Mama cupola is up, though we had one little issue. . . The last piece of glass, which goes in the “door” on the left-hand side, became a victim of Friday afternoon’s gusty wind. This shot, if you look really closely, shows Tim inside, installing one of the panes before the wind had the final say:
But, it still looks really pretty, and we’ll get a new piece of glass (plexiglass for this panel, perhaps?) soon:
Now I have to go shopping for a light fixture to put in there, because the neighborhood has voted, informally but unanimously, that it needs to be lit up. Who am I to argue?
While all that was happening, I decided to get a different perspective on the pre-landscaping state-of-affairs, by climbing out the front window and onto the front porch roof:
By yesterday morning (Saturday), the contractor had the machines here and ready to go:
And by early afternoon yesterday, the digging began!!
The guys made great progress in about 5 -6 hours yesterday:
Then there’s the backyard!!
Today they’ll be doing more digging and prep for the patio and walkway areas and the stone walls, plus installing electrical conduit piping so we can finally stop running the garage by plugging it in to a heavy duty extension cord. . .
Howdy y’all!! Sorry it’s been so long with no updates!
Since early August, we’ve been up to a little bit of a lot of things, including finalizing design details for the landscaping, which, at long last, will be kicking off next week (a not-so-little undertaking!!). The delivery of, quite literally, tons of materials, began today, with 3 truckloads of “Connecticut Blend” pea gravel:
Most of the rest of the stone will arrive tomorrow, except for the stone we’ll be using for the walls in the back, the step for the side door, and a semi-circular “sitting wall” at one end of the side patio. And the bluestone for the top of the sitting wall and the side step. The contractor will be bringing those next week.
After a very long wait, “Mama Cupola” is being installed on the house. Tim set the saddle the other day; today I helped get her midsection into place. Hoping the top will go up, the glass will go in, and the finials for both cupolas will be in their forever homes when the weather clears up tomorrow…
Meanwhile, back on the inside of the house, we bought, and Tim installed, our laundry room sink. I just ordered the stone for that countertop yesterday (I’ll share a photo of that once the countertop is in. It’s kinda boring for now!).
We stained and painted the handrail, newel posts, and the acorn finials for the staircase (cue the choir of angels… those have been fully in place since January, if memory serves, so this was one of my big “let’s just get it done already” items …)
Same goes for the finish painting in the upstairs hall. With that done, the switch plate cover for all the switches at the top of the stairs is back in its proper place (shown in the photo above).
I’m fairly certain no one is happier about that than I am. (It’s been off since the upstairs hallway trim was painted, well-over a year ago. It might even be two years. Clearly, all vestiges of the impatience that was a hallmark of my youth have long-since left the building. Literally).
I’ll be taking lots of photos as the landscaping (really hardscaping for now) happens over the next few weeks. (Planting plans are still TBD and won’t happen until spring).
I promise, barring any unforeseen circumstances, to share the progress as we go, so stay tuned!!
So this will be mostly another visual update, because most of my writing energy has been going into a third round of edits for the book.
The great news, though, is that 2 1/2 weeks-post-vacation (and with 8 days to go before we head back to NC to get Owen moved back in at school), the needle is moving once again.
The front porch is tantalizingly close to being officially done
The front porch is done and painted.
The only bit of work that remains is to connect the electrical for the ceiling fans (they are now temporarily, and, if you ask me, somewhat unsafely) wired into a heavy-duty extension cord that’s plugged into an outlet (yes, it’s a GFI outlet) behind the right side of the porch, in an alcove area where we have a faucet, and sometimes store random tools, coolers, etc.
Temporary Wiring Setup for the Ceiling Fans
For now, rather than turning the fans on and off with the switch they’re supposed to be connected to just inside the front door, someone tall has to pull the chains to get them going. Or if no one tall is nearby, I have to climb up on the Adirondack chairs so I can reach the chains. Not the worst thing. First world problems.
It makes my heart happy that my wind chimes are now hanging back in their rightful spot.
The rest of the exterior trim is at least in place now
Even if it might not be painted until . . . I don’t know. I can’t even guess at that.
The Last Piece of Trim on the Back Deck
Side Door Overhang Ceiling is Done (the Phoebes Finally Fledged)
Meanwhile, I’m lobbying for some type of decorative bracket detail to enhance all these plain overhangs we have.
