well thank god my brother in law didn't end up coming over. the food turned out fantastic but the house was a dumpster fire. spouse doesn't help with cleaning or anything, which i don't have a problem with because he's working so it's fair the housework falls to me. if i ask he'll help. but i feel like he's earned the break from housework (except laundry - i don't do his laundry). it wouldn't be a problem keeping up with chores except i have all these staining and painting projects everywhere, and we can't really unpack until i get these projects finished. so it's a mess.

so i saw this thing on reddit - someone made a pot roast bread bowl shepherd's pie thing with smoked gouda mashed potatoes and it looked amazing. i made a beef stew with ale (heavy on the beef & mushrooms, lighter on the veggies, no potatoes) and i googled the recipe for smoked gouda mashed potatoes. i got these bread boules and cut off the top and hollowed out the center, and i filled them with the stew and topped them with mashed potatoes and baked them (and served with the toasted bread top). i got pumpkin ale from costco and the whole thing is fucking DELICIOUS i tell you. and you can make the stew and potatoes ahead of time and assemble the pies later. genius. if spouse hadn't already married me, and i wanted him to propose, i would serve him this bread bowl. it's very very good.

and then the next day, realized i totally carb bombed myself right on my lunar holiday and got stuck with a wretched headache for two days. GOOD JOB SELF.

i have these stoneware mugs that are basicaly large ramekins with handles, so i can skip the bread bowl and make the pies in the mugs for a lower carb version. not quite as good, but still very tasty. i want to make this for our friends with gluten & corn allergies - very doable with a few tweaks to the stew recipe. and serve cider instead of ale.

so i'm finally feeling better. i've been playing loosey-goosey with my vitamins and not really avoiding carbs. little headache here, little headache there. that bread bowl really brought the hammer down. oh yeah, ps, you can't just eat whatever and not pay for it.

i have to finish putting this kitchen cart together so i can finish organizing and unpacking the kitchen, so i can get back on track with cooking and meal prep, so i don't eat so much naughty convenience food, so i manage my headaches.

i have sanded the clearcoat off all the kitchen cart pieces and i'm just about done staining them. i ended up having to resand and restain a few pieces because the stain came out blotchy due to not getting off all the clearcoat. the doors and drawer front are stained a bright viridian green and the rest of the cart is a medium brown. it was a cheap flatpack kit and the side panels are some kind of mdf with a printed woodgrain finish (not real wood, but you can't tell what they did from the product photos), so i am going to paint them green. i don't recommend refinishing flatpack furniture after this. it's going to look nice but it's taken a disproportionate amount of effort. i'm not sorry, because i needed a specific size cart and a lot of the options that worked could not be shipped to alaska, but in retrospect i might have looked harder for a cart that came in a darker brown finish and not gone to all this trouble, womp womp. i'm hoping to assemble the cart today.

i stained the nicknack shelf and i've figured out my faux-nice-wood staining technique after dicking around with the coat hook plaques. i'm trying to mimic the fall river collection from porter designs, which has a rich two tone grey and brown finish and i think it is just gorgeous. if i were rich i'd buy all that shit. of course, they use beautiful sheesham wood and i have the cheapest pine i can get my hands on, so the end result is more "vaguely inspired by" and less "dupe".

i'm using general finishes dye stain in vintage cherry, medium brown, pewter, and some of the reducer to create lighter washes. i also tried different things and ended up using pre stain wood conditioner as a base and medium. the wood conditioner seems completely unimpressive with the first coat, but it really kicks in on additional coats. i also made up some of the powdered dye in black - it skews dark purple, and i should have mixed it with water instead of alcohol (alcohol resists blending with the stain), but a little bit here and there adds some nice color variation.

the important thing is to set up the wood so it's on a slight incline running down the grain. this way the excess dye will want to flow gently with the natural grain channels instead of puddling. first a coat of wood conditioner, let it absorb, wipe off the excess, and then paint the stain on the wet wood. imho it's best to stay simple with the two tones and block off general areas - don't get busy. the pine grain is linear and pronounced and i just did stripe chunks of stain following the grain. i used pewter at full strength but for the brown tone i mixed half vintage cherry, half medium brown, and then an equal amount of the reducer to get a warm, honey colored wash. because the wood is damp, the two stains will spread and blend together naturally and create interesting soft color gradients. stain all the wood and then leave it to dry for a couple hours. reapply the wood conditioner and wipe off excess. go back in with the stain and work on creating depth with darker areas and defining the pattern overlapping the grey and brown will create dark streaks. use the black powdered dye mix will add color and value depth. let dry. repeat process for more layers, etc. i think i did three layers and that turned out even a bit darker and more dramatic than i wanted. the finishing top coat will really bring out the color variation. i've just been using plain ol' satin polyurethane, two coats, light sanding, final third coat. i might try a nicer topcoat for the accent walls. polyurethane looks plasticy.

i guess you can make your own wood conditioner and it's just watered down wood glue for the most part? anyway, i'm having good luck with this technique and i'm looking forward to starting the accent walls and bed headboards and such. i think, when i'm done, people will not look at it and think, "wow, she cheaped out with the least expensive wood she could buy". when in reality i totally did, ha ha.

so i'm finishing the nicknack shelf, the kitchen cart, and after that:

- finish putting the cladding on the fireplace legs

- turn wood closet doors into shelves in the office

- refinish worktable tops

- finish the dutch door for the front door to keep the cat in

- make the pet door insert for the patio door

- sand all the wood trim in the bay window and restain

- cut and stain all the blue pine for accent walls and bed headboards

but with the nicknack shelf done we'll be able to unpack some boxes and put up some of the wall art. it's coming along. i get discouraged because everything seems to take forever, but i just really want a space i/we can be proud of. i have made so many projects for other people and i always get stuck with the sad leftover bits (or nothing) for myself. "the cobbler's children go barefoot." i just really want this house to be an energizing place of good vibes. i want shelving and organization. i want it to feel like our home. until i get it that way, everything is going to sputter and fail to catch.

it's coming along.