Delicious Nutella

We had another get-together and dinner for Jeff's grad students, so this time I made chili and cornbread and, for dessert, a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake. It needed to be gluten-free, so I used our pecans to make a nut based crust. Jeff and I had a fun discussion about cheesecake properties and cracking (since he is a fracture guy). I almost hoped the cheesecake would crack, just so he could analyze it, but it turned out lovely and smooth (I suppose I could have skipped the water bath if I really wanted to encourage it to split).

I didn't think to get a photo until I was cutting into it, so Jeff snapped an image with his iPhone.


A slice with cherry glaze on top. Yum!

Dancing Darling

I'm so proud of Jeff! We had a local church entertainment night this past weekend, and Jeff had agreed to sign us up for a waltz demonstration. We weren't sure if it would work out since we'd have to use the ballroom across the hall from the main room with the piano, but the MC scheduled us for just before intermission so people could walk over to see the dance and then take a break for pizza and snacks.

We had no time to practice, let alone choreograph something, so we just decided to wing it with a social dance. Meaning, whatever steps Jeff decided to lead on the spur of the moment, I would follow. We attempted a run-through at home once with our selected song, but waltz really needs a large space and we couldn't even get through a single verse without running into walls or furniture.

But the performance went well! It's the first time we've ever danced for any sort of audience, so it was a little nerve-wracking but fun. Forgive the loud "clumping" of our dance shoes; laminate floors make a lot of noise!

God is in the Details

I've had several questions about the bathroom, so I thought I should cover some of the nitty-gritty and then move on, away from potty-talk finally.

We did contract out the bulk of the work, since it needed to be done to code and pass a building inspection; but we designed the addition and layout, sourced and selected all the materials, supervised (and intervened) on a daily basis, laid the floor, and painted and wallpapered.

Here are some "mug shots":













Here are the materials we used:

Vanities: St. Paul 36" espresso (special buy at Home Depot)

Tile: Merola cobalt and white basketweave for shower floor and niche; Lowes stock subway tile for field; Lowes clearance white chair rail and pencil liner for accents; Mapei Silver grout; Home Depot marble thresholds for niche shelving and shower curb

Faucets: Delta Victorian chrome shower and vanity faucets; Price Pfister Savannah floor mount tub faucet and risers

Tub: antique 1920's Kohler from local flea market, painted Ben Moore Hale Navy

Toilet: Danze Orrington

Lighting: clearance exterior lanterns from Lowes

Flooring: Novalis vinyl planks in Gunstock

My one regret not having more closed storage, but it wasn't an oversight. To preserve the symmetry of the house, we matched the gable addition to the existing front gable. That gave us a rather square room with lots of floor space in the middle and large triple windows. We couldn't bump a closet into the knee wall space on either side of the gable, and I couldn't figure out how to build one in and keep an attractive and functional arrangement of fixtures. The new toilet ended up 15” from the wall because of a floor joist, so I had that section of the wall furred out and a built-in niche framed. I plan to have doors made eventually, so that will hide the less attractive bathroom necessities. And the less places to hide the mess, the more tidy and organized we will have to be, which isn't a bad thing!

Bathroom Bonanza!

We're done! No more plumbers, no more tiler, no more handyman trim guy helper dude, no more contractor. They are all paid and gone home, leaving us to enjoy our bright, new, luxurious bathroom on the second floor.

We're looking forward to light-filled morning routines and long evening soaking rituals. No more squishing between the tub and toilet. No more ducking the medicine cabinet when someone needs toothpaste. No more foggy mirrors. No more slanted floor. No more balancing act to get the blow dryer and curling iron on the pedestal sink simultaneously. That bathroom still exists downstairs, of course; we just don't have to be subjected to it multiple times per day.

Granted, when I say done, I mean as finished as any project in the Evans' household ever is these days. We still plan to do the wainscoting (which was to be completed over winter break, back when we naively thought a six week project by professionals wouldn't take four months), maybe some crown moulding (if we can figure out how to handle the awkward little space above the windows), the matching lantern over the tub, a second coat of paint and some shelves in the niche, a doorknob, and accessories. But it's usable, and that's done enough in my book! So, here are some additional photos:













And, because Jeff insists a bathroom needs privacy for some reason, here's a night shot with the cafe curtains I hung. When I can stomach the expense, I'd like to install top-down, bottom-up cellular shades, but these are cute and cheap for the time being.



We're so excited and relieved to be at this point. There were days I thought it would never end, and nights I feared my vision had run amok. But the pangs are over and I would do it all again! Oh, that's right, I still have two more bathrooms to go. And three bedrooms, and a staircase, and Jeff's study, and ...I'll definitely be needing a relaxing bubble bath in that clawfoot tub!

Touching

Jeff's dad was a farmer, so the recent Super Bowl commercial featuring Paul Harvey was a big hit with us.

Pretty Pecans

It's been really busy around here lately, but we have discovered one time-saver. Cracked pecans! I was told last year by the local farmer's coop that our pecans were too small for their cracking machine. They tried to run a few through and it just didn't work. So we gave up and cracked by hand. It is very labor intensive, messy, and a bit painful, so we had bags and bags of pecans that went to waste in the shop over the summer.

This fall, we've had another bountiful crop. I didn't want to pick up all those pecans if they were just going to go bad again, so I spent some time calling around. I found another feed store that has several machines that can handle a range of pecan sizes. So with a hopeful heart, I took in a few buckets to see what they could do. It worked! Eureka! Now I just need to collect recipes to use all these tasty pecans. If you have a dish that uses lots of nuts, please send it along. My deep freezer can only hold so many bags, and I've got to get cracking and consume some of these.

We've been picking up buckets full like this everyday!

Mock Up Madness

Now that the pretty wallpaper is up, I don't want to mar it with extraneous holes. So I'm mocking up the vanity mirror placement and orientation with rosin paper. If only I could decide if horizontal or vertical is better. Which do you prefer?

The overview (please ignore the missing drawers):

The vertical closeup:

The horizontal closeup: