the 20th avenue cellar

My masterpiece...is finished.

Adrienne and I have long pondered what to do with the funky little 8ft x 8ft room we have in our basement.  Painting studio?  Guest room?  Man Cave?

Behold, The 20th Avenue Cellar.  We now have a 150 bottle wine rack - enough for my homemade vino and our small collection of good stuff - shelves to house AJ's canning bounty, plenty of space for her homemade varieties of beer, and lots of storage for bottles, corks, jars, fermenters, siphons, etc.  Temperature fluctuates between 60 and 65 degrees, so its pretty good to store wine and beer long term. Doubles as a nice work space to do your racking, bottling, and aging too.

You should stop by and enjoy a beverage with us!

How the room looked when I began

I got everything out of there, then discovered that every bit of wallspace was covered with multiple layers of paper and cardboard

Ripped out the paper/cardboard, then added some insulation - gotta keep those wines/beers from getting too hot/cold!

A little more insulation for good measure....

Covered up the insulation with some random boards, built a workbench and shelving, painted the floor and concrete walls

Covered up insulation with old boards from the shelves that were in this room

Cut and stained one-billion pegs for the wine rack

Stained the workbench, finished the floor, built the wine rack, and added some finishing touches

Built shelving for AJ's canned goods and beer and my wine

100 years old - time for a facelift

Or rather, time for total reconstructive surgery.

The Centenarian is being resided.  Not only did our house look rather shabby with its teal shingles, but we needed to protect our investment as well.  When we bought the house, we had a siding guy come out and check the place over.  He told me - and I quote - "Dude, this is the worst siding job I have ever seen."  So not only was it ugly, but it wasn't shielding the house very well from the 10-months of rain we get every year.

So the house is stripped down to the studs.  The original lap siding is gone (sad), the asbestos tiles are gone ("Thank you" says my lungs), and the beachy shingles are gone (couldn't happen fast enough).  The house had zero insulation, so we've got some of that too.  Another few days and it will be all buttoned up.  Stay tuned for a grand unveiling.

garden color

the kill

When vegans hunt, greenery fares poorly...

virginia is for lovers

Lovers of wine, that is!  AJ and I opened this bottle of wine last night, compliments of our friends that live on the eastern shore of Virginia.  It was fantastic!  CA and the west coast are about to be unseated as the best wine producers - even Jersey is making outstanding juice!

Thanks, KJ and Chris!

walla walla wine weekend

Walla Walla is ground zero for wine making, tasting, growing, and drinking in Washington State.  And its home to some pretty good food as well.  Its been on our wish list to go, but the long drive (4.5 hrs) and the price-tag associated with a weekend in wine county has kept us in Seattle.  But the Sutton parental units treated us to a fantastic 3-days in the sun, surrounded by good company, food, and wine!  All had a great time - below are a few pics highlighting the weekend.

our loot

AJ and Ron-meister

AJ loves her winery pets

Wine Tasters!

Wheat fields among the vines

AJ and Pops at Tero Winery

Walla Walla store front

Why don't you have another?

All 21!

garden watch 2011

Things are looking good at The 20th Avenue Garden.  We've had a stretch of 80 degree weather and sunshine that the plants are seemingly responding to.  Adrienne has put in lots of effort to have another successful gardening year - and its paying off.  Not only is the garden a fantastic place to hang out, but it significantly trims our food bill in the summer!

What you see: asparagus, corn, kolrabe, peas, chamomille, sage, nasturtiums, leeks, lettuce, and about a thousand other things that are mysteries to me....

New planter boxes with tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, and sunflowers!

chamomile

rogue morning glorys

nasturtiums and buddha

tomato beginnings!

lupine beginnings!

peas

cherry beginnings!

leek flower