{Around the House} ~ progress and continued effort

We finally got a shelf for above the kitchen 

sink a few weeks back...

The bare wood in front will be stained at a later

time...for now I am just glad to get this up

and to have my beloved

icon of the Theotokos, Virgin of Vladimir,

up in my kitchen...

such a sweet and most-loved icon!

This is what my kitchen looks too many times

during the week...

it's a constant effort to keep things from being cluttered!

So much of our lives is full of the routines

of clutter / cleaning / trying-to-keep-clutter-from-happening

and clutter again...

*

At least God and the Mother of God are with us

no matter what our kitchens look like...

{Around the home} ~ Pantry Progress

I was able to finish almost all of 

the pantry as the labels finally arrived! 

Other than a few things that 

I did not have jars for,

I am totally done!

Of course, I would find more Bridgehead tea!

It's working very well and I am very pleased with it.

I hope to make Christmas tea again

And it is so great to be able to have all my spices 

properly stored, labeled and ready to use!

Now if I could only find my 

new coffee grinder to make this process

easier...

something are just not unpacked yet,

moving and unpacking does indeed take months!

{around the house} ~ changes, progress and a dying refrigerator

I can't tell you how happy

I am with this basket.

Mr. Husband is very kind and considerate,

so he seeks to be quiet

in the early morning when I am still sleeping

and needed a basket

to keep things in so he is not opening drawers 

early in the morning.

I found this one on my trip to Princeton a while

back and it works perfectly!

Our breakfast of choice, I admit it!

Our pantry is almost all done.

A good friend sent me these big labels!

I can't remember if I blogged this picture or not.

Cleo is waiting for dinner, sitting in my seat

as if she gets to eat it!

A friend came over recently and gave me lovely

ceramic measuring cups as a gift!

Our fridge has been dying for over a month

and we did not realize it.

Milk was not as cold as it was once

and then yesterday when we went to get a bit

of ice cream from freezer, it had turned to soup. :(

Turns out we even lost some of our meat,

it was totally thawed.

Mr. Husband did a great and gallant job of it all

and he found this fridge and I ordered it on the phone

last night, it comes Friday.

Still trying to decide on the extra 5 year protection plan.

We have 90 days to decide.

I am hoping it is magnetic, as many of this kind are not....

A few weeks back a friend gave me this ornament for our Christmas tree!

I can't wait for Christmas and to find a Christmas tree!

{Around the House} ~ Tiles Up!

My cousin H while she was with us

put up many of Mr. Husband's Delft Dutch tiles.

I just love how she did them (we collaborated on design

but she did the excellent work)!

{around the house}: Bathroom is done

I wrote earlier how we had

no cold water for our bathtub.

Thank God we found a good plumber!

Last Saturday they came...we had tiles already picked out

to replace what would be taken out.

The problem was the diverter, which is a small part

in the centre that provides hot and cold water.

Between our place being "new construction" which 

usually means

put up fast and a bit sloppy here in 

good old NJ, they had a cheap part put in,

tile not plumb either (i.e. strait)

and so Mr. Husband and I bought a new

shower-head/faucet/handle with diverter

and it was installed, with new tile in afterwards.

Apparently the water in this area is a bit hard

and it also can wear out parts more quickly.

So now we have a name brand with a diverter that if

it goes out our plumber can go and get a new one 

without taking out 6 tiles.

It's all done now and beautiful.

The tile fits in very nicely and

I am so happy to have a good shower head for it as well.

I love the ones that are 'removable' as they 

are great to help clean tubs with.

*

Now, finally, our bathroom is done...

{Around the House} : laundry room

I love our small laundry room; 

it's such a blessing; I've never had a 

full size Washer and Dryer in our home,

much less the new ones that are more gentle.

*

 When we moved into our condo

the laundry room was almost non-functional.

The Washer/Dryer was situated in the corner, with the doors

facing the wall on the right.  

When one opened the doors, 

which opened to the left, away from the wall,

one was basically 'trapped in' by them, 

unable to go past them to get the actual laundry.

So laundry was done precariously, 

trying to balance laundry basket in that trapped space

with doors open.

