We got skilz!

Kimbelry & I have been working on tiling the bathroom the past week. Here is an up to date picture of the tile and walls (they are done in a stucco fashion). We still have the floor, shower stall and grout to do but hopefully it will be finished by next weekend. We ended up being a little short on tile and have to order about 15 more 12" tiles. Why are we short you ask? Well a combination of 2 things, 1) the tile is a tumbled slate and anyone who has seen slate up close or taken a geology class knows that is very foliated (it has lots of layers). This gives it a great flat surface for tiles, chalkboards & billiard tables; but also tends to split and crack along these lines. The was aggravated by us having to move and restack the tile 3 times before using it in order to make room for the renovations. Also 2) we decided on a diamond/diagonal pattern across the floor. This uses lots of whole tiles in the center but the edges have lots of pieces cut into triangles. Of course the bathroom walls and corners aren't square so this led to cutting lots of tile and not being able to use the the scrap pieces in other places. So beware! If you are doing a floor pattern like this you may want to order a few extra square feet to make up for cuts & be careful with the natural slate it tends to break easily!!

Colonial Williamsburg

Well here as promised is my little review of our day at Colonial Williamsburg. I am a big fan of nerdy vacations like this so I had no doubt I would enjoy it. Kimberly had her doubts but enjoyed it just the same. I had been there before in the 1980's as part the a family vacation to the area. I don't remember much about it. I kind of likened it to Old Sturbridge Village (which every school aged child visits at least once growing up in Massachusetts).

From the newly renovated visitor's center we took a bus to the old capital building. The old capital building was once the capital of Virginia and housed the Burgesses (the colonial government of Virginia) before moving to the present capitol of Richmond. After a tour of the building we gathered outside with the other visitors to view the festivities of the day. Each day the park staff take on the roles of famous historic Virginians (as well as shopkeepers, masons, farmers, slaves and ordinary citizens ect.) to tell the story of Williamsburg and the importance of the events & people leading up to the Declaration of independence. The staff "interpreters" (as they like to be called) were great, they were dressed & talked in the period and gave a real human aspect of the events. It was more than just watching a play, there were "towns people" mixed throughout the crowd that help to explain what was going on and who was who, they also talked and treated everyone as though we were actually with them in 18th century Virginia. These guys really know how to get into character!!! I found it interesting listening to how the 18th century Virginians reacted to the events taking place in Boston, growing up in Massachusetts you really only hear that side of the story. Over a few hours the activities show the different aspects of colonial life and how the events affected each of them (from freeman to farmer to slave to wife) along with a little tour of the town itself. We visited the silversmith, wigmaker, saddlemaker, cobbler, merchants and the surrounding gardens.

Our favorite place was the garden nursery. It is a great example of a colonial garden with lots of period plants and tools. Of course you can buy some of the plants and seeds there too. I bought a fig tree and Kimberly got some lavender seeds to plant. The gardens gave us all sorts of ideas for types and layouts for our back yard. The castor plant (left) is really cool and we intend on growing this next year (it is an annual if you can believe it!) It was also great to see a working garden and nursery before modern technology. No hoses, sprinklers, metal fencing, fertilizer ect. An all natural/organic garden before there was a name for it.

One of the other aspects that made Colonial Williamsburg stand out was that the area isn't closed off separate from the rest of the modern world. When we got to the end Duke of Glouster Street there was a little shopping area filled with cafes and boutiques. Some might cringe at seeing an 18th century carpenter on one block and on the next a Williams-Sonoma but I thought it was tastefully done and fit very well. Also in the area is William & Mary College with many old building and architecture that match the old capitol, so everything fits nicely together. I did have to be patient with a few pictures to make sure that there weren't any cars in the background. We had lunch at a fabulous wine & cheese shop in the marketplace and the prices throughout the area were very reasonable ($1/20 oz. Aquafina , $10/ bottle of pinot noir, $6/ decent sandwich), something you rarely fine around tourist attractions.

