As seen in...

THE little... old... farm house kitchen

it's about time huh! We've been here just over 2 weeks now... hard to believe!

We are staying in Paul's grandparents old house. Their new house is right next door. My father in law was raised in this home and Paul has fond memories visiting the farm and this home as a child.

He specifically remembers the kitchen cabinets and how grand they felt. It was his GRAND fathers home after all. I tried to capture what it looks like to a child in this kitchen...



see the oven ABOVE the cook top... it is not a microwave. It is the coolest oven and I am completely smitten. {grin}

The kitchen carpet has little be desired.
But HEY it doesn't show dirt!



I found this AWESOME turquoise bowl in the basement collecting water and decided to swap it out with a less awesome bowl. Then I promptly filled it with fruits and veggies {after scrubbing it clean of course}

my next find was this HUGE tomato can that was calling out to be filled with cooking utensils that were stashed in drawers.

And the little porcelain frog I found on the basement sink




No one has lived in this home for years.
They rent it out to hunters in the fall... which is why the turquoise bowl, tomato can and frog were not getting the attention they deserved. {grin}

NOW I have a question for YOU! There is no dishwasher... you know besides me & Gavin.

I know there are lots of you out there that live day to day without a dishwasher and I would love to hear how you make it work without having piles of dishes everywhere.
Do you have an awesome routine you can share with me? {grin}
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45 comments:

  1. Fun! I love places like that with character and a story and goodies to be found!

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  2. it's fun to see the house from that perspective! Can I ask what the note says above the sink?

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  3. it reads...
    "nothing but water down the drains please. Just paid a big bill to have them cleaned. thanks. Olga"

    apparently the story is that some hunters put grease and feathers down the drains and plugged them all up!

    I put a strainer in all the drains so WE would not be responsible for any clogged drains. {grin}

    britt

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  4. Sweet. A turquoise bowl and a cook top are all I would need.

    I'm coming over to visit. ;)

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  5. How fun to explore and try to navigate around new spaces like this! Especially one without all of the modern conveniences! :)

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  6. Brittany, I had to respond to this. As you know, we are a family of 15 and our dishwasher has been broke for months. Everyone over the age of six washes their own dishes at each meal. The dish crew does everything else. The best part of this arrangement is, everyone is VERY concerned about exactly how many dishes they use (since they have to wash them) so we have fewer dishes than when the dishwasher was working!

    And even though I read your blog every day, I'm a bit confused. Did you guys move, or are you just visiting?

    Renee

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  7. We do not use our dishwasher! Everyone thinks we are crazy...we live in a newer house and used it our 1st year in here. But going on 5 years we have not used it for 4 of them because they leave them full of soap so it was more work to rewash it all! It just seems to work...my husband and I both wash and let them air dry whenever we see a pile mounting..when I'm at home during the summer I wash a couple times a day. I don't mind. We'll have 4 kids and it hasn't bothered me yet. I tend to get the cleaning itch before bed so I'll wash them up to start our day fresh with a clean counter. My two oldest children (6 and 5) LOVE to wash dishes...sometimes they'll stand there for an hour and do them! haha I'll normally do a rinse over on them without them seeing though!

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  8. Being the hunting family that I am in...we do not have a dishwasher when the family/friends go hunting. We try (or I try) to clean up b/f we eat and while we prep. Then after dinner, everyone does their dishes and puts their plates in the sink and silverware in a bowl of hot water and soap. Then we take turns cleaning up.

    Personally, I use a bunch of elbow grease, a little bit of dawn, hot water, and a scrubber brush. It does take a while to get done, sometimes. But I actually like our system. Glad you guys are having fun!
    ~Elyse
    PS-I totally get the note that you wrote above. Once time, someone tried to put bones down the sink and it was a HUGE PAIN to clean up.

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  9. We don't have a dishwasher and my best tip is to wash as often as you can. I encourage the boys to use the same cup throughout the day, and not use a new dish for everything. Many things can easily be eaten off a cloth napkin.

    My peaceful routine is to wash while listening to music or watching TV. Then I let them dry in the drainer for a while or dry right away if I can. It's a great feeling to have a clean, empty sink!

    Steph

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  10. I'm sorry there's no dishwasher but you sure can fancy-up an old kitchen! ; )

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  11. Hi, new to your blog and those kitchen cabinets look just like the ones my grandparents had. Takes me back...

    I have preferred to wash dishes instead of replacing our broken dishwasher. Three of my four kids have a designated bowl, plate and cup that is washed (when needed) and reused. I wash dishes when there are just enough to fill the drying rack. It is such an awful task when the sink and counters are overflowing, but doing them in small numbers is easier and more pleasant to accomplish. I also try to wash cookware right after we use it. Being consistent is key, which I've had to make myself do because I'm a natural procrasinator.

