Thursday Thoughts # 54
Two quotes from The First Third by Will Kostakis
" Some people needed to stand in the thick of things, but I was quite comfortable with something to eat and somewhere to watch things from. Sometimes life just made more sense from a second-storey window."
" I followed Sticks out of the coach terminal and Spencer Street immediately smacked us with its Melbourneness.
Compared to the sprawling chaos of Sydney everything about Melbourne felt so regimented. The city was built on a grid...............Back home, you got the impression that they just built the roads to connect important places, but not in Melbourne. There, someone had the foresight to build the roads first and the places second."
from Finger-Lickin' Fifteen, a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich
'He looked in the bag. "Yum"
"You used to say that about me," I told him.
"Cupcake, you're still yum, but we've got chocolate pudding here. That's serious competition." '
Today's Thoughts:
Pot Filler Taps.
Anyone heard of these?
I noticed them first in one of those "house" magazines which show photos of fancy houses with rooms the size of bowling alleys and every conceivable convenience in the kitchens and bathrooms. Ducted vacuuming anyone? Oh yes, please.
(I don't buy those magazines anymore, I borrow them from the library)
I saw a kitchen with a tall thing positioned by the large hotplate on the cooktop. I didn't recognise it as a tap, it was all stylish and fancy, so I read the fine print description to find out what that thing was. A tap. Positioned by the hob, properly plumbed in, so you could put your largest pot there and fill it ready for cooking. No more carrying a heavy, water- filled pot from the sink to the stove. Great idea, yes? I thought so.
For years, I thought so and wanted one.
I used to (still do), play around drawing plans for my "dream house", always different, yet with remarkable similarities. Big rooms. A library. Enough power points (electrical outlets). You get the picture.
From the time I saw the pot filler tap picture, I added one of these to every kitchen I ever planned. Because who wouldn't want one of those?
Just lately however, I'm having second thoughts. Guess why?
I'll tell you.
You've filled your pot, right there on the hob, done your cooking, now it's time to clean up.
You have to empty the pot.
You have to carry that water-filled pot, possibly still hot, from the stove to the sink to empty it.
Because there is no mention of a drain beside that oh-so-handy-tap, to be emptying the pot after use.
In the original picture, they had a really large pot shown, the sort you might use to boil corn cobs for an army of kids. So filling it at the hotplate is a great idea, but not so great when you still have to carry it for emptying.
In other news, I had a moment with Angel the other day.
He'd been scampering from front door to back door most of the day, but evening was approaching and the temperature was dropping.
For Angel to see out, I leave both doors open just enough for him to squeeze between door and screen. With falling temperatures, I push the back door to rest on the jamb. If he is out there, he'll push it open to get back in. But he pushes it too far open and I was getting cold.
I closed the door. Let him sit by the front door if he wants to see out.
Angel decided that wasn't good enough and demanded to get out to the back porch. I let him out. Pushed the door to the jamb so he could get back in.
Three times, then I'd had enough.
I told him if he wanted to be out in the f***ing cold, I was going to close the door on him. He sat on the little cupboard, (he always jumps up on that so he can jump down and out, he's weird), and I said again, "if you go out, I'm closing the door".
Angel looked at me, looked at my hand on the handle, reached out a paw and touched the handle, then slashed at my hand. And jumped out.
Well, I shut the door on him. Left him out there for almost half an hour while I applied antiseptic and a bandaid, had a cup of coffee. When I let him back in, he went straight to the bed and went to sleep.
I heard a song at the end of a movie on TV recently.
Here's the song lines I took notice of:
"watching Mummy bounce a cheque, while Daddy juggles credit cards."
Well now, there's a recipe for financial disaster. (*~*)
I'm at the dentist today. Yes, again! I made the appointment last week, when every tooth in my mouth was sending me painful twinges and occasional throbs. Now there is nothing, but I'm still at the dentist, maybe she'll see something that would have caused it. And fix it.
