This Old House Magazine Cover…Yes ME!

Could someone pinch me please?! :0)

You guys remember a while back when I said I had a HUGE announcement? Well this was it, and I’ve had to keep it a secret since JULY!!   (I thought I would explode!!)  The window seat that I built, is on the COVER of the October issue of This Old House Magazine, and there’s a featured article on page 92 AND 93!!  Gah! 

I have known since July that my window seat was going to be in the magazine, but I didn’t know until a while later it was up for the cover!  It was between me and three other people, and I’m very humbled to say mine made it….blessed I tell ya!   I only found out last week that it made the cover, so this is all crazy new and exciting! (and I think I squealed out loud when the note came in the mail that mine was going to be on the cover!)

I didn’t know until the end of the day of shooting that they were going to put a picture of me in the magazine too….I barely have on any make-up!! I was very happy when they said the picture was going to itty bitty! :0)

I have been curled up on my window seat much of the afternoon reading and re-reading the article!  I’m so honored and excited all rolled up into one.

I’ll do a post soon on the behind the scenes pics I took and introduce you to some really nice people that helped make that cover happen…great folks!

OH..if you want a copy of the magazine, you can get them at Lowes! Our Lowes hadn’t gotten them on the stands yet, but it’s the October issue to it should be out there anytime now. 

Blessings

Missy

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New Garden Shed, With a Twist!

Hi you guys!  I wanted to show you what I’ve been doing over the summer.  How many of you have always wanted a little garden shed of your very own, just for your gardening stuff? (and not for your hubbies golf clubs, car parts, or whatever it is your hubby is into!) I have ALWAYS wanted one, and this summer was my summer to get it! Yay!!  (we’re trying to make room in our two car garage for at least one car, so getting all my gardening stuff out was a good incentive for talking my hubby into getting the shed!) HA!
We went to Lowes and looked at all the buildings they had on their lot…we looked at the metal ones, the plastic ones, and the wooden ones that someone comes to your house to build.  I decided, since it was JUST for my gardening stuff, that I wanted a wooden one, but just the 8 x 8 size.  We bought it, and had it scheduled to be built…..a THREE week wait!~ I counted down the days! Finally, the day came, and here’s a picture progression of how it went…..

The poor guy that came to build our shed probably wasn’t happy with me as we only have a 36” gate and he had to carry everything to the back yard by hand!

Here he is starting….

Did I mention our yard is NOT level? He had to use blocks to level it up.  I kept staring at this because it looks SO crooked because of the fence going downhill…but it was level.

Poor guy probably thought I was a nutcase because I stayed outside all day long and watched him and took pictures. LOL
Here’s my new floor!  (I may or may not have gotten up there and done a little jig while he was around front getting more supplies!) :0)

This was a kit and everything came pre-cut so the process went pretty quickly! Yay for walls!

It went quickly until this stage right here….see that dark cloud right at the top of the picture?  Yeah, we had a 15-20 minute downpour, complete with thunder and lightening. I tried to get the guy to come in the house, but he insisted on sitting in his truck. Under a tree.  Not smart. :-0

I quit taking pictures of the build after the storm….it was wet and wasn’t as fun taking pictures in my flip flops.  hee hee hee

Here’s the building all finished up! You can see the weather turned, and the day ended up being beautiful!

Next post I’ll show you the twist in my shed….not something you’d expect to see, but really cute!

Stay tuned!!

Blessings,
Missy

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Garden Roasted Tomato Soup

Hey guys!  If you all are like me, you have loads of extra ripe tomatoes coming from your end of summer gardens.  I wanted to show you a recipe I made with all my tomatoes! 

Garden Roasted Tomato Soup

About 3 lbs of peeled garden tomatoes (cut into chunks)
2 onions cut into chunks
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/4 teaspoons dried
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme or 1 1/4 teaspoons dried
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
6 cups chicken broth
6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Put the tomatoes, onions and garlic  on cookie sheets, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Drizzle both sheets of tomatoes etc. with Olive Oil

Roast for 40 minutes, or until the onions and tomatoes are nice and tender. (mine actually took closer to an hour, but I think it depends on your oven, so just keep an eye on it)

After the tomatoes are done, transfer tomatoes and any accumulated juices to processor, pulse until the tomatoes are still a wee bit chunky. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large pot over medium-high heat,  stir in tomatoes, rosemary, thyme and dried crushed red pepper. Add chicken stock; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until soup thickens slightly, about 25 minutes. Stir in fresh basil, remove from heat, and eat!

Here’s the end results! Oh yummy!  I topped our tomato soup with some Italian croutons and a little grated parmesan cheese!

Enjoy!

Missy

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