Text 3108, 154 rader
Skriven 2010-10-25 21:09:42 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 2985 av Nancy Backus (1:261/1381.0)
Ärende: dream kitchen  was: seafood
===================================
Hi Nancy,

 RH> moved into the house Dad built. It's the one I learned to cook/bake on
 RH> and was replaced in 1978 (77?) with the one she has now.

 NB> Dunno when the previous owners bought it, but we bought the house from
 NB> them in 1975.  We got the stove, a refrigerator, a portable
 NB> dishwasher, and a washer and dryer as part of the sale (along with
 NB> most of their
 NB> furniture and quite a bit of their junk in attic and basement).  They

Pre furnished house--nice.  From what you've said about the stove, the
owners had probably bought the stove at least 20 years before you bought
the house from them. Did you have a big yard sale or big dumpster for
all the junk they left? (G)


 NB> were retired and moving to a condominium in Florida, so didn't take
 NB> much with them.  The fridge died within a year of our moving in.  We

Can't fit much in those places.

The fridge may have been the oldest appliance.  The house we rented for
a few years in Swansboro had a fridge that was so old there were no
shelves in the door. The freezer had a slot underneath, big enough for
one ice tray and the compartment was maybe 15" by 10" by 10" (give or
take; it's been 33 years since we moved there).  We got the OK to
replace it, which we did, with the $50. wonder fridge.  We wondered how
old it was, what brand it was and how long it would last, among other
things.  We never did find out how old it was, found the brand name some
years later and it stopped running about 3 weeks before we moved when
Steve joined the Army, or about 5 1/2 years.  He got some parts to
jury rig it into working and it was still running when we closed the
door for the last time on the place.

 NB> just
 NB> replaced that replacement about a year ago.  The washer died next,
 NB> followed by the dryer, but that was at least 10-15, maybe 20 years

Sounds like you got your money's worth there.


 NB> later...  The dishwasher has been on last legs for years, but then we
 NB> haven't used it lately either... dunno really if it still works...

Mine gets used every couple of days or so.  Depending on what I'm doing,
sometimes every day.  This past Saturday was the first Saturday it was
not run in several months, excluding times we were gone.


 NB> But the stove still works well enough not to get rid of it yet..  I
 NB> think I have two burners still working (I generally only use the one),
 NB> and the
 NB> oven is using the broil element for both broil and bake... so it's not
 NB> good for anything sensitive... <G>  But it does meats and casseroles,
 NB> pizzas and basic baked stuff just fine still, even bread or cookies,
 NB> but I have to pay attention there...  :)   I suspect that the previous
 NB> owners didn't really expect any of the appliances to last that much
 NB> longer... 35 years ago... ;)

I've got to have a working stove; I cook quite a bit.  The oven gets
used fairly often too, and will so more now that the weather is cooling
down. We have the advantage we can either call the property managment
office or the landlord if something goes wrong/needs replacing.



 NB>  NB>> Thus freeing it for use as a pantry... :)

 RH> Yes, and we have improved on it. It has wire shelves that made small
 RH> things unsteady.  I'd slipped a piece of cardboard under one shelf but
 RH> That came in OK so Steve cut down the shelves to fit the ones in the
 RH> pantry.  No more unsteady cans of tomato paste or other small
 RH> likewise. The bookshelves had a "lip" that Steve reversed when he put
 RH> them into the pantry so small things don't fall out as easy.

 NB> That works well.  :)

Yes, it's a help when there's a lot in the pantry; I don't have to worry
about little things falling out. Thanks to doing some replenishment
shopping, it's quite full again--but not quite as full as it was in
July.

 RH> For sure!  That's a small bathroom and we'd added a small plastic
 RH> chest of drawers to the limited floor space already.  There's no
 RH> medicine cabinet in there so some things that we'd put in one are on

 NB> At our first apartment there was no storage for linens, so Richard
 NB> built an open wooden shelf unit (shelves and dowels) to stick in the
 NB> bathroom. We still use it for extra storage in the bathroom now,
 NB> although this
 NB> house has a lovely linen closet in the hall outside the upstairs bath.

We've had nice linen closets and not so nice ones. Had a nice big one in
AZ, then a small one in HI. The one in GA was on the smallish side,
considering it was a brand new house.

 RH> Very much so!  When we got back from our trip in July, I had an
 RH> interesting time re-arrainging things to accommodate all we'd bought.

 NB> That sounds like me and the fridge (and its freezer) every time we
 NB> come home from grocery shopping... (G)  Creative rearranging... that's
 NB> definitely the name of the game...  ;)

Yes, and it makes for fun finding things for a bit. I try to keep
certain categories of things on specific shelves but it's not always
possible.  We bought an over the door wire rack that helps in the
organisation but I have to be careful not to put anything too heavy on
it.

 NB>  NB>> comes through with his long-ago promise to "build his aged
 NB> parents  NB>> a retirement home", we might have some input as to what
 NB>  NB>> there... then I might get my walk-in pantry... and other things
 NB>  NB>> I'd like in a dream kitchen...  ;)

 RH> We've not had either of our daughters make that kind of an offer yet.

 NB> Well, our son was studying to be an architect when he first made that
 NB> promise.  And reiterated it after he actually was working as one...
 NB> Now that he's switched career paths, dunno if he'll actually follow
 NB> through, though he does still have the expertise both for the planning
 NB> and the
 NB> construction..  We'll see.

IOW, don't hold your breath. (G)


 RH> As nice as Rachel's kitchen is, there are some things I'd tweak on
 RH> it to make it a bit more user friendly if possible if it were mine.
 RH> She has a butler's pantry, as well as a walk in pantry.

 NB> I think each of us would have our own tweaks on even the fanciest
 NB> ktichens... what we find user-friendly probably is as individualistic
 NB> as the way we cook, etc...  ;)

Very true.  The builders put the fridge in a corner where it's not easy
to swing the door open wide enough to get the crisper crawers (and
similar) in or out easily.  The stove, sink and dishwasher are on the
opposite wall, all in a line. It's pretty much an open line from the
fridge to the stove (and a small counter top but a big island makes you
have to go around it to access the sink or dishwasher and larger counter
tops.  Of course the island can be used as counter space.


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Proverbs 3:5 | ... and lean not unto thine own understanding.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)