Busy Weekend, and Bloggy Business

Wow, what a Saturday we’ve had so far!  Today I helped Handy Man start to put the vinyl siding on the shed.  We finished two sides today.

I bought Handy Boy’s Halloween costume today (no, I don’t sew).  He is going to be Spongebob this year.

We took out our containers of fall decorations.  I will probably put up our  fall decorations tomorrow.

More shed siding tomorrow (the project that will never end!), and who knows what else.  I have a lot more shed photos to post.

I also wanted to say THANK YOU to all of our readers, new and old.  Yesterday, our blog hit an all-time record for hits!  We were amazed!  I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading, and that both old and new readers will keep coming back.  I’ve enjoyed reading your comments, reading lots of other blogs, and meeting other bloggers online as well.

Thanks to Remodelaholic and Frugal and Fabulous Design for being the first two blogs to feature us on their blogs.  We were delighted!

Our one year blogging anniversary is coming up on October 1st.  I can’t believe it!  We’re looking to do some giveaways to celebrate.  Do you have a product or gift certificate you would like to give away to promote your business or blog?  If anyone wants to participate in a giveaway the first week of October, please let us know.  Your giveaway should be related to the topics on our blog.  Please email us to discuss at handymancraftywoman@gmail.com.

We’re also looking for guest bloggers for the first week of October.  Do you have photos of a before and after renovation project, a great recipe, an organizing project, etc, that would fit in with our blog?  Please email us to discuss.

Lots to come next week!

The Wood Pellets are Here!

We recently ordered wood pellets for our stove for the winter.  We talked my brother into coming over to help us bring them into the basement.  I didn’t get any pictures of them working, but here’s a picture of the ginormous piles:

I hate to think about it, but we’ll probably be turning this thing on within a month…ugh!  We do love the feel of the heat from the pellet stove, but I hate to think about the approaching cold.

Here’s a picture of the stove in action last winter.  It’s actually kind of pretty when it’s running.  The heat just feels so much warmer than our baseboard heat.  We bought this stove when the cost of oil went crazy-high.  Even though the cost of oil has gone down, the pellets are still less expensive than oil.

You can check out this link that I wrote last year for some ideas on how to conserve heat in the winter.

What type of heat do you use in the winter? (If you have to use heat at all?!)  Do you have it ready yet?

Wordless Wednesday

Linking to: It’s a Blog Party

Just DO It, Already

This was a nice, quick project that I’ve been meaning to work on for ages now.  I know this isn’t a bad “before”, but it was getting hard to find things in this drawer.  We call it the phone book drawer, but I decided to toss the phone book into recycling.  We never use it anymore; if we need a phone number, we look it up on the internet.

The pink flowered book holds our phone numbers for friends and family.  Yes, I still use a paper phone book for that. 🙂

I sorted through the pens, and bought two small plastic containers to corral everything.  I put scissors in the drawer because I always seem to need them.  I also put a small pencil sharpener in there, since Handy Boy always seems to need one when working on his homework.

I had been meaning to organize this drawer, but I kept forgetting to buy the organizers!

Is there a small project that you have been meaning to do that would make a difference in how you function?  Let’s stop procrastinating and just do it!

Linking to: We’re Organized Wednesday/The Shabby Chic Cottage/A Little Knick Knack/Tidy Mom/Funky Junk Interiors/I Heart Naptime/House of Thrifty Decor/New Nostalgia

Decorating with Antique Glass Jars

I wanted to show some of the antique glass jars that we have.  We use them to hold our collections of white rocks, sea shells, and sea glass that we’ve found at nearby beaches.

I took these first three photos outside, since it’s so cloudy here today, and my inside photos were coming out too dark.

White rocks…

…sea glass…and even a ring that we found (can you see it?)

It will take us a while to fill these up, but I think they are pretty to put on a shelf or windowsill.

Since our house is new-ish, we don’t have wide windowsills.  This pass-through from the kitchen to the family room is the widest “window sill” that we have, so that’s where they live.  I think they would look even prettier on a window sill that gets lots of sunshine.  Our jars are light blue, but they come in other colors as well.  You can usually find these jars in antique stores for around $8 – $20 apiece.  Some styles and colors cost more than others.

