A face You Could Just Kiss!

Been absent the last 10 days at WFR and I do miss my little monkeys. Time for goat therapy.The little stinkers get in trouble when I'm gone too much. I think it's time to expand their paddock and eliminate access to the propane tank. But... they are so damn cute!!

SOOOOOO damn CUTE!!!

Ahhhh, that's much better... goat therapy does the trick again!! All better.

Sparing All My Friends Torture...

 I'm sparing all my friends the torture of my rambling on about our really cool kitchen, how hard we worked on it, how much we can't stop staring at it, etc.... I know its annoying and I know why. No one cares because its not theirs and they won't be living and breathing it, besides, they wouldn't have done it that way anyway. So, this is really a blog post for myself and to spare my friends the torture of hearing about it any further. :) Also, I have a million pictures of it from every angle and if I don't post some I'll explode... no one wants to see that!

Speak "Friend" And Enter!

 How do you like the front door? (by "you" I really mean "me" cause I'm talking to and for myself in this post remember) I like it very much, I know we considered the placement to be more centered between the big windows so it would look symmetrical from the outside but, in the end it really was crowding the bar.


I wanted to stand in front of the door and rumble from my guts, "Belllllloc" but I knew Arlen wouldn't get it since he hasn't seen Lord Of The Rings. I, instead, (and not pictured) drew a stick person in the door window and told Arlen not to let him in, he looked sketchy.

 

Bread, Stone, Wood and Rope

 Something about looking at an image of fresh baked bread, stone, wood and rope in the same frame just looks good. Yes, the bread tastes good too! Something about the environment on "this" side is working for Arlen's bread making. I don't know if its the wood stove, wood everything, warmth, new oven, less humidity... blaa blaa... it could be any or all.

Can You Say, "Fusion"

"Honey, there's a mix of Caribbean, Asian, southwest-y, northwest-y, western wrangler, European cottage, urban uppity and redneck honky all in one small kitchen!"

Well, I guess that's what makes us, "Us"!

Bar

The bar resting in place for installation. Its not even close to dry, that will be another 2 years. We installed it so it was mostly floating in place to allow for shrinkage while drying.

A close up of the live edge and character of the cedar.

The kitchen side looking good. You can barely make it out but, if you look at the left and right side you'll notice the right side isn't finished. We had a minor brain-storm about what to use to finish it this morning and all options would have been nice but, we went with rope in the end. We considered live edge framing but that would encroach on the back of the cedar bar a lot. We considered half inch square molding but it looked too ridged next to the stone back-splash. Arlen came up with the brilliant idea of using rope to finish it. Its perfect because its subtle, it contours the stone and it doesn't cover the nice cedar.

 Looks like a kitchen with a bar!! Also, the window treatment is installed and virtually unnoticeable. Now on to the floor and  front door!

Product Review

Filling up the new kitchen with life

These are the times when you receive a new product it's courtesy to leave a review. The best reviews are given after you've lived with the product for a while. We've lived with our kitchen now for a couple of weeks so I can give an update on the pros and cons.
Of course if I list the negatives first and sweep up with the positives, I can create a happy ending.
Cons:
1)I'm still afraid of the kitchen! Its like bringing a new baby home, you don't want to drop it on it's head. Every drop of water gets wiped up as soon as it hits the counter top and every morning (and sometimes evening) the floor gets swept and inspected for oogies, etc.   
2)The lady bugs are annoying in general but now they are annoying in our place of food making. I can't vacuum the windows and counter when food is being made (sometimes it really needs it)

Pros:
Here's my happy ending... 
1)I LOVE IT!! 
2)I can talk to the Chef when he cooking.
3)It's in the warm part of the house and any heat we generate from the kitchen contributes to the warmth.
4)The Saltillo tile isn't cold at all, it's kind of hard to describe but it's warm and fluffy.
5)The new stove ROCKS!!
6)I still love the stone backsplash
7)I like the fridge orientation much better as a right-handed open (the handle on the left side).
8)The hanging pots and pans look awesome and free up cabinet storage.
9)So much light even on a cloudy day!!
10)My wood shelves look great by warming up the wall, make excellent use of wall space for storage and it's all easy to get to. 

AIB... Animals In Black

Kiki The French Kitty

Kiki

I ahm Kiki and I ahm Frehnsh. Oui Oui

Kiki's servant

Zee's eez mah servahnt, Arlen. Ee ees preparing mah dinnerh.

Slurp slurp

Excuse eh mwah, do you mind?

Uuurp!

Very tasteh, I approve!

More Food? (I'm too sexy fo zees kitchen...)

Were eez Dog? Shee eez ehfraid of me and I will eat er food!

Kitty is dominant

See, zee scardy "cat" doggy eez ehfraid of meh! Oui Oui, tee hee, Ha Ha!!
(Oh, zat eez mah Mommy, Kat. She luvs meh!)

The Kitchen Is Open

The kitchen is open for business!! I am so happy to be open and operating on this side of the house. Now to get in and get comfortable. The bar top will be behind about a month.