New Toy!

Nicholas told me he never thought he would see the day that the garage was my workshop instead of his and now it really is my workshop!!

Meet my new toy.

It has a LAZER which is one of the coolest things EVER.

I also built myself a new work table because the other work bench wasn’t deep enough for the new saw and this one is more my size! The project on the table is the daybed prop I’m working on for Dena. I was just setting it up to see where I wanted the sides to sit.

Dena sent me a picture she took of the prop and I’m really excited about how it turned out and it looks great against the red back drop!

My neighbor’s hubby is home this week for R&R and I’ve had Sam and Hails a lot because they were out of town. Those mutts are always a mess.

Pooh looks like she’s mid sneeze, I thought it was funny.

That’s better!!

It is SO dry up here right now. I’ve been watering and the yard still looks rough. The weather this year has been so bizarre, huge flood in May and a drought the rest of the year.

See that nice path they have going through the yard. Sharon has one on her side also. Travis came home and said “um yeah I see where they walk!”

Usually I have the gate open but somehow the kids managed to get out a couple of days ago and thankfully Sharon’s neighbor saw them and got them all back inside. She thought they dug out, I’m not sure but since I was keeping them I decided they needed to stay in my side of the yard.

So that’s my life lately. And now the countdown is really on for the boy’s R&R!! Only a few more days and we’ll be able to say he’ll be home THIS month!! We both agree that this deployment has really been flying by and I know after he goes back time will really pick up because of the holidays and when they are over we’ll only have 2 months left. That’s no time at all!! We’re on the downhill slide of this thing!

Photography prop and lid

Dena brought me the fabric for the lid and I finished the box up on Wed, she LOVED it and I’m soooo glad!! She already wants me to make another prop for her!! In a couple of weeks my town will be do a “Best of ------" and she’s one of the featured photographers that will have a table, she’s going to take the 2 props and have my business cards there so hopefully I’ll end up with some more business!! I’m really excited about that. I have a few projects lined up that should keep me busy until the boy comes home for R&R. I found a place about an hour away that has reclaimed wood from barns and old buildings, I really want to get there and check it out. Barn wood items are really popular now and if I could get some wood at a decent price it would be great!
I told Nicholas yesterday that I want to buy a nice sliding miter saw when I get paid for my next project and he told me to go for it. He said “I never thought I’d see the day that the garage would be your workshop instead of mine” I said “life is full of surprises isn’t it!”
I’m hoping over time I become a better or at least cleaner painter. Every time I paint (or stain) something I end up with paint ALL over me. Right now one foot has a lot of paint that won’t scrub off. I guess I’m going to let that wear off?? I think a drunken monkey would stay cleaner. I’m not sure how I do this.  Oh well.

Since I made the box with 2 different looking sides I decided to do one side more feminine and the other side more masculine. This is the feminine side, at first I had toned down the champagne color metallic by mixing it with the darker chocolate color but Dena wanted it to stand out more so I went back over it and this is how it turned out. 

The fabric for the lid. The lid just sits down on the ledge inside the box and it will be super easy to make more lids in the future to change them out with the season or event. I made the cushion the same way as I did the ones for the chairs, it took me about 30 minutes! After doing all of those chairs I have it down to a science!

The masculine side of the box. I used a dark chocolate metallic paint on this side.

Email Issues

I talked to Nicholas today and he said he’s having major email issues lately. He is receiving emails and can read them but every time he tries to reply and send an email out it’s being marked as spam and won’t send. He has a whole list of people that have saved email waiting to go out. He was really annoyed about it today. I have no clue why this is happening but he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s ignoring them! Hopefully this will straighten itself out soon.

 

And some funny pictures of Ki just because….

