Goodbye ugly lights

It's about time. It's not that the lights themselves are that terrible, but they were in the completely wrong place on the wall and did not fit in at all with the rest of the house. Don't be fooled by the seriously heavy duty screws that held them up - they're cheap and flimsy and I'm not sad to see them go.

Unfortunately, I think some of you are going to consider my solution to be, in fact, worse than the lamps themselves. You see, when you take a lamp like this off the wall you can't just stuff the wires back in the wall and plaster over it. That would be dangerous. I also didn't want to go through the expense and hassle of removing all the wires from the wall and I had to consider the fact that that subsequent homeowners might want to reinstall lights on that wall. Soooo, I just popped a blanking plate on the holes. A little weird, but I find those little white plates a lot less visually offensive than the lamps themselves.

It will look a ton better when the walls are painted white.

Not bad. You can also see Plato and Sascha are having one of their silent staring contests that inevitably results in Sascha taking a flying leap at/body-slamming Plato. She knows this (along with gnawing his ear) is the best way to goad Plato into a bout of vicious sounding but actually quite harmless wrestling. This usually continues until one of them runs into something, causing it to move or make a scary noise, at which point they both look around guiltily until Sascha catches Plato's eye again. Stare-bodyslam-wrestle-scarynoise-guiltylooks-stare-bodyslam.... welcome to my world.

Back in Dorridge

Hi, everyone. Jeff and I made it back to Dorridge in one piece yesterday morning. We slept most of the flight despite the annoying and constant "pew pew pew pew" sound coming from the game the kid in front of me was playing. You know, like, without headphones. I'm not hating on the kid because they do things like that and don't realize they are driving the person behind them into a murderous rage. I'm pretty sure the parent sitting about 5 inches away should have realized that. I don't know... maybe becoming a parent gives you the awesome power of being able to turn off your hearing.

We had a small hiccup in the long term parking area when the note Jeff claimed to have made on the location of our car somehow disappeared, leaving us with no clue where it was. Well, maybe one small clue like "I think it is in this general area."

I sat with the bags while Jeff got in a good workout running up and down the rows looking for the car. Of course, it ended up being parked in the one row we had walked down together while I looked to the left and he looked to the right. I'll let you guess what side it was on. Don't worry - I didn't point that out at the time.

After we got back to the house, I jumped back in the car to take a shower at the gym. I know! The dang bathroom still isn't finished! Basically, the guy ran out of floor tiles with about a square foot left to go. I ordered more tiles on Friday and they should be here tomorrow, which means the bathroom SHOULD be done by the end of this week. Well really, it should have been done 2 weeks ago but let's not get into that. I won't bore you with more pictures until it is finished.

We picked up the dogs in the early afternoon. Sascha left her mark in the form of numerous large holes in the sitter's garden. In fact, she was working on her final hole very industriously when I arrived. She sneezed all the way home because she had inhaled so much dirt. Plato, as usual, was embarrassingly happy to see us, as if he hadn't gotten a single moment of affection the entire time we were gone (which I know is not true).

The new antlers from Jeff's mom were a big hit!

While the dogs chewed and then made that wonderful transition to logs, Jeff got his much-anticipated game on. He is playing "Shogun 2" at the moment so he spent the rest of the afternoon and evening (he really likes this game) spouting nonsense in a Japanese school girl voice - which is odd since the game is about clans, and battles, and conquering...

I made a reasonably successful attempt to stay awake until a normal bedtime and watched "Robin Hood" through half-closed eyes. I've definitely hit the second day jet lag slump though. In fact, I've been staring at that last sentence for about 5 minutes. Luckily, we "sprung ahead" this weekend to BST (British Summer Time) so it is still light out now at 6pm. I think spring has finally arrived. The temperature is holding steady close to 60 degrees so I had the doors open most of the afternoon. I'm trying to show the dogs that they can come and go as they please when the doors are open, but they don't understand yet. They spend most of the time peering outside or, if they've actually decided to go outside, peering back inside looking for me.

Jeff is about to come home from work so I better get some strong tea ready for both of us - we need it!

Hello from Seattle

So I've been in Seattle and Portland for about a week and all I have to show for it are a bunch of pictures of pets. When I wasn't taking pictures of the pets - we were petting them. And when we weren't petting these pets, we were talking about how great/cute/well-behaved our own are. And when we weren't talking about them, we were emailing the sitters to confirm said greatness/cuteness/good behavior.


