For the first time I thought I would take a few pictures of things in my kitchen and join the fun over at celia’s. Just a few shots today because as usual there are a number of culinary projects hanging about cluttering up the place.
This is Johns great-grandmothers coffee grinder. We use it every morning to grind our coffee. It works like a charm. Wish it could talk. It looks like it could talk though if we animated it!
I have limited pantry space so here is how I store my cans and yes I do use them. There is a knack to getting one out and popping another back into the gap before the whole thing falls over. 
I have a deep mistrust of drawers and doors. I like to keep everything I use on shelves where I can see what they are up to. Plus I am the most absent minded person I know so if I cannot see what I have I forget that I have it. Everything has a spot where it lives. I probably should have tidied and polished but that kind of felt against the rules. Anyway I am butterfly housekeeping today and everything inside is half done!
In the previous picture you will have glimpsed my pantry, I use jars to store everything. I have a long standing love affair with old glass. It bewitches me. My own grandfather (Pa) used to collect old bottles. Apparently Johns grandfather had a similiar idea with jars. There are boxes of these Blue Ball jars in The Matriarchs barn. See that Swayzee one? Ball bought out a lot of their competition. Swayzee Glass, Indiana, started up in 1894 and were bought out by Ball in 1904.
The sand hill Ball used to make the blue glass (Hoosier Slide Sand) was completely mined out by 1937. This particular sand on the shores of Lake Michigan was lower in iron than other sand, resulting in this intense blue cast. No-one seems to know why this happened right there and it has not been found again anywhere else in the States, as far as I can work out. This is why these particular Ball jars were only made for a limited time. So it is safe to assume that these jars in their dusty old cardboard boxes, put into the barn by Johns grandfather are at least 80 – 100 years old. Some are even older as I can see the marks of being hand blown.
The kitchen has tall french doors that are always open onto the big covered verandah where we eat every meal until winter around a big long harvest table I made from an old barn door. This is where we work, gather and talk. We wash vegetables and sort the produce from the gardens. This is where the animals join us for a beer in the late afternoon. It is a disaster area today though, so I will show you another time. Apparently a sleepy couple are lying right outside the screen doors, just waiting.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
79 responses to “In my Kitchen, a tiny glimpse”
Solar heated panels for shower, that would be really neat to try 🙂 i’m still thinking about getting a few panels to put on my apartment window for charging stuff and all 🙂
I really really want a solar charger for my cell, i think that will be next, I like the idea of a few panels .. is this attached to an outlet or something.. i must investigate and see how that works.. c
What a beautiful Kitchen Cecilia! Thanks for opening your home to us.
You are most welcome jellybeans, c
Hi C! You can call me Giovanna 😉
Thank you Giovanna, what a beautiful name – you may call me cecilia! That is really great . c
What a welcoming kitchen! I especially like the coffee grinder and the animals.
Nancy
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Yes that dog and his kitten are quite the item! c
You have a lovely kitchen, I can appreciate evrything on its own shelf. But your hubby must build you a pantry for those cans, no?
Oh, dear Cecilia, these are so beautiful photographs, and they all talk how beautiful you are. But you can guess, what I loved the best!!!!!! This is a great peaceful sleep in your lovely place. Blessing and Happiness, with my love, nia
Thank you for sharing some of the treasures in your kitchen. I share your passion for old glass – will share some photos soon, too 🙂
Thanks for sharing – it´s nice to have a littlke peek around. Your furry friends are gorgeous and I bet they are thoroughly spoiled and loved 🙂
they were having a sweet day! c
So maybe that is why my In-laws don’t have doors on their kitchen cabinets? Nah, it was a project started over 30 years ago and never finished. But you know where to put everything! 🙂
the first thing I so when i move into a place is start removing doors!! c
Wow I love your shelves rather than cupboards! Wouldn’t work in my kitchen because we get an amazing amount of dust through the windows from the neighbours but one day, one day!
I love the history in your bottles too, such a wealth.
thanks for sharing what’s in your kitchen
🙂
Thank you shelley, I also have dust as my windows and doors are open all summer. The shelves only house what i use every day so they never have time to get dusty! thank you for popping in. c