Wine Bottle Chandelier

I came across a new project a couple of days ago and have become obsessed with making it ever since.  My first attempt at making a wine bottle light didn't work out like I wanted it to, so I had to resort to plan b. I walked around Michaels for a while when I had a moment.  I saw a candle holder for the wall and I knew I could use as my frame for my wine chandelier. 

Wine Bottle Chandelier

Next, I made a trip to the hardware store for some supplies.  I came up with some rubber rings to fit around the necks of the bottles.  So, here are my supplies:

I collected a few wine bottles and cleaned the labels off.  Don't mind the one that I didn't get cleaned yet, that was the first bottle I experimented with.I spray painted the frame black to match the cabinet I painted earlier this week.  So, here is the final product.  Andrew isn't sure how he feels about it.  I think it might grow on me. 

Stay tuned for my next project from my time spent at Michaels.  Clearance bins are very bad things for me to encounter.  

Path Update!

Well, the path is ... not quite done but further along than it was before.  We busted our butts in the heat on Sunday and got a bulk of what we had left finished.  What we don't have done are the steps we will be constructing up to the deck.  There are several reasons we didn't get to that on Sunday: the heat, time was needed for design discussion, the heat and oh yeah, we didn't want to move any more brick.  So, here is a picture of where we are at now with the path

Although some of you may not care about this, you should because it is totally amazing.  If you don't know, I am a die hard Green Bay Packers fan.  When they opened up more shares to sell late last year, I knew I had to have one, or hundreds!  For my Christmas present, which really good luck topping this one dear, my wonderful husband bought me one share of the Green Bay Packers stock.  No, you don't get dividends, but who cares.  I can now say I own part of the Packers.  When I got home yesterday, this little lovely was in my mailbox. 

I'm sad I couldn't go to the shareholder meeting, but we will be making a trek up to Green Bay in September for the Green Bay vs. Chicago game.  Da Bears are going down.

Recently, I decided I was sick of the blahness of the front porch.  When we moved in, that was where we piled a bunch of stuff, and it has kind of been a dumping ground since.  Tonight, I decided to do something about this blah.  I don't think I even have a before picture of the front porch, I thought about that about half way through tonight's project.  For starters, we have a random white cabinet that is hanging on the wall out there.  The white sticks out like a sore thumb, so I fixed that!  I also have several pictures that I haven't found a home for since moving, and I have now done so.  I'm not sure what Andrew is going to think of all this when he gets home...

 

Progress In The Yard

We are making progress in the yard this week.  I came home to find Andrew had finished the patio portion of the path project.  I think our goal is to get the rest of it finished this weekend since we are going to be working weddings for the next four Saturday's and recovering on Sunday's.  Inspired by the progress on the paving, I decided it was time to get our peonies planted.  Out new peonies were acquired from someone that was expanding their driveway and needed to get rid of the peonies.  I gladly took them!  Even though they bloom for a short time, they are absolutely beautiful when the do bloom.  I don't have a picture for you tonight, perhaps in the spring when they are in full bloom.  To put as little stress on them as possible, they have been cut way back.  They should bounce back in the spring.  Although, in this heat it is a wonder anything is surviving.

I do have an updated picture of the path for you though.  I also got some mulch put down around the flowers I planted last weekend to hopefully lock in some moisture and to keep the dirt from washing away when I water the new flowers, which I have to do daily right now. 

I also thought I would share an awesome recipe I came across.  One of Andrew's coworkers brought him a massive zucchini from her garden.  I wish I had taken a picture of this thing, it was huge!  I have been saying for a couple of weeks that I was going to make zucchini bread and last night I finally got around to it.  I made two loaves of bread and we are down to only half of a loaf left.  Here is the recipe I used, and it was amazing! 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

 

Weekend Update

Alright, I have to admit right up front that we didn't get as far as we wanted to this weekend on the outside projects.  In our defense though, it was freaking hot.  We were outside Saturday and Sunday to the point that we both just couldn't take it any more, and there was only so much work to be done in the shade before we had to work in the sun. 

