We are building now, but when we were remodeling our current home we had no kitchen for 6 months. Remodeling was a must as we had just remodeled and just finished our wood floors , we were at home improvement store getting floor grates when ds called shrieking saying the washer pipe had burst and it was flooding everything. Rushed home, everything downstairs wet with massive amounts of water. I was heartsick and devastated. We had been remodeling for about 4 months. Ok, you think thats bad, I was going to hosp. in 2 days to have 11th child by c-section. I was distraught. Insurance adjusters came next day, with large indutsrial fans in tow, and started ripping everything out, floor, carpet, new wainscot, baseboard, appliances etc. Everyone had to live upstairs, which was 2 bathrooms, master bedroom, small family area. Kitchen, the only usable downstairs room, was torn apart, our frig was on back patio. No stove, no nothing except sink and counters. Thats how I came home with new baby. I was just a little hormonal. I cooked in that kitchen for 6 months, May-Dec. Prepared just about anything you could think of with the counter top appliances. Made Thanksgiving dinner with a large roaster (did you know you can make wonderful pies in those things), crockpot, micro, electric skillet and 2 burner portable cook type thing. I definitely couldn't feed my children fast food for that long & really had to maintain some sort of normalcy for them. Am not saying I would do it again, but boy I still appreciate my new kitchen and its been 3 years.

@ justmetoo----His now 21 year old son assaulted me, not the one that lives with us now. His mother does feed him stories and has for years let them in on the finances and done everything in her power to cause trouble and discontent. To be honest, in my opinion, this all went off the rails with this particular child when WE bought him a car. After my husband and I did this he kept the ca for about 2 months and decided that he didn't want it anymore. I had a truck that we were not using so SS came to me and said he wanted to buy it because, a. he wanted a truck, b. it would teach him what it was like to have financial responsibility. I should have seen through that right there, because I don't know many kids that would say that. I was honestly against it because I saw nothing but trouble, but after all the hounding I got from my husband and SS, I gave in just to shut them up. I stipulated that there would be rules, the vehicle would not be his until he paid it in full, it could not be driven out of the local area further than 50 miles, and since it was in my name and under my insurance he was not to haul all his friends around and he had to let us know where he was going. Keep in mind at the time he was 16, so I don't think I was being to unreasonable. That was fine for about 2 months and suddenly he stopped paying (payments were $50/month), breaking curfew, rude, sassy, etc. He wants to put the vehicle under his mothers insurance, because she doesn't have to know where he goes. Then he decides he doesn't want this vehicle and he wants to sell it and buy something else. Now I have no way of knowing what my husband and his son discussed or concocted, and they are famous for making little deals and leaving me out of the loop. (That's another issue) So, I agreed to allow him to sell it with the stipulation that he only keep what was leftover from what he owed us because I just wanted to be rid of the situation.. Well you would have thought I was asking for his first born, because suddenly he doesn't understand why he has to pay for something that had been given to me in the first place and why did I not just give him the vehicle. So he sells it and when my husband does not turn over the full amount to him, he says, "Mom told me you would not give me what you owed me!" HAHA BINGO! So I told my husband, BM is obviously planting seeds in his head, which you can't reason with this woman she is a nut job, we have tried. He gets a new car with his mother and adds it to his insurance and in even more attitude, he came over one night to fight with my husband about this entire transaction. Do I know if my husband has lied to him? No, I do not, however that is no excuse to talk to your father that way. In my opinion, bottom line SS is mad because he did not get what he wanted from us. This is the same child that asked his Dad to change the custody agreement so that he could stay with us more because he did not like living at his mothers house because everyone fights there all the time, per him. My husband even gave him $400 to register his new car that he got with his BM with the understanding that he would pay it back because he is working. This was 6 months ago and the boy has yet to make any attempt to give us anything, in fact he told his Dad in the past few weeks, "I don't have any F*&^ing money, so why would I give you any? I'm not paying you back." NICE! My husband left his son OVER $300 for lunch, food, etc whilst he has been away, gives him money to eat when the SS is at work, school, to go out with his friends....but the boy has a job, he is already in college. I feel that we have done so much for him and all he does in expect more and disrespect more. He will walk right past me in my home and look right through me and not say a word. I feel that I have done more for him in the 5 years I have been married than his own mother does for him. Its just a mess and it makes me very sad because it was NOT always like this. We used to do things as a family, have dinner together, go on trips and now I can't stand the sight of him.

This is my 3rd attempt at sauerkraut. First time was too scary, and I abandoned it. Second time around, I was more adventurous, and scraped the "spooge" off the edges and then tasted the 'kraut. It was SOUR, since I'd let it ferment for a long time (6 weeks or so), but good. Other people's sauerkraut tasted bland in comparison. I'm going to check this new batch at 5 days, and keep checking it every little bit after that til I find "just right". I know it takes me a while to get used to new favors, so hopefully the more you drink your lemonade, sample the cheese, etc., the more you'll like it. Have you tried store bought Kombucha? I'd love to get that kind of flavor and fizziness in our home brew. That's great you have space for a back pantry kitchen, Building for the CATS. I think this is an ideal setup, really. AK Tillery's kitchen comes to mind. Our pantry is only about 4x4ish, and has no room for a back counter. I'm thankful for what it holds, but its use is somewhat limited. The Amish around here often have a second kitchen in the basement. This is their canning area, and is nice for when they host large groups for church and fellowship. One friend used her second kitchen for juicing as part of Gerson therapy for her husband's Lyme disease (He's doing GREAT!) She was really thankful that all that prep and cleanup could happen separate from her everyday kitchen. Your rolling carts and extended counter sound super helpful, loonlakelaborcamp. I hear you on nowhere to clamp things down, we had issues with that in our old house when we'd go to use the squeezo or the apple peeler. I love the idea of the canning jars at the backsplash. I think Mamagoose has this too, right? I have my spices under my cooktop, which is pretty handy too. I just need to break down and order storage tins to contain them more neatly. It's a mess under there right now. I don't think I mind the "working kitchen look" so much as I mind A.The lack of counter space. B.When there is clutter on the counters, the kids don't clean up as well (and neither does mom, frankly ; )) It's like the stuff all blends together, and it gets more full and disorganized by the minute, like Scoby's left too long in their dark swampy tea. : )

Hoovb: I'm a fan of your blog and love all the pics & info. you gave about roses & your gorgeous garden. I recently learned of the dangers of ROUND-UP in our foods, esp. Cheerios at 1,125.3 ppm compared to Trix cereal at 9.9 ppm glyphosate residue. The levels in tap water is alarming high, esp. in California. Round-up weed-killer messes up with one's sleep & UP the risk of many cancers. I was plagued with insomnia for decades, until I cut out cereal & soy-milk before bed-time. See below link in Houzz for data of Round-Up residue in many common foods: [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/worthy-roses-2018-and-favorite-products-and-health-and-glyphosate-round-up-dsvw-vd~5197301?n=107[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/worthy-roses-2018-and-favorite-products-and-health-and-glyphosate-round-up-dsvw-vd~5197301?n=107)