tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329591372024-02-20T19:54:37.240-05:00Deconstructing GoltKristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-2679497503675457352014-08-19T05:22:00.000-04:002014-08-19T05:22:15.929-04:00The Bees KneesI’m not sure where the phrase comes from (yes, I know
there is a terrific tool called Google that could instantly find the answer,
but dependency on instant gratification rather than giving into wonder is a
topic for another day.).
So, about those knees.
They are completely and utterly
functional. Michael and I have watched them for hours this summer carry all
sorts of Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-22788111763510802172014-03-16T18:05:00.001-04:002014-03-16T18:05:56.155-04:00A New LoveIt really was love at first sight. As soon as he was in my cart, I knew it was meant to be. Even the cashier could see that we would be happy together.
The miter saw? Yes, he’s still dependable, but I know what he’s all about. There are no more surprises there. The pneumatic nail gun? Frankly, he just makes me nervous. I know he’s great, but I never quite feel comfortable with him or in control.Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-85815127809158191902014-01-24T15:24:00.003-05:002014-03-16T16:40:52.546-04:00Baby, it’s cold outside
Our local weather forecasters seem to forget this simple fact every year and act surprised when the temperature dips and snow falls.
Winter isn’t my favorite season, but there is a beauty in it. A softness, a quiet like no other season. I try to enjoy it and know that if I dress appropriately, I can even go out in it. There is no love, no hate, but an understanding and acceptance.
Well, Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-84786350532742945672014-01-15T17:54:00.001-05:002014-01-15T17:54:31.134-05:00To grow a garden is to believe in the future. I’ve seen this quote a few times, and some of the time it is attributed to Audrey Hepburn. I never thought much about her – positive or negative, good or bad, but I love this quote. Turns out, she found solace in her garden near the end of her life, or at least that is what is documented on her hospice care. My guess is that if she found peace in her garden at the end of her life, it probably Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-29438409929435948302013-12-27T10:48:00.004-05:002013-12-27T10:49:23.368-05:00Lessons LearnedIn 2013, I lost three people who were very important to me. I’m not sure each of them knew how much they influenced my life, but I do know that their tremendous spirits will live on in me, in my life and in my home.
I first met Mr. Myers* at his home that Michael rented for years. I ended up living there for a couple of years, too. In fact, a few of us did and it always felt like family. The Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-86604914787777758772013-11-18T12:09:00.001-05:002013-11-18T12:09:14.836-05:00Work Ethic (Apothecary, Part 1)
I worked for my dad for years at a pharmacy in Missouri. I still
remember driving down Ward Parkway in his truck listening to talk radio
and willing him to drive faster. I’m not sure why I was in such a rush
to get to work, but I was young and almost always in a hurry. And, of
course, I thought my dad was slow because that’s just how teenage girls
are.
While working at the downtown Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-54246474976519729952013-11-17T09:00:00.000-05:002013-11-17T11:43:25.048-05:0015 million recalled, but ours wasn’t oneI woke up to the smell of an electrical fire. You know that burning acidic plastic smell? If you don’t, it’s a smell that you can’t easily forget. It was about 3 in the morning and it was strong . I had to first figure out if I was dreaming or awake. Unfortunately, I was awake and then really awake.
We had recently replaced outlets in the kitchen so I immediately thought I knew the source. I Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-38384738425468717002013-01-13T11:59:00.000-05:002013-01-13T11:59:20.023-05:00I think I canRight now we have 30 pints and three quarts of pickles. Dill, bread and butter, sweet and spicy, and old southern lime. In 2011, we didn’t even finish one jar of store bought pickles.
Our cucumbers took over the garden. It was my own fault. I started the plants from seed back in the spring. Planted them too early and they looked dreadful. I panicked in early May, post frost, and bought two Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-58342788098220508042012-08-19T08:55:00.000-04:002012-08-19T08:55:16.692-04:00It is so… eclectic.She said.And not in a good way. In my memory, her face was slightly upturned and her nose crinkled. There were no other witnesses, so I stand by the description.Yep, I said.And there we were, standing on my deck disagreeing but not being disagreeable. She was the landscape architect and I am the homeowner.
I like things that go together, but I don’t like matching. She clearly was a fan of Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-75621842019727973982012-07-10T19:58:00.000-04:002012-07-10T20:34:02.324-04:00Have a seat
I found two chairs at a yard sale. We ended up there because
our experience at a local “man sale” was less than satisfying. For weeks a sale
that would appeal to the men of Kent Island was advertised on local web sites
and on strategically placed signs. I fell for it, and Michael did too.
I had visions of power tools, equipment, gear… all at
affordable prices. I talked Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-36342845099098226602012-07-08T16:49:00.000-04:002012-07-08T16:56:02.510-04:00Someone’s in the kitchen…
There is a list still a mile long and this is just to get
the current kitchen livable. Yes, outlet covers are still missing, the ceiling
needs to be patched and painted, and the other side of the kitchen is still
missing drywall. Yikes.
Not quite an "after" photo, but close enough.
But, we have curtains, a pretty back splash (and all my fingers!) and paint on the walls. Gone are layers of Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-35752661309574314022012-05-16T14:35:00.000-04:002012-05-16T14:35:22.359-04:00It was really bad….
It's at this point, you know you can't go back
Before it got a little better. Our kitchen was one of the more usable rooms in the house, but we didn’t really like it. We started by finding some really inexpensive tile about a year ago. For less than $100, we thought we could transform the current kitchen to a slightly prettier version that we could live in for about five years.
