PYO? Yes Please!

With this weeks summery weather I found my thoughts turning to canning, preserving, baking. 
Making the most of seasonal produce. 
And while I don't have any seasonal produce on my land YET (apricots, mulberries and peaches due in a few months though!) aside from lemons, which I have been putting to use with lemon butter galore, here I am in the country and surrounded by other farms which do have seasonal produce now!  You know, the farms who haven't been dealing with escape artist goats and three free ranging not-so-miniature piggies.

Wednesday I woke thinking "Lets find a Strawberry Farm and go a-picking!"

Well, that didn't quite work because despite an exhaustive search on the internet  AND a visit to  the local  Tourist Visitor Centre, I came up empty handed. No pick-your-own farms!

Well, I fibberoonie.  I did find a BLUEBERRY pyo an hour or so away- guess what family adventure we'll be doing in Christmas break when the berries are ripe?
 And the lady at the Visitor Centre actually runs an organic pyo (woohoo!!) but she only has oranges at the moment.
And  she picked them all  last week so her trees could be pruned.
Selecting oranges from a box just isn't the same as off the tree.
 In an orchard.
 With the kids.
 For their first pyo ever.

BUT all is not lost, she does stone fruit and berries too, they'll be ready in a few months and I am soooo looking forward to visiting her farm, the kids and I picking away, and fun in the kitchen afterwards.

 So what did I do Wednesday then, if not PYO-ing? 
Well, I thought I'd hop on the 'puter for some egg-rich freezable recipes, and did a little of that but not a lot 'cause while I was in the laundry (multi-tasking, what can I say) it came to me how fabulous it would be to extend the kitchen.  After all, we need ROOM for all the canning, preserving, jam making, corn shucking, pea shelling : )

Now, we have a wonderful long wooden turned-leg farmhouse style table in the centre of the kitchen. It seats 8 and is in constant use.  We gather around it for meals, chatting, sharing cookies and milk, midnight hot chocolates, and the occasional board game. It makes a great food prepping area too. 
My thoughts went something like this:

'Hmmmm. So do we need the table that is under the bubble light chandelier in the adjoining room?  It takes up all that space and is hardly ever used...... How about I knock out the counter top that separates the kitchen from this dining area.  Whoa, that would make it wonderful for all those food related self sustainability projects.'

Get the idea?  Yep, I was in a mood to demolish  carefully de-construct and create.

I ventured back into the kitchen eventually, having done whatever task I was immersed in in the laundry.  Oh, yeah, that's right!  I was thinking of knocking down the kitchen counter/cabinets/wall.  On closer inspection I decided it wouldn't work.  Bummer.  The wall is structural.  There are no floor boards under that part of the kitchen counter.  It would be a b i g  and expensive project, and now is NOT the time for a big and expensive project.

But no worry, the doin' bug was caught and when that happens there is little that can stop me.
Out went the white table.  Oooo!  Look at all the room!
Now, this table is pretty special.  It is french designed and has two extra leaves to extend it to a 12 seater.  Old, heavy and beautifully carved.  Not something to relegate to the workshop-cum-barn. Not easy to say goodbye to!  But the space!  'Oh, this room has potential!' thinks I.

Now, with the table removed, a problem was posed.  The carved, mirrored dresser that resided behind it looked odd without it's table-friend. 
Out it went. 

The bubble light chandelier needed shortening.  That was hard.  It was super expensive and as I snipped at the suspending wires to shorten the cascading bubbles I was seeing dollar signs fainting in horror.  But there was no alternative.  So shortened they were.

I now have a great space full of light, and do you know what its waiting for?

What it really really needs?

Well, I'll give you a hint.

It's seasonal.

It's green.

It soars to the ceiling.

It's decorated in twinkling lights and baubles.

Need more clues?

And as for the carved mirrored dresser?  I removed the mirrored section and found a great home for it under the stairs.