Of a Short Vacation and a "new" stove~~~~

Hello my Darklings,

Yes I am up early, but a lot to do and little time to do it in.

Dear Rebecca I do hope you enjoy the pumpkin crunch receipe, I was surprised how easy it was to make, and it seems like just the perfect thing for the fall.   I hope to be able to on occasion post other receipes that I find tasty and enjoyable.
It seems for now BART cannot make up it's mind to strike or not to strike (that is the question), but it seems that the talks are moving forward although slowly.  I find it interesting that when the original mediator went on vacation and a Federal Mediator came in that suddenly there was progress.   They should keep this man in and booth the first one out. 

So the BART trains are running but people have to find out from the 11 p.m. news every night to see if it is so, very inconvient.  AC Transit (buses) were also threatening to strike but the Govenor stepped in and ordered a 7 day cooling down, and if they still can't get it together then he'll order a 60 day cooling down.

And the Federal Government has opened up for business at least for the next 3 or 4 months, frankly raising the debt ceiling is not really good.  The government needs to look at its spending practices and stop borrowing, even Benjamin Franklin once said "man has an income of $20 and spends only $19.90 that equals happiness, but if his earns $20 and spends $20.10 that equals misery" (o.k. I paraphrased it) but that is what our Government Federal, State, County and City is doing and you cannot tax the life out of the people.  Something has to give.

But for now I'm not going to worry,  even my cousin Louise said that the moon and the planets (she's into Astrology) showed that the bottle necks will suddenly clear up temporarily, and she said that on Monday.

Yes my Cousin Louise is staying with me and Sis and Doyle, which is a good thing in a way.  Depending upon how one looks at it, well Doyle is taking me to Old Sacramento and we are going to stay on the Delta King, Sis will be in and out of the house dealing with her clientel, and the workmen on her house,  Belladonna will be staying with our elderly neighbor, and Brian can keep an eye on the houses since he'll be working from home but with Louise here that will help.

Louise is my younger cousin and has moved out of her apartment because she is getting a divorce, after 25 years of marriage, no children and a finladering husband she has had enough.  She wanted a house he didn't, she wanted certain pieces of furniture,he didn't, she liked certain music, places to see, movies to go to and she wanted children---he didn't.  But when she found out that he fathered and was taking care of a child by another woman, that was the end.  And so she is now with me and Sis, I had her talk to my lawyer who recommended a very good lawyer to help her.  Money is not a worry for her, but she is going to get what is rightfully hers by our state laws.

And she'll house sit for me,  I am so looking forward to this vacation, to see somethings different, I understand that there maybe Ghost Walks in Old Sacramento but we'll know better once we get there.

And the 'new' stove,  well Darklings I've been looking and looking, new, old, vintage etc. and nothing seemed right,  I had first thought of getting a new stove from the Elmira works (it would have to be ordered) but what was off putting for me was how high the grates were on the stove, I thought it would be too easy to knock a pot off the stove.   And much of the old stoves still needed work,  I had found photos of the kitchen going back to when the house was built but the stove at that time was very small,  then one from the 1920's but again that seemed too small, I knew I wanted something like my O'keefe and Merritt but since from time to time I give parties I wanted something that would handle a lot.

Then my contractor called me last weekend and said he thinks he found the stove I want,  so yesterday evening Doyle and I went to this place that he was in the process of dismantling, yes Darklings dismantling, he preferes to salvage as much as he can before a place is torn down, this house was in very bad shape but he salvage a lot of wonderful things from it, including mahogany panneling, stain glass windows, etc. but it was the stove, I had the measurements as well as photo's of the spot where it would be put and I could not believe my eyes......There it was.....an O'Keefe and Merritt Town and Country range, 57 inches wide, 6 burners, 2 ovens with windows, 2 broilers, 2 warming compartments and 2 storage areas.

There were tears in my eyes of joy,  I had seen on a web site the same stove but the asking price was $8,000 I could not afford that!!!    But this one could be had for just the cost of moving it out and installing it at my place plus having a good repair man come out and checking it over and calibrating the burners and ovens,  it would need cleaning yes, but Sis, Doyle and I are up to it.  

Talking it over with my contractor he said he could move the tiny aparment stove over install a new flex hose for it and then move the O'Keefe stove into it's place we could clean it and then he'd install a flex hose for it but not turn on the gas to it until I had made an appointment for the repair man to come and check it out and do what needs be done to it. 

My contractor tested it while the gas was still available to see if there was any problems and he did not find any, but the move could jiggle something loose.  Some of the knobs were very stiff, so that needs to be worked on and yes the chrome was a little worn but it's perfect,  Sis will be home when the move is done this weekend, so the kitchen will be a little awkward but that will be only for a short time.

I do not have a picture of the stove in the old house but I've got a picture of the same one from the web site so you'll see what I'll be getting just remember Darklings this picture is of a totally refurbished stove, the one I'm getting will have seen some wars but it is perfectly useable.

But now Louise is here and I hear her puttering in the kitchen,  I think I'll go and have another cup of coffee and discuss with her, her future plans.

Later Darklings

This is the one on the web site, mine is far more used that this but its the exact same model.