For the Love of Red

Tags

Kitchen, Knitting, photography, postaday2011

I mentioned on Tuesday that I was pondering a post about red towels but that had been placed on the back burner while I doted on a wee one for the day.  Well, now is as good a day as any I suppose to wax on about kitchens and such. Perhaps I should forewarn you that a nice hot cup of tea would be great to grab before delving into this post as I ended up being quite chatty!

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I should start off by saying I love my kitchen.  I love everything about this house actually, but after spending so much time living on a sailboat I really don’t think I take house living for granted, and I hope I never do!  I suppose I should pause here for any new readers and explain that my family and I lived aboard a 35 foot sailboat for years and years.  You can read more about that at my old blog and here is a post I wrote about that kitchen, Galley Dockside vs. Galley Afloat if you’d care to compare and contrast.  In our current housing arrangement we are on post in Navy housing.

Kitchen Sink Love

Now.  On to the talk about where my love of red and my love of the kitchen intersect.  Moving to the land after so many years afloat meant that I don’t have a plethora of rags and towels and plates and, well, stuff!  That lovely blank slate meant that I could do anything at all I liked when it came time to furnish the kitchen and I liked red! That first batch of towels I bought were shortly followed by red table napkins and then a little red glass bottle that you can see on the windowsill today.

Love that red!

When the sun shines through it in the morning it makes me very, very happy.

Kitchen Madonna

Also on the windowsill is my Kitchen Madonna with a little red tealight at her feet.  The chartreuse mum is from a huge mixed bouquet I picked up right after Christmas!  I am astounded that it is still around.

Red Love

Recently I was in Pier One and found the one and only glass in the store that had red cherries on it.  It immediately became my daily water glass and another of my favorite things in this kitchen.  The foliage that you see outside my window, (and yes that window is open today!) is a red hibiscus.  The lawn crew just trimmed it up recently so you can’t see any blossoms right now but I think it quite nice that whomever planted that bush knew my love of red and chose it just for me.

Let’s see.  What else brings me JOY in this kitchen?

Sink and Brush

Well, this borders on mundane unless you’ve been following the conversation over at Aunt Leila’s but I am not a washcloth or a sponge girl.  I prefer a brush and when a local store had a shipment of these gorgeous red and chrome brushes arrive, I bought handfuls!  I really don’t know what I’d use a cloth for anymore, we have a tablecloth on the table so no wiping that down unless I’m polishing it up while cleaning.  I keep sponges under the sink for nasty scrubbing jobs but they seriously still gross me out and yes, I’ve microwaved them and put them in the dishwasher frequently. Heck! Back on the boat I used to boil them since we ditched the microwave after a year or so.  Any wiping up in the kitchen, I generally use a cleaner for, therefore I use a paper towel.

Maybe I’ll knit a red washcloth one of these days just to compare.

Red Towels, at last!

Over at the oven finally, finally there is evidence of the towels that started this whole conversation!  I buy any old red towels I come across.  Think how many holidays involve red.  Christmas, of course, but also Valentine’s Day and 4th of July, I’ve even found red patriotic styled ones for Memorial Day and the start of summer.  Now towels usually come in a multi-pack and only the front one will have the featured design of a heart or a candy cane or whatever on it.  The others are generally just plain old red towels good for any day of the year.  I toss all the red towels and napkins into a dedicated basket in the laundry room and wash them all together.  Hot water doesn’t seem to affect them.  I mean, really, if they’re going to bleed they’ll just bleed on each other!

Cinnamonny Candle plus Red Towel

A close up of the towel and a candle I picked up just the other day that I burn quite proudly.  Though I may not be homeschooling my daughter anymore, I still have that ole teaching bug buried deep inside me!  I had to explain and explain and explain to two sales ladies that taking 75% off and then keying in an additional 20% didn’t equal a full 95% off an item.  Eventually they gave it to me and one girl was so astounded at the difference (wow! that’s a great deal!) that she ran back to pick up some for herself.  I thought about mentioning her employee discount but…

Teakettle from my aunt.

Well, really that previous story leads in quite nicely to this story.  You see, my aunt sent me this gorgeous Le Creuset teakettle for Christmas.  When I was growing up she had the most amazing and fun closet to play dress up in because she always worked part time at various clothing stores.  Employee Discount + Clearance Rack = Rockin’ Wardrobe!

Kitchen Corner

The final corner of my kitchen illustrates why this Navy housing was obviously built in the 1950’s.  Cute little corner (once we pulled the door down, who needs doors in all the door frames anyway?) with nary an electrical plug in sight!  A little microwave cart or a kitchen desk might be nice here but with no electricity anywhere nearby, I just keep a pretty plant here. And that red berry wreath?  Also 95% off.  Matches a garland above the window I neglected to take a picture of.

Red pot, pretty pine, sparkly snowflakes!

Our current pretty plant is a typical live Christmas tree and I kept the sparkly snowflakes on for January.  Red sparkly hearts just might appear for February! Or maybe knit or crochet hearts?  I also found battery operated fairy lights that I’ve kept on.  I do love to have them twinkling away behind me as I start supper on these dark January evenings!

Well, there is a bit of a tour of the red that makes me super happy in my kitchen.  All inspired by the kitchen talk over at Like Mother, Like Daughter.  Now, granted there is loads more red items I could show off, red potholders, red aprons etc… but I think you get the idea.  Besides, I’m certain if you made it this far your tea is either cold or gone by now!

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I do have to say one more thing.  This particular style of post is one of the things I missed the most during my year sabbatical from blogging.  Inspiration from someone else inspires a deeper appreciation of the small joys that are to be found here at home.

For that, I give heartfelt thanks.