Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Wanna See Something Scary?

Our good friend/lady carpenter, B, was here today to discuss plans for our big remodeling/finishing the house project.

My now kitchen/living room is going to become all living room and the room next to it that we added on will become my new kitchen. (Got that straight?)

The three of us had been in the unfinished to-be kitchen room discussing venting the gas kitchen range. Made some decisions and were all walking through the present kitchen/living room when for some reason, my hubby happened to glance at the wall that one of my present overhead kitchen cabinets is hung on.

It's a good sized cabinet in which I store all my glasses, mugs, and a couple other things.

This is what he saw. The whole box frame of the cabinet was coming unattached from the wall! All three of us stood there with a "what the . . . ??" look on our faces.

I opened the cabinet doors and immediately could see that the shelves were all slanting downward toward me and some of the glassware had slipped a half inch or so off the shelf surface. Panic!

Do you know how fast we unloaded that cabinet?

This is the bulk of what was in there.

Plus this.

B asked if we wanted a quick fix or should she take the whole thing off the wall and do a little reconstruction surgery. Since all the cabinets will be torn out with the remodeling, I told her to go with a quick and dirty. I really didn't care what she did as long as it held for a few more months.

And here is everything put back into place. I had been meaning to clean out that particular cabinet for a while anyway. Now it's clean.

But can you imagine the disaster if hubby hadn't spotted it pulling away from the framing when he did? I'm guessing every single piece of glass in there would have shattered . . . and we'd both probably have had heart attacks when it fell!

An aside: At about the same time we saw the potential cabinet disaster, our good neighbor, D, stopped by with some fresh fish for us. He stayed for a mug of coffee and when B saw me snapping pictures, she suggested I get a shot of her working with Papa Pea and D sitting at the table supervising her work while drinking coffee. Shoulda done it, I shoulda!

18 comments:

The Apple Pie Gal said...

If that had fell in the middle of the night...you'da wet that king size bed! Wow, what timing that B was there and you guys stumbled upon that! What if you had lost your new coffee mugs?!

Good catch...spring cleaning anyone?

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it's all about the timing, isn't it. Glad everything got unloaded before things crashed and good luck on the remodel.

Val said...

Well, I am so glad that you spotted that cabinet. And look at it this way....you got your cabinet cleaned out.

Britt said...

Hello to my dear friend's, (Chicken Mama), mum! I have just spent the last hour reading through your latest posts (about a couple week's worth!). I am supposed to be doing homework while both of my girls are at the dance studio...however, I have found about a million reasons to keep reading your blog. Here are six of them:

1. I am having oatmeal tomorrow morning.

2. I just cleaned out a very deserving cabinet myself a week or so ago, not because it was coming off the wall but because it disgusted me when I opened the door. And now it is clean and VERY organized. Sometimes, I just open the door to look inside to make sure the clutter monster didn't get to it. :-)

3. MN winters make us strong.

4. You should be able to be in your jammies any time you want - it's your house and your well-earned retirement (but I get the small town, "drop on by" mentality...happens ALL the time when we are at the cabin - drives me crazy!)

5. My Christmas stuff was giving me th evil eye as well...with an ear infection, runny and drippy eyes and nose, I organized (and recycled and threw away a few broken items) all of my Christmas decor in one evening. I sat in my clean, uncluttered living room by myself for an hour just enjoying the moment. And then my kids came in, and the moment was gone!

And...
6. My most beloved cookbooks are the MN Heritage Cookbook and the Better Homes and Garden NEW Cookbook (ca. sometime in the
1980's)both have long ago lost their covers, pages are worn and representative of beloved recipes...and I have about 75 other cookbooks which are all beautiful and filled with delicious creations...but I don't use those.

Simple is good. Even in the city.

Thank you for getting me to slow down a bit to night. A little reflection is a good thing for the soul.

Britt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dirt Lover said...