Two of our jars are labeled “Atlas” and one is labeled “Ball.”  Jars like this are commonly referred to as Ball Jars, even if they aren’t that specific brand.  If you are interested in looking for more information about Ball Jars, check out The Ball Jar Collector’s Web Site. He has a huge collection!  He also shows Ball Jars in different colors, and explains how the different colors of glass were made.

Linking to: A Silly Little Sparrow/All Thingz Related/House of Grace/Coastal Charm/It’s so Very Cheri/My Backyard Eden/Someday Crafts/Tales from Bloggeritaville/Somewhat Simple/Beyond the Picket Fence/Finding Fabulous/The Shabby Nest/My Romantic Home/It’s a Blog Party/Just a Girl/a Little Lovely/Under the Table and Dreaming/Cottage Instincts/The DIY Showoff/Beneath My Heart/A Little Knick Knack/Making the World Cuter

Do you collect anything?  Tell us about it.

Old House Eye Candy

Does anyone like old houses?  Last week, Handy Man had a couple of days off, so we went to Portsmouth and toured Strawbery Banke, a living history museum in Portsmouth, NH.  There is a visitor’s center with a short video about Strawbery Banke, and then you can take a self-guided tour through the grounds.  There are houses from the late 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s. The homes were decorated for different time periods; and some homes were still being renovated.

The walls of some homes were opened so you could see the layers of plaster, lath and timber that they used to build the houses. Rob was very interested in the construction techniques.  There were also a few people cooking on the hearths…the food smelled SO good!

There was so much to look at; these photos are just a sampling.

Rob checks out the oldest home in Strawbery Banke, built in the 1790s.

For those interested in gardens, they had several gardens that are maintained in the style of different time periods.  There was also an interesting store that had packages of food from 1940’s war time, and displays about ration stamps used during that time period.

This house isn’t part of Strawbery Banke, but it was nearby and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it.  There are also walking and virtual tours of historic landmarks in Portsmouth NH that you can take: Portsmouth Harbour Trail.

I don’t think that I have written about this yet, but we have owned two old houses in the past.  One of my (big!) projects is to add photos of our old houses to this site, and pictures of the renovations that we did.  I’m not sure when that will happen, but stay tuned! (By the way, the house we live in now was built in the 1990s, but that is a story for another day…)

Do you like old houses?  Did you grow up in one, or do you live in one now?

Thrifty Clothing Finds

This week, I went shopping for some clothes that Handy Boy needs for fall.  I went to a few stores and hit the clearance racks.  I never shop for “back to school clothes” before school starts.  Handy Boy can still wear his shorts and t-shirts for a while, and he seems to have a growth spurt every fall.

I would love to be able to get clothes for Handy Boy at thrift and consignment stores, but unfortunately, that’s not possible any more.  Second hand stores have more clothing for babies, toddlers, and younger children.  Handy Boy is a size 10 now, and I just can’t find clothes in that size in second hand stores.

I found some shirts on sale at Kohl’s and Sears.  I bought two short sleeved shirts and three long sleeved shirts.

I also took out these three shirts.  I had stored these shirts in Handy Boy’s dresser.  We bought them back in the spring from a clearance rack for $2.49 each!!  Can you believe it?

Here’s the proof:

I don’t like the idea of paying $24 for ONE SHIRT for a child, but $2.49?! Awesome!

Here are the two short sleeved shirts that I bought:

I recently found a site called thredup.  It’s an online site where you can trade gently used children’s clothing.  Unfortunately, there isn’t much for boy’s size 10 clothing there, either; but I thought I would pass along the info.

I absolutely hate paying full price for clothing for myself, Handy Man or Handy Boy.  We always check clearance racks, second hand stores and sales.  Last year, I bought Handy Boy a nice winter coat for $1 in a thrift store! ONE dollar!  Check out this post about some thrifty winter items I bought for Handy Boy last winter.  Click here to see the nice rain coat I bought for the Boy for $1.99.

Linking to: The Thrifty Home/It’s a Blog Party

How do you save money on clothing?

Organizing Photos, Before & After

Recently, my crafty friend Danielle said that she needed to organize her photos and scrapbook supplies so she could work on her crafts. I offered to go over to her house recently to help with the organization.

