Tomatoes Galore

The tomatoes have finally turned red.  With cucumbers, cilantro and now tomatoes from the garden, we've been able to make some great gazpacho soup.  Only store-bought vegetable we have to use is the garlic.  There's about 25 tomatoes sunning themselves on our back room window sill.  Our lesson learned this year is that we really need to buy some serious stakes.  We had a few pitifully inadequate stakes that held up during the first few weeks. 

Man Cave Wiring

A few weeks ago, Joe came down and finished the wiring for the man cave.  It actually took two visits.  I temporarily mounted the projector and screen and hooked up the stereo speakers to test things out.  (See photo of The Lord of the Ring playing.) Very cool. Olga says we need a dehumidifier.  She's probably right. With wiring done, the drywall for the ceiling is set to go up next week.  We should see good progress over the next few weeks. 

Gargage Door Window Treatments

The garage door windows were covered by an old stinky and stained fabric.  We finally got around to replacing the fabric with some inexpensive, custom-sized rolling blinds from JC Penney.  Big difference. 

Rose-tone Rocks

Mario, our contractor guy, strongly suggested we use Rose-Tone.  Of course, we had no clue about Rose-tone.  We spread it around every 3 weeks or so.  Instant blooming.  Our roses are still going strong late into the season. 

Sunflowers

Besides swiss chard we didn't order, Burpee also sent us a free packet of sunflowers.  We weren't sure where to plant them.  In front of the chimney looked like a good place.  I think we should have planted them early, but they've done well soaking in the morning sun.  

What to Do with Swiss Chard

Burpee had sent us "rhubarb" swiss chard instead of just plain rhubarb.  We had no idea what to do with swiss chard.  Apparently, chard often finds itself in quiche.  Olga made a yummy quiche (sorry, no pictures).  She also made raviolis.   The "pasta" she used was actually store-bought what wrappers.  

Fried Green Tomatoes

We knew we were going to have loads of tomatoes to eat so we began picking early.  Olga made some delicious fried green tomatoes (after researching that "green" tomatoes were in fact just unripe tomatoes). 

Pile 'O Cucumbers

We're now making a more concerted effort to give away cucumbers.  They're much appreciated by people who receive them, and until recently, we haven't been able to use them as fast at they're growing. 

Cucumber Soup

We're furiously looking for recipes to use up our cucumbers.  Olga made a great cucumber soup with leeks and dill and other good stuff.  She serves it yogurt and capers and is very tasty. 

The Saga of the Porch Windows

We were supposed to get new porch windows in April.  They were finally installed in July.  We almost had a contractor nightmare.  At the end of the day, it was just a really bad dream.  Our salesman Josh want AWOL and we had to track down the owner.   There were delays and delays.  No one was forthcoming with information.  When the installers did show up I got a call from the owner telling us that Josh had drastically underpriced the job and that they wanted an additional deposit.  Yeah, right.  We told him no.  The installers showed up and proceeded to work extremely slowly.  They would show up one day.  Skip a day.  Show up in the late afternoon to work two hours.  I stayed home one day and discovered that one of the installers was this really, really old guy -- ancient.  I wouldn't have been surprised if he told me he installed the original screens on the porch -- in 1923.  The job is now done but I had to spend over two hours cleaning the windows since they left them a mess.  We're just glad the job is done and we weren't swindled.  

More Flowers

Olga took these great photos of our flowers.  Some of the plants are HUGE.  Olga doesn't want to cut them for the house.  She'd feel bad doing that. 

Veggies

Veggies continue to grow.  Swiss chard (recipes welcome -- we're thinking of making quiche).  Loads of cilantro and green tomatoes.  If only the tomatoes were ready we could almost make gazpacho soup straight from the garden. 

Painting the Fence

On Saturday I drove 40 minutes to pick up my father's paint sprayer.  On my way, I picked up some paint from Brandman's.  I just walked in and said, "I need white picket fence paint."  Unfortunately, I bought way too little.  I did manage to get the street side of our back fence and most of the garden side fence done.  After another trip to Brandman's, tonight I finished the street facing front side. I got too dark to do the garden side.  Pictures of touching up above.  It truly is amazing what a coat of paint will do. 

 

New Painting from Pink & Green in Darien

Schoolhouse Electric

The light fixture in our downstairs hallway has bothered us for a long time.  It had this vine motif that was very, very good at attracting cobwebs.  We didn't know what to replace it with until we came across Schoolhouse Electric.  It's a great little company out of the Pac Northwest that reproduces period light pieces.  So, I ordered the shade.  After it arrived I realized I needed to also buy the fixture, which is more expensive than the shade.  Drats.  After we had both, my father (Joe) installed it.  We thought it was too big at first but now we're used to it and like it very much.  We may get another one for the kitchen, above our sink. [Update:  found the before shot.]

Cukes: Taking Over

It must be something in the soil.  The cucumbers looove our garden. They're thriving.  Taking over.  Our cilantro is doing very well.  So are our tomatoes.  But the cucumbers are just going gangbusters.  I was first impressed by our first picking (above) but that was nothing.  There was a dozen more after that.  We're finding all new ways to eat cucumbers.  Olga has made great Asian pickles.  We're giving them away to neighbors and co-workers.  Gratifying that we planted these suckers just a couple of months ago. 

Flowers...

Are growing nicely... 

Power Wash & Spruce Up

A few months ago my father lent me his power washer.  He had two caveats:  don't run it without  water and don't get the tubing to close to the engine.  So, I dutifully start the machine with water racing through it.  Then, I proceeded to power wash.  For about 5 minutes.  Then, I burnt up the hose.  You see, the hose was an add on, not really supposed to go with this power washer.  Well, that's my excuse.   So, for weeks upon weeks we'd walk home from the train and see how well the power washer had performed for those precious few minutes... and see just how bad a shape our fence was in.  My father vowed to fix this wily machine, which he did.  But then I received a voicemail that, after using it for a few hours, he too had burnt the tubing.  Decision time.  Off to Home Depot to rent a power washer.  Unfortunately, our local Home Depot doesn't rent tools.  I had to drive up to Fairfield for that.  Geesh.   While I was there I picked up some mulch and some ornamental grass, which was on sale (I wasn't going to spend a bunch of money on what is not even in our yard).  The finished product is pictured above.