Still restoring the kitchen to full usage...

 Slept in this morning until almost 9:30 AM.  I was ready as I was working up to an odd dream, bordering on nightmare.  It was one of those dreams that makes you wonder what you were eating the day before or at least, what had been on your mind before bed!!!

Part of yesterday was pulling the baker's rack and the spice shelves back into the kitchen.  I placed the sharpest knives on the magnetic rack on the side of the fridge and the magnets and pictures on the front.  I brought all of the baking stuff... flour, sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, baking soda... etc, back into the cabinet that they came from (we had to empty that one for the electrician).  The only place that is still missing stuff, is under the sink.  That will happen Thursday or Friday after we get the new faucet installed.

I also spent some time, bringing the fridge freezer contents back upstairs.  It has been a good thing, as I can see what I have and can plan some meals around those foods.  Freezers can be a good thing to allow storage for times when you cannot get to the store.  But it can be a bad thing, as you forget what you have and it gets freezer-burned. 

I still have a few things to find when I decorated for Christmas.  One or two of the items, I have no idea where they have gone!!!

Here is the view from the steps into the kitchen.  The spices are back in place and the strainers and tongs are hanging back where they have been living since the time I moved in.  The coffee/tea center is back in place.  I still have one item to return to the top shelf.  I removed it for fear it might fall off!  I still need to move the Instant Pot rolling cart back in place.

I had some items that needed to be washed, so I loaded enough things in the dishwasher to run a cycle.  I selected the Sensor cycle.  It is supposed to determine how dirty things are and adjust accordingly.  At least I am learning how to load the machine.  I am also not rinsing things as well as I used to... just to see how well it cleans.  If it works as well as I expect it will, I may end up saving water in the long run.

I also ran a load of laundry.  It was mostly stuff for Miles, but I had a couple of kitchen rugs to put in as well.  Then I loaded up trash from just living and from construction and headed to the transfer station before going to Fred Meyers to pick up some groceries I had ordered and then duck in quickly to the Pharmacy.  I have changed my Part D Drug Plan this year.  Tomorrow I go to my primary doctor and she will be calling drugs into the pharmacy.  I did not want them to run the charges through to the old insurers and then have to repeat that when I give them the new information.  Especially since most of my current drugs will not cost me anything... not even a co-pay.  

I took this picture from the opening above the stove.  It shows the two new appliances.  I emptied the dishwasher of the dishes I washed today.  I purposely did not rinse these completely, just to see how well it washed things.  They were all clean and shiny!!  Impressed thus far.

I also ran the trash compactor today.  I had brought enough trash from the lower level and the stuff I created upstairs.  You cannot turn a trash compactor on until it is at least 1/2 full. I actually had filled it to the top, so I punched the start button, and off it went.  It was MUCH louder than the dishwasher.  But when it was done, the trash was compacted on the bottom of the bin.  I will be curious to see how much it will compact.  My old one had a 'super-compact' button.  You could push the button, the plunger would come down until it reached a full crush on the trash and then stop.  The plunger just kept the weight on the trash to really compress everything.  This trash compactor does not have this function.  Time will tell.