" Some people needed to stand in the thick of things, but I was quite comfortable with something to eat and somewhere to watch things from. Sometimes life just made more sense from a second-storey window."
" I followed Sticks out of the coach terminal and Spencer Street immediately smacked us with its Melbourneness.
Compared to the sprawling chaos of Sydney everything about Melbourne felt so regimented. The city was built on a grid...............Back home, you got the impression that they just built the roads to connect important places, but not in Melbourne. There, someone had the foresight to build the roads first and the places second."
from Finger-Lickin' Fifteen, a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich
'He looked in the bag. "Yum"
"You used to say that about me," I told him.
"Cupcake, you're still yum, but we've got chocolate pudding here. That's serious competition." '
Today's Thoughts:
Pot Filler Taps.
Anyone heard of these?
I noticed them first in one of those "house" magazines which show photos of fancy houses with rooms the size of bowling alleys and every conceivable convenience in the kitchens and bathrooms. Ducted vacuuming anyone? Oh yes, please.
(I don't buy those magazines anymore, I borrow them from the library)
I saw a kitchen with a tall thing positioned by the large hotplate on the cooktop. I didn't recognise it as a tap, it was all stylish and fancy, so I read the fine print description to find out what that thing was. A tap. Positioned by the hob, properly plumbed in, so you could put your largest pot there and fill it ready for cooking. No more carrying a heavy, water- filled pot from the sink to the stove. Great idea, yes? I thought so.
For years, I thought so and wanted one.
I used to (still do), play around drawing plans for my "dream house", always different, yet with remarkable similarities. Big rooms. A library. Enough power points (electrical outlets). You get the picture.
From the time I saw the pot filler tap picture, I added one of these to every kitchen I ever planned. Because who wouldn't want one of those?
Just lately however, I'm having second thoughts. Guess why?
I'll tell you.
You've filled your pot, right there on the hob, done your cooking, now it's time to clean up.
You have to empty the pot.
You have to carry that water-filled pot, possibly still hot, from the stove to the sink to empty it.
Because there is no mention of a drain beside that oh-so-handy-tap, to be emptying the pot after use.
In the original picture, they had a really large pot shown, the sort you might use to boil corn cobs for an army of kids. So filling it at the hotplate is a great idea, but not so great when you still have to carry it for emptying.
In other news, I had a moment with Angel the other day.
He'd been scampering from front door to back door most of the day, but evening was approaching and the temperature was dropping.
For Angel to see out, I leave both doors open just enough for him to squeeze between door and screen. With falling temperatures, I push the back door to rest on the jamb. If he is out there, he'll push it open to get back in. But he pushes it too far open and I was getting cold.
I closed the door. Let him sit by the front door if he wants to see out.
Angel decided that wasn't good enough and demanded to get out to the back porch. I let him out. Pushed the door to the jamb so he could get back in.
Three times, then I'd had enough.
I told him if he wanted to be out in the f***ing cold, I was going to close the door on him. He sat on the little cupboard, (he always jumps up on that so he can jump down and out, he's weird), and I said again, "if you go out, I'm closing the door".
Angel looked at me, looked at my hand on the handle, reached out a paw and touched the handle, then slashed at my hand. And jumped out.
Well, I shut the door on him. Left him out there for almost half an hour while I applied antiseptic and a bandaid, had a cup of coffee. When I let him back in, he went straight to the bed and went to sleep.
I heard a song at the end of a movie on TV recently.
Here's the song lines I took notice of:
"watching Mummy bounce a cheque, while Daddy juggles credit cards."
Well now, there's a recipe for financial disaster. (*~*)
I'm at the dentist today. Yes, again! I made the appointment last week, when every tooth in my mouth was sending me painful twinges and occasional throbs. Now there is nothing, but I'm still at the dentist, maybe she'll see something that would have caused it. And fix it.
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Good point re the pot filler taps - I hadn't thought of that. Sounds like your cat was trying to show you who is boss (the at obviously)!
