Under Construction

An unexpected day at home

So yesterday I apparently left my car keys in my coat pocket and my coat in Mr. H's car and I didn't realize it until he was already at work and I was standing at the door with Biscuit dressed for work, lunch made and no way to get anywhere.  Really, really fortunately I didn't have any meetings today so I took an impromptu vacation day.

(she takes after her father with the legos)

A day "stuck" at home with Biscuit. Not bad!

(I received this bag of very special items several times, each time expressing surprise and pleasure. Wow, some sunscreen!? And a plastic hammer?! She is a generous gift giver)

It was sunny and lovely and I got just enough urgent work done during her nap that I could enjoy the time she was awake.

(lots of dish washing bubble play leading to several outfit changes)

Tonight I finished up three more doll beds plus their mattresses and pillows. I am still really loving these!

(this is a sugar pumpkin destined to be pie. In the meantime, it looked cool in the light on the NEW COUNTER.  I love you functional kitchen with counters and cabinets and a DISHWASHER!)

Quilts, kitchens and kid

It's been a crazy/fun 48 hours.

Just over 48 hours ago I finished up this mini quilt. My inspiration was a sunset the other evening after a storm.

It's machine pieced and mostly machine quilted with some hand quilting of cloud shapes.  All the fabrics are from my mom's great garage sale score. Ok, one more photo.I like this quilt

36 hours ago I was home watching our kitchen counters be installed. Wahoo, one step closer to done:

Also note that Biscuit is wearing the most adorable outfit EVER (even though you can't really tell in this picture). AND...that dishwasher you see...is, right this very moment, scrubbing a huge backlog of dishes.  Back to the timeline

30 hours ago I was off to San Francisco on a whim to go to this book launch party. I was too shy to take photos or introduce myself to anyone but I got to hang out with my sister and buy the book (signed). The author, Meg, seemed very nice and it was a fun little party.

27 hours ago Mr. H was putting Biscuit to bed and tooted. He asked Biscuit if she was going to copy him and toot. She scrunched up her face in concentration and effort and then shook her head and said, "No toot. Toot broken."  Oh my gosh how funny is that?

17 hours ago Biscuit fell out of her big girl bed (it doesn't happen often) so I got in bed with her and promptly overslept so 14.5 hours ago I finally made it to work.

15 hours ago the Sacramento Craft Mafia was on tv.

7.5 hours ago I got out of meetings that had lasted 5 hours.

2 hours ago I fixed the dishwasher to garbage disposal connector and 1 hour ago I loaded the dishwasher.

Not bad for 48 (ish) hours.

Simple pleasures

You wouldn't know it from the number of words I manage to get down on this blog but I am frequently frustrated by my inability to express myself well in writing. I was pleased to stop by Luckybeans yesterday and see that Katurah wrote my post for me.  So you can read over there what's been on my mind. I can't relate so much to the stick sharing incident but can relate to the overall sentiment of how I would like to be raising Biscuit (although not in Zambia--Mr. H wouldn't go for that). 

I was thinking about this again after running into an acquaintance who I've met a few times at the park. She has an almost 5 year old girl. The subject of birthdays came up (I am sort of planning Biscuit's party....any day now I'll get it together). Anyway, she was going to let her daughter choose a pinata for her party but when the girl picked the "three Disney princesses" pinata mom put her foot down. They ended up with a butterfly. We lamented how hard it is to find products that aren't completely and annoyingly branded. I find myself purposely avoiding the tv show-branded products just to make a (very miniscule) point. 

So this weekend I tried to focus on simple pleasures.

Playing outside. The seedpod collection we amassed on the walk to and from the farmer's market.

A free carnival at the church down the street (

And making things.

Biscuit secured her inheritance ;) by asking to sit in my lap while I was sewing.  She very patiently watched and waited while I put the binding on another doll quilt.  That was exciting for me!

My attempts at appreciating simple pleasures and avoiding (somewhat) the big, wide world of cheap, plastic toys has led me to thinking about simple toys to make for kids. The doll beds are one. I spent the evening working on another but I think that'll wait for later.

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Ode to my favorite appliance

Dishwasher, my love
You clean so well I can blog
Not hand wash outside

You make light work of
Pots, pans, Gladware, cups and plates
I miss you so much

You look so ready
Alas, you have no water
Until October

Back up, outdoor sink
I wish you had hot water
My hands are wrinkly

Dishwasher thy name
Often Melissa, not Rob.
Unfortunately.

Obviously I had some time to think about this topic tonight.

Haiku's were inspired by this t-shirt. Dishes were inspired by this mess:

Just before Mr. H took it back to the garage for a redo

Wow, kitchen remodels are so. much. fun.

You can almost picture the fridge underneath the hover-cabinet. Except, you can't really, because the hover cabinet is an inch too low.

Mr. H is having his way with it in the garage as we speak and I am confident all will be well by midnight.

