A nice sunny and warm day.
We decided to begin our shopping early. First on the agenda was the Habitat ReStore.
Well it is closer in town than I thought but had a sign out"Closed until January 3". We will go back just to see what they have. It wasn't a very large building.
Next back north to Lowes. They only had three gas ranges and only one with convection which I want to try. We settled on a Frigidaire SS model. It was about $1000 cheaper than the model we had looked at at Sears. I checked the knobs first thing and the manager even called the company to be sure. I didn't want anymore pressed foil over plastic! These are heavy cast. Of course if the oven door fits well I shouldn't get all that heat from the oven anyway. This one has the center grill/grate feature. The deal breaker was the price and she arranged it to be delivered an installed tomorrow! I am so excited and nervous.
I am having them haul off the Jenn Air. If someone can get some use out of it, great. We live out in the country and didn't want to have to mess with people coming to look then having no way to haul, etc., so DH said get rid of it! Of course, I used it yesterday and it worked like a charm except it takes about 30 minutes for the oven to preheat.
I also decided to get a larger counter-top oven. My sis has a Hamilton Beach she drug up from the basement when I told her it would be cheaper cooking for just the two of them to use it. She cooked her frozen biscuits beautifully and didn't even have to use foil to keep them from burning. It is way larger than my little one and has two racks. I found one on Amazon. It should get here tomorrow too. I am trying their Prime deal for 30 days to get the 2-day shipping free. I will cancel before the 30 days is up.
While at Lowe's I checked out their swing-arm lamps for bedside reading and they had what I wanted. What a different world we live in. The last one I had cost maybe $10, and you just mounted it on the wall and plugged it in. This one had to be assembled, a mounting bracket installed on the wall, then the lamp mounted on that. Then came the rod to cover the cord. That was in 3 or 4 pieces. The cord had to be inserted through it and then the plug attached. It took me some time and I had to gather up the drill, the level, a screwdriver to get started. DH stood by and watched (for a while). I am the family handyman inside. I don't mind, in fact, I kind of like doing it. I just hadn't done anything for a while and am way out of practice. I don't know who writes up the instruction, but I am either getting very dense or they have very sorry instructions. I had those darned screws in two or three times before I figured out what was right.
I love the lamp though. I set it up pretty high because I read sitting upright and didn't want it to touch my head at all.
Here she is in all her glory:
I used it last night and it is perfect!
I got a lot of garden catalogs over the last two days. I vowed not to even look, but did....Two very high dollar ones were White Flower Farms and Burpee. I have ordered a good bit of stuff from White Flower over the years and they are a good company to do business with. Burpee is just way too high priced when you compare to others. I love Jung Seed Co. and will probably order some shrubs from them and 1 or 2 other things.............blast! I love the new hydrangeas they are showing, especially the new Annabelle. Four inch pots means I will do a nursery row in the garden so I can remember to take proper care of them.
When we got home from all that buying, the propane company truck followed us in the drive and left $775 worth of LP! Isn't that always the way it is.
Your post reminds me of the old Mary Proctor TV commercial jingle "...busy day, busy day!" LOL I'm soooo excited for you getting a new stove and can't wait to see pics of it installed.
ReplyDeletePretty (and very useful) reading lamp. Good job on the installation - you're like me, handy with tools. Now you'll be able to read all of your seed catalogs no problem.
Seems to be the time of year to spend $$. I'm getting estimates for re-wiring the 2 sides of the basement as well as the crawlspace. Looking forward to getting that project done soon.
I expect you'll be cooking up a storm for the New Year what with your new stuff. I can practically smell the goodies from here. :-D
Health and happiness in the New Year!!
I've never had a convection oven but always wanted to try one. I've heard that they cook faster which means using less propane.
ReplyDeleteI love your new lamp. I need to get busy and order my seed catalogs. They're my favorite winter reading.
Congratulations on your new kitchen appliances and the swing arm lamp too. I have a glass topped stove with convection oven, which I love. I basically use the convection oven setting all the time. I look forward to seeing your new stove and the counter top oven as well.
ReplyDeletePlant and seed catalogs sure can make you spend $$. They have such beautiful pictures to entice you.
Have a wonderful 2011 Glenda.
Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady
Glenda,
ReplyDeleteI have a Frigidaire Affinity gas range I got in May of this year. It has convection and I am sure you will love it. It browns quickly and cooks quickly too, so be ready. It has cast iron grates with the center grate, and a griddle for the middle also.
This range took me a little while to get used to, as it cooks pretty quick. Mine has a preheat on it, and in about 4 minutes it is 350* in no time, I canned on this range this year, and for me it went quickly, but it does heat up the house, but I love the way it cooks. I do hope you love yours I know that you will.
Am getting garden catalogs and going through them, to see what I do need, will have to be careful with the money this year, but I am planning on purchasing a pressure canner so I can process more beans and veggies, what do you recommend for a pressure canner model? I am frightened to death of pressure canners, as I put one in the school roof in Home Ec class one time, and that was the last time I handled a canner.
Have a wonderful and prosperous 2011, and the best of the new year to you and your family.
WOW, Glenda, you made out like a bandit!!! I want a new cook top so badly so I don't have to scrub those darn burners anymore! When Joe cooks, he is NOT neat!! The lamp looks great in your room...lots of light! I have an old swing lamp in my living room that's still kicking...:)JP
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new purchases. Like the lamp and also your bedspread-like navy and yellow together.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you won't have to fool with your oven anymore. I'd like to have a convection oven but as long as everything works in my kitchen, those plans are "on the back burner". We're still trying to decide on whether to get a fireplace insert or not.
ReplyDeleteYou are a good assembler! They write some of those instructions in the country where the product is made and sometimes the translation is not good. If they'd just do step-by-step pictures -- like they do for Lego sets?-- I think it would be easier.
LP gets more expensive all the time and I don't know if it's still a better deal than electricity or not. Probably is.
Sounds like you're all set now, I can't wait to see what you start making in that new oven! Hugs!
That oven sound fabulous! I wish we had done gas instead of electric when we built the house, nothing cooks as good as gas. The lamp is perfect too, will make reading in bed a pleasure! We are to have one more day of nice winter weather before the bottom falls out! It's overcast and dark this morning but it seems Mother Nature has forgotten how to rain here, sure need a good rain. This time of year it usually comes in the form of ice or snow so I better hush! You are all set now to settle in, whatever the weather brings you will be warm and well fed...that's a good feeling!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the lamp! I've thought about offering myself to companies to edit their instructions. I do think the quality of them has gone down.
ReplyDelete