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  12. I don't have 6 children but we have 5 in our family plus we have usually quite a few at dinners - people drop in - family, friends, other children etc...so I wash dishes as I go - wash with prep, wash with cleanup. Everyone has to help - even the little one - started when she was 4..didn't do a very great job but loved to participate. Basically all help out..even make it fun and hose them off outside with the hose, and bring them in - like camping..??
    -shalyn

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  14. We have a dishwasher, but it doesn't do a great job, so we don' t use it very often. Like previous posters have said, wash often, even if you can only do 5 minutes at a time. I don't dry most things by hand; I just let them dry in the dishdrainer and put everything away the next time I get to washing. We definitely use fewer dishes than if we had a well-working dishwasher.

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  15. I love the turquoise bowl!!
    as for dishwashing without a dishwasher.... well so far we do not have one but we will move soon as we are looking for a house and hubby thinks that the first appliance has to be a dishwasher!! at the moment we pile things in the kitchen sink and every now and then wash . After dinner it is always hubby's turn. Also hubby thinks that a diswasher will use less water than what I use while washing dishes.

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  16. Well we are only two people and one dog here but we dont have a dishwasher and I HATE washing dishes. I prefer cleaning so Nicole does the dishes.

    Things we do:
    In the morning we take one glas and use it all day, if it ever gets icky we just wash it out a little. We try to not use too much stuff but with so many ppl I guess it doesnt matter. After supper Nicole does the dishes. We dont dry them since we have something like this http://picnicb.ciao.com/de/179685565.jpg in larger. Our holds up to 12 plates a bunch of cups and more. So we just put it in there, saves time and then in the morning I put everything away.
    The thing I actually enjoy washing are cups and glasses. We do those first since the water is cleaner then and I like to do that. I also dont mind plates but I deteste pans and dirty stuff. You guys could let someone wash the cups/glasses/plates and someone else does the rest.

    Well I hope you guys have a great time!

    You could also use your dog to clean everything up!! :)

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  17. I can not tell you what i would give for all those cabinets. We have an old kitchen that literally has about 6 cabinets all together. If it wasn't for our pantry we would be out of luck as far as space goes.

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  18. Well, we're only a family of 5 (6 if my fiance is over) but normally my dad and I see to the washing up and, provided they are nagged for long enough, my brothers will (sometimes) see to the drying up. Whoever does the cooking is excused...

    My fiance comes from a larger family and they have a dishwasher at home. I went on holiday with them at Easter and we were without a dishwasher so their mum set up a washing/drying up rota. Everyone has to rinse their own plate first though because this keeps the water from becoming too dirty

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  19. I hate to wash dishes...just buy paper plates and cups!

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  20. I love how you so quickly have found beauty in your surroundings & personalized your temporary "home".

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  21. We have a "worthless" dishwasher...but with a family of 9 + daycare, we have lots of dishes. I admit my hubby Mitch does most of the washing. We assigned our 3 oldest kids as meal helpers (one per meal). It is their job to clear the table and help with dishes. We use our worthless dishwasher as a rinsing/drying rack. The helper puts the clean dishes away. Mitch washes, and the helper loads them into the dishwasher. They we run the 7 min. rinse cycle (seriously, that's all we trust it for). Having the kids be assigned to a meal as helper has really made a big difference. Yes, we wash dishes 3 (sometimes more) times per day...but it cuts down on the work.

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  22. LOVE all that cabinet space! My parents used to have a frog just like that....in fact, they still might have it somewhere. :-)

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  23. i thought washing dishes was going to be the worst but it really isnt terrible. i wash them every morning and before dinner and my hubby washes them every night after dinner (which i cook, if he cooks i just wash them all in the morning!) it works for us and i like knowing that my dishes really are clean!

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  24. That kitchen reminds me so much of my grandparents' old kitchen! My grandmother had a little frog just like that too...she used it to keep sponges in. I hate to wash dishes...and my dishwasher just broke! We are waiting on the replacement part, and as I type there is a HUGE pile of dirty dishes in the sink!

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  25. I haven't been using my dishwasher - my biggest thing is just to wash after every meal and if you have a couple minutes before serving the meal, do a quick wash of all the prep stuff so you just have plates, silverware and cups after.

    Make everyone use the same cup all day :-)

    I often prep for dinner at lunch time - I find after dinner dishes the hardest to do with DH home, kids needing to get in bed, being tired..... so if I can make all the mess at lunch and clean it up then, all we have after dinner is what we ate off of.

    CROCKPOT is your best friend..... if you don't have one, find one!

    Stick all the silverware in a cup as you are cleaning up, it rinses it and gets everything off so those wash easy.

    If you have pots and pans that are gonna have to wait a little bit and have icky cooked stuff in it, pour boiling water into the pans and let them sit, the boiling water will loosen everything so when you get back to washing them they clean so easy - that is a trick my MIL taught me :-)

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  26. We have extremely shallow sinks...so just one meal looks like one weeks worth of dishes. My husband and I normally put the kids to bed, and when the house is quiet, we catch up on each other's day as he washes and I dry and put away the dishes. It is a very peaceful time of night...and then the kitchen is ready for a fresh start in the morning!! BUT...I don't have 8 people's worth of dishes :)

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  27. We're a family of 4 and don't use our dishwasher...soo my rule is we TRY to use the same drinking glass unless it gets "dirty" and I often serve snacks on paper towels instead of a dish...sometimes breakfast is on a paper towel too, depending what it is!

