Crafty kitchen projects

These are not especially new projects, just finally posting pictures.  Under our gigante island we left a little room for a wine rack and pan shelf.  I messed around and turned what I thought would be simple day-long projects into multi-day projects with consultation from my contractor required. 

 I still haven't gotten the trim cut;

though to be fair, I started on it last weekend before we got paged to report to a grass fire.

This wine rack was a fun little project and the easiest, by far.

This project took a little more patience and almost led me to throw in the towel and have a tantrum.  The pan rack is 42" long, so it can hold a lot of pans that previously didn't fit in the cupboard so well (especially not when we finally got the cupboard doors hung).

This is super handy for getting pans out of the way, 

and Thomas found a larger version of our cupboard door handles that matched perfectly!

A couple weeks ago, we had stormy weather and needed an indoor project: our new spice rack.  We built a custom spice rack for the trailer that I was sad to lose, but it was custom to the spot in the trailer.  There were too many for the cupboard next to the microwave, and it was tricky to see them all.  Additionally, we have this great pantry cupboard next to the fridge with slide out racks down below.  The top half is too deep to see (and sometimes reach) what is in the back.  Ta da!!

 We built (notice the "we" - this actually was less than a day long project) a little box with shelves to fit in the front of the cabinet with all our spices.  Very accessible!

Side view: the new snack cupboard!! And other stuff...

We cut a hole to fit the cupboard door that would have gone on front and trimmed it out.

Thomas had to put a couple extra holes for the shelf pegs, and I painted.  Turned out terrific!

And when Thomas was in Santa Fe last week, he picked up one more hinge, so the door is on now.

Moral of the story...we make a great team!  My husband is super smart and has way more experience than me when it comes to all these things, and I appreciate his help.  He really is just so stinking awesome, and I need to swallow my "girl-power-pride" sometimes.  Sometimes.

(Hint hint, honey!  Want to help me finish the trim, so it gets done faster? "/)

Another good-bye...

This was sure a faithful car through many storms and sunny days...

...hopefully she will be equally faithful to the neighbor boys that bought her.  After our new fence along the highway was installed, I parked her out along the fence with a for sale sign in the window and headed into town to hang fliers at the post office and store.  But I hadn't made it more than half a mile and it was sold!

Goin', Goin', Gone! (Fare thee well, ol' Kentuckian!)

I mentioned last week that our newlywed home rolled away...a week ago today!  Thomas snapped a few shots of its departure.  We drove by it on Sunday - a tight fit on its new lot.  The guy who bought it has been living out of an RV for a few years, so I am curious how quickly we will get himself settled in.

 

Many memories in the Kentuckian: the first night after moving down from Denver when I scalded myself in the shower after breaking off the hot water handle.  Our first Christmas in New Mexico.  Our first remodel (of the kitchen).  Bob the mouse.  All our guests and shared meals.  Good times.  Many blessings!

Kid-tested and Mother-approved?

Thomas and I broke the house in (gratefully nothing in the house was broken) with a visit from my sister and her three boys under the age of five!  It was a wild week, a full-immersion into our life of fun, occasional power outages, mud, sun, Fire Station, a visit to the neighbor's chickens (that provided our morning eggs) and even a trip to the lake and the river.

I tried to prepare for their arrival with a trip to Costco and a trip to the library.  The first evening was pretty low-key, and our second day together was a great day for exploring around the property and making tia bread.  There were numerous trips to the pond to see the frogs, that somehow heard us coming, so we mostly saw the splash they made jumping away from us.

The second day ended with quite a surprise - a power outage from 6 - 7:30 pm.  The rice finished cooking on the wood stove, but the tia bread didn't really get to bake long enough.  After a dinner of tuna sandwiches and coloring by lantern/candle light, the boys were grateful that when the lights came back on in time for bed time.

These boys love to read, and I found some winners.

Wednesday we visited the lake and the fire station.  Thomas took the boys for a ride, and I dressed them up in hats and bunker gear.  Maybe I can get pictures from my sister, as my camera battery chose a bad time to die on me.

These boys wandered around with grocery bags picking up all sorts of treasures: 

rocks, pistachio shells, dead crawdads, sticks, and shells.

Admittedly, their mom and tia picked up a few rocks, too.

Baby Isaac enjoyed the lake...the only one to bear his toes and walk in, though the others got a little wet in the pursuit of their treasures.

So poetic - a pair of men waxing romantic under a tree about all sorts of life's ponderances.

