Subj : Bits & Bobs [1] To : Dave Drum From : Ruth Haffly Date : Tue Jan 14 2025 14:50:52 Hi Dave, DD> When I call it a "Pullman" kitchen people think I'm joking. It's not a DD> joke. In many ways it resembles the dining car galley on a DD> ctoss-country rail-car. RH> When we did our last Alaska cruise (the one with the rail trip to RH> Denali, then a couple of days in Fairbanks), we had lunch on the train. RH> We were seated right near the entrance/exit to the kitchen; our seats RH> were so that we could see in when people went in/out. I could see RH> basically one counter where it looked like they were assembling the RH> sandwiches. Menu choices were quite limited, mostly soups and RH> sandwiches, but the train was a limited run. I understand the old time RH> dining cars on cross country rail trips were quite impressive with what RH> they turned out. DD> My first long rail trip - Here to St. Louis thern switch to the Twin DD> Cities Rocket bound for Faribault, MN on the CB&Q/Rock Island. The DD> dining car was all linen tablecloths and napkins and stemware. Quite DD> upmarket. And, for my supper I chose Roast Duckling a l'Orange. My mom DD> and the waiter both tried to steer me to something else. And I should DD> haver listened. With the rocking of the train and the slipperyness of DD> the orange sauce on the duck I would up with almost as much on me as DD> in me. Bv)= But it was good. Comiing home on the reverse route I had DD> a nice, easy to maneuver Roast Beef Manhattan. Chalk it up to a learning experience. Got to have those to help you grow up. (G) RH> You didn't realise when you bought the house that a small kitchen was RH> going to be a problem? DD> Truthfully, I didn't even think about it. It didn't look obviously as DD> inconvenient with everything except the appliances out and the swing DD> down long counter on the inside wall in the raised position. I made a DD> But the kitchen more than makes up for it. Bv)= RH> We looked at several other houses, was less than impressed with the RH> kitchens. This one has more counter space and drawers than the rental RH> house; we'd bought a "butler" for extra counter space and storage so we RH> took that with us. It takes up a bit of floor space but does give that RH> extra bit of storage. It's also stationed right below our pot rack so RH> we don't bump our head--too often. (G) DD> My pot hangers (for the wok and paella pan) is over the sink. Nowhere DD> else to hang them and the paella pan is to big to fit in any of the DD> cabinets. Bv)= We've got 3 free standing cabinets with stuff in them too. One is basically for appliances that don't get a lot of use, one is zip bags and wraps on the top, vitamins, etc in the middle and Tupperware on the bottom. The final cabinet is part pantry, part disposable stuff, and a good part of what doesn't fit elsewhere or needs to be kept in a central location stuff. Some pots/pans (with no way to hang) are in a cabinet but the majority of the cookware is hanging. RH> Savannah was in brand mew housing but not designed for a serious cook. RH> Best part of that one (other than all new appliances) was a counter RH> with cabinet space below and above that ran the length of one of the RH> short walls, maybe about 6 feet. Other counter space was severely RH> limited. DD> I've never had a home with a dishwasher other than the two at the ends DD> of my arms. If I get my dream place that will change. First one I had was in the rental in Copperas Cove (bedroom community to Fort Hood). Then we moved on post, had one there. Moves to Frankfurt, then Berlin, then Fort Devens, MA were all with no dishwasher. Finally, moved to Fort Huachuca and have had a dishwasher ever since. When we moved up to WF, that was one of the criteria on our list in our search for housing. Only one area of seminary housing had dishwashers but we decided early on, to live in the community. square DD> feet. But muich better laid out, Plus it had a pantry about half the DD> size of the kitchen with plenty of shelving to stash extra pots DD> and/or counter top appliances. RH> Layout is important. In Savannah there was a small room right off the RH> kitchen, going to the garage, for the washer and dryer. It had some RH> shelving so we were able to stow extra kitchen stuff there. DD> An attached garage is a n ice warehouse for all manner of excess DD> baggage. We also had a useable attic and a 2,000 s/f house. Moved to rental house up here with no garage or useable attic and only about 1,000 s/f so did a major reduction of what we had. Bought this house, again no garage but a useable attic and about 1,250 s/f. It also had a small shed that was upgraded to a larger one last spring; that's Steve's exclusive space. RH> I stopped reading "Boy's Life" when I left home, probably for college. DD> I stopped when I quit the scouts. We had a scoutmaster who really set DD> off my "gay-dar". I didn't know that's what it was called at that DD> stage of my life. But he really made me nervous. Read about him a few DD> years later in the local newspaper after he was attacked and severely DD> thrashed by a scout's father. That set off an investigation and he was DD> "outed". I showed the article to my folks and told them "You always DD> wondered why I quit the scouts? There it is." RH> AKAIK, none of the scoutmasters my brothers had leaned that way. RH> They were all dads of boys in the troop, and most were WWII vets. DD> My friend Laszlo is a scoutmaster - despite having no chirrun of his DD> own. Well, now he's sort-of on emeritus status. Another runs the DD> monthly meetings. But Laszlo leads and counsels the boys in gardening, DD> crafts, >> CONTINUED IN NEXT MESSAGE << --- Catch you later, Ruth rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28 --- PPoint 3.01 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28) .