ReplyDeleteI agree with both things!!
DeleteI can visualize Angel's little tantrum. I know a cat just like him in this hemisphere.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I came across the pot filler taps was when I was employed by Morris Corporation as manager/chef for the single men's Mess and accommodation at Collinsville. And then again later when I was cooking in Ingham.
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful , particularly in situations like that where catering for the masses. Also in the mess kitchen in Collinsville beside the double gas range was a freestanding, manual tilt, 80 litre or so capacity Bratt pan. It was brilliant. I loved it! I reckon smaller versions in domestic kitchens would be wonderful additions. Also in that kitchen was a freestanding steamer about the size of a normal domestic fridge.
Angel was being no angel. Stand your ground...he'll get the message...but keep your hands out of the way in the meantime. He's being kyrgios...I mean curious! ;)
River....I used to always say if I was designing a new kitchen for myself I'd incorporate the tap on the stove for easy, commonsense access; and I used to think smaller versions of the Bratt pans would be ideal for a domestic family kitchen.
DeleteI'm too old for all of that now, but if I was young again and starting out (and could afford to build a kitchen to cater to my own needs and ideas) that's what I'd do. I've never understood why smaller versions haven't been incorporated into home kitchens.
Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about...Bratt pans are large cooking receptacles designed for producing large-scale meals. They are typically used for braising, sealing, shallow frying and general cooking. The units feature either manual or electrical tilting. The sites below give you an idea what they're like
https://allfoodequipment.com.au/product/bratt-pan-fagor-sbg-910/category/bratt-pans-gas/
http://www.qccqld.com.au/product/cooking-equipment/goldstein-tilting-gas-bratt-pan-100-ltr-tpg-100
Sorry for taking up so much room here today...but I thought it best I explained what I was talking about just in case I'd caused confusion! :)
Craig; if there was a way to empty the pot without carrying it, they'd be the best idea since sliced bread.
ReplyDeletefishducky; :D
Joanne; which cat would that be? out of millions just like him.....
Lee; I remember those free standing manual tilt pans from the hospital kitchen in Murray Bridge where I worked for a while. it was my job to scrape and scrub those pots, among other things I did. I still think pot filler taps are a great idea, if there was some method of emptying. If soup or stew was made the pot would empty with the servings, but for boiled water from something such as corn cobs or lobster, you'd need a drain to tip the pot to.
Ha Ha at Angel being Kyrgios.
If I had the chance to design my own kitchen....oh what a dream! storage, storage, storage and power points. Can't have too many of either in my opinion.
1. New Kitchen
ReplyDelete2. New Bathroom
3. Cook
4. Cleaning lady
My dream home complete
Angel is channeling Jazz. Not good. I hope he wasn't purring as he slashes at you. Jazz does and I think he adds insult to injury.
ReplyDeleteI hope the dentist trip found a cause and a solution to your mouth woes.
JahTeh; cleaning lady: there's a dream. i think I'd go nuts with someone in my house doing what I should be doing, so I'd be going to the movies a lot.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; mental telepathy between the furry ones eh? No, he wasn't purring, he saves that for the very early morning, the louder he purrs, the hungrier he is. Like the lions at the zoo, when they're pacing and rumbling just short of a roar.
The dentist found no cause :( again, but did suggest maybe some of the old amalgam fillings might be beginning to crack up and replacing them might help. I go through this every year, seems to be a winter thing, I'm fine all summer.
I wonder if your regular physician can find something then or suggest a cause, if your dentist cannot.
DeleteOr that replacing those fillings is not terribly expensive. Maybe just do a couple of the worst teeth.
Happy Christine; I haven't been to the doctor in quite a while. I'm in good health, so don't know what he might find that would cause tooth pain. The odd thing is all the painful teeth are those with root canal fillings. They're dead teeth, so shouldn't be feeling anything. I'll be getting them replaced as I can afford them, probably one or two a year.
ReplyDelete