Sunday dinner for the family, planned ahead cuz' the Hostess is in the garden!

Sunday dinner in the Bungalow April 25th, 2010

On the menu:

Baby back ribs in BBQ sauce

Coleslaw

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Heirloom Tomato Salad 

Scalloped Potatoes

Watermelon for dessert

One of my favourite cook books

An easy peasy tasty salad, full of goodness and looks wonderful

Cut in half Heirloom Tomatoes

add aged Balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

top with fresh grated parmesan cheese or feta

I spent the better part of the day in the garden so I prepped the 3 salads ahead and just need to put them together when the ribs are ready.

The ribs are easy too, just precook the ribs for 20 minutes, drain, place in shallow roasting pan, add bottled BBQ sauce.

 (I like Diana's sauce for chicken and ribs)

Cover with foil and let cook at 325 degrees for about an hour.

The scalloped potatoes take the same time so it all comes together without a lot of fuss.

I had time for a soak in the tub with my bath salts and feel much better although my muscles are sore and will be letting me know again tomorrow!

I was sifting soil, loading up the wheel barrow and moving it around the yard top dressing the beds.

I need to get some gardening boots, my socks and clogs do not keep my feet clean or dry....any suggestions as to what boots I should look for?

 Hunters are good, but there must be others that perform and last.

I hope that you all had fun this weekend.

Post Earth Day, I am going green this weekend.

Maling heavily decorated plate in the back and Franciscan ware in Sprout Green, everyday dishes.

Circa 1950's 

Le Creuset, my go to cookware

Mr. HB built in a wine rack when he designed the kitchen renovation years ago and it still gets play!

Unmarked matte green arts and crafts pottery.

Large cones collected after a windstorm from the heritage tree in the cemetery close to our home.

The cemetery is a lovely space full of interesting gravestones, heritage trees and is a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

It is a surprisingly beautiful place in which to saunter and ponder

replete with

 cacaphonic birdsong and the scrambling of squirrels.

Succulent

New porch plantings

White geranium in a chipped and crazed Medalta pudding crock

My favourite colour just happens to be green...can you tell?

What colours speak to you?

Is there a colour in your home that you instinctively embrace and use again and again?

Digital tricks for the hostess...lets start with sepia...

I attended a workshop on the Digital Camera today.

I took copious notes, they are a mess of abbreviations and scrawl.

I was advised to come home and play with my new skills, do some homework!

I loved the colour options and had no idea how these worked.

 I thought that photoshop did the colour changes...I never knew it originated in the camera.

I am starting out with the sepia as I like what it does to textures.

We were advised to shoot from unusual angles and to use some new composition guidelines.

The rule of thirds, full frame focus, and the golden mean.

These are suggested areas on where you'd place the emphasis or focus.

Walter Bosse or Baller bronze cat from Austria, vintage thrift shop find. 

I have not researched this new find yet.

Cute face!

Oak candle sticks made in shop class by our son, when he was in grade 9.

He surprised me one year and gifted them to me...I will say...there were tears involved!

Copper framed photo of our Chris Craft on the desk. 

Mrs. Plant, long time Bungalow resident, in vintage sepia, so fitting!

We watched the hockey game this evening and had our dear friends join us for a simple dinner.

 On the menu-

Gin and Tonics

 Goat cheese, bite size heirloom tomatoes, Carrs water crackers, pepperoni sticks.

Homemade beef chili and garlic bread

rhubarb strawberry pie and ice cream.

The score was 7 to 2...and the Canucks won.

Have a great weekend!

What do belly dancing and cameras have in common?

Well...they are on my agenda tomorrow...LOL!

I am signed up for a workshop in both and am hoping to come away with some new skills.
I will probably use the camera tips more than the dance steps...but I could be surprised.
I take a lot of photos....especially on holidays.

I try to capture images from various angles and perspectives.

I like to frame my subjects or add something a little different.

Sometimes the subject is different enough on it's own and needs nothing.

The image is self explanatory

Sometimes, even in motion, the camera surprises you!

Images record holidays spent on the ocean with friends.

Ours a Chris Craft, theirs a Monk

Good times

great memories!

I'll hone my digital repertoire

and the dancing?

I'll report back later

She who must be obeyed!

Meet our aging feline Stickley, faithful Bungalow cat.

She has given us many years of affection, purring and pats.