Our last day all together we went to the river for a picnic.  The boys just love being out in nature.
  

I'd made the boys some capes, though I hadn't finished them all.  During nap time, I was able to finish the rest.

super hero or villain - either way he didn't feel like napping, so....

he helped his tia sew.

It was sad to see this wild bunch go, though I am glad they got out before the rain and snow the next morning.  I moped around for the weekend, which is pretty normal for me after company leaves, though with the weather being snowy, it made for a perfect restful movie-marathon by the wood stove.

A parting gift - watering the grass before hitting the road!

Sucked into the vortex...

March was a busy month - thus the lack of posts.

I started the month on trial - a murder trial.  I was in the jury until deliberation, at which point I was set free as an alternate.  He was guilty, so the jury's decision was which charge to go with.  I don't envy my new friends who handed over that verdict.

I lucked out on a trip to Denver to see the girls in Denver.  It was silly to have packed the snowshoes, as we had a lovely hike in the sunshine.  It was great to spend time with my old roomies.

Hooray for reunions!!

Then the month was subsumed with funerals, Holy Week, Easter, some extra hours in the office at church, picking up the administration/bookkeeping of our local water association, irrigating, dropping the car off in Pueblo for recall work, preparing the yard for a deck and garden, and then some.

The deck actually was a nice spot for breakfast twice this week, though it was covered in snow this morning.

It is about 16'x9', so a nice spot to hang out.  The cats think it is terrific to watch TV (Thomas or Tori Vigil).

I built the planter box behind it, though it filled with snow sooner than I could fill it with dirt.  Next: filling it with plants - I seeded tomatoes and peppers!

April was off to a similar start, including a meeting in Albuquerque, a trip to get the car, to Pueblo, to Confirmation, and all around preparations for a visit from my sister and her family!  A week off of work to play with my nephews was definitely in order after the hectic March, but I am still playing catch up!

IT'S GONE!!!

More than one thing is gone, but the biggest news - the trailer has driven away to its new home!!!  There is a big hole in the yard where it used to sit - the grass and firewood and alley of gravel that used to lead up to the doorway are all that remain.

 can't really see the empty spot under the snow we woke to this morning,

but it's there!

Thomas gets major kudos for helping with the transition, as I was working.  I understand the Penguin the cat almost stowed away in the loose insulation beneath it, but jumped out before it got more than thirty feet.  And then an axle malfunctioned, and they almost went off the road.  Thank goodness it made it to its new home in one piece!

Aiding in its departure, Pop has been working hard on clearing the fence.  The Highway Dept will be installing a barbed wire fence - easier to maintain than our old wooden jack fence.  So he unscrewed all the boards, and we just loaded all the wood up and hauled it to our gate, where it will find new life as a jack fence inside the property.  (It also meant the trailer didn't have to navigate the narrow gate and road onto the highway.)

Lagging....

I haven't posted much lately.  I am keeping busy, busy at work and at home, and most recently the camera was used to photograph the car, which we hope to sell!  Probably not through the blog, so no pictures of it.  It's been/being replaced by a "gently used" Toyota Tacoma, which the bank owns...my first vehicle financing....

Anyway, I wonder if I am lagging because I am caffeine-free at the moment.  Many, many moons ago - back in 1995, I gave up coffee for Lent.  The PNW espresso - hanging out at coffee shops (not old enough to hang out at a bar) phase was a good thing to give up for Lent.  The consequence was that I didn't start drinking it again - herbal tea, apple cider, cocoa, and such made a fine substitute.  Not to mention that shortly after I was a poor college student who didn't have disposable income for fancy coffee. 

If you came to the conclusion that I gave it up for Lent again, it's actually the opposite.  I just started drinking it again.  Oh sure, I have sipped off Tom's coffee at Santa Fe Baking Co. (it smelled so good), and there were a few occasional cups with a packet of hot cocoa after a late night, and once in a while Thomas would make a French Press of it on the weekends and allow me a mug of it, but only a few in twenty years.  BUT Thomas received a Keurig for Christmas, and I have started drinking again.  I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, but it smelled good.  (I'll have to post later on the special beans I love.) And it looks so yummy with all that cream and sugar swirling around in it. 

I am not trying to develop a habit, generally a cup every other week.  Two weeks ago I lamented over a headache I developed in the morning and then wondered if it was because I skipped the cup o'joe.  Not sure if the body can process an every other day habit, but I noticed I am lagging again today.  It might not help that I sometimes have 16 oz of coffee on the mornings I do drink it . . . it's so good!