The Author’s Awful Rendering of Potential Future Bracket Detail, but you get the Idea
And, one last, big surprise
The drawings for the house always had one exterior design element that I knew we’d get to. Eventually.
Well, “eventually,” at least in that context, has arrived.
Behold: cupolas!! Not one, but two. One for the house, and one for the garage. Mama-Cupola and Teenager-Cupola.
Mama-Cupola is over six feet tall. Teenager-Cupola is about four feet tall.
Mama Cupola is TALL
I’ve also ordered two proportionally-sized copper finials, to add a final, crowning touch to their tops. For now. Eventually maybe we’ll find a weathervane we love for Mama, but the finials are going to look really cool. They should get here within the next two – three weeks.
The cupolas arrived yesterday, and Tim started painting them (well, Teenager, anyway) to match the rest of the exterior trim (whenever that gets done) almost immediately, a sign that he’s as excited to see them in place as I am.
Teenager cupola will go up first. Maybe even today. There’s a ladder leaning up against the garage as I’m typing this.
Not for the faint-of-heart
This will be a challenging and potentially dangerous undertaking. Thankfully, each cupola has 3 pieces – the base, the sides, and the roof. Otherwise we’d need a crane to get them in place. The boys are both here to add manpower (and stability), and I suspect we’ll have some help from the neighbors, too.
If I don’t get recruited, I’ll be cringing somewhere, stealing occasional glimpses of the progress through my fingers, which will be clamped firmly over my eyes.
I went out this morning for a dentist’s appointment, and to finally get my first in a two-part series of shingles vaccinations. While I was away, mildly worried that I’d return to find Tim in a body cast, he was doing this:
So, now that I have an installed doorknob, I can say that the bathroom is complete, and vacation isn’t even here yet!! 😉
Painting can take a long time when it’s done by someone who really cares about what they’re doing. My contractor/husband joked as he was prepping the porch at the end of last week, filling nail holes, sanding, and caulking that, “the effing carpenter always leaves a mess for the painter to fix.”
If you’re just tuning in, Tim is both the carpenter and the painter, which is why, when he made his carpenter complaint with great mock seriousness, I burst out laughing. He’s also the electrician, and the plumber, and the framing guy, and the roofer on this decade-long project, for which the exterior trim work is almost literally the icing on the cake.
Forty Years of Experience, and . . .
Of course, there are other things that might slow one’s progress when painting a front porch besides excellent attention to detail. Such “things” might include situations in which the painter/carpenter, who’s been doing this sort of work for over 40 years, is distracted and gets stymied by setbacks like falling backward off the stepladder (because he lost his balance while looking up, for the second time in 2 days, ignoring his wife’s admonition when she witnessed it on day one, that he move the ladder when the overhead work got too close to vertical, thus avoiding the type of circustance in which his dizziness is more triggered).
Another example of something that might cause painting to move more slowly would include improperly setting up a sixteen-foot 2×10 on the saw table (which had nothing to do with the porch – it was for a side project), thus dropping one of the very heavy cut sections onto the top of his foot.
Gratefully, no serious damage was done in either instance, but both incidents, understandably, more or less shut down progress for each of the days on which they occurred.
Yet Progress There Was
And it’s looking beautiful (despite the clutter):
The Brief Saga of the Ceiling Fans
We went and picked ceiling fans a few weeks ago. I was happy to not have to be particularly picky for a change. After all, logic told me, they’re outdoor fans. They don’t have to be fancy. They just need to be functional, and not be at complete stylistic odds with the house’s exterior architecture.
Tim disagreed vigorously with the style I chose, but we came to a cease-fire position and picked them up last week. Cease-fire, that was, until he hung one.
The style itself, surprisingly, wasn’t at issue, though. The ceiling clearance was. And normally, cutting the downrod wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but in this case, due to the way the wiring was done, it was an issue, and, even if he could have cut the downrod, he couldn’t have cut it short enough to put the blades at a height he was going to be able to abide.
So that fan has taken up temporary residence on the dining room table. I’m thinking today might be the day it goes back into its box.
Tim went searching online and found a similar style, outdoor rated, but low-profile, so they’ll be closer to the ceiling. They shipped yesterday. No clue when they’ll arrive, but I’m hoping it’s before we leave for vacation in a week and a half.