Danielle is very crafty: she makes cards, scrapbooks, and makes cute Christmas ornaments.  This idea that I posted in December about simple ornaments was from Danielle.

Danielle had been ordering photos online, but they were in piles.

She had started to organize the photos, but hadn’t gotten too far.

I will post more “before and after” photos of her scrap room another time, but for now, here’s the photo project.  She gathered all of her photos together, and started going through them.

After I left, she continued working.  She put tabs in between categories and sorted the photos into plastic containers and photo boxes.  Photo boxes can be purchased inexpensively at most department stores.

I am using my label maker to make labels for Danielle’s photo boxes…I ran out of labels (eeek!), but I will get them to her soon.

MUCH better!  Great job, Danielle. Now she can start making cute scrapbook pages again.

A few photo organizing tips:

• Gather all of your photos into one place.
• Go through photos and sort them into general piles.  It’s okay to pitch photos that are blurry or too dark.  They are not going to get any less blurry or dark.  I am giving you all permission to throw away crummy photos.  Really.
• Use index cards or simple pieces of paper to make dividers.  General labels like “Wedding”, “School”, “Christmas” or “Kids” are OK. You may already have photo boxes or containers in the house, but if you have to purchase some they are usually only $4 or $5 apiece.
• Put your photos into photo boxes with lids, to keep them dust-free and away from light.

Danielle and I love to scrapbook.  However, even if you don’t scrap, it’s nice to have all your photos together so it’s easier to look through them.

For more scrapbook organizing info: see this link for how I used my label maker to organize my scrapbook paper.  Also see this link about the table I use to store my scrapbook supplies.

Anyone need to organize some photos?

Linking this up to: The Shabby Chic Cottage/Somewhat Simple/Beyond the Picket Fence/Tales from Bloggeritaville/Fingerprints on the Fridge/A Little Knick Knack/Tidy Mom/Chick on a Shoestring Decorating/Frugal & Fabulous Design/We are That Family/Organize and Decorate Everything

More Garage Organization

Rob is still working on organizing in the garage while he works on the shed.  He took a metal shelf from this wall in the garage and moved it to the shed, leaving this wall blank.

Time for more pegboard!  Rob hung up some strapping…

…then hung up a new piece of pegboard.  He made cut-outs for a light switch and an outlet…

…and hung up some more tools and “man stuff”.  Here are pictures of the other pieces of pegboard in the garage.

Pretty nice, huh?  I never thought I’d get excited about organizing in the garage and shed, but I seem to be on an organizing kick right now.

Linking up to: Someday Crafts/House of Hepworths/My Romantic Home/Remodelaholic/It’s a Blog Party/Under the Table and Dreaming/I Heart Naptime/It’s So Very Cheri/The Girl Creative Party Blog/The DIY Showoff/Frugal & Fabulous Design/Tidy Mom

Still to come soon: more work on the shed, some thrifty clothing finds for Handy Boy, and some scrapbook organization in my friend Danielle’s house.

Also: Check out the Link Parties page that I’ve posted.  I’ve discovered some really great home blogs, and they have link parties where other home bloggers post their ideas.  You can find so many great crafty/home/recipe ideas.  Beware though, you might spend too much time checking out the ideas! 😉

Back to School

Labor Day always means “Back to School” time to me.  When Handy Man and I were children, we always started school after Labor Day.  Handy Boy started last week.  Many children in different areas of the country have already been in school for several weeks.

I was (secretly) glad that Handy Boy started school last week so I can have some quiet time.  I have so many projects I want to work on!  I will start working part time in a couple of weeks, but until then, there’s lots to do…blogging, scrapbooking, laundry, dishes, more laundry, more dishes…

I had some fun buying new school supplies for the Boy.  He didn’t need much, thankfully.  I’ve heard of some school lists that are huge!

Good ole’ Crayola.  Remember how Crayola crayons smelled when you opened the box?  Sniffffff…ahhhhh!! They still smell the same.

Pink Pearl erasers, however, do not smell the same as when we were kids.  Handy Man agreed with me, they smell different.

