Good Morning!
This month is just flyin’ by. Come on Spring! 🙂
Quote of the Day
“Of emotions, of love, of breakup, of love and hate and death and dying, mama, apple pie, and the whole thing. It covers a lot of territory, country music does.”
Johnny Cash
And try as I might, I couldn’t narrow it down to one for his birth date today. So here’s a mix with clips of a bunch. 🙂
____________________________________________________
QoD
You have $25 dollars, a full tank of gas, your family, and a free day.
What do you do?
Wandering Views 
I just sit here wondering what I could do with $25.
😆
I do have a full tank of gas, I topped it off at Sams yesterday at $3.63, I have $25.
I don’t have anything on my schedule today. (Yesterday I transported some ladies to the VIP (visually impaired person) support group.) So that description fits me.
You may see me around a bit today.
It’s raining in Hendersonville. The rain is turning to ice as soon as it hits the trees and ground.
So, I’m inside for a while. I may risk going for the paper in a few minutes.
We’ll see.
Sinus problem is clearing up, but not completely. I went to bed at 9:00 last night and slept well.
As you can see, I’m also late this morning.
So? Where is everyone?
LikeLike
Mornin’ Chas,
Best to just stay in and avoid the ice. There’s probably nothing worth reading in the paper anyway.
LikeLike
Thank you AJ. You know I have always loved Johnny Cash.
Mr. P is still in the hospital. Perhaps today they will let him out today.
As for the question of the day, I would buy a book, some sunscreen, a couple of bottles of water, a sandwich, and head to the beach. As for the family side of that $25 wouldn’t begin to cover what all BG would want to do. It would cost at the very least $50 to take her to the beach because she wouldn’t want a sandwich, she would want me to take her the Hang Out for lunch and then to the Track to drive the go carts. I wouldn’t get to the book. Now Mr. P? He would need some bait and a fishing pole and he would be satisfied.
Oh, and I heard a few songs I wasn’t familiar with. Thanks. 🙂
LikeLike
Kim,
I knew you’d like it, and since it’s his birthday it seemed the right choice. My mom was a big fan, so I actually had heard them all before.
And prayers for your husband.
And if he’s Mr. Perfect, doesn’t that make you Mrs. Perfect?
🙂
LikeLike
The director of our church’s Easter Pageant has quite a challenge. At last week’s rehearsal, “Judas” complained that he couldn’t run in his “dress” and Jesus made His triumphal entry in an Astros cap with a toothpick in his mouth.
LikeLike
Ricky,from yesterday. WW II was an accident. Not only the assination of the count, but the Schlieffen plan went into operation automatically. I suspect Michelle’s husband had contingency orders on what to do if Washington is attacked. The Schlieffen plan was such a contingency.
The Germans swept through Belgum and almost had Paris. But they overextended their capabilities.
I wrote a paper on “Der Schlieffen Plan” at the Naval War College. I looked for it but couldn’t find it. It’s around somewhere. I wouldn’t throw it out.
The French had a plan too. It was Plan XVII. But nobody studies it because it didn’t almost work.
Hitler studied the Schliffen plan and fixed it for WW II. It worked then.
As you said, it was so brutal because they used Civil War tactics in modern warfare. That was the main problem with French plan XVII. The French in their bright uniforms charged, with elan, against those Huns in their ugly grey uniforms the same color as the morning fog, and hidden behind those bunkers with machine guns. Thousands of brave men chopped down like cornstalks.
The Gremans alost succeeded, but they overshot their supply lines, and the men were exhausted after going through Belgum and northern France.
LikeLike
QoD, Can we pack a lunch or do we have to eat off the $25.
LikeLike
Ricky, that reminds me of the year our director decided to give Jesus a line. He had played Jesus for years and looked the part. But when they asked him to just say “Who touched me.”, Jesus came off sounding like Jeff Foxworthy.
LikeLike
WW II is the source of all our problems today. The Russian revolution, WW II, and its aftermath. And the carving up of the Ottaman Empire into nations with boundaries that have nothing to do with cultural differences. It did create an indurstrial superpower, which neither Japan nor Germany understood.
LikeLike
I meant to say WW I, was the source of our problems today.
We would have problems without it. There are always problems. But they can be traced back to WW I, and Der Schlieffen Plan.
