house and garden

We have been quite busy the last couple of weeks here on the "farmette." Above you can see our latest major home improvement project: changing out stained, nasty carpet in the living room for painted flooring. We love the result, and swear the air quality is exponentially better, but still have the last 10% of the project to do...the most difficult part, I'm learning. I'm also in the process of stripping out the kitchen entry way and giving that (tiny) space a much needed makeover. I feel the home improvement inertia and think I need to just roll with it.

The garden work is also taking up huge swaths of time. Spring food is coming in, we are getting lots of perennials in the ground, and trying to stay on top of the sheet mulching game. "Speedy," the other of the mystery chickens, was a major hindrance to this work, so she was transferred (via stroller ride with Elise) up to Grammalis. She is happy in her new home, and we are happy to visit her there.

A quick story to end: Elise was picking spinach in the garden a few days ago. I didn't want the spinach to end up in a wilted heap who-knows-where, so I reminded her that the job wasn't finished with picking - she needed to wash and spin it and put it in the fridge. I went on about my garden business, fully expecting to trip over the wilted heap in an hour or two. A bit later, I went into the house and heard Elise in the bathroom. I went in and asked what she was up to. As she replied, "washing the spinach" I took in the scene in it's entirety: Elise on her stool at the sink, sink filled with water, spinach floating in the water, and Elise holding a single leaf in one hand, using her toothbrush in the other to scrub the thing. Gotta love that little farmhand.

the kitchen after: a detail

When we moved in, I needed something with which to line the cabinet shelves. I decided to use all those old canvases of oil paintings from college. So where do the clean pyrex bowls go? In the cabinet by the stove, on top of the boobs.

39 weeks...

...and we finally have something fun to look at in the kids' room!  I really wanted to get the painting finished before Little Two, and today was the day.  I must say, I think it looks pretty good for basically eye-balling everything.  I loved it with just blue and brown, but this whole having a girl thing kind of threw a kink in the initial idea.  The coral color is too bright for me, but given the late date of completion, I don't think I'll get around to changing it for a while.  Que sera, sera.  

Wyatt will be the only one enjoying the patterned wall for a while -- we're planning on having Little Two in the co-sleeper by our bed until some semblance of a sleeping pattern is established.  

Now we'll see how much of the landscaping we can tackle before you-know-who shows up...

~Anna

Buffets and More

Anna and I have been dreaming lately - specifically for our house. Consequently, we've been drooling over websites and magazines, including these dandies (the office desk and the coffee table are from modernseed.com and the buffet is from eurway.com):