2013 Review

2013 was a fruitful year for 765, in more ways than one, as evidenced by our orange tree. In the past we've been lucky to have a handful by the end of the year, but this time the branches are weighted down by the fruit.
It wasn't the busiest year on the blog, but the projects that did happen were all substantial ones, for our home and for us. Here's a quick recap of 2013...

We started the year off working on the drafty (and nasty) cabinet under the kitchen sink. A little insulation, spray foam, and fresh shelving makes all the difference now.

Thanks to Travis I got a closet update. No more peeling fake paneling that drops on my clothes. Painted walls and bright light make it (a little) easier to pick out my outfits in the the morning.

It wasn't the greatest year for our garden thanks to busy schedules, but we did get a few good crops and experimented with some new veggies in the garden. A little bit of time off has hopefully given the soil some replenishment time and we'll have a bountiful season coming up.

We announced a new project. A big new project. A baby room.
It's already amazing to look back on these pictures to see how far we've come. This kid sure is going to have an awesome room.

Family, friends and neighbors came together to help 765 have the best baby room ever. Demo, sanding, painting, more sanding, installation and more painting - it wasn't the easiest of work, but we couldn't have done it without your help. A millions thank-yous go out to all of you!

The gender of baby Moore is finally revealed!

A big kudos to Travis for the baby room. Clearly the room construction was not my handy work (mine is just about to begin) and thanks to his skills and puzzle solving the room has come together beautifully. It looks all that much better knowing the room came together because of our own efforts and I'm pretty damn proud of how well he's done.

Tame Teal officially became the color of the 765 Baby Room. With color on the wall it's starting to get real.

Hopefully 2014 will begin with a completed room, as Travis works away on the trim as I type. Only 64 days and counting - it's really go time now.
As we count down into the new year we normally cheers with a Blue Moon and our freshly picked oranges. It may just be a glass of OJ this year but we're certainly excited for what's to come in 2014.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas 2013!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Baby Room - Update 5

Tame Teal has arrived!
It was a decision on a whim to whip out the paint brushes and finally put color to the walls. All of the detail in the paneling meant we went along every seam before covering the walls. It was a bit meticulous but we still finished it in less than a day.
The ceiling got a fresh coat of white mixed with Tame Teal and we realized just how old and dingy the ceiling color looked before. For now you'll have to suffice with little previews of the progress until the final reveal. Up next: trim. Likely the most detail oriented part of the room, but once it's done this kid is going to have the best room in the house.

Baby Room - Update 4

Progress has continued in the baby room. More paneling boards were ordered after everything we had was installed. That meant another round of priming, which we flew in some help from California for. Mid-day painting in the heat - welcome to Louisiana! (Thanks for the help John!)
It's a time consuming process of installing the boards and four hands certainly help speed up the process. The biggest challenge yet: the nook. What it was used for exactly we're not sure, but we know it wasn't designed to be a shelving unit being that it's not even close to square. It was quite the puzzle but Travis and Pat have made it look fantastic. And messages to future owners were left for years to come. A few more pieces of paneling to go up and then it's time for Tame Teal!

Another Announcement

We're nearly to the halfway mark of the pregnancy, which means we finally got to find out what Baby Moore is:

A BOY!

So we can begin picking the other colors for the room, pondering names, and daydreaming of Travis and his future little hunting and fishing partner! Now we'll get back to the baby room construction...

Baby Room - Update 3

Once all those boards were primed it was time for another decision. A big one. What color would we paint the room? I knew I wanted a jungle-esque theme, something that would work for a boy or a girl, and a light blue/green seemed like a versatile color for either sex. I picked up a slew of color samples at Sherwin Williams and the debating began. Travis and I each silently picked our favorites and revealed.

While I'm glad to say we were clearly thinking on the same track in the color range, they are so close yet so different. Putting them under every light possible and comparing I still loved Tame Teal. Travis loved Pool Blue. Something had to give. We finally made a decision, and then Travis received this kind advice from his co-worker Chris that he found at a local hardware store:

It seems we likely made the right decision: Sherwin Williams Tame Teal! We bought a second can mixed down with white paint for the ceiling and some white for the trim as well. Now let's hope it looks as good on the walls as it does on that teeny tiny card.

Baby Room - Update 2

The next phase of the project began with the delivery of the paneling that will go up on the wall. Nine-foot tall 1"x6" tongue and groove panels of V-Edge Pine arrived ready to be primed, and thankfully Hannah, Pat and Randalle were on hand to help out. There was an assembly line of paint-dry-flip-paint-dry-rotate, until all 75 panels were complete. Stacked in our dining area, they are getting adjusted to the indoor air, anxiously awaiting to be installed and painted a wonderful baby color... In the meantime the electrical is back up and running in the room and every outlet works! The room has officially been upgraded.

Thanks again to all of our helpers!!

