A Fail and a Win 01/25/2012
 I had this amazing idea in my mind -- writing this awesome tutorial for turning an IKEA dresser into a bench. I thought it would be, well, epic. It was maybe an epic fail, but not a very good tutorial. I purchased a RAST. The idea of a $35 converted bench was so exciting. I ended up managing to make a seat -- for a little kid. It's small. It's cheap pine. It tried to split each time I waved the drill in its general direction. It didn't work. It is now destined for the thrift store  Dinner tonight was a definite win. Cypress Grove's dill chevre, PsycheDillic, spread on Breadnik's Bread of the Month, Sunshine Bread -- basically a savory sweet potato bread -- and topped with fresh blueberries, walnuts, and local honey. I served it with a Navarro Gewurztraminer and a green salad... amazing doesn't even cover the awesomeness of the meal. Seriously, try it with comparable ingredients in your area. You'll thank me. You will. I'll accept gifts inspired by your gratitude. Add Comment Donner 01/17/2012
 I was getting quite the case of cabin fever after being sick for so long, so my first venture out for exercise was prerequisite-ly memorable. My Charles and I drove to Donner State Park and were surprised by a light dusting of snow in this very dry year. The news hadn't said anything about the chance for any pretty powder, so our snow puppy was quite pleased. So were we. It was a balmy 25 degrees for most of our hike, but the vistas made up for it. I Can Make Resolutions Two Weeks In 01/14/2012
 We have two cats and a dog. What does that have to do with resolutions and goals? Well, I'll tell you. You see that kitty on the left? That's Jazz. She hasn't been completely happy with us since we moved from our rental (a converted barn with a sunroom -- kitty bliss) into the house that we own. She was not pleased and showed it on the carpet. (Mabel, our other cat, is a lot more laid back and would probably be horrified if she made a mess.) Then we added a dog to the list, and Jazzy REALLY wasn't pleased. She ruined the carpet. So the first thing on our 2012 home goals is: 1. Replace the carpeting in the house. We're saving our final call until we go look at flooring, but at this point, we're focusing on bamboo. 2. Paint the outside of the house. 3. Fix and/or replace the deck. 4. Create a garden. 5. Finally build that clothesline. 6. Build a railing for our new, beautiful concrete steps. 7. Finally build a pergola over the front door (and maybe a second one for the deck). 8. Finish the bathroom (sink vanity, flooring, medicine cabinet, toilet). 9. Organize the laundry room. 10. Replace the kitchen countertops with white quartz, change faucet, add backsplash. 11. Extend Bodie's yard. 12. Get a Tough Shed garage. Plus there are lots of little projects including trimming out the bookcases and adding baseboards to my office. I'm optimistic about getting this laundry list done because we only have one house to focus on this year. And buckle-up because I'm going to share my personal resolutions, too.  1. Nurture an Open Heart. 2. Write more (freelancing, blogging, etc.). 3. Be healthier. (I started the year off with pneumonia, so I'm hoping to only improve from here on.) 4. Let the blog's readers get to know me better. (Have some more diverse posts.) 5. Embrace Nevada County more, seek to make it home. 6. Explore and hike in Tahoe -- it's only 45 minutes away! 7. Take more overnight camping trips with the pup. 8. Keep painting, even if I don't have any upcoming shows. There you have it -- two very full lists. As always, I'll share the processes, and since I'm hoping my camera will become another appendage, there should be lots of photos. An Open Heart 01/06/2012
 A photo of Badwater, Death Valley I took in 2010. One of my goals for the year -- something I began to focus on a few weeks ago, in fact -- is to have an open heart. There are many ways of interpreting this. One of them is by being more accepting of others' belief systems. My own beliefs and experiences, and therefore my prejudices, don't have anything to do with how others interact with the world. While I may see things with a more scientific bent, that's not how everyone sees it. If the way a person views the world makes them more kind, giving, and accepting of others, that's wonderful. The way isn't important. The result is. So imagine my chagrin -- and anticipation -- when I was asked to write an article about Mormons. My dad's side of the family is Mormon. I have a lot of experience with the church. Many of those experiences were painful and scarring. BUT those experiences had nothing to do with the (very, very nice) people that I interviewed for the piece. They were trying to help others in the ways they knew how. I'm grateful I got to talk with them. I enjoyed my conversations and felt good that my interactions with them were nothing but positive. So far, I'm delighting in my journey of an open heart. Next week, I'll be back with the blogging tradition of goals and resolutions for 2012. How's the year treating all of you so far?. From Right to Left 12/27/2011
