100 happy days :: day 95

coffee. tea. and instagram filters that make even my crap old kitchen look inviting.

100 happy days :: day 13

this room is a cozy spot of happiness for me. from sabin's painting on the wall, to shelves lined with favorite books, to beloved objects on windowsills and in bowls, to my great-grandmother's hand-sewn double wedding ring quilt on the bed, waking up here and going to sleep here every night, cats at my feet, makes me feel comforted and happy.

what else makes me happy? the sun is shining today. it's friday and that means that the fish guy and the cheese lady are in town, so we'll have something yummy for dinner tonight.

happy weekend, one and all.

the brewery

i've not shared any house progress photos in ages. mostly because things happen so slowly and incrementally around here that it never feels like there's anything significant to share. but that changed recently.

husband recently his old workshop space (and a space that was a garage with the previous owners) into what he calls the brewery. it's a room dedicated to big, messy jobs, like pressing apples for cider, spinning honey out of their frames, and eventually yes, even making beer.

he painted the walls and ceiling white and the floor grey. and i can tell you that paint makes a huge difference. to divide the space up a little bit, he built a little brick wall (to practice his brick-laying skills for the bigger job in the kitchen). he also built several shelves - mostly to house the beekeeping supplies - frames, boxes, wax, even buckets of honey.

we got this old scale at a flea market ages ago and it really works and is quite useful when you want to weigh how much honey you harvested.

an old cupboard that was one of the first things we bought together way back when houses our flag collection down at the far end. we inherited the flags from husband's father, who was crazy about flags, especially the nordic ones.

the wood-burning stove isn't hooked up yet, but it will be and then i intend to spend lots of time out there, as it's much nicer than the house! i love the brick pedestal husband built for the stove. there to the left, there will be a sink, as a brewery needs a water source. we're scouring the markets for the right sink and haven't found it yet. but we will.

husband made a new top for an old green table that was here (one of the few good things), so there's a nice work table next to the honey centrifuge.

that little green bench was in sabin's room until yesterday. i'm not sure it's going to stay there, but it's always good to have another surface.

on the right is the cider press husband made. he's making modifications to it after this year's cider pressing, so it's not intact at the moment (if you're looking at it, wondering how on earth you can press cider in that). i love how he has no qualms about taking apart something he made and remaking it. i could really learn something from that. down at the end, more shelves with the beekeeping supplies on them.

my favorite feature is the meaningful stones he bricked into the wall. the three bricks are from a favorite beach in sweden. the second stone from the left is from crazy horse monument in south dakota. the heart and the stone with the eye are both from møn's klint, one of our favorite places in denmark.

i want to grab my book and a cup of coffee and go relax out there right now.

scenes from a sunday

motivated by the impending visit from my family i did a bit of decorating. the entryway has long been a repository of coats and shoes and the odd case of wine and not much else.

our favorite cupboard, which we bought in the early days of our relationship stands there, but was serving only as a place where i keep kleenex and batteries and hang all of my various purses and bike helmets and oddly enough, a feather boa.

but i vacuumed out the spiders and cleaned it up today and even unearthed some of our other favorite things...glass plates and vases from our early days together, a fish plate we bought in istanbul, ceramic fish and hens we bought in palanga, martini glasses from prague...

...a few cookbooks and an inherited ceramic apple. it was fun opening boxes that have stood patiently waiting for almost three years(!) and bringing out these beloved items. it made me happy and it also made me wonder why i didn't do it long ago.

they promised better weather and today was much warmer, but still not all that nice...it was a bit rainy in the afternoon and rather grey and overcast all day. i've been watching this little mushroom all winter. it appeared last autumn sometime and has been hanging onto that stump for months.

a fine mist of raindrops on the crocus. there are crocus springing up all over the place - it seems like there are more this year than there were before. but perhaps i just don't remember them all from last year.

the little chicks are at that scruffy, awkward stage. their mother parades them around, scratching up good bits and clucking them over to gobble them up. they're pretty shy and never stop moving, so it's a bit hard to get a decent photo of them.

husband tilled around the strawberries - we've got 8 rows and will plant two more this year, to have ten. i hope it'll be a good year for strawberries! that big pile behind husband is cow poo that a neighbor kindly brought by. our sandy soil quickly loses any nutrients it has, so we need lots of fertilizer. that giant tank in the background is the gas tank we found buried right next to our well last weekend. we had to have it emptied and dug up. husband intends to cut it in half and make a big grill with it. with him, that's not just idle talk - it's not far from word to action around here, so i'm sure we'll soon be grilling on a grand scale.

i hope your sunday was a good one too!