LikeLike
Another snow day here in the Midwest. We are supposed to get 6-10 inches. It’s coming down hard and fast. You know you’re getting trouble when the show is falling almost sideways. And we had thunder this morning. The weatherman says a thunder snow is rare, but this is the second time in less than a week we’ve had one. Plus, there was on a few years ago too. Maybe rare in other places, but not here, apparently.
As for the QoD: I’d probably take Mrs L. and D3 ice skating. Nearby is one of those rinks with artificial ice (some sort of plastic). Funny, it’s closed for the season. This would be a perfect time for it, though. Once the snow stops falling, it will be in the low 30s for days on end. Just right for outdoor ice skating.
But I have to figure out how to get the flat tire fixed on the minivan. I hope the garage is open in this storm.
LikeLike
QoD: In winter, if it was remotely warm, I’d pack up the snowshoes and go for a picnic and fire somewhere close by. In summer, I’d load up the canoe and head for a lake with a swimsuit, followed by ice cream at one of the ice cream shoppes in the tourist town where my husband works.
LikeLike
Good Morning all! Today, Mr. Klasko and I celebrate our 32nd anniversary. He promised me when he proposed that I would never be bored. Sometimes I have wanted to be bored, but I haven’t been bored in 32 years. 😀
QOD: That’s easy – Skyline Drive, (weather permitting). It is one of the favorite motorcycle rides Mr. Klasko and I like to make – but not at this time of year.
LikeLike
I’d load up the canoe and head for a lake with a swimsuit, followed by ice cream…
So, is there a person in that swimsuit? I can only imagine an empty swimsuit sitting in a canoe. And is the ice cream in a freezer so it doesn’t melt on the way?
(A little humor for your Tuesday.)
LikeLike
Peter 🙂 I knew someone would comment on my “early morning trying to make sense as I typed…”
LikeLike
Sit out on the deck reading books and chatting. Maybe a bit of croquet or badminton in the summer or shoot some hoops. Roast marshmallows in the chiminea in the winter. And tomorrow the twenty five dollars and tank of gas would still be there.
LikeLike
Happy Anniversary KLasko!
We used to like to go out Skyline Drive just to get away from the bustle for a while.
That’s where I saw Halley’s Comet when it came through.
We used to drive up just to have dinner at that restaurant. I think it was at Skyland, but could be mistaken. It’s been a while. We would walk a mile or so down the Appalachian Trail.
Some fun times.
LikeLike
$25 … Depends how close to pay day it was.
Happy anniversary Klaskos.
It’s my “Monday” today after having yesterday off.
LikeLike
Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Klasko!
May enjoy many more. 🙂
LikeLike
QoD: Hmmm, probably go sightseeing.
Happy Anniversary, Klasko!
Re: WWI – There was a lot under the surface of that war. The racist doctrines of the Axis in WWII were already influencing the aggressors of WWI. In the early 1900’s, the German colonialists in Namibia systematically slaughtered the tribal inhabitants for the same reasons the Nazis later slaughtered the Jews. Borders that divided cultural groups abounded before WWI, as the Austrians ruled over Hungary, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), Moravia, Transylvania, Bosnia, and Croatia, while Poland was chopped up by Germany and Russia. Germany and Austria were seeking to further expand their borders and wanted that war. When Austria declared war on Serbia, because it only accepted eight of Austria’s ten demands, the die was cast. Russia moved to protect Serbia, which gave Germany an excuse to move on Russia and its allies. As Russia had an alliance of mutual protection with France, who in turn had such an alliance with England, they were all dragged unwillingly into it (and poor Belgium who just was in the way of Germany) – France tried to keep the peace until they were attacked and then lost one third of their male population in defending their country. No, WWI didn’t created problems so much as manifest problems that already existed. But it also brought about some good – after all, it was in WWI that Palestine (now Israel) was taken from the Ottoman Empire.
LikeLike
KBells,
Yes, you can pack a lunch.
Donna,
It’s the day before payday.
__________________________
Just an observation. Some of you have to not think so hard. Be spontaneous.
I can always rely on the ladies to over analyze things. Just like at home. I ask a question. I think it’s pretty straight forward and easy. But then some lady comes along and it turns into a “But what if…., and what about…..?” C’mon ladies, I’m a guy, I didn’t think it thru that far, and you don’t need to either. Don’t any of you ever just go with the first answer that pops into your head? I do all the time.
