I tried to forge my own washi tape with Scotch tape and some spices. I simply cut a strip, sprinkled the sticky side with a spice and stuck it to the paper. Dill weed was my favorite.

The tape look alright on the the colored paper, but I think they look even better over white. I went crazy on a letter to my friend Madeleine. In fact, standing in front of the spice rack and planning the menu for her visit might have been the inspiration for all this. I think this letter to her needs no further explanation to clarify how excited I am that she is visiting.

Grisha wove cement reinforcing wire into tall, sturdy cages for the vegetable garden. The plants are really coming along. One neighbor even suggested we put a lock on the fence because the veggies already look so good.

We also have some news from the flower garden. One freakishly tall purple flower bloomed. The cactus is thriving and apparently sucking the will to live out of the lone daisy.

We used Mike Holmes’ book to make some old-fashion cut-outs with graph paper. We cut out all the standard sized showers, toilets, vanities and shuffled them around on a map of the room until we realized that we could have a double vanity, a 48”x48” shower and some shelving. Who knows what we would store there? This is what the layout would look like.

Shortening the shower was a hard pill for me to swallow (who doesn’t want an 85” long shower). We would put a half-wall between the toilet and the shower to allow for more natural light in the shower and for the illusion of openness.

Now that we’ve changed the plan, there are a million new questions.

Above is a sketch with the pony wall and the bead board. I’m not sure whether the bead board would work with this new layout. Doesn’t it feel awkward to stop the molding at the edge of the pony wall?

If we forgo the bead board, we can put an over-sized print above the toilet. How creepy would it be to have this little guy looking up at you! We could become those kind of pet owners.

We’re aiming for a timeless feel in the master bathroom (we might not be here for more than 5 years). We are going to replace the vanity, but keep the same footprint in the room. We are also going to add a toilet where the door used to be to the hallway powder room.  Last but not least, we are going to replace the soaker tub with a walk-in shower (like this). I am letting all of my pent-up-creativity go crazy on this shower. My ideas are below.

We really like the subway tile look for showers – but is it too trendy? Is aiming for “timeless” trendy and will look dated in a few years? At least it would be a blank slate for anyone – since it goes with all color rugs/loofahs/artwork.

I love bead boards almost as much as my mother. I think we can paint a bold color on the top without alienating too many people.

Since we have the space (85” inches long and 40” deep), we’re going to build a big walk-in shower. Glass shower doors are pretty expensive, and if we were going to use all that space it would have to be custom built to fit. An alternative would be to have a single wall, with no door, and an rainfall shower head.

We are hot and cold about the shower shelves. All I see is hard to clean corners. All Grisha sees is practical, convenient storage. We both agree that it would be a small but fun way to add some color to the space. I’d love curvy tiles backing the shelves to contrast the sharp lines of the room (those words might be straight off of an HGTV show).

My least popular idea (according to Grisha): porcelain tiles floors. I love the ones that have wood-grain texture, but Grisha is not so sold. So much warmth and texture! But cheesy?

If you were going to try to sketch out the shower in PowerPoint because you are a) you cannot draw like your graphic-designer-cousin Amy, and b) too impatient to figure out some free floor-planing programs, then it would look like this.

I also may have registered for a free tiling class – to be truthful, I may have registered for two (Home Depot and the Tile Shop). My enthusiasm should be interpreted as excitement and terror and a little bit of sleep-deprivation.

Above are some views of the master bathroom. We like the size and the skylight. But there were some things that we weren’t fond of. The large tub was impractically large for showering. It shared a toilet with the powder room off of the living room. The shelving under the vanity sloped towards the wall. All good reasons to tear it down and fix it up, right?

Grisha’s friend Travis was visiting this weekend and that’s exactly what they started to do.

They found some rot in the corners where the tub had been (not surprising). They also encountered two inches of cement behind the tile (surprising). There was so much force involved in breaking it up and prying it off, they ending up pushing out the nails into the adjoining wall.

The nails were punched out of the master bedroom closet and knocked down a ledge with hooks that held a mirror and a lot of belts. Luckily, no belts or mirrors were damaged.

Below is the old floor plan for orientation. Let the interior design advice pour in! We’ll share our plan in a little bit (that is code for we don’t really have a plan yet…).

If these are her extra, and there are so many buds yet to bloom on these cuttings, you can only imagine the abundance of colors and fragrances remaining in her garden.

Let’s contrast this with our garden. This year, a daisy bloomed. One glorious daisy. I even went out in the unrelenting rain to get blurry proof for you.

Is it just me, or does that flower look a little sad? Maybe even lonely?

My parents and I headed up to Boone to see Eitan graduate this weekend. It was much cooler and the trees were just starting to sprout buds.

The weather was a little rainy when we showed up, but it cleared up just in time for us to show you the view from the cabin where Eitan’s girlfriend’s family was staying.

The next morning Eitan graduated. Look at him go! (You can click the picture below if you want an arrow to help you locate Eitan.)

I wouldn’t be the sister that I am if I didn’t show you some windy-tassel-hitting-you-in-the-face photos. There was no permanent damage done to his eyes, but he does have a better appreciation of what it’s like to have long hair on windy days.

For the past few weeks we’ve had astronomical pollen levels. We’re all sneezing and rubbing our eyes and constantly telling ourselves to enjoy the weather before it gets too hot.

Despite the pollen, we’ve been playing outside. Above is Oliver not really understanding how “fetch” works and running away with the ball.  Grisha mulched the entire back yard with leaves from the city and we’re waiting for it to break down a bit before we plant grass. The dandelions are not waiting.

Did something catch your eye in those photos? Was it Grisha’s enormous wood pile?

How long do you think that wood will last us? Take into account the logs piled around him that he has yet to chop. Believe it or not,  Grisha has been taking a break from chopping wood for the past few weeks to build a garden in the front yard.

Here is our attempt at putting up a deer-proof fence. We were worried that the neighbors hated it, but at the neighborhood barbeque everyone was so excited. I think they are hoping for an overabundance that we’ll share. So far we’ve got a blackberry bush, 20 tomatoes (sun golds, Roma and some big heirloom varieties), peppers and carrots.

I decided to update an old headband with some lace from my wedding dress scraps. First, the headband needed its scratches covered with a new coat of paint.

Then I cut a strip of lace off. No measurements of course, just “free balling” as my family says when we wing-it.

Then I Modge-Podged the fabric onto the headband. I painted the lace onto the top first, let it dry, and then folded the sides over to paste them down. This gave me something dry to hold on to and helped keep everything from slip-n’-sliding when it was wet. It came out a little more brittle than before, but not uncomfortable. It even survived a cuddlefest with Oliver!

Speaking of Oliver, here are some highlights from our week.

Asking for a treat and getting a head-rub from my foot.

Sitting in his favorite spot in the world: Grisha’s lap.

Practicing to be a  Calvin Klein underwear model.

My parents have a very territorial robin who has been attacking his reflection to protect a nearby nest. They have resorted to covering their windows with newspaper and keeping the shades drawn all day. It’s driving them crazy.

We have the opposite situation. To encourage more birds to nest in our yard, I cut up a scarf into pieces 2 to 5 inches long. It was harder than it sounds to unravel the pieces – the scarf was worn so much it was almost felted in some places. For color and variety, I mixed the scarf clippings with some fabric scraps and the hair from my hairbrushes.

The stringy, knotty mess is hanging in a suet-feeder just a few feet from the bird feeder. Grisha keeps pointing out that the feeder gets a lot of action, but no one ever visits the nest-building materials. I keep pointing out that mating-season is just beginning.