The New Chandy

Love, love, love the new chandelier with the burlap shades!  The scale is perfect for the table and the room and it looks so much better than the $38 Home Depot special. 

 

See the new shelves and the refinished mirror?  Did you know that if you click on the picture you can see a larger version?  The mirror is a work in progress.  Love the placement and that it reflects the light from the new chandy but it was gold and now is a burnished Spanish Copper over the gold.  Not liking that much so I'm investigating silver leaf and may try it on this mirror.  Again, stay tuned.....

I may experiment with some antique crystals to add a little bling and will surely be adding something to it for the Christmas season.  I'll be on the hunt for something suitable when I go to Wimberley Days this Saturday.

The Wait is Over

No, this isn't a post about our son coming home.  Darn.  It's just a good picture of the black wire shelves that I used to hold and display a lot of my beautiful serving dishes.  I liked the shelves, but they were making the room feel cramped. So this is what we did with the barn boards from our previous post.   

Here's my DH, he's the Alan Luxmore to my one half of the Texas Picker Sisters (you have to watch that series).  I'm the idea man, he's the contractor in chief.

Dry fit assembly in the great room.

Here it is in place.  You might remember that I bought 4 boards (and have the black iron pipe and fittings for 4) but the shelves are only 3 boards high.  We decided that 4 boards would be just too high for the space.  I couldn't be happier with how they look and function.  I'll post another picture of the entire room after we hang the mirror and the new chandelier (it arrived last night, yay!) so you can see the difference the lower shelves make in the room.  

Hope you like them.

 Details;  Old reclaimed barn siding was washed, sanded, cut to fit and then a white brining wax was applied followed by a coat of clear wax.  Buffing was necessary and the newly cut ends were dry brush painted with a Martha Stewart gray paint and then waxed.  The legs and posts are 3/4" black iron gas pipes and fittings.  The legs have a 3/4" to 1" reducer fitting that make a very stable base.  Normally the black iron pipe is a bit expensive but I found an Ace Hardware outlet store in Brooklyn New York that has prices almost 2/3 less than the local big box stores.  They also offered free shipping on orders more than $50.  Score!!!  Let me know if you want their web address.  

Our Latest Project

Not going to tell you what we're doing yet.  You'll just have to guess.  Today I drove all the way to Johnson City to find these old barn wood pieces.  

Love the age and the patina on them and hope y'all will like them after we're done. 

  

Decided to buy them after my attempt to convince an old guy to let me have 4 boards off his very old barn failed.  I guess he doesn't watch Picker Sisters.

Stay Tuned!

Hatch Chiles

They're in and we are so excited.  Chiles from Hatch, New Mexico were available at our local HEB and I bought a bushel.  Of course given the choice of mild or hot, I chose the hot and boy they weren't kidding.  Here's my version of a Chile Con Queso a la Chope's, our favorite Mexican restaurant when we were in El Paso.  I came close but the heat of the chile nearly blew our heads off!

Adventures in Grilling

Here she is, my new grill.  5 burners and a zillion BTU's.

The first cookout was great and using it as an oven to avoid heating up the house has worked out pretty well.

Pizza, yum.  I can get two pizza stones on the grill and still have room on both sides.

Here's what I mean about using it as an oven.  I don't have to give up bread making in the summer.  And you know we have a very long summer!

Ciabatta, before it went into/onto the grill/oven.  Forgot to take pictures of it after but I'll do it next time and post it after this one. 

Here's a picture of bread from a different batch but using the same recipe.  You  should see the holes I'm getting and  taste the garlic bread made from these loaves.  Fabulous if I do say so myself!

The Couch

Even though it's not totally finished, I'm posting it anyway.  If you look closely you'll see I've pinned the hem. New pillows are needed too but I'll wait to find just the right fabric. 

Still need to do some topstitching around the arms and back to give it a more finished look.

I wimped out on making welt partly because it adds a huge extra step and complicates the pinning process and also because I like the look of the topstitching.  I'm determined to complete it before Labor Day.