But now that I think about it, that has gotten me in a lot of trouble. Huh. Maybe there’s something to your method after all.
🙂 😆
LikeLike
OK, AJ, first answer that pops into my head: pack a lunch, load the family into the van, drive a couple hours to 2nd Arrow’s home away from home, have a nice family picnic, and use the $25 dollars to pay for gas for the return trip.
How’s that for spontaneous? 🙂
LikeLike
Happy Anniversary, Klasko!
Husband would manage to make the day more adventurous, but the full tank of gas sets us back. We have to take two cars to go anywhere as the twelve passenger van does not fill the bill. Though we could take the bus.
LikeLike
Oh, I forgot to say Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Klasko! Have a great day! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for all the well wishes.
Chas – Mr. Klasko and I like to stop and eat at the restaurant at Big Meadows, which is close to the halfway point. It’s usually where I tell him that I need to get off the bike and stretch my legs a bit. And since he is a veteran with a disability, our entrance fee is waived, so we can spend the whole $25 on lunch. If we’re in the car, which we would be at this time of year, we still have enough gas to get home.
Last spring, we were on the motorcycle and drove past a black bear about 10 ft away from us. First time I ever saw a bear up close and personal. We just kept right on going. 🙂
Skyline drive is a nice getaway.
LikeLike
Ha. AJ’s right, we ladies do overanalyze sometimes. OK, so payday is tomorrow. Hmmm. Find a friend to either go to a movie with or go out for lunch or dinner. 🙂
And if I had like $250+, I could treat someone to a day at Disneyland. 🙂
LikeLike
Yes! Big Meadows was the place. Elvera liked to dine close to the window and look at the mountains.
I’m trying to read an article in The American Spectator about John Kerry entitled “Duped at Foggy Bottom, John Kerry Reporting for Duty”. Paul Kegnor, the author is reminding us of Kerry’s Vietnam War actions and testimony. It’s hard to get through without boiling over. But Kegnor is wrong. Obama didn’t make a mistake. This is according to his plan. I’m certain that Obama despises what America is and intends to remake it. He’s well on the way.
LikeLike
Off to the beach–two of us could probably squeeze out lunch for $25, maybe.
I saw Halley’s Comet on the beach in East Lyme, Connecticut. I made my sleeping children (two) get out of the car and look, just in case they live long enough to see it a second time.
A British Wife in Berlin is chatty and veers back and forth between drama and furrowed brow as she tells stories of WWI from the German side. She actually knew the Kaiser, but then she was a princess (from Britain) married to a Prussian Count.
It’s all hard to read. At one point so many men were slaughtered (GErman side), they filled the trenches and the next round of soldiers had to stand on the bodies for a day, shooting back.
And don’t get me started on the gas . . . No wonder the Nazis were so effective with the chambers in WWII.
Just horrifying.
God is showing up today at my Job study. What a relief! I’m going to read Job 38 aloud from The Message Bible because it’s just so funny!
LikeLike
I’m glad God is showing up somewhere.
We need Him real bad.
Our SS lesson last Sunday was about Jonah and the repentance of Nineveh. God spared that wicked city. And as I said, “There are still ten good men in Sodom”.
But I don’t feel good about any of this.
LikeLike
Don’t any of you ever just go with the first answer that pops into your head? I do all the time.
That answers a lot of things. Welcome to the OMIF* Club of North America. I am past president of the Northeast Missouri chapter. I only lost the title when we moved to Central Missouri. Yeah, got that presidency also. Now that I am back in Northeast Missouri, I can’t get it. You see, my brother moved back to the area.
*Open Mouth, Insert Foot
LikeLike
“It wasn’t the perfect country and western song, because he hadn’t said anything about Momma, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin’ drunk.”
LikeLike
With the $25.00 our family would either go to the matinee and see a movie and buy popcorn to share ($5.00/person for the movie and $10.00 for popcorn (and maybe a drink). The other alternative thing we would do is go to a used bookstore, or library book sale, and perhaps come upon some great bargain books. If money happened to be left over after that, we would go for ice cream from Chick-fil-A. I am assuming the assignment is to spend the money on an activity. I really like what Mumsee said, too. I would enjoy all of that. And saving the money is a good thing to do these days.
