Anyone for a game of pool?

The pool table from Walker arrived safely in our basement in September. Thanks to our friends who were willing to help with the moving process. We had a "Pool Party" in October. It was a joyous get together, complete with babies and a musical jam session. Anyhow, here are some pics of the table in action.

Giardiniera extravaganza

I was able to harvest carrots and onions to add to the giardiniera. All other vegetables I had to buy. I did eventually get some tomatoes, however, I had to pick most of them when they were still green because it got too cold to leave them on the vine. I finally got a cauliflower sprout after I had stopped watering and was letting the garden just die out for the season. Crazy! I bought those as starter plants in April, and they didn't flower until November. Yikes! Next year I think I will stick with what was successful this year and maybe try a few new items, like squash or cucumbers. Anyhow, back to the giardiniera. It is delicious! It's pretty easy to make, most of the work is just the amount of chopping that needs to be done. I could snack on this stuff all by itself, but it's delicious on salads, sandwiches, burgers or even pasta. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm. . . .


Giardiniera: Onions, carrots, green peppers, red peppers, jalapenos, cauliflower, green olives, olive oil, vinegar and Italian spices. Yum!

Salad Success!

I harvested the lettuce, some carrots and some peas to make a delicious "home grown" salad for lunch last week. I'm waiting on the tomatoes to ripen and to pick the carrots and onions to make some giardiniera. Yay for gardening!

Beautiful Bozeman

We are in the process of setting up our pool room in the basement and getting ready for our trip back to Michigan and Chicago. I took Bill for a walk tonight and the sky was beautiful. Thought I should share some of the beauty. We live in a pretty special place.

Handsome Bill


Pretty sky

Garden of Eaten

I started some seeds this spring to plant a garden and also bought some starter plants. Here's what I was hoping to get:
Tomatoes
Peppers
Jalapenos
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Sugar Snap Peas
Onions
Carrots
Spinach

I put the starters in the ground in the beginning of June and then IT SNOWED! in JUNE! It appeared that everything survived, thanks in part to the fact that I thought to cover everything. Things got off to a nice start:

Garden Box


Lettuce


Tomatoes


Sugar Snap Peas


I got my tomato starter plants pretty early, so I had fruit really fast. I watched that first tomato grow first while the plants were still inside, and then saw it ripen on the vine to a nice, pretty red. Then, I went to pick it and this is what I found:


What?? My first tomato and the birds got to eat it. I was really bummed. At least there were already 3 or 4 more growing on the vine. Then, this happened:



I wasn't as prepared this time and so there was some damage. I lost some tomatoes and the leaves on the broccoli and cauliflower were demolished. I didn't give up though and kept watering everything. I also bought some mesh to help keep out the birds. Today, it paid off. I harvested my first broccoli!



I'm thinking of making a broccoli salad. How does this one sound:

2 medium size broccoli crowns
1 Clementine (Can substitute tangerine)
2 Tablespoons finely chopped soaked walnuts
2 Tablespoons finely diced sweet or red onion

Dressing:
Juice of 1 medium Naval orange
¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup fresh cilantro
½ tsp orange zest


Can't wait! More to come . . . .

Summer has FINALLY arrived!

Summer took it's sweet ass time this year. We couldn't be more excited that the temperature is finally staying above 35 degrees :) In celebration of summer, Jim decided to build a deck, while I headed back to Michigan for a wedding and family visit. Here are some shots of him hard at work busting it out in less than a week:



And here is the finished deck:




While the deck is pretty sweet, we took it up a notch this weekend with the purchase of an inflatable pool. We enjoyed a couple of pool parties Saturday and Sunday. To all those headed out here this summer, be sure to pack your swim suits!

Reason for upper ass/lower back burn

As shown in Jim's last post, I suffered some premature sunburn this spring. The cause of this sunburn is shown below. Let's hope the temps continue to rise and rain keeps falling instead of snow so that these blooms don't freeze and die.






To refresh your memory, check out what this looked like about 1 year ago.

This just in...Spring is Here!

Spring finally came to Bozeman this weekend. Want proof? Just check out Sara's lower back/upper ass sunburn:



Classic, sorry dear.

More Flor

Welcome to the new basement rec room / soon to be pool room.


We ordered more flor carpet tiles about two weeks ago and I finally found the time to put them down on Saturday. Each square in the picture is actually four tiles put together and they have a subtle texture that really 'ties the room together'.



Also, we are set to receive a used pool table that is being salvaged from one of my job sites. My client (who previously owned the table) refused any kind of payment and we are thrilled with his generosity. Big thanks to Walker.