Our Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-44132105422773153532012-03-03T09:18:00.005-05:002012-03-03T09:23:38.337-05:00Sometimes I wonder...Why we didn't just knock it down and do this:Minus the highrise buildings in the background, of course.Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-3212980998552266272012-02-27T18:33:00.006-05:002012-02-27T18:59:54.913-05:00More places to stick the ever-growing to do listsI made a magnet board with found objects. Well, mostly found objects, I had to buy the magnets. Scrap pieces of wood plus photocopied crab placemat and champagne corks (drilled out the cork and stuffed in the circle magnets – no glue, friction just keeps them in) make for a rustic and fun board.Not sure of where it will end up, but it won’t be on the kitchen counter (note the sneak peek of the Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-31151921883698208122012-02-27T18:17:00.004-05:002012-02-27T18:24:54.046-05:00Top that... counter editionWe had really ugly countertops in the kitchen. This is the first step of thousands to make our kitchen more livable. We have plans to move the kitchen to another room, but keep this intact and usable until we tackle that project. My conservative estimate? 2015.The first photo was taken the second weekend we had the house as you can see by the circa 2005 cell phone charging. The second was… later.Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-70952485280238110022012-02-12T14:45:00.007-05:002012-02-12T14:51:25.574-05:00Top that... and thatWe had a very functional card table, but not very pretty. I think it’s the same table every family had in the 70s with the gray vinyl top complete with cracks and a random cigarette burn or two. I’ve used it for years with a nice bright white tablecloth and it worked just fine. But with a little spray paint and super discounted fabric purchased online, it is now ready for any event.Because I Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-61606273644822950412012-01-21T16:36:00.004-05:002012-01-21T16:43:31.701-05:00The Tale of Two FansI don’t like ceiling fans. I understand the benefits of fans, of course. But, aesthetically, they are ugly. And, our house came with the ugliest of the ugly. Eventually, we will replace them and Michael and I will again discuss the merits of light fixtures with and without rotating blades. Until then, we are stuck with fake wood, bronze monstrosities with weird flower-like glass appendages.As I Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-74626873620521230732011-12-31T08:11:00.003-05:002011-12-31T08:19:30.824-05:00Top 10I love the lists at the end of the year – nice reminders and a countdown of sorts. We live with lists every day with our house projects – we have separate lists, a combined list on a dry erase board and a working spreadsheet on the computer. Even with all of those lists, I can’t help but do a list to capture all of the reasons I am glad we moved here, so here goes and in no particular order….10.Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-47570747479798701552011-12-23T15:44:00.005-05:002011-12-23T15:51:37.129-05:00Come on, IreneWe’re catching up on the blog so there will be some random, out of sequence posting. In September, our area was under a mandatory evacuation for Hurricane Irene. Sounds pretty scary, right? We did a bit of research that consisted of polling our neighbors on what that meant. Most importantly, we found out that that doesn’t mean you have to leave your home. However, you have to understand that it Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-61858403496776837942011-08-14T13:04:00.004-04:002011-08-14T13:08:52.742-04:00A picture is worth a thousand words...And my camera broke.
Welcome to the family, Canon Powershot S95!
Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-49740279485180036882011-08-14T12:40:00.003-04:002011-08-14T13:00:20.785-04:00Enchanté<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 <![endif]-->On a tour through Brussels, I met the nicest plant. Our guide had purchased it that morning at the market and brought it with him. It was love at first sight for me, but it quickly developed into love for life after having smelled it’s citrus scent. There was no tag, no name and nothing familiar about this plant. I asked, but learned that he Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-22447640017367185102011-08-14T12:16:00.007-04:002011-08-14T12:31:03.618-04:00Homesteading is not for meOr, I could have called this post: Grocery Stores are Great.
I picked 52 tomatoes and 6 cucumbers the other day, so I knew canning was in my future. I’ve done regular tomato canning in the past and decided I should save a step and make sauce right away complete with fresh basil from the garden. The sauce is terrific and fresh, but after 52 tomatoes and 8 hours in the kitchen, I ended up with 4 Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-9864130851830687722011-05-08T12:45:00.004-04:002011-05-08T12:51:21.804-04:00Going to PotI was in search of soilless growing material. I had no idea what it was or what it looked like, but knew that a search online brought many sites for growing marijuana at home. I ventured to Home Depot and the result was really no different than my fruitless online search. Then I went to our local nursery (a brief aside, it’s called Lowe’s. I think it’s an unfortunate name because of the big box Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-42381705910524237932011-03-07T17:48:00.002-05:002011-03-07T17:52:58.468-05:00Potty HumorJust one of the many differences between us... Michael reads the description for the incinolet, an electric incinerating toilet, and considers it a viable option for our upcoming bathroom remodel. I read it and think of, um, burning shit.Don't get us started on the urinal debate...Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32959137.post-73473304282607437232011-02-06T15:23:00.003-05:002011-02-06T15:34:34.644-05:00Good-buy, VWA nice man Michael found on ebay bought his VW. We hadn’t even tried to start it for years. We have so many projects that take priority over this cute, but needy car. I have fond memories of the Rabbit – I bought my first Christmas tree in it and drove it home to Fell’s Point with the top down... in the snow. Michael also has fond memories, but the only one I remember is that he was struck by Kristen & Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06929003017866436865noreply@blogger.com1