And the Bathroom Doorknob
The bathroom doorknob arrived right when it was supposed to last Friday. It’s been sitting on the credenza in my office ever since, exactly where you’d expect to find a doorknob.
Another thing on the list of “stuff I hope gets done before vacation.”
A year or so ago I saw that someone I knew posted an article on LinkedIn about authenticity in the workplace. I think I’m an authentic person. Authentic in the way that I don’t care to pretend to be things that I’m not. Authentic in the way that if something were to go wrong on a team I was leading, I would take the heat – in the way that I would never “throw someone under the bus.” Authentic in the way that I speak up when someone in my world needs defending, or when something difficult needs to be done or said. Authentic in that I’m not afraid to admit when I don’t know something, or to laugh at my own expense when I’ve done or said something idiotic. Authentic when I apologize.
There’s a reason I still remember that this particular individual posted an article about authenticity more than a year ago. Want to take a swing at what that might be?
Yeah. This particular individual was one of the most inauthentic people I’d ever encountered in 30+ years as a professional. Someone so not in touch with their own motivations as to be actually laughable (at least now – not so much when this person had the potential to have a material impact on my livelihood). Someone who sadistically enjoyed getting someone to think they might be “in,” then shredding them behind their backs. Behaviors you’d expect to see in an adolescent with an identity and confidence crisis, but not in a 40-something professional. Not quite bullying, but almost worse, because it was never done to someone’s face. It was all a game to this person, and they were good at it. Seemed to actually take pride in it. I know this because I’d hear about it from others who were privy to the “shredding” that would take place later.
In my corporate career, I learned that, as difficult as it was when something would go wrong, it was always better to ask the hard questions – to figure out why – to understand where I could have done something differently or better. That was never an option with this person because they would never tell you what they really thought.
I try to pay attention to my own reactions and emotions – to understand what drives me in moments of stress – to understand what scares me – so that I can recognize when a negative emotion might be dictating my words or actions. I am far from perfect in this respect, trust me. But the older I get and the more I focus on this loop of self-reflection, the better I know myself, and, I hope, the better person I’m becoming because of it.
In some ways, I feel a little sorry for this “authenticity imposter” I’m writing about, because I don’t think they have the emotional or mental capacity to understand the value of self-awareness. They’ll spend their entire life playing games, but as a result, they’ll never have the joy or peace of mind of being genuinely close to anyone – to trusting anyone. Because they’ll always wonder if someone is doing the same thing to them.
I don’t know why I still let it bother me, but I do, though I’m hoping that writing this finally purges it. Perhaps a part of it was that this person was a woman, and seemed to direct her insecurities, which is pretty much what this kind of behavior boils down to psychologically, at other women. There were countless other encounters: with other people, with entire corporate cultures for heaven’s sake – which I survived – for better or worse – but at least none of them were posting articles extolling the virtues of authenticity in the workplace.
Perhaps it’s just the hypocrisy, but I don’t think so. I think it’s because she is just one small example in a universe too-full of the same cycle of b.s.: lack of self-awareness leading to bad behavior, leading to an inability to trust, leading to childish gamesmanship, leading to people getting hurt, leading to more bad behavior. The patterns apply equally in our personal lives and in the corporate world, which is why we need more examples of authenticity out there. Not just people who post about it.
Even if I haven’t had time over the past few weeks to come up with any posts about food sustainability or the diet-health connection, I have been nursing a couple of creative endeavors in the kitchen. Or, partially in the kitchen anyway. Partially in the bar. The best part, I think, is that what I came up with can be tweaked into mocktails if you don’t drink alcohol.
First up: A Tribute Drink
I created this one in honor of our neighbors who are moving away – there’s an annual, early-summer Lobster Fest event we’ve all been going to for I-don’t-even-know-how-many years, and this year’s was to be the last of the tradition, so, of course, I reasoned that it was only fitting that there be a send-off cocktail. I named it for them, but since that name wouldn’t mean anything to a broader audience, I’m up for a name-game for whoever wants to play along – share your ideas in the comments!
This can be done with either pineapple or mango juice – I’ve tried it with both and it’s yummy both ways.
Here’s what you need:
Ingredients
Two parts ginger-infused vodka – for one drink, I use 1 1/2 oz (I made my own – not hard, but you need to plan for the time it takes to get enough flavor into the vodka – at least 3 – 4 days. It also helps to have a mandoline to make slicing the ginger easier. See * below for recipe.)
