Tuesday, September 4, 2018

The Kitchen

An enjoyable blogger mentioned that she would like to see my home.  And, that is lovely .  But  - - - - my home/house is no way "put together" like my garden .  However, most of my life my home has been my sanctuary and a truly enjoyable ongoing work in progress .  Most of my fairly long life I have lived alone but even on a smallish budget I was always doing something in my home to improve it, even when I was a renter for many long years .  My home was really a passion and really still is.  However, I have had some pretty rough years in the fairly recent past which has meant that the inside of my house is far from what I like .  Once you lose control of your routine of maintenance it can be very difficult to recover especially as we get older and especially if we are on our own.  My garden has become my joy and in many ways - my therapy .
But, my kitchen (it's a small one) is presentable .
It is not only presentable but it is my Work-Of-Art that I thoroughly enjoyed making about ten years ago.  That was a time when I was doing a lot of work like interior painting along with major kitchen  and bathrooms updating of my little 1970's home that I bought in 1993 . Very hard work but so worth it . This is a photo of the  kitchen when I moved here.   I did not have a garbage disposal or a dishwasher and there was very little cupboard space.
The mosaic backsplash is made with broken dishes that I was able to buy at Marshalls.  They had several boxes with broken dishes at almost "give away price" .  I never planned on having a purple kitchen - - - but I do now!
Additional cupboards and open shelving was added at a right angle to the existing kitchen counter.  You can see a little of it at the right edge of the photo.  That gave room for a dishwasher, little cookbook niche and next to dishwasher is a pullout towel rack.
And, this is the opposite side of the galley kitchen.  The stove is now a black one.  The little cupboard to the right of the stove is a pull out spice rack . I installed  pull out shelves in the cupboard next to the stove.  And, they are so great and so helpful .  It was fun finding ways to incorporate the little added conveniences.
That certainly was a lot of painting. All of the inside of the cabinets are painted lavender .  I have done a lot of the work myself in this little house.  Small budget means - learn how to do it if you want to have it.  Last year or before I had to replace the garbage disposal and

This is what I posted then - - -
About six weeks ago, the dishwasher that has never given me a second of trouble started to leave the dishes unclean and I started to think, oh NOT that too. After some research I learned that the garbage disposal may be the issue associated with the plumbing network under the sink and interfering with the performance of the dishwasher.  Soooooo, after some more research I decided that I would (Yes, ME) install the garbage disposal myself! The new one is the same brand and model, so I thought that should make the job a little easier. Well, I am proud to say that I now have a nice functioning garbage disposal - and - dishwasher. Boy oh boy, I must be more tenacious than I realized. That was one of the hardest (they are heavy) and complicated (under the sink) repairs/installations that I have ever done. I will spare you the details.


 and I repaired my electric stove part 1 and electric stove part 2 .

Dealing with major back issues from a career in Nursing means all my activity is predicated on my physical ability and as the years go by, also my fatigue level .  I would tease about spending more time cleaning my paint brushes than putting paint on the walls because I have to pace myself based on my back pain .  I just move about like a little tortoise !  You have heard the story of Aesop's fable,  The Tortoise and The Hare , haven't you ?
I am hoping to get the inside of the house painted again (by a professional painter this time)  and do some redecorating.  That should push me to do a major clean out one way or another.  I miss having a house I can entertain in !

Well, this post certainly took me down memory lane .  My entire life has been one of hard work and I guess I'll go out that way - - - but, no time soon !

Wishing you Happy Days.

Mary

2 comments:

  1. I have always thought your kitchen was lovely and fits your personality. I wish I could see your whole house and gardens some day! I remember your oven repair stories. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fun to see your work of art kitchen! Mine looks awfully plain next to yours! Have a good week! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete

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White Garden 2009

White Garden 2009
IN MY GARDEN there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The Thoughts grow as freely as the flowers and the dreams are as beautiful. - Abram Urban

Iris Flowers 2009

Iris Flowers  2009
In the garden I tend to drop my thoughts here and there. To the flowers I whisper the secrets I keep and the hopes I breathe. I know they are there to eavesdrop for the angels. ~Dodinsky

Pink Flowers 2009

Pink Flowers  2009

Yellow Flowers 2009

Yellow Flowers  2009