Yeah, we spent some time sniffing school supplies.  You wanna make something of it?!

Here is the rainbow of papers that I had to fill out for Handy Boy this year…emergency contact forms and this and that.  Homework for mom…oh YAY.  It took me a couple of days to slog through all of it.

Even if you don’t have children (or don’t have children in school anymore), do you have projects planned for fall?  Some people do fall cleaning…fall organizing…get back into scrapbooking, sewing or other crafts.  Soon, it will be time to do fall chores around the yard as well.  Handy Man is trying to squeeze in as many projects as he can while the weather is still nice.

How about you?

Organizing in the Shed

Handy Man is still hard at work on his shed.  Even though the outside isn’t complete, he’s started to move things inside the shed.  He just can’t wait to use it!

Here’s a shelf that used to live in the garage.  It made the garage a bit crowded.  We took all of the junk stuff off it, and even wiped down the shelves.  They were NASTY dirty.

Handy Man tossed a few things, then organized his stuff onto the shelves more neatly.  Oil for his lawn mower and snow blower, some metal parts I can’t identify…and, you know, GUY stuff.  Anyway, it looks much neater now:

This is the area in the garage where the metal shelving unit used to live.  We have plans for putting up some more peg board for extra storage.  Our garage is large enough for two cars, but it will be easier to park both cars once more tools are off the floor.  Stay tuned for a post about adding additional peg board to the garage wall.

If you’d like to see more of the shed project, click on these links:

Platform for the shed

The beginnings of the shed

The shed walls go up

Framing out the roof

More roof work, and windows

Putting shingles on the shed roof

Hanging up trim on the shed

Whew, we’ve been busy this Labor Day weekend, and have more projects planned for the coming week.  I have so much to post this week!

Linking up to: It’s a Blog Party

Recent Thrifty & Free Finds

Since fall is quickly approaching, yard sale season is winding down.  However, Handy Man and Handy Boy are still finding some great deals.  Handy Boy loves to find cheap Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars…Handy Man loves to find hardware and tools that he can use for projects around the house.

We try not to buy too much “stuff” at yard sales, as we are cutting down on clutter…but if we see something that will save money and help with a future home project, we’ll buy it.

Handy Man recently came across this crate full of ropes and doo-dads.  It was marked for $8, but he talked them down to $5.  This was a great find, because Handy Man had mentioned needing a few bits of rope, but didn’t want to buy any.  This crate contained ropes of different lengths and thickness.

Here are the doo-dads in the crate.  Apparently, the ropes and doo-dads were for sailboats.  I spread them out to look at them and to take a picture of them.  I have NO idea what these things do, but Handy Man was excited.  He already used one of the metal parts, and some of the ropes, for a project inside his new shed.  (Photos of that to come soon.)

This was an interesting find.  I know it’s not the best photo, but I’ll explain.  Last weekend, we were driving home from an errand, and I saw a plastic pool ladder on the side of the road.  There was also a bunch of other stuff around the ladder.  I said to Handy Man “I wonder if that’s a pool for sale?”

We stopped to look.  Hey, we are not too good to pick up junk on the side of the road!  It was indeed a blow-up pool, with a filter and a nice plastic ladder.  There was a funny sign on one of the boxes that said something like “Steal it, take it, whatever…”  Handy Man went to knock on the door and we talked to the guy in the house.

The brand of pool is Intex. We don’t know much about the brand, but we took it home with us.   The filter needs a bit of work, but it was worth taking everything just for the free ladder.  Rob put it away in his shed for now, and he will tinker with it more in the spring.  We were pretty excited, as we talked about getting an inflatable pool “someday.”  Handy Boy wanted to swim in it immediately, but since it’s September, we had to explain that we’ll be putting it away and setting it up next year.  Poor kid!

Rob has been periodically working on the shed.  I’ll be posting soon with more shed photos.

What are you planning to do over Labor Day weekend?  Are you going on a trip?  Trying to get some work done around the house or the yard?  We have a few small projects to tackle, as usual.

Tortilla Pie Recipe

I found this recipe in a magazine a while ago, and it’s an easy to make vegetarian dish.  You can make it as spicy as you wish.  Handy Man wants me to add jalapeno peppers next time…yikes!

