What not to use in a makeshift kitchen

I wish I could stop counting.

When someone asks the age of a baby, you answer in months for at least a year and a half. Then you start saying, “Nearly 2.”

When it comes to our kitchen redo, I’ve been think in weeks, as in Week 1, Week 2, etc.

Now we’re ending Week 8. Is it time to start thinking in months? God help us.

Much has been done, but some crucial tasks remain, like installation of countertops and hookup of the remaining appliances. So we continue functioning with a makeshift kitchen.

An ongoing struggle is to keep the words “had it” out of my brain. I regularly remind myself of the plight of fellow West Virginians whose homes were flooded this summer.

Still, I now empathize with a friend who had his kitchen redone a few years ago. He said if he had it to do again, he would check into a hotel rather than suffering in place.

For us, a 10-week hotel stay — I’m being optimistic with the timeline — would have increased our project cost by at least 30 percent. That would drop to about 15 percent if we slept at home but ate all our meals in restaurants.

At eight weeks in, this is spilt milk.

I knew my pioneer spirit was flagging when I made an impulse purchase at the grocery store. I spent $4.99 plus tax on a small plastic container for poaching eggs in the microwave.

Would it be easier than boiling eggs on the hot plate? Would cleanup be faster?

I’m ready to pitch the gadget after two tries. It made my house smell like the overcooked eggs we ate grimly after listening to them explode in the tabletop microwave. No, cleanup was not faster.

Before that came the fish smell.

In trying to vary our diet, I sauteed some cod for fish tacos. I kept the skillet covered, and it took only a few minutes. Unlike the nuked eggs, the tacos were delicous. With no exhaust fan, the smell that lingered was not.

But enough whining.

This is the oil-rubbed pull we chose for most of our new cabinets, which are maple in a natural finish.

We chose the same pulls in a lighter tone for our island cabinets, which are maple in a dark finish.

Our project is coming along nicely, even if the pace has slowed. The cabinets are in, complete with pulls in two tones. I spent nearly $100 buying samples before making a choice. Shipping costs shrank the refunds.

The new French-door refrigerator is here and functioning. It’s a marvel and possibly the best choice of the many we have made over the past several months.

The old fridge has been moved from the living room doorway to the garage, giving us room to transfer the makeshift kitchen to the dining room. The breathing room feels great.

We experienced some hiccups with the new gas range and microwave. When relieved of their boxes and wrappings, both revealed dents. They had to be returned and reordered.

We weren’t particularly upset. Glitches can be expected on a project of this scope. But we were startled by the nonchalant attitude of the big-box store where we bought them. We got the feeling this was a common occurrence.

The cabinet installers returned this week to help hook up the replaced stove and microwave. It’s great to have such amenities, but I still yearn for the sink, which will come with the countertops.

Meanwhile, Rod has been working steadily on details like running trim and painting. He has reinstalled our kitchen TV, and it’s a welcome distraction. I often flip on HGTV while I cook.

HGTV’s Property Brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott

I wonder if the Property Brothers missed me as much as I missed them. I like them despite their insistence on granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. I stuck to my guns and chose neither.