I'm not in the market for a new house, but I found myself looking at them of late anyway. The other day we were in some neighborhood or another and I saw the nicest little English Tudor style home that was obviously new. In a world of cookie cutter look alike houses (not knocking them after all, you can hardly get more cookie cutter than a double wide!), it was so refreshing to see a home that had unique detailing. It wasn't a home with a massive soaring roofline, nor with ten different gables. It just had one lovely curving peak above the front door and then a standard roofline but as an admirer of the 1920's and 30's Tudor style homes, I knew immediately that this house was meant to be like those storybook Tudor cottages of the past.
Now I'm stuck online looking at such styles on Pinterest. I suppose there are worse obsessions to confess to.
I saw a photo of the great grandchildren Trick or Treating. Y'all...They were bundled up in a wagon with sleeping bags and coats and hats and look like little papooses. Snow surrounded them and it was 20F outdoors said the caption. Goodness! And here I am grousing about a little bit of frost coming in...Perspective is everything isn't it?
Work:
I went to an estate sale on Saturday. I bought a table. Did I need a table? Yes/No. I've been looking for an old-fashioned library table which I'd planned to place between the two chairs at the living room window. The table I bought appears to be a sort of library table. It may well prove to be too tall for the two chairs which means I may place it between mine and John's chairs. Whatever I do, it means that the house is going to be in a state of Fruit Basket Turnover because we all know that if you bring in one piece, not only must you eliminate another but the whole house ends being rearranged!
I bought one table, but the house had so many lovely pieces. A huge old broad faced dresser (? sideboard?) that stood chest high on me. A proper Hoosier Cabinet. Wood rockers. An East Lake chair that I'd have loved though it doesn't 'fit' with my style. At. All. Three of the dining room Hutches that I'd wanted for so long for the kitchen, before we gave up looking and decided on something else instead. Old bedsteads galore. A proper corner cabinet.
And the kitchen, which was the most modern room had been redone in the 1950s and outfitted with a whole set of the lovely metal cabinets that were spotless, without a bit of rust. I thought of Deanna and her former vintage kitchen. There was room to spare for a freezer/washer/dryer/fridge on one wall and more room opposite the breakfast counter for the Hoosier Hutch and a lovely table and chairs that were all about 4 decades older than the metal cabinet.
This house too will go up for sale and I'll lay odds those pristine cabinets will be ripped out without a thought. Such a shame!!
Forget zones and zone work. This week is all about clearing out the kitchen, the bit that remains. Most all of the cabinets are empty save those on the baking center side where I've stored foodstuffs. And it's high time I figured out just where I'm going to be cooking. I'm thinking of moving the toy box and putting the island on the entry wall into the living room. I'm going to set up the coffee pot and toaster oven on it. The slow cooker and toaster stay in the island. The bread machine and mixer will need to be stored away.
Hardest part will be putting all the foodstuffs into the pantry closet and then retrieving them as needed each day. I do still have quite a few freezer entrees or one pan meal ideas that can be slow cooked.
I also need to start clearing those bathroom cabinets and figuring out just where we're going to put those things. I think I can slide a few under the bed. I'll get John to take all the paint and paint stuff outdoors to the shed. It can't hurt to have it there for a few weeks.
Get the new month's goals set and work up a new checkbook ledger sheet for November.
And in the meantime...all the usual housework, laundry, errands, chores, etc.
Kitchen:
I'm going to try to make a few loaves of bread and some bagels, perhaps muffins, and store them all in the freezer. Wouldn't hurt to make up a Banana bread ,too. No need of being too ambitious though. It's the clearing out of things that will be the most important tasks this week.
I made up Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes last week, and the buns to eat with that, too but we never got to eat it. I put both in the freezer and will save those for the week the reno work begins. It will be a good easy to make slow cooker/toaster oven meal.
Later this week we've got two very chilly days. One of those days will be a perfect day to have soup.
Meals:
We're all out on Saturday.
Gramma's Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese (boxed for the kids), Potatoes Stroganoff, Peas.
Spaghetti and Cheese, Pan Roasted Vegetables, Green Salad.
BBQ Pork Chops, Rice, Green Beans, Slaw
Oven Fried Chicken Legs and Biscuits, Collard Greens, Potato Salad
Soup, Cornbread. Honestly, it's hard to think of food at the moment. We're just back from a church event we were invited to attend. And I am soooo stuffed. Suffice it to say that we will be having soup, but just at the moment I can't decide what KIND we shall have.
???Fridays are open for us these days.
Personal/Leisure:
Skincare: Face, body. I keep meaning to run by the dollar store and pick up the additional ingredients I need. It was packed on Saturday, and I refused to even attempt to try and enter that parking lot.
Manicure/Pedicure.
Light makeup.
Rise early. Practice required for next week when I'll have to be up every morning!
Daily Bible Study.
Morning Pages/Journal. The goal is three pages. Every now and than I manage four pages but mostly, I'm struggling a lot to get 1 full page written. I'm going to give myself grace on this one. I'm pretty sure that when Julia Cameron wrote this book she was NOT keeping a curious little boy, or fighting off the overly excitable grand-dog, or being asked "Where did you say it was?"
Reading for pleasure. Again grace for myself. I'm going to drop all three classes I signed up to take. I hate it but in the end, I feel like the Bible study is the most important 'study' I need each day. And I can pretty much fathom what I'm reading at 9pm if it's not too heavy on the intellectual side which all the others are.
5 comments:
Your kitchen and bathroom will be lovely when the rooms are all finished. I have never gone through a kitchen remodel but my neighbor did and I got a good idea of all that it entails.
I would have loved to go to the estate sale. It would be hard not to want to take more home. My mother had a Hoosier cabinet which I would love to have today.
Julia Cameron is on my list of authors to explore. Besides Scripture reading I read a lot of books for pleasure, mostly mysteries.
Don't forget before and after pictures of both rooms. We want to live vicariously through your renovation.
After the work we had done in our kitchen many years ago the thing I remembered was being hungry and the only incredible amount of dust and dirt. It was worth it but never again! Put something over your carpet where they will go in and out from your bathroom. Men are men and they won't be concerned about the mess.
Donna, when I had a booth at the flea market I gave myself permission to pick up things I thought were lovely and might sell. Now that I'm not running the booth, I'm very conscious of the questions I need to ask: Where will i put it? Is it something I will use? Do I really want to shove this in a closet/drawer/shed and never touch it again? It's amazing how often I can leave things behind, but if something really really twists my heart, and it's reasonable, I will buy it, hence the table I purchased was a good buy for me.
Anne I've got the before pictures of the kitchen on my phone but I haven't taken one of the bathroom...So I'll make sure to do that.
Lana, thank you for that suggestion. I will see if I have old rugs in the shed we might put down or I'll suggest to John we get some sort of underlay and tape it down so they can trek back and forth. I know the bathroom work will require them going back and forth over the carpet for sure, but I hadn't thought of the mess they'd make OUTSIDE the room.
That estate sale sounds just amazing. I've always wanted metal cabinets. I remember Mr. Rogers having them in his "house" on tv and always liked them. As a newlywed, our little married student housing at the university had metal cabinets as well. So much easier to clean! The house we lived in when our youngest daughter was born had a "built-in" Hoosier cabinet. It's still on my bucket list to have one but I have nowhere to put it. LOL
I agree with Anne - we are living vicariously through you and can't wait to see the finished product! I know you'll be glad to have it over.
It's been cold here this weekend and this week. I made chili last night but something was "off" about it and it wasn't as good as my usual chili. I followed the same recipe but I'm not sure what the issue was. It just didn't taste as good as normal.
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