Yes, she is laying under a towel. Why you might ask? Well because it’s on the sofa and she likes to be covered. She stands on it and paws around until I finally pick it up and cover her. The towel was by the door which is why it had mud on it, I can’t remember how it made it’s way to the sofa. Hmmmm…

September 11th

It was our junior year and I was in biology when the announcement came over the intercom to turn on the TV’s. We went from class to class that day and learned nothing. Everyone just stared at the TV. We knew things were going to change and everyone was scared. I never knew just how much that moment would change our entire lives. When Nicholas decided to join the Army in 2003 we both knew there was a chance that he would deploy but we thought surely the war would end soon. We were wrong. And now he has spent 30 months deployed with 6 more to go before it ends. We’ve lost people. Good people.

On September 11th, 2008 Nicholas had been home for R&R for 1 day when the phone rang, it was our FRG leader and I’ll never forget her words “Your soldier is fine but there was a death in the troop” I was looking at Nicholas sitting on the sofa and as soon as he saw my face he said “what’s wrong” and I asked Stephanie, “Can you tell me who it was” when she told me the name I looked and Nicholas and said “Mike’s dead.” I will never forget that. We spent the next few days trying to find out what what going on and how the rest of his troop members were doing with the loss. This is how September 11th, 2001 still has an effect on our lives every day. I didn’t know Mike that well, I couldn’t tell you anything about his personality or his favorite food but just last week I saw his wife at a get together. I asked her how she was doing and she said “You want the truth or do you want me to lie to you” I said “tell me the truth” and she said “It’s still hard, things are getting better but I’m not looking forward to next week.” I didn’t even know what to say to that so I said “I’m sorry.” It broke my heart. Watching their 5 yr old son that was 3 when Mike died broke my heart.

Mike and Nicholas

Calzones!!

I finally took the time to take step by step pictures of the calzone making! I’ve had some requests so here you go because I have A LOT of pictures!! I’ll put the recipe at the end.

After the first rise in a greased mixing bowl I roll the dough out in, for lack of a better term, a snake like we used to do with play dough. lol Then I cut the dough in about fist size chunks and shape into a ball.

Getting the dough flattened out is a challenge, I watched some youtube videos to get an idea of the best way to get it done.

Garlic butter! Stick of butter, spoonful of garlic, parmesan cheese, and basil.

All mixed together and ready to be spread on the dough.

The dough covered in the garlic butter and pizza sauce. I use Kroger brand and it’s great!

Fresh mozzarella, you HAVE to use fresh grated mozzarella. It makes all the difference! I usually add a slice or 2 of provolone also but I forgot to buy any this time.

 

Make sure to put the topping to 1 side of the calzone and leave a small edge.

Yes, mine have spinach on them!! I do eat green stuff every now and then!

Ready to go in the oven. Since I was by myself when I was making them I didn’t have a way to take pics or video of me sealing them up. I flip the top over and pull the bottom piece up and tuck it all in. That makes perfect sense, right? You can also youtube this for better instructions.

YUMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

They will leak so make sure you have tin foil in the bottom of the oven or it can make a huge mess. Yeah, ask me how I know that…….

When N was home for R&R we made calzones and as they always they leaked and the next time we used the oven the juices caught on fire. That’s never happened before but I haven’t changed out the tin foil in a few weeks before that so maybe I should change it out more often. Oops.

I made a batch and a half and made these 4 calzones and I still have a ball of dough in the fridge to use later.  As you can see they make pretty large calzones.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients                         Batch and ½               2 batches
2 tbs. sugar                          3                                     4
1/2 tbs. kosher salt              3/4                                   1
1 tbs. olive oil                        1 ½                                   2
¾ cup water (6 oz)                9 oz                                12 oz
2 cups bread flour                   3                                      4
1 tsp. instant yeast              1 ½                                 2
2 tsp olive oil to coat bowl

