Keep at Basil

Why buy basil leaves when you can get the whole plant?

A cheap alternative to floral centerpiece. Fragrant. And think of the possibilities!

I'm going to massacre this guy and make pesto. Mmmmm. Any other suggestions?

Not the Best Medicine

Included in the removal of the vanities, sink, and toilet, I also removed something really minor:

I just unscrewed the 3 screws on the inside of the medicine cabinet:

Which left a nook with unprimed drywall and wood:

I actually really like this open nook much better. Remember when I did this with the kitchen ceiling?

Does your home have those side medicine cabinets? Are you with me on the open storage nook? Do you want my medicine cabinet? Ideas on what to do with it?

Mending Hoses

For over a year now, I've had this awesome kink-free hose. The only problem is that I bought a cheapo nozzle and it calcified onto my rocking hose:

So one day the bf and I got fed up and snipped the damn thing off:

Then we slipped on a hose mender (which can be purchased at any hardware store):

We inserted the male part into the hose and put the loosened collar around the hose:

Then we pulled it up to the end of the hose and tightened it with a screwdriver:

But wait the fun doesn't stop there. To prevent the calcification (is that a word?) from happening again, we also installed hose quick connects (also available at any hardware store). One end goes on the hose and the other goes on the nozzle:

And then I installed my favorite hose nozzle back on:

And then hose away! Whee!

I've learned that not all hoses are created equal. Do yourself a favor and skip the medium duty and go straight to a heavy duty kink-free hose, and it should come with a lifetime warranty (I got mine at Lowe's). You can go cheap with the nozzle if you wish, as it's dropped often and won't matter. But make sure you do not store the hose with the nozzle attached for any long periods of time (especially if you have hard water). The best way to go about the hose situation, is to get a kink-free heavy duty hose, high quality nozzle, quick connects from the faucet to the hose, and from the hose to the nozzle, and a hose caddy.

Any other advice to share? Any hose caddy recommendations?

Master Bath: Floor Plan

Here's a floor plan I created for the current layout of our master bathroom (scale 1 cm = 1 inch):

(Like how I incorporated the ugly oranges and yellows from the old tiles? Details people!)

The new floor plan is ever so slightly changed. We're planning for a 6" wider bath tub, moving the toilet over 6", and a 1" wider sink vanity. We're planning to place a storage shelf or hamper where the old pseudo-built in vanity used to be.

I'm also hoping for lush chocolate brown tile floors. But not a gray bath tub or sink...

Master Bath D-Day 2

Master Bath D-Day 1 is here. Technically it occurred last year so maybe it was more like Day 0.5. But this post is about demolition, so we won't worry about the details ok?

First, we cleared out the bathroom:

Can you believe we stored all that stuff? Are we that high maintenance? I swear I'm not one to use products on my face or in my hair. I just buy things in bulk like toothbrushes and bars of soap.

Then we removed the drawers in the built in sink vanity:

Ready for one of the grossest things you'll ever see on this blog?

Yep, that's about half a decade's worth of hair. Someone ELSE's hair. [Insert shudder here. Repeat.]

Then we unscrewed the pseudo-built in vanity from the wall:

And removed it completely:

Next we removed the sink:

Here's a shot of the under side of the counter top (I think it's original to the house):

Here is after the sink vanity removal:

Then we drained the toilet and removed the tank and eventually the toilet as well (although I only got a shot of the tank removal):



What makes this worse than the kitchen demolition is that it is upstairs. Imagine carrying a toilet downstairs. And a sink with a counter top attached. And the vanity...

Meet: Noe

Meet my new friend, Noelani:

Here are her legs:

I suddenly want fresh baked doughy Pillsbury biscuits...

Hit a Wall

Remember this post from last year? Well since so many of you inquired, and I always give the people what they want, here's what we did:

Care to know what it looks like now, nearly 7 months later? Well not that different. Until recently... stay posted.

Done Deals

If you remember this post and this post, then you know that I like buying food and I like a good deal.

Here's my results from a trip to Vons. If you can't tell what I got, well here, let me list it for you:

• A box of cereal
• organic milk
• orange juice
• pomegranate blueberry juice
  
• 2 cans of baked beans
• 2 jars of peppers (jalapeno and cherry)
• 3 jars of pasta sauce
• butter
• 2 boxes of spaghetti
• 2 broccoli crowns
• 3 ears of corn
• 2 green bell peppers
• a loaf of sourdough bread
  

Total: $32.66


Next up, Ralphs:

• 8 rolls of paper towels
• a bottle of shampoo
  
• 24 rolls of tp
• a head of lettuce
• 2 bunches of 'red tag' bananas (but they're still green, see?)
  
• 2 containers of organic strawberries
• a cantaloupe
  
• 2 organic avocados
• a bag of organic baby carrots

Total: $26.72

Together that's less than $60. And it includes organic stuff and cleaning stuff. That's a good deal people. Right?

Meat Market

These bad boys make a great appetizer. What's the secret?

Halfsies (pork and beef). Take that Ikea!

Sprinkles

We have all kinds of sprinklers on our property. We've got the standard pop up kind:

A slightly taller and older pop up kind:

The really tall stationary kind:

The kind that I mow over:

And the old timey kind:

The last one's my favorite. Because it sprays high. And you can run through it. And so can dogs. Know anything about sprinklers? Do they have more technical names?