Tag: house

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Kitchen Renovations

I can remember many years ago, hiring a custom cabinet maker to renovate my kitchen in a house that I used to live in. I had spent a lot of time looking through magazines and planning out exactly what I wanted. I spent several hours consulting with him, showing him the magazines, and going through his hardware catalogs, picking out exactly what I wanted. That was back in the early 1980’s, before I had a computer with Internet access. That was a lot of work back then.

From time to time, I day-dream about using some ideas that I found from here and renovating my existing kitchen. I love so many of the new ideas for cabinet storage! If only I was independently wealthy!

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Decorating Ideas

Although I don’t have a lot of money, I love to look at magazines and websites that showcase interior decorating. I like to fantasize about how beautiful my house could be “if only” I had plenty of money and the kind of family that wouldn’t break everything within two hours of the arrival of the items I had purchased! Today I was looking around at the domestications bedding section of a website that sells home and patio decor and was surprised to see that they were selling melamine serving ware for what I would consider a hefty sum of money!

I can remember when I first moved out of my parents’ house, my first set of dishes was melamine. I bought them because they were the least expensive set I could find. I was really pleased with them because they were not likely to chip or break, and they lasted a good long time. (I don’t remember whatever happened to them – did I donate them to charity?) Anyway, I was surprised to read the descriptions of these particular melamine products, how the descriptions said that melamine was highly valued for their durability. Made me wish I still had those plates (maybe they would be worth some serious money!)

But continuing to read the fine print about melamine, I saw that it is not recommended for use in the microwave, and that hand washing is recommended. The description said you could wash them in an automatic dishwasher but over time it would ruin the finish. Thinking about how almost all of my cooking is done in the microwave, and how much I use my dishwasher to wash my dishes, pots and pans, I was quite surprised to learn that there really is still a market for melamine dishware at all!

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Time flys

This summer seems to be flying by really fast, and it seems that with working so many hours, I’ve missed it. I’ve wanted to do so much this summer, but all of July it seems that I was not feeling well at all. I think it was the heat that got to me. It never bothered me before this year. Is this a sign I’m getting old? (Horrors!!) Anyway, it is already August and where did the days go? Hopefully next summer we can at least take a family vacation. Or at least go on a vacation of some sort, and any of the kids that wish to come, can tag along. They are all into their own thing though, so we’ll see what happens. School starts for two of the kids still at home and I’m figuring my oldest son will also take up some college courses. It’ll be nice to have the house to myself for a few hours during the day when I’m not working. Maybe I can get some deep cleaning done around here. It’s nearly impossible with them at home. Ask for help? Yeah right… lol!

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Restful Father’s Day

Father's Day (free clip art)
Father’s Day (free clip art)

My father loved to nap on the sofa whenever he got the chance. That made it a challenge to our large family, to let the house be quiet enough for him to sleep – we had a lot of very active and loud kids! We always wished he would nap in his bedroom, and I never understood why he did not do that.

On Father’s Day you could usually find him sleeping on the sofa in the afternoon. When he’d wake up, though, he would take us out to eat a nice dinner at a family steakhouse!

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A very nice Mother’s Day

Mother’s day, my siblings and some of my Mom’s grand children gathered at her house to celebrate Mother’s Day. It was a nice day, with a lot of hugs going around and really great conversations between all of it.

What I loved about this day, was how laid back and peaceful it was. Even my Mom seemed to relax a bit and it was great. Usually she gets a bit antsy when there are a lot of people in her home, even if they are all “us kids” and she knows that we are there for her. She isn’t like that with me, but I go to spend time with her far more than my brothers and sisters do.

Once we got back to our house, the evening is going as smooth and peaceful as the whole day went. All in all, THAT is MY kind of way to spend Mother’s Day.

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Baking

Between cookies for the family and pies for the dinner at Steve’s house tomorrow I have been in the kitchen all day long. I do not mind I love to bake and I have had help today, my 6 year old Grandson David has been helping and if you have a 6 year old you know that it will take me longer to clean up the mess than it took to bake the cookies, but I do not mind it was a pleasant experience watching him absorb the cookie making process, and it will not be long and he will be ready to make cookies himself. A man that can cook is always a plus around the house. I think we are ready for Santa to visit tonight and I can not wait for the presents.

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A mouse in the house

I just spoke to my mom about an hour ago, because she called to make sure I was coming home to her house. Then she called back to tell me that she has been trying to capture a mouse that is in her house, all day long. Apparently she can’t set the traps. I personally don’t like to kill mice. I think they are cute, and that is a cat’s job. I’ve never had a mouse in the house. I had to assure her that my husband would set her traps for her, since she is afraid of the little thing getting into her pantry and eating her dried goods. I can tell by her voice that the hunt for the mouse is now on. This should be a trip, to say the least!!

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Soup is good comfort food

When it turns cold I tend to fix food more for the comfort and warmth than the ease of cooking. So I make a lot of soups and chili to keep on hand for the kids and for me too for that matter. Good wholesome warm food is always a good thing when the weather turns cold, last night I made a brisket in beer sauce it turned out fantastic and everyone loved it. The entire house smelled of the chili sauce in the recipe and when I walked in from work that was a very nice smell let me tell you. Today is going to be left-overs and soup so get ready it is a day of rest for me today.

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Going swimming

A good friend of mine has invited all of us to go swimming at her house. I’ve been cooking some things to take and am looking forward to going. Pat, my friend works a lot of hours and we don’t seem to be able to hook up and hang out as much as we used to. I’ll be great to spend time with her, her kids and her grand kids also. I haven’t seen her newest little grand-daughter and it’ll be nice to hold a baby for a bit. AND, I can give the little one back to her mother when I get enough of my “baby fix”. LOL!

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New floor

Last weekend we pulled up our old nasty carpet and put down a new wood floor. It was a huge job that took us the whole weekend to complete. I was very happy to have a lot of help the boys and one of their friends who is a carpet installer helped, I could not of done it without their help. The floor looks great and it is such a joy not to have that old ratty carpet on the floor. The whole house looks so much nicer and smells better, too! The dogs love it they go sliding when chasing the ball and I think they are having a blast on the new wood floors.