Outdoor Laundry

When we moved into the house in September one of the things I was excited about was being able to hang laundry outside to dry. Mr. Ramon thought it was very amusing that I requested a clothes line. In almost every home I lived in we dried our clothes outside in the warmer months. I love the smell of grass and sun on the clothes - so warm and fresh. Sheets were my favorite. Hard like boards but so soft and sweet when you climb in at night. 

Hanging clothes saves money on energy to run the dryer. We are using so much more water with the garden it is nice to cut back somewhere. 

I started with a folding clothes rack from Ikea that worked really well inside over the winter and great on my porch this spring and summer so far. I used it for delicates and dark cloths. But I really wanted an actual line outside. It slipped my mind for a couple of months until I was in Lowe's picking up some light bulbs for the store. I wandered down the cleaning tools isle - no surprise there and found a retractable clothes line by Minky. I purchased the clothes line and a bag of classic clothes pins. 

The Minky I bought is the 49-ft Retractable Clothes Reel. It gets great reviews online. I love that is closes up to be out of the way and can easily be brought inside for storage in the winter if needed. It has these benefits and features. 

• Easy to use fully retractable outdoor clothes line offers 49' of line drying space
• Weather-resistant, stable protective casing
• Unique mounting bracket allows reel to be removed when not in use
• Used to dry clothes indoors and in outdoor backyards
• Stows neatly away when not in use
• Wipe clean PVC coated line
• Plastic housing with metal mounting bracket

It was easy to hang only requiring 3 screws. I was able to hang clothes on it right away. 

Here is my first line of clothes. I took them down dry and summer smelling today. I am really excited to save the use of the dryer for things that really need to be dried. 

This type of clothes line could fit almost anywhere - even inside. I urge you to let nature dry and freshen your clothes this summer!

Relax

It is the end of July already and I feel like summer is sliping away. Here in Seattle summer is short and unpredictable. Knowing that, people start booking their calendars way in advance which makes me feel like time is going by faster. Add that to working 6 days a week and always being on the go and about now I begin to get nervous that I am going to miss out on summer. 

I know - slow down, chill out and relax. Today I tried to do just that at least for a couple of hours. I asked my amazing friend Kalin if she would open the store for me today so I could have a couple of hours with Mr. Ramon. A friend of mine has an adorable store filled with refinished furniture, up cycled items and Etsy type finds called Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporium. I wanted to drag Mr. Ramon there to see if anything caught our eye for the house. 

The one room we are working on right now is the bedroom. Slowly but surely we are developing a theme. We found a nice pair of black bedside tables with mercury glass tops. For $40 for the pair I could not resist. 

To finish of our time together we decided to go to one of my favorite little spots in Seattle - Volunteer Park Cafe. Eating here in this bustling cafe always feels like home. Filled with community and conversation over local, fresh and delicious food. We showed up at 1:00pm this Saturday and breakfast was still being served along with lunch. A hard choice to make. 

Mr. Ramon started with a bowl of Matzo Soup. Delicious light broth with shredded chicken and tender carrots. The matzo ball was a "sinker" and dense and flavorful. A great soup for a summer lunch. 

I went for breakfast choosing a bacon egg panini with melted gruyere. Yum. 

This lunch left us ready for a nap. It was so nice to spend some quality time with Mr. Ramon on a summer day. 

Paper Wedding Decorations

I love a good party. I need no excuse to get people together, cook up some good food and decorate. For me the ultimate party is a wedding. Really, when else in your life are you going to have all those people in one place celebrating one of the biggest decisions in your life? Whether it is big or small it can be awesome. 

I have been really busy the last couple weeks as we count down to my friend Yvonne's wedding. She is amazing. Her fiance is amazing. Her wedding is going to be the same. I have the great honor of being her wedding coordinator and helping with the decorations. I will make sure everyone shows up in the right place with the right stuff at the right time. I will make sure everything looks great. It sounds so easy but believe me there are a million moving parts. 

For the reception we are looking at tissue pom poms hanging from the ceiling over the dance floor. I could wax poetic about paper decorations for days. I love them. I find them to be very nostalgic - circa 1950's prom or wedding. When done right they are fun and happy. They add texture and smiles to everyone's faces. 

You can find paper decorations on Luna Bazaar and Devra Party Corp> I also show how to make tissue balls here. I look forward to sharing pictures from the reception. 

7 Layer Bars

There are a few items in the bakery category that are sure to give you a cavity upon consumption. These 7 Layer Bars are one of them. Using bittersweet chocolate and natural unsweetened cocoonut in place of semi-sweet chocolate and sweetened flake coconut makes my version a a little more grown up and a little less 3rd grade. These are really easy to make and you are sure to make some new friends with these gooey bars.

 7 Layer Bars

• 1 cup natural unsweeteded coconut
• 1 stick of butter melted 
• 9 graham crackers crushed
• 1 cup walnuts chopped fine
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place your rack in the lower middle. 

Spray a 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray then line pan with foil or parchment leaving an overhang on all sides. Spray the foil/parchment with cooking spray. 

Spread your coconut on a baking sheet and toast in oven until it just started to turn light brown. About 8 minutes. Let cool.

Pour your melted butter into the bottom of the 13x9 pan then sprinkle your graham cracker crumbs over it. Toss the crumbs lightly in the butter until they are all coated. 

Sprinkle the next items over the graham cracker mixture:

• walnuts
• chocolate chips
• white chocolate chips
• butterscotch chips
• coconut 

Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly across the entire pan. 

Bake for 25 minutes and top is golden brown. 

Cool on rack for 2 hours then remove from pan using parchment/foil overhang and cut into bars using a sharp knife.

Baby Kale

Today we harvested some young kale. Garden is moving slow this year with the lack of consistent sun.

How is your garden? What have you harvested lately? Have you made something delicious with your garden crops? Love to hear from you.