17 Apart

The Aerobin 400: Our New Composting System

2012-02-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

We've got a new composting system!

Some of you may remember our previous DIY compost bin we made right around a year ago at our old house. It consisted of drilling holes throughout a metal trash bin, setting it up atop of some planks and adding/mixing organic matter over time. This was a great bin for getting us started with composting; for anyone interested in the fuller details of how we made it, see here.

Old composter:

Now, let's talk about the new system. Given our recent move to the city, new factors came into play when deciding how to proceed with composting. We needed something compact (preferably vertical) to maintain the efficiency of our small space, and being in the city, we'd need to go ahead and invest in a system that aids in keeping rodents away. Our neighbors have told us to watch out for mice as the weather heats up, so we don't want to take any chances and decided to forgo the drilled bin system we'd been using at our old place.

We've been eyeing a self sufficient system called the Aerobin 400. Sounds fancy, right? After keeping it on the radar, we were able to pounce when a particular promotion came up to make it ours. Shopping tip: For those of you unfamiliar with the site Price Grabber, it basically tracks the lowest of the low prices on any product you are shopping for — so if you have the time to wait and watch, you can hunt down some great deals.

The only thing DIY about this new bin was the initial assembly, which was super easy, and getting the right mixture of carbon/nitrogen organic matter inside as we proceed.

Some of the added benefits of this specific compost bin we are looking forward to are the claims that the contents require no turning or watering — that the "lung" component provides the air the compost needs to thrive and aside from adding the correct "ingredients" that the bin will take care of the rest.

In addition to it being a self service bin, there is a grated draining floor at the bottom of the bin that collects excess moisture. At the bottom of the bin is a spout where we'll be able to access this liquid leachate (also known as compost tea and liquid gold) that can be diluted with water and used as natural plant fertilizer.

We have a bit of a long narrow run along the back side of our house where our back door accesses the back patio. Directly to the side of the door access was a little nook were the bin fit perfectly. This placement is out of the way of the main back area (which is straight ahead in the below shots) and somewhat out of visibility if you're not looking for it. The best part is how we'll be able to access it directly over the side rail from the back door — so convenient, given our last compost bin was located in the furthest back corner of our yard.

For those unfamiliar with composting, it's basically a process of compiling organic matter in the forms of carbon and nitrogen that if mixed together correctly, will decompose into "compost," a dark and rich soil-like substance that is an incredible natural fertilizer for gardening. The benefits of composting for us include the fact that we can contribute less overall waste to the trash system, and put our kitchen scraps to good use as fertilizer for the new food we'll be growing — see how the cycle goes round? The whole process can take anywhere from 3-6 months before seeing any compost.

Organic matter in the case of composting refers to carbon materials (brown and dry) or nitrogen materials (green and moist).

Nitrogen: coffee grounds, flowers, fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, green leaves, and weeds.

Carbon: dry leaves, eggshells, hair, lint, straw, wood shavings.

As a rule of thumb, materials to avoid include: dairy, meat, bones, animal waste, grease or greasy foods, and oils.

To get things going, we tossed in kitchen scraps we've been reserving over the past few weeks. We're hoping they get all cozy and start to do their thang. We've heard it's generally a best practice to mix in a little already active compost when beginning a new compost pile just to get things moving along, so we might try tossing a small amount in when we get the chance. If all goes according to plan, we may have the beginnings of fresh compost to use in early May.

Anyhoo...we're pretty excited about our new system and as usual, we'll keep you (com)posted on how everything shapes up!

Do you compost? We'd love to hear what type of system you use be it a pile in the yard or other contained version. What have you found works best?

Weekend Basics

2012-02-06T11:45:00.001-05:00

1. We've got broccoli sprouts! Probably the most exciting news (geeky I know) we have to share this week is how quickly and well our broccoli seeds sprouted from planting them in eggshells last weekend. No later than Tuesday mid-morning did we notice the first small sprouts peeking through, followed up by rapid growth ever since. Be it a combination of sunnier windows in our new place paired with the natural planters or just dumb luck, we couldn't be happier.

2. In an effort to plan ahead for planting everything outdoors, we set out to a few garden and farm centers to find large planters and containing solutions for when it's time to turn our little patio into a functioning garden. We found some great galvanized containers and hanging planters, but also felt like there will be plenty of room to use things we already have around the house as we were looking around. We are, however, seriously considering the idea of getting a couple watering troughs. Check out the size of the large ones they had available (these would be way to big for what we have in mind, but were amazing to look at nonetheless).

While out, we also picked up some new heirloom seed varieties to try our hands at and two potted grapevine trunks. As with our avocado plants, we're not expecting much, but both thought it would be fun to learn as we go.

3. We've got a new composting system! There have been enough reasons for us to switch over to a new system that we took the plunge and put everything together over the weekend. More details coming soon...

4. When we weren't prepping for the garden, we (Tim) made time to squeeze in a few little home updates here and there. There's a big list of things we'd like to do, so we're tackling the smaller things as we have time — looking forward to sharing more later in the week.

5. It wouldn't be a weekend in our household without a busy kitchen full of new recipes. Tim's got a couple exciting new projects up his sleeve he was prepping for over the weekend, one of which concerned a huge T-bone steak! Guess who we're saving the bone for...?

Speaking of Basil, here he is trying to chat up his own neighbor, Oseido. She was playing hard to get...

Super Bowl Recipe Roundup

2012-02-04T09:10:00.000-05:00

Who's ready for gameday? For those of you still looking for recipes to make for your Super Bowl party or take to another — you're in luck. I've been working on a special series just for gameday (well, you could really make these for any occasion), that rounds up go-to recipes full of flavor you can make with fresh ingredients.

Today I wanted to share all of the recipes in one place. Simply click any of the photos below for full recipes and enjoy!

1. Spicy Molten Blue Cheese Dip

2. Spicy Thai Chicken Wings

3. Sloppy Joe Sliders

4. Roasted Cauliflower with Caper Aioli

I think Mary's more excited about the food and the commercials than the actual game — which are admittedly both big parts of the Super Bowl. She was probably in diapers when this classic commercial first aired — who else remembers it?

And the remake?

Gotta love my Steelers — better luck next year, guys.

Discover More:

Superbowl Recipes | All Recipes

How To: Carrot & Banana Natural Dog Treat Recipe

2012-02-02T10:34:00.000-05:00

We decided it was high time to make another bulk batch of homemade natural dog treats for Basil. Our last batch of fresh apple treats ran out fairly quickly and we've been wanting to try something new. Not only can the recipe base we use allow for all sorts of natural ingredient combinations, it really helps us cut down on the amount we spend on natural treat varieties from the store (plus, we can't help but think they are a tiny bit healthier knowing exactly what goes into them).

This go round, we opted for fresh carrots and bananas in place of the apples from our first batch and forwent the brown sugar since the bananas are naturally sweet.

We tripled the following recipe since we like to stock up. This yields us roughly 40 large 4" treats, so if you use a smaller size cookie cutter you'll get more than enough:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 bunch fresh carrots, finely chopped or grated
2-3 fresh bananas, peeled and mashed
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar (*optional, we went without)
1/2 cup cold water

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets.

Combine dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal & *brown sugar) in large mixing bowl, then incorporate carrots, bananas, egg, oil, and water until well blended into workable dough.

Note: With both the carrots and bananas, I chopped them into large pieces, then slowly pulsed them in our food processor. This not only saved me time, but created semi-regular sized carrot chunks and smooth banana mash to blend right into the rest of the base ingredients. I left the pulsed carrot pieces fairly chunky instead of pureeing them, because I like the idea of being able to see the actual carrot pieces throughout each treat.

Flour your workspace and roll out dough to desired thickness. We went with about 1/2 inch thickness to allow for some expansion once baked. Cut cookies to desired shape and size — I used our 4 inch dog bone shape from a cookie cutter I bought off Etsy. Find more variations and sizes here.

Place dog cookies on baking sheet and bake 35 minutes...

Which one of these isn't like the other? See that little heart shaped cookie — I made that out of the leftover scraps of dough that wouldn't quite stretch into another bone shape. I'm saving it for Valentine's Day, shhhh.

Look who decided to wait by the oven just to make sure things were shaping up OK:

After baking, turn oven off and leave cookies inside for another 30-45 minutes until crisp. This step is important to make sure your treats harden up, otherwise they will remain like soft cookies.

Once crisp, remove dog cookies from oven and let cool. Transfer to zipper bags or airtight containers and freeze to preserve freshness for your little one!

Basil was beyond thrilled with this batch, dare I say he enjoyed them even more than the apple treats! Here he is doing one of his favorite tricks — waiting patiently for the "OK" to eat the treat placed on his front paw:

And again, not being quite as patient — but hey, can you blame him?

We're looking forward to trying out new variations on this go-to dog treat recipe and hope you'll let us know what's working for you if you try it out too!

