July
It’s the time of year where everyone starts complaining about the heat. I just want to remind you of what’s coming … when everyone starts hoping July comes soon.
The New American Digest
For Followers of Gerard Van der Leun's Fine Work
It’s the time of year where everyone starts complaining about the heat. I just want to remind you of what’s coming … when everyone starts hoping July comes soon.
I could easily and preferably live somewhere where it is never above 75 degrees, nor below abut 45 degrees. Does such a place exist?
Oh yeah, this magical place, if it exists, must not have very many people.
1 or 2 people per square mile sounds about right to me.
About the time I really get tired of the heat, Fall comes around.
Our cold water tap from July of 2 years ago….
That’s sort of unbelievable idn’t it? I haven’t checked in awhile but the last time I did ours was in the high 40’s- low 50’s.
Hey looky. It’s a Moen Luxe Chef Undermount Apron Front Single Bowl Stainless Steel Sink, and not a cheepy neither.
Do you like a single bowl?
I like the roominess of the single bowl.
When I remodeled our kitchen 10 years ago I went with the **Kohler Cape Dory overmount cast iron-porcelain (white) single bowl and have no complaints except the cost which was around $900. I do however have many complaints with the Moen Corrine faucet that has been nothing but problems and when I can work up the gumption I’ll crawl my ass up under there and replace it. My back hurts just thinking about it.
**This was the most upscale kitchen sink we ever had and no one told me the trade off. A 10″ deep sink with disposal, instant hot faucet and reverse osmosis doesn’t leave much room under the sink for storage. I’m not complaining because the benefit of the depth is worth it. The only thing I would do diff next time is make the toe kick 2″ taller so that the counter top will be 2″ taller. Bent over that sink, say, peeling spuds, etc., is murder on my back.
I can’t say that I remember the model of this sink, so I’ll have to take your word for it. We’re the first owners of this home, and after we decided to build here, we spent couple of days at the builder’s “Design Center” picking out cabinets and baseboards and lighting and flooring and about a thousand other options. I honestly can’t remember if the sink was one of them. Regardless, deciding on the kitchen sink is firmly in the camp of the lovely Mrs. azlib, and if she likes the sink, then I do too.
But if I were allowed an opinion, I both like and dislike the larger single bowl sink. It is roomy and you can dump a lot of dishes in the sink at one time. But once you’ve done that, the sink isn’t very useful for anything else. For instance, with the one bowl, I can’t be at the sink washing some dishes while she’s also in the kitchen rinsing off some vegetables.
And I’ve hated to have to do any work under a sink since I’ve owned a home equipped with sinks.
I’m not sure I like stainless steel kitchen sinks. When using them, for me it seems to quickly develop a “filmy goo”, a “sticky film” around the sides. After the dishes are done, the sink has to be refilled with more hot water and dish detergent, and the whole metal surface must be washed with a soapy cloth and then rinsed. Once cleaned, the water no longer “wets” the surface but quickly beads up and runs off. Porcelain sinks don’t seem to need that kind of maintenance, a simpler rinsing seems to be all that is required.
Wikipedia claims that the cleanability of SS is comparable to glass. I wonder, by cleaning the ss sink with the kitchen dish rag, how much chromium oxide I’m ingesting over time. If I wash the metal hard, I can see the staining of the white dish rag with the gray of the rubbed-off chromium oxide. Chromium is a metal to avoid getting inside you.
There’s a kitchen remodel in my near-future, hence my thinking about this topic. I’m leaning toward porcelain. However, I don’t have the majority vote on kitchen materials and colors.
Designers are always thinking about their “next house”.
ie, In my next house I’m gonna have a porcelain sink with stainless steel countertops. The tops will have no backsplash. The outside edge will raise up slightly to prevent liquids from running over, and then have a 2″ bullnose down the front.
We currently have alpine white corian counters and I’m terrified of accidently melting it with a hot pan.
See, I’m an extreme hygiene freek in the kitchen. Our last house and our current house have completely white kitchens. And tons of light fixtures. I’m not a big fan of complicated counters, like granite, because they hide things like bread crumbs, etc. With white counters nothing can hide and can be cleaned up instantly.
Because I am a neet freek, our next to last house had granite counters because I thought they looked cool, but I found I was wiping the counters down ALL the time whether they needed it or not because I couldn’t visually tell if they needed it. The granite owned me, and I don’t do well as a slave. (That’s why I’m self employed)
So yeah, I think, if done properly, and with style, stainless steel counters could look pretty cool, and would hit all my hot buttons. Maybe etched mirror full height backsplash (Egrets wading in sawgrass with Ospreys in flight in the back ground)….yeah Dawg!
Ryobi Tools
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Got my 33rd Ryobi 18 Volt tool today.
PCL430 Multi-tool
It’s basicallly a saw but specialized.
It sands too.
Been wanting one for some time and now I have a job that justifies buying one. The job entails cutting off some (about 12) 2″x8″ PT floor joists from the bottom side of a raised deck. The area is very cramped and none of my other saws can work in such a tight area.
I also bought a 154 piece accessory set and a Plano 18″ tool box to keep everything in. I like to be organized and ready to go in a moments notice. All toolboxes are clearly labeled on 2 or more sides I can just visually scan, grab-n-go. yeeehawww
I likes gettin’ a new tool…..I’ll be practicing with this one on scrap wood after supper tonight. The smell of sawdust….dawgeez!
I like winter, I like cold, I like snow. I hate to see the glaciers receding. I have been hoping that before I depart, I would see the climate turn and the glaciers growing in the mountains once again. No such luck so far.
Snow in the winter, in the mountains, is the promise of life to come. Snow is next year’s water bank. You like food, don’t you? Then you like snow, lots of snow, the more the better. Pray for snow, for without it there is no life.
The threat of the oncoming snow months keeps us hopping to store up food, water, and warmth. Fix those leaky roofs, insulate the walls and windows. Once prepared, the time of snow is the time of magic, of rest and contemplation, of preparation for the new year to come. Yay!
I am in a foreign land at the moment, staying with friends in a small town at the base of the Alps.
Nice little write SK, I found that comforting to read. Do it more often.
Dare I ask which small town?
Thank you for the nice compliment. More than anything I’m glad you found it uplifting.
It’s a town in northern Italy near the Swiss border. Architecturally speaking, less beautiful than some others because it was bombed badly during ww2 (it had an airplane factory) and so much of the old town centre was blasted to smithereens and replaced with fascist architecture. Interesting in its own brutal, brooding way but not lovely.
There are still elegant little old neighborhoods and allies and ancient churches. It’s a place where it normally rains a lot and there are some stunningly beautiful old gardens. I’ll tell DT the name of the place and let him pass it on to you.
Posted
Oh, thank you! Im glad you liked it. I started to write about the heat and got a bit carried away.
I love the winter!
With regard to kitchen sinks/counters. I have had both stainless steel sinks and counter tops and porecelain sinks with some kind of plastic countertop. The countertop I have now is very basic–I love it. I cut on it every day and never left a mark. I set down hot pans (not for long) but they do no harm. My white porecelain sink pleases me with how easy it is to clean and how bright and fresh and honest it looks.