Friday night, we bought all of the brick we needed for our project.  Currently, our garage looks like we robbed a brick yard.  I promise, we didn't.  Of course, it would be a lot cheaper project if we had come upon some brick for free.  Unfortunately, we had to pay for all 400 or 500 bricks we bought and the eight million bags of sand we also bought.  That isn't even all the sand, Andrew tells me he thinks we might need more....

Our goal this weekend was to get a good head start each morning and work until mid to late afternoon.  Saturday morning, we made a run to the farmers market.   I really can't pass up the Missouri peaches this time of year, so I had to get more since I was down to one lonely peach.  We got started about 10:00 and worked until mid afternoon.  Sunday I think we pushed ourselves a little longer, but we also might have started out later.  We ran to get the sand and in the mean time, I had to buy some flowers to plant in our new space.  Can you blame me?  They were on end of season sale, so they were a great deal and, as if the sale wasn't enough, some of them were buy one get one free.  So really, it was an offer I couldn't pass up. 

I'll admit I feel a little defeated that we didn't get the whole pathway done this weekend, but I'm glad we have all the supplies to finish now.  Unfortunately, it looks like the oppressive heat is here to stay, so I think we are just going to have to accept the fact that we are going to be losing our body weight in sweat (isn't this some kind of weight loss program)?  Andrew worked on the path while I tore out the massive weed patch we had going on and planted some flowers.  

Here is a look at the total before:  This is before the retaining wall went in.  Notice the lovely weed patch there...

Here is the whole picture of what we have right now

And here is part of the path we have so far and some of the flowers we planted this weekend

And here is another part of the path and the hydrangea bushes we planted.  I don't know that they will bloom this year, but next year they should be gorgeous!  We still need to put mulch down, but will wait to do that until more of the path is finished.  

So there you have it!  That is where we are at with the path.  I'm not sure what the timeline is to finish this, maybe the end of this coming weekend.  This next weekend is our last free one for a while and we also now have the stain for the deck.  Once again, it looks like our weekend is full. How does this keep happening?

Week In Review

This week was a little odd because Andrew was home on vacation.  I have to admit I always feel a little out of sorts when he is home at night because I am used to it being just Buddy and I at night, not that I’m complaining.  We did some pretty awesome things this week though.

Tuesday night we caught some DCI groups when they were in town.  For anyone that hasn’t seen a DCI performance, I’m sorry. You are missing out on a great time.  Here is  a link to the website, and selfishly I’m linking in to a video of my favorite group!  DCI

Wednesday night we headed out to the zoo for a little wine and some time with the animals.  Holy cow, I haven’t been to the zoo in a while obviously, they have done a ton of work!  I had fun checking out all the water animals, they are always my favorite.  One of the wallaby’s had a little Joey it was carrying around… adorable!

Last night we headed out to Andrew work (yes, I realize he was on vacation this week) to help cook up some burgers and bratwursts as a reward for having I think a couple of months with no injuries.  It was fun to meet some of the people he works with and put some faces with names. 

Now here is something I’m pretty excited about, you ready….. Tonight, we bought all the brick for the path.  That’s right, we have the brick which means maybe, just maybe, we will have a path at the end of the weekend.  If we have a path, I will be sure to post pictures! 

Our plan of attack for tomorrow is to hit up the farmers market early (please people in town if you could hold off on going until later in the morning that way we can get a good parking spot J).  Then, we are going to come home and Andrew is going to work on the path while I finish cleaning the deck and getting it totally ready to stain.  We really want to get it done before it once again turns ridiculously hot out.

That is all for now, off to bed in preparation for our full day tomorrow.  If all goes according to plan, I should end tomorrow with a corn dog! 

The 4th and Beyond

I kind of had a depressed moment last week when I realized it was the 4^th of July and to me that means summer is half way over.  Where did it go?  Why is it already July?  Why was it so stinking hot outside?  We haven’t done anything in the yard lately because it has been too dang hot to.  But, I’m here with a couple of house updates, so you can all get excited now! 

First, I must share this delicious peach pie recipe with you.  I made this for the 4^th and I think it was a hit especially with the homemade ice cream we had with it at my parents’ house.  Yum! 

