Harvest Monday

The garden is hanging in for at least one more harvest monday. The weather has cooled off and the garden has bounced back for the most part. The tomatoes aren't pretty and suffering the effect of the heat and drought, but are still producing. The pill bugs are eating any of the big tomatoes. It is funny because they leave the San Marzanos and cherry tomatoes alone.

A volunteer Mexican sour gherkin decided to show up a couple months ago. It is now holding up a number of the tomato plants. I might just plant these around the tomatoes next year for support. 

The garlic has been curing in the garage for a few months and is absolutely perfect for cooking. The flavor is nice and mild and we have plenty.

The basil has started to go to seed so I picked a few bowls full before it goes away. I made a couple batches of pesto. I received a tip from a neighbor that pistachio substitutes well for pine nuts. Pine nuts are really expensive and Trader Joe's has hulled pistachios for $4.99 a bag. I made some with the swap and can't tell a difference.

The tomatoes and a bunch of the basil spent a good portion of the day getting reduced on the stove. It ended up making 4 pizzas worth of very good sauce. 

Mid-Century Bassinet Finished

I am starting to think the list of projects that need to be completed before November isn't going to get finished. One of them that is pretty important is the bassinet. I randomly painted some of the pieces orange to liven it up.

We have this stencil in the second bedroom and I thought it would be appropriate if the munchkin has to look at a Frank Lloyd Wright design. 

Don't ask me why but I decided to skip any screws, nails, or other hardware on this. Everything fits together with just tabs. The starburst design is inspired by the Nelson ball clock. 

The trailer is progressing along at its allotted four hours per month. If it seems dark, it is. I got a few more ceiling panels installed and started framing out the closet. Once the closet is installed we can start thinking about seating and finish the interior paneling. The plan is to be wiring by the winter.

Google Really Loves the Shasta

I was looking for a location on Google maps today and ended up going over our house. The last fly over was about a year ago when we had the trailer sitting in the driveway.

And they even took a look from streetview.

Shastoration Saturday

Hurricane Issac brought us some much needed rain, which let me get some more trailer work finished. I installed a few more body supports and interior skin and managed to get some painting completed in preparation for the kitchen cabinets. The lower kitchen cabinet is installed. Laminate showed up this week so we can get the top finished and get the sink in. After some looking and debating we ended up sticking with the original sink. It is in really good shape and will be one of the few original pieces.

 

For laminate we went with Arborite textured light blue.

 

The drawer pulls are reproductions of the original style from rejuvenation.

This is probably one of the last views from outside. After the closet is installed I can button it up.

Mid-Century Happenings

Hey, how about a post that doesn't involve the garden? It is hard to believe that summer is over, school has started, and we are two months away from having six thumbs in the house. A couple people mentioned that a bassinet worked well for them at least for the first few months. I looked on-line and anything cool is at least $1000. I am not spending $1000 for a couple months use and then have something I have to store for the foreseeable future. So I decided to build a mid-century inspired bassinet that folds flat. It isn't finished but you get the general idea.

The pieces are 1/2 inch Baltic birch and go together like a cereal box toy with tabs into slots. There is no hardware, screws, or fasteners. The base is designed to accept a standard changing pad.

It took a little head scratching to get everything in the correct location. I definitely got a workout on the jigsaw cutting all those slots.

 I will end up painting a couple sides and clear coating the rest. I even put a couple mid-century details on it, because clearly the baby will care. Should be finished this weekend with plenty of time for the cats to lay claim. Boy are they in for a surprise.

 I would call this mid-century progress, but since the entire trailer is new I guess it is also mid-century inspired. We have a front window opening.

 

The low VOC, sustainable, environmentally friendly save the planet marmoleum came. I'm sure the company loved me, I ordered the minimum amount possible which turns out is just the perfect size for a trailer. Here it is all laid out for trimming.

 

 The color is a textured gray. The one big sheet should make for easy cleanup.

I bought a low VOC, LEED compliant adhesive to glue it down. You spread this stuff out and then wait for it to dry and get tacky. What they don't tell you is that the VOCs make the original stuff get dry fast. I spent a good portion of Saturday watching glue dry.

 The finished floor. Since the plywood underlayment was painted about the same color grey, there isn't much of a difference in the pictures. The paint cans are holding down a problem spot.

 The kitchen cabinet is almost ready to install. Here it is with the doors just sitting in place for effect. The water tank is on the bottom and will get covered with a set of dummy doors. It's about time to order the frig and get this installed.

Summer Heat

Throughout the summer heat at least the garden is still producing. I have made several batches of tomato sauce from our San Marzano plants.

The cherry tomato plants are also doing quite well.

And we have gotten a few heirlooms too.

Last weekend Sam decided to make mozzarella cheese so,

we could have caprese salad made completely by us.

A quick shot from the end.

The cucumbers are going crazy. We have made so many pickles this year.

Long overdue trailer updates

I started this post and then completely forgot about it, so here is a delayed trailer post. The shop is very hot (95-100) right now so I haven't had much motivation to go work. Anyway, the aluminum is just about finished. The front braces are in along with the back window framing. I have started installing the horizontal wood pieces for skin support around the curves too. It is already pretty stiff.

The fan framing has been installed. This is a pretty neat little unit. It is motorized with temperature sensors and a moisture sensor that will automatically close the vent if it rains. Now we just need an interior.

Jerad and StudioBuild are building the cabinets for us. Here is the basic frame. The left bay will be a hinged door. The middle bay will have three pull out drawers. The right bay is for the refrigerator. The slant will follow the front angle. Our water tank is going to fit under this as well. It will be tight.

Flooring is ordered, plywood for the roof is at the shop. It will start coming together soon.