I guess that's all you need to know.

Oh and Jeff says my blog titles are boring and he wanted me to call this one "Not Sleepy in Seattle" because we are on vacation and are so well rested. Yeah. Nice.

A tasty way to get your veg

For a vegetarian, my diet is embarrassingly lacking in the veg department. I'm like a carbotarian or something. A carb-and-anything-cheesy-tarian. You know it's bad when you start counting pizza sauce as eating a vegetable. I'm always looking for a way to make veggies taste good and I was pretty excited when I stumbled across this recipe from Martha. Can't really go wrong with a recipe that involves vegetables AND cheesy carbs.

I don't think I've ever used the broiler before but turns out it is a really nice way to cook veggies while still maintaining some crunchiness. My red peppers were seriously past their prime, but tasted just fine after being broiled. I'm thinking this would make for a fast lunch or light dinner, especially if you cook the veg ahead of time.

I used regular mushrooms instead of portobellos, but now that I've made this I can see why portobellos would be better. If you use regular mushrooms just be sure to slice them really thick. My little pieces of mushroom got a little soggy.

This would not be the same without good sturdy bread. Jeff and I bought a loaf at the artisan bakery in the village next to ours on Saturday. It was one of those times when we were like "Damn this place is awesome!! Why don't we come here more often?". We'll probably forget all about it, go there in a month or two and think the exactly same thing. The guy who owns it is French and he is Zinedine Zidane's brother. Crazy cool, no? How he ended up in Knowle, however, is my question. If any of you come visit I'll take you there and we can ogle him and buy bread. Sadly, he doesn't really look like Zinedine. He does have a very nice French accent though.

Anyway, make this. You won't regret it. Please use gouda instead of the old block of cheddar currently in your fridge. Or don't use cheese at all - I think it might still be pretty good, but that's not how I roll.

I know you're really lazy so I'm going to just put recipe RIGHT HERE so you don't even have to click the link.

Portobello, Broccoli, and Red-Pepper Melts from Martha Stewart


1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets (stalk discarded)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 portobello mushrooms (stems removed), sliced 1/2 inch thick (I used about 8 regular mushrooms - and yes "regular" is their official name)
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), sliced 1/2 inch thick
1/4 cup light mayonnaise (ahhahahah light mayonnaise is for LOSERS)
1 small garlic clove, crushed through a press (I don't have a garlic press so I just smashed mine with the side of a big knife and then minced it)
4 thick slices country bread
4 ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced (do I even have to say it??)


1. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. On a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, toss broccoli with oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil, tossing once or twice, until broccoli begins to char, 4 to 6 minutes. (Personally, I don't know what all this "tossing" is about. What does that even mean?? Seems like a dangerous thing to do with hot vegetables in a hot pan while wearing cumbersome oven mitts with an adorable dog watching nearby. I played it safe and just mixed with a wooden spoon.)


2. Add mushrooms and bell peppers to sheet; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Broil, tossing once or twice, until vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more; set aside.


3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, toss combine mayonnaise and garlic (hoooo boy I crack myself UP); season with salt and pepper. Place bread on a work surface. Dividing evenly, spread with mayonnaise mixture, and top with vegetables, then cheese. Place on baking sheet, and broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

4. Devour while describing to your SO, friend, roomie, enemy over Gmail chat the deliciousness you are currently experiencing. Particularly if that person had "a mushroom pastry thing" from the work cafeteria that "gave [him] gas".

Rob hates me

It's true. He told me so yesterday. That's because tiling the bathroom is taking FOREVER. He thinks he may be cutting tiles for the rest of his life. Honestly, I didn't even think about that when I picked the tile (it wasn't really much of a choice to be honest - subway tile rocks). Now I'm starting to think I'm really getting my money's worth for all this labor.

Somehow, I don't think the fact that it looks AWESOME makes it any better for Luke and Rob. By the way, I found out Luke really is as young as he looks (16). His mom teaches him at home so he has time to work with Rob. Yesterday, while they were tiling together I heard Rob (who is 28) quizzing Luke on school stuff. What a good brother. I think they must have been working on geography or history because someone drew a map of the world on the sink wall.