Instructions
Place sugar, salt, olive oil, water, 1 cup flour, yeast, and remaining flour into standing mixer bowl. Using paddle attachment, start mixer on low and mix until dough just comes together forming a ball. Switch to dough hook and spray with olive oil. Knead for 20 mins. You may need to add more flour if it’s still wet looking. The dough should not be sticking to the bottom of bowl while kneading.  Sometimes I have to add up to 1/2 cup of extra flour.
Roll dough into a smooth ball on counter top. Place into stainless or glass bowl that has been coated with olive oil. Roll dough around to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 18-24 hours if cooking the next day or if cooking that day put it into the oven with the oven OFF but the oven light ON. This should take about 2 hours for the dough to rise.
Pull dough out and split into equal parts. 1 batch will make 2 large calzones, 1 ½ batches will make 4 large calzones, and 2 batches will make 6. Same for pizzas. Flatten then roll into ball. Spray the balls down with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap so they won’t dry out and cover with dish towel. Let rest 30 mins.
After dough rests flatten it out in a pizza shape and bake right away for a crispy crust or rest another 30 mins for a chewier crust.

I’m posting this again because I just looked back at the original post and some pictures are missing and stuff is out of place. Not sure what happened there.

Photography Prop

 

I used the Caromel Colors paint in Chocolate and it left such a great texture. I sanded it down just enough to smooth down the rough edges and then used metallic paint on the trim. On the first 2 pictures I used a dark chocolate metallic and on the 3rd I used a mix of the dark chocolate and champagne to make a rich gold color. I wanted her to be able to use both sides like it was 2 different boxes. I’m really happy with the paint and I hope she loves it as much as I do! As soon as I get the fabric I’ll make the lid. I can’t wait to see it completely finished and as soon as she uses it for a shoot I’ll snag one to show it off in action!!

I will be taking donations

 

I talked to Nicholas today and the first thing he said was “I’m full” then he followed with this list of what he had eaten…..

“I had a pork chop, a turkey breast, a chicken salad sandwich, a banana, and a protein shake for dinner.”

I’m thinking I need to start a grocery fund for when he comes home. If you would like to donate please let me know. lol

 

 

*This is a joke, it just amazes me how much he can eat in 1 meal!

A beautiful day

The weather has been fantastic lately here and I have enjoyed it so much. I worked in the garage for hours in the last couple of days and didn’t even break a sweat. I LOVE IT!!! The trees are showing just a hint of a change and I’m looking forward to all the beautiful fall colors!

I finished building the box and brought it inside to paint. Since it’s small I can bring it in and work on it easier than working in the garage and dealing with all the dust. I’m really happy with how it looks and can’t wait to start painting. Getting the finish I want might be harder than building it!

  

I have a plan in mind for a really fun desk/media table. I need to sketch it up but I’m planning to use decorative legs on it and I picked 2 up at Lowes so I could look at them for a few days and see which one I like best. I think I’ve decided but I love hearing opinions!!

I also made up a board today with all the paint colors I have on hand. It’s obvious I’m in a neutrals/blues/greens phase since that’s what I have on hand!!

 

Everyone that has seen my car will know that “H” is my personal favorite color!! lol

 

Anyone else watching  Swamp  People?? I love this show!! It’s on History channel and it’s about alligator hunters. I had no idea there was a season for them!! The cajun accents are awesome. They actually have subtitles because the accents are so thick. I want to go hang out with these people. Troy is my favorite

Woodworking

I finally got started on the photography prop for my friend this week. It’s basically a decorative box. The top will have a cushion with some cute fabric for her to use while taking baby pictures. It’s been a fun project and I’ve just been designing as I go along.
The side.
 
Two sides will have the same molding and the other 2 will have something different so it will look like 2 different boxes. Right now I only have 1 side finished.

I did get my paint already and I really like it so far, I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to play with it too much though.

Volleyball is going really well! I've had a lot of fun on the team and it's a fantastic workout!! After the first practice it took me 2 full days to recover and be able to walk! lol I never knew how hard it was to play. I'm going tomorrow to get some knee pads because I seem to hit the ground pretty often going for the ball! At least I try! I did end up with a nice bruise after practice on Thurs though so I know it's really time for pads!

Daddy built a bridge outside of Columbus and it looks really good. He sent me some pictures of it the other day.