Appliances: Part I

I was going to wait until the range was delivered (6/15) to post pictures of the kitchen, but I've had some requests, so here are the dishwasher (!), fridge (?), and hood:

O Frabjous Day

Big, big, big developments.

A Life Remembered

Peace Lilly (2001-2009)

I'm devastated to share the news of the recent passing of my hardy Peace Lilly. She was accidentally stowed in a cupboard for 2 weeks. When I found her, she was dehydrated beyond recovery.

Some of the following pictures are not for the faint of heart:

Lilly, barely a seedling, during a previous Burke ReModel.

In the foreground, dusty but still alive, only days before being locked in the cupboard.

Cause of Death: Neglect / Dehydration

Demo Dining

The biggest challenge of this remodel process has been the care and feeding of The Dad.

One night a few weeks ago I made the grave mistake of preparing an omelette for dinner. The next day, he looked at me sorrowfully and claimed he'd been "hungry for about a week now." This is what happens when you fail to feed The Dad potatoes for several days. It's worse than getting a Gremlin wet or feeding it after midnight.

I'd like the following pictures to show two things: (1) that I've not been starving my father and (2) that I've not been starving him even under conditions that would make most cooks weep.

Our first dining table. Note the french fries, a form of potato.

Steak & Mashed POTATO

A pinch hitter in the kitchen.

Another pinch hitter in the kitchen.

Chicken parmigiana and pasta. The Dad seems alarmed.

A serious decline: Rice.

Much improved.

The new dining set. Still undecided about the table.

More Excuses

#2: My computer has been temperamental & refused to connect to the Internet. Today I brought her to work, and she decided to be compliant (hence, the blog post). You'd think that the moody bitch would be a little more sanguine with her new work surface at home:


#1: Helen "the task master" Burke was in residence last week and liberally used her favorite phrase -- "come-on-let's-go" (translation: move your asses) -- on my father and myself.
After dinner one night last week, dad and I were whinging about our fatigue and begging for a nap. Straight-faced, my mother declared, "Ok. 15 minute nap. Anne can have 20."

(Caption: put down that camera and get back to work)

AppleGods willing, this little Harpie of a computer will allow me to post again in the near future.

Decorating with Color Fail

Anyone who knew me through and survived the First Street years (Adrienne) knows that my color palette doesn’t extend far beyond the brown family.

There was the time we painted the basement – the WHOLE basement – a light pink. The pink stayed up for a few days before it gave me a headache, and then we re-painted it a cream color.

The kitchen and living room got a makeover in about 2005 with the colors “Harvest Brown” and “Mississippi Mud.” Mud & Brown pretty aptly describe my color comfort zone.

When Mom arrived on Sunday with a suitcase of old sweatpants and new paintbrushes, I had to make some choices about colors: wall colors, cabinet colors, hardware colors, countertop colors… And I was going to be bold and break out of the mud-brown rut (ditch, maybe?) I have been in for ten years.

This plan was bound to fail when I chose my granite color:


But I thought that, even with these hues, I might be able to break out of the browns into the grays, so I bought a quart (a quart of paint for a whole room does not speak to the buyer’s confidence in the choice) of “Gentle Rain.”


All the time we were painting, however, Prince was in my head singing “Purple Rain.” The "color" had to go. At least we didn’t get any further than the soffit above the stove:


And the new color is… “Wheat Bread.” Yep. Brownish:

Excuse

As someone recently noted, I'm "the worst blogger ever."

Let the record show that it's not my fault. My modem connection was, until today, behind these boxes: