Thursday, August 11, 2011

Blooming Basement




















I am posting a couple of pics of our evolving basement/family room space taken on May 19. It has changed a couple of times since then, with the addition of a big, comfy couch that now occupies the orange wall where the entertainment cabinets are. The couch was in need of a little reinforcement, which my handy husband took care of with a few dabs of Gorilla Glue & some clamps. As it was purchased 2nd hand from Craigslist for $100, it seemed to need some additional pillows along the back. I had purchased a few Euro Shams for under $5 each a few years ago with a color scheme in mind. All I needed was some 24"x24" filler pillows, which can be pricey, even at 1/2 price at the craft or fabric shop. I remembered seeing some top quality quilted ones on clearance at Marshall's for $13 each. As I was walking down an aisle heading to the clearance shelf, a designer pillow setting on a chair nearly screamed at me! The main color looked to be the same deep taupe as the couch. Accented with cream, sage green, dark orange, & aqua, it was a fantastic find. The hunt was on for 2 more! I did buy all 3 of the plain 'filler' pillows, just in case my search for the additional designer ones failed, besides I already had a plan for those. Ultimately, I only landed 1 more designer pillow which were $24.99 each, but I purchased a king duvet in the coordinating Hillcrest Paradise set, with the thought of sewing a 3rd Euro sham. I have another seating project, a vintage settee & 2 chairs from a late 1800's hotel parlor, waiting for my attention in the barn. My design plan became more concrete with the duvet purchase. New king pillows were snagged for the pillowcases, which should fit nicely across the back of my project seating. Now, if I could only land the cute accent pillows that match for a whole lot less than the $35 starting price on ebay!

The brown wooden chairs were a prototype picked up for $5 each a few years ago, from the personal shop of a designer employed at one of the local, big office furniture giants. I had the 'oops' color tinted at Home Depot to a deeper brown. It looked great when in the can, but not quite what I was desiring. I'm thinking of repainting them; still undecided if I want to go cream or my original plan, a deep ebony brown, which would match closely to the storage pieces. I have a bright sage green planned for that parlor set, so that will add a big punch of unexpected color to the space. We haven't solidly chosen which of the several bolts of fabric we already own, will adorn the seats of the wooden chairs or the parlor set. I had originally thought about a fun animal print on the parlor set but it is still evolving. Look for new photos soon of the couch & pillows. The other projects will get due attention soon enough.

We are swimming in produce as Dave grew a huge garden this year. I've canned 3 different recipes of pickles. The last time I assisted fermenting cukes I was probably in middle school. We know our blind dog, Ruskin, likes them. One of the jars had leaked & it must have been vinegar & garlic bliss for his sniffer because he was rooting around in the quart jars in a box on the floor. The difficult part about pickles is exacting a perfect recipe, as they need to set to develop their yummy goodness for about 3-6 weeks. I've put up seasoned tomato sauce, as Courtney & I get sick from store bought. We have been snipping, slicing & freezing beans, peppers, zucchini, & squash. I've baked zucchini bread & cupcakes. I'm hoping to make salsa yet & try my hand at summer squash soup to freeze. We have been eating all kinds of delicious freshness from our garden! Our early raspberries were a bit of a fizzle, with lots of small berries that fell apart in your hand. Dave's mom & dad trimmed them back to prepare for the 2nd round. We should have ripe berries in 7-10 days! I found some recipes for canned pie filling that I would like to try. Dave brought our fair cow home from the processor on Monday. We delivered 2 large coolers full of frozen zucchini to Degage Ministries to make room. Dave emptied the 'berry' freezer of berries gone bad(freezer burn), thus the desire for a canned method. I also will try vacuum sealing 1 cup servings for smoothies. Our 3 year old Food Saver vacuum sealer also quit working last week. They determined it was probably the motor & not replaceable...NICE...NOT! I snagged a fab deal & ordered a new one..ugh. As of yesterday, we are back to the business of packaging & freezing.