Vintage Ikat Sofa

Posted on | August 31, 2011 | 15 Comments

I spotted this library over at Abbey Goes Design Scouting last week. I can’t stop staring at that sofa. As Abbey describes, “I love the WASPY touches; the dogs, the bar, the eagle mirror.” I’ll take the sofa, books, the eagle mirror and that blue jar.

I’m still on the hunt for a small settee for my library. I saw a sofa so similar last fall at Grace Sales in Marblehead for $450. Damn, I should have bought it!! How cute would have it been slipcovered?

Below samples of Peter Dunham’s Rajmata fabric which as similar feel to the sofa above. I love the blue but my eye is drawn to the rusty red too.

Melanie Acevedo via abbey goes design scouting via the lil bee.

Category: furniture, interiors, textiles

Making Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Posted on | August 30, 2011 | 11 Comments

On Sunday afternoon during hurricane Irene I made heirloom tomato sauce with the box I got earlier in the week from my CSA. Everyone I talk to has a slightly different method of making sauce. Some use a food mill, some boil the tomatoes to remove the skins. This is my version and it turned out pretty darn delicious.

First, I rinsed and chopped 18lbs of tomatoes. With the tomatoes sliced in half, I squished them (flesh side down) through a sieve into my cooking pot. Any seeds I couldn’t remove from the flesh through the squishing process got a very light rinse under the faucet. The remaining skin and flesh get thrown into the pot. I repeated this process till all the tomatoes were gone. I chopped three carrots, added a diced vidalia onion, 4 cloves of slivered garlic, a bunch of basil, thyme and S+P. I cooked the sauce down on low for about two and 1/2 hours. I could have stopped there. But I thought the sauce was a bit too chunky and I gave it a couple spins in the cuisinart. I boiled up a pot of linguine, topped with sauce, grated parmigiano-reggiano over the top and enjoyed the fruits of my labor. So delicious and simple. The remaining sauce will get canned for winter.

update: for notes on adding lemon and canning please read comments.

Heirloom tomatoes for sauce

Heirloom tomato

Inside tomato

Inside an heirloom tomato

Pressing tomatoes through sieve

Tomato being squished

Squishing with my hands

Tomatoes in the pot

Carrots, onion, garlic and basil added to the pot.

Category: recipes

Installing Cellulose Blow-In Insulation

Posted on | August 29, 2011 | 12 Comments

Yay, we got cellulose insulation in one wall! Yup, only one. Last week we attempted to blow-in cellulose insulation into three walls of the main part of the house—the back extension we’re waiting on till we get a new heating system and ducting.

Everything was going smoothly. First, they did the wall facing the sidewalk. Then in the afternoon they drilled tested holes in the front part of the house. From our office on the third floor we could hear them yelling, “Brick!” over and over. What?! Our house is built of bricks?

After further investigation we discovered the front and inner wall of the house are lined with bricks. Referred to as “brick nogging” the walls cavity between the framed timbers were mortared with bricks. Bricks were used as a wind barrier and an early version of insulation. Benefits also include fire-proofing, “thermal mass” making temperature fluctuations less rapid, and a way to block pests. (inspectapedia.com)

So what do we do? Nothing. The only solution would be to remove all clapboards and the bricks so we could blow-in insulation. This process would be incredibly labor intensive and probably NOT worth it.

With the one wall done I hope the house feels a bit warmer this winter. I’ve already notice the house is quieter and less street noise. But I do think once we get our fireplaces properly sealed, interior shutters installed and a new heating system the house will be just fine.

Holes drilled to blow-in insulation.

Testing the front of the house for insulation.

Hole drilled for blow-in insulation

Cellulose blow-in insulation

An example of brick nogging at Peter Augustus Jay House in Rye, New York via flickr.

Category: house renovation

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