RIP Outhouse and a Kitchen Diagram

In the hideously overgrown mass of wilderness edging the yard we found the remnants of the outhouse. Now people such as myself, who have no normal interests, get inordinately excited at thoughts of antiquated human waste receptacles. If you are more well adjusted you might wonder about an entire post dedicated to this topic, so I'll throw in a paragraph at the end about my kitchen diagram to tip the scales toward the more socially acceptable side of life. I've known about the outhouse since we signed on the house in July, it was really hard to get a good look at it though because of the maze old sumac, grape vines and other flora that had completely engulfed it. I just assumed, as with most other things here, that we were looking at the original outhouse dating from the mid 1800s. Once some of the overgrowth was trimmed away it became apparent by looking at the nails that this was not the original necessary. Well...one can't have everything. Since it's in such rough shape I guess we're just going to raze it. Maybe I'll put some raised beds in that spot.

The one seat is still present and has its cover, the other is just a hole.





The kitchen is coming right along and my Thanksgiving estimate seems attainable. Maybe the kitchen won't be finished, but it will be in service anyway with at least a functioning sink and stove. Gill and I went antiquing to try to find something to use for counters and cupboard space and I found a *fabulous* giant corner cupboard. We took the measurements and then came home to see where we could fit it in. We came up with basically nowhere. I decided to make a scale model of the kitchen and little scale cardboard cut-outs of the furniture we have so that I can see how everything will fit before we buy pieces that won't work. Though I did recently read an estimate that it will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $57,000 to redo a kitchen, so I'm feeling a lot more flippant about blowing a few hundred on furniture that won't end up in our kitchen. :-)

 

Of Freebies and Built In Cabinets

While running to the store today we happened to get behind one of the semis returning from Koch's chicken processing plant. The "bouquet" when they're loaded with birds is awful, and empty is not much better. Gill quickly turned down a side street to escape the smell and there, out with the garbage, I spied something, just a quick glimpse really of something filthy, battered and old. A quick conference and we were racing around the block to see if the "thing" was really trash or a treasure. Gill picked it up and put it in the truck and told me it was an old cabinet, square nailed.

I cleaned it once with trisodium phosphate and Levi has cleaned it several more times. I think it has great potential, Gill thought maybe it should hold spices and hang in the kitchen.

 I *had* toyed with the thoughts of not having any built in cabinets in the kitchen. The idea of an eclectic mix of jelly cupboards, cabinets and bins sort of appeals to me. I could always change my mind later, right?  :-)  And besides, it would be period correct to arrange the kitchen thusly (so I say to convince myself).

 

 



It has an odd looking method of assembly, the above picture is of the top. And the back piece is one solid, albeit cracked, piece of wood 17.5" wide.

 

 

Cleaned up it is much lighter and a lot less reddish than when it was dirty. I'm not sure of the wood (I'm not very good at that) and Gill left for work before it was clean.

 



 

 

It was once bright yellow and possibly grey at a later time. I think maybe we'll just linseed oil it and not repaint it, that way it will mesh perfectly with the rest of my storage menagerie if I do decide to forego a modern kitchen.