# 526 - The RV-Life Blues

This outdoor kitchen is nicely done. We might have the carport area built with the backwall used as the backside to the outdoor kitchen. The outdoor kitchen would be looking out to the main part of the backyard. Since the main structure is already there, this might be the best and least expensive option for us to fit in the outdoor kitchen into our budget.

Imagine this outdoor kitchen at the backside of the carport, accessible out the back door, close to the side that has the home's main kitchen.

Lately, it seems we are always exhausted. Life has been extremely taxing. However, I know that the coming months are not going to be any easier.

 

Tomorrow, I have a list of phone calls to make to get back on top of the construction plan. We are still trying to work out final details with the floorplan and have been traveling a bit out of town, then we caught a terrible cold that had indiscriminately made its way around the family like a germ atom bomb, and now I am simply drained.

 

RV living is not good for me. I have determined this because I always had space to walk around in our house, rooms to clean, and it was never-ending. However, the main part was that I had room to stretch my legs. In an RV, you have minimal room and walking the floor means you might send vibrations to the other person sharing the RV and the sounds in the main part of RV are atrocious because the main air-conditioning is attached to the ceiling in that room and it is LOUD and intrusive. The A/C is vented through to the rest of the RV, but the main living room is not so enjoyable right now.

 

In the photo below, the RV with the deck is ours. The fifth wheel belongs to my oldest daughter and her husband, Heather and Henry. They just took it off the acreage a couple of weeks ago, so that means our guest quarters has rolled away!

 

The RV with the deck is ours.

As Henry was pulling their fifth wheel down our private road, Sgt. Dave was guiding them because the growth in our forest over this past summer has been phenomenal.

 

 

 

Henry did a great job getting the fifth wheel off the land and onto the road for their home near Fort Worth, Texas, which is about four hours away from us. The following week, we would be traveling to see them for our grand-daughter's first birthday.

 

 

We have two entrances/exits to our acreage. The other side has the
massive commercial-grade culvert. This side does not have one. But,
Henry has a big truck that handled the hauling, perfectly.

 

 

As for our own RV, it's good for me to get so sick of the RV that the construction process will become more delightful. I feel as if I am running a marathon, but getting nowhere. Life can be like that, especially when the process is daunting.

 

Truthfully, part of the fear about digging in and starting the actual build process is that I will make a decision that really cannot be changed because it won't be affordable to make the change or it won't be structurally feasible. I am trying to build us a house that we have never seen, yet it is very close to what we have seen in person and is rather simple, even so, it is 100% custom. It is similar to the house we shared previously, but also a lot different, as far as siding, color, roof color and such is concerned.

 

 

My fear with getting started is that my time to back-track and change my mind will no longer be an option.

 

I remind myself that we are never stuck with anything in life, yet it is something that I can see is a struggle for my personality. It's been a learning lesson for me to discover more about myself during this process.

 

From House Beautiful on-line. I love some white in a kitchen. I love this
color, but my last house had green cabinetry and not everyone loved them.

 

One thing is for sure, once we are back in a house, I will be incredibly thankful to have SPACE.

 

This past year of being in a cubby hole, in a cocoon...it's been nice, in a way, especially to allow us time to live on our land, to simply "be" and to figure things out regarding the seasons with drainage on the acreage and such. However, I well surpassed my expiration date for RV living.

 

We better get back on track because my steam seems to let out a lot faster these days. As for my whining, here are some things on my mind about being tired of RV life...I need space to stretch out; I want my bookshelves to be full of my books; I want my piano to play during melancholy moments; I want a guest room ready at all times for my kids and grand-grandbaby to enjoy; I want a bathtub; I want a full kitchen with a real refrigerator/freezer that is FROST-FREE; and I want a real sofa to stretch out upon.

 

All of these things are luxuries, I know. And the world has such major issues that weigh upon me like a lead-weight, but in my tiny corner of this existence, these are my current feelings about RV life.

 

Perhaps this coming week will be a positive move toward finishing the floorplan changes, so we can keep moving forward until the day comes when we can call a permanent structure "home" instead of this box with a hitch. Ha Ha. Yes, I have the RV blues.

 

# 479 - Guest Cottage a Priority!

The weather has changed and I am LOVING this crisp air. The Texas heat can be oppressive and we have had to enter the month of October before the edge of melting high temperatures made an exit.

