ketchup catch up and the world's smallest fish fry

My new routine is to leave work, go walk 3-4 miles, and when I get home I pick the ripe veggies (mostly tomatoes). I'm almost to the point where I can freeze or can some, I'm not sure which I'll do, but I like to have a good stock of sauce for the winter. . .and several ice cube trays of pesto for the months we're craving all the freshness summer has to offer.

Last night I cut up 2 tomatoes and 2 cucumbers (from the farmer's market--I didn't plant any cukes this year) and doused them in Newman's Light Vinaigrette for a super tasty, cheater's salad.

Since I'm on the topic of easy food, we've also had zucchini pancakes twice this season. The first time was when Kris, our magical gardening neighbor, gave us on the size of a bat. Usually zucchini (or any summer squash) that reaches the point of monstrosity turns bitter and tough, so I peel and seed them, then turn them into pancakes. Bat sized=monstrosity.
Then one of my bosses at work brought some (slightly smaller than bat sized) in and I took 2 home. The first one automatically became pancakes, but I still have the 2nd. Turns out, when sampling the goods while making the 2nd batch, those particular ones were crisp and slightly sweet, just like you want a zucchini to be--so maybe the next one will be enjoyed in all it's full-flavored glory.

But the pancakes: if you miss a day picking the produce from your garden and you, too, end up with a freshly picked caveman's club, I basically follow the instructions linked above.
First, peel and seed the zucchini. I also chunk up an onion and 2 cloves of garlic, add a little salt and pepper and sometimes even some sort of yummy cheese. If you have a good blender or a food processor process it to a pulp, then set aside in a sieve with a plate (and maybe a can for extra weight) to drain. This last time I just poured it into muslin and squeezed all the liquid out. That worked really well. After it's lost a lot of that moisture, stir in the corn meal. I've used wheat flour in the past, but the corn meal gives them a nice texture and hush puppy flavor.

Then just cook 'em up like you do breakfast pancakes. Might I suggest serving them with tomato cucumber salad? (Or maybe something a little more dessert-ish?)

And since I skimped on sharing baby fish photos yesterday, I sat outside in the 90+ degree heat, sweating like a pregnant hog just to capture a few pics of the little ones. Like I said, they're teeny tiny, spastic and shy, so my photos didn't come out great, but you can see a few of them here.

Hi C noticed a small little fish swimming around the pond a couple days ago--less than 2 inches long, including tail. I was more or less confounded--did the goldfish have babies? We knew they were happy in the pond, but not too sure what to think about this new development, and I didn't really believe him until I saw it with my own eyes yesterday.

Little minnow-y calico goldfish, spotted in black, white and bright orange, darting in and out of the rocks, feeding on the algae and gunk.

I was very cautious with the gold fish when we first got them; I don't think we ever had one live longer than a few months when I was a kid. This time we bought them for the pond, refused to name them, and sat back and waited for a failed attempt at keeping them happy. But apparently, goldfish don't like to be coddled and the new little ones are no different. They keep to themselves, take care of themselves, and generally go about business as if they are already teenagers. In reality, they must be just a few days old.

So I guess it's true around Chez Sneak, there's something in the water! {That or someone did some sort of ancient fertility ritual on our soil--do those things expire? I'm not sure we have anymore room for any new additions!}

I haven't mentioned this before, I don't talk about family much outside the walls of our lovingly dubbed Sweet Haven, but my Cliff passed away on July 4 and I want to note his significance in my life. But it's hard to figure out what to say without sounding trite, so I just want to note it here for my own ability to begin processing.

We're surrounded by such excitement of new life in our house, that such a loss seems too conflicting to understand. Cliff was 93 and had health problems, so his death was no surprise, but still quite a loss for our family.

Then there is waking up to little hands pounding on one side of my inner belly, little feet stomping on the other side. Does she want out? Was she just having her own little personal dance party? How cute is it that when Charlie puts his face on my belly and talks a little bit she starts kicking up a storm?

She'll be taking her first trip up to the family lake house (obviously not able to see it!) for a gathering to honor and remember Cliff next weekend. It'll be a time for reconciling the emotions and hopefully she'll absorb some of the wonderful and strong love that is certain to be in the air that day.

All of this probably explains the sudden shift in decor, and all of the getaway themed internet finds I've been posting. Feeling changes and further understanding deep appreciation, knowing growing up and growing roots are not easy tasks.

Here's a little light hearted inspiration. . .we're still trudging along on the house, so I maintain my right to surf the web for images that might come in handy. These are: (Left) Cottage Living image via decorology. (Right) From Anna Betts' Colour and Sound via this very real, very pretty place. The whole house is adorable.

and it's only Monday

Should I apologize first for the state of these pictures? My hands aren't very steady these days (I blame hormones, though I'm not sure that's entirely fair) and I just snapped some images without really checking their quality.

There you have it, a slightly blurry, underexposed documentation of the process of putting down hardwood flooring.

Let's recap: There was carpet, now there's not. Under the carpet was a layer of plywood to make the floors even with the 3 rooms that connect to this one--all of which have hardwood floors.

The plywood had to come up--that's the hard, back-breaking work. We finally finished that yesterday, and it involved cutting strips into the plywood, separating the row of nails from the bulk of wood, then pulling the remaining strip of nailed down plywood up. {check!}

Then you have to allow the new flooring to breathe and absorb ambient moisture so it won't do that after it's all nailed in place. This prevents big gaps and bowing boards. {check!}

Check the sub flooring, remove any panels that need replacing {check!}. After all the back-breaking plywood pulling of step 1, C decided to grind the heads off the sub flooring, pull up the wood, then use pliers to pull out the remainder of the nails.

