Big Red Barn Blog

I hope everyone is starting to thaw out after all of the snow last week. After a good long life of over thirteen years our goldfish Serial passed last week. We knew it was coming soon but it was still very sad. We had never been able to have any other fish because Serial would kill them within a day. This is how he got the name Serial. We were now able to fill the 75 gallon tank with the plethora of fish it was made for.

We did our research to find out which fish would make good tank mates. Then we headed to Petco. We really liked the Tiger Barbs that they had. Since these fish were mildly aggressive we had to purchase other fish that were mildly aggressive. We saw some Rosy Barbs near them that we wanted as well and they would make good tank mates. We got six of each Barb and also got a Red Tail Shark. We only got one shark because they are a very territorial fish and needed to be the only one of its kind. We were now ready to take them home.

Before we left we picked up some tropical fish flakes and some pellets made for bottom feeders (for the shark). We also bought another little hidey-hole for the shark so he could have his alone time. We got the fish home and placed their bags in the tank for about thirty minutes to acclimate to our tank. After the thirty minutes was up we scooped them up with a net and placed them in the tank.

Once released they grouped up into their different schools and checked out the tank. The shark immediately hid behind an object and waited until the others swam away. Once they were gone it explored inside the new hidey-hole and other rock structures we had. They seem to be settling in and we hope to enjoy them for many years to come!

When we decided we were going to build a house the kitchen layout was my first priority. Our house at the time was perfect for us except the kitchen was extremely small and had very little cabinet or counter space. For two people who love to cook and host it was very frustrating to say the least. I took my time and put in a ton of effort to create the kitchen of our dreams

First thing was getting a ton of counter space. The architect helped put a plan in place that included two islands in addition to two of our walls lined with granite countertops. I knew I wanted a white kitchen (my husband was reluctant at first) so we chose a dark granite to off set the bright white features. My husband picked out the tile backsplash with the dark grout. Now we had the bones of the kitchen in place.

Next, the details. I wanted a gas stove, farmhouse sink and a pantry. Now we needed to be a little frugal because we had just taken on this huge project of building a house from scratch. We have a plumbing store in our town that has a “garage sale” every year and we were fortunate enough to find two farmhouse sinks for $25 each. We also found two sinks for one of our bathrooms for $5 each. I went to an outdoor flea market later that summer and found these doors that came out of a school cafeteria in a small Oklahoma town. These would become the doors to our pantry. The last detail came from an idea from my mom which was to put in a pot filler. I honestly don’t know what I ever did without it!

This kitchen has given way to so many family gatherings, romantic meals for two and of course canning the harvest from our summer garden. I feel so fortunate every time I get to create a meal in the kitchen of my dreams. In future posts I’ll extend the tour to other parts of our country home!