Save like Nana did. The kitchen table.

Todays post is not so much a savings subject as a way of life one.   It was inspired by a post by Jenny at Elefantz where she shares a book study and the subject of creating a beautiful home and a welcoming kitchen.   

When we moved into this farmhouse I was just thrilled with a big old kitchen.   It had a fifties kitchen with cupboards to the ceiling,  a big old stove and a walk in pantry!!   Now... I had said yes to this house without ever seeing inside it.  I knew in my heart a year before that we were getting out of the city and it was meant to be.   When this house was made available for us we just said yes.   So that first day coming inside I was just all eyes and it was overwhelming because God had gone ahead of me and here were the desires of my heart some of which we things no one could ever have even known I wanted.   The main things were a walk in pantry and lots of light.  It was a mess and needed a giant clean and paint but it was all here, everything I had ever dreamed of!  

The first thing everyone assumed was that I would want to rip out the old kitchen and stove and put in something more "modern."  But no,  I was very happy with a big old double sink that looked out a big double window across the paddocks and gum trees.   Apart from paint the only thing we replaced was counter tops.   The stove is just a beauty!  

(This was cleaned up and before we moved in.)

I set the house up with our dining room table next door to the kitchen.  The first day Dad visited (after we moved in) I made him a cup of tea and moved to go into the next room to sit down and chat with him.   We did all our chatting over cups of tea.   This day he asked WHERE is my kitchen table?   He didn't want to sit in the dining area.  He wanted to be in the kitchen, where the action was!    So the next few visits he would go get a chair and plant it in the middle of my kitchen and sit there to talk to me.    This looked ridiculous but he was determined.   

I got the hint and I remembered that in the shed up the hill there was a room full of piled up junk.  There was a very old table in there along with piles of old carpet,  thousands of spiders and probably a snake or two.  It was somewhere I had not ventured because it truly looked infested.   The first day I took fly spray up there and just sprayed and ran.   The next day I put on boots and gloves and went in and worked to pull the old table out from under things.   It was upside down and when I got it upright I realised this was the table that had been in the original kitchen as it was exactly the right size and it was with old kitchen flooring.    Andy helped me to move it down to our lawn where I started with hosing it down.    It took several days and scrubbing it with steel wool and Ajax to get it clean enough to bring inside.

Once inside I found two old chairs and added a vase of flowers and my table was ready.  The next time Dad came I was lucky enough to be in the kitchen when he came in the door and so I saw his face!  Oh!  "You got a table!"    As he took his hat off he was all smiles and so pleased.  And so he sat down and I made tea.   The table became our place of many, many long chats, lunches and cups of tea for two years until Dad's passing.   No cafe, no restaurant could come close to the kitchen table. 

So Jenny's blog post asked what do we do that makes our kitchen inviting?   Even though I can admire some kitchens I always love a working kitchen.   A kitchen that obviously cooks.  There is something cooking,  a bowl of eggs or lemons,  pretty linens,  preserves and action!  A place to sit and talk and listen.  A place someone can come and tell you all about it. 

There have been many tables in my life.  My parents huge dining room table that has been surrounded by family endless times.   My Nana L who had a huge farmhouse kitchen with a table that sat fourteen!   That was the most beautiful table of all.   The house had a modern stove next to a wood stove.  Nana decided she preferred the old stove the best.   The warmth from the fire, the big old table and Nana always being busy cooking made the most welcoming kitchen imaginable.  It wasn't modern, it wasn't new,  it was spick and span and spotless though.   Something was always cooking.  

Every Sunday while we all went to church Nan would prepare a roast lunch for everyone.   She usually put the meat and various veggies into the centre of the table in a kind of self serve set up.   It was always delicious.   She made sponge cakes and things like cream kisses and  cream puffs.   Most of the time the table was filled up with my Grandparents, Parents, brother, Aunt and Uncle and extras.   I loved Nans kitchen,  I loved everything about it.   

Back then going to a cafe for smashed avocado on toast was not a thing, nor was buying coffee everyday or multiple times a day.  Lunches were some kind of left overs from a roast made into sandwiches or fritters or quiche.  When you went somewhere you took a thermos and a lunch bag.   When we still lived in the city we knew that Andys' work mates spent $20 to $30 a day on coffees and take away food.    $27 a day is $10,000 a year.  Nan and Pa would have had a fit because that was a house deposit.   

I am not saying going to a cafe is wrong or getting a coffee is a bad thing.  I am saying what we do all the time really adds up.  Or what we don't do all the time adds up!   A welcoming kitchen does not have to be fancy.  Cooking does not have to be fancy either.  Most of Nans meals were simple old fashioned cooking.  She made a lot of soups.  I grew up on Nans soup!   If I could time travel back to Nan's kitchen it would be wonderful.  

I am following along with Jenny to study more on creating a welcoming home,  how simple wholesome and beautiful things create memories and lessons that nourish and inspire.   We can really benefit from simpler ways.   The kitchen table is like the heart of the home. 💖 xxx