LikeLike
I’m currently designing our kitchen-to-be. Would you all be willing to share what you love about your kitchen and what you would change or add to your kitchen? Thanks 🙂
LikeLike
I found my paper on the Schlieffen Plan. In it, I find that the French lost 300,000 men in their thrust through the Ardennes. (This is in my discussion of plan XVIII.) The US lost about 418,000 in WW II.
The most significant paragraph in my assessment of the Schlieffen Plan was:
a. The German armies swept through Luxembourg, Belgium and France a planned, but not as scheduled. The Belgians were more determined than expected, the British Expeditionary Force arrived sooner than expected, news from the Russian front was worse than expected, and the German troops had to walk farther than expected. The flanking German troops had to walk 340km (210 miles) before finding the war in France. The retreating Belgians had destroyed their railways, (as someone should have expected) effectively cutting the flanking armies from reinforcements, or even adequate supply. In addition, Moltke was concerned about the battle in the Lorraine and he was reluctant to commit more forces to the right wing……
LikeLike
Wow, I’m learning a lot about WWI – I never took it in school as I went to boarding school in a different province for Grade 12 and they studied it in Grade 11, whereas the old province studied it in Grade 12. Very interesting.
LikeLike
I didn’t answer the QOD early on because my first answer was just like Mumsee’s, which I suspected would be considered an invalid answer, since the $25 and the tank of gas were included in the question. It’s just like math word problems in school – if they mention the speed, the miles, the direction, the amount of time, or the cat, you can be sure you need to use them in your answer. But the truth is, a glorious day for me is hanging out at home with the family, especially now that we live in the same house as our son, DIL, and two precious granddaughters.
LikeLike
MIM, ” You don’t have to call me Darlin’, Darlin’ ”
Mr. P is sprung from the hospital.
LikeLike
Happy Anniversary to the Klaskos
LikeLike
“…you never even called me by my name.”
LikeLike
Good Afternoon, Y’all!
Kim – that’s great!
Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Klasko!
Buy a fried chicken dinner and head for Callaway Gardens. Always something to see and do…
LikeLike
Yes, Calloway would be fun! The butterfly house takes you into another world.
As for a kitchen, I like having a pantry, a refrigerator, a stove and microwave, a sink, a table and chairs, stc…the basic necessities. Since I have never had anything other than that, I do not know what else to say! We do have a washing machine in the kitchen and it would be nice to have a laundry room maybe off of the kitchen with the washer and dryer all toether in one place and a table for folding towels, etc.
LikeLike
Happy Many Years Anniversary to Mr. & Mrs. Klasco.
LikeLike
Janice,
I don’t know why but the Vegetable Garden is always my favorite.
CG would be a good choice…we have an annual pass and all of the 25 dollars could go to the picnic…
LikeLike
Our kitchen has a lot of cabinet space. One woman looking to buy the house said she wished she had as much. But Mrs L has a lot of stuff and still needs more cabinets.
LikeLike
Don’t know why my name disappeared? I’m still me!
– inbutnotof
LikeLike
Oh…different computer
-ibno
LikeLike
I like my island very much and in my last house enjoyed having a spot to sit and eat at the island AND a desk a little lower. I loved a pantry when I had one. My only wish would be for an appliance garage to hide them away. I would not do well with glass in the cabinets–I don’t have pretty dishes beautifully displayed. 🙂
LikeLike
Good news Kim!
Linda,
You’re good, so is Mumsee. I kept the amount low, so it wouldn’t get responses for things that are something you wouldn’t normally do. Everyone’s answer is good in that respect. I wanted to know what you all and the families do as normal fun, not out of the ordinary stuff. Even when that means staying home for fun. 🙂
LikeLike
I like the Callaway Gardens idea.
I’ve never been there, but we have one around here called Longwood Gardens. My wife loves it. I should probably take her again soon. It’s a day trip, but we could do it on a tank, and not much money. It is a beautiful place. And a cool fountain display set to music, and a 10,010-pipe Aeolian organ.
I suppose now that I mentioned it, I’ll be committed to it. My wife lurks sometimes.
Hi Squirrel! 🙂
Yes, I’ve already picked her a user name. 🙂
Linda Schaffer, you should check it out now that you’re in PA. It’s on Rt. 1 in Kennett Square Pa.
