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There’s a Cat in the Kitchen!!

Hi Everyone! I thought I’d show you what we’ve been up to! Kitchen Makeover is getting there and Jack the cat has been a huge help, doing what he does best, making us laugh! Because this is definitely a time for humor! Musica?

He is really the only good decoration in my kitchen, and a true partner! Joe is now using my nails for paint brush displays.

It’s all coming along, the floor turned out beautiful; we’ve been washing walls; I cleaned the stove; Joe’s already painted the ceiling, and we finally settled on a wall color. It’s going to be Benjamin Moore, Woodlawn Blue (the top one on the strip above).

I know the one on the left looks prettiest, but it’s actually going to be the one on the right! The one on the left is Summer Shower (Benj. Moore), the original color of the kitchen, but we decided it’s just a bit too “baby” blue . . . we want to tone it down a bit . . . this is our chance, and we’re going to take it! I think we’re going to love it!

And of course, Jack agrees.

There is a bare bulb hanging up there; he’s got his eye on it; he’s thinking, hmmm, could I swing on that?

But really, no, not now, I’m a cat, and I need a nap right this minute.

This is the most comfortable top of a ladder I ever had.

I’m dreaming of flying!

Wait a minute, what’s THAT?

FLY!!! Gotta have it, gotta have it, gotta have it, go— ta — GOT it. Yum.

You need help up there?

‘Cause I can come up if you need me!

I know my stuff. I had a birthday, I turned one!

OMG, DO I SEE GLOVES?

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, I LOVE these gloves. lovelovelove, bitebitebite, love love love . . . I want them forever.

Don’t look at me, it was YOUR idea to get him.

And this is the general condition of the dining room; every surface is covered, wall-to-wall, with kitchen things. Early every morning I fill the dishwasher with a load of dishes and bowls. Slowly but surely, everything is getting cleaned. When the shelves are done being painted I can put it all back! It’s going to be gorgeous!

Because this is the real me . . . and that is what I wish I was doing . . .

It feels like I haven’t been able to really cook anything forever!

And all my old cookbooks are dislocated, homeless, with no place to BE.

I’ve been chopping veggies and making some delicious cold salads, Broccoli salad and Coleslaw, to keep us healthy during this period of discombooberation (pizza to-go); but what I really want to do is bake a pan of corn bread and make some apple crisp! Here’s my corn bread recipe, from this month’s calendar page . . . until I get my kitchen back, I thought maybe I can live vicariously through YOU! XOXO

SEPTEMBER FIRST . . . RABBIT RABBIT!

R A B B I T R A B B I T, and there really is only one song . . .

It was almost hard to go to bed the last night of August in 2012, it was such a beautiful night! The harbor was gorgeous! And the moon! Wasn’t it wonderful? And girls, we did it! All our prayers and wishes turned the moon the most beautiful color of pink!!!

Here’s how it looked from the beach on Martha’s Vineyard over Vineyard Haven Harbor . . . I don’t think this photo begins to do it justice . . .

It streaked the sky pinky violet . . . Boat traffic was coming and going . . . halyards on the sailboats were clink-clinking against masts, waves lapped at the shore . . . there were lots of other people on the beach with us, doing what we were, making quiet wishes on the moon.

The ferry blew its loud horn and pulled away from the shore; what a beautiful night for a boat ride under the moon! I couldn’t help but notice the sky is pretty close to the color I want for my kitchen! (come back when you are done, and click on that for a good laugh!) We couldn’t go home after that; much too gorgeous out for closing ourselves indoors; so we went for dinner to an outdoor restaurant, and then, through the magic of texting, we met our dear friends from California who, while we were at dinner, were putting in an offer on a house in our neighborhood! The four of us walked over to Mad Martha’s for ice cream (peppermint candy with chocolate fudge!!!), and then up the dark street, where we stood under tangled tree limbs, on a corner across from the house they are dreaming about, eating our ice cream in the dappled light from porches and the full moon, glimpsing a simple, painted-white, wood fireplace with a mantle at the end of a dark hall through the screen door; we talked conspiratorially in hushed voices about how to fix the picket fence, and where they’ll plant trees and roses, and how much we are going to love them living up the street from us!!! Now isn’t that just about a perfect evening of doing nothing? Loved it!

And this morning, when I got up, the moon was still there, waiting for me, peeking in through the curtains; I scooped up Jack’s furry little self and we stood at the window looking at it . . . I turned my calendar page to September, and thought, extremely joyfully . . . because I like it better than anything . . .

Hooray! Isn’t it exciting! Now Joe and I are off for our woods walk . . . early-early, this morning, while the month, and the world are still brand new. Have a wonderful day Girls, may all your dreams come true. Rabbit Rabbit XOXO