This is one of my favorite times of year in the South! It's a time of year when we are able to get our forest growth under control and do chores that are almost unbearable during hot summer months.

Yesterday, I mowed the residential-zone of our acreage until I ran out of gas. I had a great time. The dogs relaxed under the sun as I mowed.

I did laundry in between mowing sections of land, so I had a great time multi-tasking, but that's what we women do...

And my chickens had a great time looking for juicy critters as I moved stepping stones from one spot to another. Moving a stepping stone is sort of like unwrapping a big Christmas gift for a chicken...usually there are delicious, slimy goodies under the stones.

However, we've hit the time of year when our hens are laying much less often. I can clearly see that come Springtime, it's definitely time to add quite a few chicks to our growing farm. In fact, I hope to have fencing in place to add chicks and perhaps for my husband to add a few pigs to our farm as well. And one day, I will get a few goats, mostly for the goat's milk. But, I'm not ready for those, not just yet.

However, we might need a rooster. Our chickens are free-ranging, so a rooster might be a good addition. Unlike our city backyard chicken experience, when we get a rooster by mistake, this time around we have the option to keep them.

And yesterday my husband went on a walk and came across these two bones. I hope they are related to the other deer bones we find on our land and are not of the human variety. Howdy took a big whiff, then walked away, uninterested.

Another chore that I am mostly responsible for handling is keeping the chicken coop cleaned of poop. Living in the country makes this job much easier because my backyard size has expanded, considerably.

I still don't have a house. Am living in the RV. It is cramped.

Since the main house will take a lot of time to build and I'd like to jump-start the process of moving out of the RV, we might go ahead and build the guest cottage that has a screened-in outdoor room with utility room. 

After that is built, we will have more room to spread out, can again use some of our own furniture, enjoy a bath-tub again, and savor a full-size refrigerator once again!

After it is built, we can also sell the RV and put money into more structures to improve land value.

The timing for all of this is critical. We need to have the guest cabin constructed before Spring hits because that is the prime-time to put the RV on the market.

I ADORE the front of this cabin with the big windows and double front doors.

This cabin does not have to be large, just big enough to allow for comfortable living and with great views of our beautiful wooded landscape. I would love this cottage combined with the photo above decking around the cottage.

Another great benefit of building a small guest cottage FIRST will be the opportunity the project will give us in learning about constructing a large home on our own. Ideas and building methods can be explored on a smaller scale. And if the guest cottage turns out to be a disaster, then we know to stick with a builder from start to finish for the main house.

Since our children are grown and our oldest daughter, Heather, has blessed us with our first grandchild, she and her husband and daughter will be cottage guests that have priority.

Heather and sweet baby Coraline as they appear in today's photo.
My beauties, my loves that make life a joy.

The guest cabin will provide an enjoyable, private space for the kids to know is theirs, plus we'll have space in the main house as well. I will be putting up a sign at the guest cottage in humor, yet as a serious warning, that the guest cabin provides PRIORITY HOUSING for our grown children and grand-children before anyone else, period.

Last minute call? The kids get the cottage.
Holidays? The kids get the cottage.
Weekend jaunt? The kids get the cabin.
Need a break to catch up on sleep?
The kids get it. They reserve it, they get it.
Period.

Our children have always been our priority, and this commitment will stay with us until we walk through Heaven's gates. However, this "in-between" phase of moving has been difficult. We've always found a fixer-upper or beautiful home to call our own within a short search, but this is an entirely new ball game --- raw land, rural acreage, all from scratch.

As for houses, here is one that I found on Pinterest that I fell in love with ---

--- so many decisions and options to make the deciding process in itself SO MUCH FUN!

As for an off-topic add-on to this post, I saw this interesting kitchen idea that I could not bypass and chance forgetting, so I share with you. The guest cottage kitchen will be small, yet organized. I loved this metallic peg-board idea, but I'll take it on the wall! It would also hold my metallic spice containers.

Well, this week, we will be focusing on the guest cottage plans and getting started. I know where it will be built. I am ready to get moving. The weather is great, the time is right and the issue is settled. We have a certain project and it will be our focus. I want to get the guest cottage built before February, so we can put the RV on the consignment lot in Houston by March 1st.

Here we go!

# 453 - The Country - My Kitchen Change

Come along for the tour!

