When new homebrewers start out, they often only have a few pieces of equipment. The volume of alcohol in fermentation can vary based on the recipe, the type of alcohol, and the fermentation conditions. The amount of head space you should leave may vary greatly, depending on who you ask. What is Head Space in…
Homebrewing with a Wine Kit
A wine kit is a great way to get into home brewing if you’ve never brewed before. If you’re an experienced home brewer, you may consider picking up a kit just for a quick and easy recipe (cause home brewers are home drinkers, amiright?) I picked up a Wine Kit for a California Pinot Noir…
Top Home Brew Kits for Any Experience Level
Homebrewing can be intimidating if you’ve never brewed beer, wine, or mead before. Using home brew kits can make it easy to put together basic supplies and ingredients, especially if you want to get a gift for a potential new homebrewer. Equipment home brew kits will give you everything you need without going over boarding,…
Dahlias – Big Showy Blooms
Dahlias are famous throughout the Pacific Northwest. This huge, showy flowers bring bold color to the scenery. Even post offices boast huge plots, sponsored by the local Dahlia society. Growing these big, show stopping blooms has to be hard, right? Pike Place Market’s Flowers The first dahlia I ever remembered seeing was in the Pike…
Restoring a MidCentury Modern Coffee Table
Stained with dark gray water stains, our vintage midcentury modern coffee table was a sentimental piece. My husband inherited it from his great aunt, who had originally bought it in the 1950s. It matched her dining set and end tables, which we also received. However, the peeling varnish and dark marks left it wanting. We…
Troubleshooting Mead Fermentation
After you’ve gotten your mead in to your fermenter, you’ll need to carefully watch for signs of fermentation. If after the first week you don’t see any signs of fermentation, you should troubleshoot and correct any issues. Signs of fermentation may include bubbles rising up through the airlock or an increase in depth of the…
Building a Raised Bed Trellis
Adding a trellis to your raised bed is an excellent way to maximize the usable space in your garden. Spreading plants like squash, cucumbers, and zucchini are well known for taking over garden beds. Between munching pests and diseases, you need to get your plants off the ground and out of reach. We built a…
Building a Raised Bed Garden Tips and Tricks
One of the first projects that we decided to do after moving to Washington included building a new raised bed garden. I had one in San Diego that turned out to be fantastic; all of my plants grew phenomenally. For others out there, you may wonder if a raised bed is necessary for growing plants. …
Building a Horse Wire Fence
Check out our Youtube video on building on horse wire fence, or read on about the process. Our rescue dog, Kona, is a 90 lb mutt that has been compared to a tank, horse, cow, bull… in other words, he’s big. He’s also really stubborn and struggles with separation anxiety. We need a back yard…
Comparing Options for a Cross Country Move
My husband and I recently made the decision to move from Southern California to just outside of Seattle, partially driven by circumstances surrounding COVID-19. While developing our game plan for moving, we investigated different options for a cross country move. Even though we haven’t landed on a final decision, we developed our own pros and…