Once again, my final “presentation” looks less than desirable, but I swear it’s good!

Tortilla Pie
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground cumin (you can add more, I make it 2 tsp)
1 1/2 cup salsa
1 can (15 to 19 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
3 burrito-sized tortillas (those are the larger ones)
8 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 450.  Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray (don’t forget this step!) I just used my non stick Silpat pad on a baking sheet.

Place a 12″ nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add frozen corn, green onions and cumin; cook for 3 minutes or until corn thaws.  Remove skillet from heat, stir in salsa and beans.

(I didn’t have any green onions this time, but I swear it didn’t taste much different without them.)

Place one tortilla on cookie sheet, top with a layer of bean mixture and some cheese.  Don’t let everything get too close to the edges, or it will all glop out.  It glops out later when you cut it and eat it, but just don’t get too close now.

Add another tortilla, top with another layer of bean mixture and cheese.  Top with a third tortilla.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until heated through.  Take it out and sprinkle some more cheese on top, and reheat for about a minute until cheese melts.

Transfer to cutting board (this is tricky, I use a large spatula for this), and sprinkle with cilantro if desired.  With sharp knife, cut into wedges to serve.  Good with sour cream.

See, all the toppings glop out when you cut into it, and eating it is super messy!  In the magazine photo, it looks all perfect, with perfectly stacked layers and such.  I just know they are GLUING everything together or something.

Anyway, it’s wicked good with some sour cream.  You can cut it into smaller triangles for an appetizer, or have it for a meal, it’s pretty filling. Try it out!

Linking to: It’s a Blog Party /All Things Related/Sew Much Ado/It’s So Very Cheri/Fingerprints on the Fridge/Frugal and Fabulous Design/Between Naps on the Porch/Blue Cricket Design/Finding Fabulous

Recipe without all the photos and snide remarks:

Tortilla Pie
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground cumin (you can add more, I make it 2 tsp)
1 1/2 cup salsa
1 can (15 to 19 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
3 burrito-sized tortillas (those are the larger ones)
8 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 450.  Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray (don’t forget this step!)

Place a 12″ nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add frozen corn, green onions and cumin; cook for 3 minutes or until corn thaws.  Remove skillet from heat, stir in salsa and beans.

Place one tortilla on cookie sheet, top with a layer of bean mixture and some cheese.

Add another tortilla, top with another layer of bean mixture and cheese.  Top with a third tortilla.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until heated through.  Take it out and sprinkle some more cheese on top, and reheat for about a minute until cheese melts.

Transfer to cutting board (this is tricky, I use a large spatula for this), and sprinkle with cilantro if desired.  With sharp knife, cut into wedges to serve.  Wicked good with sour cream.

More Basket Organizing

I love baskets.  We use them all over our house.  We have cheap ones and nicer ones, but there are baskets in every room.  Since I have organized under the first floor bathroom sink and my sink, I thought it was time to organize under Handy Man’s sink.

It wasn’t too bad.  I just tossed a few things, and consolidated everything into the basket.

Guys don’t have as much “bathroom junk” as girls do.  Well, maybe some do.  But not Handy Man.

I will use the plastic basket to organize things in the pantry, I think.  That’s a project (and a blog post) for another day.

I’m wondering why there is baby powder under Handy Man’s sink.  We don’t use it, and we don’t have a “baby” around anymore.  Yet, I didn’t toss it.  I don’t know why.  I think I should have gotten rid of it, but there it sits.  I think it was unopened..  But why is it in Handy Man’s basket?  Who knows?

It was probably bought in 2001…when Handy Baby was born. (ICK! Does powder “go bad?”)

I think it’s time to go back up and get rid of that baby powder.

Have you ever found something and thought “WHY did I keep this?”

Linking this up to: The Pumpkin Patch/Someday Crafts/The Shabby Chic Cottage/A Little Knick Knack

Antique Hand Mirrors

After we renovated our downstairs bathroom…I was looking for something to place on this wall.  We decided to hang up these antique hand mirrors that we had purchased over the years.  We originally saw the idea years ago in Country Living Magazine.

We found some plastic mirrors in green and ivory, and also some wood mirrors.  I also have some silver plated hand mirrors that I am going to use in another room.

