All questions answered, quickly too.

I got my questions about cans freezing answered in an unmistakeable way today.  As I walked by the wall of pantry to let the dogs out this morning I grabbed a can of peas and shook it.  After I put it back down it occurred to me.... no slosh.  Uh Oh!

You got it, frozen peas.  Not frozen solid but given one more day I suspect they would have been.  This means I got to turn my kitchen upside down and figure out where to put all the winter's canned goods inside NOW.  Wes was a darling, put on his jacket and gloves and ferried anything with liquid in it inside while I frantically tried to figure out where to put everything. 

I ended up putting spices inside the white taborets although I really want a wall spice rack eventually.  Dry goods that were inside ended up outside and all wet goods ended up inside.  You can just see a door to the left of the pine cabinet and that's our dressing room/laundry room.  We are definitely getting rid of the washer/dryer set in the spring and are going to turn that area into the inside pantry for all the canned goods I will put up next year.  Dry goods can still go in the barn.

Phew.... that was a job!  I've still got to transition the cast iron cookware out of the bottom row of pine cabinets and put all the vinegars and some stuff under there.  Lots of stuff went on top of the cabinets too, like my liquor.  Nothing like needing a small step ladder for a quick drink.  I'm going to have to make sure I get down what I need the first time and put it away the next morning *lol*

I really wanted that laundry area for a dye area but like so many other indie dyers I'm going to have to suck it up and use the kitchen.  I'll be super careful and hopefully I can get enough dyeing done in the summer to carry me quite a way through the winter but I only have so many water areas in this house and if the pantry goes where the washer was it's either the kitchen or the bathroom and there seriously is not enough room to dye roving in there!

Taffy for once in her life is finally getting it that I'm just not going to get up at all hours of the night and walk her around looking for a little something.  About 4 am last night when I'm sure it was about 100 below (sure looked like it) she wanted out.  I had emptied her out at bed time with a long walk and lots of piddling so I knew she was not absolutely needing to go out.  I told her to knock it off and go lay down.  She did but the pouting was heard loud and clear when I woke up.  There were no nose licks from her to me, no cuddling and her back was very much placed where I could see her but not touch.  She's such a little Diva.  She's also gorgeous and once a morning biscuit was obtained all was forgiven.

The cat is going slowly insane.  Seriously.  He hardly ever goes outside, prowls around the house looking for things to get into, chase and catches his tail (bites himself and then runs away) and is generally being a nut.  I feel for him, really I do, but I can't change the weather.  Maybe next week we'll get some sunshine and he can sit on the porch for a bit.  For right now he needs to be happy with the woodstove.

Comments

[Dorothy]

I was really into canning many moons ago and have kept all of my supplies for "some day" when I will get back to it. Last week I made apple butter in the crockpot and it was SO good!! It's been really cold, rainy and windy here, so I've been putting Maggie on the treadmill. She absolutely loves it and will keep pumping along as long as you give her a Cheerio now and then. But I ran out of Cheerios today and had to substitute bran flakes. Not so good!

[gayle]

I don't blame the cat - that woodstove looks so cozy that I'd be laying in front of it myself...
Good luck with the Great Kitchen Project! It's amazing what you can come up with for work-arounds. My "spice rack" is a baker's rack - someday I want a dedicated spice rack, but so many other projects are ranked ahead of it that I don't know when that'll happen.