All in all I give it 8 out of 10 stars. The only real knock was the price of the tickets. At $35 to tour most of the building it was a bit overpriced, especially since you can just cross the street and watch the festivities and look at the buildings for free. The staff was amazing and really bring the park to life. Nearby there are similar parks for historic Jamestown and Yorktown. We didn't get there this trip but when we bring the kids to the beach again we will definitely explore these too. If you're looking for a great family day then Colonial Williamsburg has something for everyone!

Red Sox, Garden Update and Great food

There is a great article on boston.com today about the Red Sox's needs as the trading deadline nears. To sum it up, the author suggests that even with all of the trouble the Sox have had trying to find a 5th starter, what the real post season problem could be is a lack of hitting. After mulling the idea over in my head for a bit I tend to agree with the writer. When the Sox were treading water 2 weeks ago, what was wrong? It wasn't the pitching. The bats went dead. The pitching has been fine. Yeah, another starter would be great but I wouldn't give up Lester, Papplebon or Hansen for anybody out out there. Look at other teams, the best teams out there have 3 great starters, we have 2 and a 5-0 rookie starter, along with crafty veteran inning eater Wakefield and Timlin & Papplebon to close things out. With a 3 man rotation in a playoff series, we're all set. If the bats slow down for a 2 week stretch we could be in big trouble to make the playoffs. Who do we get you ask? The article suggests Abreu from the Phillies. He's a big chunk of salary at $16 million next year, and I would hate to see Nixon get moved but imagine a 3,4,5 lineup of Ortiz, Ramirez & Abreu and an outfield ofRamirez, Crisp/Willie Mo & Abreu. That could even last through 2008 when Manny's contract expires. I'm not sure if Abreu is the guy but he would be better than what any pitcher would bring to the club this season. And with the young guns doing so well, we'll look even better next year! If you have time leave a comment on your thoughts of the Red Sox's needs/chances.

On a garden update, things are winding down a bit. The storyline so far this year has been lots of flowers but minimal fruits. Excepting the tomatos, all of the squashes, watermellons and cucumbers have been all flower and no fruit. I'm a bit disapointed but upon futher review, I didin't do much planning and soil prep work due to the rush of moving & my master watering plan isn't in place either. Next year? There is a place in town that sells bulk mushroom compost, I plan on using healthy amounts of that in the fall when I build the beds and again in the spring. I also found a great site that gave me lots of inspiration and planning ideas for a layout next year. Check it out here. I like how he uses compatable plants together and has raised beds with watering trenches in the middle. Lots of good advice and ideas throughout his website.

I also bought a fig tree while we were in Virginia. The kids actually asked if newtons grew on trees!! The saleslady said that she has one and it started producing fruit the 2nd year. Keep your eyes peeled for homemade fig newton recipes!! Here's a great recipe that we tried the other day. We are big fans of fennel, and the vinegrette is what makes this da' bomb! The dressing would be good on a salad too. Hope to hear from you soon!

VA Beach, Ebay & car (truck) mechanics.....

Without much help it's been another 2 weeks since I've been able to update the ol' blog. My lone consolation is that few people read this so I don't feel too guilty. Nothing too excitng has been going on here. Kimberly and I went to the wedding of my cousin Chris in Virginia Beach last week. We camped at First Landing State Park for a couple of nights before the wedding. If you are looking for a great place to stay at the beach, this is it!! For $26 a night it's amazing! The park is right on the beach and the campsites are forested under some cool scrub live oak trees and also within 100yds of the beach! You have the forest and the beach all in the same spot!! Lots of activities during the day for kids and the family too (although ours were with their father for the week so we were just a duo). We may just head there for a long weekend before the summer ends just to bring the kids along. One of the days we went to Historical Williamsburg and saw the usual sites. I'll write more about that later (I promise). The wedding was great. While many relatives came from across the country to our wedding, even more attended Chris & Donna's. I saw aunts, uncles and cousins I hadn't seen in over 10 years!! Not much has changed with many, I'm sure that besides a new bride they may say that about me.

