Wednesday, February 28, 2018

The Kitchen of the Inner Hippie

 Today is the day of destruction. We've waited and dreaded the pulling out of the upper cabinets, but if we want the boxes of food and dishes to return to the kitchen, it must be done. Today:
 Adam had a burn pile yesterday and will have one again for these cabinets.

 The dining room looks worse and worse before it will look better!
 Meanwhile, Lady Nature is looking quite lovely, and even when she drops her decorations, she makes a carpet.
 Our camellia is blooming at last. After two weeks of vibrant daffodils in church, this Sunday it will be blood red camellias, perhaps appropriate for Communion Sunday.
 We'll need lots of shelf brackets, and they were expensive at Lowe's ... about $7 - $8 each. So Adam made them instead.
 And here, the Inner Hippie comes out in me. I decided to color many of my shelf brackets.
 I like the little red birds, but the moon-and-stars below is my favorite. I imagine my little grandchildren-to-be pointing up at them. "Oh, Nanny! There's the moon!"
Some ladies would be aghast to have such things in their kitchens. Some are saying, "Oh yeah! Love it!" Some are thinking, "Well, nice in her kitchen, but not in mine!" All of that is fine. We are none of us alike. Some of us are just ... a little less alike than others, haha!

Adam made his turn-table for his concrete art. Here, he's waxing it well.
 There's a metal rotating thingie in the middle of the boards, the disc-shaped device that you'd put in a corner cabinet for a turn-around. I bought it at the hardware store. He mounted the boards on it.
I made a batch of tea tree soap yesterday. It was unusually uncooperative.
 The day before, I made a batch of my bee balm, my most popular product.
And I finished weaving that scarf.



I do have a pretty serious Inner Hippie. It's an Inner instead of an Outer Hippie because I'm a pastor's wife, and there's only so much weird and quirky that a pastor's wife in a small Southern county is allowed to show. I proudly sport my toe ring, but that's hardly noticeable. In truth, if I weren't a pastor's wife I'd look much more like a gentle hippie off the farm as well as on it. It's why I have chickens, why I spin and weave, why I burn incense in my studio (well, I just like the aroma). It's also why I enjoy meeting other women who are way off the spectrum of normal, who love nature and growing things, who are a little awkward in social situations, who would identify with my desire to weave my own cloth and make my own clothes, and live in some communal group and tend sheep for a few years. 

A few people have unwittingly encouraged me over the years in my Inner Hippie. Some gave me books, some invited me to their farms, some taught me old-fashioned skills, but most were just so interesting to meet. Hippie people are never boring, and they are usually kind and gentle-spirited.

Well, I hear Adam thundering around in the kitchen, battling dry wall.
 Not suitable for company.
It turns out, yes, there is dry wall behind the bump-outs. But not finished dry wall.
Adam says this will be a lot of work, work he's not particularly good at, and it will take a while.
If you want to see some talented hippies building their own stunning house, here's a show about it if you click on this link.
Sadly, after finishing this amazing house, it burnt to the ground on New Year's Day this year. I think they plan to rebuild.

10 comments:

Lisa Richards said...

Hippy here! :) I love those colorful shelf brackets! You two get so much done! The scarf is so gorgeous! (Lots of exclamation marks today!) I've been drawing and redrawing plans for my tiny house. Son-in-law, Adam, is putting my ideas into his computer program for designing houses. It seems I didn't take some things into consideration, so back to the drawing board. It's lots of fun trying to see how you can fit things into a limited space without putting pipes in the outside walls. Too risky here. Keep up the good work, fellow hippies! I will definitely watch that video. :)

Lisa Richards said...

The video was fascinating. I kept trying to place the guy who is presenting it and finally realized he's the guy who spent two weeks in the slums of Mumbai! He does some good documentaries. :) It's a real shame that their house burned down! I pray they have the emotional and physical strength to rebuild. Hopefully people will volunteer in huge numbers to help them. It didn't make sense to me that the government could take the place away if they paid for the land. He said they paid agricultural prices for their land. Oh well, lots of stuff doesn't make sense, lol.

Granny Marigold said...

I love today's post.
I have no doubt the mess and confusion are hard to live with but the results will be worth it.

You make a delightful hippie. I only wish I had the talent to make/do half the things you make and accomplish.

happyone said...

Yes, it will get worse before it gets better but it will be all worth it.
I really like your weaving, the colors are beautiful.
Nice to see spring by you. : )

Carol Blackburn said...

Hi M.K.,wow you guys sure are busy as bees. I notice all the space you have with the bump outs gone. I do hope it's not too difficult for Adam to take care of, that unfinished drywall and all. He must have the patience of a Saint.

Gumbo Lily said...

I'm encourage you to embrace your "inner hippie." As long as "hippie" means being an earthy, nature loving, artsy, homemade soap person and not a hippie of the 60's. (you know what I mean?) Your brackets will be very fun and artsy.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Oh dear M.K. we are 'inner hippie' sisters. I just might buy a toe ring one of these days. :-)

I love your shelf brackets, they are happy and oh so colorful.

You two are accomplishing so much while carrying on your church ministry. I love seeing what you are up to.

Your latest weaving is very pretty.

Love, hugs & prayers ~ FlowerLady

GretchenJoanna said...

I agree with both Granny and Gumbo Lily. You are too young to truly know what a hippie is, Mary Kathryn!! I know a little bit myself, being of that age :-) The hippies weren't doing half of what you do - they were often too stoned to be in touch with their smart and/or creative selves.

In the 70's I painted one wall of my kitchen red in a rental we lived in, and I truly would have loved some of your brackets to hold up the shelf that we put on it. Now I see how relatively boring it was!! Your brackets will be sturdier and better in every way than those brackets you priced at the store. I never know what I will find here, but always something creative and resourceful. In my book, that is not "way off the spectrum of normal," but actually sets the standard for Normal. Keep on showing the world what a normal woman can do.

Carolyn said...

That scarf is the prettiest you've ever made (in my opinion anyway.)

Pom Pom said...

How fun! You're making your home so YOU and that is sure to bring you great joy!