My Kitchen is Nearing Completion

It's been a long road, but we are closer to completion.


The image above was taken before the hardware was installed and before the top went on. It is stained maple, I love the dark wood, it is really gorgeous and it helps to make the buffet look like a piece of furniture. I am referring to the top piece. The doors are all painted maple.



I mentioned the last time I posted on my buffet that I did not like the straight legs. I put pieces of cut out paper on the inside of them so I could get an idea of what it could look like. I really like this look, it needs a bit of tweaking, but I will cut out the added pieces in a couple of weeks and glue it in place. What do you think, does it look better, does it go with the old style better?

The counters were installed and so the fun begins: decorating it!

The microwave is the only appliance in so far. The stove and fridge arrive on Feb. 9Th.

We still have a very long to do list:

- three light fixtures to install

- flooring to go in

-appliances to be set in place

- more bead board to go on the wall around a window and near the refrigerator hole

- heat vents and air return vents to go in

- new taps to arrive some time, they are back ordered at the moment, could be a month before I get them

- under counter lighting to be purchased and installed

Okay, I'm exhausted just writing them out. The good news is that I am flying to British Columbia on Monday and I will be gone for two weeks and most all of this will be finished when I return. The appliances will arrive the day after I get home. If you don't see much happening here you will know why. This chick is flying the coop!

Happy weekend to all of you lovely bloggersand friends!

Hugs, Cindy

PS Ann from Australia, if you read this please email me, I have lost your new email address and cannot contact you. Thanks! :0) Sorry, Ann is my friend in Australia and she recently moved to Tasmania. When my contact list on Hotmail was stolen I lost all of my addresses including hers.

January Birthdays

My husband and my two grandsons all have January birthdays.


Jon turns eight (going on 30) this weekend. I say going on 30 because he believes himself to be a man already. He will say to his dad when they are alone, "It's just us men, eh dad?" Greg, my son, will say gently but firmly, "Jon you are not a man yet, you are still a boy." He does work like a man when given the chance though, he has always loved to work along side his dad. Over the last several years Greg has spent a lot of time renovating their house and whenever Jon could, he was there at his dad's side helping. He is a very cheerful, social boy and I love spending time with him. He's a very bright and interesting child, always full of questions. He loves to be outside, when the weather is good he is often shooting baskets or riding his bike.

Then of course my littlest grand son, Nate, he turned three on Friday. If you have been following my blog you have heard about him a lot in the last several weeks. I am deeply grateful that we are celebrating his third birthday. He is also very social, he loves talking to people. Nate has always been very sports oriented, since he could make his wishes known he has loved to watch sports and play it as well. When we were visiting on the coast this summer, Nate wore us out playing baseball.

Grand sons are truly gifts from God and I thank the Lord for them. Happy Birthday Nate and Jon. Your grandpa and I love you both so very, very much.

Cindy

New Buffet in Kitchen

Here is my new buffet with china and storage cupboards.

Barry of Visions Kitchen Showcase designed this unit to showcase the pretty window. Previously, our china cabinet was sitting there in front of it. I love the way this shows the window now.



Below the shelf that you see there, will be a wooden top on the bottom cupboard and then it will look kind of like a piece of furniture. The only thing that I would have changed, had I known how it would look is, I would have had them put real furniture legs on the buffet. That would given it the look of a piece of furniture. Don't you think? I think it is SO beautiful as it is, though.

I can just imagine what it will look like with my old silver pieces and my new little glass canisters that I bought at Winners with a gift card given to me by sweet daughter #2 for Christmas. My husbands Cappuccino machine will sit there with it. I know I can make it all look wonderful. I have several inspiration pictures from magazines. I love the shelf, it will be so fun to decorate and my china and white pieces will look so wonderful behind the glass doors!

Thanks for following the progression, I appreciate all of your comments.

Hugs, Cindy

More Kitchen Photos

The upper cabinets are being installed. I am loving them!!!







Thank you for visiting, remember that I love comments!

Hugs, Cindy

Cabinets are Being Installed!

The cabinets are here! I am doing a little HaPpY DaNcE!!! It is so fun to watch them go up bit by bit. I have to sneak through the kitchen to go to the upper part the house. I feel like a litte mouse hiding in the basement day after day. But I am SmIlInG! Believe me.






Well, there it is. I am not able to comment on each photo because Blogger has gone crazy for some reason. I don't see the photos anymore, only the http addresses of each one. I will get my hubby to check it out when he gets a chance.

Have a beautiful Wednesday!

Cindy

My Comfort Foods

My very most favorite comfort food is Hamburger Gravy and Biscuits. Most people have heard of the Sausage version, but I grew up with the Hamburger version. My mom was from Tulsa, Oklahoma and my dad from Moline, Illinois, so it originated from one of those places, I would guess. It really is delicious, you can eat it for breakfast, like I did while growing up, by itself or with grits and eggs. Or you can eat it for supper, like we do now. I have a fruit salad or a vegetable salad on the side. My hubby, raised in Saskatchewan, where nobody ever heard of Hamaburger Gravy and Biscuits, dearly loves it. I have never had a recipe for this, I learned it from watching my mom make it. But I have attempted to make a recipe for you.

