Seventies Kitchen No More

I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. There are still things to do, like backsplash, new window treatment, etc., but the big job is done. We stuck to local products as much as we could, and of course the labor was local. The biggest chunk of money we put in circulation was for cabinets, and they were made in Ocala, Florida. I’ll update when final touches have been done.

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Out With The Old

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Here is our contribution to the local economy, not to mention my enjoyment. The upgrade wasn’t done in an “HGTV hour” but ran pretty smoothly over about ten days. We are talking ALL new–except for the shower curtain I am very attached to. There is a learning curve as with anything new. I still feel like I’m fighting a spitting anaconda when trying to adjust the Water Pik, but I’ll learn. It’s so nice to be in the new millennium.  Now on to the kitchen.

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Painter’s Cool Tool

[]This is the Swiss Army Knife of painter’s tools. Home Depot gives them away. The paint can opener on one end works great, but I have a question. Do we really want our painters to have a beer bottle opener on the other end? On second thought, after rolling a couple of coats on porous knockdown this week ourselves, Jerry and I vote yes.

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Hot Tamales and Hot Potatoes

You know what makes this illegal immigration issue so complicated? These damn tamales. Some of you know I am renovating my house. That calls for laborers and craftsmen –U.S. citizens because of my feelings on illegal immigration. I had a job set up with a local tile setter, but he had excessive earwax on the appointed day, then a pulled muscle the second day. Fernando could come right away. He did a beautiful job and by damn he brought me tamales the second day. You see how complicated this gets? I am from Texas and would sell my soul for a good, genuine Mexican tamale. Thank God I didn’t have to. Fernando is studying for his citizenship, so obviously a resident alien. So I’m off the hook—except for Ramona. Actually, it was my mother who rescued her from our garbage, trying to feed her children. After that day, she cleaned our home (and our friends’ homes) for over twenty years. When the time came, she insisted on sitting by my father’s casket all night. As I said, it is very complicated.
Most of us who lobby to enforce our borders are not bigots. We just believe in sovereignty, secure borders, and fair treatment of all who want to enter from whatever country.  And we want our our country to use its powers to pressure our neighbors to the south to treat their citizens right. We have no problem trying to rearrange priorities of countries on other continents. Mexicans live in a beautiful, bountiful country, rich in oil, tourism, precious metals, and history. Their people should be participating in the wealth that funnels to the elite. Why isn’t this a priority with our government? Why can’t Ramona and Fernando make a living in their beloved country? Why?

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That Seventies Kitchen

You may have noticed fewer words coming from this site lately. We are in the throws of upgrading our thirty-three year old house. We put a new roof, double-paned windows, remodeled the master bath, carpeted and did interior painting a few years ago. This time we are remodeling the other bath and kitchen, as well as painting the exterior. Let’s hope that does it for a while.

In the past few weeks we have had to decide “our style” as they say on HGTV. Good thing our style had some leeway because we switched from white kitchen cabinets to maple because the white ones available were not real wood. We did not want to be breathing the fumes from whatever they were. We’ll also use low VOC paint. I was told it is so pure we could eat it. Yummy. That will be nice to know when our stove is out. Our original white appliances became stainless since the cabinets would not be white. I was clinging to the twenty-something dishwasher until it graciously began to gasp and ask to be relived at the opportune time. In one day the cabinet maker tells me the cabinets will be gone and new ones in, along with new countertop. Amazing. Everything has fallen in place so well – after an initial fist a cuff with FEMA. Don’t ask.

My bath will be gutted tomorrow morning, the one I’ve used for thirty-two years. It feels kind of sad, but I’m sure that feeling will go away when the stylish new tile, vanity, toilet and tub go in. The good thing about a) being older and b) watching a lot of HGTV, you get a pretty good idea of what you like in the way of tiles, colors, cabinet styles. I don’t know if I could have done this at twenty. Actually I kinda did ,and the bathroom looked like a green stamp catalog and the kitchen cabinets were orange. It’s good to be old and not quite so daring. After all, this is probably what our children will inherit. No doubt they will gut it and start all over. Orange cabinets maybe?

 

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