winter wonderland

actually, this picture is about 2 weeks old -- the snow's been melting quickly, and is nearly gone down here at 'lower elevations'....

our coffee reputation preceeds us!

Well, evidently the word has gotten out: yes, we are coffee fiends. So far we have received coffee from both Evelyn & Derek and also Kathee & Paul for holiday gifts. YUM! Today Tom made cinnamon & dried-cherry scones to go with our coffee bounties....

finished product

Of course, all cookies are better with some chocolate on top!

xmas cookies

Several months ago Tom & I found a really nice cookie press (with lots of different cookie shapes) at a thrift store for all of $2. We put it away, and yesterday tried it for the first time -- with some really nice success. We made white, red & green cookies -- in snowflakes, flowers, trees, etc.

Tom plays, Stella approves

Not long ago, Marlo, Chic & Stella came over for dinner. As usual, Stella was wonderfully entertaining.

Thomas Reservoir

This is my favorite place to walk/jog (about a 1/2 mile from our house). Last week I got to snow-shoe around the reservoir instead!

a different kind of workout

Living in a winter wonderland does come with some responsibilities....

walking around the neighborhood

It snowed about 6 inches a week or two ago. This is the view from our neighborhood as we ramble around. Awesome!

future wine room

This is the first room which is officially done. We don't expect any furnishings (such as wine racks) 'til next year, but that's OK!

week #12

Erik came back this week, and finished the doors/casings/jambs. Tom & Erik also finished the floors, and as you can see, Tom has been very busy painting. I love the way the bar turned out! The other remarkable thing about this picture is the furniture: it's been sitting in our garage (or has been in storage) for a year now. Having it in the basement (instead of the garage) means that I can get to my car without climbing over stuff -- very cool.

the brown-note studio is brown!

Tom has been painting his butt off this week, and everything is looking great. The studio is almost done! We are waiting on some (back-ordered) doors and their casings & moldings. Once those arrive & are installed, we can proceed with the carpet installation...

every kinda christmas light

Last year, after christmas, Tom bought a bunch of lights. Well, he didn't realize that he was buying some white, some blinking, some rainbow, and some red... so now we have a little bit of everything.

week 11: the bathroom is shaping up

Last weekend, the tile-guy finished the tile... so this week, Tom painted the bathroom and installed the toilet. We are proud to announce that we've both used it!!

paint & stain

Tom has been working his butt off: painting, staining & varnishing. Things are really starting to look almost done!

Sea of receipts

We recently returned a bunch of things to Home Depot & Lowes... which forced us to pore through all of our receipts. I try to remember: all bleeding eventually stops.