I found the camera charger!

Lame excuse, perhaps, but "before and after" demonstration are so much more effective with the "after," don't you think? We have been busy! When we arrived home from our trip, we were greeted by a non functioning electric range that had shorted in our absence, thankfully not burning down the house. If this place goes up in flames this soon after refinishing the kitchen cabinets, I think I might have to get some gasoline just to make it burn a little more.

It did take 3 weeks to get the new range in and I have exhausted my creativity with microwave cooking.

I'll let the pictures tell the tale:

Before:
After:

And the new "After the After"

We are going to live with the chop block for a few months to see how we like it for the rest of the kitchen. The new range is really cool, even if I haven't made anything all that fantastic with it yet. Just a matter of time! In fact, I bought marshmallows especiallly for a new gas range celebration. I will try hard not to burn the house down.

And for those of you checking the blog for Alastair sitings, here he is enjoying his friend Hannah's party. He does very well with hats that are actually strapped down, as this demonstrates. We are almost ready for his party and he has both a birthday outfit (not his original birthday suit, of course) and a fancy hat to show off (thanks Amanda!). No sneak peeks here folks! You'll just have to wait until Labor Day, or shortly thereafter.