This Old House...minus Bob Villa

Here are the "before" pictures of the project going on in my backyard. It's not pretty now, folks, but just wait! We have big plans for this little shack. Kevin and Charlie have been putting in lots of work into this the past week, but they are excited about it, and it's fun to see their ideas and work come together. They have been removing paneling, taking out walls and trying to get a pesky door to open. If anyone has any experience with remodeling an old structure, let us know!

The "kitchen"...The original (I think) sink is sitting over to the left. I told Charlie to hang on to it and we'll reuse it. All the cupboards are coming out, and we'll replace with new, but old looking, cupboards. We'll be putting in an electric cookstove in there too but so far, we've decided against putting in a refrigerator. We'll see....

The living area....Notice that the walls are not framed. We're amazed that this building has held together all these years! Charlie and Kevin are framing it and replacing broken boards. Then, they'll line the inside with black paper and insulation. There's a big debate about what to put on the inside walls; old wood from other structures that will be torn down or something more modern and "clean looking." What do you think? I was leaning more toward clean, but now I am not so sure.

Another view of the living area....We're putting a toilet in the corner, next to the kitchen area! Yeah! No more trapsing through my house.

Here's the view from the pool, and below is the view from my side yard. There will be "porches" on both sides. They haven't been brought over yet. I've heard they are coming today.

Grace was ambling through the house this afternoon, finding all kinds of scary stuff to get into. I know I am biased, but she's such a cute kid! We love her curls!

After watching Daddy and Kevin do a little work and a few pushes on the swing, we went into the back yard and picked this bucket of lemons from our tree. Lily and I juiced every single one of them, and there are probably about 2 more buckets full left on the tree yet. Kevin and Brooke came over with their kids and we had yummy lemon drops with cheese and bread. The kids ate mac and cheese. It was a fun, impromptu party.

I was inspired last week with menu planning, and we ate very well! On Friday night, I entertained a great group of friends after doing some local winetasting. We had roasted eggplant dip with various cheeses, beef bourguignon, and potatoes (with some great wine, of course!). I turned to my new magazine from The Food Network this week for inspiration, so here's my meal plan:

Monday: Feta and cauliflower frittata (Brooke's chickens are laying 15-20 eggs a day, and this recipe calls for 10... a good way to use up the eggs!)


Tuesday: Sausage and vegetable stew


Wednesday: Peppercorn chicken with spinach


Thursday: Steak, potatoes and carrots (Basic and not from the magazine...my family can't tolerate 4 days in a row of my "creativeness.")


Friday: eat out!


Saturday: Sloppy Joes with Maui onions and maybe a few more lemon drops! :)