Discover More:

Natural Apple Dog Treat Recipe | All Recipes | All DIY Projects

Avocado Update: We're Sprouting Stems

2012-02-01T00:16:00.000-05:00

Last time we checked in here on the blog with an avocado plant update, our little pits had just began to sprout roots. In 3 weeks time, the roots on both pits have grown so long they're beginning to curl under and more importantly, they're finally beginning to sprout stems through the tops of the pits!

The smaller of the two has continued on the fast track, as compared with the larger pit, in growing the longer roots and sprouting a stem above the pit first. I was somewhat worried the pits would just stop growing once we moved them to the new location, but they've done surprisingly well.

Last time we checked in, I mentioned it looked like the larger of the two pits would somehow need to crack all the way open like the smaller one already naturally had in order for the stem to be able to sprout up and through. After about a week of waiting and watching, I noticed the stem on the smaller one about to clear the crack and noticed that while there was a similar stem within the middle of the larger one, it was still going to have to push its way through, cracking the pit open if it had a chance at growing properly.

Sooooo....I picked it up and tapped it gently until it suddenly just cracked right open. I was worried I'd split it in half completely in my haste, but on the contrary, it was just what it needed. I guess it's not much different from when we gently helped them along (ahem, intervened) by peeling off their outer layers of skin to promote root growth.

I guess my question now is — since the roots are getting so long that they are curling under and sprouting new growth, should we switch them over to taller glasses or let them remain in the glasses they are in?

I feel like the majority of photos I see have the roots curled under in smaller glasses as the stems continue to grow and sprout leaves. What would you all do if they were yours? Any tips from those with experience or educated guesses?

I'm declaring success at sprouting these pits, even though it's taken 2 months to do so. Methinks it just must take much longer in colder, less ideal climates for these guys. Timthinks guacamole is on the horizon (yea right). As always, we'll keep you posted as we wait, water and watch these little guys in their new window perch in hopes they continue to slowly thrive!

* Keep up with our Full Avocado growing Experiment *

How To: Plant Seeds Using Eggshells

2012-01-31T07:44:00.000-05:00

We were excited when our Sprout Robot alert went off that it was time to start broccoli seeds indoors this weekend for our zip code. With the move and being in the midst of colder months, we are seriously lacking in the gardening department, except for our avocado sprouts (which we have an exciting update on coming tomorrow).

We located our organic broccoli seed packet from last year's garden and hit up our gardening Pinterest boards (mine & hers) where we've been collecting ideas for creative planting all winter. We had one particular idea we'd seen pinned in mind and couldn't wait to try for ourselves — eggshell seed planters.

Evidently, eggshells make the perfect size seed starters, are natural, biodegradable, can be planted directly into the soil after being cracked a little, and supply nourishment to the plant and surrounding soil (not to mention they're free).

After saving the shells from this week's eggs, we set out to make our eggshell planters. Today we're sharing just how we went about it for those of you that might also want to give it a whirl as planting season starts up!

You'll Need:

Eggs
Egg carton
Seeds
Planting soil
Small spoon
Spray bottle
Awl, or wide sharp needle

1. When cracking the eggshells, slice the top part of the egg (narrower end) with a sharp knife and gently pour the egg from the opening for use.

2. Reserve eggshells, rinse well inside and out with water. For extra caution, we decided to boil the shells for a few minutes to make sure all traces of egg were cleaned out. You can see how the shells foamed up a bit, letting us know we hadn't gotten everything out with the simple rinse.

3. Rinse eggshells again, and gently place them back in their egg carton to dry. Once dry, gently chip any rough edges of the eggs to desired opening size.

4. Use awl, or wide sharp needle to gently puncture a single hole in the base of the eggshell. This will create a drainage hole for your egg planter. I punctured our shells from the inside against a thin kitchen towel, then reinforced through the back-end to ensure proper drainage could take place. During this step, you may have to remove parts of the thin membrane alongside the eggshell.

5. Place eggshells back in carton and spray gently with water using your spray bottle.

6. With a small spoon, gently scoop planting or potting soil into eggshell to fill (we went with Burpee organic seed starting mix). You may want to gently shake egg to even out soil.

7. Plant seeds according to directions to determine depth and any other special care.

8. Spritz again gently with spray bottle and place in well lit area with sun indoors.

9. Water plants accordingly, watch and wait for your seedlings to sprout.

10. Once sprouts have grown large enough to transfer, thin them out and plant directly into the ground or larger planter after gently cracking the eggshell around them. The roots will grow beyond the eggshell into the soil, the shell will continue to provide nourishment to the plant and surrounding soil, and will eventually will biodegrade.

It took our seeds just a few days to sprout up in their eggshell planters — much faster than they have in the past with plastic containers we've used. We'll keep you posted on the progress of our little broccoli plants and hope you'll let us know if you give it a whirl!

If you're as eager to try out this project as we were, plug in your zip code to Sprout Robot and see what seed varieties are ready for indoor planting in your area.

Weekend Basics

2012-01-30T09:23:00.000-05:00

...aaand we're back to basics. This abnormally warm weekend jump-started so many projects!

1. Among a few other indoor home improvement projects, Tim tackled a few outdoor updates since, as mentioned, the weather has been abnormally temperate for January in Virginia. He and Stephanie (his daughter) picked up a birdhouse on a whim during an outing to the home improvement store and installed it in our back courtyaaaawwrd (sorry, we've recently become hooked on the show Downton Abbey and have been saying everything with an old world English accent — anyone else loving this PBS series?).

Yes, Tim is wearing shorts in the middle of January (I told you it was warm).

OK, back to serious business. They installed the birdhouse on one of the low hanging tree branches in the back right corner of our small patio. Then all three of us decided this location would be way to easy and tempting for Sir Basil to try to jump up and cause general mischief with (as you can see, he was quite curious from the start of all this bird feeder business). So — they moved it to a higher location on the middle right side of the patio. We're looking forward to spotting the birds that may decide to grace us with their presence in the near future.

After hanging the birdhouse, Tim swept up the patio and fixed our motion detector outdoor lights. After about 20 minutes of work, he came inside and proclaimed that that was the kind of time he liked to spend on the weekend doing yard work (referring to the size and time our previous yard required).

2. Sprout Robot informed us it was time to plant broccoli seeds indoors. We jumped at the chance to try out an idea we've been keeping in our back pockets from our Pinterest Gardening boards — eggshell planters. Look for the full tutorial on these guys tomorrow.

3. Major kitchen time. Can I just say we LOVE our new kitchen? We spend the majority of our time in this room and love how it's in the heart of the house. Tim whipped up the following recipes: artisan bread, sloppy Joes, and baked Thai chicken wings — all of which can be found throughout this week on E.A.T.

4. A little project involving carrots that we (and Basil) are looking forward to sharing later this week.

* Browse Past Weekend Basics Entries *

P.S. For those of you running your own creative endeavors, find a specialized merchandising report full of tips and key dates to remember I put together to carry you through the month of February: here, on the Etsy blog.

P.P.S. We announced the 2 winners of our Bag Balm giveaway this weekend — congrats to those with a tin of our favorite "goop" and we hope the rest of you will stay tuned for future giveaways right here on 17 Apart!

A Few Things...

2012-01-27T10:03:00.002-05:00

1. Last night we got a chance to eat at a new RVA dinner spot we've been wanting to try, The Magpie. It's located just a few blocks away from us and has been generating a lot of local buzz for it's amazing food — and creative decor.

After one look at the menu, we knew we had to try the lobster tail corn dog (yes, you read that right). We also shared a few other small plates — braised pork cheeks, Ahi tuna with the biggest slab of smoked bacon we've ever seen, and house made fettuccine with sausage.

The space is super small and cozy — great for a date night or taking people unfamiliar with the area. If you're visiting from out of town, definitely put this place on your lists of eats!

2. In other food news, have you ever heard of or tried the famous signature cupcakes of Magnolia Bakery in New York? If you're a fan, you may be interested to know they have plans to expand into other areas, globally. Mary has been following this news like a hawk.

3. On another note...

Feeling worn out from his morning yoga session (downward dog anyone?), Basil has decided to take it easy the rest of this rainy day...

Here's wishing you a happy weekend.

P.S. There's still time to enter our Bag Balm giveaway, which is great for softening those furry friends' paws in this winter weather.

Testing Out Clearly Fresh Bags

2012-01-26T15:20:00.000-05:00

Tim and I were contacted by Clearly Fresh Bags, a new company specializing in a type of zipper bag that claims to preserve the freshness of produce like fresh fruit and vegetables beyond what their normal shelf life would have been should you have left them on the counter, in the fridge, or in another type of zipper bag on their own. They've developed a new technology, controlling the way air flows in and out of the bag via a BreathWay membrane on the front of the bags and wanted to know if we'd be interested in testing them out for ourselves.

We've had inquiries to do product reviews before, something we're not opposed to, but haven't really found a good fit with yet. For the sake of keeping it real, we've just not come across any products we felt were a good fit with what we'd actually buy, use, or give a try.

