is it til spring?

So, in celebration of frozen water pipes, missed showers and a tiny fortune spent in bottled water, I give you this. I found it in my inbox today and it cheered me up immensely.

I love Santa Rosa Gardens. They even sent a coupon code and, in honor of frostbitten toes, I'm posting it here in case anyone can use it.

Santa Rosa isn't compensating me for the plug, I just love them and wanted to share my good fortune with my loyal readers :)  I am all about the sharing of coupon codes. Plus they had a link at the bottom to pass it on, so, as Pete the Cat would say, "It's all good."

In case you're wondering, here are a few pics of the plants I've received from Santa Rosa Gardens. They always arrive healthy and happy with moist roots and a green stem.

We do love our tall garden phlox here at The House.

For the Love of West Virginia Ramekins

For the longest time, I had no idea what a ramekin was -- no inkling of the individually sized fun I was missing out on. Then, one day at Old Tyme Treasures, I ran across these lovely things.

Oh! Custard cups, I thought. And with a teal-colored stripe yet. They were a surprisingly reasonable price, so I bought the lot of them. There are six. One is in the dishwasher as we speak.

When I got them home, I flipped one over.

Local pottery!  Well, sort of. Maryland and West Virginia run neck-in-neck after all. A portion of my misspent youth occurred in WV, but that's a story for a different blog. I was intrigued enough with my new restaurant ware (have I mentioned how much I love restaurant ware?) to Google the company. This is how I discovered my custard cups were actually ramekins.

I love epiphanies.

These are actually marked NcNicol, but the only information I could find on a pottery company out of Clarksburg, WV, was actually D.E. McNicol. The plant opened in 1914 and manufactured white and patterned hotel ware up through 1954, according to the West Virginia Encyclopedia.The Clarksburg plant was a second location for the company that originally  formed in East Liverpool, Ohio.

There is a photograph of the actual plant on Topix.

I'm intrigued as to why my ramekins are stamped with an N instead of an M, but I doubt I'll ever find out. If anyone out there knows, or if I'm barking up the wrong pottery plant entirely, please let me know.

I have no idea what Sexton is either. Sexton Sunshine Kitchens maybe?

Regardless, This is what you do with a ramekin, in case -- like me -- you've been ramekin-deprived all your life.

Make creme brulee in them, like Kate did, at The Little Loaf

Sweet, crackly goodness of creme brulee from The Little Loaf

Make Jessica Seinfeld's squash-ridden egg puffs in them, like Dee did at the Deestroyer blog. I've actually made these and they really do rock.

Jessica Seinfeld's butternut squash egg puffs are mighty tasty, served in ramekins.

Fill them with condiments for dipping chips and/or chicken nuggets into, like John did at Kitchen Riffs. Well, the tasty chips were his idea, but here at The House, we're all about our chicken nuggets.

John at Kitchen Riffs uses his ramekins for chip-dipping goodness.

Or, you can collect them. Like me. What's more lovely than white dishes on white dishes on white dishes?

Do you love ramekins as much as I do?

Picnic Basket Redo -- Done! (Finally)

Click the Projects link at the top of the page to see a project I ACTUALLY FINISHED! No wonder we're getting so much snow.

I refinished the top of this vintage picnic basket to match my kitchen. It's a cute way to conquer the plastic container clutter that's plagued me all my life.


House From 1800 is linking up!

Linky Party!

Tantalizing Teal Wallpaper

I LOVE wallpaper. Happily, after years of being shunned for it's association with...ahem...Shabby Chic style, wallpaper has been cropping back up here and there on the occasional contemporary design blog. Today, wallpaper functions more as the covering for one featured wall or area in a room, as opposed to an all-over treatment, which makes me like it that much more. The way modern designers are using it, it's trendy and flavorful and anything but shabby. 

I have one small wall in my kitchen that would look lovely covered in wallpaper -- it must be teal, of course -- and preferably vintage. The price tags on the actual 1950s papers are a tad overwhelming however, and here at The House, we pride ourselves on our extreme cheapness. I"m pretty sure my wallpaper, when I find it, will be an authentic reproduction, or, perhaps, something that's been beating around in someone's attic for the past 60 years. In the meantime, here are a few patterns that would do nicely.

If you still have images of your great-grandma's bedroom rolling around in your head, check out these rockin', contemporary rooms that feature wallpaper as an accent:

This room comes to us from BestLivingRoomDesigns.com. I could totally relax in this tribute to MCM design.

This is lovely too -- a section of wallpaper framed by molding.

Nothing dated or uninspired about that!

It's Official -- I'm a Guest Blogger! Squee!

So skip on over to A Good Living today to visit with Kate and read my guest post. I was so excited to be invited in over there -- it's full of lovely things like homemade bread and  vintage teacups. There's nothing like visiting with an old friend, even if she's a new friend who only feels that way...

Cakes!

I just received my first invitation to guest post on another blog! The blog I'll be guesting on is a food blog authored by my good friend, Kate. The fact that she reads my blog and wants me to guest post anyway is a huge factor in why I like her as much as I do.

But I digress...

Guest-posting on a food blog got me thinking about food. And while I enjoy tinkering about in the kitchen, I'm no Julia Child, or even a Guy Fieri (I LOVE GUY FIERI). Mostly my dishes are hit or miss -- made with the best of intentions but, well, you know the rest.

I can do cakes though. With two kids, I've baked and decorated my way through massive amounts of cakes.

So today's post on the ole home renovation blog is about...cakes.

In my mind it makes perfect sense -- well, sort of.

Gallery of Cake Love

My most recent cake was the Hello Kitty labor of love

She has one ear laid back in chagrin. I totally meant to do that.

Then there was Red, the Angry Bird. 

Red got to visit Chuck E Cheese. Lucky guy.

The Skylander's Portal. 

Skylanders were short-lived but intense.

The patriotic cake for the Blue and Gold Banquet.

We didn't win with this one. Was it the Twizzler madness?

The cake for Winterfest at school

Happily scooped up early on in the cakewalk.

The Barbie Cake

One of my prouder moments. Barbie was almost as short-lived as Skylanders.

The Sonic Cake

No easy feat, Sonic.

The Jiggy Cake

Banjo Kazooie goodness.

There are more cakes. Consider yourself warned.