Kitchen redesign, tomato sauce

I've had a bench stashed in my shed since I hauled all of my stuff out of storage.

Not because I wanted it there - but because that's the only place it would fit where it was protected. It wouldn't fit in the house - darn eastern architecture that wasn't meant for wide furniture. It's been a real pain in the neck having it in there since it takes up a whole half of the shed. Getting bicycles in and out, and lawn mowers etc. was a pain in the neck. I had asked Jeff if he could take it apart and put it back together - he said no. So last weekend, in the beautiful weather, I decided to ignore all of the other things I should have been doing, and I took my cordless drill, my wood carving tools, hammer, and rubber mallet into the shed... and let's just say, where there's a will there's a way. I did get it apart. And to my amazement it was only because I am both an artist and a do-it-your-selfer. I had quite a bit of trouble getting the visible screws out because a lot of them were stripped. The worse one I had to just carve out of the wood with my wood carving tools. Worked just fine!Sadly I didn't realize there were two hidden screws under some molding and the wood split a bit underneath that part. But when I put it back together the problem is invisible. When it came apart and I was that thrilled to be able to get it upstairs into the kitchen. BUT I had to wait until Tuesday. That's when I had help getting the two parts up the stairs. And it looks great! I am surprised to find that I really missed this bench. It is incredibly comfortable. The wood feels good and it's really nice to lounge on it. I'm so glad to have it back.

Here it is from the front view - which is fine:

However, the back view will change.

The plan is to make a deal with myself to get some other very necessary things finished around the house ~ then I can make the fun kitchen island. I still need to finish the shutters on the first floor. That project is approaching some urgency now that winter is coming and the windows will need to be closed and winter-ized. The other project which is approaching urgency is the basement. I need a new de-humidifier (the other one died after one year down there) I need to parge the basement and I need to redirect the downspout gutters so that they empty away from the house. At the moment my basement is damp damp damp. yuck. Once I've finished those two vital projects, I can build another counter which will be behind the bench. I want to design it - á la Ken. Ken made the bench and the table, and he also design the most wonderful kitchen islands. He will be the inspiration for mine. More on that later, when I'm inspired.

Of course my adventure of getting the bench upstairs wasn't without it's usual brush with the Philadelphia wildlife. Oh yes, when I went to tip the bench on it's other side so that I could get to the screws on the other side, something heavy sort of rolled out and away from the bench.

This poor unfortunate little guy decided to make a nest in one of the drawers of the bench. It must have been a lovely nest. It was full of dried leaves, shredded plastic bags, and two of my gardening gloves I'd been missing for a few weeks! I did scare the heck out of him though. And he finally felt that going underneath the shed was a good idea.

Tonight I made my first batch of tomato sauce. And it was a success! Let me tell you!

I used 11 of my own home grown tomatoes, a huge onion, a bit of garlic, olive oil, my own fresh rosemary, basil and some dried bay leaves. A little salt and, on a co-workers tip, a tiny bit of sugar. Yeah, it's pretty darn good.

I have a great picture of the sauce bubbling away in my pot but for some reason it keep loading up sideways. So I cut it out.

Here is the first batch of great sauce. It will be perfect for anything. I just hope I get enough tomatoes to make more. I'd love to make another batch of my own stuff and have it all winter.

Like I said, I love being a farmer.