Mushroom Log

So we bought a mushroom log to grow in our house.

It is not at all fancy but we tried a piece tonight and it was the second best mushroom we have ever eaten.  (The morel is my #1, i highly recommend it to everyone).  So we are growing Sonoma Brown Oyster mushrooms on my dining table (best spot with ideal indirect light).

Amsterdam - Day 2

Grogily we awoke, still not quite right from the first day.  Hopped on a tram to Central station to catch a bus up to Zaanse Schans, a Dutch heritage site which moved houses, shops, barns, and windmills in the 1960's and 1970's from the Zaan area.  We spent almost the entire day here!

Amsterdam trip - Day 1

I was able to tag along on business trip my husband was taking to Amsterdam.  Our 7 year Wedding anniversary just so happened to be in the middle of the trip :) 

So here I sit drinking a glass of wine after a long day visiting Zaanse Schans while my husband gets in a quick nap and prep for his conferences the next couple of days. So I thought it would be a good time to sit and "download" the last couple of days.

I wanted to get a quick lay of the land type tour on the first day.  Neither one of us slept on the plane (I could have but found too many shows I've been itching to see).  So, I thought the best would be to take a nap and go on a canal tour of the city.

Central station, a view of the bike parking

View of misc boats by the pier

Ship replica outside the Nemo Maritime museum

 And a few views from the boat:

And lastly, the sun setting while we left for the day 

Main Bath Remodel Part 2

Taking out the cast iron tub was... loud. haha You have to smash it with a sledge hammer into pieces to get out of the house.

Next steps were to figure out the height of the plumbing.  We upgraded to a taller soaker tub so we needed to make sure everything lines up with the taller tub.  

Plumbing set and inspection passed!

We are also debating between a half glass shower wall or just a shower curtain.

From aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.ca Via Pinterest

From The Marion House Book via Pinterest

This will also affect what type of shower head we'll purchase (the half glass will need a shower head that sprays straight down so water doesn't splash out) so I am not getting anything until we have made up our minds.

Next is finding a vanity that doesn't cost a mortgage payment...

All set to build and inset shelf and begin putting up cement board.

This is the wall we will put in a 12x12 insert

Main Bath Remodel

Back in 2009 I did a small update on the main living room bathroom, removed tulip wall paper, painted and restyled the bathroom vanity, added peel and stick flooring and painted the walls white. Shame on me for not taking pictures, here are the only ones I could find.

Here the flooring, wall paper removal and painting is completed. I took apart the vanity to sand in prep for painting and removing the faux marble contact paper. 

 I played with painting with an antiqued look because I honestly kind of liked the shape, but decided to stick with classic black instead.

I added a small shelf and moved the mirror up, the shelf did not wear as well as the cabinet.

Added decorative accessories

So here was the final result:

Ugly tile is hiding behind the curtains.

So to quote one of our all time favorite show's Fixer Upper Its DEMO DAY!!!

I bought this shirt as soon as they started selling them*! You can get yours here from Chip and Joanna's Magnolia Market here!

Magnolia Market

Ugly tile, ready to come down

Here is a close up of my favorite wheat pieces...(I am being sarcastic if you didn't catch that).

And this special tile the previous owners painted to match the existing tile...

Tile and drywall is all down.  I know you don't need to remove drywall, but we wanted to make sure to get rid of a tiny known mold issue and install cement board for mold resistance. I am also trying to convince my husband to move pluming and 2x4's for other ideas that will make it look high-end

 *I was not paid or compensated for any content on this post.  I simply adore the Fixer Upper show and their Magnolia Market products.