 Scrapes. I promised to share my most current one. Two and a half weeks ago, I was making dinner, much like I do every night. It was the end of the work week, and I was feeling a little irritable and tired. When scraping out the last bits of the pasta sauce, the spatula got stuck in the jar. Then the handle pulled out of the rubber scraper. The stress building on top of the normal end of the week stuff added to the picture in my mind, well, let's just say my enthusiasm to get-that-spatula-out overrode my sense of caution. One broken jar and a deep, jagged cut on my thumb later, I was emergency-bound for a long wait and six stitches. Suddenly, it felt like I couldn't do anything I wanted to. I couldn't put on a bra. I couldn't type. I couldn't write. Everything I tried involved heaping amounts of pain. Plus, I had planned on beginning a new series of black and white paintings. Argh! My plans for the black and white pieces required a fully-functional dominant hand, but that didn't mean that I was going to sit idly by and internally mock myself for my ridiculous action (I did that too) while not getting anything done. Nay! I was going to channel the constant, throbbing pain and the challenge of learning how to do things with my left hand. It took two weeks of clumsy painting and writing descriptions (sometimes repeated) on my experiences, but I managed to finish a piece using only my left hand. It may be a bit trippy, but I feel quite accomplished. . Happy Holidays 12/23/2011
 Happy holidays. You guys are awesome! I hope you have a splendid weekend with tons of goodies and giggles. . An Oops Makes a Great Turkey 12/21/2011
 There's a bit too much Anne Shirley in me. I have a habit of getting into scrapes (more on my most recent one next week) and of not being able to follow recipes properly. Case in point, my Thanksgiving turkey this year. I got a recipe from Food Network in my inbox and thought, "This sounds mighty tasty." I'm a big fan of brining turkey, and the list of ingredients intrigued me. What's more, I was teaching a former vegetarian friend how to cook a turkey this year, and I thought the instructions sounded quite easy to follow. Thank goodness for my friend, Aimee! I picked up the ingredients in advance and began to prep the veggies that would be put in the brine. She noticed that instead of purchasing apple cider, I had gotten apple cider vinegar. Classic Mellisa cooking in action. We used the vinegar instead -- I thought the tang would be interesting, and the extra acidity would help with tenderizing the bird. The next morning, I was regretting that decision. What if we pickled our birds? This was Aimee's first Thanksgiving turkey -- what if my inattentiveness had ruined it? I racked my brain for options. I knew it needed to be in the same flavor profile as the vinegar. It needed to be sweet to balance the tanginess. What to use? Ah, apple butter would be perfect! The sweet and spicy and apple-y-ness would work wonders (I hoped). I picked up a couple of jars, dropped one off at Aimee's house, and took one home to my turkey. After patting the bird dry, I separated the skin from the rest of the carcass then liberally coated the between part with the apple butter and one stick of butter. I coated the cavity as well to make sure that everything would be graced with the apple numminess and followed the rest of the directions from the recipe PROPERLY. Thankfully, it turned out wonderfully. I may use the altered recipe again next year. It would make a splendid Christmas turkey, too. Of course, I could always try to follow the recipe correctly, but that might just be an impossible feat. Acorn Squash Lasagna 12/14/2011
 My favorite lasagna recipe involves seasonal acorn squash and oodles of ricotta. It's a Martha recipe, but of course, I can't follow her directions to the letter, so my creation is a little easier to make -- I layer squash AND cheese on the same layers. Scandalous, I know! Of course, I also use whole wheat noodles I have to cook as well as real acorn squash I have to treat the same way, so in that sense, I've made it a more difficult recipe than the original. Be that as it may, I've made this dish a few times this fall, and it's always a hit. To prepare the squash, cut it in half and scrape out the seeds. Rub butter on the cut halves and place in a 350 degree, preheated oven. Cook about 45 minutes or until a fork easily slides into the squash. Let cool and scoop out of the shell. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper and mash with a fork until nicely combined. Then follow The Martha's directions to create some tasty, tasty lasagna. . Year in Review 12/05/2011