Obviously, there are no right angles in this place (you can really see it at the top of the sink wall). The grout is going to be white so it will be a lot less obvious in the end.

Lordy, talk about meticulous. I love it!

Other than the tiling, things have been pretty boring around here. I'm still sick (but feeling better!) so I've been kind of a blob. I had macaroni and cheese out of a can for lunch yesterday and didn't feel like making anything for dinner so I went to get thai food. I'm really starting to question our allegiance to "Beau Thai" restaurant though.

It is as if they are actively trying to dissuade people from eating there. First of all, the owner has a very very limited command of the English language. I don't even bother calling in for takeout because he absolutely cannot understand me. Maybe the American accent throws him off. When people come in the restaurant he goes through this elaborate ritual of asking them if they have a reservation (when about 90% of the tables are open) and then checking his little book to see if he can possibly squeeze them in. I've heard him ask people to eat quickly and leave by a certain time. When the restaurant is at about 40% capacity I've heard him tell people on the phone that he is too busy to take their takeout order. A couple weeks ago, after ordering takeout and bringing it home I found there were peanuts on my pad thai after I specifically asked for no peanuts (I'm allergic). After a minor and hilarious (in retrospect) meltdown I decided to drive back and get pad thai with no peanuts. I figured that since we had been there every week for quite a while (ordering THE EXACT SAME THING) it would be no problem. I was so wrong. They wouldn't accept my story without proof in the form of the noodles themselves which I had left at home. The owner was totally unapologetic and actually advised me to try harder to remember to tell them no peanuts next time. And then they charged me for another order of pad thai.

Of course, we're still going back to the same place because a lot of UK thai places seem to not have noodles on their menus. Last night, when I arrived at the restaurant, the lights were on but the sign on the door said closed. I awkwardly went back to the car, confirmed on my phone that they are open on Mondays and decided to call. The owner answered and I had to say "ARE YOU OPEN?" about 5 times before he finally understood and said "uhh yeah" in a "doy we are open, why wouldn't we be" sort of way. "Well, the sign on the door says closed, you know". That totally went over his head so I hung up and marched back up to the door. Not only did the sign say closed, but the door was also locked. I knocked and the cook came to open the door. I didn't know what to say so I asked again if they were open and she gave me the "uhh yeah" as if it is totally normal to lock the door and put out the closed sign when you are actually open. What a weird place. The noodles are tasty though.

Couch Photography

Blahhh I'm sick. Rob got me sick!! Not cool. The worst part is I haven't been able to feel sick and yucky in private. It has been coming on for a few days I think so I have been exceptionally lazy and I'm sure he's wondering what the heck I do all day. All I wanted to do was watch movies and sleep, but I felt a little self-conscious with him slaving away upstairs. I want to be like "No seriously though I feel REALLY sick, I'm not faking it. I would NEVER watch a movie during the day otherwise. I mean, maybe a couple episodes of Gossip Girl whilst very very slowwwly folding a single basket of laundry, but never a movie. I'm normally a very busy and industrious person! In fact, I can't wait for you to finish that dang bathroom so I can clean it."Nevermind that he is sick and still working and so obviously made of stronger stuff than I.

So there I was: feeling sick, on the couch, not in sweats because I'm too lazy to change (too lazy to change into official lazy clothing - that IS lazy), watching Julie and Julia, taking pictures of the dogs.

Dog noses and whiskers are just the cutest.

Bathroom reno days 2/3

Nothing seriously exciting visually has happened bathroom-wise, but things are coming along! Rob has been hard at work arranging the plumbing. I guess that part is pretty important...

Also, I got a new camera lens that is ridiculously awesome for taking wide-angle photographs in close quarters, which basically describes our entire house. I think that calls for a more thorough bathroom tour, don't you? (cue mass exiting of browser windows...)

This is one NEW bathroom, even the walls and floor have been replaced. Jeff and I are nodding our heads at each other saying "Riiiight, that would explain the (ahem) slightly higher price-tag than expected." It's good though. The old subfloor had mildew all over it. That's what you get when you put flipping carpet in a bathroom. When I was researching bathroom remodel people I came across one company that advertised themselves as fitting "cozy, comfortable" bathrooms. Yeah - personally, I like mine cold and sterile.

