Devonviolet Acres

[Bruce]

Are they asking for RJ to come back for a visit?

 

[Devonviolet]

So how are those girls doing, Falina & Ruby, now that they're past their promiscuity? Hope they've given up cigarettes again. Are they showing yet?

Yeah, they've calmed down. No more cigarettes. Nope. They don't look anything like your April.

Are they asking for RJ to come back for a visit?

Nope. They were satisfied with their visit. They now want nothing to do with him.

 

[Devonviolet]

As we prepare for tomorrow, may we all remember the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving: To be thankful to God for all he has done for us.

 

[Devonviolet]

Before we picked the goat meat up, at the butcher, we went to Lowe's, and bought a full size freezer (20.2 cubic foot), since our first freezer was full.

We set it up in the spare bedroom, planning to move the 1st freezer there as well. It was in what we call the office - originally a "back porch" on the house plans. The original owner, built in the porch, when he finished the house, making a long narrow room. It is 30×7.5'.

There isn't a lot of storage in this house, or wall space to put cupboards on. So, we bought a batch of IKEA book cases & doors, for that long wall.

We were planning to use the spare room as a guest room. But, in the end practicality won out, and we started using it for storage: a food pantry, our beautiful, Amish made black walnut cedar chest and my 12 drawer, rolling chest, where I store my jewelry making supplies. . . . then the stacks of boxes started creeping in. Then, 2 old recliner chairs (now donated) and various other junk.

Originally, we put the freezer on that long wall (just inside the office), for easy accessibility. The book shelf that was supposed to go there went in the spare room, as a food pantry.

When we put the new freezer in the spare room, we figured out that the 1st freezer would just fit on the same wall. So, we moved it yesterday, and put the food pantry in its place.

This is what we have now.

We are currently using 1-1/2 of the cupboards, for food pantries. But, eventually we want to do some clearing out and better supports on the masonite shelves, so we can store home canned goods in more of the cupboards.

ETA: This is what it looks like as pantry cupboards.

 

[CntryBoy777]

That looks really nice DV and very functional to boot...those freezers will sure come in handy also.....I know ya will put them to good use....

 

[Devonviolet]

Thanks CntryBoy. We already have the new freezer 3/4 full. But, we have kinda equalized the load between both freezers.

New freezer

Old freezer (circa 2009)

 

[babsbag]

Man oh man am I jealous of those cabinets. We have our freezers in the garage which is ok but gets hot in the summer. But my home canned foods go in a the guest bedroom closet. I would love storage like that, it looks great.

 

[Bruce]

Gee @babsbag and @Devonviolet's guests have it good, food right in the room!

The cabinets do look nice but I'm here to tell you I learned the hard way that you CAN have too much storage! All the cr@p my DW keeps, never to be used. Pile it here, shove it there, move it somewhere else when you need room "here". "Here" is the dining room table, the kitchen counters, pretty much any horizontal surface. Hopefully others are more controlled

 

[babsbag]

It is my DH that is the pack rat.

 

[Devonviolet]

The cabinets do look nice but I'm here to tell you I learned the hard way that you CAN have too much storage! All the cr@p my DW keeps, never to be used. Pile it here, shove it there, move it somewhere else when you need room "here". "Here" is the dining room table, the kitchen counters, pretty much any horizontal surface. Hopefully others are more controlled

Don't I know it!!! Over the years we have struggled with clutter on horizontal surfaces. Our first home with a large peninsula, was in PA. We both had a tendency to put thing down & forget to put them away. After a while we didn't see it, so it stayed where it was. New things were added & the clutter got worse. Every once in a while, I would get a wild hair, and we would put everything away.

When we built the 8'×53" island in last year, I told DH we weren't going to let clutter build up!

Once in a while, it starts to build up - minimally. DH still doesn't see the clutter. But, I have been making a concerted effort to put things away, and not put it down, "just until I can get to it". So, the island countertop stays relatively clear.

We need to work on keeping the clutter, in the spare bedroom, though. If we don't know what to do with something, it goes in the spare bedroom and the door gets shut when company comes over. That way the rest of the house stays uncluttered & relatively clean.

Now, when company comes over we just need to vacuum, dust, wash the floor & clean the bathrooms. So, if someone comes over, for a visit, we don't have to panic and make a mad dash to clean up.

When we moved the new freezer into the spare bedroom, he boxed up most of what should have gone on the loft in the workshop, and carted it out there. So now the spare room is useable again.

Since I'm in the kitchen processing milk every morning & throughout the day, it stays fairly clean. The new island, with all the drawers & cabinets, allows plenty of storage - of which the kitchen had none, pre-island.