Before & After

I was looking through old photos the other day and ran across this picture of our kitchen that I took right after we moved in over 18 years ago. I think we’ve made a lot of improvements over the years. The house was brand new then, but it looks better now.

The first thing I remember doing to the kitchen was putting knobs on the drawers and doors. My husband liked the cabinets the way they were, but I finally convinced him it would be better to have handles. About that time I made the stained glass to put in the highlight over the sink. Having the cabinets painted and glass put in some of the doors was a big improvement.

The most recent improvement was taking out the white ceramic tile and putting in a stone floor and backsplash above the counter tops. We’ve also replaced the dishwasher, stove, microwave and faucet. We don’t have any other changes planned, but may have to replace the dishwasher again. It’s about the same age as the first one was when it had to be replaced. There’s always something wearing out. I think right now the main thing that is wearing out is me. By the way, the "after" picture is my banner picture.

Several people have asked how my knee is doing. I had five knee injections (each one a week apart). I had the last one over a week ago. The doctor said it could take up to a month after the last injection for it to do what it's suppose to do. Right now it isn't any better than it was before I started the injections and I am not very optimistic that it is going to work. We'll see.

As a followup to my prayer request of yesterday, I received this e-mail today from Dorothy.

Thank you for caring. I have had lymphedema in my right leg since 1991. My regular Dr. wanted to see if he could find out why. He ordered a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvic. He didn't find anything that would be causing the lymph., but by doing the scan he found the mass on my kidney. The Providence of God!
I will keep you posted. Thanks for all the prayers.
Love, Dorothy

My Blue Pot

In yesterday’s blog, Ginger http://enchantingcottage.blogspot.com/ wrote about my blue Martha Stewart pot. So I decided today I would write about it.

Of course there’s a story behind it. Isn’t there always a story behind everything? Anyway, here’s the story about the blue pot.

I saw one on display at a Macy’s store – in fact I saw it on display at two different Macy’s stores. I thought they were really pretty and I had been wanting an enamel coated cast iron pot that size. So, I looked at them at both stores for a long time, and finally walked away without purchasing one. They were on sale for half price too. I thought, I’ve got a birthday coming up, maybe I’ll ask for one for my birthday.

So when my daughter asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told her I wanted a Martha Stewart blue pot. When she went to get one at Macy’s they told her they were all out of them. In fact, there weren’t any in any store in Arizona. I guess Martha Stewart had featured them on one of her TV shows, and every woman in Arizona had to have one. Well, I had already wanted the pot, but when I found out they were unavailable, I wanted it twice as bad. I thought, “Why didn’t I buy one when they were available which I almost did.”

Anyway, I got something else from my daughter for my birthday, a gift card from Sur la Table which I was very happy with. Sometime later, my dear husband, knowing how much I wanted the pot, called around to all of the Macy's stores in the area to see if they had one. Macy's is the only store that carries that line of Martha Stewart stuff. He finally found one at a distant store. We went there and purchased the pot. I'm glad he was with me to carry it to the car. It was quite heavy.

The blue pot that Ginger bought is really pretty. She got it at a great bargain price. If you haven’t read her story, click on http://enchantingcottage.blogspot.com/ to read it.