Having this website down for a couple of weeks made me realize how much I enjoy this part of the process. Documenting each step and writing about it here has become a part of my life. I missed it.

Progress was made despite the heat and lack of connectivity. Tonight was cool and fresh after having had a big storm so I was particularly inspired to wrap it up by hauling out the parts, cleaning and moving in some furniture. There's still carpet to put down, art work to put up and cookbooks to tuck away but the pantry is done.

The little WC is almost finished but that's another story.

Oh sure it's hot outside...102 degrees now with a prediction of 103 tomorrow. I don't mind the heat and I worked on the pantry/WC project this morning when it was much cooler. It's the cold of winter that I don't like. I've already started getting prepared by purchasing a pellet stove. The price for these right now is good as not many people are rushing out to procure heating devices. I did say 102 degrees today, didn't I? Monday I go pick up four tons of pellets which are at last year's price and expected to be three times as much this winter.

I have an old oil furnace that I used sparingly last year. I had a miserable time of it. I don't do well being cold. Every two weeks I filled a 55 gallon drum with diesel and pumped it into the tank to save money. It was a reminder that I wasn't in Arizona or Mexico or Hawaii for the season. The whole time I was trying desperately to recover from the spleen surgery and sort out life with celiac sprue without knowing that's what I had. It was a bad winter.

This year is going to be warm and rosy. I have a happy faced and helpful house mate who just loves hauling heavy stuff into and out of the house...pellets should be just the ticket for him, a big marvelous pellet stove and a body that isn't in excruciating pain. I'm actually looking forward to the change of seasons this year. I'm prepared.

A benefit of having a house mate is the ability to get away from animals, feedings and the ever present call of unfinished projects. I took off for Chelan to visit family and partake in the winery dinners prepared by my future son-in-law, Chef Erik. It was also his birthday to celebrate and my daughter's turn to cook (gluten free) for a couple dozen people. Excellent food and wonderful dinner companions.

The weekend was all about food, wine and family. Glorious. I returned refreshed and carting a big box of apricots from my mother's tree to put up in quart jars. Next it will be peaches and then cucumbers to pickle, picked from the garden. I just love summer.

The room is now completely painted and the shelves for appliances installed above the freezer. I'm contemplating putting up one more shelf there as this room can't have enough of them. Now would be the time to do it while I'm still stubbing my toes on all the implements of construction.

The floor in the WC is tiled and ready for grout. This is my least favorite job. Mixing grout is hard work. It's a challenge to put it down without covering me and everything within a ten foot radius. Cleaning off the tile seems never-ending not to mention what it does to my hands but I know once the floor is finished I'll be happy with the choice. I keep reminding myself that I don't have enough of them to do the entire room and that Home Depot won't either. Oh, and they won't be getting any more. It's a convenient little fantasy. Carpeting the rest of the room will be easier and cleaner but in my world the look of saltillo tile can't be matched.

The panels against the wall are foam board to go on the ceiling. It's a bit outside the box but then this whole house is being done from that approach. It covers the damaged plaster giving a clean white surface with insulating properties.

Sometimes I step outside myself and watch as I shun traditional ways of doing a project. It isn't totally out of necessity but because I'm addicted to the feeling of the creative process. My approach isn't always easier as the upcoming installation of the toilet will demonstrate. It's got my mind working overtime.

I'm required to eat a gluten free diet. It's not a problem for me until I want cake or cookies. Since I cook from scratch I'm able to consistently monitor the use of gluten free ingredients. I read all labels as wheat products are in many prepared foods. Sometimes it gets discouraging but as long as I can make up something like this dessert I feel it's worth the trouble. I found it on the website of the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness. Sometimes a girl just has to have a goopy sticky chocolate dessert.

How to make the Pudding Cake:

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup soy flour
7 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
1 1/3 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In mixing bowl combine sugar, flours, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Blend in milk, melted butter and vanilla until smooth.

Pour the batter into 8x8x2 baking pan.

In a small bowl combine brown sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa.

Sprinkle mixture over the batter in the pan. Pour the hot water over the top but DO NOT STIR.

Bake 40 - 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Spoon into dish and top with vanilla ice cream.

I added a thin layer of chocolate chips between the batter and the topping to make it even more gooey. Hey. I need some chocolate.

The little water closet (or WC tucked behind the new shelf wall) is painted, the foam board is on the ceiling and the floor covered with plywood. It's a blank canvas ready for me to tile and plumb. I have a plethora of saltillo tiles left over from the bathroom remodeling project of last summer. Since I'm approaching this job by using materials already on hand, I can't justify going out and buying something different. Anyway, I really like the tiles and they fit with the look and feel of the room.

As can be seen from the two 12 inch square tiles on the floor, it's a very small space. It's time to cut tile and map out where the plumbing will come up through the floor before mixing a batch of mortar. There are lots of little steps to do before moving onto tiling which I'm chomping at the bit to start on.

It's a beautiful summer Friday night so it's time to kick back and watch the tractor being used to dig a big pit. Burn barrels are illegal to use but not acceptable waste at the garbage dump.

The shelves are painted so I spent the better part of Monday morning putting the food back into the pantry. What fun to organize and inspect every item. You'd think I was a Virgo the way I got so much pleasure from this part of the project. I couldn't just stop there. I cleaned out the room in preparation for painting the rest of the walls. I'd been using this room as a way station for all sorts of projects long finished. It was time to put it all away.

