Kitchen Shelves

After realizing that our kitchen was in dire need of storage space, Erik set out to install shelves.  He found The Barn Saver - a guy (named John) who travels around Pennsylvania salvaging the wood from old barns.  It's a wonderful way to make use of the reclaim and repurpose all the material that would otherwise deteriorate with old age.  

So Erik bought three 16' floor boards, 12" wide and an inch thick.  It was hard at first to see their potential for being shelves (even though we wanted a worn and weathered look) since they were caked with decades of mud.  But we took the chance and he slowly uncovered their beauty.

This was a piece in its original state.

After some sanding...

After even more sanding and cleaning, Erik set to work finishing the wood with tung oil (there was no staining involved).

It took some time to decide how to install them.  Brackets seemed risky with the size and weight of each shelf and its contents.  Instead, Erik hung the shelves from the ceiling studs and manila rope.  It took some time to level everything accurately, but the results were exactly as we had hoped for.

8' shelves for all our dishes, mugs, and serving-ware...

and four 2' shelves for extra pantry space.

Close-up of the finished wood.

I love having a handyman as my husband! :)

MJ's favorite people :)

Setting up various scenes with her fisher price people is Meredith's favorite entertainment these days.  Taking the people on car and truck rides, building homes, and in these photos she and Daddy made a large canal and sent them floating along in boats.  

In her mind it doesn't get much better than this...SO much fun!! :)

40 weeks

Well...here I am, on my due date today. :)  Still a big belly and waiting.  This baby is low, head down and ready...but so far he/she is pretty comfortable and relaxed inside.  No sign of popping out yet.

So...we are ready and waiting.  

I never made it to my due date with Meredith (she was born 2 days early)

...so, this is uncharted territory for me.

To keep myself busy these last few days, I've been doing many different sewing projects.  I have another show this coming Saturday (my friend will be vending my wares for me - I hope to have a newborn in my arms!).  Here are a few photos of my latest projects.

thread sketched tea towel

 Christmas bunting in the works

Owl dolls and birdies

 woven fabric stars 

pumpkin cookies :)

Meredith and I had fun this week making pumpkin cookies together.  We found a delicious recipe without eggs - good for Mama's system, and a good one to lick up the batter!  Meredith was a big help and a huge fan of the licking task... :)

Date Night at Tired Hands Brewery

Erik and I had a rare treat of a date night together yesterday evening!  We've just started a date night swap with some friends of ours who also have a 2 year old daughter. :)  So, we dropped off Meredith to frolic with her little friend, Leah, and her family while we enjoyed several hours to ourselves.

The Tired Hands Brewery is in Ardmore, PA—just west of Philadelphia, off the main line.  Erik heard rave reviews about the local brews as well as the homemade and local farm fresh food they serve.  

A perfect combination for us!

We had a lovely time sipping, chatting, chewing and savoring the time and meal together. 

(yes - that is a pile of celtic sea salt and spices served along with their homemade bread and butter - yum, yum!)

Here's what we tried over the course of the evening (written and reviewed by Erik):

I started the evening with their two most popular beers:

Farm Hands (4.8%) - This was an interesting "four-grain" Saison, brewed with rye, oats, wheat and Cascade hops with notes of lemon zest, barnyard, hay and funk.  A good opener with no surprises.

Hop Hands (4.8%) - Brewed with oats and hopped with a blend of Amarillo, Simcoe, and Centennial, this beer had a excellent aroma of citrus, fresh cut grass, kiwi and pineapple.  Very refreshing, with just the right finish.

Jane got a house-made cranberry almond soda and with this first round, came a section of their rustic, homemade bread (see above), and half-sour Whiskey Dill Pickles.  

The second round of beers:

M.A.P. (6.0%) - Another Saison, this time brewed with 30lbs of lemons, sage blossoms, Spanish lavender and wild rosemary flowers.  A wonderful side to the bread as it tasted of earth and everything you'd find in the breeze passing over.

Slava Oner (3.5%) - This was by far the most exciting find of the evening.  Brewed with over 25 loaves of their house-made bread (soured for nearly three days), the taste included sour lemon, earthy grain, tangerine, and bread crust.  This was an awesome spin off of traditional Russian Kvass--a great way to end the night.

These two beers were enjoyed with the Beautiful Bacon & Blue Panini--a Lancaster county double smoked bacon from a nearby farm, caramelized shallots, arugula, local roasted apples and an apricot/cherry dijon.

E and M time

Erik and Meredith had a Daddy-daughter date this past Saturday evening just before dinner (Mama took a rest and prepped dinner in a wonderfully quiet home).  The circus school just up the street from us had an open uni-cycling hour Saturday, so Erik and Meredith strolled up to observe.  This is why Mer calls this place the "one wheel school."  :)  She loves to see people riding on one wheel!

Erik and Mer had another fun time recently making and baking roasted pumpkin seeds.  

Meredith loved being Daddy's helper throughout all the steps.

38 weeks

Two weeks (more or less) left!   Today I'm a full 38 weeks, beginning week 39.  Come baby come!

Meredith is giving lots of kisses to my belly these days.  

She's so excited to have a wee babe in our home soon!

Babydoll Ellie

Last week Meredith was given a sling just the right size for baby Ellie by a sweet new neighbor of ours. She was thrilled, as you can imagine.  (oh yes, I see a lot of Mama-imitation coming in the near future...I'm sure this is only the beginning!) 

 For the next several days Meredith rarely was without her trusty sling with baby Ellie tucked inside.  Even on a cold day at the park Meredith carried baby Ellie with her all around the playground. :)

She has yet to go through a "sling safety" course though - thankfully baby Ellie has a good grip!

new little friend :)

Meredith has recently become friends with a sweet little girl named Leah.  Leah had a birthday this weekend - turning 2 - so we celebrated with her!  Meredith was so excited all week proclaiming, "Happy Birthday, Leah!" and carrying around the invitation.  Leah's party was a ladybug birthday party inspired by her Halloween costume this year. :)  Her Mum, Joanna, made a gorgeous/very delicious ladybug cake and many sweet and savory brunch items for all the guests.  

We had a lovely time!

Last week we had Leah over for a play date.  She and Meredith frolicked for over two hours - loving every minute of their time together. :)  They especially enjoyed playing piano duets together - it was too cute to pass up, so I snapped these shots.

Belated Pumpkins

We had a belated pumpkin carving event in our home last night.  Yes - it is November now and Halloween is over....but, pumpkin carving never happened in October and we thought Meredith would love it.  So, we went ahead.

The texture was a bit surprising at first...

..and finally she decided she'd had enough of the digging out part.

So...we moved on to painting.  Definitely a big hit!  She started this way for about 30 seconds...and...

...quickly moved into a favorite of her's - finger painting frolic!!  Erik and I were having a laugh here (as you can see from E's face) because Erik has a really hard time with how messy MJ gets while painting.  He has to bite his tongue so he doesn't say things like, "How about you use the paintbrush...oh, oh not that way!"  I encourage him to let her just be and explore - she loves it!  :)

And, does she ever!  She changed her orange pumpkin into a greenish-brownish creation.

And, on to carving to create these!