And they Huffed and they Puffed
This past Friday we had an enameled cast iron tub delivered for the new upstairs bathroom. Luckily we have great neighbors that were willing to swing over to help us heave it up the stairs.
As you can see, the upstairs of our house is completely unfinished, just stud walls. We live in a small cape, so the attic has those walls that slant in. I’ve always loved this style and love the lines in the attic. The unfinished upstairs was one of the reasons we bought this little house.
We didn’t need a big house, two bedrooms was perfect for us and the price was great since it was unfinished. We knew we could finish the upstairs after a while and we’d be able to sell for more as a four bedroom two and a half bath house. With selling in our future, the upstairs is on our list of projects.
The pedestal sink and toilet arrived two weeks ago, and the tub showed up in a UPS freight truck on Friday. They said, we deliver it to the end of your driveway, you take it from there. Weighing in at 365 pounds, it was quite a challenge to be sure!
We hooked the pallet up to our car and drug it up to the porch, then Mr Chiots and two neighbors hoisted it up onto a dolly and then into the house and up the stairs. I helped push from the bottom as they went up the stairs, good thing I’ve got those gardening muscles!
We chose this vintage style claw foot cast iron tub with the shower surround, because the upstairs bathroom is going to have a classic feel. It also wasn’t much more as far as price goes when we figured in the cost of an acrylic tub/shower combo with installation and extra wall building materials for it.
The neighbor who helped us carry up the tub is going to do some of the work in the attic for us. We could probably do it ourselves but it will be much quicker to have him do it while we’re working. I can’t wait to see it all come together. The funny thing is that I’m not much of a bath person. Growing up we had a cast iron tub that I loved, but I haven’t taken a bath since I was probably 10 yrs old. I’m sure whoever comes after us will love it and appreciate all of our hard work getting this classic beauty upstairs!
Showers or baths, which do you prefer?
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Quote of the Day: Barry Cornwall
Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne.
~Barry Cornwall
Earlier this week we had a wonderful summer evening after a weather front moved through. It pushed away all the hot sticky humid weather and cooler drier air moved in. I happened to be watering a few areas of the garden to keep the plants alive and it was perfect.
There is something wonderful about using a sprinkler, I love the sound of the water falling and the click when it changes directions. Reminds me of the occasional time we played in it growing up.
Are there any other things you experience in the garden that bring back fond childhood memories?
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Saying Ahhhhh…..
Yesterday it drizzled sweet refreshing rain on the gardens of Chiot’s Run all day long. It had been three weeks since our last rain, my rain barrels coughed and sputtered last week and I was forced to use the sprinkler for the past week since temperatures were in the high 80’s and 90’s.
Here in Ohio we never seem to have a perfect spring, it’s either too cold and wet or too hot and dry. This spring is tending towards hot and dry, not great for all the brassicas in the garden. Looks like I’ll be getting some button heads on some of the broccoli because of the heat.
It’s funny how keenly aware of when and how much water fell the last time it rained. I have to laugh when I talk to someone who doesn’t garden and they complain about how much rain we’ve had this spring, when I know it’s been one of those really dry years.
Do you find yourself noticing different things as a gardener than other people do when it comes to the weather?
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Friday Favorite: Us
Mr Chiots and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary earlier this week. The funny thing is that we both completely missed it and realized it the next day. We’re not really into celebrating birthdays and anniversaries so it wasn’t a big deal: there’s plenty of fun throughout the year to make up for it. In our 14 years of marriage we’ve lived in 4 different places, the last 10 years here at Chiot’s Run.
We’ve been from sea to shining sea, we’ve watched sunrises and sunsets, laughed, cried and simply enjoyed life. Most of all we have lot of great fun here at Chiot’s Run. Since we both work from home, we’re here 24/7 together, laughing, joking, and loving it – definitely two peas in a pod!
We have big dreams of places we’ll want go and things we want to do, we’re most excited about driving to Alaska someday. Here’s to many more wonderful years and lots of new adventures along the way!
What’s one place you want to go that you haven’t made it to yet?
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Harvesting a Bowl of Comfort
Every year I add a few more herbs to the gardens of Chiot’s Run and learn how to use them. A few years ago, chamomile was added and my gardens will never be without it again. Even if I didn’t harvest it for calming teas, I would grow it because it’s a beautifully graceful plant.
My chamomile plants are about 18-24 inches tall and blooming profusely with hundreds of tiny white daisy like flowers. These plants grow right by my driveway. They were only supposed to be 8-10 inches tall and I was planning on them spilling over the rock wall. Not the case, they grow upright and are a bit leggy. In the future I’ll grow in among other plants to help cover up it’s skinny legs.
Mixed in the with the chamomile the ‘Lady’ lavender is blooming as well, together they make a wonderful night time tea that’s delicious, comforting and certain to help lull you to sleep. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have a quart of dried chamomile for the pantry this winter.
What’s your favorite kind of herbal tea?
Looking for some great books about growing/using herbs & spices, here are a few of my favorites:
A great source for herb plants of all shapes, colors, flavors and sizes is Richter’s Herbs. Most of the herbs in my garden have come from them.