Hamburger Gravy

1 lb. hamburger
2 1/2 tbsp. flour
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 recipe cooked biscuits, 10 count

Brown hamburger in frying pan. Don't drain the fat. You will need about 2 1/2 tbsps. of fat in the meat mixture altogether. Add some shortening in to make at least that much fat. Mix flour into hamburger and let the flour become slightly brown. This is where you will get your flavor. Gradually add the milk to hamburger, stirring constantly. If it is too thick add a bit more milk. Stir in salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over biscuits.

Biscuits

Preheat oven to 400F
Blend or sift together
2 cups Pre-Sifted PURITY All-Purpose Flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Cut in finely with pastry cutter.
1/3 cup shortening
Add
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
Stir with a fork to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll or pat to desired thickness, (biscuits will be doubled in height when baked). Cut out with a floured cutter.

Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet, close together for soft-sided biscuits or about 1″ apart for crusty-sided biscuits.
Bake in preheated 400F oven for 18 to 20 minutes.
Yield: 18 to 20 – 1 3/4″ biscuits.

Enjoy!

Hugs, Cindy

Kitchen Update: Three Days 'til Cabinets Arrive

First of all, I want to thank my blogger friends for patiently following my Kitchen odyssey and leaving such nice comments. It is so exciting for me and I am so blessed to have a place to chronicle each phase.

So... my hard working hubby has taken up the old floor covering as well as the underlay. For some reason it had weak bouncy areas. So it was taken up and new underlay plywood has is down and the floor is ready for the cabinets to go in.

My Kohler Brookfield bisque colored cast iron sink has arrived in all it's glory! It is so pretty, I really won't mind washing dishes in it, it will be a joy. It was the next best thing that I could find to an Apron Front. They aren't real popular in Canada, yet. Next year I will find them everywhere, probably!
My Price Pfister Marielle three piece Chrome faucet is on order. Isn't it a beauty?
And now, for the Torlys Cork floor, it will be on order Monday. The place we are buying it from will send someone out to measure the area so we are able to order an accurate amount.

I like the Burl Natural from their classic collection. The colors in it are almost exactly the same as our Oak flooring. Our neighbor just recently installed them and their oak floors are identical to ours, so we were able to get a look at what it will look like installed.

I am so excited about the progression, but I have found it hard to make all of the decisions. But, almost all of the decisions have been made now, all that is left is to pick the white for the bead board that will be installed.

Thank you again for all of your kind comments. Have a wonderful weekend, my friends.

Hugs, Cindy

Do You Like Before and Afters?

I have found some wonderful Before and Afters happening at this time. My favorite is the party that Rhoda is hosting right now. There is some great stuff there! Then there is a blog call Better After and it is all before and afters. I really love that blog. There's always great inspiration to be found there.

Here is the only before and after that I have done recently. My accent color was red in my last place, but I didn't want it in this little cottage. So, one day as I thinking about what to do with them, I began to wash them and lo and behold, the red finish was coming off in my hands! I was so thrilled!


So this is what they look like now. Aren't they lovely? They are residing in my basement man's den for the time being because that is where we have had to move the "kitchen" while ours is being remodeled. I have a microwave and my laundry tub, so everything is good!




The Christmas decor came down right after Christmas and I am leaving everything pretty plain for now. Simple can be very pretty, though.




I changed my fireplace mantel to look like this and then I read what the Nester had to say about Accessories on Parade and I took four things off of the mantel. Hopefully, it looks better.

Does it look too bare now? There is a fine line between too much and not quite enough, I think.

The rest I will leave as is.

I love seeing what something looks like through the French doors.

I have turned on the comment word verification again. I know what a pain it is, but some unscrupulous people left 37 comments on an old post, from October. They were left around Christmas time and their addresses lead back to some very UGLY websites. It was all in some kind of foreign language. I couldn't read the comments and I'm glad, I would not have wanted to. I deleted the post, I find this kind of thing very disturbing. If it happens again, I will probably opt out of blogging altogether.

I hope you enjoy the Before and Afters as much as I do.

Love and hugs,

Cindy

Kitchen Reno: One Week Left Before Cabinets Are In!!

I will show you the plans for the kitchen before I show you what it looks like at this moment. I Know it has to get worse before it can get better... but it looks pretty bad right now. In fact I can't believe I am actually going to show those photos.

What you see here, above, is going to be in the eating area. A built in china cabinet and buffet.

My lovely kitchen to be.

Now for the bad and the ugly.

Lovely colors, eh?

At least my fridge is still in place, the range is gone and the sink with cabinet goes out tomorrow.

Well, that's all folks, the good, the bad and the ugly. This kitchen originally had hardwood floors, they were removed and a real cool lino was put down in it's place.

Hugs,

Cindy