Once I figured out where I wanted each mirror to hang on the wall, Handy Man hung up screws.  He then put plate hangers on the backs of the mirrors to hang them on the screws.

I liked the idea of having them hung at all different heights.  I used seven of them here, to take up a good amount of space, but so that they wouldn’t overwhelm the room.  We get lots of comments from guests about the mirrors.  I think they are a bit unexpected, but fun.

These antique hand mirrors aren’t usually very expensive; most sell from $15 to $40, depending on condition and material.  We collected these over a long period of time, without even knowing what we would do with them!  I was just drawn to them, and after we saw the Country Living article, we put them up in a grouping in our last house.  We did the same here.

I still watch for antique hand mirrors when we go to antique stores (along with vintage Fiesta dishes, of course).  Is there anything that you watch for, or collect, when looking in antique or consignment stories?

Linking up to: I Heart NapTime/ Under the Table and Dreaming/It’s So Very Cheri/The Pumpkin Patch/ Somewhat Simple/Fireflies and Jelly Beans/House of Hepworth/My Romantic Home/Finding Fabulous/It’s a Blog Party/Tidy Mom/Funky Junk Interiors/a Little Lovely/Thrifty Decor Chick/House of Grace/Cottage Instincts

$3 Pillows!

We have a sage green couch that we bought when we moved into this house (late 2005).  Over the last few months, I decided that I wanted to buy some pillows for the couch. I felt like it needed a little “something.”

I looked in several different stores, but couldn’t find much that I liked.  I did find some nice pillows in Target, but I didn’t feel like paying $20 EACH for pillows.  No. Way.

One day, Handy Man came home from Lowe’s with some supplies for the shed project.  He also came home with these cranberry color pillows.  Just the size and color I wanted!  They have just the right amount of softness and fluffiness.

I keep forgetting that Lowe’s has some Home Decor items, since it seems like we are always in the hardware or lumber aisles.  Keep that in mind next time you are at a Lowe’s.

Upon looking at the receipt though, Handy Man discovered that he had been overcharged for the pillows.  They were originally $15 each, but marked down to $7.50.  He thought they charged him $7.50, but they charged him $15 instead.  Since we needed something else at Lowe’s (we spend half of Rob’s paycheck there, I swear), we went back.  We asked them to refund us the price difference.  The customer service desk person called to check the price, and they had been marked down to $3 EACH!  I guess they had been marked down even further during the day.  So we ended up paying just $6 for the two pillows.

I love a bargain!  Have you found any great bargains lately?  Tell us about them.

Linking up to: Finding Fabulous/The Shabby Nest/Remodelaholic/It’s a Blog Party/ Tales from Bloggeritaville/ Beyond the Picket Fence/Chic on a Shoestring Decorating/Coastal Charm

Organizing Under my Bathroom Sink

I have a basket under my bathroom sink that holds a lot of “stuff.”  I’ve been meaning to organize it.  I had some smaller baskets in here, but I took them out to use elsewhere.  So this got to be a jumble.

I took the cloth liner out of the basket to wash it because it was pretty grimy.  I bought these small 3″ x 9″ Rubbermaid containers to help me organize the basket.

I tossed some things, and I moved a few things elsewhere.  Isn’t that much better? Ahhhhhh!

I still need to clean out under Handy Man’s sink, but he doesn’t have nearly as much “stuff” as me.

Linking up to:  Sew Much Ado/It’s So Very Cheri/ The Shabby Chic Cottage/ Somewhat Simple/ Everything But the Kitchen Sink/ Remodelaholic/Organize and Decorate Everything/Under the Table and Dreaming/The Crazy Domestic/The Inspired Room

Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake

I just made this recipe from All You Magazine.  It looked wicked good, and uses blueberries and lemon flavor, mmmmm.  Last week, Handy Boy and I picked blueberries with Magdalena and niece.  Magdalena and niece had picked before, but this was our first time picking blueberries, can you believe that?

This is the picture of the cake from All You Magazine:

Doesn’t that look pretty?  Needless to say, my cake did NOT come out looking like this.  Forget about the garnishes, my cake didn’t look nearly as nice, and of course my glaze didn’t look that nice, either!  However, it was still sooooo good. If you like any kind of blueberry dessert, or desserts with glaze, you have to try this one.