Here’s a link.
http://www.longwoodgardens.org/
And a good video preview.
LikeLike
Since I can pack a lunch the State Park where with the $25 we could rent a paddle boat and still have change for ice cream on the way home.
Or the Dollar movie and pizza at Sam’s.
LikeLike
I live close enough to the Bay that if I were really industrious I could walk thus saving the gas. On the way I could stop at a sandwich shop or cafe. That could take care of one “beach” experience or I could drive to the Gulf of Mexico.
IBNO Sacred Heart was a good hospital until today. I just pulled up to the main entrance and waited for them to bring Paul down. They have valet parking and you can’t turn around. It was like an ant hill.
KARE my coworker “pins” things on Pinterst all the time as she is remodeling her kitchen. There are some fantastic ideas there. Construction-wise you want to keep in mind the work triangle–stove, sink, refrigerator–all within a few steps of each other. I like granite countertops and tumblestone backsplashes. I also think it is important to have lots of drawer space. One of my kitchens (I have moved quite a lot) had three drawers stacked next to the stove. The top one was shallow and I laid all my spices down in the drawer with the labels up. No searching and having to unload a cabinet to find the cumin or oregano! The bottom two were deeper. In the second drawer I kept my cook pots and in the bottom I kept knives, a hand mixer, and several small appliances I didn’t use often.
Around here everyone seems to want stainless steel appliances. I do think they look nice but a magnet won’t hold to stainless –I can’t stand junk on the front of the refrigerator but I do put the week’s meal plan and grocery list on the side. Stainless also shows water spots and finger prints and you have to buy special stainless cleaner to polish it up. Windex doens’t work!
I like the idea of a work island (perhaps where the stove is) with a step up bar so that you can sit and talk to the cook or even eat a casual meal. A walk in pantry is nice with either wood or metal shelving (check out Ballard Designs or Williams Sonoma for IDEAS –don’t pay their prices you can recreate the look for a lot less)
I also like a sink that has a shallow side and a deep side–must have a garbage disposal.
Take some graph paper and lay out your dream kitchen. Think about where you will put the coffee maker and make sure you have nearby storage for the coffee and the cups. A good long length of countertop is also nice so that you have a work area or can serve a large dinner buffet style. Also I would encourage you to put more than the standard number of electrical outlets. They will cost an extra $10 to $20 dollars on the front end but will save you years of frustration! Don’t let anyone talk you out of them! If at all possible consider double ovens or at least a warming oven. You will also want a dishwasher.
Thats just my short list and nothing like the kitchen I currently have! Hope it gives you some inspiration.
LikeLike
Kim! Thanks for the input. I should have mentioned we’ll be building the whole thing ourselves and we already have the appliances (white, as I too dislike stainless) We’ve thought about the extra outlets as well as we currently only have 2 and the fridge is plugged in downstairs through a hole in the floor (I laughed when I saw that) Thankfully, hubby is good with electrical, so we’ll be able to put in as many as we could possibly want. We’re thinking of making ‘butcher block’ counters using free pallets – any thoughts on that idea?
Thanks to the others who have responded too.
LikeLike
I also go to Houzz . com for ideas – love that site!
LikeLike
AJ – Longwoo Gardens are beautiful. Last June, my daughter and her college roommate from NJ and college roommate’s mother and I went on a mother-daughter long weekend in the Brandywine River Valley. We all try to get together every year since they graduated. We stayed at a B&B and one of the things we did was the lights garden display and the evening fountain show to the pops music – lights and fountains at Longwood Gardens. We loved it.
We are planning to go again sometime in May or June because we didn’t get to do all the we wanted to do. Still have a couple of stops to make on the wine tour passport. 😉
LikeLike
AJ, I have been there – a day trip when we lived in Maryland. I also LOVE the Wyeth Museum in Brandywine. But, hey, maybe we could meet there sometime? Another “blog reunion?”
LikeLike
Klasko – cool!! Did you go through the Brandywine River Museum?
LikeLike
I am finding these kitchen tips interesting as we, too, are in the process of putting in a new one. Ours will be in our new basement apartment, so I get to pick everything new, from scratch (for the bathroom, too, which is HUGE). Our kitchen will be what I’m calling a “strip kitchen” – that is, it will run along one wall, around the corner, and on to the adjoining wall for a few feet and is in the corner of what we’re calling our “great room” – a very large open area.
