To illustrate
Opposite minimal – maximal
Clutter, hoarder… there is a fine line? Or, is it obvious which group we fall in with? Taking pictures? I shoot many, that is to say more than one, redundancy is the word. …just in case, I don’t want to miss the important shot. My mantra? Digital is free.
We realize that most of our kids are minimalist and neat. It gives us shivers. We laugh. We are not. And, happily so, and happy to admit it – more shudders. Our counters and tables have nary a bare spot. In fact we see the table top about twice a year, when company is coming. No matter, I know where everything is. We have never lost a kitty amongst the stack. I am not apologetic. Do you need two mantle clocks and so many spinning wheels? The answer is obvious… umm, do we? It could go either way. We are weak. We do not play by any rule. It’s just fine. No harm, it’s just a little bit crowded. Let the kids shudder and laugh. I have one kid living out of a back pack. Yup, all his worldly goods in a back pack – the ultimate minimalist, except for the stuff stuffed in my closet that belongs to him too. … kidding. On this occasion – it’s a neat mess!
Yard sale
Kitchen renovation: everything goes into boxes and needs to come out again. A lot of “stuff” has to go. It cannot go back into the cabinets. And, for goodness sake, if you haven’t used it in years, you haven’t looked for it, and you did not know you had it…. Odds and ends, where did this stuff come from? Colleen brought it from WV and I brought my share from NY. And, then we got more “stuff” we did not know we needed; and we did not need it. Got it?!
Ha ha. We got boxes and boxes of stuff going to the thrift store or to other deserving family members. It’s a work in progress. In this case good photography is only good to document how much “stuff” snuck into our house. Unfortunately, our counters are not destined to be clear.
Boring
Not! Life is never the same. We finished a kitchen renovation. What happens if you don’t like the color? Now, for the backsplash – I was gonna tackle that job. Experience? None! Ha ha. Confidence or stupidity? Easy! Except if, the tiles are not fitting the wall height or width, and, there are outlets to cut around. Oh boy! The weather! It’s always fun. Clouds, color, the moon all provide ample opportunity to capture a good image. Why are there always telephone poles in my images? Flowers?! Too numerous to count. While renovating we had to eat out. Eh? You know who likes to eat out!
You don’t see this
By the time this post goes live it will either be a great success or…. (Keep your mouth shut, declare victory.) It was a long time coming. We updated the kitchen. We kept the cabinet boxes and just had the cabinet face done over. The appliances are all new, now. It took years. One appliance died followed by another and… The last to go was the oven/microwave. That was $$$. Combine two appliances and you pay $$$ for the pair.
The counters are clear!! That will never happen again! Ever! But we will try. Ever resolute we will try not to store back all the clutter we have not used since the stuff went into the cabinets. Sentimental!?!? For sure! After all it is hard to get rid of a yogurt-maker we haven’t used in eight years. We eat yogurt all the time.
I am putting in a glass tile backsplash. I can’t wait to cut tile around the outlets. So much fun!! And yes, there was time for games before the real work started.
In the beginning
2003, my birthday, I was gifted a Canon G3 from Lisa. She had gone to B&H and gotten the recommended latest greatest (at the time) without breaking the piggy bank. Cutting edge technology for the future. Yes, she was, and I acknowledge, good to me sometimes. The first images? My kitchen? Why not? It was there that I received this life changing gift. I just reviewed the meta data and it is all wrong. Don’t overthink. I am happy to have the image. We used the flash and Lisa took my picture. These are two things rarely done from my cameras. Ha ha. It feels so long ago… so much has changed. My mustache is now white.
Here to there
How’d I get here? In the absence of anything else, I shoot cat portraits. Simple. They pose?!? Nope. I put the camera in their face and point the lens straight at their eyes. It works.
Finally, a new oven! The old one – dead. Built-in obsolescence. Better one? It had to fit the hole of the old one. Pain!!! Major pain, supply chain issues, we snagged a clearance model at less than half price from retail. Lucky! You bet!! It clearly said on the box – in big black and white letters – the oven was too large for the hole – ¾ inches too large. Really!! So, it fit right into the hole of the old oven. Go figure.
And, within moments – carrot cake. I add (my mom did it) a cup of grated carrots; the cake rises…. And, a few days later… a sour cream apple walnut pie. We wasted no time in making up for lost time.
Pizza? Well, I gotta say, “Who doesn’t like pizza?” Gluten free crust. ??? Oh! Well, Colleen is also vegetarian (off and on), so, two pies – mine had sausage. It was a good pie! Yeah, it’s good to have an oven again.
One more step – to product. I spin – wool. We process. … ‘cause I don’t wash. The one and only time I washed, I felted. (If you don’t spin, the joke went right over your head.) Straight off the sheep, the fleece is polluted – grass, dirt, poop, etc. The fleece is opened up – picked. Then, it is washed, carded and prepared into bats, ready to spin. Spin, spun, it looks rather fine and refined, ready to go – cloth, shawl, scarf, and so forth. This would be here to there. Yarn!
Fun and games
Renovation is hell! Why? Why are we doing it? It was due. To whit – the oven died. It just up and stopped working. It was old; it came original with the “born on” date of the house. Sale!! Half off (for the new oven)! How good is that!! So, the counters are clear; the measure lady was coming. You won’t see it like this again. Note: new garbage disposal under the counter; the installers will not put the old on back in – go figure. The oven dies and you do a whole kitchen makeover? Yeah, change is good.
New floor. ?? Nuts! I tackled this job. I’m cheap. I’m dumb. And, there are online instructions. You learn the mistakes as you go. So far there are two rooms done, two down, two to go. Nuts! And yes, I broke a rule somewhere. I did not, could not, move all the furniture out of the room. I worked around it. Did I say “nuts!!!” Flowers and gate? Yes, the cats are separated; and in the last iteration I did up things with fake flowers – lots of flowers!
Feather would “eat” Peas, if only I would let them. So, they remain safely separated, in different rooms now. And, they play footsie beneath the door. It would be nice if they all got along. Yes, it would. Nope! No peas for dinner, please.
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