Porch Progress.

So I realized recently that we never shared our new screened in porch.  I didn't do a very good job of documenting the process...but I was able to find a few pictures to show you!  

I found this photo from July. 

Dan did such an amazing job getting the railing up before Caleb's birthday party!  After the railing was up, the screening process didn't take too long.  But then the garden and yard took priority. 

Then later this fall, Dan re-built the steps!  Unfortunately, the steps will need to "cure" over the winter so we'll have to wait until spring to paint them white.

We cleaned up the flower beds this past weekend and planted some new bulbs, I'm excited to share pictures of the FINISHED project this spring with all the flowers in bloom!

And just to refresh your memory, here's a little before!!

happy halloween from our wiggly little rooster

Caleb HAD to be a rooster this year!  

His costume was a super easy DIY: hot glued some feathers to a onesie, added a red comb to a white hat (I made this hat from another onesie), and tape a pair of stuffed rubber gloves to his shoes!!  (check out more details here) 

Knowing that Caleb probably wouldn't be into the whole trick or treating thing, we decided to just stop by our church's trunk-or-treat event.  Unfortunately, it was a cold, rainy, windy, and SNOWY evening, so after about 3 cars, he was done!  We spent the rest of the time inside warming up with some cider then headed to our friends Chris & Alyssa's to play and hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters who braved the cold.

Despite the cold and SNOW, I think our little rooster had a great evening!  Maybe next year mama will remember to charge the camera batteries so we get some better pictures!


You can check out last years DIY costume here.

Saurkraut Party 2014

My parents had an incredible cabbage crop this year.

And by that I mean, 40+ cabbages weighing 2-4 pounds each!

Mom decided to have a party with family to pick, chop, and stomp the cabbage into saurkraut!

Everyone had a job, even the littles.  

Now we wait.  In a few weeks we'll have loads of saurkraut!!!

chicken coop + chicken update

Remember when we got chicks?  Well they aren't so little any more!

Meet Red, the friendliest of all the chickens.

And here's Roo, the feistiest of the two roosters we ended up with... and turns out their not "Ameraucanas", but actually a breed called "Easter Eggers"!

He's very protective of this little lady, our only Easter Egger hen....can't wait to get some beautiful colored eggs from this beauty.

This spring, Dan saw a listing on Craigslist for a free wooden privacy fence, all we had to do was go take it down.  We immediately thought this wood would make a fantastic chicken coop, so we spent a few weekends tearing down and hauling 100+ feet of fence wood home!

Then it took another month or so of weekends to actually build the coop, but we're pretty thrilled by the finished product!

The back door is perfect for accessing the food and cleaning out the coop.  There is a mesh window on the side to allow for ventilation and we'll add an old window in the winter so they still have light but will stay warmer.

We added an easy access door to the hen boxes for egg collection....making sure it was low enough that Caleb will be able to collect eggs on his own some day!

It didn't take long for the chickens to set up home and go in the coop on their own once it gets dark.  We close the front ramp at night to keep them safe.

Moving Up!

We've moved!!!!!

While Dan was away last week, my mom and I finished the master bedroom and moved up!

The week before his trip, Dan finished the trim upstairs and installed the closet organizer and we had the carpet installed on the stairs.

On Monday, after we spent countless hours deep cleaning what felt like inches of dust and filth from years of renovations, we sanded and painted the trim, cleaned again, then hemmed and hung curtains.

Then Tuesday, my mom brought up two great hand-me-down dressers {actually they were my brother and I's childhood dressers} and that lovely wooden pack-n-play.  I love how the different kinds of wood look with the light blue and white.

Next we carried baskets of clothes up and filled the closets and dressers.  Then, in a moment of craziness, we carried pushed the mattress and boxspring upstairs while the baby napped.

Later in the week, I made a bedskirt for the bed with the the second curtain from the diy upholstered headboard project.  Look for details later this week.

It feels amazing to finally be in the room we've been dreaming about for 2 years!  The other night as we were falling asleep, Dan and I marveled at the fact that the only things left on our to-do list are cosmetic!  That means we are done with major renovations!!  Ahh, feels amazing!

Remember when it looked like this!! Yuck!

master suite // sneak peek

We are so, so close to getting this space done.  So very close to finally moving upstairs.

We never expected this project to take this long (here's our first post about the space, April 2012).  We thought we'd be living up there by the time Caleb arrived (here's where we were a year later).  But as the story goes with most fixer-uppers, we had our fair share of roadblocks.

