Zeus and Zasha

For those of you that haven't heard, we've added two new members to our tiny family. Back in January, Taylor and I decided that it was time to get a dog. We wanted a Goldendoodle: low-maintenance, no-shedding, absolutely adorable. Instead, we found these two guys:

After sorting through dozens of pitbulls and chihuahuas, we located these two Alaskan Huskies at the Sarasota Humane Society. They weren't technically up for adoption yet, but we managed to sneak a peak when one of the volunteers tipped us off about the new arrivals. We asked them to place a hold on them over the weekend, and we brought them home with us as soon as they finished up their heartworm treatment. They told us that Zeus was about six years old, and Zasha is around four.

Zasha's the lady. She lays down with her paws crossed, which is just adorable. She licks everything (the dishwasher, oven, and refrigerator are her personal favorites), and talks to herself a bunch. We love her bright blue eyes!

Zeus is the man of the house. He's a total teddy bear, and just loves to snuggle. He's enormous, and lumbers around our home like a wolf. He's definitely Taylor's dog.

They are the two most spoiled dogs in the world. They go just about everywhere with us, and go on plenty of walks and to the dog park, and they love riding around in the car. Zeus sticks his head out the window and lets his tongue flap around in the wind.

We absolutely love our two dogs, and don't know what we would do without them!

Our House: Before Pictures

So, like I said earlier, Taylor and I moved in 1422 17th Street on the first of the year. We had started looking for a house in September or so, but were growing discouraged when every offer we placed got turned down. Contrary to what they say, banks really did not want to negotiate on foreclosures. After looking at dozens of houses, we finally placed another offer on a short sale home in Bradenton. We had been avoiding short sales because we heard that the process could stretch on for ages. After only a couple weeks, our contract was accepted by the bank and we got the news on Christmas eve. Taylor and I rushed down to sign the papers on the 31st, and the key was ours!

We grabbed some buckets, towels, a screwdriver, and went to work. Taylor's parents came down a couple days later, but we got as much cleaning done as we could (oh--- did I mention there was no running water? Try washing baseboards using milk jugs filled with water. Not fun).

The house was painted these horrible dark colors. Midnight blue in the living room, burgundy in the back. The rest of the colors were vaguely reminiscent of vomit and mashed peas. Ick.

Notice that nasty carpet? In the incredible darkness you can't see the grossly discolored ick spot smack-dab in the center of the room. Yeah, that quickly got torn up.

Funny enough, in the before photos, the kitchen and sunroom appear to be the colors we eventually painted them. What you can't see if how vivid the colors actually were. Neon green and a nasty color that couldn't decide whether it wanted to be chartreuse or buttercup yellow.

Still, we were in love with the house. It needed a bit of cosmetic work, but some fresh paint really helped quite a bit.

Coming soon: In-progress pictures!

The Return!

After an almost year-long hiatus, OurTineyGarden returns--- with a new house, some dogs, and plenty of new adventures.

Taylor and I moved into our new house on the first of the year. We're still settling it, but it's come a long way so far. The house was built in 1938, and is full of 73 years of charm. We're loving the wood floors, antique doorknobs, and quirky layout. A before-and-after tour will come shortly.

Updates won't be daily, but they will be frequent. I don't know how I managed to keep up daily updates for as long as I did. Instead, we will be writing longer entries with more photos of our crafting, cooking, gardening, and travel.

Making radish chips!

So, what have we done with all of those radishes from our garden? Radish chips! I've been waiting almost a year to make these with radishes from our garden.

To make them, we slice the radishes as thin as we can, and coat them with salt, vinegar, and spices. Then they go in the dehydrator at 150 for five or six hours, until crispy. They're delicious by themselves, but also make a wonderful topping for salads. Just don't use too much salt! We've ruined an entire batch this way. You can also bake them on a low temperature for the same results.

Moving the herbs out front?

The cool weather killed off most of our herbs this winter. We're thinking about moving our herb garden out front. We picked up some basil and some rosemary, but we're still not sure where to plant them. We don't have a ton of room out front, but they won't do quite as well in the back. Oh well, we'll figure it out.

Weird germination rates

We've been having a funky time with a lot of our seedlings germinating. We've kept them in a sunny spot, and have watered them frequently, but they're still not doing great.

Quite a few of them haven't come up at all. Most of the ones that have are twisted a gnarled (although I suppose it beats the leggy ones that we've started up till now!). We're going to have to find a better way to start seeds. Most of the local farms around here use fish emulsion to fertilize the little guys, and keep them in shade for part of the day. We're getting better at the big-picture stuff here, but we need to put some more time and attention into the details.

Off to Boston!

Back in October, Taylor bought us tickets to go see The Lion King in Boston. The time has finally come, and I'm so excited! We'll be gone for a week, and staying with his Aunt Debbie, who has so kindly offered to put a roof over our head while we visit.

See ya in a week or so!