One part fresh pineapple juice (or mango nectar) – so 3/4 oz for my one-drink volume. This can be really good-quality store-bought pineapple juice, because who the heck wants to juice a pineapple? I use Lakewood Organic. It’s expensive but worth it.
One part lemon-basil simple syrup (Again, I made my own – takes about 5 minutes of actual effort, and 30 minutes from start to finish. See ** below for recipe.)
Club soda, seltzer, or sparkling water to taste
Fresh basil leaves (rinsed & dried) for muddling, and small top basil sections for garnish
Other things to skewer for garnish: fresh pineapple (or mango) chunks, candied ginger. . . you could even do candied lemon peel or candied basil leaf if you wanted to get fancy
Cocktail shaker
Ice cubes
Instructions:
Fill the cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Pour in the vodka, juice, and simple syrup. Add a basil leaf.
Muddle another basil leaf in the bottom of a 10 -12oz glass and top with ice (basically just bruise it a little).
Shake the cocktail thoroughly in the shaker & strain into glass, leaving plenty of room to top with soda (start with one part – the rough equivalent of the amount of juice you used; more to taste)
Stir a little & top with basil segment and any skewered goodies you like, then serve.
Feel free to adjust the proportions in the recipe to suit your taste- I started with 1/2 part simple syrup, but found that upping it to one part added a little more oomph.
Gather Your Ingredients
Measuiring the Ginger-Infused Vodka
Measuring the Lemon-Basil Simple Syrup
Muddling the Basil
Muddled – Just Enough to Bruise It
Pour Shaken Vodka-Pineapple-Simple Syrup Mixture over Ice
Top with Soda & Stir Lightly
Garnish, & Voila!
The “Mocktail” Version:
(for a 12oz glass) Crush about 1 tsp fresh, peeled ginger & place in the bottom of a glass with a basil leaf; muddle together enough to bruise the basil
Add ice to the glass
Pour in 1 part each pineapple juice and lemon-basil simple syrup
Top with 2 parts club soda, seltzer or sparkling water; stir lightly (enough to bring up some of the ginger/basil flavor from the bottom) and garnish as desired.
Next: A “Caprese-tini”
Once I made the drink above, I started daydreaming about another, totally different one. During a radio show several years ago, I heard about a bartender who made a Bloody Mary using tomato water instead of tomato juice. The idea of tomato water had been stuck in my head as the basis for a drink ever since. If you LOVE the incredible taste of fresh tomatoes and have never tried tomato water, you’re in for a treat. Making it takes a day – again about 5 minutes of effort, but you need the rest of the time for the magic to happen. Riffing on what I could do with the tomato water, since I’d just made ginger-infused vodka, I started playing in my head with another infusion that would “go.” Poof – the idea of a Caprese salad in (mostly) liquid form struck me. Here’s what I did:
Ingredients:
One part basil-infused vodka (*** see recipe below- allow 2 + days for the infusion to “take”)
2 – 3 parts fresh tomato water (**** see recipe below – allow a full day)
Kosher or sea salt & freshly ground pepper, combined (for rimming the glass)
Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes for garnish
Fresh ciliegine-size mozzarella balls (about 1″) for garnish
Fresh basil leaves and/or tops for garnish
Balsamic reduction (or, if you don’t have it, you can use good balsamic vinegar, but the stickiness of the reduction helps in this case)
Good quality extra-virgin olive oil
Small wooden skewers for the garnish
(Basically nearly the same ingredients list as for a caprese salad. Plus the vodka and tomato water. . .)
Instructions:
Put together the garnish(es) – alternately threading folded basil leaves, mozzarella balls, and tomato onto skewers (I do 2 mozz to one tomato)
Pour a circle of olive oil about the size of the top of your (12oz-ish) glass onto a plate. Top with a circle of balsamic reduction.
Pour the salt/pepper mixture onto a separate plate (or into a bowl)
Rim glass(es) by dipping into the olive oil/balsamic mixture, then into the salt & pepper mixture
Carefully fill glasses with ice (I go about halfway)
Pour in 1 – 2 oz basil-infused vodka & top with 2 – 3 times as much tomato water; stir gently
Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on top (maybe 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon)
Garnish with a basil top or skewers
This drink tastes, as my husband said, “like a garden in a glass.”
