Bathroom Re-Do

 

It had been over 16 years since the original bathroom

in our house hand been remodeled,

except for a valiant attempt of an upgrade about

12 years ago with a stone counter and new faucets

Without tearing anything out, or moving any plumbing

we have made a serious makeover happen in

this tiny little room

Mostly with paint.

The walls were raw pine boards, now covered in Ben Moore's

Wickham Gray the room takes on a whole new feel.

And we had a box of walnut flooring left over from the

new bathroom we added a few years ago.

I updated the lighting by using two outdoor lights (they were on sale as a pair)

from Pottery Barn and we put one over the shower 

I also removed the wall sconce in the vanity area

and Renee put a recessed light above, allowing for a bigger mirror

and a feeling of spaciousness

The cupboards are painted Ben Moore's Iron Mountain

and the knobs are an inexpensive brushed something or other from Home Depot.

I love how the stone countertop really pops now with the dark color

Renee tore out the plastic surround in the shower, but we kept the original tub.

To jazz it up we used Retro white subway tile from Island Interiors on the walls and

the remains of some marble tiles from the new bathroom shower,

as a sort of back splash to set it off

I feel like that small decision really made a big impact on the whole room

Also, Renee laid the tile with no spacers, making the inexpensive tile look brick like,

a trick she learned from Master Tiler, Gay Stevens.

I splurged on a shower liner from Izola,

free of the bad things in plastic

And I made the shower curtain from my stash!

Thanks for the chance to share.

  We are really enjoying

the changes.

Forge ahead my friends,

Kyra

Monday, Monday

While staying up and watching

 the entire presentation of the Oscars last night

I spent a lot of time questioning myself

 on whether or not I should be staying up

Where did I learn these silly head games of mine?

I awoke this morning to find this daily message

and thought I'd share;

Accept yourself just as you are. Love yourself.

Have a great day

Kyra

One Recipe Leads to Others

photo from Sarah Britton's blog My New Roots

The recipe for a "life changing loaf of bread" from

one of my favorite blogs My New Roots

started me rustling through my cupboards

for the listed ingredients

Where I found 2 bags of puffed millet.

which lead me to researching and developing

an idea for Millet Squares, a healthy take on 

Rice Crispy Treats, to use the millet up

Millet, in case you didn't know is high in protein and Vitamin B,

making it a wonderful substitute for puffed rice

The recipe called for nut butter, which I didn't have any of, so

I decided to make my own.  I always heard all you have to do

is process the nuts long enough for them to turn into butter

Well, I put two cups of my roasted almonds into the food processor and

about 4 minutes later, I had Almond Butter!

I then set out to make my Millet Squares and they

were a big hit with Renee so I thought I'd share the recipe

Oh yea, I made the "life changing bread" too.

It is delicious - check out her recipe.

MILLET SQUARES

1/2 cup nut butter

1/2 cup honey (I used brown rice syrup)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups puffed millet

1/2 cup chopped dried fruit ( I had raisins on hand)

Grease an 8x8 pan

Place the millet and dried fruit in a large bowl

Combine the nut butter, honey and salt in a small sauce pan

Stir until melted and just comes to a boil

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pour over millet and fruit

Stir to coat completely

Press mixture into your greased pan and let cool 1 hour

Enjoy!

Kyra

Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

Enjoy your weekend,

Kyra

In Defense of the Stash

The size of my fabric stash has been the topic of

many conversations over the years, even on other people's blogs :0)

I admit I have felt self conscious about opening

the two sets of closets in my sewing room

that hold my palette.

But Palette it is my friends

And as I have time in my life now to actually quilt

I find myself so grateful for all my choices

Like the yellow border that makes this quilt sing.

It's vintage Denyse Schmidt that I picked up at Marden's

last month

Do you like the sixteen patches on point?

They kind of dance don't they, and they are all scraps

And, the center of this medallion quilt is made from the mitered corners

I had left over from another one I made.

I am having so much fun!

I'm headed to Lily's for a jam packed day

Hopefully more quilting tomorrow.

