Kitty's Scratch Pad

Stone Fruit Cobbler

I have made this recipe twice now and the results have been a consistent hit (click image to go to recipe).  I reduced the sugar by more than half and used unripe fruit.  It kept things tart and not too soggy. 

All by myself...

The past four days I have spent alone.  Well not completely alone.  It has been me and the cats.  This is the second year in a row I have had this opportunity and I am thinking about kicking the boys out twice a year.  It sounds horrible but really it isn't.  What I do with my time is tremendously boring but incredibly theraputic.  Fen is off at Camp Orkila and Alex is in Chicago at Pitchfork. 

This year I spent the majority of my time in the garden.  I finally planted the bed on the south side of the house.  I also replanted the box off of our bedroom window.  I threw together some perrenial pots for the front steps and also a small water feature which I can hear outside my bedroom window.  I organized paperwork, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, played Rock Band and relaxed.

I could get used to this!  But I do miss my boys and they will both be home by Tuesday :)

Our new house!

For the past two months we have undertaken our first set of big home repairs.  I am happy to say we made it through without an argument.  The previous owner thought it would be smart to use particle board as the facade to the front porch.  That might have lasted a lot longer in Arizona but in the Pacific Northwest, building materials that withstand the elements are essential.  We display one of our favorite and only pieces of outdoor art and I was convinced it was going to break through our disintegrating porch.  The paint was also beginning to peel and shingles were falling off the side of the house. 

Our project began with the porch.  It was a good intro to working with contractors and we actually had a really good experience.  Next was the paint.  This should have been fairly straightforward except Alex and I were really torn about the colors.  We kept going back to the original but in our hearts we really wanted something different.  Our walking route had a fantastic house with colors we really liked.  We just didn't trust ourselves to pick them.  We enlisted a designer to help us choose but she ended up never following through.  So with a few extra bucks left in our pocket but no sense of direction, we set out to select them ourselves. 

Next came the application.  The painters were quick and well organized.  They prepped everything well and applied the first coat of the base color.  We both panicked.  "Abort, abort!"  The main color is very bright and it was super hard to figure out how the accent colors would look.  In the end, it worked!!!  We were so pleased.  Our neighbors complimented our power to take a "big risk and pull it off".  I think that was a compliment :)