All of this being said, when asked by the nice folks over at Clearly Fresh Bags if we wanted to receive and review their zipper bags, we were excited to have finally found a product we'd try out if asked or not — so naturally, we said yes! Today, we're happy to share our own experience testing out the Clearly Fresh Bags.tim

After receiving the bags, we set out to tackle our weekend shopping trip over at Ellwood Thompsons, picked up the produce and ingredients we knew we'd need for a few recipes Tim had up his sleeve for E.A.T. and a few extra fruits and veggies for snacking. Given the fact I'd be heading up to New York for the week, it was a great time to test the promise of the Clearly Fresh Bags and how well they may or may not preserve the freshness of our produce until I got back home.

The bags come in sets of 10 and are significantly larger than the regular large zipper bags we usually purchase, for example, we were able fit entire heads of cabbage and lettuce into separate bags.

We tossed all of the veggies (cabbage, lettuce, fennel, and bok choy) into the bags immediately and I broke up the bunch of bananas we got to do a visual "side by side test" of the bags to show here on the blog. I put the yellower (more ripe) bananas in the bags and left the less ripened ones outside the bag to try to slow the over-ripening process on the already yellower bananas. I also thought it would be fun to show just how well the ones in the bags stayed to their true form compared with their not-even-ripe-yet green counterparts if everyone panned out.

It's been roughly 12 days and we're looking good. Pleasantly surprised to say that in our household the bags deliver on their promise to keep produce fresher for longer. Speaking on a personal level, the freshness of the veggies was most impressive — when we took them out after the 12 days, they were just as crisp and full as the day we bought them which isn't usually the case this late into the game.

Upon returning home, Tim had used up the fennel, and part of the cabbage and lettuce for recipes he'd been working on throughout the week (this cabbage side dish he made is perfect for Valentine's Day if you are looking for a good recipe). I love how he was able to place the remainder of the produce back in the bags to restore their freshness and use again. The bok choy and bananas hadn't been touched, so were intact since we'd placed them in the bags.

By day 12 we are usually deciding whether to use up leftover veggies right away or pitch into the compost. I didn't want to do a side by side comparison of the veggies since we didn't want to waste anything (knowing without a doubt they would shrivel up if left out in the fridge). Check out how well they held up and retained their freshness:

You can see the difference in the banana "test" pretty clearly. I'm not one to shy away from week and a half old bananas, but I will say it's really nice not to have the entire bunch on it's last leg.

The yellower bananas from the bag stayed pretty much the same over the 12 days with a little extra browning — but surprisingly kept their "plumpness." You can see how the greener and less ripe bananas we left outside the bag as we normally would ripened well past the originally riper ones in the bags. These guys ripened at a rate I'm used to, browning more significantly and losing a lot of their firmer shapeliness.

Take a closer look at the two sets outside of the bags. Bananas from the Clearly Fresh bags are on the right and the originally greener ones on the left:

Here's a breakdown of the pluses and minuses from our test:

Plus sides: The Clearly Fresh Bags worked! In addition to meeting the claims of longer lasting freshness, we love that these zipper bags are recyclable (you just have to remove the sticker membrane). We also love the size of the bags — they are much larger than regular zipper bags and can hold an entire head of cabbage, which as you can see, was nice in our circumstance. It was also nice that the package came with 10 bags, which may seem like less than normal zipper bag boxes, but gave us plenty to use for the future. Given that they extended the shelf life of our produce, we could potentially end up buying less produce next go round and negate the need for those extra bags in the first place.

Down sides: The only downsides we agree on thus far are the fact that these zipper bags are really intended for one or two uses to meet their maximum working point. It may sound gross, but we're the type that like to use zipper bag a few times over if they're still "clean" so having to throw these in the recycle bin after a single use (if we don't want to reuse for something else non-food related) is a little bit of a bummer. Other than that, just being picky about the way things are displayed and look around our kitchen, I wasn't a big fan of having our bananas inside the zipper bags out on our counter. I told you it was picky, haha, and I'd definitely rather be able to eat a fresh banana later in the week rather that have to throw one away because I wanted it to stay out and look nice.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the Clearly Fresh Bags website and find them on Facebook. We'd love to know if these bags are something you'd try if given the opportunity? Let us know in the comments section below!

Roundup: Matching Tattoos for Couples

2012-01-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

Our last post on his and hers tattoos was so popular, we thought there isn't a better time then now for another roundup with new designs we've come across in our internet journeys. While we're still not quite in the market (if ever) for getting inked ourselves — it's fun to live vicariously through those that have already taken the plunge. The following list of complementary tattoos come from couples who seem to have nailed it, no?

Each image, their source & more designs in Mary's Tattoo Files Pinterest Board

The tattoo designs above would make for matching ideas not only just for couples but families, friends and more. Tell us – if you have ink, are you still happy with what you chose?

Would You Like a Tour of our New Home?

2012-01-23T10:29:00.000-05:00

Now that we've been living in our new house a little under a month, we thought it was high time to take you on a tour of the whole space, room by room, just as we found it and began moving in on the first day.

This is the same tour we take everyone on the first time they come see us in our new digs, so please do come in and enjoy...

When visiting our home, you'll find our little yellow house among rows of other brick town homes in the Fan district of Richmond, VA. It's currently one of the few on our street without the original front porch — something we hope to restore way down the road if it pans out. The house was built in 1912 and has been entered into the historic register here in Richmond. We have double front storm doors with large panes of glass, where you will most likely always find Basil, our dog, there to greet you as you come in.

The home is a railroad style layout where all the rooms follow one another all the way to the back of the house. There are hardwood floors throughout, high ceilings, and at one point the home was converted into a duplex — then converted back to a single family.

Be warned, the remainder of these almost 120 home tour photos are pretty shaky, poorly lit, and all around less than stellar. I took them pretty rushed as we were first getting in and was still using our macro lens instead of the kit lens that came with our camera, which allows for much better panning out and full room views (thanks for teaching us how to use it, Kelly). All of the images I got are pretty choppy and don't really illustrate full rooms, but I did want to document what the home looked like in its first state before we really began to move in.

Also, we're keeping it super real in these shots — stuff thrown everywhere as we literally brought carfuls of belongings over and just tossed them about. All the window treatments, finishes, and hardware are as we found them when moving in, so we'll have fun updating those elements as we go along. So thanks for bearing with us on these initial shots — we're looking forward to sharing updated photos of how things progress along in much larger and more easily viewable formats.

When you come through the front doors, you're greeted by a front entry hallway that looks straight up our front staircase and gives a big open view of the rooms on the main floor. In this view, directly to the left of the entry is our front parlor (we keep calling it our paaaawwwlaa with our best southern drawls), followed by an open family room, then our kitchen.

Directly to the left of our front entryway is our front parlor (paaaawwwlaa). It's enclosed by two walls with functioning pocket doors, allowing the ability to close the entire room off if we want. It's also painted in a bright textured red finish (got to go), has two big beautiful windows peeking out front, and a fireplace in the center of the wall you face when peering in from the front hall.

The front parlor has a wide doorway which leads into the open family room, where you can also peer into the kitchen (not 3 doors as one might think given these terrible photos, haha).

Here we are in the next room, the family room looking back into the front parlor:

Views from the front hall walking into the open family room (bypassing the front parlor), which also has a beautiful fireplace that's been converted to gas:

Standing in the family room, looking back at the front hall (parlor behind that wall to the right):

Views into the kitchen and back of the house from the family room:

We have a small black door on the wall of the staircase that opens up into a pretty large storage closet (lot's of deep room and vertical shelving). It's been Basil approved, but needs some TLC. Looks like a cat may have lived here at some point, judging by the tiny cat door peeking through the bottom of this door:

From the family room, you walk into the largest room on the main floor — the kitchen. We love this part of the house since most kitchens in these types of homes would have been in the back room of the house. This one has been updated and brought into the heart of the home. The photo directly below was taken about a week into living here but gives a wider, less choppy view, of what the kitchen looks like:

The light in the kitchen is unbeatable for these Fan type homes. There are three bay windows shining light into the room, which makes for great food photos when Tim's cooking. The kitchen has a tall island, gas stove with 5 burners (something Tim's been wanting for a long time), and lots of storage.

As you continue walking towards the back of the home, just beyond the kitchen is a smaller hallway which we think could work well as a mudroom of sorts. From this little space are two doors — one leading into the half bath downstairs and the other leading down to our partial unfinished storage basement:

Behind door number one, you'll find the downstairs bathroom:

Behind door number two, you'll find our slightly scary but great for storage basement.

The basement currently houses the less-than-desirable-looking (but fully functional) washer and dryer, along with a retired boiler, old storage shelves, and a door to our back patio. This space needs a lot of work, but for now it will serve as great storage and the temperature down there is just perfect for storing wine.

The room behind the area we are calling the mudroom is what will be our dining room and the very back room of the house on the main floor. Neither Tim nor I are big fans of the marble floor (or purple walls), but these are of course things that can be changed over time.

It's a large room with two windows looking into the back yard. We are currently using this room to literally catch everything we bring over or want to get rid of in one place.