But, alas, here we are.  Nearing the finish line.  So close, in fact, that I've begun decorating!  The curtains have been hung and I'm working on cutting them to size.  Meanwhile, Dan is working at getting the trim up.

Here's what we've done so far:
replaced windows
gutted and built new bathroom
tiled shower
installed sink & toilet
re-wire/install new outlets
drywall & wallpaper stairwell
painted walls
hung ceiling fan
built second closet
re-insulate attic
installed new flooring in bedroom and bathroom (more on this coming soon!)

And what we have yet to finish:
cut curtains to size
finish trim
touch up paint on trim
install closet organization
install mirror and shelves in bathroom
have stairs carpeted
hang curtains on closets

Though the second list is nearly as long as the first, the items left to do are significantly less labor intensive!  Oh, we're close!!  Can't wait to share the finished product!

January food swap

Last weekend we joined nearly 30 others for the Northeast Indiana Food Swap.  I stumbled upon this group on Facebook earlier in the month and it sounded like just our thing.

If you know Dan and I well, you know that we dream of living in community with our friends and family and would love to live in a world without paper money but be able to barter/trade for all that we need with those family and friends.

photo credit : Mary Willems-Aker

The really neat thing about this swap is that you don't know what you will find.  Interested folks sign up for a ticket {you must have a ticket to attend}, but beyond that you're free to bring whatever you want in terms of food to trade.  However, all items must be homemade, homegrown, or foraged.

The swap lasts about 2 hours.  The first 20-30 minutes are for setting up your table with the items you hope to trade.  Dan and I brought some of our homemade vanilla extract, homemade almond energy bars, canned "just apples" sauce, and some spaghetti squash from our garden this past summer.

photo credit : Mary Willems-Aker

The second 30 minutes or so are for scoping out what items you'd like to trade for.  Swappers are encouraged to provide samples of their items when possible, so this time is for taste testing and bidding.  Each item is accompanied by a bid sheet similar to that of a silent auction.  If there is an item you're interested in, you make a bid, stating what you'd be willing to trade for said item.

Once everyone has had an opportunity to sample and bid, it's time to swap.  Dan and I's approach was to start with one item and seek out those who'd bid on it for something we wanted.  For example, a couple who brought homemade Kombucha had offered to trade a bottle of their Kombucha for our spaghetti squash.  Dan took the spaghetti squash to them and returned with a lovely bottle of Kombucha.  Once we'd traded all of our spaghetti squash we moved on to the vanilla, and so on.

It was a lot of fun to meet new people and try some new items.  It's a great feeling to know where your food comes from and to be able to have a conversation with the person who put their time, energy, and love into making it!!

Here's a peak at what we brought home...

• 2 lbs. lard
• 2 bottles Ginger Kombucha
• 2 bottles homebrew beer
• 1 jar picked carrots
• 1 jar cherry chutney
• 1 jar jalapeño jelly
• 1 jar vanilla peach butter
• 1 jar curried cauliflower
• coconut lara bars
• turkey, kale, and bean soup
• crockpot daal packet
• chocolate chip/cranberry scone
• coconut chocolate spread
• bag of salted caramel pretzel snack
• bag of homemade granola

If you're local, I highly recommend joining us for the April swap.  'Like' the Notheast Indiana Food Swap Facebook page to learn more!

experimenting with kombucha

frozen blueberries added as icecubes

Last night we tried our first batch of our homemade kombucha.  Not sure what kombucha is?  Read more here and here.

Dan has been eager to try his hand at making his very own kombucha for months.  For Christmas his sister and brother-in-law shared their "mother" and got him all the essentials to get started.  He also received two books on the topic : The Art of Fermentation and Kombucha!

The process is really super simple. Brew tea, add sugar, add "mother/scobe", and let sit .  Google "how to make kombucha" and you'll find loads of resources on the topic.

Our book, Kombucha!, suggested that we leave it set for 7-9 days, however we realized a few days in that it wasn't staying warm enough in our kitchen and transferred it onto our seed warming mat.  Because of the temperature, we allowed ours to sit for 10 days total before bottling it.

We were able to bottle 3 1/2 bottles from our first batch.  We even added blueberries to one of the bottles to try our hand at Kombucha Soda.  Once the bottles sit for another 2-3 days we should have a lovely carbonated beverage!

Interested in trying it for yourself?  Here's a list of 50 Kombucha recipes.  

Have you ever made Kombucha?  We'd love to hear your favorite recipe.