The Week Ahead: Balloons and Cakes

 

Our kitchen this week:

It's a real one!

I was blown away when I saw this seemingly original kitchen in a home.  Isn't it pretty?!

We can't see the stove nor the ice box in this room but let's just look at what we can, okay?  I always open the picture in a new tab so that I can see it in a larger format.  Starting all the way over here at the left of the picture...

Underneath those three drawers is what appears to be a massive cutting board/dough board that you can pull right out to use.  I love those broad cabinet doors there on that end, too.  So nice for storing a bit stock pot or serving trays and huge old roasters.

Next note that the windows are either side of the sink.  Right above the sink are what appears to be three soap holders.  I wonder why they needed three?  Perhaps one is a heavier duty soap, like a pumice type soap for scrubbing hard to remove things and another is just for handwashing and one is for routine dishwashing?   Anybody else know or want to guess?

The open space under the sink apparently opens still further.  It appears there is a little step stool to one side.  I wonder if there's a stool there, too, where one might sit while washing dishes or pull over to the dough board.

There are double sinks there, too.  How very modern was that to do at that time?

As we swing to the right we see a huge wall of storage.   It appears to be set up as a Butler's pantry.  The drawer on the bottom right...Is it a deep drawer?  It looks to be.  But it also almost looks like an oven, doesn't it?   But there are no controls anywhere so I'll stick with cupboard or drawer.

The tile is the thing I just love.  So many kitchens had been of wood or brick but tile was seen as a 'cleaner' product to use for the modern 1900's kitchens.   It was believed to be easier to keep sanitary.  Sanitation was a big deal along about this period.  That's why so often the tile extends far up the wall.

I think the white with green just looks fresh and lovely.   I would love to see gingham curtains or even plain curtains in yellow with a trim of some sort.  

A brand new month will be upon us come Monday morning and I've made my goals for February.  I'll share those in a bit.  I'll keep this simple and to the point this week.   This is what I have planned:

Work:  

Zone 1:  Kitchen/Back Entry/Laundry   This month I want to focus on cleaning now that everything is freshly organized.  The blinds in the kitchen sitting area are dusty.   There's little bits of dried leaves and crumbles of dirt about the plants.   There are drips and dribbles on cabinet doors and the floors need mopping.  I also want to try to clear the counter tops a bit.  This is an ongoing battle of mine.  What to do with those things I use on a routine basis and yet can't stand looking at?   And how do I make storage room for them when there's none to spare?   I'll try to puzzle this out this week and I hope by week's end my kitchen looks as fresh on the surface as it feels underneath.

Big yard project starts this month.  Not something John is likely to have much to do with but it does mean that I need to rethink how I've been dealing with some spaces and what I mean to do about them.   As well I've been given a lot of border material which I'm excited about but now I must figure out how to make it work for me and look consistent.   This is a vast job and will definitely need to be attacked in small bites.

Do a complete Freezer inventory and pull forward those things I need to use sooner rather than later.  Also to give me an idea of what I might need if sales appear.

There won't be a big grocery shop this week but we will go pick up a few items like lettuce and tomatoes and onions.

Go get a haircut.

Work up our bills for the month.  I have a few that need to go out this week and I need to total up the checkbook from the past month.  I do keep a running total but I make any adjustments I need to make, note which checks are in and which aren't, etc.  I then have my updated total.  We're usually pretty much where we need to be without any issues.

Take donation items from my room over to donation center. 

Buy birdseed.  My birds are hungry ones and they are going right through my seeds.  I ran into town today to buy a bag but we'll definitely need more.

John has a busy weekend coming up and then  a busy week following.  I think if we're going to celebrate our birthday in any way, we might do it later in the month but I'll plan a special meal for us that I make at home.  

I really enjoyed working on the genealogy posts and I want to gather information for two posts in February.

In the meantime though, I have birthdays to buy for.  I need to go buy gifts for two young ones.  I need to get Amie's gift in the mail to her.  I'm a bit nervous about mailing it but I'm never going to get it to her any other way.

Menus:

Aside from the first two these are not in order of how they will be served.  I'm not likely to serve chicken on Tuesday after eating it all weekend long.  I simply grouped things by protein in order to think better about what we might have.

Items marked with * are or contain Gathered Fragments from my pantry inventory last week

Chicken Pot Pie (leftovers), Green Beans, *Peaches in *Orange Gelatin

GFC (Gramma's Fried Chicken), Potato Salad, Broccoli, *Peach Cobbler

Tuscan Tuna Salad (*cannellini beans), Tomato Basil Soup(*powdered milk), Garlic Toast

Chicken Parmigiana, *Spaghetti, Green Salad

Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, Carrots, Homemade Bread

Steak, Baked Potato, Salad, *Angel food cake with *Lemon Curd

??? I want to do something different but haven't as yet determined what different is going to look like.  I' think I'll just fill this space with a Leftovers meal.

Leisure:

It's time to pull out my February magazines to read through.  

Apparently I'm not so keen on two of the books by my chair, so those will be put away and I'll try to pull a new stack to try to read.

I've lost my little bag of yoyos I was working on.  I'm going to dig around in the craft room and in my magazine basket next to my chair and see if I can find it once more.  I think that taking a half hour daily to do a bit of hand sewing would be awfully nice.  I may also drag out the embroidery stuff and work on something.  I'll let you know what I'm going when I get at it.

A spa day is in order.   Mask on my face and lips and hands, foot scrub, body buff, etc.   It's just time to pay a little extra attention to myself and this always makes me feel a bit pampered and a bit luxe, too.