Over the next year, we will be working toward preparing the land to build a country cabin...a cabin or cottage will be our next home. In the meantime, we are living in our temporary home, an RV that's 33 feet long, with two slide-outs.

Going from a very large home to an RV has been quite a transition. I had wondered how I would feel about leaving my large kitchen in the house we just sold...that island kitchen was very spacious.

 

 

However, our RV is cozy. In fact, I love my RV kitchen, which is located on the front end of the RV.

There's room to move around, ample drawer and deep cabinetry. There's also space available over the upper cabinets and that's where we keep the foil, lunch-kits, lap trays, and such.

 The makers of this RV used ingenuity when they made the kitchen to extend over the trailer/tongue area to give loads of cabinetry and counter-space that is not usually found in a 33-foot RV.

This part of the countertop actually has an overhang that allows for two bar stools to be pushed underneath. I use the area underneath for a three-tier shoe holder. No shoes to be worn inside! Well, except by guests.

My little kitchen is enjoyable. Everything is carefully designed to be within an arm's reach. And that skillet I am using below is a massive sized skillet, I believe 17 inches across, but it is one of my favorites.

Isn't this entire adventure ridiculously funny? Can you believe we made a massive leap from city living in the Greater Houston area that has over 2,400 people per square mile to the country in an area that has, on average, 43 people per square mile?

We are nuts! We're making huge sacrifices, but we know it will be worth it. In fact, tonight I stood outside listening to the frogs, crickets and spied some lightening bugs at the edge of the forest, and I CAN FEEL the many reasons we're going through all this hardship.

If you love nature and you love having some space around you, then you understand. If you like the sound of birds chirping when you walk outside instead of the sound of traffic, then you understand. If you like to look out your window and see greenery as your landscape instead of man-made structures, vehicles and concrete, then you understand. If you'd like to see more of our society make a return to traditional practices, such as growing and raising table food, then you understand what we are trying to do out here in the country.

The way I look at it, at least we are providing ONE home on our side of the family that has beautiful acreage with a spring-fed creek and lake to play in and we have woods to explore...there's room to roam and space to enjoy. And we can actually see the stars at night.

Our land continues to go back, as far as those trees in
the distance and beyond. Howdy stands there, he
wants to go back there, but it's not always safe.
That's rattlesnake and Cottonmouth zone.

Such beauty is still available. Treasure it...I am sure you understand what we are trying to do out here in the country and you know the reason I am so darn happy with my little kitchen.

# 436 - Moving to the Country with a Perfect RV

Since we need to quickly find accommodations for our move to the country this coming week, we spent some time today looking at RV's. A LOT of RV's. Rows and rows of RV's parked at a major dealership in Houston in the Texas heat were to meet our scrutiny. And the heat wasn't too bad, until you constantly find yourself standing in an RV housing a 90 degree temperature.

 

Today, I was a red-faced gal.

We looked at all kinds of RV's...fifth-wheels, tag-alongs, weird contraptions that were part RV and part canvas. We saw RV's that were super nice and a few that were super yucky.

One thing we figured out is that RV's have come a long way in their design. Yes, a few are still using the old standard layout, but some are innovative with designing efficient space-saving floorplans.

We know that we'll be in the RV for a few months and we will hopefully use it later for traveling to see our oldest daughter and the GRANDBABY that is on the way, so we took our time looking and opted for MORE space instead of a squished design. Since we are old-hats at being RV owners, this one is going to be the most spacious tag-along we've owned, to date.

Since this will need to be our home for the next few months, we knew that we needed to look for particular preferences:

1. Kitchen counter space, extra inches count and storage is important
2. Floor space must be good enough to prevent having to constantly walk side-ways. I don't want to do the crab-walk every day.
3. Chair...love the dining set and loveseat, but I must have a comfy chair...it's an over-40 thing.
4. Bed cannot be the kind that is accessible by an open doorway and then must be found by going airborne to reach your side. Preferred to find bedroom with bed that has room to walk on both sides, even if by crab-walk.
5. Closet space could not simply consist of the two standard narrow cabinets on each side of the RV bed, we had to have actual closet space and as much cabinetry, drawer space as possible.
6. Two entry/exit doors preferred
7. As much linoleum as possible since carpeting is not practical for our lifestyle
8. Tag-along is needed since our truck is not equipped for a fifth wheel...maybe that will be down the road, but not for now.
9. Bathroom cannot have toilet that won't accommodate a six-foot-plus man and the shower must allow for non-hunched over stance.

