Polly-vinyl's Back In Tha Kitchen! Or, Is She...?

Good gracious! It's been over two years since Vinca's-in-tha-kitchen last posted. That's a long, long time in anybodies book, let alone on a blog. Let's face it, any blog which isn't regularly updated and tended to tends to lose its readership very, very quickly...

It's time to start baking again!

Much has happened during the intervening years, Polly was the victim of a conspiracy which prevented her from publishing the intricate details of her life on the interwebs. Coincidentally Polly's interest in cooking and spending quality time in the world of her own kitchen also waned. This shouldn't come as a surprise though, given the outstandingly poor quality of said kitchen!

Last summer I; Polly managed to obtain the basis of what will become my new kitchen. Thanks to the kindness of strangers who were in the process of renovating their own kitchen I came across a perfectly servicable light oak kitchen which was going free to the first person to arrange for it to be collected. I was in Dublin at the time, some sixty or so miles away so this proved to be somewhat tricky. But, I managed to arrange it and arrived at the address just in time to intercept the courier who'd agreed to assist with the pick-up and delivery...

So, in short I am now the owner of a lovely kitchen which has yet to be installed into the room in which I cook. I hesitate to refer to this room as a kitchen, as currently the conditions are way below par with modern expectations and have the potential to drive a saint to swearing! The problem with the seasonal visitors has been dealt with, ie I purchased a combination stove which has an electric oven & grill and a gas hob. Problem solved - the little blighters can no longer nest inside the lining of the oven as it's now a sealed unit. This is infinitely preferable to the previous situation.

In Ireland winter visitors are a perennial problem for country dwellers. It seems that no matter how much effort goes into proofing an old house against them, they still succeed at breaking in. The terminology used in the above paragraph is a very polite version of how I've been known to describe them. In my mind they are simply a part of country life, which doesn't mean that I have to like them, rather I prefer to lay traps and poisoned bait for them. Just in case that approach strikes you as being somewhat neanderthal, it's not, because it works. I have used so called ultra-sonic devices in an effort to deal with the problem once and for all only to observe the dirty little f*@¦kers jumping over the damned things on their way to their latest quarry!

This is NOT my Kitchen!!!

One day I shall have my new kitchen. The units will be installed. The walls and roof insulated. The chimney blocked off and a cooker hood installed. Oh yes! My kitchen will be transformed into just that, a kitchen. And, my new sink which has lain for at least three years in the attic will at last be installed and plumbed in. I can hardly wait, except that such a statement is at the very least fool hardy and at best optimistic.

Meanwhile, I'll continue as we are in an old house which is largely uninsulated and remains draughty and/or cold until such time as it becomes the turn of the kitchen to be renovated. So far this year one room has been dry lined and insulated. The joints now need to be filled and then we can set about decorating it, installing carpet and curtains before moving my desk and stationary cabinet and moving on to the next project which is the room in which my youngest son sleeps. Then maybe I'll get my kitchen? After all, I should soon have somewhere for the dining room table which sucks the space from the room...