It may seem like a lot of turquoise (Sweet Escape from True Value) but the rest of the walls are a rich yellow (Bountiful) and the ceiling will be white so the whole room will be toned down. The Mexican rug and antique serapes will tie it all together.

I had Eric pose with the level because he worked hard to make it so. In 90 degree weather he deserves a huge thank you.

While removing food from the pantry to empty the old shelves, I had a chance to rediscover hidden food treasures. Seaweed and seasoned rice vinegar jumped into view. Treasure!

My daughter had blessed me with pickled ume plums after her summer exit from Seattle. She muled them from Uwajimaya's as they aren't the kind of thing found in rural Eastern Washington. I already had pickled daikon in the refrigerator so I was set for a wheat free feast. No fat no gluten no hidden dangers. Score!

Here's how to make them:

Cook a cup or two of rice after gently but thoroughly washing it. I use a rice cooker so as not to over cook or over water it. For rice balls and sushi pearl rice is fine. I've even used jasmine rice in a pinch. If you only have converted rice stop here and forget you ever saw this recipe.

Transfer the hot cooked rice to a large bowl and gently stir in the seasoned rice vinegar to taste, about a half cup more or less, while doing this have someone fan the rice cool. This allows the rice to be coated with a sheen of vinegar.

Cut the sheets of seaweed into halves. No need to toast them for this use. Most seaweed comes pre-toasted anyway.

Put a half cup of seasoned rice vinegar in a medium bowl.

Cut the pickled daikon into halves.

Pit the pickled plums, if that is your preference. I use them unpitted as sucking on the salty pit is an added pleasure for me.

Take a half sheet of seaweed and dip it in the bowl of vinegar, coating both sides, and shake off the excess.

Hold the sheet of seaweed , shiny side down, in the left hand and dish a heaping tablespoon of rice into the center.

Add a plum or a piece of daikon, (plain rice is also good) cover with a little more rice and wrap it up in the seaweed. Gently squeeze and form into a ball.

Place on a plate and allow to cool at room temperature for half an hour. OR you can, like me, dive right in. YUM!

You may have noticed the gentle treatment of the rice. It's a revered food in Asia and is best when the outer surface is not roughed up or the kernels mooshed. One is looking for whole, smoothly coated grains that have a firm but cooked texture. Over cooked rice or rice that is too wet is only good for jook, a nasty Chinese soup dish. Google congee if you have over cooked your gloppy rice. I won't be posting a recipe here.

The shelves are completed and waiting for me to paint. We moved out the old shelves and all the food to access work space. Being able to stand in the newly opened up room gave us a better feeling for how it would look by continuing the shelving onto the adjacent wall. We talked it over and decided it didn't feel right. Putting a shelf at the same level as the top shelf and building shelves above the freezer feels better. There's something to be said about negative space or blank walls. It's good feng shui.

I'm not much help in the early phases of this project except for occasionally applying a coat of paint. The design and execution of the shelf building I find ingenious. At each step the level proves this guy knows what he's doing.

After the initial wall surface was painted, Eric cut and mounted 1x1 inch strips to the wall with a spacing of 12 inches. That still gives extra wiggle room for even my tallest food storage containers. He first drilled pilot holes then attached the 1x1 inch strips to the studs of the new wall (16 inch centers), leveling each one. This is the foundation for the rear support ledge of the 12 inch wide shelves. Starting at the base he built a solid structure for the first shelf building upward with each consecutive shelf. The supports between the shelves are 1x2's screwed from the top and fastened at the bottom with L brackets. The shelves are 1/2 inch plywood. It's structurally very sound and will hold all the food I want to store.

The adjacent wall will also have shelves for kitchen gear and appliances. That will be next after the free standing shelves are emptied and moved out of the way. It's a tight space for one person to maneuver so I'm best standing back and playing cheerleader. His job is really something to cheer about!

The ceilings are 9.5 feet high so this wall alone will have eight shelves six feet long! I'm a very happy girl.

When this phase is complete I will be helping by painting and lining the shelves. Sometimes doingitlikeawoman means standing out of the way.

The new wall is painted a lighter shade of turquoise than the foyer. The working space is tight so it's all about accomplishing one small step at a time. Once we put the shelves up on that wall and can empty the free standing ones then it will be easier to move around the room to work.

The wind was slight, the temperatures perfect and I felt great. A perfect morning for a ride with Moon and Shrek. He's probably going home to Olympia soon so we need to get in as many rides together as possible. I'm beginning to think "horse" instead of "mule" as this was such a pleasant way to start the day. I may not want to wait for Dinah to be finished and safe.

This video of Matt Harding dancing around the world makes me laugh and cry at the same time. With all the strife and anger in the world it's always good to see it as a happy and friendly place to be.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo

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Hint: Touch Pause and let it load entirely before playing.  It's more fun to watch without all that buffering.

This man's Thursday night is his Friday night. After a hard week of work, his idea of relaxation is to shoot a few rounds at plastic liquor bottles. I joined in for a bit then went into the kitchen to cook dinner. He still had a few guns to warm up.

Even though we had house guests this last weekend and were keeping busy with the fun of entertaining, Eric found time to build a wall for the water closet in the pantry. His precision in measuring, cutting and fitting the wood was a joy to witness.

It's tiny but economy breeds a creative use of space. The wall is only six feet long but enough to house a 4x2x2 stock tank and a marine toilet. I can see shelves for candles to light when soaking in hot water on cold winter evenings.