I think we must have gone inside at least fifty hot RV's, and that will get your blood pumping on a warm Texas day.

There were three floorplans we really liked, but there was one in particular that stood out better than the rest. It seemed as if the major details were addressed and all of these combined to make a great RV layout.

Since we have been life-long camping kind of people and have owned multiple RV's, we know that kitchen space cannot be under-estimated. Having a lack of kitchen counterspace and cabinetry for storage can make for a miserable cooking experience. Of course, I have always sat at the RV dining room table to do cutting, chopping and mixing, but the RV we fell in love with has enough space to stand in the kitchen area and do everything needed to cook a good meal. There's even room for Deputy Dave's coffee pot!

This tag-along has an additional space added over the tongue which makes for a PERFECT RV kitchen, the best I've ever seen. There is even room for two bar stools to be stored under part of the kitchen counter to make indoor dining easier and food preparation more enjoyable.

After a while, we began to take note as to what features were in our price range and which ones meant the most to us. The above features became priorities and soon we were able to simply stick our head in the door to rule out the kitchen counterspace as being a Yay or Nay. Then, the rest was easy to determine as well.

 

So, now I am going to look on Craigslist for our area of Greater Houston and for the Livingston area to see if we might find someone who is wanting to sell a newer model, such as the one we personally toured, from 2010 upward, for a GREAT price.

I cannot believe, that as of next week, my home will no longer be an almost 3,000 square foot, two-story home because I'll be living in the middle of our forest, in a little RV space, yet we will be surrounded by land and more land.

It's a dream come true. It's a rocky dream full of sacrifices along the way to finally LIVE the long-awaited country experience. Next week, we will be country folk, fully enjoying country life each and every day of our lives...it's all coming together.

We are living an American dream!

# 393 - A Life of Color

This past week I have been doing some things to the house to liven it up, warm it up. I found myself in a trap of too much Real-Estate-Beige, so I put a splash of color back on the formal dining room's walls. Actually, for my entire adult life, I've had either burgundy/wine or a red color in my dining room and kitchen areas.

A few months ago, for some reason, I decided to do something different, so I took away the reddish color for a while, but it didn't work for me. I had to get the color back in my life, even if we are selling the house.

Formal dining room with color again. Day-time photo.

As for this color, I LOVE it because it is rich and velvety looking. It took about 3-4 coats to get good coverage, but it was well worth the effort. Also, I went ahead and repainted the chair railing and baseboards with white high-gloss paint to give the room better contrast.

Formal dining room, night-time picture

Of course, my kids are now grown, each of my two daughters are in their twenties. My oldest is 25, so things are really rolling with my children being grown adults who are building their own lives and their own families, so my formal dining room gets less and less usage on a daily basis. But, when my girls were growing up, for most of their childhood, I did the majority of the meal preparations, until my oldest hit ninth grade, then my husband began cooking more than the weekend BBQ contribution and well beyond the occasional kitchen assistance level or holiday meal preparation. 

However, up until that point, I had been the main person who cooked dinners and who made my children breakfast before they went to school and who made untold numbers of school lunches that I put into paper-bags, always with a drawing of a funny witch with a little message to make it interesting, and I made after-school snacks that were a staple of my children's diets...lots of peeled and sliced apples...so we had much more going on than just dinner. 

Often, on the weekends, I'd make a big pot of basic marinara sauce which was used for stuffed manicotti, lasagna, spaghetti  and such...freezing casseroles so that my work-week would go more smoothly by having a home-made meal already prepared. 

Meal-time is something you can't escape when your children are growing up...it takes a LOT of food preparation to raise children, all-throughout-the-day kind of meal preparation. It takes a lot of work, a lot of presence, a lot of dedication and a lot of dirty dishes.

These days, I'm completely content with a bowl of soup, a sandwich or something quick and easy to prepare. Staying out of the kitchen, keeping it clean...that's okay with me.

Me serving dinner to Stefie when she wasn't feeling well and
home, visiting from college over the holidays.

Still, I have those days when I long for one of my standard, comfort-food recipes and I have a great time cooking for those who mean the most to me, especially for the ones who love my cooking and think that nobody can make it quite like their mom!

