Dec. 29, 2012 - Mr. Gnome

Say hello to our newest resident, Malo Morchella Logsaw, the Comatose Sentry of (our neighborhood), but you can just call him "Mr. Gnome" for short.

My Dad painted this a while back for my grandmother to place in her backyard.  He is heavy, weighing in around 80 pounds of solid concrete.  Pretty cool though.  The eye lashes are a great touch.  Evan asked me what was in the satchel and I responded, "whatever you want it to be".  His rebuttal was "it's probably mushrooms. heh heh heh."  I rolled my eyes.

Dec. 20, 2012 - LET IT SNOW!!!

Our first official snow in almost two years!  It was so pretty!  And I was not there to see it.  Sad face.  I was visiting my grandmother in Nashville and having a good time visiting while eating Witts BBQ and Krispy Kreme Donuts. 

Here is what is left of the Raised Garden.  It is pretty much done, but feel I should leave it be.  I will pull out the Brussel Sprouts and be done with them as they will never get past the worms that devoured it all summer and fall.  The Kale was good until the worms attacked it too.

Nov. 25, 2012 - The Living Room Garden

The temperatures are now too cold for the house plants to stay outside.  They did really well outside and now need a home on the table in the Dining Room with the southern exposure to the sun.

All the leaves have fallen from the trees and that means gutter cleaning time.  I will climb on the roof and clean out the gutters while Evan mows the lawn to mulch the leaves. 

Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 - Weston Irish Festival!!!

I am not completely Irish, but more Scottish with less likelihood of really being either one, but when I see these guys play, I feel completely Irish.  I know this has nothing to do with Our Small Yellow House, but every now and then, I blast their music on the radio and jam it out.  These guys are amazing and know how to rock the house and get the crowd going.  I am so proud to have them in our town!

They are  

* Flannigan's Right Hook *

FRH Facebook page here

FRH Calendar to find their next performance here

 

They are comprised of Cameron Russell on Guitar and lead Vocals, Shane Borth on Fiddle, Mandolin, and Vocals, and Michael Cochran on Drums and Vocals.  Guest appearances are Matt Shoaf on Bass Guitar, Ben Muñoz on Cello, and Tara McNeal on Fiddle.

Based in Kansas City, Missouri, they have a small, but faithful following of "Hooked" fans all over the country.  They will melt your face as they usher their great power of musical ballads.  They are well known for their amazing covers of Dougie Maclean's "The Gael" from the Last of the Mohicans Theme, U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" & "With or Without You", Cranberries' "Zombie", Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line", The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby", and so many more great songs.  Yet they show their true colors in their original songs, like "The Cave", "1981", "Mortician's Lament" and "Murphy's Wife".  Other great originals are "Cam's Jam" and O'Malley's Reel".  These debut the raw genius of their true talent. 

To find O'Malley's, you must go north past the Kansas City International Airport to Weston, MO and find yourself 50 feet below in an old cellar where Weston hosts the greatest Irish Fest you will ever experience.  The feel of an old Irish Pub resides in this place as the bar hustles with folks that love beer and live music.

Our favorite must haves:  Mine: Magners.  Evan's: Guinness.

We made a special trip up here for Evan's Birthday in May as they were scheduled to play on his birthday in Weston.  What a treat!!!  Evan was ecstatic!  

My Mom drove four hours especially for him to celebrate with us!

The drink choices are great and locally brewed on the property.  Weston Brewing Company does it well and has their beverages found in many grocers in the area.

Oct. 5, 2012 - Mushrooms!

A few mushrooms have popped up in the garden.  They look delicious!  Although, we will not be eating them.  I fear they may be poisonous.  I will not tempt that trick.  They found residence under the Kale and stayed there for weeks. 

Sept. 20, 2012 - Garden End of Season

As the year winds down, I pull what I can out of the garden to make some more yummy recipes.  

- Roasted Potatoes -

Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Chives, and Parsley from the garden roasted with garlic cloves and potatoes. 

- Spearmint Tea -  

Freshly Pulled Mint from the Garden and cooked in a pot of boiling water to extract the flavor.

- Pesto - 

 Freshly Pulled from the Garden and blended with Pine Nuts and Oil.

