Jalapenos

Just picked 2 full size jalapenos from our plants! First pick of the season with (hopefully) more to come!

Sauerkraut Success

Wednesday night we were able to taste test the sauerkraut I made a few weeks ago. I will say for our first stab at it it's not bad at all. It tasted, smelled and looked like sauerkraut. I think it needed a little more water to take the brine taste down a bit and it definitely needed to be sliced more finely. I thought it'd wilt down a bit- not so much! Oh well, we're excited to cook it and put it on brats or with pierogis.

Signs of Growth

We've got some stuff finally growing on our plants. . .

Yellow Squash Flowers

Jalapenos

Herbs gone wild!

Strawberry

The Patio Saga Comes to An End!

It has taken a few weeks to get to this point, but I can finally say the patio is FINISHED!! Pictures of the process are below and while the patio is done we still have to dig out the other side of the yard to install the turf. We're choosing not to think about that endeavor for a few days. . .

Eric loaded up his work truck and brought everything home Friday night. Believe it or not, our entire patio is in the trailer and truck bed!

Laying the base and finishing the perfectly level base. Next comes the sand and the pavers!

But first came lunch. . .sliders, lots of sides and triple chocolate crumble cookies!

Eric and Joe laying the pavers. . .almost done . . .

DONE! Now to move the table. . .

FINISHED!!!!!!

Smart Dog, Messy House

In preparation for the new patio Eric has been digging out the dirt to make room for the base and the pavers. Indy got bored while we were at work one day and decided to help Eric dig. He dug himself a nice little dirt hole so he could lay in it and stay cool. When I came home and realized what he did I was proud and chuckled until I saw the dirt that he had tracked all over the house. I didn't take pictures of the dirt throughout the house because I went into instant cleaning mode and didn't think about it-sorry. I'm sure you'll enjoy the picture of Indy laying in the dirt, bragging about his accomplishment, more anyway!

Snowboarding in June

Yes, it can be done and Eric, Todd and Matt did it. A-Basin, where they went, isn’t on National Forest land, so it can stay open as long as it wants. At this rate it may not even close this year! The central mountains are actually slated to get 4-8 inches of snow overnight tonight so A-Basin may be open past 4^th of July! Below are some pictures Eric took of the mountain while he was there.

Fanatical Food Saturday

This weekend we got a little crazy in the kitchen making food and the pile of dishes (that I should have taken a picture of) that resulted was just as crazy!

Food we made over the weekend:

·         Green Chili

·         Bread and butter pickles

·         Strawberry Rhubarb crisp

·         Beer

·         Breakfast burritos

The green chili was for the breakfast burritos. We get tired of bagels week in and week out so we thought this would be fun and different. We have a fridge shelf full and you’d think we raided Chipotle or something. . .

I tried making instant pickles and it worked! So I’m going to revamp the recipe a bit and try dill again since they were such a salty disaster last summer.

Strawberry Rhubarb crisp- yum! SO good especially with ice cream!

Beer- Eric set up his mad science experiment outside and went to town. The recipe was one he created on his own without any assistance from the boys at the brew store, so we’ll keep you updated on how it turns out. It smelled malty so I think he is in good shape- yes, that’s my professional beer sniffer opinion!

A Quick Revamp

For Christmas my mom got us this tray for the living room to use on our ottoman since we didn’t have a coffee table.

Rewind a minute: we got rid of the coffee table because a certain pupper dog decided it was in his way and he didn’t want it any more so he moved it and jumped on it until we got the message it needed to go. He doesn’t run the house or anything, does he?

Anyway, we had no coffee table, so mom got us the tray. We decided our smaller ottoman wasn’t going to work so we recently bought a new (bigger) one at Target- brown leather to go with the leather arm chair. We still wanted to use the tray, but the pattern was making me crazy. I decided to get crafty and paint it to match the rug (sort of). I just have to get acrylic spray to coat it so it’s liquid proof.

Low Key Weekend

This weekend was pretty quiet, but a couple things were picture worthy so I thought I’d get them posted.

The left side of the back yard is now down to dirt! We’re moving in the right direction for pavers. We’ll (Eric) try to dig most of the dirt out this week- we have to take it down 8” so we can lay base for the pavers. Obviously hauling dirt out of the yard is one of the last things I’d consider fun, but soon enough we’ll have a new patio!

Indy also got to go swimming at the fountain! I did not take pictures while he was swimming or my new phone would have been toast. I got a cute one when he was in the car drying off. He slept in the car on the way home and plopped on his bed for an hour long nap once we got home.

Boston!