I love that being a mom puts a stamp on your food so that anyone who thinks they can make it better is simply proving that they don't cook like mom. This is the reason so many of us crave our mom's cooking...she had a way of preparing certain meals that no one else can match. Even though my mother's residence is now Heaven, I still crave many of the things she cooked. My mom was an incredible Southern cook, but she prepared a wide-range of foods, many that were ahead of her time, such as Orange Chicken and other Asian dishes. She also made the best iron-skillet hamburgers in the world! Often, I would just eat a hamburger patty with ketchup...DELICIOUS!

I guess that's part of being a mom, there's a special touch that the maternal instinct gives to our efforts. When we do something for our kids, it is truly to do it from our hearts. Of course, there are those days of drudgery when the cooking and cleaning can feel a bit too much, but then we do something little that lights up their faces and their positive response rejuvenates us to keep going.

That's the beauty of having real color in your life; relationships are like color for our soul, healthy relationships push away the drabness of life. Yes, the true riches of life come from our relationships...those give real meaning to our existence.

Today, I am feeling extra burgundy. How about you?

# 388 - Kitchens and The Woods!

I keep spying kitchens on commercials that I love! I sit there thinking, "What are those strangers doing in my kitchen?" Actually, I WISH they were my kitchens!

Let me clarify, I wish these were my kitchens in my country home in the woods. Make sense? I'm still in the city house, but the For Sale sign is still in the yard, buyers are not that frequent in today's market, but we had another interested buyer come by this past weekend. We'll see what comes of it.

As for my dream kitchens, this past week I've seen two of my kitchens in commercials. I guess I'm a sucker for white cabinets because all of my claimed kitchens seem to have some white cabinetry in them.

The first one is a Target commercial. I love the ceiling, the cabinetry, the island, the windows over the sink and the way the kitchen joins the living area. However, since this is a set, there are major pieces of a kitchen missing...such as the refrigerator, etc., but the general layout of the kitchen is my kind of style. Thanks for the nice scene Target!

Of course, I love the wood floors. I don't think I'd have wood floors with such heavy high-gloss polyurethane as I now have in my current house because I rather like the real bare wood that gets scraped up, gouged and worn looking. As long as it is kept clean and polished, it is great. 

I also like the combination of the woodwork painted white with the natural woodwork. A winner in my book. 

Then, there was another commercial, I think it was for life insurance. That kitchen was a real beauty. The cabinets looked straight-forward and without much flair, but they are clean-lined and nice looking. I love the position of the stove/oven and the sink with the large window to the side, the pot-depth sink at the island which is warmed up with bead-board. Then, there are the double doors with solid glass to the side of the kitchen, just as I have laid out in my own country house plans, my doors will lead to an outdoor kitchen. 

In particular, I like the position of these kitchens, in the way that they are open to an adjoining dining area and family room. Just exactly what I envision for my country home. No more huge home that is spread far apart and with spare rooms that are constantly needing to be cleaned. Less is best. 

I continually hope to have this country house in my near future, one way or another. I'm young enough to savor living in such a home for many, many, many years...I hope. Actually, I hope to be like my grandmother and be living into old age, independently. She's in her mid-80's and loves living alone. She actually lived on an acre of land, by herself, for about thirty years. She is my inspiration!

I've grown up knowing that happiness must be first found within yourself. If your environment is not conducive to your happiness and contentment, then make a change. Don't let fear stop you from breaking away from whatever holds you back from enjoying the best life has to offer. For me, my soul is aching to get out of the city and into the woods. Since my grandmother had done the same exact thing, at about my age, in her forties, it's pretty amazing to look back at how happy she was in her little corner of the world.

Until then, I'm hanging in there and trying my best to keep working toward giving this industrial town the Disney-Wave goodbye.

One day soon...I hope...

# 373 - Unique Kitchens are Great!

Searching the Internet for pictures of kitchens is something that is not easy to do, especially since I am drawn to kitchens that are rustic in appearance. I do not really want too many upper cabinets because the space could be better utilized by other means.

I've had a couple of kitchens with white cabinetry in my day and I must say, they were not any harder to take care of than the country-green painted cabinets I have today. The white was actually easy to maintain --- I painted them with paint designed for bathroom/kitchen cabinetry, and it was scrubbable. Loved it!

