Tribute to the Small Kitchen

I watch a lot of HGTV, DIY Network, FoodNetwork and FineLiving Network. It's really all I watch on TV. I see that everyone is obscessed with the professional looking kitchen. It is a Must Have! The stainless steel appliances, the granite counter tops, the glass mosaic tile, kitchen sizes as big as my tiny house. I don't have a kitchen the size of my tiny house, I don't have granite counter tops or stainless steel appliances. I don't even have a dishwasher and you know I don't miss a dishwasher one bit. I have lived in this tiny abode for 16 years with out a dishwasher or granite counters or stainless steel appliances. However, my appliances are black and I love them. I am able to cook gourmet meals and have parties and wash dishes after all the cooking and never have to ask if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty or wait till someone moans (myself mostly) about putting them away. I haven't knocked down the wall between the kitchen and dining room so that I can be with my guests. They just squeeze in the kitchen with me. What I am leading to is that I am happy to live in a little house with a little kitchen and I feel I have a normal social life. My guests come in and they cook in this cozy, warm cucina and the meals come out just like they did way back in 1926 when this house was built. Grandmas cooked for hundreds of years in little kitchens and most of the world cooks in tiny spaces. Don't get me wrong..I love to see what they do to update these supposedly inadequate kitchens..I just think that the ones of us that don't have all the fabulous amenities shouldn't feel inadequate. Good decorating, paint and the wonderful smells of good old fashioned home cooking can do wonders.

Welcome to the Snippets of my Home

My last post was a bit heavy in feeling so I thought I would lighten it up a bit and give you a glimpse into my home. I love my home...it has been said that it has a feeling that you could be anywhere in the world. It is a tiny home and I hope you enjoy the tour.

Famous Life

Was thinking of Elvis on my way home for lunch..no particular reason. But if he is not dead, I would fake it too so I could have a life. But if he is..I feel so sorry that fame suffocates the famous...truly takes their life away! Is it worth being so famous...no life, only death...

15 Books I've Read that will always stick with me...
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The Obligatory Rules:
Don't take too long to think about this. List 15 books you've read that will always stick with you. It's fun to ask your friends what their 15 books are..
Mine are:

Gone with the Wind
Follow the River
Undaunted Courage
Life with Picasso
The Great Gatsby
Mothers of Invention
If You Don't Outdie Me
Abraham Lincoln
Flapper
Harvest Home
Henry and June by Anais Nin
Wuthering Heights
John Brown's Body by Stephen Vincent Benet
Savage Beauty~The life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Womens Diaries of the Westward Journey

Today I have been visiting very interesting blogs that I have randomly discovered and am now thirsty to find more. These blogs are artistic and inspirational and very well written. Many have quotes and those that know me, know I love, love quotes. And they don't have to be by a famous person. "Regular" people have so much to say ~you just have to listen. I am amazed at what I hear from someone in the supermarket or drug store..enlightening bits of phrases and views on life. A lady came into the dental office I work at and as I opened the door to escort her back to the treatment room, she looked at me and said with a twinkle in her eye "we're lucky aren't we?" I carried that thought with me all day unto this day. How uplifting. Made me really stop and think about things. Another lady whose son is teaching in Africa said that he is in a very remote village without electricity and "at night there is nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company." I loved that. She emphasized that education even in that remote village was very very important and they are very strict about learning. These are just simple statements thrown out within a day of 8 hours but they are important statements to mull over. For me they take me to a higher level and make me move beyond the norm of day to day thinking.

Our Family's treasured Christmas Ornament.

Couldn't resist showing this treasured 80+year old Christmas ornament of my mother's before I lovingly tuck it back into my oriental cabinet for safe keeping. She had this since she was a little girl and it was on her tree since she was wee. Now it is on mine. It is a chalk faced Santa on skis and my sister and brother graciously entrusted me with keeping him after our mother passed away~they know how much it meant to her and how much care I will give it each Christmas.

There is a special blog that I follow..Little Byrd. I love her photography and the wonderful outfits she puts together from her thrift shop and Goodwill treasure hunts. I saw that she had a Homer Laughlin bowl posted on her blog and it just happened to be the same pattern that I found in the fall while junking. I have researched and researched and wrote and sent scanned images of the sugar and creamer that I acquired to Patterns, Ltd. to no avail. No one knows how old the pattern is or what the name of it is. I am so intrigued so I was so excited to see the little bowl on Little Byrd's blog. I would love to send them to her for her collection..they appear to be very old. So here you go Little Byrd..I hope you can see these clearly...not the best images as they are scanned.

The end of the Christmas 2009 season..Tucking away the Christmas decorations...very minimal this year, however much less stress and more enjoyable somehow.