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Riverhouse Updates - Bolting it down and Jacking it up

Bubbs and I snuck away this weekend for some mineral pool floating and delightful eating in Calistoga.  Exactly 24 hours of getaway was exactly what I needed.

On our way home, we stopped by the riverhouse to check on the progress.

When we got there we were shocked - the demo had gone much further than we anticipated - it was AWESOME.

My/our vision was starting to come through!

Imagine these ceilings painted white, drywall instead of faux paneling, and hardwood floors.









This room used to be a water closet - but apparently ALL the plumbing in the house is bad - so pretty much any room connected to a pipe has rotten floors.  SURPRISE!

The toilet will come back, we'll have white hex tile on the floor, and white walls.


I love cast iron tubs - they keep the heat so well.  We'll be tiling a backsplash around the tub so the walls don't rot during bathtime and that amazing ornate gold frame is getting painted.


Another leak below.


Who needs a floor?


I have been afraid to go into the bathroom since we bought the place.  The floor moved and creaked and I was pretty sure it would fall through.  When we pulled back some dirt outside, we realized it might be because the wood was all rotted and the foundation was not complete underneath.  Apparently when the poured it, it didn't fill in correctly - and the past owners never fixed it.


Voila!  Concrete poured and siding patched!  We'll be building a deck up to the side of the house here - the Grill and hopefully and outdoor sink will live here.



When we bought it, there was lattice all along the side of the building, we took it down and the house looks NAKED and unstable.




The actual house wasn't connected to the retaining wall - so we're bolting it down.


And the floors had a 5 inch slope, so we're jacking it up.






Decks are getting repaired and rot is getting fixed.  No pictures were taken of the 9 month pregnant lady climbing the ladder into the house.


Holes are being CUT!  We need to connect the top floor and bedrooms down below - so an internal staircase is a must.  Good thing we didn't bring the toddler.



I suppose I'm learning lessons in construction management here.  We left a sleeping bag up there as well as a couple of my favorite folding chairs so I'd have place to sit and T wouldn't get too cold during the winter when we visited.  Well, there's my sleeping bag.  My other folding chairs have giant workboot foot prints on the white canvas seats :(




Even though the house was in shambles (good shambles, but shambles), the deck was fantastic.  Hot, sunny, and surrounded by redwoods.  If we had a working bathroom, we would have stayed up on this deck the rest of the day - but my pregnant bladder wouldn't allow for it.




Driving back to the city it was 15 degrees colder, fogged in, and cozy.  Best of both worlds.

Baby Dropped and Heartburn Gone!

I've had NASTY heartburn for the last 8 weeks or so. 

The kind that wakes me up.

I was taking Papaya enzyme for the majority of it, but lately I've had to resort to Tums.

So, a few days ago I was convinced I was going into labor.

I was having lots of regular braxton hicks PLUS pain under my belly (across my lower abdomen).

I even had Bubbs stay home and take T to school that morning so I could rest.

Anyway, I realized that the baby had dropped and that was the big difference.

Now, three days later, I realize that my heartburn is GONE.  I haven't taken papaya in three days!

Baby dropped = heartburn gone?   I don't remember that from last time, but groovy.

I also heard that second timers don't have the baby drop early - but this guy is low.  Very low.

Pot Pie!

We have lasagne in the freezer.  That was super easy.

I decided that pot pie would be easy to make.  HA!

It wasn't complicated, but it was messy.

Thank goodness the end result was AMAZING.



I used Williams Sonoma Pie Crust recipe (leaving the sugar in).  I have made many versions of pie crust, and this was spectacular.  Spectacular.  But, I had to add WAY more water than the recipe called for.  I was really insecure about my dough getting too warm, blah, blah, but it stayed out a long time, the kitchen got hot, and it was still amazing.

Triple the recipe to fill 8 mini loaf pans.  A mini loaf pan can serve 2 people.

To make the filling, I roasted some chickens using Thomas Keller's Favorite Chicken Recipe a few days before.

Chopped up the chicken breast (2 breasts).

Then I made a simple roux:

A cube of butter, melted in a pot, then sprinkle flour in (about a 1/4-1/2 a cup).  Whisk it good.  It should turn pasty and smooth.

Then slowly add chicken broth (2.5 boxes is fine) whisking it in.

It should get thicker - let it boil.

I added 7 diced (unevenly diced) tiny organic white skinned potatoes.

Add them to the boiling broth/roux mixture for about 10 minutes.

Then I added a whole bag of organic peas, carrots, and green beans (TJ's carries them).

Let this cook up a bit.

For my test batch, I put crust on the bottom of the mini loaf pan, baked it at 450 until it was brown and bubbly, poured in the vegi/chicken/stock goo, then put another piece of crust on top (just lay it on the goo).

I think the bottom crust was too much.  More crust than goo - overwhelming.

So, for our other batches, I just spooned the goo into the loaf pans, put a layer of crust on top, brushed with egg and froze.

I was able to fit 6 mini loaf pans in the freezer.

I'm too lazy to take them out and individually freeze them.  Hopefully some time today.

Oh - best pot pie I've ever had.  I wouldn't substitute the crust for store bought.  The crust was too good.