Oh, my, if that would've crashed down in the middle of the night.....you would've rushed into the kitchen, in your jammies and barefeet, walked on the broken glass and cut your tootsies, bled all over the floor, had to go to the emergency room, need I go on??? And, as if that wouldn't be bad enough, if APG is right, all with wet jammies and then to come home only to have to wash the sheets. What a day that would've been! Glad the crisis was averted. Whew! I think we can all rest easy tonight!
~~Lori

Jenyfer Matthews said...

How wonderful that not only did Papa Pea spot that problem but that you happened to have a carpenter on the spot to fix it! Talk about good timing! If only all the problems in life could be addressed so efficiently ;)

Sue said...

Disaster averted!! Yea for Papa Pea!
I'm glad you discovered that before the big crash. I couldn't even imagine dealing with the mess that would have been!

Susan said...

Good golly, that was a close call! I would have had a heart attack and then blamed it on the cats.

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

See it was all those oversized mugs we have these days :). The remodel sounds like it will be wonderful. You have come a long way from that cabin with no electric.I can't wait to see the progress.

Erin said...

Wow, amazing, that Papa Pea! Nice save, tell him to give himself a pat on the back and enjoy a good-hubby moment! Excited for you kitchen plans, ripping out a ridiculous wall in the kitchen was the best most space-gaining thing we ever did here, you will love it!

mtnchild said...

What I'd like to know is WHY was it coming loose from the wall?? I know, I have to be difficult ... I'm sooo glad that it didn't fall, what a mess! Waiting with bated breath to see pictures of the remodel, as it comes along and when finished.

Hugs to you both
Yvette

Mama Pea said...

APG - Hubby says it was the weight of the new coffee mugs in there that was the straw that broke the camel's back!

Hope, etc. - Thank you very much, ma'am.

Val - I know! Haha, sometimes it take drastic measures to make me clean!

Britt - So good to hear from you, Little Gal! I got all our decorations down one day but it was two days before I put "winter" ones up. Hubby kept commenting on how bare the house looked!

P.S. I've been reading your blog. More posts, please. Yeah, right, in your SPARE time, huh?

Lori - Did you used to write for TV sitcoms? I think you just wrote an episode!

Mama Pea said...

Jen - It actually was quite amazing the way it happened, wasn't it? Lesson? Employ a full-time, live-in carpenter. ;o)

Sue - I still don't know what made hubby look at that out of the way spot on the wall, but I thank our lucky stars he did!

Susan - If it had come down, I think it probably would have damaged the counter and the half wall, for sure, besides all the glassware. Shudder, shudder to think of the mess!

Jane - This is the last house we are ever going to have to finish. Shall I say that again? It's my new mantra. Stay tuned.

Erin - If only I could snap my fingers . . . and have it ALL DONE! Don't want much, do I?

Yvette - It was pulling away from the whole back framing. And get this. It was attached only by STAPLES! They aren't the most expensive line of cabinets, but they weren't the cheapest either!

Judy D in WA said...

Guess what I just emptied out! My cabinets. 2 of them are coming off the wall. They have only been up 2 years and they look just like yours. Hubby says I have to many heavy bowls and such, I say they should stay in place. So tomorrow is major repair day. Dear Son in Law will be here to help, I will hide in my sewing room until it's time to rearrange my dishes.
Yes, what if it would have crashed in the middle of the night! Oh Dear...... I'm glad yours is now fixed.

Mama Pea said...

Judy D - Good grief, do we have an epidemic of cabinets falling off walls going here??

Judy D in WA said...

Mama Pea, it turns out I am a hoarder of mixing & serving bowls. They are heavy and I had them all in the upper cabinets, not thinking anything about their weight. Not the smartest thing I have ever done. :) But all is well now, those 2 have been replace and a new dish arrangement has been made.

Sure did scare me!

Mama Pea said...

Judy D - I think we just don't consider how really heavy dishes and bowls and such truly are. I bet most of the kitchen cabinets of people who cook are loaded with an astounding amount of weight. But on the other hand, shouldn't cabinets be constructed solidly enough to hold what we normally put in them??