She has accompanied us on the boat trips in the summer and she does not like the rumble of the twin 350's or the fact that she is surrounded by the ocean and does not like water, except to drink!

The roles are reversed and now it's PAYBACK!

She is 17 and has developed high blood pressure and is hyperthyroid.

So every morning our day starts with many a meow....the food bowl is empty.

We mash 1/4 tablet of an amlodipine between two spoons and then add some cream cheese into the mix and smear it on her lips to lick.

Sounds tasty...she hates it!

Breakfast is kibble and a dish of gourmet chicken a la florentine.

We take the opportunity to rub the compounded pharamceutical cream on the inside of her left ear...right is done at night!

On days that I am at school working she greets me at the door meowing when I get home and the first thing I must do before removing my coat is to top up her chicken a la florentine.

I then put on the kettle and sit to read the snail mail, emails and blogs.

She will purr and settle in for a patting session beside me while I am at the laptop sipping my tea.

Did I mention that she sheds?

Handfuls of fur float to the floor and heaven forbid, I am usually in black...thank goodness for the sticky roll that has become my favourite tool in the cat hair battle.

She has been much better of late, sleeping on our bed at night and sitting beside MR. HB on the leather love seat.

She used to sleep beside him on her blanket until she did a face plant when her retina was detaching...we did not know that she had this condition until this fall alerted us.

We got her to the vet asap and many tests later she is in fine form...ruling the roost here, calling the shots.

We love her dearly and feel that she is living on borrowed time with the help of modern science.

Pavlov and dogs move over!

Stickley is in the house!

Humble Bungalow fence and garden....

The fence is finished and I am relieved that there will be no sections blowing down in the wind for awhile! It was a great time of year to have the fence constructed as far as the perennial plants go because the damage is minimal as they are just starting to grow.

Mr. HB glued the copper fence caps onto the posts and they give it a finished look as well as protecting the posts.
This image is the view looking out from my dining room window on the north side of the bungalow. The slate patio was new last summer. I purchased wooly thyme and planted it in the spaces between the slate, as you can see it has overwintered and filled in nicely. The borders in this space will be filled in and thriving by May.

The clematis montana reubens is prolific and visible just at the top right of the photo.

It has gone on a climbing spree and is entangled with our neighbours lovely Dogwood tree.

This is my view from the dining room north.

The hummingbirds are a buzz throughout this tree and flowers.

Humble Bungalow dining room images as requested.

Humble Bungalow dining room east view.

Window dressing and bench seat cushions.

You can read about these in the previous post.

South wall and buffet.

West wall with bungalow built ins, a classic feature in the arts and crafts home.

Shelves, glass fronted cupboards, and an angled bevelled mirror 

are details of our 1913 heritage bungalow dining room.

The Bungalow has dark douglas fir panelling and is quite a small home, hence my decision to name it The Humble Bungalow. 

A working man and family would have been installed here eeking out a living and perhaps tending a vegetable garden in the yard.

It is 2010, and the Bungalow stands, a testament to a bygone era of simplicity and honest living and the garden is very fertile and plantings thrive.

We have attempted to improve and update the Bungalow maintaining the architectural integrity and restoring her to a functioning family home.

We are bucking the tide in many ways...

most people that we know have large homes with room to sprawl and great rooms for entertaining.

I suppose this might be our retirement home...downsized before need be!

Window dressing... adventures of the "sew-sew" hostess.

I love this arts and crafts print.

  The rich vibrant earthy colours and the organic elements drawn from nature.

When we were decorating our dining room we had to decide on the window treatment for a large window which takes up the better part of the north wall.

We needed something to give us privacy and add a barrier from the drafts that single paned windows are notorious for letting in.

I love luxurious draperies and had an idea in my mind of what I would like.

Unfortunately, my dream drapes did not fit into my modest budget pre- year 2000

I had related my frustration to a friend and she suggested that I make them!

(I am not handy with needle and thread.I took sewing in school, made a few dresses but they had, what my teacher referred to, "bubble darts." LOL)

My sew savvy friend mentioned that she had made ALL (10 pairs) of her drapes for her heritage arts and crafts home. (I swoon here)

She has the most incredibly beautiful arts and crafts printed fabrics this side of William Morris's homeland!

 I went fabric shopping, starting out at the bargain store and other than some Sanderson bolts I was very disappointed.

