The Week Ahead: Balancing Acts and Riddles

 

While this kitchen does have a vinyl floor the pattern is a vinyl rug, something that was very popular in the first decades of the 20th century.   The date on this kitchen design is 1945.   I'll give you this: they were long lasting and they did protect the floor underneath them to some extent.   I recall that Big Mama had such rugs in her living room and dining area.

What I find interesting in this kitchen is the corner work  station.  It appears there's a wagon or something stored under there but it could also be a baking center or sewing area or desk.  The dropped counter in the near left on the sink wall...Not sure about the purpose of that.  I lived in a house that had a dropped counter like that at one side of the kitchen and I never did understand what it was for.

But what I love about this kitchen is the big window, the colors and the white cabinets.  And honestly?  I love the kitchen having a table in it.  This is something that I recall Mama and Grandmother having in their kitchens in the oldest homes they lived in and frankly I LIKE a kitchen table.  Paige at Farmhouse Vernacular on Youtube (and blog of same name) just redid the kitchen in her 1910 home and she chose to do something unconventional with it.  One thing she did was set up a kitchen worktable in the floor space between her stove and sink.

There's something awfully cozy about a table in the kitchen in my opinion.  I just can't figure out a good spot to have one in my own kitchen at present.   We used to have one where I now have the kitchen sitting.  It was cramped and cold as cold could be in the winter to the point that food congealed on our plates as we said our prayers.  Ugh.   

When I suggested to John that I might put a much smaller table and chairs there he said, "Don't...I'll just start using it to stack things on."   And he's quite right.  He did with our dining table when it was there and we had to routinely unload his things to have meals.

My purpose in sharing these vintage kitchens is to look at how they used spaces and think about how I use my own space. Maybe you, too will get a few ideas.  And at the very least, hopefully it will be fun to see how different generations viewed the 'modern kitchen'.

Work:  

Last week, I got things done.  I didn't overdo, but it felt good to be back into Zone work and to have clear ideas of what I was focusing upon.  I noted that this is also typical of me about September.  Apparently Zone work goes out the window at some point each summer and in September I pick it up all over again and ask "Why on earth did I let this habit slide?"  

Why is it so very hard to form a habit but so easy to let it go?  Riddle me that one, please.   It seems if a habit that took time to incorporate and to build into your life  would be as routine as say, putting on your right shoe first every single time you put on your shoes.  But it's not so, is it?   We might do the mindless sort of thing, such as putting on that shoe  the exact same way for years in a mindless sort of way, but the habit we built into our lives, even if it has been in place for a long time, even years, once skipped may be skipped twice, three times, four, and then we don't even think of it at all.  It's over and done and gone and then one day we realized we've broken a habit that was serving us well.

And let's take the riddle a step further: why are good habits so hard to build and bad habits so hard to break?  Gracious!  I might be pondering these things all week long!

This week I will enter Zone 2 of my housekeeping.  That zone is my living room/dining room/front entry and tiny hallway between living room and the back bedrooms/bath.  I'm trying to incorporate dusting into my weekly Reclamation Day on Monday because things seem to get awfully dusty here in my home.  So that is not on my list of chores for Zone work.  So what is?  Good question, lol.  I didn't really plan out what would be done in each zone because I felt jobs would present themselves as I came to each area.

What I see that needs to be attended to: I have two sets of cabinet doors that do not stay shut in the living room.  Caleb happily opened and shut one Thursday night and after he went to bed, I wrapped a rubber band about the knobs but it's not really sufficient to keep it closed.  Friday morning he still managed to open it part way.   I'm going to ask John to look at both those cabinets and see if he can move or replace the magnetic closures.   I'm also going to look into childproofing them in a better way.  

The bookcase could be neatened up.  I have a tendency to stack all my newer books in front of other books on the shelf.  I'm sure I could shift a few things around and make it look better.

Wash curtains and the slipcovers on my chair and ottoman.  This week's weather is much better than the first part of last week so this shouldn't be a problem.  I prefer to line dry.  

I don't have lots to do this month in this area because I vacuumed deeply and cleaned blinds last month.

Visit Mama.   I had a much better week with my ear last week so I think I'll be able to drive to visit with her.  I'll likely combine it with the day I have to run a few errands anyway.

Bess has asked for a morning to visit with the two youngest and I promised her some time so I'll see if she has a free day this week.  I'm looking forward to that.  

I really have to start scraping the back porch floor.  More and more paint is peeling up and while I'd love to do all the things on the back porch (cleaning and painting and railings and rafters and furniture) the real need is to get that floor painted before wet winter weather comes in.  Priorities tell me that protecting that wood floor is the most important.  

I need to pull the tomatoes up.  They are obviously done.   I'll go through my seeds and see if I have anything I might plant in their place.

And plant a few more of those bulbs somewhere in the yard.   

There's some minor grocery shopping to be done.  I need a few things: dog food, milk,  onions, carrots, shampoo, lettuce and tomato.   Nothing major.

Meals This Week:

Oriental Glazed Chicken, Fried Rice, Cucumbers

Gramma's Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Sliced Tomatoes

Macaroni and Cheese, Sliced Tomatoes, Green Beans

BBQ Chicken and Black Eyed Peas, Squash Casserole, Coleslaw

Taco Casserole, Green Salad

Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, Carrot and Raisin Salad

Chicken and Noodle Soup, Crackers with Cheese 

Leisure:

Doesn't she look as though she's enjoying that moment of lying down?  I think the sweetest time of any day is these 'time out' moments when a breather is needed.  In my case, I'm generally sitting in the chair either in my bedroom next to the window or in the kitchen sitting area.  I might take time to read a few emails or jot down to do lists.  

This week I'm going to put down the phone and keep a book or magazine at the tables near those two chairs and spend a few minutes reading.   That sounds far more of a break than reading emails or thinking of still more things to do.