Harvest: small but sweet

This summer I half-lamented about not being able to put in a garden in time. Our move was at the end of June, somewhat past ideal planting season, so we could only hope for success with potted herbs.

About a week into July, I came across an opened packet of cantaloupe seeds from the previous year. Summer 2009 had been much too wet and cold for an amateur melon garden in Illinois, leaving us discouraged about the thought of ever attempting melons again, but I decided to take a chance on this old packet of seeds, a sunny spot in our yard, and the remaining Iowa summer. By September the melons were still not ripe, and it was looking as though the first frost might come and wipe out the plants before any were ready.

One day last week I was working on some cabinet doors on the deck while Ramona played in the yard. When I suggested that she check on the melons, she went over to our melon patch, picked one right off the vine, and brought it to me. I told Forest later that Ramona harvested our first melon, and he jokingly accused me of child labor.
We have since harvested several more, and found that they are actually pretty tasty, despite our wariness in trying the first bite. Perhaps we put our garden in in time, after all.

Scooby is here

It was time for the Dixons to purchase a new vehicle. Forest planned to use the old '97 Accord for his work commute, saying the next car would be all mine for excursions in the Iowa winter. Now, my whole life I've never really had my "own" car--but here it is: a light green minivan.
We actually had it delivered to us from a trusted dealer in Salt Lake City without test-driving it or even seeing it, so it truly was a bit of a mystery machine until we got it. I can't complain about the amount of space it offers, and Ramona enjoys it so much she threw a fit the first time I took her out of it. Welcome to the family, Scooby-van.

days of labor

When we first purchased our home, we knew that one of our larger projects was going to be re-decorating the kitchen. The grape-pattern wallpaper border and antique crackle faux finish paint was just not our style . . . not to mention the hidden dark purple INSIDE the cabinet doors.
So we eventually pulled down the grapes of wrath . . .

. . . removed some cabinet doors . . .
. . . and began stripping paint off of the doors.
Layer,
after layer. We discovered that before the purple + faux finish era, at some point these cabinets were painted blue, and before that they were beige.
You have to love this look of the stage when the doors are just partially stripped. Maybe we should have just stopped here and put the doors back on . . .
. . . or maybe not. At any rate, after many applications of paint remover, we reached the original wood . . .
. . . which Forest cleaned, sanded, scraped, and cleaned . . .
. . . until they looked something like this:
So, Labor Day weekend it was time to begin tackling the actual cabinets, which involved a very similar messy process--it just happened in the middle of the kitchen, instead of down in the garage:
Step 1: Strip paint
Step 2: Clean wood
Step 3: Sand, sand, sand

Step 4: remove 1960's decor . . .
. . . from here
Step 5: Primer-time
Hopefully we are not too far from our "new" Dixon kitchen . . . although it seems like there are still a lot of steps left to go . . .

Speaking of kitchen makeovers, you should see what my sister-in-law is doing with their home! Our project is nothing compared to theirs.