Next, off to the better quality fabric store....nothing but frustration.

 I tentatively tip toed into the upscale boutique where the local decorators and monied folk shop.

Voila...reams and reams of heaven-on-earth quality weaves, hundreds of choices, and thousands of swatches!

I have arrived...

Interior decorators are swarming.

My heart is beating fast.

I saw this bolt of cloth and fell instantly in love and HAD to have it. 

Nothing else I saw even came close.

The cost of the fabric alone was at the very outside of my budget.

Surprised? 

That's normal for me!

I waited for a sale and got 15% off.

I was buying many meters so the savings were substantial.

The bolts were so heavy that I needed help to the Volvo...

BTW that's another reason I love my car it always accommodates my finds.

I purchased all the necessary supplies as directed by my sew savvy friend and I went over to her house as she suggested to embark on the journey that would be life altering.

 Over the next 2 weeks we worked side by side for many hours.

She was patient and her expertise was essential to the success of this project.

(Our husbands suffered through late dinners and take aways but in the end it was definitely worth it.)

 We laid out the fabric, cut and matched the prints so they would flow according to the pattern repeat.

 Installed pleater tape at the top, pulled the threads of the tape until the 2 times the window formula size was evenly distributed.

 We sewed the panels, and added the insulating liner.

Ironing was done after every step to insure a crisp and professional job.

We pinned up the bottom hems and I brought them home to hang in place.

Large wooden rings were used as the rod was a thick wooden one.

Mr. HB had this job as he has the "architectural eye."

The pinned hems were in place for a few months before I got around to hand stitching them!

It was a major undertaking but the results were worth it.

I am happy today with my decision to sew my own as opposed to "settling" for something inferior which no doubt would have gone the way of the DODO!

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

I made it happen.

(with the help of a great friend!)

Sometimes I surprise myself.

What have you done that you thought impossible?

Have you surprised yourself?

Pushed the comfort envelope?

I do not pump my own gas so I have something else to tackle when I muster up the courage!

Spring-ing from the pages of Elle...and reality check....make that dots!

I was struck by this image from the recent Elle magazine.

I do like the dress, love the colour, texture and the bohemian chic vibe here.

 The dress looks very forgiving with all the seaming and I would be happy wearing this to a wedding, tea, or dinner out.

It would be a versatile classic that would fit well into my wardrobe.

Chanel!

Look closely at the

muted tones, beading and dramatic textural features that combine to make this jacket exceptional. 

 The Chanel quilted classic bag.

Interesting that the model is sitting on a distressed bentwood chair in a pile of sand.

Does the earthy elevate the couture or visa versa?

Feminine and soft

Spring Romance...Boudoir Pastels and Nudes...
Pure Escape

Bungalow Reality Check...

Featuring Kitchen Warrior Mitts in Kiwi

 stained lightly with accents of gravy and drippings.

Random Smatterings on the Classic Quilted Mitts 

Kiwi Green Twill Apron

in dots and stripes 

showcasing the single pocket detail at the front.

Paderno!

The Chanel for Cooks who demand the very best in fashion and function.

Reality here in the Bungalow is not Chanel, it's Paderno!

I cooked free range organic chicken stuffed and roasted with spring vegetables and country gravy.

I ate the broccoflower before I snapped the picture!

Baby new potatoes, carrots, parsnips, chicken and homemade stuffing.

The stuffing involves the Cuisinart food processor

pulse day old bread, onions, celery salt, pepper, and sage.

Add 1/4-1/2 c. melted butter, blend.

Stuff chicken and close securely with skewers.

Bake stuffed chicken at 350 degrees in shallow roasting pan which has been coated with a glug of olive oil,

cut an onion in half and toss in pan.

Bake 30 minutes and then remove and add veggies and drizzle with a little oil, pop back in oven and bake for another hour...or until done. 

(Check on a meat thermometer if in doubt, we don't mess with poultry EVER!.)

Put chicken on the carving board and tent with foil for 10 minutes to rest before carving.

Place vegetables in an ovenproof dish and keep warm in oven.

Deglaze roasting pan with flour mixed with water and some bouillon.

 My fave is Better than Bouillon

(available in chicken or beef)

Whisk until smooth and cook for 10 minutes....

 while carver...Mr. HB here in the Bungalow, shows his deft flourishing the steel.

Serve all together and savour.