Sis has a designer kitchen. Big cooker, dishwasher, large double sink and waste disposal, a full welsh dresser, an understairs store cupboard, 10 other cupboards and a stack of drawers.
Adjacent to that is a utility room housing a huge freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer and a further array of shelving and cupboards, plus a wine rack.
Our instructions for meals during our stay was ‘anything there’, so I thought it would be quite straightforward to prepare a simple meal for the three of us.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The freezer was well stocked, so that wasn’t the problem. It was finding the basics to throw something together with whatever I took out…….. like rice, flour, stock cubes, onions, eggs, pasta, hell, even a bowl to mix in. I did find her spice rack, but that was only because it was too big to put in a cupboard or on one of her shelves.
It was frustrating. It had taken me over a quarter of an hour to find the cornflakes for Mum’s breakfast and a further ten minutes for the jam/marmalade to go on our toast.
If there hadn’t been little canisters on the window sill with tea and coffee in them, well, we would have dehydrated and died of thirst.
On the boat, I have one cupboard housing our tins and dry stuff, our cutlery and bowls are under the sink together with our cleaning stuff, first aid kit and sewing box, and my saucepans are in the little locker under the cooker. One small wall cupboard contains our phone chargers, my spices/herbs, our guest cups and sugar sachets (I’ve never purchased a bag of sugar all the time we’ve been here, and ‘pinch’ the single sachets available from tea houses, McDs and anywhere else we get our coffees) whereas the other holds teabags, coffee, vitamin C lozenges, olive oil, lemon juice and a tin mug of biros. Bathroom things like soap, shower gel and toothpaste are in the cupboard under the sink in there, and our supply of toilet rolls, kitchen roll and elephant bog roll are in the shower converted cupboard. I am therefore used to opening a cupboard and retrieving what I was looking for.
With such a wide choice of ‘hiding places’, Sis wins, as I couldn’t find a thing I wanted very easily.
Washing up the breakfast things, we couldn’t find bleach or a scourer to de-stain the cups, so Hubby went shopping, coming back with a pack of 12, plus 2 pizzas, cottage pies for our main meal (I’d raid the fridge of salad stuff), a lump of cheese to replace what we’d used for our toasted sandwiches the night before, plus some chocolate bars in case of trick or treaters.
You want to know something funny?
Hubby washed the car yesterday afternoon, and asked if I could look for some car wax shampoo.
No need. I put my hands straight on it as I’d seen it earlier……….. under the kitchen sink with the toilet rolls.
pensitivity101 
I always find it frustrating to work in someone else’s kitchen. Their organization doesn’t always fit my vision of where stuff should be!
Sis doesn’t seem to have any logic to her storage. On the boat we have so little space, I suppose it’s easier for us.
Sometimes less is better. I have too much and sometimes I have to look at two different spots because I just can’t remember where I put them.
I know how that feels too. We had a walk in pantry and scullery in the cottage. They say you spread into your available space, and we certainly did that!
It sounds like hide and seek – the grown up version!
Sis asked if we’d found the biscuits, and I said no, but then I wasn’t looking for those!
That’s exactly what I would have been looking for!
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