I also keep extra paint on hand in an empty water bottle with a clean stone or glass bauble dropped inside, ready for quick touch-ups. You just shake the bottle, dip in a touch-up sized paint brush and your life is less complicated! In fact, I do this with ALL left-over paint, for every room. It has saved me frustration for countless paint-touch-ups.

I love the shelving.
 

As for the country cabin, I adore elements that are rustic. This island with the plank top might not be good for a chopping block because of the cracks, but it is beautiful. The towel hanging rod is a smart idea. I would have one side with hooks to hang big, frequently used utensils, etc.

I nearly dropped when I saw this kitchen. Our second home in Germany had a kitchen that was extremely small, but the wall had tile, just like this, and it had white shelving that we installed. Perhaps that is the reason I love this look and the reason I appreciate the functionality of having shelving instead too many upper cabinets.

 

The kitchen in the photo below is so nice, but I'm not so sure about the hanging carriage lights. I like the warm colors.

 

For some reason, I am drawn to a kitchen with warm wood elements or a mixture of white and warm, natural wood. However, this kitchen with the country red and white checkered accents is like a magnet.

 





Incorporating some of our German memorabilia from the years we lived overseas will be a part of our country kitchen design. However, true German kitchens are high-tech master-pieces, like their vehicles. There's not really a rustic German design. French rustic, yes, I love that look...Julia Child is the master! American pioneer, yes, I love it.

If I could get this trivet, I would. I had to read it a couple of times, then laugh. So true.

I guess the country cabin will be so far-removed from a cookie-cutter designed house that it is difficult to find a kitchen I can decide upon. So, it becomes a question, or a series of questions about the elements I'd prefer to have in a kitchen.

1. Less upper cabinets of typical kitchens, more shelving for cookbooks, large pots and such.

2. Wood, need areas with wood, unpainted.

3. Area with pegboard, even a small area, to hold favorite cooking utensils and prevent counter-top clogging

4. Triangle design of kitchen with cooking, cleaning and refrigeration.

5. Area of hanging pots with lids slid over handle for easy pairing and retrieval.

6. Love sheet metal or stone at area under serving bar, no sheetrock to paint and scuff.

7. Lighting, under-cabinet and inside glass cabinet lighting.

8. Dining area adjoining kitchen must have wall space to accommodate my German Shrunk (china cabinet).

9. Large farm table is a must --- only one dining area with ample seating for our growing family.

10. One sink faucet with one handle --- having two faucets to adjust for temperature is not the most bacterial resistant method nor more convenient, love the faucet that detaches to make a sprayer, kind of like the one used in restaurant kitchens.

12. No sheetrock on backsplashes, must be tiled and sealed for easy clean up.

13. Most lower cabinets will be slide-out drawers, not caverns.

Love the stone walls. Always love stone and wood together.

I suppose the stone would have to be sealed?

I am getting close to being able to draw out the kitchen design. I've seen a LOT of kitchens, especially because I was a Real Estate professional for years...when houses are your business, you see a lot of kitchens of every sort.

From my point of view, the people who would spend a small fortune on their kitchens were never on the mark. The more functional kitchens might have provoked a second-thought, but those were usually the most memorable. The only problem with having an out-of-the-box kitchen in a cookie-cutter neighborhood is that it is so scary to depart from the "norm."

Me in an unglamorous shot, in my "now" kitchen.

It seems that more and more people would LOVE to own a kitchen that is less about selling cabinets and more about individual preferences. Catering to your own tastes is the best part of home-ownership. Even places we rented throughout our lives were fun to decorate with our own flair, but getting to build a country cabin is taking this freedom to a new level.

Getting some distance from city-suburbs house-next-door expectations will keep you chained to the status quo. It is a challenge to look at kitchens in a different way. I can see that my cookie-cutter brain-washed mind will encounter some struggles with this country cabin, but I believe obstacles can be conquered so that a new way of life can be enjoyed.

After all, I did love our little German kitchen that had a huge picture window, the kitchen that was devoid of upper cabinetry. It was small, but I loved it; however, back then we didn't entertain on the scale that we do now and our family wasn't this size. Heck, we were basically the only ones in our sibling groups that truly had a family. Now, the chain reaction has taken on immense proportions. It shows during every gathering we host. Also, neither of us knew how to cook like we do now. But, I loved the uniqueness of that little kitchen and am looking forward to having something different once again.