Designing the New Kitchen

In planning my new kitchen I really had no opinion--a kitchen is a kitchen.  I had a huge kitchen I really loved in Beaumont in this old tired house we bought but other than that nothing.  Fortunately I have a friend and a daughter who had remodeled and planned their kitchens. 

Daughter, Erin and her hubby had bought a 1950s house.  They gutted the entire kitchen and started over.  what they ended up with was still a tiny kitchen, but modern, very efficient and fun to cook in. She first introduced me to a gas stove.  I had always been a little apprehensive about gas until I used hers.  I fell in love with it.  In remodeling their kitchen they had put deep drawers in the bottom cabinets.  Those were so convenient--no more crawling on your belly to find the muffin tin--everything was right there in full view and organized.  The other thing she had was one cabinet with a butcher block top.  So great not to have to crawl around on my belly to dig that out either. They had added a tile back splash and built in their microwave.  Every inch of space was used for this perfectly efficient modern kitchen.

Then my college roommate Janis had remodeled her kitchen.  Of all the things she added she said the most important was a "drawer" that pulled out for the trash can. She also had a deep pantry built right in the main part of the kitchen with large lazysusans for easy access to everything.

The reason we were moving in the first place was to downsize, and make the first floor "universally accessible".A.K.A handicap accessible for Jim.The new house is about 30% smaller than the old one, as is the kitchen. 

This is the right side of the kitchen.  The house is a Southern Living plan.  I got a picture of a hood over the stove out of Southern Living and had the carpenter copy it.  It is not finished in this picture but will have corbels on each side and a metal shelf above the stove top.The cabinets are beaded board and have not yet been painted.

Another challenge in the kitchen was, I didn't have room for a pantry.  So instead I used Janis, idea and built a cabinet in to use as the pantry.  It is to the left of the refrigerator "space".  There are two shelves at the very top behind the two doors, then the microwave space, beside that is the space for cookie sheets, muffin tins, then below are the  four pantry shelves--each one will pull out for easy access.  The pull-out shelves will have a door that covers them. So in spite I having a small kitchen, I still have plenty of counter space and everything that I need, thanks to Erin and Janis!

Duck Season--or Rather Duckling Season

Jim and I were heading over the the new house to have a look at the cabinets.  He glanced over and there was a Moma Mallard and her ducklings. 

The mom has the Mallard markings but they are very, very pale in off whites and tans--like she is an albino duck.  The father has all the bright Mallard colorings.

Yesterday as we came by, a truck was stopped in the middle of the road with no other traffic--then we saw the family---Mom, Dad and 11 little ducklings-- all waddling back across the road to the side of the lake.

Dumped

Since our daughter and her family decided that we were not good enough for them, my blog has been in the dumper. Jim and I are moving on.  There is nothing we can do to change the situtaion.  There are lots of cute babies in our new neighborhood--and some just might be in need of grandparents!

My animals never cease to be a topic of entertainment.  Jim and I have one dog, Skye,our border collie, and one cat, Yoda Beth.  Then, we inherited another cat, Boomer from Erin, a big himalayan.  Her husband didn't like him any better than he like Jim and me.  There was another inheritance as well--Sooner, a blue heeler that came to us when Austin was transferred to San Antonio, and had to move into an apartment.

So although we are over the city animal limit of three.  We are not over the cat or dog limit which is a limit of two dogs and  limit of two cats--confusing I know.  The biggest problem we have faced so far, is that the new comer to the group, Skye, has never properly been initiated by the cats.  Sooner has had her nose split several times, and knows to to take the long way around if the cats are in the room. 

I forgot to take water with me yesterday, and since I had the top down on the car I was parched.  In a weak moment, I stopped at Sonic to get a drink--a RT 44 Dr Pepper.  It was so big that it sort of warped going into my cup holder in the VW, but it worked.  I pulled into the garage, struggled the cup out of the holder and started inside.  Both dogs were yowling at the back door, and forgetting the cats were in sleeping somewhere, I let the dogs in.    Skye and Sooner were standing looking anxiously at me--after all it was only 2 hours until supper time.  I picked up (my now worse for wear cup), and  BLEWY!  The bottom of the cup  completely blew and the huge DrPepper and all the ice was on the hardwood floor.  The dogs started licking at the spill with all their might , but before I knew it  the  two cats had appeared.  

As soon as Boomer saw the dogs he let out a ferocious hiss,  which is more than Skye could stand.  She lunged at him . He took off around the island  feet slipping and sliding like one of those cartoon cats.  The dogs took off with Sooner loosing her back legs, looking like she was in the roller derby.  DrPepper and ice were quickly being thrown to the far corners of the kitchen and into the family room.  Then Sooner engaged with Boomer, and before it was over Yoda Beth was also in the brawl--everyone slipping and sliding in DrPepper, ice cubes spinning across the floor.

I grabbed as someone went by and got Sooner by her harness.  She put her four legs out like mule as I dragged her, DrPepper and ice across the family room.  Fortunately everyone in the frey followed, barking and hissing right out the back door.

SLAM! I leaned up against the door and looked at the mess.  I need to rethink that animal limit a little more--maybe there is something to it.