At the back of the dining room are another set of two doors. The one on the left leads into the rear staircase. This is a steeper set of stairs that leads up to the back of the home upstairs — it's got tons of character.

The other door in the back room of the house leads out to our back patio. Those bricks you see straight ahead belong our neighbor's home — yes we are that close.

The back yard is a small but workable space, mainly covered in bricks. It looks out to our separate garage, and then back to the house. You'll notice decking and stairs that we think were used as a second entry or fire escape when the house used to be a duplex. Down the road we think we'd like to do something all together different with this decking, but for now it's great for getting outside from the upstairs and we think it will serve as a nice aid in our vertical gardening plans.

The back patio leads to our detached garage. We were thrilled the house came with a "carriage house" since so many were sold off from the original homes over time. Right now we are using it for storage and for off street parking of course. We hope to create some more creative storage solutions and possibly make a dual workshop in there.

OK! Now that you've seen the full downstairs how we found it, let us take you back to the front of the home and up the main staircase to see the upstairs why don't we?

When you get to the top of the stairs, the hallway runs along the full right side of the home, with most rooms along the left side — the master encompasses the full width of the front of the house and the back room encompasses the full width of the back of the house.

Here you are looking to the back of the house as you come up the front stairs:

If you turn around, you can see back down into the front hall and straight ahead into the master bedroom at the front of the house.

Let's go to the front of the house and work our way back from there. The master is along the full front width of the home, has two large windows looking out the front, a functioning door out the front (where we think you would have been able to step out on that front porch), another fireplace, a deep closet, and a bathroom within the master.

Here's a view out that front doorway and a look at the pull down door into the attic (that big blue rope has got to go).

More views of the master and a peek into the small bathroom with lots of shelving and a stand up shower:

When we turn back around and head back into the upstairs hallway, to your direct left there is another small room before you hit that big green room (you can barely see the doorway in this shot to the left in front of the other doorway):

This small room is directly connected but walled off from the master. The previous owners were using it as a nursery. We're thinking it could make a great office, studio, or even a walk-in closet/dressing room. Way down the road we are hoping to bring the walls back down between these two front rooms to join them up and possibly create an upstairs laundry area between the two.

It's hard to imagine from the photos, but the closet in this room and the closet in the master are side by side — so these walls should be easy to break down in the future. This charming little room also has a fireplace and a big window, which we just love.

Next up on the tour is the main bedroom after the master on the second floor. It also has those big beautiful bay windows you saw down in the kitchen, a closet with nice vertical storage, and it's own doorway into the guest bathroom.

This brings us to the upstairs full guest bath, which if you are a regular reader, might remember views of when Tim's dad helped us open up that painted shut medicine cabinet on the left wall. We love this bathroom and although it could use some minor upgrades and paint, we think it's got tons of character.

Walking out of the guest bath from the hall door (pictured below directly on the left), leads you to the very back room of the upstairs (it's right over the dining room if that helps orient you).

In this back room, you'll recognize the top of that rear staircase, two big windows looking out into the backyard, a couple built-in bookcases and light fixtures, it's own closet, and a doorway leading out back.

If you step out on the back deck stairwell from this back room, here is what you will see on either side and below:

That's my dad sweeping up the back patio when we were first getting in the home, hey dad! This stairwell comes in handy in the middle of the night if Basil needs to "go outside." Instead of having to walk all the way downstairs, we can just let him out from the upstairs.

Now you've had the grand tour — thanks for hanging in there with us. Anyone that's made it this far deserves a prize! You can see we've got a lot of work ahead of us to make it ours, but we're still at the stage where the thought of all that work is exciting and not yet overbearing. We're planning to just take our time, enjoy it, and share bits and pieces along the way.

Bits of the City

2012-01-20T13:26:00.001-05:00

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week around these parts — I just got home late last night from spending the better part of the week in Brooklyn (relieved I just missed the hints of "wintry mixes" that were to hit the big city overnight). It was so much getting to catch up with all of my coworkers in person and I never once got sick of them asking to see the ring. Oh, the little things.

This weekend we'll leave you with some bite sized bits from NYC — at least the snippets I'm familiar with when I make the visit.

Spaces and Places. Pictured left is my new view in the main Etsy offices. Our space in the building keeps growing and expanding as new walls come down — it's pretty exciting. Pictured to the right is the glass front Apple store on 5th Avenue — always exciting to pass by and marvel at.

Etsy Pets. The Etsy offices are dog friendly and I always run into new four legged friends while in town. This trip I spotted Myrtle rocking out her new home which appeared to be a treasure chest that had been handcrafted by an Etsy seller — it was hilarious. On the windowsill sitting next to Emily's ceramic cat was a new "minier" version that had been transformed into a planter which was sprouting none other than catnip.

Good eats. Doughnuts from one of the best coffee shops in DUMBO, Brooklyn Roasting Company. I got the cheesecake doughnut (yes you read that right, cheeesecake doughnut!). Also, some good ole VA oysters at Marlow & Sons — Old Salts from our very own Rappahannock River Oysters. Not typically being a fan of raw oysters, I snapped the above shot on my phone to send proof to Tim that I indeed partook in the fun.

Finally, a view of the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) from my hotel room window.

In other Etsy news, have you had the chance to see this collaborative video on the art of making pesto by hand with Kinfolk Magazine? If not, you're in for a treat:

Classic Pesto from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

Enjoy the weekend!

Bag Balm Giveaway: It's Just Good Stuff

2012-01-17T07:50:00.000-05:00

***Update: This giveaway has ended, find the lucky winner at the bottom of the post. Stay tuned for future giveaways right here at 17 Apart! ***

We're giving one of two large size 10 ounce tins of Bag Balm to two lucky readers (one each)! Full details below the dotted line (if you want to skip ahead).

Bag Balm is a peculiar thing. For those of you that know Bag Balm, you probably know exactly what we mean — for those of you unfamiliar with this magical tub of goodness, let us introduce you...

Bag Balm is a petroleum based moisturizer originally made in Vermont and intended for use on the chapped skin of livestock living in harsh environments (like Vermont). It's one of those good old products that's stayed the same for over 100 years and can be used for so many things. Mary originally introduced me to Bag Balm when we first began dating over 7 years ago. She raved about this goop, for lack of a better word, that she used as a lip moisturizer, and would rub into her cuticles and on her feet monsters (shhhh), saying it was the only heavy duty moisturizer that would actually last. She also was proudly bragging that she'd had this green tin for over 2 years already and had barely scratched it's surface. I hesitantly tried it and have to admit, I fell in love.

After always asking Mary to give me a scoop of the balm after that fateful day, she eventually bought me my own tin. This was a beautiful day — and she was right about it lasting forever. Now that we live together, we still have BOTH tins of Bag Balm (one on each floor) and haven't even gotten halfway through either of them. I'm telling you, this stuff is magical. Just like it says on the tin: Since 1899, Bag Balm has been the farmer's friend helping keep dairy cows from becoming chapped from the harsh Vermont environment. It's like having another hand on the farm or a helper around the house. Bag Balm works hard all year round — and works well. There's nothing like the original, and that's what you get when you buy this familiar green can.

After bringing Basil home, we even decided to try rubbing it on his paws one night after giving him a bath, laughing both about how Bag Balm was originally intended for animals anyway and at how shamelessly we spoil our dog. He laid there and let us rub his paws....of course. In any case, the balm did soften his chapped cracking paw pads overnight — giving us even more reasons to swear by it.

Today we're giving away two 10 ounce tins to two different readers. We weren't paid or even asked by the makers of Bag Balm to give these tins away, we just want to spread the good word about this amazing balm since it still seems pretty under-wraps, no?

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

Now down to business:
To enter, simply visit Bag Balm's site to learn more about it, then leave a comment on this post and tell us if you were to win this giveaway, would you use the bag balm for udders, paws or palms. In our household, we use it for palms, lips, and paws.

Each of the following will earn you an additional entry:

Follow this blog by clicking the "join this site" button in the top right sidebar and leave a new comment on this post letting us know.
"Like" 17 Apart on Facebook , follow 17 Apart on Twitter, and sign up for our mailing list by clicking the button in our sidebar — leave 3 separate comments on this post for each letting us know you've done so.
Share this post by clicking the Facebook Like button at the top of the post and leave a new comment on this post letting us know you've done so.
Tweet about the giveaway including the following: "@17Apart is giving away two tins of Bag Balm: http://tinyurl.com/7yygcc3" along with anything else you'd like to include - then leave a new comment on this post letting us know you've done so.

The giveaway will end Saturday, January 28, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST; the winner will be auto-generated using Random.org and updated in this post shortly thereafter. Be sure to come visit to find out the winner and good luck!

***Update: This giveaway has ended, the lucky winners are commenters #132 (409Scope) & #28 (Jemmy). Thanks to all that participated and stay tuned for future giveaways right here at 17 Apart! ***

Etsy Shops You Should Know (The Manly Version)

2012-01-16T08:22:00.000-05:00

I have been coming across some great Etsy shops lately (being that we are a very Etsy household) — had to share a few of my recent favorites.

