My Kitchen is the Heart of My Home

I've been home for almost a week after helping my older son move, and today I realized how much of my time is spent in the kitchen. Some of this is by necessity since there is garden produce to process, meals to prepare, and dishes to be done, but my kitchen is also where I choose to spend much of my time. 

I have a dishwasher, but honestly haven't used it in many years. This is partly because it leaks and is noisy, but mainly because I like the quiet, calming process of washing dishes by hand. This was more important when I was doing many more dishes with two teenage boys in the house, but now that they're "mostly" moved out, the quiet is sometimes too much so. I still enjoy doing dishes by hand because I just like the spot.

I have fun family pictures, the ceramic snail my younger son made for me, some grocery store orchids that I haven't yet killed, and the Christmas cactus that was my last gift to my mother.

I also have my rainbow stained glass and a view of the garden and back yard that always makes me happy.

Above the sink, I have handprint cookie cutters from when my sons were three and five, 

on the wood valance my father-in-law custom made for me.

 On the windowsill, I have basil, my wishbones (because you never know when you might need to make a wish!), and jars of marbles from my grandparents. I also have an even better view of the garden and my back yard from here.

My kitchen table is a great place to spend time. My husband and I found the table at a yard sale and refinished it; my kids and family have grown up around it.

It holds quilted placemats made by my mother-in-law, a lazy susan and napkin holder made by my husband, salt and pepper shakers from grandparents and great-grandparents, a ceramic turtle made by my older son, ceramic bowls full of fortunes made by my younger son, and a wooden bowl and spoon made by my brother-in-law.

Because we live in an old house, there are doors everywhere. The kitchen has four of them, and each son had a door where their school work, pictures, and "stuff" was put up, to be appreciated and cheered. Younger son is a junior in college, so I don't get much school work to put up on his door, but there is still a piece of his from first grade that I love.

Older son just started his Ph.D., but I do have some of his "school work"

 (his first article in a peer-reviewed journal !) on his door.

I don't know if I've surrounded myself with so many possessions that remind me of family because I spend so much time in the kitchen, or if I spend so much time here because it's a place that I can hold my family close even where they're not here, but my kitchen really is the heart of my home for me.