The major task, however, lies ahead. In order to extract the pool table from its current environment



it must be disassembled and driven across town. I'll be enlisting the help of pretty much all my friends in Bozeman as the slate is estimated to weigh in around 570lbs. Ugh. Watch for future posts chronicling my hernia operation.

New Painting

We received a painting from Jim's Grandma over Christmas. It used to hang in her house, but she did not have room for it after moving into an apartment, so we inherited it. Jim has always loved the painting and I could see why when I saw it for the first time. The color scheme and size work perfectly in our living room. We look forward to enjoying it for many years to come.

30 ain't so bad

Last Thursday I celebrated my 30th birthday. It started with a cake delivery at my office from my Mom and Dad.
The cake was delicious. Thank you!

When I got home from work, our dining table was lined with gifts. It was pretty awesome!
My parents wrapped 30 individual gifts for me and I got to open them one by one. I LOVE presents!

Next was dinner, prepared by Jim and shared with friends.
Steak and escolar, potatoes, salad, bread, wine . . . delicious!

And to cap off the night, we headed out to the Rockin' R for some karaoke. I rocked out to "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "Blame It On Your Heart."


I LOVE Birthdays!

Let there be Period Reproduction Lighting!

Saturday was a long day.
Believe it or not, this is the short version:

We got started around 10am by sanding some drywall patching that I had done earlier in the week. Then we painted the Dining Room/Kitchen ceiling with a classy flat white paint. Then it was off to the hardware store for some wiring, etc. Then it was up to the attic for some electrical work. Then it was back down to the Dining Room to punch a new hole in the ceiling and more electrical work.
Time to install our new fixture. The first time we hooked it up, something about my wiring scheme tripped the circuit breaker. Back to the hardware store for moral support and special light bulbs. Upon hooking the fixture up a second time, still no luck. A third trip to the hardware store for a new dimmer switch (we had decided that during the first test the original switch was fried - and we were right). The third attempt at installation with the new switch with the correct bulbs was a success...partially.



The problem now was that the power in our bedroom would only work if the new light fixture was turned on. We uninstalled the fixture and altered the wiring scheme. Finally, full success...at 7pm



Luckily, a friend of ours was a having hat-mandatory party that included a hula hoop, PBR and fancy cheese.



Not only was Sara the only one who could actually rock a hula hoop, she rocked two h-h's at the same time:



So, so proud.

Updates GALORE!

It's been awhile since we posted last. We've been busy enjoying the snow, celebrating our 1st anniversary and finishing up some projects around the house (of course!). Here are our latest updates/upgrades:

Spice Rack Shelf
Jim constructed this magnetic spice rack to go above our cook top. It is just deep enough to also work as a nice shelf for additional spices, etc. Our previous spice location was the cupboard to the left in this photo. It is incredibly difficult to easily access spices when they are in a cupboard. We purchased a pre-packaged spice "carousel" that contained metal topped spice jars, however they were not steel so Jim hot glued some washers to the insides of the tops of the containers so they will hang. This is a much better solution, and we are also able to hang some often used utensils from the magnetic strip for easy access. Bonus!

Hall Lamp

Jim removed a hall light this past summer when he installed our attic fan. We found that we missed the extra light in the hall, especially in the evenings. So, we decided that replacing what was a ceiling light with a wall light would be pretty easy and would give us the extra light we wanted. We found the fixture through "Rejuvination", a company that specializes in recreations of home fixtures from past decades. This fixture matches the time period when our house was built.

Dining Room

We finally completed the dry wall work that needed to be done around the door. Jim then fabricated some trim so that it would match our existing trim. We also purchased FLOR carpet tiles to create the rug under the dining table. Everything ties together really well. I can't wait for summer so we can open up the door and entertain. The access to the patio will be so much easier than having to go through the garage. We are now anxious for a more eye catching piece of artwork for the north wall. We are also awaiting the arrival of a new light fixture for this room. So, more updates to come!

Snowmobilin'

Last weekend we took a trip down to West Yellowstone to enjoy a snowmobile tour through the park. It was quite a day.

Here we are preparing for departure on our sweet Arctic Cat! Yeehaw!

Yellowstone is beautiful in the winter as well. It's so quiet and serene.

It wouldn't be Yellowstone without buffalo.

It really wasn't THAT cold :)

If you're not into snowmobiling and would prefer a warmer less active tour of Yellowstone in the winter, they also offer "Snowcoach" tours. There are a couple different variations of the "Snowcoach." This one is one of the originals.

One step further and I would have disappeared completely into the Winter Wonderland. Good thing my jacket was bright orange, just in case I got lost.

Ahh, the glorious moose shot. There isn't really much you can do when you see a moose on the side of the road. Especially when it is around a blind curve and you can't tell if someone is coming up behind you. You get the idea though. Very cool :)