I think I'll go hole up in my sewing room until my most excellent lifting skills are required again.

Super special treat (ok, they're really just figs)

I bought some delicious Turkish figs at the Farmer's Market on Saturday but yesterday Biscuit refused to eat a fruit that looked like this (only less blurry)

So tonight they reappeared as a "super special treat" appetizer and she ate three and kept asking for more.  Here's what they look like as a super special treat. (again, less fuzzy in real life)

Have you ever really looked at the inside of a fig? I can't decide if they look like a beautiful jewel or an internal organ. Either way, they are yummy.

And in totally unrelated news, the kitchen is becoming somewhat kitchen-like. The end is in sight!

Try not to be too jealous

Mr. H and Biscuit are spending two days at the lake so I've got an evening with the house to myself and 500 odd pages of Harry Potter to be read and I spent much of my evening ripping up flooring.

Yes, my life is that exciting.

You are likely also jealous of my fashion sense and self portrait skills. I think I'm really rockin' the full safety gear, pajamas and flip flops look. No?

On the up side, I got half of the remaining flooring removed and got over my circular saw phobia. On the down side, it was the far easier half of the floor.

After I pack for Chicago, finish making my business cards and pack a box of goodies for my cousins' new baby I'll definitely relax and settle into bed with my new, younger man.  Don't get any ideas, it's just Harry Potter!

Tying up loose ends

I'm only on page 133 of Harry Potter but I understand that book 7 really ties up all the loose ends. I think blogs are often the ultimate at loose ends. People share a WIP or a problem and then....nothing. So, thought I'd check in and, just in case anyone cares, provide a few updates.

The Big Girl Bed
Over the weekend she played in her room for 30 minutes and then put herself down for a nap on the bed with her head on the pillow.  Tonight, not so much. This is very much a work in process. (She's on the floor near the doorway in this photo with her knees on the hardwood floors)

The kitchen
Mr. H has been busy and the electricity is in, the gas plumbing and water plumbing are done, the door opening is framed and the wall is moved. Now if only we had ordered the right size windows for delivery when we actually need them rather than 2 weeks later we'd be all set ;) Actually, this is coming along nicely. Next up: drywall

Still no decision on the countertops....

Maker Faire
The careful reader may recall that at Maker Faire I randomly met someone I went to elementary school with, Marie aka Marimello. (Any other Miller Mustangs out there?). She and I have emailed a few times since then and actually chatted on the phone yesterday about an article she is writing for CROQzine.  I must say, a two sided phone call is a nice change from the more one sided world of blogging.  Leave comments anytime folks :)

Ok, enough rambling, back to Harry Potter for me!

Plum tuckered

So a half hour ago when I sat down to write this post I had a little panic attack thinking I had killed my digital camera.  It seems to have come back to life.  Phew.  I guess the only dead thing today is the mouse we found in the wall.

So, since the camera is okay, of course you get MORE photos of the kitchen demolition in progress.  I could show you the hour by hour but my family teased me that it was a bit much so here's the current status:

You can't tell but the drywall is 95% gone, the flooring is about 30-40% gone and we sealed off the room since Biscuit is now back home. I realize this is not exactly gripping blog material but see the blue stripe on the plastic sheeting? That's a zipper! This is pretty much the coolest invention ever, a zipper that sticks to the sheeting and then you open it and cut the plastic so you can get in and out of your construction site.  I'd love the meet the genius who came up with this.

And in other uninteresting blog material, a reminder to wear safety goggles (a nail lodged in the ceiling):

My photo of the mouse skeleton didn't turn out so I think I'll close here. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some interesting content and I'll share the story of how we managed to discuss penis disorders and circumcision over dinner. Not a huge deal except it happened to be over dinner with my entire family including a boy my sister brought home for the first time to meet the parents. Oops.  Maybe I shouldn't share that story after all ;)

Hope you are having a great Monday!

I have a feeling it's going to take longer to put it all back

Our Saturday (Biscuit is having a slumber party at Grandma and Grandpa's house)
11 a.m.

noon

1 p.m.

2 p.m.

3 p.m.

4 p.m.

See that saw sticking out of the wall? Here's the close up (note capped off gas pipe)

So the massive gas leak that ensued brought the demolition to a screeching halt as we raced to shut off the electricity and the gas and open all the doors and windows.  Well, we needed to move the gas pipe anyway.

After 4 (four!) hours under the house (Mr. H) and three trips to the hardware store, the gas is rerouted to the new stove location (where the door is in the photos above). One more hardware store trip in the morning for a pressure tester and maybe we can have hot water again.

I'll be posting about "safety tips for a kitchen demolition" over at Refurber. For those of you who missed it, I started June 1 as a Refurber ambassador. It's a site all about home renovation and home improvement so the kitchen project will fit right in. Anyone can contribute questions or advice at the Refurber site; come on over and check it out.