A Mess of Kitchen, Dairy, and Creativity Updates

 

 

 

 

 

    Our goal of having the kitchen finished by August died an expected, but painful death as The Simple Man and I looked at each other in quiet desperation over the weekend and saw the truth in each others eyes.

    The largest projects are finished, but as anyone who has ever remodeled knows, there are numerous smallish tasks to do before it is totally complete. A partial list (I know, so boring):

 

• Attach and paint windows/doors trim
• Paint touch ups
• Outlets
• Ceiling Fan/Overhead light
• Range hood (this took finagling and will take more finagling to look right)
• Endless wiping of floor and back-splash to get rid of haze
•  Ad nauseam

    The floor tiles have ended up being both more delightful than I thought and a real pain. They have pits in them, and if we'd researched more thoroughly, we would have known  1)  that it would be a mind/back/butt numbing job getting all the grout out of them or 2) to choose a darker grout. We chose a medium gray grout because we thought it looked more rustic than, say, mocha - and therein lies the error of our ways. The gray grout looks fine with the tiles, but ON the tiles, filling the pits, it looks rather horrible. I have to squat, with q-tips, a scrubby brush and a gallon of white vinegar over each tile, dabbing straight vinegar onto the pits, letting it dissolve, then scrubbing the grout out. Rinse with water. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Should have gone with the mocha.

 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

    I cleaned my refrigerator this week in preparation to move it back into the kitchen. Found a gallon of organic, raw milk, from grassfed cows raised by the local Amish, costing six dollars a gallon, a day or so away from fermentation. I went into full Dairy Frenzy. How to render a gallon of milk about to turn, usable for the next few days to a week? My answer was pudding and yogurt.

    I'm not hardcore enough to use the cooler packed with blankets incubator method; I've been using the Euro Cuisine yogurt maker for years. We aren't a big family and The Simple Man isn't Yogurt Man and my eldest has suddenly been stricken with dairy intolerance - so this is a good weekly amount for the toddler and me.

 With the rest of the milk I made pudding from this recipe. I made chocolate and vanilla, doubling both recipes in order to use up all the milk. After that I made pudding popsicles, which were quite a hit. I haven't made popsicles since I left home because I didn't want to use plastic. There are some really nice stainless steel molds, but they are incredibly expensive - I can't justify it for popsicles. Then one day I came across a food blog using some kind of long narrow glass for popsicles. We aren't drinkers, and never have been, so I had no idea what these glasses were. Fifty comments later someone exclaimed what a great idea it was to use tall vodka glasses for popsicle molds. I went right out and found some. They had coloured bottoms, which delighted the girls, but for some reason made me think of those pornish looking lucite high heels. We used bamboo skewers for the holders.

 

 *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

    I like to start habits on the first day of a new month. A new week will do, but it really satisfies me to begin with a new month. I recently discovered the blog A Big Creative Yes and it has made me think about the barriers I put up around making art, or really doing anything that isn't "neccessary." I guess it would be too much to ask you all to pretend that you didn't notice how I put off creating until the beginning of the month? I thought so. But that's exactly what I'm talking about. There will always be something else to do, a chance it won't work, possible frustration, and countless other fears and obstacles. So I've been inspired to take the advice I've found there and put it into practice. Instead of waiting for that fantasy day where I might have a few hours to sit down and do something, I'm going to simply set myself a goal of 15 minutes a day to just create. I use the term loosely; it could be painting, sewing, pattern making, writing, building, or something else I haven't even thought of yet. It make take many 15 minute sessions to finish something, but at least I will be doing something other than whining that I never have time to do anything!

    And that, friends, is how my August is looking!

Comments

[maureen173@gmail.com]

The kitchen looks AMAZING! Love the subway tiles, and the Rialto Terra is gorgeous!

[Victoria - Ozarks Crescent Mural]

Your kitchen looks fabulous! The walls and floor look so great. And the pudding does too.

[Victoria - Ozarks Crescent Mural]

Oh, and thanks for the new blog. I've subscribed, so I can check it out.

[TheSimplePoppy]

Yeah, the tile is gorgeous - it's just getting over this initial phase where I have to dig grout out of everything that is making me crazy!

[TheSimplePoppy]

Thanks Victoria! The pudding tasted great too!

[TheSimplePoppy]

I've found that the guy who writes A Big Creative Yes really hits the nail on the head with how people procrastinate towards creating. I've really enjoyed reading through his archives; I find myself nodding and saying "yes!" a lot :)

[Erin]

You need a project that will get you out of the box, and for which there is no right or wrong answer.

May I suggest...altered books? I just taught an art class for our local art camp on altered books. What I like about this kind of project is that it can be an ongoing project that can be done in segments a few minutes each day AND it gets you thinking and creating outside of the lines. For my class, I got each camper a children's book from Goodwill for .99 (this is also a nice way to keep a special book your kids enjoyed and making it even more special) and they spent the class creating lovely covers and altering the pages with gesso, paint, magazine cut-outs, scrapbook papers, etc. Anything goes, you can use recycled garbage, used tea bags, coffee filters...the limit is your imagination. You can make a themed book or you can do a sort of scrap/photo book. I tend to do themed books, either from an event in our lives using photos or an artistic/poetic theme. I find it to be really soothing and satisfying because there are no rules.

I haven't been able to create much since the summer started, which goes the same for blogging and just about everything I love to do for myself. Having my kids home and working is proving to be more than I can handle. They are so bored by the time I get home, I find I have to spend my down time entertaining/interacting them or taking them places, which leaves very little time for stuff I want to do. I am in severe withdrawal. Lack of creativity depressed me.

[TheSimplePoppy]

Hi Erin, I've heard of altered books - it does sound like a great project, especially for kids - I bet the campers loved it!

Yes, the whole inability to do anything creatively when you've got kids is a real struggle. And I home-school, meaning THEY NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE, ha ha. I've been trying to think of projects and ways to help them be happy WITHOUT me. I know it's possible, I just don't know how yet. But I have to hold onto my belief that I'm not put here to solely entertain them - it's just finding the right solution. Good luck, I imagine it's a difficult transition to start working outside the house again after raising babies!

[Rob Aker]

The pudding looks awesome