It doesn't help that I get home from work late and then cook a meal, clean it up and poof! There's a finite sliver of free time that seems to lend itself to competing against complete strangers more than it does going down to my room and either sewing or actually cleaning or sorting.
The disposition of my craft room was put on hold when we started the kitchen remodel. The contents of the kitchen were loaded into big ol' boxes and taken downstairs into my room and family room while the remodel raged above.
We didn't do a lot of eating out as I managed to toggle together a lot of meals using the microwave and the grill outside. After 7 weeks we're back in the kitchen and I'm a little tired of my grill. It was a bit inconvenient to prepare meals during this time as the microwave was in a corner of the dining room, the grill was obviously outside, the refrigerator in the garage and the "kitchen" was in the laundry room. The chest freezer was the "kitchen counter" and the laundry room sink (put in years ago for just this purpose) was where we did dishes, washed veggies, etc. There were a few meals in there where I was pleasantly surprised with the results, but for the most part, it was food and we ate it.
We love our new kitchen and are very happy with all of our choices. No buyer's remorse here. I call it my spa kitchen which probably only makes sense to me, but I get such a calm, happy feeling when I go in there and see the soft gleam of the stainless appliances and the warm colors. Especially in the evening when the under cabinet lights are on and there is such a lovely glow. In the process, the wall between the kitchen and dining area was torn out and the counter and cabinets were extended down the length of the kitchen and a peninsula was added.
In addition to picking the counters, sink, flooring, etc., we got to design the tile back splash
ourselves. Down low is a mixed deco tile and above a coordinating 1" square glass tile. The Deco tile flows around the kitchen undulating from the focal point "peak" behind the stove to become "foothills" along the other walls.
The floor is vinyl, but is grouted like tile and just ties it all together. Still trying to get the hang of the convection oven differences as the bake feature doesn't seem to brown like my old oven, but the convection feature does brown. Not sure what you'd use the bake setting for then? At any rate color me happy!
Grace has decided not to return to Germany for the three year position there. It's been wonderful to have her and Zosi with us - and not because she does 90% of the laundry on Sundays. It's been fun going shopping with her and going out on Mother's day instead of only being in touch by Skype. She's been working as a technical writer as she looks for work in her field, but there aren't any listings out there lately. She just had another article published too. I try to remember as I enjoy her company that I am living on borrowed time and it won't be long before she moves on to the next phase in her life. Sigh.
It's Sunday afternoon and this is the time when I begin to coax my brain back towards the work week ahead. There's a plan for dinner and it's too drizzy outside to entice me out to plant the things we purchased this morning for the yard. I think that I'll go down to my room and figure out my next steps...sew or sort. So I'll leave you with a picture of my granddogter. Her attitude sums up the whole rainy Sunday afternoon feeling for me. Meh.
(This photo was taken during the remodel as you can see from the protected floors)