I cut it up and sent most of it to work with Handy Man, so we wouldn’t devour the whole thing ourselves.  Here’s what one single piece of my cake looked like:

Here’s the recipe.  It has a lot of ingredients, so look it over carefully.  And of course, you’ll need a bundt pan.  I was looking for an excuse to make a bundt cake anyway, I hadn’t touched our bundt pan in ages!  You’ll need a sifter as well.

Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake

CAKE:
– 3 cups all-purpose flour
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/2 cup lemon juice
– 1 tsp vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup buttermilk
– 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 2 cups sugar
– 2 tsp grated lemon zest
– 4 large eggs, at room temperature
– 2 cups blueberries

GLAZE:
– 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
– 1 tablespoon buttermilk
– 2 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a Bundt pan with melted butter.

Sift 3 cups of flour with baking powder and salt into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, vanilla and buttermilk.

In a second large bowl, beat butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add about 1/4 of flour mixture, followed by 1/4 of buttermilk mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Repeat, alternating dry and liquid ingredients, until batter is thoroughly combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Transfer batter to pan, spreading evenly.

Bake until a tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. (My oven runs hot and I baked only for 50 minutes.) Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold cake.

Make glaze: Mix confectioners’ sugar, buttermilk and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Glaze should be pourable; if it’s too thick, add lemon juice, 1 tsp at a time, until it reaches desired consistency. Pour half of glaze over warm cake. Let cool for 1 hour, then pour remaining glaze over cake and serve.

This cake has a lot of ingredients, but it was well worth it!

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The Shed Project Continues…

The shed project is slowly but surely coming along…as we get the money to work on it, and as we feel like working on it.  It’s a nice change from renovating a room in the house where you feel like you have to work on it all the time, because it causes a huge mess inside.  Not this time.  It’s in the backyard, and la-la-la, I can’t see it if I don’t want to!

Rob put some fine mesh between the side walls and the roof, to help keep out tiny critters and bugs.

Handy Man used his drill to pre-drill holes for screws, and the miter saw to cut the lengths down.  He was using composite material that is plastic, but looks like white painted wood.  Low maintenance is the way to go.

I got up on the ladder and held up one end while he screwed the trim boards into place.

The shingles are all up: Handy Man used Owens Corning architectural shingles.  The trim boards around the roof are up…next, Handy Man will put double doors on the shed.  Stay tuned!

Storage Units: Do You Have One?

I recently came across a very interesting article in the New York Times about storage facilities in the United States:  NY times article

It’s an interesting article about how people store things (and sometimes forget about them) in storage facilities all over the country.  I know that it seems like everywhere we drive, we see tons of storage facilities.  And they seem to keep popping up everywhere.

Twice when Handy Man and I moved, we had a gap in between leaving our old house and buying our new one.  The first time, we looked for a storage facility, and there were no openings in any facility in the surrounding area.  We ended up storing our things in a neighbor’s garage.  He had one garage bay open, and we had to make it all fit into that spot.  Our stuff was piled up to the ceiling.

The next time we needed storage, we used my parent’s garage and basement (thanks Mom and Dad)!  We were dirt poor from not being able to sell our second house, renting a new house, and  had to move twice. We also weren’t sure about where we would end up moving.

The article says that while storage units were first built to help people through transitional periods (like a new marriage, divorce, moving, deaths), as time went along, people began to use them for overflow of personal items.  With the recent recession, many storage units are going into foreclosure.  The contents of the units are auctioned off.  A lot of the stuff inside the units is “junk”, according to the owners of the storage facilities.

This part of the article was really striking to me.  It says:

The Self Storage Association notes that, with more than seven square feet for every man, woman and child, it’s now “physically possible that every American could stand — all at the same time — under the total canopy of self-storage roofing.”

Wow! Just let that sink in for a moment.

Do you have a storage unit? If so, can you try to clean it out, especially if you don’t use the items and probably never will?  It would be a good way to cut out an extra bill.  Did you ever use a storage unit for a transitional period in your life?  How did it work out?