Monday's Muddled Array of Things........

 

The male downy hit the feeder today while I was blogging, so I had to stop the presses and get a shot of him.

Once that was shot I then realized that I now needed to get a shot of the female downy hanging upside down pecking away at the suet.  I had just put fresh seed on the feeder and they seemed to be excited to join all the sparrows who were eating millet. 

I took too many shots of the sparrows but their brown feathers are really great colors.  I like how the sparrow looks at me while I am holding the camera up in the window. 

Here is a blast into the past as I finished painting the shelving around the kitchen window.  I have a lot of painting yet to do on the above cupboards but I wanted to get the window area cleaned up and painted first.

Our kitchen has a lot of historic changes as I have discovered them as I work in the area.  While doing the below cupboards I found more wallpaper that suggest the whole room was covered with the same pattern.  From the shape of the impression on the outside of the kitchen siding one can see the impression of a brick chimney that started wide and went into a narrow stack as it went up. It is on the west side and I am assuming that the kitchen had a wood burning stove at the west end.  I bet that the rest of the kitchen probably had one cupboard in it to hold food and dishes along with a few shelves.  I know that where the double windows are now that there had been a single window, tall and double hung like the original house so nothing could have gone along that wall but maybe a work table. I am betting that there was one just like it on the other opposite wall.

These windows must have been installed in the 50's when ranch houses where putting in cupboards and knick knack shelves.  I am betting all the cupboards were put in then and the wood stove was  removed. On that side of the wall with the now double windows are could have been a long cast iron sink with sink on one half and a long drain board on the left side of it.  It would have been put in when the city water was installed. That could have been in 40's or early 50's.  Also I have that cast iron sink with ceramic coating on it as evidence in the basement. We use it in the laundry area. I had to install it as it was leaning against the wall  down there back in 1976 when I bought the old house. I have seen pictures of the neighbor's house in the older days and our kitchens matched. It  had two doors opposite of each other so they both could be opened in the summer to let out the heat.  They were called summer kitchens then with screen doors  and windows also,  to help keep some of the flies out of the house. 

AJ did like his Thomas the train.  Grandparents pick up these things and don't read the descriptions.  It doesn't have moveable wheels and that is ok with AJ as he can push it along.  The button on the smoke stack can be pushed and Thomas talks about using his light to show him the way.  The train actioually is a flashlight.  AJ really liked it as a flashlight and also he can push it around on the carpet as a train.  There are way too many pictures to show of AJ and unfortunately his Grandpa is in them so you won't see many of them.  Our son took our camera and continually shot pictures with it of us for one whole day.  I think there were 70 or more shots by the time he was done on the camera.  

I turned down a half day of work today as a Spanish teacher knowing there will be more work to come.  I did want one more day to rest and do small projects before I get back into the swing of things.  We are very cold today and it will warm up slowly the next couple of days.  No wind today and that is so great.  Thanks for stopping by today.