To keep costs down, I decided to stick with the used (spare) refrigerator the previous owner left and it is almond so the appliances will be that color. I’ve already bought a stove (electric with black smooth top) to match it but everything else is up for grabs.
One thing we’re wrestling with is the counter top – should we go with cheapy Formica or one of the newer pricey types? One friend just told me that granite is “out” (as in soooo 90s) and another said she heard it can give off radon. Anyone else hear that? Any thoughts on counter tops?
LikeLike
KARE I love the idea of butcher block countertops but you need to realize they will scar up which could lend its own beauty. I have a round butcher block in the corner of my kitchen that my father had. I have been offered several thousand dollars for it and won’t willingly part with it. Sanitation is an issue with wood as well. You have got to know how to clean it and keep it clean. Liquids will seep into it. Perhaps you could do a combination of a hard surface and the wood? Look into sandstone or even consider putting the wood all the way through and have it topped with a granite sheet. I am not sure but solid granite used to be about $30 a foot and the granite veneer was about $15 a foot–Just to do a smaller space OR oh, oh, oh…one of my friends bought a stainless steel table at a kitchen store for about $150 and built the step up bar in front of it. I LOVE her kitchen and have spent many happy hours at the bar while she cooked and we talked. The table has the top and then a shelf on the bottom where she stores mixing bowls and her cook ware. It really is nice and in one of my kitchens I did something similar with a stainless table my dad had–it is now in my storage building with boxes upon boxes stored on it.
LikeLike
QoD: We’ve been wanting to go to Kalona, IA, so assuming the weather was good I suppose we’d head there. Though I’m sure we’d end up spending more than $25, between eating out and buying stuff.
If we were limited to spending $25, we’d probably just spend the day at home reading/playing computer games, and go out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant.
LikeLike
Linda – yes we did. College Roommate was an art major. That was the one place we had to go. We enjoyed it very much.
And, speaking of Brandywine, has anyone ever heard the song called “The Blacksmith of Brandywine”? We had it on an album by the New Christy Minstrels when I was a kid. A song about the American Revolution.
LikeLike
Oh, yes, put in lots of outlets. I’ve got two on my island alone. We opted for “granite transformations” when redoing our kitchen because I didn’t want to live without countertops for weeks on end.
They come in and measure your existing counters and return a month later with the new ones which are laid on top of your old ones. It’s an extruded product, 95% granite (chips) with 5% polymer–which means you dn’t have to seal it and you can put hot things down without worrying about them.
Looks just like granite, but stays cool all the time (great for rolling out pie crust) and was significantly cheaper.
LikeLike
APuline- Go to Kalona during the Fall Festival. There is plenty to do then, for very little $.
LikeLike
Oops: Pauline…
LikeLike
We’re scared of granite or cement since we are both quite klutzy and feel we would break a lot of dishes 🙂 There’s also not much chance we could afford even the less expensive transformation variety. I may just have to live with plywood counters for a while – but I’m okay with that.
LikeLike
How crafty are you? You could “marble” them—they sell kits–and put several coats of sealer on them and have a nice look for very little money. I got my nephew to do this in a bathroom. He used gold paint and sealed it and it looked really good.
LikeLike
Kitchens: Having lived in some military quarters and moved around a lot, I have lived with some great and some not-so-great kitchens.
I loved my long galley kitchen in my first set of quarters in Berlin. Very good use of space, and at the time I had more cupboards than stuff to put in them. I was a newlywed then and we didn’t have much of anything.
We won’t even talk abuiot the next kitchen. Suffice it to say, I cried the day we signed for those quarters at Ft. Devens. The only thing good about it was gas cooking. As I had never cooked with gas before, it tok some getting used to. (Poor Mr. Klasko and the baby Klaskos!
About halfway through the Ft. Devens tour, Mr. Klasko became a warrant officer so we *had* to move to a new set of quarters. That one had a great newly renovated kitchen and a walk in pantry. I loved being able to store appliances on some of the shelves. It had a bright front window at the sink and a dishwasher, and a garbage disposal that ate a lot of forks.
