shiny new countertop finish

the refinished countertops

last year we renovated our kitchen, 

and we used reclaimed bowling alley lanes as our countertop material. 

they looked beautiful, but we didn't use the right finish on them, 

and they quickly became worn and scruffy. 

here's a pic of the countertops at the beginning of our refinishing project, 

worn and with wood putty applied to fill in the cracks. 

a country farmhouse keeps a lovely blog, 

and they are also keen on using eco-friendly materials in their home.

when they renovated their kitchen, they installed maple butcher block counters, 

and they look fabulous. 

she told me they used AFM Safecoat as the sealer. 

it is water-based and non-toxic. 

after thoroughly sanding all the countertops, 

we applied 3 coats of AFM safecoat in gloss. 

it was easy to apply, clean up, and didn't smell up the kitchen. 

 i'm thrilled with the way they turned out! 

smooth to the touch, glossy, and they should be easy to keep clean. 

can't wait to move everything back into the kitchen and start cooking! 

beautiful look-see for the day

photo from jeffrey bale's blog

i love peeking in at jeffrey bale's world of gardens blog. 

today he features mosaic whimsy from Barcelona. 

photo from jeffrey bale's blog

this one reminds me of a gingerbread house. 

his blog fuels my fantasy of having 

lots of beautiful mosaics in the garden. 

lots of fun, check it out. 

beautiful menorahs

photo from nelles etsy shop

last night many friends gathered here 

for a winter holiday vegan potluck. yum! 

i love this season - celebrating life and light 

in the midst of the darkness and depth of winter. 

today design sponge lifts up

a whole feast for the eyes 

of beautiful, modern menorahs. 

hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. 

my general store

a year ago we were in the midst of our kitchen remodel. 

this morning, as the sun was streaming in through our 

big kitchen windows (free from craig's list!) 

and i was putting vegan pumpkin bread into the oven, 

i was filled with a sense of abundance. 

i'm so lucky my basic needs and beyond are taken care of. 

we have food to eat (too much, really). 

a beautiful, warm, safe home. 

and best of all, a loving family and many dear friends. 

i was also filled with a sense of

"i'm so glad we aren't doing a kitchen remodel again!" 

one of my favorite things in my new kitchen is my 

"general store," at least that's what dear friend jackie calls it. 

i love having our staples displayed in glass jars. 

easy to see when supplies are getting low. 

and a pretty way of decorating the kitchen. 

you can almost see that area pre-remodel, 

to the left of this photo. 

the bakers bench is still there, 

but everything to the left of it has been removed. 

that space was so prone to collecting all sorts of junk. 

a small built in cabinet below became overflowing with 

random bits of everything we didn't want to organize. 

we removed all of that, and started with a clean wall. 

i saw a picture in a magazine of something similar to these shelves. 

ryan built them for me. he is awesome. 

disco garden

photo by blake gardner photography

we finally got to use our yard in the way it was intended! 

weeks of cleaning and prepping

yielded a lovely pre-ordination casual dinner party, 

underneath the LED light canopy and disco ball

hung by ryan. 

photo by blake gardner photography

you can see the disco ball hanging way up amidst the LED canopy. 

photo by blake gardner photography

my favorite outdoor office area even got a sprinkling of red LEDs. 

photo by blake gardner photography

we were super happy to host our friends and family 

for this special night under the "stars." 

photo by blake gardner photography

our friend jenna showed off her moves on the trampoline. 

photo by blake gardner photography

friends share vegan s'mores around the fire pit. 

viva la vegan gatherings! 

ryan's cleverness = bowling alley table

ryan can do pretty much anything. 

he made a beautiful table out of bowling alley lane over the weekend! 

i'm so excited about it. 

i've wanted a nice, long table for outdoor dining for a couple of years. 

the one he made sits 12. 

last fall, when we used bowling alley lanes for our kitchen counters, 

ryan had in mind he would use the left-over wood for an outdoor table. 

the cool thing about the table

(other than the fact people used to bowl on it)

is that all the wood is reclaimed. 

the edges are made out of wood from our friend Denise's old fence. 

the legs ... i can't remember exactly,

but the pieces of redwood used to be part of our house in some way. 

ryan cut wood, sanded, stained. 

he's amazing! 

i love that he has big visions, 

and the wherewithal to achieve them. 

i can't wait to see our friends and family 

gathered around the table saturday night, 

as we celebrate my ordination on Sunday! 

jammin' & cannin'

Friend Jackie and I had the best time today making jam! 

i felt like such a homemaker puttering around in the kitchen, 

making the jam and canning it in those sweet little jars. 

and i kept thinking "we're doing this for fun - just think about the times

when women had to do this in order to have food in the winter." 

a humbling thought. 

jackie and i started at the pasadena farmer's market this morning, 

and snagged ripe strawberries, figs, and plums. 

above is a medley of three colors of figs, and they were so sweet. 

our canning supplies at the ready! 

jackie and i had jammed and canned before, 

but a long time before - 

i think my last time was 1994 or 1995, 

and Jackie's was 2000. We still had our canning supplies! 

figs, sugar, lemon zest = super yummy fig jam.

and the plum spice jam was A-mazing. 

the color is a deep red-purple, just lovely. 

i need a pic of a piece of toast with some jam slathered on it. 

the best part (other than eating it) is listening 

to the satisfying POP of the lids sealing. 

fabulous way to spend saturday with a dear friend. 

xo!