Monday, January 21, 2013

How to build a sofa console table

Sofa console tables are expensive, and furniture in general is hard to find- we never really see exactly what we're looking for.  So we decided to build one ourselves.  We wanted something with that modern/rustic feeling that would be narrow and tall enough to be useful.

First, we found a piece of oak board, and stained it with dark walnut stain and left it to dry.

(Notice the canned goods remaining - we're actually moving through them pretty quickly!

 

 Then, we found some angle iron and chopped pieces to the right length.  Hacksaw queen, right here.

 

Once the framing and legs were cut, we assembled the base and drilled holes for the feet (we found little feet things at Lowes so the angle iron won't scratch the floors) and then dremelled the bolts from the feet things down.  Then, we drilled holes for the bolts and screwed in the bolts to hold the table together.
 

Dremels make impressive fireworks.


That's it!  We just cut the angle iron, drilled holes, added  bolts, and then put the stained wood block back on.  We did grind spaces for the bolts on the back of the wooden board so that it would lie on the angle iron instead of resting on the bolts, but otherwise, pretty straightforward!  (Ha. Ha. Ha).  Rest in peace, titanium drill bit (you were well-loved, but apparently not up to the challenge).



 Here she is, inside our living room, ready for its transformation!


It's so great.  You can see the couch from the kitchen, now, which makes the space feel more open.  It's a great surface for table lights, and books, and the tv remote, etc.
 

 But something's still missing.  So we added Jim and Shasta, and then eventually also...
A tree!
 Our poor, sad, little ficus.  Hopefully it'll do better down here than upstairs... Regardless, the room is so much nicer now.

 And it got exactly the right amount of modern/elegant/simple/rustic, etc that we were looking for!

The cat hasn't discovered it yet.  But when she does, I think it might be her new favorite hangout place...


Random images from our lives recently....

Bathtime for her dirtiest kitten!


We made bread. It came out weird, and with brussel sprout eye stalks.  Delicious, right? 

Christmas Tree!

Even though we travelled for the holidays, we still managed to set up our own Christmas tree (hooray for local cut-your-own farms!). After last year's mega-needles of death tree, we were pleased to find one this year that didn't draw blood and held it's needles like a champ!

Pretty Ornaments!
The whole tree!
A holiday living room (note the turtle holiday card-gotta love working with biologists!)

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

How to know if you're a type-A personality

Stephanie:  Did you see the Google doodle today?
Jim: Yes! It looked awesome. I put playing it on my to-do list, but I didn't get to it.
Stephanie: ...

(Stephanie posts this on blog)

Jim:  ...but what is it?
Stephanie:  Oh! you wanted to see it? But it's not when you scheduled it.
Jim: ...but I want to see it.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Roasted maple butternut squash soup

Or, what to eat on a Tuesday that feels like it should be a Friday...


Roasted maple butternut squash soup

1 butternut squash (medium/large, peeled and chopped)
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
 salt and pepper to taste
3 TBS butter
1 Tbs dried sage
1/4-1/2 tsp allspice
1/4-1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4-1/2 tsp powdered ginger
4 cups water
2 cubes of vegetable bouillon

Chop one medium/large butternut squash into 1-inch chunks.  Place in a baking dish, and toss with vegetable oil and maple syrup.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and bake at 375 until soft (about 40 minutes).

Once squash is ready, melt butter until bubbling in saucepan.  Add sage, and cook till sage is browned.

Add squash (including juice), allspice, cardamom and ginger to the saucepan.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add 4 cups of water and the bouillon cubes.

Boil for about 15 minutes, then blend using an immersion blender or a blender.  

I liked it with cheesy bread (good cheese melted on toast).

SO GOOD.  Also, yay- butternut squash from McNeils, maple syrup from McNeils, sage from our garden!

Friday, January 4, 2013

The Natural Bridge




Since we were in the neighborhood (so to speak), we decided to see the Natural Bridge.  It's a big tourist attraction-even since colonial times! The pictures don't really give it the full sense of grandeur-it's spectacular!

This was a 1600 year old Arborvitae tree on the way to the bridge.

Jim, for scale

Rt. 11 goes over the top of it!
Amazing!
A Mohacan village recreated on the grounds.
Lace waterfall-aptly named!

Steph and Jim for more scale :)
A good day!

A cabin in the woods



As a Christmas present, Steph made reservations at Douthat State Park in Virginia.  We didn't really know much about it, but the prospect of two days out and about in the forest sounded perfect.  We got to our cabin after dark and took a night hike too (4 miles without lights!).  The next day, though, we went for what ended up as a 12 mile trek through the mountains-a fitting trip after seeing The Hobbit movie right before we left!

Our cabin from the outside.  They're all pretty sweet!

Our cabin inside-great fireplace!
The view south from the Mountain Top Trail

 

The trails were pretty slick in spots where the sun didn't reach, so we picked up walking sticks.  Mine was "Lichenstep" and Steph's was "Oneleaf" ('cause even walking sticks need names).

There were a lot of really neat lichens and mosses growing along the path.

Bobcat prints! (and poop!)

The views were spectacular!


On the far side of the mountain.


This was our last excursion of the day to the majestic (?)  "Blue Suck Falls"

The lake right at the edge of night.


No one enjoyed our hike more, but we definitely tired Shasta out.