The overactive radiator under the window has been removed and the pipes have been routed to the back of the room where there will be a heated towel rail. Obviously, because you've seen pictures of the bathroom before, the sink is on the left and the toilet is on the right (on the wall opposite the window).

By the way, you might have noticed there isn't a door to the bathroom at the moment. I took it down in a fit of frustration a while back. A full size door right there is just completely impractical. When it is open it blocks about half the stairway. I'm thinking maybe a bi-fold door of some sort? But not a tacky one? Does that even exist? I'll have to look into it.

The toilet goes where that big pipe comes out of the floor by the door. You can just see the shower tray peeking out from under the drop cloth. The tray fits perfectly between the two side walls. It does not, however, stretch all the way to the back wall so the floor behind it is going to be raised and tiled. There will be a glass partition between the toilet and the shower. We decided against a sliding door to save money and keep things simple in a small space. You can see the shower plumbing poking out from the wall. Don't worry - we measured! The shower head will be high enough for Jeff.

A square towel rail will take up the upper two-thirds of the back wall. There is going to be a tiled "step" (for lack of a better word) below the towel rail that will act as a place to put shampoo and that sort of thing.

You can see from this view that the room really is quite narrow. I think we're making it work though! I've been promised that there will be tiles going up tomorrow.

The best part is that I feel very accomplished - as if I've done all this myself. Nothing like living vicariously through a bathroom-installer-dude.

Bathroom reno day 1

I know - so much boring bathroom stuff! I did warn you that this was going to be bathroom week.

The bathroom is totally stripped down at this point and the guys are getting the plumbing all sorted out. It feels so much bigger without the dang bathtub. Of course, not having the sink and toilet in there also frees up some space...

The guys who are doing it are really great. The whole bathroom company is sort of a family affair. The office manager and my main installer (Rob) are brother and sister and the bathroom designer is married to another sibling. Rob's apprentice is his younger brother (Luke). He seriously must be like 15 years old. He is really sweet and quiet and him and Sascha are buddies. Rob has a back injury so Luke has been doing all the heavy lifting - like carrying the old tile downstairs. I asked him how it was going and he was like "I'm exhausted!"

And then he got to carry all the tile from outside the house to the van. Poor guy!

Things should be taking shape in the next few days and I'm ridiculously excited.

Oh and I was talking to the neighbors (Joan and Sweeper-Man) today and up until 16 years ago this house DID NOT HAVE A BATHROOM. An old lady lived here (and had lived here most of her life - raised 6 kids here) until she was 90 years old and could no longer live on her own. Apparently, the house was practically a museum piece when she moved out. Only one running water tap (in the kitchen), no hot water, no heating (just a wood burning stove of some sort) and a bathroom in a shed where the garage is now. It also had a ginormous garden - including the land on which the neighbor's house AND their neighbor's house sit. I still can't get over the fact that was only 16 years ago.

More little bathroom love

I'm sorry, but what kind of sink has to proclaim itself to be "Traditional English"?? I'm guessing NOT a traditional one.

A set of Bristan (a local Birmingham company) taps acquired for a song on eBay. I don't really get how these taps are supposed to work so I end up just washing my hands with cold water. They sure look cool though.

Naked baby tiles - your days are numbered. I hope.

Dinner = Delish

If you're wondering what to make for dinner tonight (I live in the future, so I just had dinner) do yourself a favor and make this. Martha's Vegetable Enchiladas. Holey moley they were good.

Don't be put off by the inclusion of frozen chopped spinach - it looked NASTAY, but after reading the comments I figured if people could get their children to eat it, I could probably eat it, too. Honestly, I couldn't even tell it was in there. Just make sure the spinach is pretty finely chopped so you don't get any gross chunks. Plus, spinach is good for you! I heartily recommend using pepper jack cheese (I used weird "Mexican" cheese from the grocery store), otherwise this might be a tad lacking in flavor. Even with the cheese, Jeff found it necessary to drown his in Cholula. I added chopped cilantro to the scallion greens on top. I meant to add mushrooms and bell pepper to the filling, but I forgot. Even though they were sitting ON THE CUTTING BOARD. Jeez.

The tub has left the building

Somewhere, Jeff is crying.