We originally were going to spend some time in Shanandoah National park again and I wanted to visit nearby Montecello. But in order to save some vacation time, we decided to camp closer to the wedding and visit Colonial Williamsburg instead. I like my nerd vacations (as Kimberly calls them). This led to the dilema of what we should do that Kimberly would enjoy (don't let her fool you, she likes the nerd trips too!). Well, it's pretty easy to entertain her just searching the phone book for fabric shops and yarn stores. We spent easily an entire day serching bolt after bolt of fabric for just the right patterns and colors. Kimberly has been sewing like crazy lately (she also just bought an embroidery machine) in hopes to sell a few of her little girl dresses on Ebay and make few dollars!!! You can see them here, hopefully there will be more sewn and sold soon. Of course the model in the pictures is Miss Sheridan. She loves her new modeling job and is quite openly hoping that nothing ever sells so she can have the clothes Kimberly makes!

I also had a little truck mechanical problem earilier in the week. I just about ran out of gas on the way home from work (well I actually did as I was pulling up to the pump) and then in my rush to get home I flooded the carburater. Well to make this story somewhat shorter, it took forever for me to get it back started again and when it did start up it was running like crap and would stall out when I took my foot off the gas. I finally got it home and hope that a nice rest over night will cure whatever ails it. The rest didn't help but a quick consultation to my new Haynes manual suggested that running the gas so low may have sent some junk to the carbuerator. Low and behold I found a bunch of junk in the fuel filter! 30 minutes with a screw driver and wrench and I had the filter cleaned out and the truck started right up and ran perfect! Here's where I plug the Haynes manuals. just go to Amazon.com and search Haynes manual and your car make and you will find your book. I think everyone should have one. They are like $15 brand new (I usually buy the very good condition used ones for half price) and WILL save you money!! I guarentee it! And besides it has been proven that people who know more about how their car works are safer drivers and have better running vehicles.

the past 2 weeks

Well, it's been a solid to weeks since I've updated this site so here's a little whirlwind recap....

June 16th-18th - Kimberly and I went to Atlanta to see the Red Sox play the Braves. This was the start of the big win streak with the Sox sweeeping the Braves. Highlights of the weekend - Jon Lester having a great start, the return of Gabe Kapler, Shilling & Smoltz dueling. Friend Mike Penny was at the games too (although I didn't know it until after). You can read about his trip here. We stayed at the Marriot Marquis downtown Atlanta (thank you Priceline.com). If you are looking for a great dinner downtown, try Daily's. Probably the best waitstaff ever! And the food was spectacular too!

Since returning to the homestead, we've spent most of our time working on the house. Kimberly continues to sew shades and drapes for all of the windows. The trim painting is almost finished. We finally got a floor for our 2nd bathroom (a huge achievement considering the repairs were supposed to be done before we closed on the house!!). I spent a few days demolishing old tile from the bathroom, hanging new drywall and cement board for the shower. We've put in the new shower pan and hope to start the tile work today or tomorrow. I don't think the sink & toilet will be in by our 4th of July BBQ (unless I learn some new plumbing skills in the next 2 days) but we're excited about the prospect of having a 2nd bathroom with 2 adults and 3 kids in the house! Before and after pictures will be coming when we finish.

The garden is humming along nicely. I picked my first red tomato yesterday! The Roma plants have taken off great but the Brandywine variety has died off, I don't know why. We've had a few sweet banana and Anaheim peppers too. The peas I planted got roasted by the hot SC weather so they aren't with us anymore (I don't know why I planted them, everything I have read says they are cool weather plants). The onions I planted died off, I don't think they took the transplant well. It wasn't a total loss, when I picked them they were about 1"-2" in diameter so we used them as pearl onions in Kimberly's awesome chicken pot pie. Everytime I grow fresh onions they taste amazing, I definitely suggest you try growing some. Lots of flowers on the cucumber, butternut squash and watermellon plants. Green beans are flowering and have some small fruits. The zucchini is green and leafy but no flowers... hmmmm. I'm working on a design for raised beds with a drip irrigation system for next season (well, this fall). If you have had any tips I would love to hear them.