1 - Reversible linen aprons by Scotland based Etsy shop, EgleBibiliute. Gotta love the simple unisex feel here — 100% linen, adjustable straps, and embody the feeling and love of being in the kitchen all day. I could see myself in one of those with a single malt in one hand and a butcher knife in the other.

2 - Aftershave by Denver based Etsy shop, FIGandYARROW. Infused with bay leaf, star anise, allspice, juniper berry & cardamom with notes of balsamic vanilla, vetiver & sandalwood — loving the attention to detail here, right down to modern packaging with classic old world undertones that carries over into the entire FIGandYARROW line. I happen to have all of these spices in my pantry right now.....hmmmm

3 - Eco friendly Glide Skateboards by Richmond based Etsy shop, fuhnetik. I honestly have no business posting about skateboards, but these just look cool — and well made. The best part is, they are made by Brian Lopez, a local Richmonder, from reclaimed materials like old floorboards. We're dying to make a trip to Brian's wood shop to get a look at these in person. Check out the video below.

4 - Bartender's Tool Roll by Seattle based Etsy shop, McSology. Just like the description says, these tool rolls are for serious bartenders only. While I love to dabble in mixing cocktails, I'm by no means a professional — though I still think it'd be fun to have one of these sturdy canvas rolls in our bar to whip out from time to time.

A deeper look into Brian's (of fuhnetik) process in woodworking with recycled floorboards:

Food Bits in RVA

2012-01-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

Just popping in today to share a couple food gems:

1. Tim was mentioned in Style Weekly's print and web edition of Guest Check as a Richmond Food Writer to watch in 2012 by local restaurant critic, Robey Martin. I couldn't agree more (can you blame me?). Find and follow his regular food blog, E.A.T. right here.

2. In other food related finds, we found this super detailed list of restaurants in our Fan neighborhood via Fan of the Fan. Put together by Richmond Good Life, it's an amazing resource to keep up with local eats and those about to open soon. Tim and I were hard pressed to find any places on the list we hadn't heard of, but it's fun to have it on hand to remind ourselves just how many great places there are to try literally within blocks of where we live now.

We love how extensive the list is and how easy it is to sort by area, food category, and restaurant name. Both of us are looking forward to biking to dinner from time to time as the weather gets cooler, now that we feel confident in leaving Basil alone at home. If you find yourself in the area anytime soon, bookmark the link to find some great eats!

How To: Turn Your Laptop Computer into an Undercover Video Camera

2012-01-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

For those of you interested in how we actually pulled off filming Basil while we went to dinner this past weekend, it was pretty simple and didn't require anything other than a computer. So long as you have a computer with a built in camera, you should be able to start spy filming without any trouble in your own home.

The following set of instructions will be relevant for those with a mac laptop that already has a webcam built into the top of the screen. It shouldn't be that difficult to apply these instructions to other computers though, with comparable photo applications and an attached webcam.

1. Pull up the Photo Booth application (pictured below).

2. Click the film strip option (3rd option just below the camera view that I'm pointing to below). This will set Photo Booth into video mode from camera mode.

3. Now, open your settings by clicking the Apple logo in the top left corner of your desktop (Mary's pointing to the apple above).
4. Select system preferences from the drop-down menu.
5. Select desktop & screensaver, then click on the screensaver tab (orange arrow below, wait till later for the green arrow).

6. Move the dial at the bottom to never (pictured above).
7. Go back to system preferences screen and select energy saver (green arrow from image before last — I told you to wait for it).
8. Move both dials (computer sleep and display sleep) to never (pictured below).

9. Now that your settings are ready to go, go back to Photobooth and test video taping to ensure you have the right area of coverage.
10. Make sure your computer is hooked up to a charger so it won't die in the middle of your video.
11. Place laptop in area of home you wish you video and let her roll.
12. When finished filming, make sure to revert back to your original settings to save your battery life moving forward.

Now that you've got your raw video footage, hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised with your findings like we were with Basil! If you want to share your findings, you can edit your video using a video editing application — we went with iMovie editor.

....aaaaannndddd once more for laughs?

Testing Solutions for our Weimaraner's Separation Anxiety

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

In our goals and resolutions post for 2012, we talked about continuing to work consistently and patiently with easing our weimaraner, Basil, out of his separation anxiety so that we may be able to leave him in our home alone for short periods of time every so often. Find the full background info on our dog's case of separation anxiety in this post and this post from over the past year. Today, we wanted to give an update on our overall progress with tackling this hurdle.

Note: I got a little carried away with the length of this post since it's a subject really near and dear to our hearts. We hope to provide details about our own experiences with Basil's separation anxiety and how we have continued to work towards finding the solution in the event it can help any other dog owners out there also looking for new ideas. We understand every dog and situation is different, so this method will definitely not be the trick for everyone. We can't tell you how many times we've heard stories from other dog owners about what they do with their dogs that would just never work with Basil. We hope to illustrate though, that when you keep on trying new things, you will eventually find what works best for both you and your dog.

Psssst... We took what we think is a hilarious video of leaving Basil alone in the house this weekend — so be sure to scroll down and watch if all this talk on separation anxiety goes overboard.

Basil peering out the windows of our front door

As I've mentioned before, our dog has what we thought was a severe case of separation anxiety. All the professionals we spoke to recommended crate training our dog to both ease him from anxiety and protect our home while we are gone. Over the past year and few months, we've been unable to leave him in the home alone due to the state of sheer panic and destruction Basil would revert into every time we put him in the crate. While we got to where we could get him to go into the crate voluntarily and close the door — he would immediately flip out being locked in there even if we were sitting in the same room with him. We tried several rounds of consistent training, even a 2 week period that did nothing. I hate to admit that in the past we even tried both Benadryl and low doses of Xanax at the recommendation and prescription of a specialized separation anxiety dog trainer. When we tried these separately, it was still in an effort to calm Basil enough to get him acclimated to being in a crate. None of these methods worked for us, and in many cases, only agitated the problem and anxiety in Basil. We both felt uncomfortable with giving Basil medication, especially after seeing the negative effects first hand and decided we did not want to proceed with the recommendation of next steps being puppy Prozac. Honestly, our dog is a super happy dog with no problems at all unless we tried to leave him alone in the crate — all of this training was very draining on both us and Basil. When we would let him out of the crate, he would immediately plop down on the floor in exhaustion and just wasn't the happy dog we were used to. The whole point was supposed to be him relaxing/sleeping in the crate while alone and then awake, playful and happy when we are home to spend time together. This broke our hearts, and we decided keep working with Basil and try to find alternative solutions to medication.

We've also seriously considered getting a second dog, thinking it might help with his anxiety but have been told over and over that is not the way to solve this problem. Plus, while we both agree adding another dog to our family in the future is something we'd like to do regardless of Basil's anxiety, we'd rather wait until the timing is right all around.

Instead, we resorted to taking him to doggie day care when needed or during extended stays, let him stay overnight at this specialized trainer's home. These were all solutions where Basil would not be by himself, had access to lots of exercise and loved being. As the weather got cooler again, we simply reverted back into taking him with us everywhere and if he wasn't allowed where our destination was, he'd be happy as usual to wait and sleep in the back of the car anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Yes — it's very strange that he can't stay alone in a crate for 2 hours, but is happy to stay in a car. This is one of those curious reasons we kept thinking to ourselves that there had to be another way.

We promised each-other that in this new house, we would start on a clean slate with our efforts to be able to leave Basil in the home alone. We thought that maybe some of his fears had been tied to being in the crate in the old home and that with a fresh start and a set of front doors filled with glass (not to mention an empty home as we move in) that this just may be our ticket.

Basil at the front door

He definitely LOVES being able to peer out the front door windows as he pleases. This space in the front hallway is pretty much his new favorite spot in the home...

What's also great about our new place is the fact we have pocket doors. Baby gates have never worked for us since Basil can either leap right over, destroy, or barrel them over like it was a game. These pocket doors slide out of the walls to block entire rooms off in our downstairs and span the entire floor to ceiling — this allows us to essentially block off entire portions of the house to Basil while still allowing him some freedom to roam as he pleases.

Here's a shot of him from late last month when we were first getting in the house to clean — this is when we realized we could use these doors in our favor with Basil if need be, ha! (Side note: We hope to either strip down or have these doors stripped down back to their original wood finish as you can see spots of in this picture):

So all of this background info was to lead up to sharing what we've been doing and how it's going!

Our newest tactic has been to close all of the upstairs doors so the hallway is the only area open and close off the main pocket doors downstairs between the family room and back of the house. Before closing off the main doors, we do a quick sweep of the area he'll be in to make sure we've removed any odds and ends we think he might be tempted to chew up or destroy — the rest of the things (like blankets, pillows, rugs, his bed, couches, wood furniture, etc...) we simply hold our breath, cross our fingers and hope for the best.