 The year is almost at an end, so it's time to review my to-do list for 2011. Some things got done. Many things didn't. Some projects, like the Concord House, had to get done so that we could sell it. Some things I hadn't planned on, like the gutter for the deck side of the house, got installed. Originally, I hadn't expected to have our concrete stairs poured this year, but the old steps became so hazardous, we just had to have it done, and we're really happy we did. The new stairs are awesome. More on the gutter -- we replaced the sliding glass door after finding that the original one was still leaking. I didn't get my French doors that I wanted, but taking the space into consideration, another slider was really the best choice, as well as being almost half the price of French doors. However, we discovered after a heavy rainstorm that the new door was also having a leak problem. Ugh! I decided that the only way to avoid leaks was to prevent splash-back from water pouring off of the roof and landing on the deck. We went with Byers' Leaf Guard gutters because they have really wide downspouts, and best of all, a zero maintenance guarantee. If anything ever breaks or the gutter needs to be cleaned, they come out to deal with it free of charge. We've had one rainstorm and so far, the gutter seems to be working. Thank goodness! The new slider has a great Energy Star rating, so even though it didn't fix the rest of the leak problem, it was a good purchase. All completed projects are in green. There's not much of it. I'm going to go hang my head in shame now. 1. replace dry-rotten siding The most important project of the year. 2. paint outside of house I think I've finally decided to do gray with blue trim. 3. build a clothesline I have the plans. I just need to do it. 4. build a firewood holder We got more than we needed for this winter, so we'll need to create something to store it for next winter. 5. purchase a storage shed We don't have a garage or basement, so this is very important. 6. purchase a carport Our cars take a beating in this weather. 7. build a fence around 1/4 of our property Bodie needs more runnin' room. 8. install baseboards in my office Can you believe I haven't done this yet? 9. build the built-in shelves in my office How I'll finally finish my office space. 10. paint bathroom The previous owners painted it matte without any mildew resistant additives. 11. repaint trim throughout the house Again, the previous owners painted it matte. 12. repaint living space We haven't actually changed any of the paint in the house since we bought it. 13. purchase a new, Energy Star refrigerator This is a must -- both for efficiency and for storage space. 14. replace the deck This may not happen this year, but it needs to happen soon. 15. build a pergola over the front door for shade I just couldn't get into the sunshade look, and a pergola will fit the style of the house as well as giving some architectural interest to our box of a home. 16. purchase a new water heater It's original to our '77 home. and for my Charles' dad's house: 17. finish removing the rest of 35+ years of accumulation 18. gut & replace both bathrooms Since we live 3+ hours away, we'll hire out for this. 19. replace carpet throughout house Same as #18. 20. paint inside of house, including kitchen cupboards A Grand Entrance 11/17/2011
 Since we bought the house, I've wanted to replace the steps that lead down to our front door. They were wood resting on dirt -- never a good idea. To add insult to potential injury, the top of the stairs were actually railroad ties that were loose, as was the railing next to them. The ties made a 90 degree turn to the wooden steps which made it extremely difficult to carry large items, like refrigerators and couches, down them. While we may not purchase those types of items very often, it's made me fear for the safety of delivery men and women whenever we've received a heavy item. Plus, I was fearful for our visitors' safety.  Today I'm as giddy as can be because we have new, gorgeous, permanent stairs. Locals, American Concrete Pumping did them, and they're wonderful! John King had so many great ideas for how to make the steps more functional. He added landings and softened the curve up the slope. Plus, the stairs now are further out, so I'll have a lot more garden space come spring. My Charles and I did the demo work, as you can see in the slide show below. It was a pretty easy demo job. It took about two hours. The only issue was the scorpion (!) that we encountered when digging out the last of the ties and first of the wooden steps. All in all, I'm ecstatic. The new stairs are pretty, more functional, safer, will be easier to climb in the snow, and I love the gray. When we paint the house gray this next year, it will tie in beautifully. Yay concrete stairs! . | Book Syrup
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