Burrow House

the beauty in chaos, chapter 5

This is what happens in my house if you turn your back for a minute.

We were hurrying to get ready to go to a party.

She said she was making herself beautiful.

I thought about that and realized,

Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.

way too much chaos and not enough beauty

Since we had my cat put to sleep around Christmas, I've had an on again off again issue with mice thinking my house would be a swell place to set up shop.  I, however, am not too keen on the idea.

I saw it run across my floor this morning, and that was the proverbial straw.

I decided to make it very clear that these are invitation only digs.

So I rallied all my troops to send the message.

The welcome mat is gone.

Replaced with Peppermint oil and steel wool in every possible crevasse. 

But part of me wonders just how much it will hurt if, in the end, I'm outsmarted by a vermin.

the beauty in chaos, chapter 3

Or, A Tale of Two Cakes.  Wait THREE cakes. 

This is a flourless almond torte I made for my father's birthday last week.  It's one of my favorites, but not REALLY cake-like.  No flour.  No sugar.  I swear.  But so yummy.

Okay.  First, this shot is a bit blurry.  I was using my little point-n-shoot, as I left my beloved D80 at my grandmother's house in Cincinnati this week. Needless to say, I drove 5 hours round-trip to pick it up on Sunday.

Anyway, I made this Carrot Cake to take to a friend's for dinner on Saturday.  Fantastic recipe. Not mine, but I will be adding it to the recipes section anyway.

It's also my Beauty in Chaos installment, as this is what happens when you make the frosting...

Well, that's what happens in my house anyway.

Now, I didn't make this cake, but it was one of the best German Chocolate cakes I have ever had.  We celebrated a friend's birthday last weekend, and this was his birthday cake.  I will be tracking down this recipe and adding it to the recipe section as well.  And as fantastic as this cake was,

This homebrew he had made was even better.  Oh man, good stuff.

Technically, I think it is called a Barley Wine.  But I'm not very technical.  

Happy Tuesday friends.  I'm off to burn some of these calories! (cake recipes can be found "in the kitchen," on the left of your screen.)

green week; day 3

This post could either be titled Emily's green week installment III, OR The Beets.  Because they're in. The ground.  Planted.  It's actually supposed to hit 70 degrees here today, so it even FEELS green!

I swear, Burrow House is not going to turn into a gardening blog.

But that's where I am right now.

And I'm taking you with me.

There is even a Green Week flickr group.  Go on! Have a peek!

Now, I made the commitment to do a Beauty in Chaos piece once a week, and I've fallen behind.  Story of my life! The mess sure hasn't fallen behind!

Aesthetically pleasing. Somewhat.  But the big picture...

And THAT flickr group is here.  Stephani, you were a brave soul to open that can of worms!

the beauty in chaos: chapter 2...and a haiku

paperwork

piles and piles and piles

taunting me

the beauty in chaos: chapter 1

A while back, Stephani at Blue Yonder wrote a beautiful post on what goes on behind the scenes. You know, those settings that you just DO NOT admit exist in your home.  Much less take photos of!

Well, until now, that is.  There's a new Flickr group in town, and it's name is In Real Life.  And it's fantastic.  And exquisite.  And liberating. 

I'm going to take this even a step further.  Once a week, I will be posting a photo of some ongoing imperfection in my house. But I will also be posting a shot of that very same chaos, looking only for the beauty existing within it. (can you spot the subject of the 1st photo-unmailed Christmas cards- in the 2nd?)

Because, what is life if you can't find the beauty within it?