 

This made quite a bit and I was able to pour the mixture into ice trays and freeze them for a future use.  They are very delicious and taste well on spaghetti noodles and sprinkled with parmesan. 

The new mums were getting ready to bloom finally.

A few Kentucky Pole Beans were still growing. 

A couple of Sunflowers were still blooming.  

Still no Brussels Sprouts to be able to be eaten.  

Mr. Toad is still guarding the Mesclun mix.  

The nights have finally cooled off and we threw some logs on the fire pit and enjoyed the warmth until the rain started.  Good thing I made the fire extra big to withstand the hard rainfall. 

Sept. 16, 2012 - Office Makeover

The Master Bedroom was originally set up to be an office for Evan.  These next three photos were taken when we first looked at the house before we bought it.  The stuff was the previous owner's property.  Beautiful hardwood floor, lots of lighting and a door to a deck that overlooked the backyard.  It also had a master bathroom attached to the room.  I originally wanted to have my studio in this room.  The sink and the door to the backyard was exciting, but the space was fairly small for what I needed.

So I had the finished basement set up for me as a studio to do my artwork.  My Mom and Dad did a great job getting my studio set up as well as other rooms in the house ready for Evan and I to live in. 

The basement was a great space for me to do my artwork.  Plenty of space and great lighting.  It was great!  Of course it does not look this nice now.  Spider webs, dog accidents, dead bugs, and stuff stored in here that does not belong fill it and after the first sewage backup in the basement in early 2009, I have not done any work in the basement since.  The air is, well, basement smelling: moldy, poor air quality, humid, and very bug ridden.  I won't even get into how many spiders are crawling around down there with all the other creepy crawlies that make a living in a basement.  A few measures were taken to help co-erst me back down there.  I have put numerous bug traps down, charcoal, water absorbers, an electric dehumidifier, and candles to help make it a more comfortable workspace.  Several years have passed and I have not done any artwork down there.  Then the other day, another sewage backup spilled into the finished area.  Smelly, wet, and disgusting.  I felt defeated.  Why bother?

After four years of living in this house and this is the result of not using the master bedroom for anything but storage:
 

For some time now, Evan and I have been talking about moving my studio into the master bedroom, or at least a portion of it.  This room should be used and not as a wasted space.  It is a great room and is the largest bedroom.  Yet, with one look at the room,  I felt like I hit a wall.  Stuff everywhere, the decor unpleasant, and I did not know where to start.  So I had my friend, Racheal jump start this project with me.  We sorted through tons of unused clothes and miscellaneous goodwill items that we bagged up and moved out of the room.  The floor became finally visible and I felt like we had accomplished a great deal. 

If it was my choice, I would just dump everything in a box and give it to Goodwill.  Start fresh.  The problem is that this stuff has sentimental value to Evan and I don't want to be disrespectful of his stuff.  The frustrating thing about it is that we don't use any of this stuff hardly and it just sits there collecting dust - taking up space.

The other main issue with this room, is that we use it for a second guest bedroom when we have company.  So I have to keep an area for someone to stay if we have extra company for the holidays.  The futon is nice, but it takes up so much space in this room.

Evan and I went to Lowe's to find some new shades for the window and door.  What a difference with the new shades!  One step closer to getting this room done.

While we were there, we picked out a few other items, but did not purchase.  Just for ideas.  We found an inexpensive solid piece counter top to replace the old laminate top and stained porcelain sink. 

With that, it would need new hardware.  I like the tall faucet with one handle for the water value like I have in my bathroom, but my mom mentioned that it's height would splash a lot in the shallow bath bowl. 

So this shorter faucet looks nice and had a good price.  Again, these are only ideas for now.  With our budget, it may never take off as well.  All I can do is set a goal for now. 

The paint choices are as follows, a nice light solid warm brown that looks similar to the brown in the room already and cream colored trim.  I may leave the door it's natural color or lighten it up to help open the feel of the room up.  After all that, the shades may have to be changed again.  Hopefully not, as I really like the dark blue.  My only fear is that they may be too dark for this room.  I want the room to feel bigger and have lots of light, but want them to provide plenty of privacy once the sun goes down.  We will see.