Gather Ingredients
Dip Glass in Olive Oil-Balsamic Reduction
Then Dip in Salt & Pepper Mixture
Rimmed Glass, Filled Halfway with Ice
Measuring the Basil-Infused Vodka
The Finished Product
The “Mocktail” Version:
Rim an 8 oz glass, as above
Muddle a few pieces of fresh basil in the bottom the glass (3 – 4 leaves)
Top with ice
Pour over 6 oz tomato water
Drizzle with olive oil & maybe even a little of the balsamic reduction, but just a little
1 large fresh ginger root, scrubbed and trimmed of any yucky parts – no need to peel in my book.
Directions:
Slice the ginger lengthwise on the thinnest-possible setting of a mandoline, or, if you don’t have a mandoline, slice it as thinly as possible crosswise, until you have about 1 1/2 cups of ginger.
Submerge the ginger in the vodka in a large glass measuring cup or other container with a wide-enough top to make tasting, and later, removing the ginger, easy.
Cover the container with plastic wrap and set it out of the way for at least 3 days. I took little tastes starting at the two-day mark. It will probably have a slightly pinkish hue.
When it gets to the flavor you like, remove the ginger and strain the vodka into a large Bell jar or other container.
I store it in the fridge – pretty sure it’ll keep for as long as it takes me to use it.
Ginger-Infused Vodka
**Lemon-Basil Simple Syrup
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
About 6 – 8 good-size sprigs of fresh basil, plus another 4 or so, to be used separately.
Directions:
Trim the zest off the lemon(s): really important that none of the white “pith” is on it. I use a vegetable peeler – this is a case where you want large pieces because you have to fish them out later. Any pith, or leaving the peel in the syrup, will make it bitter.
Then, roll the peeled lemon around on a hard surface, pressing down with your hand – this makes extracting more juice easier. Juice the lemon(s).
Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a pot that’s large enough to accommodate at least twice the volume of the amount of syrup you’re making – once it starts to boil, it tends to froth up, and you don’t want it spilling over. Horrible mess.
Stir to combine and bring to a boil, watching carefully that it doesn’t boil over – turn the heat down slightly if it threatens, but keep it boiling for 1 minute. While you’re boiling it, add the basil.
After a minute, take it off the heat and add the lemon zest.
Let it cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the basil. Now add the other few sprigs you kept aside earlier. Push them down to let the syrup cover them, then let the whole thing sit another 10 – 15 minutes.
Remove the lemon zest and the basil and pour the syrup into a jar with a tight-fitting lid (I use good old Bell jars). This will keep in the fridge for at least a month, if it doesn’t get used up before that. It would be amazing in homemade lemonade or on waffles or pancakes topped with blackberries. OMG. . .
Lemon-Basil Simple Syrup
***Basil-Infused Vodka
750 ml vodka
Small bunch fresh basil (appx 1 1/2 – 2 c – including leaves and stems) rinsed and thoroughly dried; stem ends trimmed
Directions:
Put basil in a wide-mouthed glass container
Pour vodka over basil, taking care to keep basil fully submerged
Cover with plastic wrap and a towel to keep light out
Set aside for at least 2 days, but probably no more than 3 – taste along the way for a flavor strength you like
Once you’ve reached your desired flavor depth, pour vodka through a fine-mesh strainer & funnel into a glass container.
Cap tightly & store in the refrigerator. The color and flavor will start to oxidize and turn darker after a week or so, but initially, it should be a beautiful, emerald green.
Basil-Infused Vodka
****Tomato Water
4 lbs fresh, juicy tomatoes – I would NOT use plum tomatoes for this one – you want these to be more liquid-y than fleshy to yield more juice
1 teaspoon (give or take) sea salt
A blender or food processor
A strainer large enough to hold all the puree from that many tomatoes
A bowl large enough to sit under said strainer
Coffee filters cut to line the strainer in a single(ish) layer
Enough room in the fridge for the strainer set over the bowl
Directions:
Put tomatoes & salt in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth
Pour puree into strainer lined with cut-up coffee filters, set over a large bowl
Put in fridge for a day or so – start with overnight, then, in the morning, and a few times throughout the next day, give the mixture a stir, pushing the liquid down
Resulting tomato water will be clear, likely with a slightly golden tint, and will taste exactly like amazingly fresh, beautiful tomatoes. Pour into a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid and store in the fridge. Enjoy!!!
