A Queer Mobile

The Annex is open!

John made a miracle happen this week. He finished everything in the gym side of the Annex. The floor is in; all the painting is done. We moved the treadmill up from the basement where we've been using it for several years. It's in front of a window looking onto the orchard. We bought a small TV to watch while we're sweating. I got to use it once before I left - and I'm looking forward to lots of time out there when I get back.

It's finally fall

We've had a great run of quasi-Indian Summer weather. (We've not had a hard freeze so far so it's not really Indian Summer.) It finally turned cool yesterday and I was loving it. Fall color is just now getting started. I'm heading out this morning for California on business for a week, but I'm so happy to have hung out at home for the past week. Here's hoping the trees will wait for my return.

John and I harvested the last of the peppers and tomatoes last night. I intended to get lots of cooking done before I left but it didn't happen. Hopefully stuff will hang out for a week in the refrigerator.

What to do with tons of basil

At the end of the season my basil plants are in overdrive. This year I made basil oil to season tomatoes, pasta sauce, and vegetables. Warning: it doesn't keep very well even under refrigeration. I freeze mine in ice cube trays to form small basil oil cubes. I defrost a cube whenever I want ti use some.

Chimichurri my way

Here's my way to prepare this wonderful garlic / parsley / lime / pepper  sauce. Traditionally for beef, I also use it for fish.

The floor is in!

John finished laying the new floor in the gym side of the annex yesterday. We picked a recycled rubber tile specially designed for use in gyms. It's black with blue flecks randomly scatteted throughout. I don't have pictures yet but I'll shoot some after we move the treadmill up from the basement tomorrow.

I'm very excited about this new space!

Heading to Stuart

John's sibs had a quick get-together yesterday in his home town, Stuart. It's about forty miles west of Des Moines. We headed over with two loaves of homemade bread and almost forty of Aunt Ada's sour cream cookies. John's brother Jake and wife Karen hosted us for a very nice time.

We didn't outrun the rain, though. We'd not expected a non-stop lightning storm, but we had a chance to enjoy an astonishing light show - and we were only fifteen minutes late getting back home.

The Annex and the Bunker

We have a major project underway to convert the old shop into a gym / video / library space. It's a huge area: almost 1200 square feet where John used to have his shop. John and I have always called it 'the shop', but the real shop is now ten blocks away.

Our good friend Sean Ulmer has the answer. John's new shop is 'The Bunker' because it's solid concrete block construction. And our new space? 'The Annex', of course.