The Week Ahead: Just One More

Here's a kitchen that caught my eye.  I'd say its from the early 1960's.   The kitchen is a little larger than those we've seen in the 30's and 40's.   Certainly there is a LOT of cabinet space available and the colors are bright, light and cheery.  But I confess, I find it far less charming than those modern day kitchens so new to the previous eras.

The kitchen is conveniently located to the deck and that is something I do like.  We don't barbecue much but honestly most homes I've been in where they do barbecue are seldom convenient to the deck or grilling area.  Awkward steps or having to carry foodstuffs through other rooms.

We can't really tell a great deal about the arrangement of the kitchen overall, but we can see that the cooktop is located on that central island where there is plenty of prep and serving space.  That is the WOW factor of this kitchen, really.  It's unusual but central to all areas of the kitchen.   I believe the orange doors behind the woman on the wall is the oven unit.  I like that the central island has what appears to be an ample vent over the top of the stove.  That is one modern convenience I rather like.

I love that the sink looks out over the water and that the floor color is picked up by the walls.  The light toned wood cabinets keep things airy and bright without weighing the room down too much so that the orange and blue accents pop nicely.  

But yeah...I may slip into the 50's and 60's here and there but my heart belongs to earlier in the 20th century when it comes to kitchens.  It just does.  This kitchen looks neat and is unusual but I look for hominess in my kitchen and frankly this one is less homey looking.

The Week Ahead:

We are nearly at the end of June.  There's just one more birthday to go this month, my granddaughter Rosalyn, aka Rosie, has her 7th birthday on the last day of June and then I breathe deeply because we shall have made it through the past six weeks of greeting cards, gifts and parties and come out in budget.   July and August brings us one birthday each and we get two months of rest.  Whew!   I feel we've accomplished something each year when we make it through the five weeks comprised of the last week of May and the whole of June.

Since June is lingering with us through mid-week, I am declaring this week a Zone FREE week and not planning any tasks in a particular zone.  Instead, I'll do as I did on Thursday and simply tackle the jobs I see during the week regardless of where they are.

The past few years I've taken a month off and do just a weekly diary post but this year I don't feel the need of a vacation just yet.   I can attribute that to the fact that we've worked steadily but not as though we were driven and because the heat thus far has not slammed us.  Our temperatures have been fairly mild thus far.  

So let us proceed with the plans I actually have:

Work:  

As I said, no Zone specific work this week.  And at the moment I've not noticed anything in particular that I am thinking "Oh I'll get that done!".   My intent is to just take a room or set of rooms or work area each day and look it over and see how I can improve upon it.  I don't mean to slay myself working hard, but just to take this week as a sort of "I've been meaning to get to that..." or "Gee I hadn't noticed that needed work..." kind of week.   I do not mean to work on any major projects.   

Do a Six Month review of my yearly goals for this year and that means looking at all areas of my life and home.  I usually do this quarterly but didn't this year because we had some big changes occur, some expected and some not expected.

I want to work out my goals for July.

I will work for an hour or so on the flower beds at the house in town.  If I can swing it, we'll go buy several bags of mulch and just maybe some hydrangea if I can find the proper variety and a bag of garden soil to top up some of the holes where old shrubs were pulled out.  I only need three hydrangea for the space so it shouldn't be too pricey to get those...and if it is we'll buy them one at a time!

Do some research on what varieties of plants we want to get and when they are best planted.  I've got a whole article saved on the hydrangeas and know pretty much what we want in those but the other two plants are some we need to look into.  I'll also see if I can gather some prices so we know what we're looking at.   

Run down my pantry and freezer inventory lists and determine what groceries I will need to purchase for the month even though we won't do a big shop this month.  Instead it is my intent to do two smaller shopping trips and to focus on fresh produce and dairy as essentials for the month with any remarkably good sales and then to save what I can for a bigger more comprehensive stock up in August.

Routine housework and yard work.

And we're going to call that good enough for this week.  I'm sure I can find plenty to keep me busy!

Kitchen: 

I'll start with my menu plan for this weekend and week ahead:

John says we'll have 'something' or 'do something'.  I don't know if we will or not.  My plan for just in case: make a pizza* lunch and then have leftovers* for supper.  

Gramma's Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes with Chicken Gravy, Coleslaw (we'll pick up chicken at Publix deli along...and I may just pick up some slaw at KFC on our way home).

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches, Green Salads

Whole Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Green Beans, Cranberry Sauce* Squash Casserole

Lentil Tacos, Yellow Rice

Meatloaves, Baked Potatoes, Steamed Cabbage

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole, Salad, Green Peas

Gathered Fragments to use this week:

There's little again this week.   I have:

2 hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup refried beans

4 Pigs in Blankets

Cranberry sauce

Why so few?  I think it's because I've become so very conscious of what leftovers we might have in the fridge and just automatically plan them into  another meal the same week.  I've also become more conscious of portion sizes and am cooking a little less rather than cooking too much.  I don't have any items near expiration in the next several months nor a lot of excess stuff in my freezer.

Personal:

I want to start sitting on the porch each morning with my first coffee.  Its far too nice outdoors to miss that morning window.

Mini spa day for me.

Play with my wardrobe with an eye towards what I'll wear in July.  I want to shake things up a little and try new pairings.

Read:  Currently I have Pride and Prejudice (linking a lovely hardback.  I'd very much like to replace my paper backs with nice hardback copies).   I also have Jane Austen's Town and Country Style and I continue to read A Year Without the Grocery Store.  I find with the last two books that I am more interested in taking them slowly.   The first because it is full of pictures and historical facts and the second because it is easier to digest a chapter at a time.  

Rain is forecast for the entire week.  I'd like to get out of the house and go on a date.  Maybe I can talk John into an antiques mall walk through...We'll see.