Painting: Day 4

Front hallway, Before:



















After (below)


















I have to say I consider this a vast improvement. And P.S., the entire banister side of the hallway had that flowery wallpaper on it before I peeled it off. The other side had the dried out avocado color. I find this new color quite cheerful!

The back hallway does have one coat of paint on it, but it's not worth posting until it's finished. Oh, and I also made surprisingly good soup in the crock pot:

- 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 yellow, 1 orange pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced in strips and cut once
- 1 large can petite diced tomatoes, with juice
- 1 1/2 cans chicken broth
- 1 can each navy and kidney beans, drained
- ~1 1/2 tsp each rosemary and tarragon
- salt for seasoning

I browned the chicken in butter first, not quite all the way through, and sauteed the veggies in butter as well to keep them crisp. Then I literally poured everything in the crock pot and set it on high for about 3 1/2 hours. In short, I used what we had in our house because we haven't gone grocery shopping, put in a quick call to Savory and Sweet for advice, and hoped for the best. Clearly it came out well, since I'm posting it. :-) The tarragon really added good flavor, and it was so full of ingredients that I didn't need to add pasta or rice or anything. Next time I'll add garlic, if I make it again.

Enjoy the day and stay warmer than I will in my frosty little office at school. They seem to want to save on the heating bill.