What the Swedes do best

We're headed to IKEA! To get our kitchen cabinets and bathroom sinks and furnishings.

Why IKEA you ask? Because IKEA understands small, compact and lean. The Raleigh News & Observer just had an article about the latest parade of homes. And, per usual, all the homes in the article seem to be massive, overdone Grandomania styles as Mr. Wright would say. We have walked through Lowes and Home Depot looking for very plain, yet nice kitchen cabinetry and it's just not there.-not in Alamance county anyway, so we have to go to Charlotte.

Also, with our concrete floor and radiant heat tubing, we're not keen on pounding nails into it to secure cabinets. Ikea's come with little feet. I like that. Also, they are good quality, easy to assemble and have nice features like drawers with an anti-slamming feature, which is quite nice.

I think that Mr. Wright would like IKEA. Although he was the quintessential AMERICAN architect, He believed in using new things and was influenced by other cultures such as Japan's.

In fact, when he was building his Usonians, plywood was the newest thing going and he made the cabinetry and furniture out of this new material. Now, of course, it's been around long enough, like dandelions, that we're not all that impressed with it.

And why now? Because IKEA is having a 10% off sale on kitchens right now. We could get more than that if we also bought the appliances from them, but I prefer Sears for that sort of thing.

I am NOT getting lunch there however, Tiddley made better Swedish meatballs.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/

The Sound of Money

One of my favorite movies is MEET JOE BLACK, wherein the wealthy, dying Anthony Hopkins is visited by the gorgeous, vacationing Death, Brad Pitt. Mr. Hopkin's character lives atop Manhattan in a beautiful penthouse above the rabble. Although he can't stop Death from eating at his dinner table or defiling his daughter, noise is never allowed. Even when the softspoken servants who shuffle around on carpeted floors in silken slippers set the table, the silverware is surrounded in ivory napkins so as not to disturb the dying man. Amazingly, no one gets shocked with static electricity when they hug.

You have to be really rich to afford such serenity.

We have lived in mobile home, which was sort of like living in a dying K-car. Every rattle of the furnace or squeak of the air conditioner interfered with conversation. I didn't realise how much it bothered me until we moved into the country house we were building at the time and the silence was overwhelming.

Our little Usonian will not be much bigger than that trailer. So when we went appliance shopping at Sears, our emphasis was on quiet. And, you have to pay for it. There are even decibel ratings on the better built dishwashers. Stainless steel appliances are quieter than their counterparts and that adds to the cost. We went with Kenmore for the dishwasher, stove and reefer. They seemed to be the most consistent with quality and our son-in-law says he likes his. Maureen, our salesperson, told us that every manufacturer's stainless steel finish is different, so in order to lessen confusion to the eyeballs, that played into our decision too.

Also, Sunday, Sears is having a "Friends and Family" sale. This means that anyone who has ever walked through a Sears at anytime during this or a previous life can buy a Kenmore,and get a better deal. So, we picked out the goods last night, but will actually buy it on Sunday because we are Friends.

I don't think we're Family.

Searstime

OUR FAX WORKED!

And just in the nick of time. To celebrate we're heading to Sears tonight. They are having a big appliance sale and they will hold the stuff until we need it. I have already picked out the refrigerator, a freezer on the bottom model. One of our daughters has it and they like it very much. I find I need more fridge room on top because with our shrinking household, we just don't have that much need to open the freezer, mainly to access the cocktail necessities of life and ice cream for the grandkids. Although Julia Child hated her freezer on the bottom. In one of her episodes, she was bending down to put something in it and complained about it being designed for "pygmies." We now buy our groceries weekly and not keeping massive amounts of food in readiness since we're not feeding 4 hungry girls and whoever they bring home for dinner. And let me say, in my experience, both having been raised in estrogen heavy household, and then running one- girls eat WAY MORE FOOD than boys. One of my sisters told me once that she usually stopped eating when she got tired of chewing.

Right now I have a Jenn-air stove, with the dual ovens. I like the dual ovens, but the upper smaller one doesn't heat as accurately as the lower, larger one, and the stove top, while having five burners, cannot accommodate three large pots at once. Although our children are all out now, we still cook for the hordes because of family dinners so I'm looking for a larger gas cooktop. And once again, I think Sears has it.

Pat is meeting with our builder to discuss the steel beams in the roof. THINGS ARE HAPPENING! This is so exciting!