 

Buttermilk Peach Pie

In the last couple of weeks, we have been able to get a sump pump installed!  Yay peace of mind, and we got a backwater valve put in!  I have to admit here, I knew nothing about this until Andrew’s brother who is a plumber told us he was putting on it.  I’m rather plumbing clueless.  There is a pipe that runs to the toilets and the sinks, and that is about how far my knowledge goes.  

Now that we have those in and it isn’t so ridiculously hot outside, I think we are going to turn our attention back to the yard and try and get some things finished up.  We purchased deck cleaner several weeks ago, and I have been annoyed ever since that we haven’t been able to get it cleaned because I also want to get it stained and sealed.  On Saturday, I decided I had enough and the deck was getting cleaned.  Of course I was out there with the heat index at 106 as Andrew informed me while I was scrubbing the deck down, but it was so worth it.  Andrew joined in on the fun of cleaning the lower deck all the while asking why on earth we bought a house with such a large desk, I was asking myself the same thing.  I love the deck though, so I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Here is the deck as is right now.  We have a couple more spots to clean and then we are going to stain it.  We have the stain all picked out.  Stay tuned for the after photos!

This week Andrew is off on vacation, so he is a man with a plan, to finish the patio!  I have to say I am truly ecstatic about this because I thought this was never going to get done.  I can’t say I blame him for not wanting to be out there in 100 degree weather.  He tells me by the end of this weekend, he can have it done!  Halleluiah, queue the bells!  Here is what we still need to do: dig a trench for the sump pump pipe and bury that, finish spreading out the rock for the base of the path, spread a layer of sand, lay down the stone and voila a brand new path!  After this is done, we get to clear out the massive weed patch we have going on in that space and I can start planting some flowers!  I’m hoping to catch some plants on sale. 

I will leave you all with that for now, stay tuned there are more fun yard happenings to come!

A Little Pampering

Is there anything better than a good massage?  If you haven't had one, you should get one ASAP!  I had my first one today in about 5ish years, and it was amazing.  I have been debating spending the money and when I could hardly make it through the day because my hips and back were hurting, I decided to bite the bullet and schedule one.  I am amazed at how much better I feel after just one time.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I tend to carry my stress and tension in my shoulders and back.  I'm pretty sure my entire 50 minutes could have been spent on my shoulders alone. 

I think everyone deserves a little pampering from time to time.  What do you do to pamper yourself?  If you haven't taken time for yourself lately, you should!  I think we might all be a little nicer if we took some time for ourselves :)

Raising the Roof

I think I might have mentioned in a previous post that we had hoped to move our master bedroom upstairs and create a master suite upstairs.  There are several things standing in the way of making this happen, but the major two are the climate upstairs (more than 5 minutes spent upstairs currently warrents a shower) and the deadly stairs.  I swear someone could break their neck on those bad boys.  Now, for those of you that don't remember the stair situation we have going on, here is a reminder:

This weekend, we brought in a contractor to look over the situation and tell us our options.  We found out we really don't many and there are a lot of what if's involved.  There is a chance we could raise the ceiling in the kitchen enough above the stairs to swing them around toward the patio door.  We could move them completely and put them in the bedroom on the way to the bathroom, but that presents another issue.  The current attic space isn't completely in line with the first floor and where we want to put the stairs to access the second floor is just outside of the wall lines on the second floor.  So, it seems the only option left is to raise the roof!  We want to take the roof off and add a full second story complete with a master bedroom with walkin closet, a master bathroom and a second room with a to be determined purpose.  In addition to this, we would relocate the stairs to the current library and close off the stairwell area currently located in the kitchen thereby doubling our kitchen space.  They had me at doubling the kitchen.  Oh, did I mention that we could also re-do the ugly ceiling in the kitchen and then add some lighting so we can see what is going on when we are cooking.  This all sounds amazing, but there is a bit of a problem: the funding. 

Currently, I am researching funding options.  Does anyone have 30k they would like to lend us?  Just kidding.  When you have no home equity, what do you do?  So, this is where we are at the moment, with a gigantic sad face.  I think we need to start playing the lottery.  Perhaps someone should pay off our student loans.  Lets not get me started on those! 

As part of this project, we are looking for an architect to design the addition and a structural engineer to come in and make sure our existing structure can support additional weight.  If anyone has a recommendation for either of these, we would greatly appreciate it if you send them our way!