Kitchen Corner Reno

Do you  like to watch those DIY or HGTV shows where they tackle those Ugh jobs?  Only and I LOVE to watch them, just imagining (dreaming) what changes what changes could someday be made.

It was Father's Day weekend  (I'm a little behind on posting this summer),  Honey and I each were feeling a burst of energy and getting some things done on our "Do List."  I was feeling pretty good about getting the Toy Area and Magnet Board done, but I knew I was missing some magnets and pretty sure our fridge had taken them hostage. Did you happen to own one of those "special edition" magnet eating fridges?  They really should take them off the market!

Pulling out the fridge, I was dismayed to find only one letter, but the biggest "surprise" was some mildew on the outside wall and a small water leak from the ice maker.  This project just got bigger! 

Honey being handy

I'm thankful that Honey was able to quickly get back there, remove the flimsy ugly shelf, tear off the bad baseboards, and useless boards on the side of the cabinet and counter.  Adding some caulking, boarding up and making improvements on the bottom cabinet, he made sure my mixer, and various other small electrical appliances would no long crash when the cabinet door was opened.

I scrubbed it all down with bleach water, applied Kiltz to the whole area,  got out my newly bought quart of what I thought was a great match pale yellow paint (added some white to get it to match), and burned the late evening hours. 

Finished!

 We're pretty pleased with the results.  Have wanted that shelf down for YEARS, weeded through my cooking magazines and cookbooks, got rid of treasures junk we didn't use, and wahlah!!!  My mini-kitchen makeover. 

Have you ever started on what you thought would be a small project and it turned into something bigger than you dreamed? 

Image association and super spies

Have you ever done something, 

and each time you do it, 

you are reminded of an image 

that is burned deep in your brain? 

I do.

What could occupy the recesses of my brain

but be so powerful it is recalled only be a specific event? 

Vacuuming  and cleaning Youngest room

Yes, I said it. 

The image? 

Do you remember the TV Show

Scarecrow and Mrs. King?

Yeah the one with the unaware (former Angel) Kate Jackson

handsome spy Bruce Boxleitner...

(I was going to say hunky)

This is a picture says it all...

To think there is a floor in there 

and we actually discovered it on Sunday.

 

It was AMAZING!

Even Youngest said it was nice

We still haven't found a pony or other buried treasure.

What we did find was 

a place to sit

carpet, 

a few "special" books,

some *eh hem* dirty clothes

and enough orphan things to fill a trash bag.

 I was just thankful nothing was found dead or living under all the rubble!

Have you ever had this happen?

What is the image or experience? 

Until next time,

What's going on at our house: Pictures

Look what is happening at our house!

  

Those cleaned kitty litter containers become great storage containers for the garage: electric cords, plumbing items, pet food, garden seeds and tools, etc.

 

Honey and Youngest - cleaning out the yucky garage.  *Sigh* Momma is much happier and I didn't even ask them to do it!  There is WAY too much junk in there! I'm just thankful no one stopped this time thinking we were having a garage sale!

EEK!  It's an invasion of the Basketball head people! 

(there is more than one use for a worn out basketball!)

  

Lenten Roses

These leathery shade beauties are 

members of the buttercup family.

 Dandelions

cheap childrens' play toys...

Rosemary

I love fresh rosemary in my Italian

Peasant bread and sauces.

Lilies of the Valley

These Lillies actually came from the farm my mother grew up on in KS, during the depression.  I love how they've thrived at my house and are spreading like crazy 

A cute little Princess

  

Can it be I love my Rainbow?

When I think of the things that make my life easier, and something that I use at least twice a week now that the Princess comes, it would have to be my Rainbow Vacuum.

 Do I love it?  Well, I can't say I would save it if the house was burning down, but it can really suck up the dirt in our lives (amongst various other items: cat toys, toothbrushes, legos, socks, marbles, etc). That in relation to the age of the user and that they didn't want to actually bend down and pick up the item. That lesson is for another day. 

 I must say, they aren't cheap, but this is the only vacuum that we've ever owned.  We have many of our friends purchase 2-3 vacuums in their lives, but (knock on wood), ours has been great.  We've only had it worked on a few times (it will probably go out tomorrow) to replace the belt and roller beater. We got it right after we got married, almost 20 years ago and took the plunge because of the great features to help with allergies and getting rid of all the junk that settles in the carpets, floors and furniture.  Now that we have indoor critters and live outside of town, we find that it is even a better help with country air dust, pet hair and dander.  If your cat will lay still like ours, we use it to suck up the lose hair from her.  I've used it to clean our ceiling fans, upholstery, and some quick dusting on tables and picture frames (yes, I own dust cleaner and rags).

All of the dust and junk from your floors, carpets, furniture goes directly into a water filled basin without any hope of swirling  back into the atmosphere when you empty it, like with a bag or up right canister. It was a little  horrifying at first to see all the junk we had been living with that collected in the basin, but we quickly realized that the more in that got sucked up into the basin, the better for us. 

I know it's a strange thing to love, but there you have it, I love my Rainbow!

Works for Me Wednesday - Empty the Dishwasher!

There always seem to be a problem with the dishwasher. No one is "able" to look at the blinking panel on the front and see the dishes are clean or that it is full and needs to be started~ Grrrr! A few years ago, when the kids were younger, I made a small 2-sided sign and attached it with a small suction cup to the front of the dishwasher. Both sides have a comical picture illustrating the words:

1. Dishes are dirty

2. Dishes are clean

The person who starts the dishwasher is responsible for flipping the sign to clean, the person who last empties is responsible for flipping it to dirty. Each of our 3 kids have an assigned responsibility: Empty top rack, empty bottom rack, empty the silverware. Their responsibility is always the same and we always know who has not done their job. Works for me!