the old dining room and kitchen

In case you never got to see the old kitchen and dining room (or have blissfully forgotten what it looked like...) here it is...

dining room (wall behind table is what was opened up for the breakfast bar)


doorway into kitchen from dining room


peninsula area that got removed


previous fridge location, and door to hall on left edge that was closed off to make pantry (also not the ducks on the wallpaper border...)


breakfast area


nice light...

the NEW kitchen!

I know, I know...I've been meaning to post these pictures forever...but here they are! It looks a little more tidy here than it does in everyday life. :) Wahoooooo!


from the bar into the kitchen/breakfast area


another view from the bar


from the breakfast nook into the kitchen


another view


breakfast nook


"floating shelves" and door into pantry

Learning through mistakes

Very cool article here about the science of mistakes (and how people actually learn things)...thanks to my friend Margareta for passing this on!

The girls had a great class at S.C.R.A.P. today (love, love, love that place!) and I found, among other things, a comb binder for $6 (not as fancy as the one pictured...but it works...and did I mention it was only $6!). I've been wanting one for a while...and now it's here! Now if I could only will a die cut machine into our world...I miss working in a library that had all of these things...

This weekend...

Was brought to us by the letter P...

P is for Playfort that was free on Craigslist...and is now re-assembled in our back yard...


P is for Pulley...set up by Sabine and Bret...


and P is for Panniers...sewn by Carolyn for the Yuba Mundo bike (note the black ninja kitty on the bike)...


I found the fabric at SCRAP (I think it was $6 -- and I have some left over -- it is a thick, lined material...formerly curtains), the straps were left over from a sewing project I did for our friend Bud back in Wyoming. I did have to by $6 worth of "D" rings once I finalized my design (I had a bunch, but used them all...). Much less expensive than Yuba's (albeit, nice) ones at $119 each.

At the coast

Went to our favorite spot last Monday -- it's a bit of a hike in -- but great spot with views of surfers, logs to play on, and shallow water for splashing.




Many rocks were collected...


Kites were flown...

Sand castles were built.

Ducky Derby

So the crazy-fun folks at Bret's office have an annual ducky derby. You pay $2 per duck (a two buck duck...) and can race them in either the stock or modified races. Of course, being the mad scientists that we are, we wanted to modify our 5 ducks.


Here's Bret -- assisting Sabine with her bamboo raft creation -- which won FIRST place in the people's choice awards. $25 for Sabine.


Vivan with her ducks...


Sabine working on her other creation - bicycle innertube to duck flotation device.

Fortunately, one of the ducks that Vivian helped create won FIRST PLACE in the modified race, netting her $50! We felt a little guilty about sweeping it like that...but quickly got over it.

Zucchini Lemon Loaf

Just added this recipe, mainly for Kat...whose garden overflow-eth with zucchini grown by Chris! You can also scroll to the bottom of the page and see the recipe (and other favorites)...

Looking forward to cooking in our NEW KITCHEN...granted, it won't be done until (knock on wood) Thanksgiving...demo starts on our 13th wedding anniversary (September 20, in case you're interested...). Many thanks to architect Michael Howells for the design, and Mike at ReCraft for taking on the project! Whaoo!!!