The next tactic we use is called a Kong. A Kong is a tough rubber dog toy with a hole through the middle that you can stuff with treats (we use the size large). We fill ours with layers of treats and peanut butter. In general, they are great toys to keep dogs busy, stimulated and working to get all the treats out. Our Kong has kept Basil busy for up to 45 minutes before, it's a great solution when he's being restless or we just want to keep him awake and active. I will note though that when we used to try to put the Kong in the crate with him, he wouldn't touch it while being locked in there. He'd ignore and go into his regular high state of panic/barking/scratching/drooling until we came home and let him out. Then he would immediately go back into the crate, get the Kong toy and begin working on it. This was very frustrating for us.

Basil playing with his Kong during the day

So, when we know we are going to test him and leave the house, we fill up his Kong with extra treats in hopes that it will keep him busy for longer than normal. We've trained him to sit and wait while we place the Kong in another area of the house, then we release him from the sit and wait with an "OK" which is his signal that he can get up and try to find it. We call this game "hide & seek" and Basil loves to play it. We play it every time we give him the Kong so he won't differentiate between times we leave and when we stay. So after we get our coats and bags and are pretty much ready to walk out the door (and have his Kong prepared), we get him to sit and wait by the front door while we hide it in the other room. When we release him to go find it, we try to slip out the door with as little emotion as possible.

It is our hope that he will stay entertained with the Kong long enough not realize we've left and panic. We're sure he knows we're gone, but for us, the Kong gives him something to focus on instead of focusing on when we will return. As not to jinx anything, this process has been working for us so far. We try to leave for all different lengths of times — sometimes 10 minutes, other times up to 2.5 hours. When we now return home, Basil isn't looking out the front doors, but is usually sleeping in the family room and gets up to calmly greet us at the door. There hasn't been any damage to the house, furnishings, or Basil so far and his Kong is always cleaned out which makes us think he stayed busy and slept while we were gone.

All of the above is to explain the process in detail for what has been working for us so far. We know every dog and every situation is different, but thought sharing our own experience might help others discover tactics or solutions with their own dogs. We're still cautiously excited that this process has been working so well for us and keep waiting for the day we walk through the door to the couch ripped apart or another collar ingested.

Funnily enough, our trainer told us she was able to leave him in her house alone and the worst he ever did was get up and sleep on her couch. Basil isn't allowed on furniture in our house, but we laughed to ourselves thinking, if all Basil did in our home was get up on the couch and sleep while we are away, that would be a miracle. We kept thinking about what she said and the last couple go rounds we left Basil for over an hour, we returned to a groggy puppy walking up to the door yawning from the general area of our couch....

After feeling the warm spot on the couch, we think we have an understanding with Basil now, haha. What he doesn't know is we decided to set up a static video camera the last time we went out to dinner to see exactly what he's up to while we're away.

Stephanie, Tim's daughter, was in town for the weekend and suggested we set up the streaming video on her laptop and position it to catch as much action as possible. Tim and I thought this was brilliant. She set up the video, tested it, then we did our normal "leaving routine." Boy did we get an eyeful when we returned! Stephanie edited the 2.5 hours we were gone down to a 4 minute video for all of you to enjoy if you're curious what we saw:

Note: As you can gather from the video, Tim and I have a particularly hard time obeying the "don't make a big deal over the dog when you arrive back home" rule we learned over and over again in training — especially when he's been so successful at being alone (drinks at dinner didn't help either...). Evidently it can actually worsen some cases of anxiety in dogs. While we try to keep this in check, it's definitely a tough one for us — I think it's hilariously cute how excited Tim gets when he talks to Basil upon arriving home to an undamaged house and a sleepy dog!

While Basil appears super active in this video due to the fast forwarding and even let out the most guttural howl we've ever heard come from his mouth, this is 180 degrees different than the type of panic, anxiety, and sheer terror Basil faced being left in a crate. While I don't have any actual children of my own, I can only imagine the moment we realized we're going to be able to leave him alone in this house is comparable to the excitement parents must feel when they feel their child is almost 100% potty trained.

We're now wondering if what we thought was a severe case of separation anxiety may have really simply been a phobia to the crate, and honestly if this is case, we can't blame him. While we're not 100% sold that we have our final solution, we are proud of ourselves for hanging in there with Basil, not giving up in our own frustrations, and continuing to try new things to tackle this hurdle rather than trying the same thing over and over — then blaming the problem on him.

One thing is for sure, while crates are a wonderful solution for many dogs, our old crate is staying in the garage of the old house and will be showing up on Richmond's Craigslist in the coming weeks as we complete our move into the new home.

We'd love to hear more about the experiences you've had learning your own animals unique behaviors and what you've found to be the best solutions in your families.

Parents Know Best...

2012-01-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

No matter how old we or they get, our parents always seem to know what's right. This rule especially came into play with the housewarming gifts our collective parents have given us. Neither of us expected any gifts and are just so thankful for the time each of our parents have put into helping us with the move, cleaning and fixing things around the house, and generally helping us make it feel more cozy. We've got a long way to go, but each of the little steps we've taken so far have helped make our new house feel more like our home (as cliche as it sounds).

Mary's Dad, George, came over to the new house the first night we were there to see the place and then walked in with a giant Kobalt tool set. He said he knew we'd be needing it and that it would be a good one since all of the tools were right there in one place. Even though I thought I had many of the tools in this set already, I cracked it open and have to say it's been SO nice having all the basics in one place, all contained in a slim kit — yep, just like George said. I decided to keep this set in the house for all of our immediate needs and the majority of my other tools out in our garage for now.

George also walked in with a galvanized bucket and a smirk on his face, explaining that it may just look like a bucket, but was really 4 different gifts at once. He said it would act as a cleaning supply holder when needed, an ice bucket at parties, a nice storage container for towels in the bathroom, and even a planter come springtime. He was so right — cleaning supply holder, check! Ice bucket at our Christmas Eve party, check! Thanks man.

Mary's mom brought over a special keepsake gift that we've been pining over for years. She's had three 4 point Hudson Bay wool blankets in her family since she can remember. These blankets are 100% wool — the quality that makes them so legendary. The 4 points, or black ticking lines on the side of these guys was to help reference the size and weight of a finished blanket. They are also rumored to have been the number of beaver pelts these blankets would have been traded for back in the 1700's.

She's told us stories of having all 3 piled atop of her as a small child when sick with a fever, memories of having them at the beach on winter vacations, and taking one of them with her when she went off to college back in the 60's.

Knowing how much Mary and I liked and appreciated them, she had all 3 dry cleaned and brought them over as we were setting up the beds in the house

These are the real deal, y'all. We definitely cherish them and are looking forward to finding the perfect places for them in the home so their stories of warmth, itchiness, and charm continue on.

My parents have set us up with a touchless kitchen. A what you say? A touchless kitchen.

Let me elaborate. Not only did they give us a touchless hand soap dispenser that you simply run your hand underneath for it to automagically (yes you read that right) dispense the perfect amount of soap for a single hand washing, but they brought over the big daddy of all touchless trash bins. It's a stainless steel double barreled beauty suited for trash on one side and recycling on the other — we love her so much already. Did I mention she's touchless?

We'll let Basil show you how she works:

We love both of these new contraptions since they probably aren't something we would have bought for ourselves, but after having and using them, they really have made life in the kitchen that much better.

So yeah — we've got two sets of parents that not only know us better than we thought — but still know what's good for us. Gotta love that. You'll be sure to see each of these new-to-us household solutions lurking around the house and making follow up appearances on the blog.

Avocado Update: We've Got Roots

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

We finally brought our little avocado experiment with us in our most recent haul to the new house. They traveled well in their glass containers wedged into a larger plastic bucket and we only lost one toothpick during the transport.

The bigger and more exciting news here is the fact we finally have roots! Over the past 2 weeks since I peeled the outer skin layers off both avocado pits, they've really taken off. We're probably a little over-excited about this since we kept hearing how hard it is to sprout roots from pits. We're also thrilled to see all of the patience and waiting finally paying off.

You can see where the smaller of the two pits has one long root protruding down (it almost looks like another toothpick) and if you peer inside the crack of the pit, you can also see a greenish pod looking center where the root is growing down from and where we think the green stem and leaves will eventually sprout up from.

At first when we saw the larger and more slow-growing of the two pits, we thought it must be dormant or a dud since it had no visible root growing down from it. When we flipped it upside down though — we found that it too is beginning to sprout a large central root!

You can really see the green pod well inside this one. He's just our little late bloomer. We're thinking as this root grows down, it will have to really crack open the top of the avocado pit for the stem to sprout from the top. See how wide the crack on the smaller of the two is and how it seems to open up around the entire pit?

As always, we'll keep you posted as we wait, water and watch these little guys in their new window perch!

* Keep up with our Full Avocado growing Experiment *

Spotted: Yarn Bombing on Monument Avenue

2012-01-06T08:30:00.000-05:00

During yesterday's morning walk with Basil, I came across this North Davis Avenue and Monument Avenue lamp post at the circle of the Jefferson Davis Monument that had been yarn bombed...

