The Summer Kitchen

 One of the unexpected perks we discovered once I finally got to see our “new” home was the way the original garage and the newer garage were joined.  The wall between the two structures was not removed.  The newer larger garage would obviously be used for its intended purpose, and will house Vern, our 1948 Ford 8N tractor (more on him another time.) 

The small original garage then became an easy choice for the summer kitchen.  I had a makeshift set-up in the shop at the old place, but did a lot of going back and forth between the house and shop.  This gets to be the real deal!  I do a tremendous amount of food preservation, soap making, and candle dipping, as well as daily cooking.  The old saying (since we are in the vintage era here) “Make hay while the sun shines,” holds true for people food as well as hay for stock. Canning season is typically during the hottest months of the year.  It is so nice to be able to have the stove going and not heat up the house.  Or dehydrators going.  Or the mess corn makes.  Or…

(The "before" shot)

In case you aren’t picking up on it, I am over the moon excited!

Here, let me show you~

It has two windows both of which are broken.  The one over the sink was missing a large shard and had a scrap of cardboard propped over it, not even secured, just kinda sitting there - Classy I know.  MrLB was walking out behind the building to check the roof (which leaked but is now fixed) and noticed the shard on the ground.  Without saying anything, he got gasket maker and applied it to the edges of the shard and put it back in place.  I was cleaning inside when he came in and took the cardboard from the window and said, “There.”  I was amazed.  He’s just so sweet.

I still have my old pantry shelves which now house canning pots and empty jars.  I might change things up a bit as I use it and get the space figured out, but am just smitten with it all at the moment.  

I have the igloo set up by the sink for water since there’s no water to the building.  There is a large bucket under the drain of the old concrete sink to catch the water which will work well so I can water plants with it.  

Next is the hutch I recently acquired and cleaned up.  It will house pretty much what it did in the mountain house other than my herbs and spices.  My bowls aren’t out here yet as there was a bit of a mouse problem so we had to get that under control before I store things like that out here.
I haven't seen any "evidence" of the little rascals for nearly a month now.
I'm sure it will be on-going, but at least now maybe we can have a bit better control over the situation. 

Next is the harvest table.  I had this at the old place too, but honestly, it was usually covered with junk.  It’s an old library table about 7 feet long, and I love it!  It is a perfect height for me.  I am rather vertically challenged :-)  Standard kitchen counters are high for me and when working at them all day, my neck and shoulders get tired/sore.  It’s right next to the stove so I can move heavy canning pots to and from or have a handy work surface when dipping candles, etc. The cauldron fits under it which makes use of that space as well.

A couple other tidbits are the old yellow table and chairs so we can sit to shell peas or string beans or whatever the task at hand is (a cup of tea?)  The cushions actually go to our outdoor furniture, but rather than figuring out just where to store them for winter, I just put them on the chairs. 

And at the moment, I have the clothes line set up in here though it's easy to move outside if I want to.  We get more wind here which sounds like it would be great for drying clothes, but it's often dusty as well so this works out well.
  I've just brought the clothes trees out and will cover them, but
that would be unsightly for the photo.
The shelves will go in the house eventually, but for now they are just sitting there reminding me that I have more to do.

And in this corner which is actually a bit embarrassing at the moment, is where I will put my potting/gardening bench - against the same wall as the freezers.

The fabric on the hutch.

Last but not least, is the guard bunny.  Hucklebunny Hideaway is right out the door so she can be sure to help “recycle” any veggie leaves or goodies that become available.

The funny thing about all this is that when we figured out this space would be the summer kitchen, I hopped online for ideas on how to set it up.  If you do a search for “Summer Kitchen,” you will either see the Hollywood pool-party version or a fireplace in a historical cabin - no happy in between for practical use.  I do realize we are not exactly main stream in our ways, but I would have thought there would be a few.  I realize it looks rather rudimentary, but I assure you it all gets scrubbed before food is processed.  I would love to know if any of you have a summer kitchen or if you set up a temporary one for canning 
(or other specific tasks.)  
I've been busy amending soil that doesn't appear to have seen a spade
 for a decade or more.
Nearly everything is planted.  There are a few more things to get in the ground tomorrow then it will just be whatever progressive planting I decide upon.
I pulled out first radishes today so it won't be long, and I will be putting this space through a real workout.

Hope you are enjoying spring.

Cost = Free ~ Part II

The other thing I found recently was this amazing table and chairs.

(This is the picture from the ad that I responded to.)

The folks had just moved and it didn't fit in their new house so it had to go.

