The week of the “Ewws, Yucks, and Aahs!”

I’m calling this the week of “The Ewwwwws, The Yucks, and the Aahs!

Why you might ask?

Well, the answer is simple.

My house had a lot of Ewwwwws, a whole lot of Yucks and I hope it is now finally starting to have some Aahs. The Aahs are not completely finished yet. I still have some things to tweak. But, for the most part, I smile everytime I walk into one of the rooms we have updated. : )

Our first “Ewwww!” is brought to you today, courtesy of our Master Bath Shower.

I have to be honest. At this angle, it doesn’t look that bad. However, after trying to rip up the carpet in our Master Bedroom so that we could lay new flooring, we stumbled upon a nasty surprise. The shower had a crack in the floor and had been leaking into the bedroom on the other side of the wall.

Here is another Ewww. The corner where it was seeping into our bedroom. I thought that lovely mildewy substance on the bottom of the baseboard was simply something the previous homeowner had spilt once upon a time and didn’t clean up. It wasn’t until I rubbed my finger over it, that I realized I was VERY WRONG!

This is another angle of the same corner. (Another Ewwww!)

Now for the YUCKS! This is the wall on the bathroom side where it was seeping into the Master on the other side.

More YUCK! and YES! That is mold. : (

Straight on YUCKY view of the shower.

But WAIT! There’s more. Why not take a closer look?

Still not satisfied? You want me to go even closer?

Imagine my HORROR when I found out that the dark black stuff in the middle was actually H2O!

I promise this is all the pics of the Ewws/Yucks bathroom pics I am posting.

But!

Because I know you just had your breakfast,

I would like to post yet another picture. Maybe you think it’s an “Ewww”. Maybe you think it’s a “Yuck”.

I personally think it’s an “AAH!”

Meet my Halloween alter ego, “Earl”. The roughest, toughest, toothless, hairiest, deer shootin, beer drinkin Redneck out there!

Please don’t be mad because I’m prettier than you.

Jealousy can be an ugly thing!

Love,

Esther

*P.S. – Aahs to follow soon!

Tags: Aah, Cracked Floor, Deer Shootin, Earl, Eww, Halloween, Jealousy, Leaking, Master Bath, Mold, Redneck, Seeping Water, Shower, Updated Rooms, Yuck

11.13.

Mom’s Southern Stewed Apples

The other day was Em’s 7th Birthday!

I cannot believe enough time has passed to be able to say that.

I always try to make everyone’s favorite dinner for their birthday. My mom has always done that and it always made me feel so special. I have tried to continue this tradition with my own family.

One of her favorite things is my Mom’s Stewed Apples. She can eat enough to make her sick…… and I don’t blame her. I have to hold back myself.

They are SOOOOO good!

First, take some Granny Smith Apples. (I use the whole bag because I like to make a lot)

Peel, core, and slice. ( I use a peeler first, then put them under this handy little baby made by Pampered Chef)

I fill them up in the pot first to see how high they go. Then I put them into a seperate bowl while I ……..

Melted half a stick of butter in the saucepan,

Added some Cinnamon,

And for whatever reason, felt there wasn’t enough butter, so I added another half stick of butter. Yes, there is now 1 whole stick of butter in the recipe and YES! I’m SORRY! : D

Then I added a 1/2 cup of sugar and mixed until it was dissolved.

Add the apple slices.

Toss the apples until they are completely coated in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and allow to simmer for 45 minutes.

This is what they looked like after 20 minutes.

And this is what they looked like after 45 minutes. Softened and DELICIOUS!

Complete YUMMINESS!

Recipe: Mom’s Southern Stewed Apples

Inredients:

– 1 Bag Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

– 1 stick Unsalted Butter

– 3 Tablespoons Cinnamon

– 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

Directions:

– In a medium saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.

– Add cinnamon and sugar and mix well.

– Add apples and stir, mixing well in cinnamon/butter/sugar mixture. *Bowl will be very full, so be careful mixing.

– Allow to simmer on medium low, stirring occasionally for 45-50 minutes, or until apples are soft and tender.

*Make sure you stir occasionally! If not, sugar/butter mixture may burn.

Tags: Butter, Cinnamon, Favorite dinner, Granny Smith Apples, Mom's Stewed Apples, Pampered Chef, Recipe, Southern, Sugar, Tradition, Yumminess

10.30.

What I’ve been up to!

Projects! Projects! Projects!

When I don’t post for a while, rest assured it’s because I have been very busy.

That is exactly the situation again.

If you didn’t already know, we moved into a new home a few months ago. Since then, we have been trying to update it a little bit. For one, it is bigger than my last one. (HALLELUJAH!)

So, we needed to actually get some furniture for it, which I’ve written about in other posts. Well, there is something else now. The floors!

The floors were pretty nasty to begin with. There were so many “pet stains”, that when we pulled the carpet back, I couldn’t tell where one ended and another began. : (

Plus, to top it all off, we have allergies that get worse when you involve that ugly little carpet word.

Here is a “Before” shot of part of the living room. The carpet doesn’t look that bad in this pic. My camera is being very kind to me.

It was the best feeling in the world when I got to see the first row of boards go down.

This however, was not. It took him the whole weekend to get the tile in the foyer out! : ( We later found out that a much lighter tool would have done the job in way less time! Oh well, lesson learned.

This is a “still in progress” picture of the living room.

The whole project isn’t finished yet. However, when it is, I’ll post the final pictures.

While the kitchen, living room, and pretty much the rest of the house was a mess…… we decided to go ahead and do the backsplash I’ve been wanting in the kitchen.

I had this at the last house, so I knew that I would like it. It only cost me $140 in materials! For a tile backsplash, that is great!

The undercabinet lights kind of made the picture too bright, but I’m too lazy to turn them off and take another. It isn’t grouted yet, but I will update the photos when it is.

I also managed to snag this pendant light from The Goodwill down the road for $5.95. With a little paint, it and it’s 2 siblings will be the fun, quirky light fixtures I have been looking for to go over the bar.

SO!

That is what I have been up to lately. Updating the house and now hopefully updating Babies and Biscuits.

Oh!

I did manage to make a pot of Chili along the way!