Friday, November 26, 2010

Two big dinners in a row.

Both Thursday and Friday we had...how many? Our family of 5, in-laws 2, Brother in law's family 3, cousin and girlfriend 2, aunt's family 4. 16 in total. On Thanksgiving day an additional 4 local friends came over for dessert and drinks, making it 20 for much of the evening.

Thanksgiving was traditional fare, with two turkeys; one done on the charcoal grill and one done in the oven.

For today the theme was Latin American: Chili, pork roast and grilled beef both done in churasca style, Brazilian rice, guacamole etc.

The dishwasher has been running about three loads per day.

BTW: Did you know that if you eat enough beets, it will change the color of your urine? And not in a fun way, in a way that is really frightening if you don't expect it!

Monday, November 22, 2010

I know, tastes change...

Why would anyone take wood that looks like this:

And then stain it to look like this?

We went the other way of course! Several days of belt-sanding and the old dark wainscoting is now natural looking. My finish is only linseed oil and shellac.

It would have been difficult to get into all the parts of the built-in shelving, so I mostly left it alone, but painted some parts to relieve the dark monotony.