Packwood House

Yesterday, Jeff and I roused ourselves sufficiently to make the 8 minute drive to Packwood House in Lapworth, Solihull. The house began as a small farmhouse built for the Fetherston family, who inhabited it for 300 years after its construction in 1560. It was purchased in 1904 by a Birmingham industrialist (the West Midlands was historically the most industrialized area of Britain, it is also know as the "Black Country" possibly because of the pollution caused by the coal, iron, and steel industries in the area, though the name may have existed before the Industrial Revolution because of the amount of coal). Supposedly, it was Alfred Ash's 11 year old son, Graham Baron Ash, who requested that he buy the house. After he inherited the house in 1925, he spent the next twenty years fashioning it into a Tudor-style house. It kind of makes me laugh that the literature describes it as a "Tudor manor house" when it is actually much closer to "Tudor Revival". I doubt that the original farm house, though built during the Tudor period, was that fancy. Either way, the house as it is now is very beautiful. 

The main entrance. All the doorways were so low they hit Jeff right above his eyes. 

A side door opening into the gardens. I think all those wires on the house are meant for climbing plants

The terrace overlooks the famous Yew gardens of Packwood House. 

This picture gives you an idea of the Yew garden's placement in relation to the house. You can see the garden angle up and away from the house on the right side of the picture. I don't know anything about garden design, but to me this seems quite unusual - the highest part of the garden has the superior vantage point over the house rather than the other way around. 

Most of the Yew garden was planted in the 17th century by the Fetherston family. Yes, that means some of these trees date back to the 1650s! The garden is said to represent the "Sermon on the Mount". At the highest point of the garden is a small hill known as 'the Mount'. At the peak of the hill is a single yew known as 'the Master'. Arranged throughout the garden are 12 large yews, 'the Apostles', and 4 very large yews, 'the Evangelists'. In the 19th century, the fruit trees that filled in the remaining space of the Yew garden were ripped out and replaced with small yew trees - said to be 'the multitude'. 

The garden was closed due to mud, but I'll definitely be back to wander through there. Some of the yews are over 50 feet tall! I hope the weather is as beautiful the next time I'm here though. 

The inside of the house was much more rustic than Hanbury Hall. Baron Ash (just his name, not a title) was very keen on acquiring authentically Tudor art, furniture, and fabrics so many of these items are original to the 16th and 17th centuries. He built a long gallery hall to connect the old part of a house to his Great Hall - a converted barn. 

Jeff struttin' his stuff down the runway... I mean, the hallway. 

The hall was fitted with sprung floors for dancing! Nice to know that Baron Ash knew how to have a good time. 

I'm not really sure how this lady fits in to the rest of the house or from what time period she is from, but she is a lay figure that artists would pose for their paintings. Renting one of these figures was much cheaper than paying a live model. On the information placard next to her it said that while they were researching the origin and purpose of the figure they took an x ray of her hand - turns out there is a real skeleton inside! Yikes.

The tapestries on the walls and wood paneled ceilings gave the house a little warmth.

The original part of this bed dates from the 15th century, while the pillars at each corner were added in the 17th century. Do you see the groove running along the bottom of the bed with holes in it? Originally, rope was threaded through those holes (and holes on the other side of the bed) to support a straw mattress. This is where the phrase "sleep tight" comes from - tightening the rope before bed made it more comfortable!

Jeff: "People were REALLY a lot smaller back then!" Ha. Ha. 

Baron Ash's bathroom with antique Delft tiles. Apparently, he didn't feel it was necessary to adhere to Tudor authenticity in all aspects of the house - this bathroom even had a heated towel rail. Jeff was really jealous of his bath. Baron Ash lived in this house until 1941 and since we saw nothing but uncomfortable hard Tudor furniture (no couches, what?!?) we assumed he spent most of his time relaxing in this tub. 

What a great sink cupboard! I love the combination of blue and red. I think Baron Ash felt the same way. This was my favorite bedroom. 

The wall covering was actually painted canvas tacked to the wall. All the rooms looked so beautiful with the sunlight streaming in. 

This room looked over the yew garden. A lot of the rooms had pictures of Baron Ash from his travels all over the world. 

So, as I said, Baron Ash lived here until 1941. He was ready for a change so he did what one does and bought a castle somewhere. Packwood House was really his life's work so instead of selling it or passing it to relatives he gave it to the National Trust - ensuring it would remain exactly the same as he had left it.  

All this, 3 miles away from us!