Cover to Cover Challenge 2013

You might remember, last year I made Shrimp Scampi Meatballs for something called the Cover to Cover Challenge from The Bitten Word. Well, they're at it again and I had to participate. This year they simplified to only one magazine, Bon Appetit with multiple people making each recipe.

My assignment: Creamy White Onion Soup
I thought I got off with a fairly easy recipe, until I realized there are actually four parts to this soup: pickled scallions, an onion jam, the soup, and a Fontina toast. Certainly not something I would be dumping in a pot and letting simmer for a few hours. But then again that wouldn't be a challenge would it?!
The soup itself was absolutely delicious. The combination of ginger and Serrano peppers with the onion created a really complex flavor, and when combined with the Fontina toast it was delicious. Personally I wasn't a fan of the onion jam, too sweet for me, though my other taste-testers enjoyed it.
I would certainly make this soup again for a special occasion or guests, but with all the details it is not a 'throw everything in a pot and forget about it' kind of soup, so not likely something that will be on regular rotation. 

Baby Room - Update 1

Work continues in the room for Mini Moore. After getting all of the major grunt work done (with alot of help from Joey - thanks Joey!) we moved on to the next fun step: sanding. And more sanding. What we can salvage of the original details we're trying our best to. The windows are original to the house with sash weights for moving them up and down. With the help of Travis' parents we sanded every nook and cranny of those windows. Afterwards a coating of tung oil* made the wood look absolutely gorgeous and worth all of the effort. We also discovered a nook in the wall when taking down the old wood. As a future shelving unit it will give us a little added storage - something we'll never turn down.

Travis managed to save the molding when taking it down, so we sanded it for painting later. And that is sanding by hand with strips of sandpaper, no palm sander allowed for those delicate pieces.

Then the front door. This door leads from the baby's room to the front porch. We knew the stain wasn't going to match once we sanded down the windows and other details, so we took it off the hinge and got sanding. I don't think any of us expected how pretty the wood would be underneath the years of weathering. It instantly brightens up our front porch, and now has us wanting to sand the other front door. (One project at a time here...) We'll add a coating of tung oil to the inside and and exterior finish to the outside so we can keep those gorgeous colors.

*While neighbors told us about the tung oil for the windows I was of course picturing tounge oil. Not so. It's from the seed of the tung tree and it hardens/dries when exposed to air to create a satin finish on wood. The oil is even considered one of the few environmentally friendly wood finishes available. The best part is that it resists water better than most other finishes - perfect for old windows. Definitely something we'll be using again throughout the house.

A New Project

It's been a while. Quite a while.
Projects have been at a lull at 765 for some time. We got busy with travel and work and, well, life. Then we decided to make up for lost time and take on a substantial project. Certainly our biggest interior project yet, that would provide plenty of blog content for the months to come.

Our front bedroom/office is being gutted. The walls are coming down and we're starting fresh. The thin plywood paneling that warped and peeled around the windows didn't fit in with the beautiful old cypress and pine wood throughout the house.  

 The paneling snapped off with some ease, giving way to old wallpaper underneath. The wallpaper was the only thing covering the tounge-and-groove wood wall structure. Likely cold in the winter, it's certainly why they added a layer of paneling.

 In a home as old as ours there's bound to be history we uncover. Right next to the existing switch was a square from the old one, with a single hole for the knob & tube wiring.And below it, a section of crayon scribbles from a little one.

 The wall paper is cleared out, interior workings of the walls exposed, and plenty of wiring and insulation projects are in the works. All this work just to get rid of some old warping paneling?
Yes and no.
See there is a little something else to the story. Something very little, that would need a fresh room with bright, colorful walls and a consistent temperature. That's right, 765 is absolutely a nest in progress...

WE'RE EXPECTING!
Whether the room is ready or not Baby Moore is coming March 5th!
So join us here as we chronicle our nest in the months to come!

The Chicken And A Tomato

Watching the chickens find a bug or morsel that excites them can be pure entertainment. We had a tomato that was a little over-ripe and Annie got a hold of it. Running around the yard, flinging it side to side, and rolling it in the dirt; the other chicken dare not mess with her when she has a prize like this.

Welcome Home

We came home from a week vacation to a garden ready to be picked. The eggplants are the survivor of the garden, seemingly un-phased by lack of water or too much heat. Some of our tomato plants aren't happy with the soil so we're hoping transferring to pots will help. I picked our rainbow carrots and pulled up the 'running man'. There's a few jokes in there...
The first okra of the season was ready and the final strawberry was bright red. I think that means summer is officially here.

Did You Know?

The average hen lays 260 eggs per year! That would leave us with 780 eggs with our three ladies - that's alot of omelets! This adorable Farm Anatomy Dishtowel also came with a cute cheat sheet on a fresh vs. old egg. Helpful when you have a refrigerator bursting with them!
*Thanks M&D for the present*