We moved to Germany and mu kitchen was a short galley with a pass through to the Dining room, which I liked. They renovated those kitchens while we lived in them and knocked out the pass through wall. Instead they put a counter on the kitchen side and a raised bar on the DR side and that was very handy. I liked that feature. Mr klasko and the little Klaskos atr their breakfasts and lunch at the bar. There wewre cupboards under the bar accessible from both kitchen and DR side.
Then we drew down that place and moved to Ludwigsburg. (I think I remember that Tychicus once told me he had lived in the neighborhood we lived in). Those were pretty run down and I don’t remember much except the dishwasher was portable. There was a pass through, and I liked that. We drew that neighborhood down too.
We rented a house when we first came to the DC area and the kitchen was pretty much like the first set of quarters I had at Ft. Devens. Except more updated.
Then we moved into out townhouse and I loved that kitchen. It was the entire width of the house. I t had gas, the kitchen sink had a window in front of it that looked into the Drning room and I could be in the litchen or at the sink and talk to people. The kitchen was big enough for a small table and chairs. I had an island and the most cupboard space I’d had since Berlin. I could access the island cupboards from both sides and the island had outlets. I had a small pantry closet and next to that I had what they called a planning Center. It was a built in desk with drawers on both sides and cupboards above. That was wonderful.
My current kitchen is nice. It has a good size island with electricity, accessible cupboards from both sides. We have a box window with a nice foot and a half sill over the sink. That’s a handy place to grow some herbs. I have just about enough cupboard spoace, but I would get more drawers. There are not enough drawers in my kitchen. (I would even forgo a set of cupboards for more drawers.) I plan to update the counters in mine soon. Granite might be out, but I loved my sister’s granite counters.
Double ovens – I have a stove that had tow ovens. the top oven, which I use most is big enough to put short things in. The lower oven is the big one. I use that about once avery 3 months or so. But both are great at Thanksgiving. I once thought I wanted a double built in oven. When I was at my sister’s hose – she has one, I discovered that it briefs well, but for me is impractical. I am short and the top oven opens at chest level so that makes for some problems for me with leverage and reaching without burning myself.
LikeLike
Linda and Klasko,
I was thinking sometime we and are significant others need to get together. Longwood in the Spring would work. Or lunch/dinner when we head to Virginia to visit my MiL and BiL. Just something to think about. Anyone else in the area would be welcome as well. That would be cool. 🙂
LikeLike
Kim says:
“Sanitation is an issue with wood as well”
Actually, wood is a much better anti-bacterial material than plastic. I had a butcher tell me that they went back to wood blocks after a study showed that bacteria multiplied on plastic blocks and died off on wood blocks. So they just re-surface the wood blocks now.
LikeLike
Yeah, granite MIGHT give off radon as it deteriorates, but I doubt that should be a concern at this point.
As for the “cheapie” laminate tops, it gives the most bang for the buck. It’s a very durable surface, things don’t break when they hit, and when the buildup swells up, or the top gets scratched, it can be replaced very inexpensively. You can even get the nicer materials for a fraction of the cost of solid surface or granite. And don’t even think about the quartz stuff, it’s insanely expensive.
If ’twas me, I’d still probably opt for the granite, just because…
LikeLike
MIM I always use wood blocks. I just don’t know about keeping wooden countertops clean.
LikeLike
Wood doesn’t dull your knives like plastic does.
LikeLike
Well if by clean you mean stain free, then I don’t know either. I do know that you’ll have to continually renew the finish.
LikeLike
+1 on the Houzz site. I like to just browse through once in a while. Our shop has some stuff up there.
LikeLike
I had to work through lunch, so there are many gems here to review.
Chas and Roscuro, Thanks for the WWI lessons. Chas, my iPad tried every time to automatically turn “WWI” into “WWII”. It’s like no one knows WWI happened, so Michele is writing on an important subject.
Happy Anniversary to the Klaskos.
KBells, I liked Jeff Foxworthy Jesus.
Random, I appreciated your gracious response to AJ last night.
LikeLike
You can see a couple things I’ve done on this linkie…
LikeLike
MiM: Cool!