She said there were multiple calls between the time I called and made arrangements to pick it up 

and when I arrived.

The cool thing about the table is it has two leaves but no seam down the middle.

(Before I got the cabinet in.)

See~

Our old table worked but was an old one my grandmother had 

that we gorilla glued back together multiple times.

The chairs were recently recovered and I love the color, but they must have changed them when they did so.
I think there should be a plywood form as well.
As is when you sit in the chair, you feel like you’re falling into a big toilet seat.
There is no support so you actually sink into the chair.
I need to pull one apart and make a pattern of sorts.
From there, I can do them one at a time just to make sure one size fits all.
In addition to not having much time lately, 
I haven’t been super excited to get to this,
because it involves pulling staples.
If you’ve never pulled staples on this sort of thing,
Come on over - I’ll learn ya how 😉
It will be nice to have them done, and I do have plywood for the job,
Now it’s just that time thing.  

$20 Rabbit Hutch

Hucklebunny has settled into her new home nicely.

She was rather adamant that it not be referred to as

Hucklebunny Headquarters.

She informed me (quite firmly) that it is Hucklebunny Hideaway.

Whew!

I wasn't aware that a little bunny could be so particular. 

As stated in the title of the post,

this hideaway set us back $20 and some sweat equity.

Before I explain the details,

let me say, it could have been a $10 bunny hutch

but a certain royal bunny wanted a shingle roof which we were out of

instead of tin that we already had on hand.

She really is a particular little thing.

She was given a supervisory position over the hens.

That's a roll she mostly chooses to ignore.

Instead, she has been trying to claim head of security from a certain

rather bewildered canine.

Rip is nice to her and seems aware that bunny stew isn't on the menu,

but questions our sanity for torturing him so.

She is a rather naughty bunny and has "marked" his bed

so is no longer allowed to be free in the house.

As additional punishment, she has to sit in my lap and be petted.

Ha!  That'll learn her.

Now on to the hutch, ahem, I mean hideaway.

After the last post, you might understand that disposable cash

is pretty scarce at the moment.

My solution was to build the hutch from things we had on hand.

Amongst those things were some locust posts.

These were decent posts that I'd used in a different project 

then changed my mind on.

Whenever we cut down a locust, we save posts if we can.

They are a very hard wood and once cured almost impenetrable.

Rather than try to use brackets, 

Mr. LB had the brainy idea just to strap them together 

with some 1" metal he had pieces of.

This worked great because we could cinch them tightly.

The "cage part" is about 54" wide and 28" deep (OD.)

I will say using posts creates a few challenges in getting things square.

The posts weren't exactly straight.

I laid out the front as one frame then the back as another.

I was able to scrounge side boards from my scrap pile.

(See another project from this pile here.)

I had a little bit of hardware cloth left over from the chicken coop

so only needed to purchase a 10 ft. roll ($10.)

Again fitting that wire into/onto those locusts that weren't square

was an interesting task.

I felt like I could use an extra arm or two to hold things in place.

I used the air stapler in one had and my other hand had to do the rest.

The door is held on in an old fashioned method of leather scraps.

Only they used to use old shoe leather as door hinges.

My latch is rudimentary at the moment, but it works.

I need to have my favorite metal fabricator make some special enough 
for Her Huckle Highness.

Here you can see the components and construction better.

The roof is shingles which I have to agree looks much better with the whole hideaway theme and natural posts.
They cover chipboard and tar paper which were both scraps.

I used a little less than 1/2 of a $20 bundle.

(That means I have more to make something else:-)

Then because St. Valentine's Day is this week,

she has her hideaway decorated accordingly with red and white lights and vines.

She seems quite pleased with her situation

though seems perturbed that there is a canine with higher ranking.

One other addition that I am hoping to add

is a framed screen to hang below the cage

to catch the "berries" and let the liquid flow through.

When I get this done, I can share more.

I tend to enjoy making things using what's available.

I also really enjoy not giving box stores my money.

Buy It Once ~ Buy It For Life

Recently, I was propositioned to be a part of a sustainable info graphic as part of a sale promotion.

Though flattered that they would ask little ol' me, 

I decided not to do it for a couple of reasons.

It did however get me to thinking.

They asked what my number one sustainable tip would be.

I wasn't really sure since there are so many aspects to this lifestyle we are trying to live.

And with that, we aren't always successful.

After a couple days of pondering, I came up with the title of this post.

Buy It Once and Buy It For Life

I think this would be it.

From utensils, shoes, tools, housewares, to automobiles and clothes.

Yes, some things do wear out.

But shoes for example- I purchased these shoes over three years.

