Back to the masterbath. Lovin’ it. Especially in these calm gray tones. Ahhhhh. Almost zen like.
All that tub needs is some bubbles and a glass of wine!
It wasn’t always so peaceful. The last step in a really great renovation experience was picking the paint colors. I said gray. But Clay, my really great contractor, said all the different woods needed to pop. I’m easily convinced when it comes to colors so I went with pop:
So we lived with it for about six weeks. Yes, the wood popped, but I needed calm. I got a bunch of color chips, took Terry’s and Michelle’s advice and now it’s two lovely lovely calm shades of gray. (no, no,no, not like the book)
I spent hours going through shelter magazine, catalogs, and Pinterest before buying anything for the bathroom. The cloud pictures came from http://6thstreetdesignschool.blogspot.com/ Love this blog. If I had an extra bucket of money and lived in Utah, I would hire Kirsten Curtis-Krason. She put cloud pictures that her pilot husband took into Ikea frames. I said–I have those frames! Took the pics from my back yard, ordered 12″ x 12″ photos online from mpix.com–so easy!
The candle shelf came from http://ana-white.com/2010/10/plans/ten-dollar-ledges. I showed the plans to Terry and told him what I wanted to put on it. He went right out and built a protype with scrap wood that he had in the garage. Then we went to home depot and bought some good stuff. He built it the same day and I painted it with glossy white spray paint. If anyone knows Ikea, you know that they have their own special shade of white and it’s not glossy white. So I convinced him to build another and I painted it the same gray as the bathroom. Ahhhhhh, lovely. (And the shiny white candle shelf will be in my dining room someday)
Other than what Terry built, or I had on hand, or could get from Ikea or Target or Home Depot, everything else was ordered online for this renovation. Contact me and I will give you the details.
My gardens are all doing beautifully. (The squirrels are really loving the tomatoes in the vegetable garden) The flowers are at their peak. We’ve been getting rain and it’s just starting to get really hot.
This is supposed to be my "white and blue" garden. I planted endless summer blue hydrangeas but they defy me by turning pink even though I'm adding aluminun sulfur as suggested on all the gardening websites.This is a shooting star hydrangea in the "white and blue" garden
Amazing - a blue hydrangea!
One of the bouquets of hydrangeas in our home.
Impatiens and other shade lovers do well in my shed garden. This one is supposed to be pink.The butterfly garden is doing it's job of attracting bees, butterflies and dragon flies.
A hanging planter of impatiens and sweet potato vine in the backyard.Pots on the dock enjoy morning sun.
Time to make some lo-cal, lo-fat treats so Michelle is doing the post today.
I’ve been making cereal bars and rice krispy treats (my version) for the Boys for a long time – they’re just too fattening for me. When I found that new lo-fat peanut butter I knew I could find a way to make myself a healthy treat. Now, being that ‘they’ have played with peanut butter to make it more diet friendly…it doesn’t have the same cooking properties. This is the case with almost every lo-cal, lo-fat, lo-sugar,lo-whatever ingredient. So, with that said, this is what I came up with and even Jon likes them. These do not taste like anything even remotely healthy. They’re a great tid-bit to get me thru that 10am snack slump, or a sugar boost after a workout. Enjoy…
Ingredients:
Ingredients
2C Oatmeal- regular
2C Spec.K cereal (I use a flavored variety because they’re coated and hold up better)
1/2 C chopped Walnuts
1/2 C Pumpkin Seeds, roasted and salted
1/4 C Dried Figs, chopped
1/4 C Golden Raisins
1/4 C Flax Seeds…cause they’re good for you!
1/4 C Dried Cherries
2/3 C Brown Rice Syrup (better for you than corn syrup)
1/3 C Whey Low Gold (lo-cal brown sugar)
1/2 C Better n’ Peanut Butter (yes, regular PB works better,but that lo-fat thing goes out the window!)
1 tsp Vanilla
Step 1: In a BIG bowl combine the dry ingredients
Step 1
Step 2: In a smaller glass bowl (I love my old Pyrex for this!!) nuke the wet stuff for 2 min. Stirring at one min. Yes, I cleaned my microwave just for this – you’re welcome.
Step 2
Step 3: Get an 11 x 13 pan, or Pyrex dish. Line with plastic wrap, or parchment. (wow- look at the glare from those under cabinet lights! Like Broadway!!)
Step 3
Step 4: I didn’t really need to tell you to dump the boiling cauldron into the big bowl, but I was so impressed with my own ability to manipulate the camera while pouring it I had to brag! Look Ma no 3rd degree burns!
Step 4
Step 5: Fold the gooey goodness. This is where you find out why you used the ginormous bowl! Now dump it carefully into the pan and spread around.
Step 5
Step 6: Wax paper is my FRIEND! Take a piece and cover the stickiness and press down.
Step 6
Step 7: I’m willing to bet that if you’ve got one Pyrex pan, you’ve got two. Yes, they use the same basic molds and the corners match. Use it to mash the mass and make it submit to your will.
Step 7
Step 8: Ooooo Sticky!!! After it meshes a bit.(that’s your cue to clean up the disaster you’ve made before the kids get into it) Then use the plastic wrap to pull it out and set on the counter for cutting.
Step 8
Step 9: Best tool for the job – a pizza cutter! Slice into 32 pieces. These should weigh apprx 1 oz.
Step 9
Step 10: More wax paper. Peel each little piece and roll into a ball. You can use wet hands too if you like.
Step 13: And 1 oz. is the size of a golf ball…ok, a practice golf ball.
Step 13
Step 14: I hope you didn’t put those flax seeds away…Take each ball and roll in flax seeds. You can use other coatings, but these seeds have a hard shell that won’t absorb the ‘sticky’. Besides, Mom said they’re good for me.
Step 14
Step 15: There they are! (Geez, again with those lights!)
Step 15
The End: My post-workout atta-girl treat.
Time for a Snack!
No, I have no idea what the calorie content or sugar content is. Or the production costs, but I’m willing to bet it’s cheaper than 32 Kashi bars! If you figure it out, let me know…I just know I like ’em.
Yum, these sound really good, Michelle. And healthy! Think I’ll be making some of these since they don’t have to go into the oven to be sacrificed to the burnt food God. Michelle used Whey Low Gold which can be purchased at Whole Foods or online at www.wheylow.com You should be able to find the other products at the grocery store.