I hope you enjoy your day,

Kyra

Best Fries in Portland, ME

While eating lunch at Nosh in Portland on Friday

I realized that I had never publicly announced that they have the

Best. Fries. Ever.

Renee agrees.  

No one I've told this to has disagreed yet

and yes, I like them even more than Duck Fat.

Enjoy your day!

Kyra

Snow Storm

I spent the whole snow storm this weekend at Lily's

Cooking and baking for 35 people coming to dinner

before John Cariani's play "Last Gas" at the Opera House on Saturday

I truly enjoyed myself; chopping, stirring, singing to music

and watching the snow storm swirl around me outside

from my warm haven

At one point I looked up and saw my vase of dried hydrangeas from

late summer and smiled at the contrast in weather.

By 4pm all but 4 people had called to say

there was no way they were getting out of their driveways,

much less back in them and sadly had to cancel dinner/theatre plans

But how cool is this?!

They were truly disappointed to not be eating

at Lily's and I think a bit concerned for me and all the food

So, most of them are coming on Tuesday night to

 dine on what I have prepared.

 I am so grateful to them, 

and the chance to extend some hospitality,

 and not have all this food be for naught.

I hope you all had a great weekend

We ended up with over 2 feet of snow and

drifts well over 5'!

Happy Monday,

Kyra

Simple

There are moments when I think -

Wouldn't it be easier if I just joined the masses?

What if I stopped worrying about where my food came from

or the effect our corporate food practices have on

us as a whole, including our planet

Then I see a picture like this in a lovely coffee table book

about kitchens that a friend was so kind to give me.

The simplicity sings to me.  Look at the fresh ingredients

and the beautiful soup they are enjoying from them.

I know, I'm a little crazy, but the idea of SIMPLE

has just been renewing my spirit lately.

Each time I simplify;

 my life, my thoughts, my goals, my expectations

I am filled with a feeling of joy and possibility

Maybe its the pile of seeds I ordered from Fedco last night,

or the menu I'm planning for Dinner/Theatre night at Lily's that

highlights chicken raised 30 minutes away from me with no GMO's

or the fact that its February and snowing

but it feels like everything can be okay and 

easier isn't always better.

I've also set the date for my Spring Quilting Weekend 

April 19th -21st at Lily's House

$250 for the weekend, snacks, lunches, design wall and instruction

for three days, all included

Not to mention all the joy that comes with settling down and

quilting for three days with old and new friends.

Feel free to contact me if you would like more information or to register.

Enjoy your day!

And, as always, thank you for listening

Kyra

  

Something

I met with a friend yesterday and she said the best thing.

We were talking about making changes

to our diet, our schedules, our intentions...

and she said, "you know, I've always been an

ALL or NOTHING kind of person.

  All in or not doing it at all.

For my new year's resolution last year I decided to

make a commitment instead to just do SOMETHING.

It doesn't matter how big or how small, just something, everyday,

to make the changes I want in my life."

She said it has been working so well that she 

decided to keep it her resolution this year as well

and realizes that life is a moment by moment process.

Well, I'm adopting this Something rule.

And I feel lighter already.

Enjoy your Monday

Kyra

Ful- "filling"

Thursday night was Soft Taco Night at Lily's

My first; Open to the public, Come warm your soul

with food, wine and laughter event in almost a year.

And it felt SO good to have the house filled with folks and

 wonderful wintertime community spirit

The Chicken, Apple and Goat Cheese filling went fast,

but the most requested recipe was for a vegetarian walnut filling 

I made to satisfy my vegan crowd

WALNUT TACO FILLING

4 cups raw or lightly toasted walnuts

 (your choice, mine were lightly toasted)

1 tsp ancho chili powder

1 T cumin

3 T organic tamari

4 T olive oil

Put all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor

and pulse until well mixed and nuts resemble

ground beef. 

 Don't over process or you will quickly have seasoned nut butter.

Serve with your other favorite taco fillings

Have a good weekend

Enjoy!

Kyra