But thank God no more.

We had a plummer move them while my parents in law were here.

Now I can easily get to everything and the doors instead of

opening into the air so to speak open towards a wall,

walling no one in at all.

{around the house} ~ light, lace and lovely yellow walls ~ and what August can hold

We have lovely lace valances for our 

Great Room, 

aka Living/Dining Room.

I finally got the window reading nook area valances up!

The other one have been up a few weeks.

We got smaller valences for this area so we could

just make small holes in the back of the valance

to be able to use two valances for the three windows.

After being a bit out of commission last week,

it is so nice to have a project completed!

*

We have at least 4 more boxes in one closet to open, 

plus at least three or so more to deal with...

With all the visits that summer brings,

I have had to accept that some of these things will not be done

until September!

*

I am looking forward to Autumn as many are by now...

my pantry is ready to make, God willing,

apple pies, crisp or cake...

*

But I am looking forward to the sweet days of this August...

we are not in the Dormition Fast until the 14th

and I hope to make a peach crisp towards the end of this fast,

and enjoy this important small fast for 

our Most Holy Lady.

*

We are so blessed to have the seasons of 

fasting and feasting,

for both nourish us in very important ways!

*

For all those in the fast already,

who start on the new calendar of August 1,

blessed fast!

For all those on the 'old' calendar starting August 14,

may God prepare us!

*

As work is always on going for making our homes

suitable places for Christ to come and for the Holy Icons

to adorn and grace our walls,

may we work to make our souls the place where the 

Holy Spirit can be...

Blessings around the house, humour and goodness

This beautiful icon
was a gift
to Mr. Husband and I during our
courtship.
The first icon we were given together.
I love that I can see it
when sitting in my chair, facing
our icon corner.
Such a blessing to have so much beauty
in the Orthodox church...
I can't imagine my life without it now!
Been about 9 years or so in the church...

This delft tile is our
wedding tile
from my parents.
It is in our kitchen...
*
Who knew that I would marry
Mr. Husband,
a Dutchman with a love for
beauty and delft like myself?
Surely this is as my
sister friend says:
a gift from God.

I got this delft tile of
a sail boat for
Mr. Husband last summer,
the summer we were engaged to be married.
My cousin A, my Mom and I went to
the Dutch village in Holland MI
and one of the things I was
looking for
was a tile for Mr. Husband,
then my unmarried Orthoman.
A. found this one and it
is perfect
as sailing was in his family in decades past.

I got this kitchen magnet at the Dutch village
years ago with my sister
before she moved to Romania
with her husband.

Last fall
on a day which I remember
Mr. Husband having a really rough
commute home
after hurricane sandy,
a box came for Mr. Husband and I
with this beautiful wedding gift -
USA made pottery,
big enough to hold the soup ladle, spoons
and spatulas.
I love it; it is actually big enough and tall
enough to fit many cooking things in.
When I am cooking or baking
in the kitchen,
which pre-illness was very often,
I would grab things from this
day in and day out. 

So I am a bit spacey sometimes
comically so at times
I would say.
The insomnia that is going on of course
makes this more noticeable to say the least...
So the day, while Mr. Husband was
busy with other tasks,
I put away some mugs and rearranged them.
We all have quirks and how the mugs
are in the cupboard is one of mine.
So the mug above,
which my Mom found at a garage sale
years ago and gave me when
I graduated with my Masters in Library Science,
was on the counter and
I put it away with the others.

Later Mr. Husband asks where his mug is.
The graduation mug.
I said I put it in the cupboard with the others.
What? He said.
It has water in it that I was drinking!
And he rushes to the cupboard and there it is,
on top row of mugs,
full of water,
thankfully none of it split.
I found this to be very amusing... :)

 

Mr. Husband wore his
dark cameo army surplus shirt while
he was cooking the liver and onions the other day.
*
That way if any of the
blood got on his shirt,
he could tell his nephews that
the blood was from when he bayoneted
an enemy...
alas, the shirt was not dirtied...
:)
*
Did I mention that Mr. Husband and I
share the same sense of
wacky humour?
Clearly we were made for each other...