Last week I was in Cambridge, just over the river from Boston, for Recruiter meetings. This was actually my last string of Recruiter meetings since as of July 1 I will be an HR Generalist! I’m incredibly excited since this what I actually got my degree in! I will be working with staff on everything from orienting new employees, handling leaves, processing terminations, doing annual appraisals, resolving employee relation issues, and working on projects to support my designated division. I'm really looking forward to the change in responsibilities!

While I was in Cambridge I actually did a little bit of sightseeing since this was my last trip,a nd I hadn't done any on previous trips. My friend Hillary and I wandered around in Beacon Hill, which is a very old and historic area of Boston. There are tons of shops and restaurants and row houses. It was a great little area, albeit it incredibly expensive!

Walking over the Charles Bridge and looking into Boston

Looking over the Charles River- my hotel is down the river on the left.

I’m sure you’re wondering why in the world I took pictures of two store fronts. I have good reason. . .Reiss and Zara are stores that Kate Middleton (Princess Kate) shops at in London and they have stores in Boston. I’m mildly obsessed with her clothes and the fact that they are affordable and things I’d wear, so I had to get a picture. Hillary and I did go to Reiss and saw the dress that Kate wore in her engagement pictures. It was only $145. I was shocked to say the least. I’m a dork.

 The other picture that I’m sure you’re baffled over was the one of a sleeper sofa. Our company does an unimaginable amount of business with the hotel I stayed at, and well, let’s just say they goofed when assigning me a room. The “suite” was large and had a jacuzzi tub, but I don’t really consider anything without a bed a suite. I slept on a pull out couch the first night. I was too tired to argue that night to change anything. I did, however, pull the “Do you know what company I work for?!” card the second day so I could get switched to a room with a bed :)

Hiking Chief

Back in the Spring of 2008, the first spring after Eric and I moved out here we hiked Chief with a big group of friends. It’s a trail that's close to Denver and it’s a fun and quick hike, so on Sunday we decided to do it again with friends. But this time we brought all the dogs!

The dogs all did really well, they especially enjoyed the snow. We {people} had mixed feelings about the snow since there were still a few slick spots, which made things interesting every so often. 

I will be honest, I didn’t think Indy would be OK to do the hike, but he was. He was at the head of the pack the entire hike! He followed the trail perfectly only going off to sniff something random or take care of business.The dogs got to a spot at the top with a huge wall of snow and they thought it was awesome. Indy took the opportunity to roll and tunnel on as much of it as he could.

The hike was a lot of fun, the weather was good, and all people and dogs were exhasuted afterwards. All signs of success! If you are interested to see info on the hike click here for the trail info. The only thing that is wrong is the mileage. It's 2 miles one way, not round trip. Trust me.

Gee, you think they want out?

So cute!

Indy & Boone leading the way

Joe, Scott & Todd at the summit

Sharing a granola bar at the summit!

Sauerkraut

Are you really surprised? I mean seriously, does it shock you at all that I'm attempting homemade sauerkraut?? Well if it does, clearly you don't read our blog on a regular basis. 

I'll be honest I don't have the foggiest of ideas how I sold myself on homemade sauerkraut, but I thought what the heck? Why not?

I found a recipe on All Recipes.com (link is on the side--->) that is for the authentic German style Kraut. (All Recipes has great “ethnic” recipes – Italian, Russian, Polish, etc.) So in the kraut there is not only cabbage, but granny smith apple slices and caraway seeds. It called for Juniper Berries, but Eric and I hate those, so I left them out. 

Once everything was sliced insanely thin I had to pack it into the jar very tightly and put cabbage leaves and a bag of water on top of everything so it was air tight. It has to stay at a very warm temperature in the dark for 3 weeks and then we can taste it. I’ll let you know how it turns out. 

Yes, I duct taped a towel to the container to make sure it's dark for fermenting purposes. Let's not judge, OK?

The Yard Saga Continues

OK, so no major changes yet to the yard, but they’re coming! We are good to move the patio, sell the flagstone that we currently have, and I think put the turf in. I say, “I think” because our lad lady hasn’t actually said yes, go for it yet, but it would make sense if we’re moving the patio.  Until we can do the major construction stuff we’re doing little things. . .

All of the veggies and flowers we want to put in are in! On the south side of the house I have strawberries and 3 types of tomatoes- beefsteak, roma and heirloom. In the pots in the back we have jalapenos and squash. 

We moved the plastic utility shed so we can have a longer space for the patio {once it's in!}.

Also, we have some flowers blooming that I can take no credit for. Our rose bushes finally bloomed! We got so much rain that we thought they were toast, but they apparently dried out and are just fine. 

And then of course, big dog laying in the cool grass. He lays out there in the shade and won't move. I think he's trying to tell us something. . .