The past few days have been quite chilly here in Richmond, Va. I'm sure the lamp post appreciated its new cozy. I also appreciated the handiwork and little surprise in my morning walk.

So now the million dollar question is....

Could this have been the work of Knitorious M.E.G. or is there a new bomber in town???

Update: We later learned this particular bombing was not the work of Knitorious M.E.G. but may very well be one of her many fan's tributes! Looking good guys!

Opening the Painted Shut Medicine Cabinet

2012-01-05T08:22:00.000-05:00

When falling in love with our new home, we just couldn't get over the charm of an older house. There are so many quirks and little details popping out everywhere.

One of the details we loved was the original medicine cabinet mirror in our upstairs guest bathroom. The bathroom as a whole has been updated, has a much larger mirror and cabinet sink on the other side of the room, but still retains some of it's original charm. In our opinion, there's also a good amount of updating we'd like to do on our own as we go to get it in shape.

Here are a couple views of this upstairs guest bath, the medicine cabinet is on the left wall, closest to you in this photo below:

View from upstairs hallway, looking in

View of guest shower

View of guest vanity

View of light peeking in through window and closed bathroom door

View of guest bathroom from guest bedroom

Side note: Really wishing we had a wide angle lens for home photographs (putting it on the list now) — Mary and I are so used to taking either close up food, jewelry, or portrait shots that my vintage canon macro lens has served us well through this point. Backing up a bit and trying to get a wider angle proved to be tougher than we thought — we welcome any and all tips on the subject and hopefully you can get an idea of what this bathroom looks like.

During our inspections and final walk-throughs of the house, Mary and I both kept saying "wouldn't it have been so nice if this mirror hadn't been painted shut? I wonder what's behind that door..."

To Mary, this probably meant, it's a shame it was painted shut but it will function as a nice additional mirror.

To me, this meant, it's a shame it's painted shut — just wait till I get in here with my tool belt. I bet there is something really cool in this cabinet!

The mystery behind the mirror was just too great for me to let it stay painted shut and I'm the type of guy that likes to take on projects if you hadn't put that together by this point. My dad is also naturally handy and happened to be over helping us move in, so I asked him to take a look and see what he thought — we were both on the same page in no time.

To start, we cleaned the trim and hardware around the mirror as best we could, then began cutting through the layers of paint where the open seams would have been with a heavy box cutter. We tried to be careful not to chip the paint and keep the lines as clean as possible, though we did have a few areas where additional chipping was inevitable. While frustrating, we do plan to repaint the bathroom walls with a fresh new color and at that time will update the paint on the trimmings here too.

As we began cutting down the paint, we couldn't help but wonder what might be inside the cabinet. If it had been painted shut for who knows how long, there just may have been some vintage goodness in there just waiting for me. With each cut, I felt closer to the prize.

After cutting around the entire cabinet, of course the hinges were painted shut....so we needed to break the hardware free of their paint barriers too. With a little strength, pliers and a hammer, we were able to free and push the original pins from each of the hinges.

I then cut as best I could around the hinges and around the outer doors once more for good measure. Then it was time to open this puppy...

That's my concentration face, in case anyone is wondering. While holding the fastener hardware open, I used a flat headed screwdriver to wedge my way between the door and the trim enough to begin prying open the cabinet door. With a little guidance and minimal paint cracking, it came right off.

Are you ready for this big reveal — what we found sealed behind the painted shut medicine cabinet?

Some bright pink pills — probably Benadryl. Dang, that is it? Dad and I were pretty bummed. Mary was jumping up and down in excitement that we'd gotten the door open.

After getting the door off, Dad stripped the paint down further to make for easier opening and closing, then we put it back in place and re-attached the original hardware.

So maybe this cabinet wasn't painted shut for decades. At one point, our house was converted into a duplex and then re-converted back to a single family before we happened upon it, so our guess is the painting probably took place during the re-conversion. While there wasn't a huge surprise behind the doors, we did make some functional storage, take care of our nagging thoughts surrounding the cabinet and now have a great story from the experience.

Now we just need to clean it up a bit more, take care of the cracked paint and we'll be set for the next projects to tackle (like painting, haha).

Family Photos: Oldies but Goodies

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of sharing things we've unearthed throughout our move, we wanted to document some old photos of us and our families — while a bit random, we thought you all would enjoy seeing as much as we enjoyed revisiting.

1. Look at this little ham in the garden! Little Tim, referred to as "Timmy" back then (and sometimes still by his father, which I love) pictured in the thriving garden of his Hungarian grandmother's house here in Richmond back in 1967. His passion for homegrown and homemade food was instilled and nurtured at a young age — just look at that look of wonder and happiness on his face!

2. Here I am in 1984 probably about the same age as Tim was in that first shot. This is kind of a hilarious photo in that when I found it I could completely relate to that little girl sprawled out in the middle of the floor. Tim refers to this "mood" I still get in today as "grumpilumpigous" — and when she comes out he just laughs and says "uh oh." When I was little, my maternal grandpa referred to me as his "mell of a hess." I'm pretty sure it's him who took this photo. He used to ask me who let the "mell of a hess" out of the dresser drawer and would tell me to go lock her back in it in jest.

I still miss that pink blanket to this day. My mom had to throw it away after too much wear and tear over the years.

3. 12 year old Tim trying his best to look cool (he passes in my book) as he fishes. Some things never change — I think one of Tim's favorite ways to relax just might be fishing, even though he probably doesn't get to do as much of it as he'd like. He is also blessed with that olive skin that tans in 2 minutes from his Hungarian side — something I failed to inherit, though my sister did.

4. I think this is one of my new favorite photos. Pictured from left to right — my nanny (Alice Szigeti), my mother, and my aunt (Vera Szigeti) brunching the morning of my mother's wedding day. I think you can really see how much I favor my mother in this photo — she would have been a few years younger than I am now.

5. My Hungarian grandpa (Gene Szigeti) sitting on the back of his suburban after what looks like a successful hunt. I don't recognize the dog, but it sure is a cutey! Grandpa loved hunting and what I wouldn't give to know where that goose caller is pictured around his neck.

6. Grandpa's affection for hunting rubbed off on a few of us (remember this crazy hunting picture?), but the photo of my teenage mom above takes the cake! I tease my mom that she was rocking "skinny jeans" back when she was 16 and she teases me back saying that this was her father's "idea of a good photo shoot". I have to admit, I'm going to agree with him on this one since this photo is priceless.

7. Both of my maternal grandparents (Alice and Gene Szigeti) together after they first got married back in 1943.

Thanks for taking a peek with us down memory lane — and in many instances before we can both remember. We're keeping the originals in safe keeping until we can find an ideal way to display them throughout the new home.

Isn't finding old family photos the best?

Found in the House

2012-01-03T08:22:00.000-05:00

Built in 1912, January 2012 marks the 100 year birthday of our new home. We thought as our own way to celebrate we'd share the relics and mementos we uncovered while moving in after the family/families of people who lived here before us.

The previous owners moved out fairly quickly after the dealings began, so we are assuming the majority of tidbits we unearthed were left in the hurry of packing and moving, though a couple things left us guessing whether or not they may have been intentionally left. Some items we snapped shots of and others we neglected in our own hurry to clean and begin our move in...

1. The first thing we noticed they left before we could even got through the front door during the final walk-through before closing were the 3 bar stools at the kitchen island. While we both agreed beforehand that we'd want different ones in the future anyways, we were beyond thrilled they left the ones there for us to move in with until we find the right ones for us — who knows how long that could take and we're actually finding that the island truly is becoming one of our main living areas (sitting on the far right stool typing with my laptop up on the bar as we speak Tim two stools over on the left...). I neglected to get a before and after shot, but the fabric on each of the 3 stools had seen better days. The previous owners had 2 small children, so it's inevitable there would be stains. What we weren't expecting was how clean they would come with a little elbow grease. I got a few lessons in cleaning from Tim's mother, Carol, who helped me scrub the stool fabric with Bissell Fabric & Upholstery Cleaner, scrub and wipe down the wood components with Murphy Oil Soap, then later spray the fabric parts again with Scotchgard fabric and upholstery protector. The stools now literally look like we just bought them and we couldn't be happier.

** In the spirit of keeping it real here at 17 Apart, you're getting the raw shots of the home with everything sprawled out on the floors and counters as we make our way in. Please excuse the mess!

2. iPod earbuds hanging in the master bedroom which we cleaned up and gave to Tim's son, Brandon who'd been ironically missing his for a while now. Funny how those things work out.

3. As mentioned, the family who lived in this home before us had two little girls — we think their names were Maddie and Lily based on the adorable growth chart pencil markings we came across on the large doorway trim leading out of our kitchen. I was cleaning all the baseboards and trim with a Magic Eraser when I happened upon these little names and was so glad I paused to investigate further (Tim always laughs and teases me about "investigating" things — I like to take my time and take note of all the details). We've decided to leave the names for now and maybe add markings on the other side for our own nieces and nephew. We think they add a little charm to the history and story of the home.

