Anticipation

We close on the house in two days! What a whirl-wind of activity that has been going on here. I've got our "non-essentials" in most rooms packed and we plan on taking those up shortly after closing.

There are lots of things, of course, that I'm going to miss about this house in Gilbert. One of those things is our apricot tree. We just picked two huge bowls full of apricots this week. I had big plans for drying some, or making jam, but instead we ate every single one of them. They were that good!

Gorgeous sun-ripened apricots right off the tree.

We'll also miss our garden, which is also doing awesome right now. The tomatoes are finally coming in!

But all in all, I'm excited for our new adventure.

Inspections

Here it is again, our soon to be home.

We went up to Prescott this last week for the inspections. The owner of the house stuck around and we actually got to meet her (she's always been gone before now). It was a bit awkward because here we are looking at her house and discussing what we think is wrong with it and what we're going to change.

I took a good look at the inside again and I'm already preparing for some major painting as I think every wall in the house is brown or orange. The owner was nice enough to show us some plans she had of the house which will hopefully help us get the breezeway addition plans to the county for a permit quickly.

I never know what to really think about official home inspections because one would think the liability faced by the inspector (from both sides) makes him act pretty conservatively. But our inspector was nice and he found a few things that are pretty minor.

Of course, he didn't mention anything about the peeling paint on the siding (quite honestly the siding is super horrible stuff and needs to be replaced) or the water-damaged window in the master (that was disclosed to us by the owner). It makes me wonder what other horrible atrocities he may have missed.

Our Realtor had another property pop up just recently that he thought we might like, so we swung by there as well - just in case we liked it better. While it probably needs slightly less repairs, it just didn't work for us. We did like the goats on the property though (and the huge, preexisting goat pen).

Looks like we're still on!

Offer Accepted!

We got news from the bank a few days ago that our offer on the E house has been accepted. So, it looks like we will be closing on a new house in a few weeks. I'm so excited! Let me tell you, this is just in time because it is starting to get HOT here! I was almost afraid I would have to move in the middle of July's heat.

Now we have to kick into gear. We've got inspections to arrange, insurance to buy, the breezeway addition to plan (since we need it done ASAP), a house to pack, kids to prepare, and renting out our current house. I think I may be in over my head.

So things may be short and sweet here for a while.

Loving these pics too

Isn't this so fun and colorful? Great idea!

Art Station from bhg.com

 Love the layout and the colors in this schoolroom.

Do It Yourself Magazine

 A gift wrap station would be awesome!

(I need to find a space for this somewhere).

From bhg.com

 I love the colors in this Living Room too.

from Martha Stewart Living magazine

Loving these pics

I'm getting really tired of waiting for a response on our offer on E...so I'm filling my time browsing tons of home decorating magazines and websites. Here are a few of my favorites:

Such a creative way to store all those utensils!

From bhg.com

I love how the sink is inset & the natural colors.

From Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Makes me want to take a hot bath & read a steamy novel.

From Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Love the colors in this one!

From Great Backyards Magazine

 I love how this works so well with the two larger structures.

Maybe do something like this on the breezeway addition at E?

From Renovation Style

 I have a thing for cozy little spots to sit outside of windows.

(I imagine crawling out the window to get away for some peace!)

From Renovation Style

Have a great week!

More House Hunting

We went house hunting again this week to check out all the new stuff on the market (or houses whose price dropped within our price range).

There's the horribly built house with the silhouette barn (oh my):

Or the foreclosed house with the awesome kitchen but which was stripped of absolutely everything (carpet, light fixtures, door locks, air conditioner...). And painted concrete floors which were cracked all over from settling.

Then there was the house with the funky kitchen (you can't tell in this photo but the ceiling is actually lofted and these cabinets look like little warts comparatively).

The house with the funky split mirrors (all I can ask is "Why???"). What a waste of wall space!

The Frank Lloyd Wright wanna-be, which comes no where close!

And lastly the house with AMAZING views (280 degrees), but with a bad foundation and an old kitchen from the 80s.

Love this view though!

Radish Harvest

We have an abundance of radishes in our garden. I'm not sure what I'll actually DO with them as I don't actually like radishes. I planted a whole bunch because they are supposedly good at deterring pests, and who wouldn't like that? My mistake was to plant all of them at once, as now I have 4 dozen radishes all ready at the same time. (Next year I will be planting small quantities throughout the season, not just a bunch at the beginning).

In my effort not to waste any food we grow in the garden this year, I've tried a couple radish recipes that are actually okay.

The first is fried radishes. I made this one up myself, hoping to copy something like a fried potato dish one could serve with eggs. The frying actually softened the spiciness of the radish and made it much more palatable. Not palatable enough to get seconds, but good enough to finish up my first helping. My husband liked it.

Fried Radish
bacon grease
1 lb radishes, washed and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
salt & pepper to taste

Fry onion and radish in bacon grease until radishes are soft. Season with salt and pepper.

The second recipe I've tried is Radish Au Gratin - I figure if you add enough fat and cheese to anything, it should be good, right? This was really good, but again only good enough for one serving.

Radishes Au Gratin
1 lb radishes, sliced into thin rounds
2 Tbsp butter
dried thyme
salt
1 cup cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

White Icicle Radishes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed, stovetop and ovenproof pan. When it starts to foam, remove from heat. In that pan, alternate layers of radish, salt, and thyme until you've used up all the radishes.

Return pan to stovetop and cook until the butter begins to brown and the radishes begin to soften.

Add cream and cook in oven until center of the radishes are soft (about 15 minutes). Top with both cheeses and return to oven until the cheeses are melted and beginning to brown.

I just found a recipe for pickled radishes which I haven't tried yet, but given my love of anything dill, may be worth trying. Anyone else have a radish recipe worth sharing?