LikeLike
Kitchens: we did our expansion with the idea we would move our kitchen to an outer wall so we could see outside. The outlets were all raised and plentiful with the option for extra power and water all put in place. Then we decided it was a senseless waste of money. Our kitchen is large and centrally located. So the new kitchen turned into a bedroom and a dining room extension. Works for us. No need to discuss counter tops or anything else.
LikeLike
What I love about my kitchen is having a window to look out while doing dishes. Our bird feeders and the woods can be seen through that window.
I wish our kitchen was much larger than it is, though. With appliances and cabinets in, there is only about 8 1/2 X 9 feet of open floor space, plus a little 2 X 3 foot “entry” to the kitchen. No island, no pantry, and not much space for a large family to hang out in the kitchen.
The people who built the house worked full time outside the home, and had two children, and when my husband and I bought the place, it was just us, no little arrows yet. And I was a school teacher (as was the previous owner) and didn’t spend much time in the kitchen, what with being gone a lot, and spending additional time at home doing teacher-related duties. I wasn’t very domestic.
My life’s obviously much different now, and I do wish I had a larger kitchen in which to work with my daughters (and sons, and hubby, who also can be found working in the kitchen at times, as well).
Oh, well, I guess it’s cozy. 😉
LikeLike
Ah, kitchens.
My house is old and just has the regular tile (very pale yellow/white) for kitchen countertops and the backsplash, which I happen to like. Cabinetry is all a warm wood tone.
I also heard that wood cutting boards are better than the plastic ones, so I’ve gone back to those. I have a large, heavy one but mostly I use the handy little pull-out wood board from the counter (I bought a new one several months ago as the old one was really quite disgusting and thus I never used it; the new one is hard maple & I make sure to clean it with vinegar and butcher block oil after using it).
And I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the stainless appliances. Much too industrial.
I wish my kitchen were larger, but it’s not bad — it does have an island but that’s where the stove is, so it doesn’t offer a lot of working space.
LikeLike
I was listening to the Dennis Pragar show on the radio this morning while I was driving to work and he was interviewing the author of a book called “Coming Apart” (Charles Murray). Anyone read it? Sounds good.
LikeLike
Thanks for Johnny Cash. I used to spend hours listening to Johnny Cash records but never told anyone because I thought it wasn’t cool. It wasn’t til I left my small town, went to university and met some friends who were into Celtic punk that I found people who also thought he was cool. Here’s Cash doing a cover of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails — “Hurt” …… punk nihilism meets an American original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go
LikeLike
Chas et al
Basic Historiography 101 always features the question what is the origins of WWI. Great way to introduce the notion of historical debate, evidence, and reasoning. An other common debate was the origins of the English Revolution. I specialized in the latter because it featured sharply drawn ideological battle lines yet I still recall the countless seminar classes focused on the WWI origins question,
Donna, I read and reviewed Murray’s book, Coming Apart, at
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12031563-coming-apart
I also cut and paste my review in today’s news and politics thread. In one sentence, I couldn’t tolerate it.
LikeLike
We are over sinked; 3 in the kitchen, 1 in the island and 1 for the coffee counter. We like them and use them all.
LikeLike
HRW,
Cash and Nine Inch Nails is quite a combo. I like both, so it works for me.
🙂
LikeLike
Yesterday, TJ, a very sweet and gentle guy, thought about booting me off this discussion board,” but did not. Last night, I met with my “unfaith group,” who told me (not in quite so blunt terms, but the message was clear), “Stephen, you are way too extreme for an atheist. How will we ever succeed in our mission of converting good Christians to atheism so they can (burn/freeze/rot/be bored) in Hell with radical people such as you? Any more activities such as tormenting good Christians such as (fill in your name and church/faith group of choice) and we will have to excommunicate/expel/burn at the stake/draw and quarter/throw in the ocean (which is nearby as we live on an island).”
Should I be terrified?
(We are off to Port Townsend to see a couple of friends (who are Catholic and one of whom was born in Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon) and saw Buddhists (Sinhalese ethnic majority) burn Hindus (Tamil ethnic minority) alive in the street at the start of the Civil War and also saw Tamils burn Sinhalese alive in the street at the start of the Civil War. She is very glad to be a Christian in the United States.
I say thanks to Roger Williams, even if he was a Calvinist nut.
Of course, I am terrified. I will die, as will we all. Have a lovely day. The ferry may sink on the way to Port Townsend. Pray for me.
LikeLike