This part was a result of boredom from monotony, for the most part, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're, like C, Mr. Adventure Pants. But I feel like I need some legal disclaimer here, because the whole time I was waiting for a speck of sawdust to catch fire and burn the whole house down. So yeah, probably not a wise thing to do.

But it got the wood up. The new panel needs a hole cut in it for an air return, so it's not down yet (and tonight we have baby class*, so it probably won't go down tonight, either) but the old panel is covering up the gaping hole in the middle of the room.

Now, if you're familiar with little projects turning into bigger ones, this little task of putting down new flooring is one of those. Somehow between replacing the plywood with hardwood, Mr. C decided we needed to insulate under the floors. While I commend the desire to save energy, lying on one's back while playing with fiberglass doesn't seem like a good time to me. And actually, I think my belly is too big to fit under there.

So we'll add that to the list--insulate under flooring.
I don't know if that goes before or after laying the actual new floor down. But even on that end, we still have to put down leveling compound, then the floor, then sand and finish.

Woo-weee--and it's only Monday.

*Five evening sessions that meet once a week for five weeks. Couples learn what to expect during labor and birth, signs of early labor, Lamaze relaxation and breathing techniques, Cesarean birth and pain management choices. Information also given on infant care, safety, and adjusting to parenthood.

I impulse bought some wallpaper on eBay, and now it's out in my car--the box is 20 pounds--no joke! Four rolls of hand screened wallpaper, in the navy and peacock blue that I've been drooling over lately. I don't know where I'll put it, but maybe I'll find a good place for it this weekend. But really, WHY did I buy more wallpaper? I have enough projects to last me several years so I don't really need to add to the list. But now I've got it, and I can dream about what to do with it when I do have the time. (Anyone wallpapered with a kid in a sling?)

I told Charlie about my impulse buy, and he decided he got an impulse buy, too. A Wii game?, I asked. Nope. Noise canceling headphones? Nope. You know what that crazy guy bought? 2 new sets of sheets for our bedroom! I'm not sure that counts as an impulse buy, but I'll definitely reap the rewards of it.

It's almost time to start laying the hardwoods; first we'll use a leveling compound to make sure all the little dips and raised areas are smoothed out, then we can get to seeing the progress. This, my friends, is a very big deal--bigger than my belly big! BIG!


Maybe when we rejoin on Monday I'll have some pictures for you! In the meantime, won't you join me over at modish for a little taste of the tropics at home?

I've been obsessively reading home decor blogs such as
Design is Mine,
Desire to Inspire,
Down and Out Chic,
Kelly and Olive. . .some others. Scrolling and clicking my way through adventures on flickr.

The reality is that house things are moving slowly, I have doctor's appointments every other week (sometimes 2 a week), and then the life stuff that happens in between.

These days Mabel kind of rumbles around in my belly, tickling me and softly kicking, I try to tell Charlie about it, but it's hard to capture the words. Wondering what will happen at all these doctor's appointments. Today it's the obstetrician. The 20th of August I go back to see the specialist (and, in case you were wondering, they basically said her kidneys are abnormal, but it's nothing to lose sleep over. . . I'm not sure how to not worry about that, but am trying my best. Oh yeah! And since I'm at it, the glucose test came back normal, which is good, because being with child and without ice cream sounds absolutely terrible.

What does all this rambling on mean? Not much, just that I'm a bit too distracted to take pictures of my own, not doing any drawing, and generally just daydreaming of a danish, beachy, modern, mid century, relaxing, 50s summer camp, lodge-y, country cottage. Does such a thing exist?

And while I'm on a random tangent--when did it happen that buying furniture on sale and clearance became a cheaper alternative to the thrift store? Or is that just here in Charlotte?

Mabel Davis is up to eggplant status according to the weekly chart, but is squash sized according to the actual weight and dimensions, and will remain squash sized for several weeks (although I don't think she cares to much for that comparison with the acrobatics she's doing in my belly right now.) I think it's funny how people complain about the comparisons in the comments on the site. C'mon people, they're not actually calling your baby a squash, they're just trying to give you a little bit of an idea of what's goin' on in there.

'Cause if that were the case, I definitely would've been too heebied out to eat eggplant for dinner last night (straight from the garden with homegrown onions, garlic, and green tomatoes with store bought jasmine rice and an impromptu peanut sauce.)

You'll soon see WatS's on a return flight to Little Paper Planes. It's been a while since we've restocked anything...'cause, well, life gets in the way sometimes, but we're definitely excited to be back!

We did get the flooring yesterday, but with solid flooring you are supposed to let it acclimate to the room where you'll install it (this way it absorbs or releases the typical humidity of the room), so there will be no major flooring action until Sunday.

In the meantime, I'm dreaming of using the extra flooring scraps for something like this day bed in the alcove off the den. {Image by Kathryn Russell via Desire to Inspire.}

and some recent favorites on flickr--thinking it would be fun to paper a bathroom in some of the old maps I have. . .but how quickly would I get sick of them?
{Click the image to view all the juicy details. As for credits: big photo to left: www.rachelwhiting.co.uk/photo_2652472.html/1. Maps as decor: Beachy nautical bedroom, designed by Steven Gambrel, 2. Nautical chic: Beautiful beachy blue + white bathroom + maps wallpaper, 3. DSC_6674, 4. Such Profusion, 5. Kitchen - After, 6. I love my maps.}