Update and a half

Whirling through the week

What day is it? Wednesday? Whoops! I missed yesterday!

On the upside, though, the plumber was in to install the dishwasher yesterday, and that went well enough. Yes, we had to cut the counter. Still, he was able to get the old one out neatly and the new one fits beautifully and works well. Nice and quiet. Remains to be seen how well it will do full and removing all the little bits of stuff from dishes, but hopefully it will as there is no going back now!

Appliances installed, the counter is the next big thing. The next little thing will be the range hood - the one I bought wasn’t going to fit, so it is being returned and the style the handyman recommended has been ordered.

But wait! Now it’s Thursday!

I’m pleased to say that the new dishwasher performs very well. We’d had friends over for supper, so I could give the new stove a trial run. I was tickled to learn that the dishwasher holds more than my old one, and I love the third rack for silverware… and silicone cupcake liners. But that’s a whole ‘nother story. I was able to do up many of the dishes from prep, all from a meal for four, and miscellaneous other bits.

The other bits were from cleaning and clearing off the countertop and windowsills, preparing for the new counter. As soon as the handyman had tucked the range into it’s proper place, I was calling the counter-man, and finding out when he could come to do final measurements. As it happened, he had time in the afternoon to swing by. We talked through the backsplash, the counter, the sink… and this afternoon, yes, Thursday! he and his crew will be here to demo the counters. The actual counter installation will happen this coming Tuesday, far faster than I had hoped for. I am very excited, even if I did choose to be without a kitchen for the weekend.

The long hot month of August is upon us, which will likely see no rainfall. The garden is already crispy around the edges. Still, the pink hollyhocks keep on giving, and the Unknown Rose is a showstopper. Off to the left in the photo is the delicate pink of the Mexican Petunia. I didn’t mean this to be the Pink Patch, but it works!

The cupcake liners were from earlier this week, when the kitchen was chaos. My dear husband had a hankering, and standing in the kitchen looking at various boxes, tools, and sundry, told me “I wanted cupcakes, but it’s too much trouble.” Cupcakes, my dear readers, are not that much trouble at all, especially when you prefer them unfrosted (chocolate muffins?) as he does. I beat up the batter and baked them in the toaster oven as the range was not yet installed. They were dangerous. You’d walk by them and one would jump in your hand.

Once the range was installed, I wanted to use it, of course. I didn’t have time that day for bread (or counterspace as I was still cleaning it off). Instead, I made up roasted potatoes. The last of the red potatoes from my garden, cut into roughly 1 1/2” pieces, tossed with a little smoked oil I had, Aleppo peppers, salt, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I fired up the lower oven and roasted them at 400F in an 11x17” baking pan for about ninety minutes. So good - creamy interiors and crispy on the outside. The oven has an automatic preheat function and brought the interior up to temp in just a few minutes. The upper (smaller) oven has a convection capability that would have worked with the potatoes as well, but I’ll have to look up the time requirements before I try that. It is essentially an air-fryer so that will be fun to tinker with recipes.

A few days ago, talking about this kitchen renovation, I’d quipped that I was looking forward to getting serious about cooking. One friend looked at me with wide eyes ‘you weren’t serious before?’ Which is fair. However, I am very much looking forward to getting back into the swing of food blogging, recipe development, and with all due time… the cookbook.

Toast before the cricket invasion, peacefully napping.

I’m rambling. I’m happy, the plan is being executed, and Toast is hunting a cricket. I hear little jingles of her collar when she’s in full throttle mode, sometimes a soft thud as she slides into something, and once every few minutes she trots into the office to look at me and give me one of her soundless maiou? faces. She wants me to come hunt with her. Silly kitty.

I’m making progress on Tanager’s Flight - sorry for missing the Wednesday snippet, paid subscribers, but there will be one on Friday! My husband is feeling well enough to fulfill his role in my writing life as first reader, and has read through the whole manuscript to the last chapter (written after I loaded it into his e-reader). He had some things to point out, but nothing critical to plot, and proclaimed it ‘a good story’ which made me droop with relief. I’ve been so worried about this book. Now, I need to write like the wind to finish it up soon.

Which I think I shall go do for a little while, since I can’t sleep, I’ve cleaned out the lower cabinets so demo doesn’t leave crud all over pans and silverware and such, and I don’t log in to the day job for some time yet. I’d say the house was quiet, but there are at least two crickets with their raspy songs, and a jingle of a cat bell racing from one end of the house to the other. The crickets taunt her, falling silent as she nears, while the one at the far end starts up again…