1919 American Four Square

As I twittered yesterday, Dennis & I went out and about on a couple of errands yesterday. We went back to the farmer who we had bought those tremendous tomato plants last year. You know the ones, they grew about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide and gave us tomatoes well past the first frost. You remember:

We’re ramping back up on finishing the downstairs half bath and maybe (fingers crossed) making more progress on the kitchen . I believe the only reason this may be so is that we are realizing that outdoor chores are coming fast (we are planting a much bigger garden this year) and we need to wrap some stuff up inside. Check back this weekend, I’m posting pictures for good or ill.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I have used a heat gun more than a blow dryer in recent years.

I’ve started removing 50 year old paint from the window sills and door frames in the kitchen recently, and have discovered the required tools for the job:

After a couple of years, it was time for the new old stove to come upstairs and earn it’s keep.

Dennis called his buddy Rob (who has helped us move the old Tappan upstairs, helped hang the upper butler’s pantry cupboards and more) and up the Grand came and back down the Tappan went. Of course, it was the hottest, stickiest day we’ve had in a while. Just perfect for moving big heavy appliances.

Or maybe the pre-quel.

I know we haven’t gotten to the pantry part. I have become my mother. She used to take 20 minutes to tell a 5 minute story.

“You know I talked to Helen today. She has a niece who married that Taylor boy. His mother was such a good cook. I remember when she had us over for dinner. They had just moved into their new house. Oh, she had the most beautiful house, the drapes in the living room were just lovely….”

Anyhoo……………..

Our aim to restore the pantry (see I’m keeping on topic here), was borne of our desire to keep the kitchen as true to what would have been era-appropriate as we could and still have a livable house.

The POs we purchased the house from had left the gas oven (circa 2000) and we purchased a 2003 simple refrigerator. Both functioned perfectly fine, but neither one fit the kitchen and were severely lacking in the charm department.

Solution? One was tucked in the basement, next to the original pantry cabinetry.