They were $200ish dollars.

They are the most expensive shoes I've ever purchased.

I wear them nearly every day, 5 out of 7 days each week or more.
(Yea, I know they are due for a polishing.)

Since purchasing them, I have had the heel tip replaced and recently a portion on each restitched.

I've spent about $35 on these repairs.

They are still comfortable and are a basic black shoe that should reasonably last another year or two.

Maybe more, but if at 5 years they begin to fall apart, I will understand.
I keep a list of things I would eventually like to find.
About a month ago, I got to scratch one of those things off the list.
I found a concrete double sink like this one.

I would show you mine, but it's not set up yet, and the light is burnt out in that corner of the shop
so a picture of it would be less than flattering.
We process any game we are fortunate to get as well as large batches of fruits and vegetables.
Our grandmothers knew what they were doing when they used these sinks.
They are deep and sturdy = extremely functional.
This is an item that was on my list for 2-3 years.
The thing is, I wasn't willing to settle.
I ran across many of the plastic "shop sinks."
I had also found several of the sinks like this, but the owners were asking way too much
and advertised them as yard ornaments with pictures of them filled with flowers.
Again, I didn't settle.
Aside from the crazy prices being asked, I was planning to use it as a sink
for food and have it properly plumbed.
If it was outside with flowers planted in it, the quality would be questionable.
The sink we now have may very well out live me.
I should never have to buy another one.
We buy our vehicles new then use them until they totally conk out.
The commuter car Mr.LB is driving has about 327,000 miles on it.
The old wood pick-up has nearly 400,000 miles on it.
There is an old saying~
"If you take care of your things, you'll always have something to take care of."
We live in such a disposable world and have been really well trained
into the "I want what I want, and I want it now," mentality.
If we are only patient and are willing to hold out for delayed gratification,
we might find we are able to save significantly.
If you're at all like me,
the fact that I don't ever have to think about it again is golden.
(Or at least for a very long time.)
And in addition, it results in a much more sustainable way of living.
Soooo,
What's on your list?

"New" Pantry Shelves ~ DIY

"We need to just throw that stack of boards on the on the burn pile."

Those were the words of Mr. LB in reference to my stack of miscellaneous boards that I've had for - err, uh-hem, well, not sure how long.

They are stacked behind the shop, under the lean-to taking up valuable covered  (dry in the winter) space. 

My response: Internally = Gassssp! Cough! Sputter!

Out loud= I'll get on that ASAP.

So as part of the "Make the Stack of Scrap Disappear" effort,

I made a set of small shelves for the pantry.

I've been having to rearrange with every season 

keeping empty jars and longer-term canned goods out in the shop.

The first step was to pull out boards to see what I had enough of

then think about how I could put them together to make them work.

For the shelf parts, I used 2X10s that had a coat of grey enamel on them.

I got the paint stripper out and started on those.

Once I got the thick part of the enamel off, I took a sander to them.

Then for the sides and back, I used old 1X4s that are old enough that they are actually 4 inches wide.

They had been dark green at one time then white at another time

though it was difficult to tell for sure since most the paint had chipped away.

I did measure my existing pantry shelves 

since I wanted the space between the shelves to be about 1/2" more 

so I could stack two small-mouth pint jars if need be.

I decided it was going to have a rustic or primitive look to it 

no matter what I did so just ran with it.

Once I got it assembled, I took the sander to it one more time 

just to knock off any extra loose chipping paint.

Then I wiped it all down and put a coat of polyurethane on it.

I know I was going for rustic, 

but A: it will be in the house and B: it will be holding food type items

so I wanted it to be sealed and washable.

Surprisingly, it went together pretty easily.

I was concerned about getting it square since that can be a challenge at times,

but I must have done something right this time.

It's now in the house and I am working on rearranging the pantry yet again.

With any luck, we will be doing tomatoes soon so will be adding those

as well as spaghetti sauce and chili during the same time.

Never mind that this is where the unsightly internet router is and that there is still no trim on the window.

Evidently, utility room window trim is pretty low on the priority list.

I was going to do it before taking these pictures, 

but we are out of the correct stain so will have to get more 

in order to finish that project.

In the mean time,

my stack of scrap lumber is dwindling which I'm sure Mr. LB appreciates.

By the way,

he likes the shelves and how they turned out.

That kinda surprised me since he doesn't usually care for such a look.

In the end (or for now at least,) I decided to put my herbs and such

on this shelf and have the food items on the big shelves.

As the season progresses, we'll see if it remains functional.

One thing is sure nice, I like having more room

 in the house and up off the floor.