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  28. Yeah, no dishwasher here either; unless you count the 11 year old. Dishes are one of her chores. To keep it easy, she does them immediately after each meal and we also use paper plates for lunch. Sometimes even for supper.

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  29. Hi Brittany!

    I would love to have all those cabinets - the storage!
    I hope you post more pics of your temporary home - I love looking at old farm houses.

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  30. In my family, the rule was always that we had to wash and dry all dishes as soon as the meal was finished. There were never any good tricks, it was always alot of dishes, but getting it done immediately helped alleviate the piling-up-and-becoming-insurmountable problem.

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  31. We don't have a dishwasher so we let the dishes pile up until there are enough to make it worth washing (or until we run out or forks, whichever comes first)... Our counter is so tiny that we don't even have a spot for a drying rack. So I try to keep the things we use a lot in plain sight so we'll use them and wash them more often because we WANT to use them again.

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  32. I tried to live without a dishwasher..I couldnt do it! I love my dishwasher!!

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  33. what we do is make sure that everyone uses only one glass all day. * kids have a tendency to think they need a new glass for every beverage. i am a firm believer of rinse and use it again* then the dishes get rinsed well after being used and then the dishes are all done after dinner, and put up the next morning. now sometimes, we have to do the dishes in the middle of the day if we have been doing alot of cooking but it helps keep the job to less than fifteen minutes.

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  34. I am a long time reader and was glad to see someone above said that they were confused as to what exactly you were doing? Asking, have you moved? I know you did not move, but would love a re-cap on EXACTLY what it is that you are doing, why, when you will get back to the house? Do you own the other home, are you renting? what is your social security number...teehee, just kidding! BTW, LOVE the swing pic, just tells a story about WHO you are!

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  35. LOVE the frog. My mother had one when we were growing up and I hadn't thought about it in years but now I want to know what happened to it.

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  36. Great pictures!

    Thank you so much for praying for Abby!

    RiggsFamilyBlog.com

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  37. Okay, I didn't read all of the other comments, so pardon me if I repeat. Up until a couple of months ago, I NEVER had a dishwasher. So let me tell you about the art of doing them as you go. If you're baking, for example, as soon as your treat is in the oven, do a sink full of dishes.

    Also, we bought a great scrubber from Ikea that suctions to the sink for quick and easy washing of those couple of items.

    I'm a big fan of "air drying" the dishes too. Then I can take a break, come back later, and put things away. However, if you're very tidy, this won't do.

    Good luck!

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  38. Neat history...can't wait to see more.

    We have a dishwasher but really never use it (we are also a family of 6, not 8, so I don't know if it does make a difference) but we just wash as we go (while cooking) and then for dinner, I wash and either hubby or grandma dry and put away.

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  39. Great finds in the basement!
    We don't have a dishwasher......and do have a house full of people. Due to circumstances, TigerBoy was solely on bottles from about 4-5 months old......everything washed and is washed by hand....
    A secret to uncluttered sinks? What we do is wash as you go......not letting it pile up......

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  40. As kids we had color coded dishes. (I was orange.) We each had a cup, bowl and plate, and we were responsible for washing our own, drying and putting away. Each big kid had a little "partner" to help, and whomever's week it was did the pots and pans. It worked great, because you always knew who to blame if your plate was missing or dirty!

    PS: If it was your week to scrub, you got to help make the menu too, and later, to help cook dinner.

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  41. I'm a big fan of children being responsible for themselves and simple household tasks, so I like the idea of giving each child a week/day where they do the dishes, or the idea others suggested where each child has a color and they wash up their own stuff.

    Eating outside also saves dishes and mess! (I learned that one from Mckmama ;) )

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  42. I'm a big fan of the dishwasher wand. The soap goes directly into the sponge. Or a sink of dishwater for a bigger meal, then rinse and set on counter to dry. But it's that dishwasher wand that keeps me from wasting money on paper plates and cups.

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  43. Rinse dishes in between meals to reuse throughout the day; wash them right away if they are dirty. I find it takes me less time if I dry the dishes and put them away immediately than if I wait for them to dry. By then there is just SO MUCH and it makes me cranky.

    Soak dirty pots as soon as possible with hot, soapy water. Whenever possible, I use aluminum foil to keep messes to a minimum.

    Good luck Mama!

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  44. We had that frog in our house when I grew up! Those were the things to have back in the day. I wonder if my mom still has it. I imagine she does {grin!}

    Thanks for clearing it up a little what you guys are doing there.

    How are the kids adjusting to the "move"?

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Thank you for blessing me with your words!

Brittany