4. Speaking of the little girls — Tim came across the most funny and endearing piece of paper that we are calling the "naughty note." It appears some lessons were being taught by the looks of the list: 1. Hitting & 2. Saying you don't like Mommy.

5. We found a managerie of random tidbits during our initial "house cleaning" including little toys, legos, baby blanket, baby swing, baby crib, ironing board, carpenter's pencil, a large duvet (up in the closet rafters) and keyring full of keys that don't work anywhere in the current home (or we have not found the secret door with the stack of twenties). All of these were items that were either too large for the city trash to pick up or items we think the previous homeowners just left in their hurry. Since we also won't be able to throw them out, we've placed the larger items aside and are planning to include them in a moving sale we hope to have in a few month's time over at our own previous home. If that doesn't happen, we'll have a carful of donations for Goodwill or other local organization coming soon!

6. In the basement we laughed as we tossed out a bikini top hanging from the old furnace. Our "scary" washer and dryer are located down in the basement (more on these later) so we're thinking the old furnace must have been used as an impromptu drying rack from time to time. Also in the basement we happily discovered some well worn metal storage racks that we'll replace in the future but are happy to use while getting going, and several old bottles of wine on a rack. Tim and I thought we'd scored on the wine — what a nice gift from the previous owners we said to ourselves, only to discover the bottles were past their prime and not worth drinking. A good story nonetheless.

7. We also found several old shelves and bookcases left in the garage which are again (with a little elbow grease) nice for immediate use and storage until we find the right fit for our needs.

8. Carol (Tim's mom) and I unearthed this amazing cast iron window sash weight, a relic from the home's past way up on one of the top shelves of the main floor's hall closet. We cleaned it up and think it'd make a nice piece of decor somewhere in the home rather than hidden away once we get more settled.

9. We think the dog who used to live here, named GiGi (GG, GeeGee?) intentionally left a few dog toys behind just for Basil. The first day we were here cleaning, Basil discovered no fewer than a combination of 3 rope toys and various dog bone toys. He was thrilled, but they only lasted a couple days before Basil's rough chewing habits kicked in and destroyed them. We're sure there are more hidden and have no doubt that Basil will find them.

Side note: this photo of Basil makes us think at any moment he will stand up, start pulling the rope out of his mouth only to reveal endless colorful flags...

10. Planters. The previous owners left planters in the front yard, on the steps, on the back terraces, along the back patio and in the garage. We're thrilled and plan to put them to good use come early spring.

11. String Lights. Various string lights atop the back patio — when lit up in the evening, they are pretty magical and were one of those things we'd secretly hoped they'd leave. We'll probably want to change a few out and make them a little more cohesive in the future, but for now we're just thrilled to have found them still here. The neighbor to the left of us, Alice, already told us over the fence one night that she wants dibs on them if we decide to take them down at any point. That's city living for ya!

12. Last but not least, while unpacking our OWN home, we came across this untouched 4 pound can of bowling alley wax underneath the sink. It's never been used and the 1950's packaging is pretty phenomenal. We brought it over to the new home to either sit for several more years or who knows — maybe we'll crack it open and use it on our hardwood floors! Just to clear up any questions, neither Tim nor I have ever owned a bowling alley.

That's what we've found so far!

Whether or not any of our findings were left intentionally or simply left in the hurry of the move, we had fun making all of our little discoveries, imagining the lives of those before us in our new-to-us home and we hope there will be more to come!

2012 Goals and Resolutions

2012-01-02T08:22:00.000-05:00

With each new year that comes, Mary and I always like to set a few goals and resolutions together amidst any personal ambitions we also hope to achieve. Over the past several years since initially watching the documentary film, Food Inc. (we gave a copy of the film away we loved it so much), our New Year's resolutions have primarily surrounded eating organic, local, less processed, and more sustainable foods when possible. We've not tried to be perfect, but tried to make conscious and better choices more often then not.

Last year Mary and I took on a vegan diet for the first 12 days into 2011. While our goals were never to obtain a fully vegan lifestyle, we did learn a lot from the challenge and are proud to say we still incorporate many of the food choices we made during that time into our regular diets. If interested, take a look back at my 2011 resolutions here and Mary's past resolutions here. When it comes to food, we're still actively learning, but feel we are finally getting to a more sustainable way of eating that works well for us — enough so that we are ready to branch out into additional challenges both food related and not.

Our 2012 Goals and Resolutions:

1. Urban Gardening. While I've dreamed of owning a home where I don't have to mow the grass, this also dramatically cuts down on the square footage we have for a large garden — which is something that's become incredibly important to us. One of our biggest goals this year will be in learning best practices for urban gardening, making use of vertical and small spaces, edible landscaping, and putting those learnings into practice!

2. Working with Basil. Continue to be patient with Basil's separation anxiety and actively work towards finding solutions for the long term instead of always resorting to falling back on doggie day care or bringing him along in the car. Learn more about Basil's separation anxiety here and attempts we've made here. We have high hopes for this new home and have been taking small steps in order to be able to leave Basil alone for short periods of time without causing him anxiety. We're looking forward to sharing more about the little accomplishments we've made and hope to improve upon this year.

3. Blogging. Since beginning this collaborative blog back at the end of July, 2011, we've enjoyed being able to look back over time and see all the things we've taken on, accomplished, and documented. While it can be easy to get overwhelmed with all of our regular responsibilities, we find it important to ourselves to continue to take the time to put down the things we know we'll enjoy reminiscing about down the pike.

4. Staying Grounded. With a new house to work on, another house to get in shape, a wedding to plan, and everything else going on, we'd like to remind ourselves to take it one day at a time and appreciate the small things each day has to offer.

We're looking forward to sharing our successes and failures this year and would love to hear what your hopes, goals, and resolutions are wherever you might be this new year!

Best of 17 Apart in 2011

2011-12-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

We feel like we've only just gotten started with this here little collaborative blog. While we've only been posting since our launch near the end of July, we thought on this last day of the year we'd share what our most popular posts have been thus far in 2011 — or I guess you could say, of all time!

The following posts are ordered from most popular and we used a combination of Google Analytics and Blogger Stats to determine what content had the highest page views. In doing so, we learned our How-To and DIY posts seem to be pretty popular — along with a few big announcements including the launch of the blog, working the set of HGTV's Design on a Dime, and getting engaged!

So without further adieu, in the event you missed a few of these popular posts or just want to stroll down memory lane with us a bit, listed below are the top 10 posts from 17 Apart in 2011.

Top 10 posts in 2011:
1. How to make natural dog treats. This was a fun recipe we took on in an effort to use up some of the apples from our fall orchard trip and to try our hand making our own natural dog treats for our dog, Basil. Revisiting this post makes us want to make a new winter batch for 2012!

2. How to make natural candles from clementines.We made these candles on a whim after buying a case of clementines and remembering a similar diy post I'd pinned on Pinterest a while back. They turned out to burn amazingly well and we were even able to put our own little holiday spin on them by incorporating cloves in the final design. I'm still thinking these would make awesome decorations for a wedding or outdoor soiree.

3. How to make natural fruit rollups. We'd been wanting to make fruit leather for quite a while and had just enough almost overripe fruit in the middle of the autumn season to pull this one off. They stored in the fridge amazingly well and were tested and approved by my 2 1/2 year old niece! We'll definitely be tackling this one again in the future.

4. How to clean, whiten and mount deer antlers. One of our very first posts and still one of the most popular. The people are really interested in how to clean up and hang antlers! We're already ruminating over where to hang these guys in our new digs.

5. How to make natural apple vinegar. Our final recipe incorporating apple scraps from the fall orchard trip — we think this recipe takes the cake as far as simplicity and wow factor since it was SO easy to make and made us feel like pros when we tasted the final product 6 weeks after canning.

6. We got engaged! We're thrilled that you all consider our engagement big news! Keep up with future posts surrounding our wedding here.

7. Halloween: drilled pumpkin designs. This is the second year we've drilled designs into our Halloween pumpkins for a modern glow — we're so glad others found it interesting too and hope this simple trick comes in handy for others.

8. Behind the scenes of HGTV's Design on a Dime. Back in September I was lucky enough to work behind the scenes on an episode of HGTV's Design on a Dime for Etsy. Meeting Casey Noble and Joel West was a blast, not to mention hearing how much everyone on the show was a fan of Etsy.

9. The launch of 17 Apart. After writing for our separate blogs (E.A.T. & Contrary Garden) for years and both wanting to post about the projects we have going on, about a year and half after moving in together, we decided to launch this here blog where we can just put it all out there at once.

10. DIY Holiday Decor: Glitter Acorns. This was a simple and fun diy project that added a subtle and classy touch to our holiday decor. We're just about ready to package up these little guys and place them in hibernation mode with the rest of our holiday decor until we unearth them again next year.

It's been fun looking back over the past 5 months and remembering all the fun things we've gotten into. We'd like to thank each of you for following along and sharing in our journey — and to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year's Eve!