Out with the old, in with the new

Long-term readers may remember this crusty old tap which once graced the header of my old blog, The Domestic Soundscape, and which was one of many washing-up images I made when I was recording the sounds of washing up for a commission: The Fantastical Reality Radio Show.

The crusty old tap is now gone, along with everything else that formed our messy but well-used and deeply-loved kitchen.

Gone are the old cupboards with accursed beading: an architectural attractant of kitchen grease and oomska. Gone, too – at least from this room – are the wondrous stained and cherished postcards that adorned these cupboards and reminded me of many friends. And is there anywhere better to share with friends than the palace of meals and convivial chatter that is the kitchen? I THINK NOT.

Gone is the clock that was hung upon the wall above the fireplace, and which hasn’t worked since some time in 2015.

Gone is the cupboard under which we had to temporarily install a temporary and much-disliked grey gas cooker when our old one died. Please note the glorious hand-cut modifications that Mark made to the cupboard door above the cooker in order to meet contemporary building regulations. It was my favourite thing in the kitchen: the space above the cooker where a broken extractor fan unit once hung, and the sawn-off cupboard door, removed to clear the necessary distance between the door edge and the cooker. It was funnier when there was also half a poster on the door – also sawn through – but hopefully from this, you get the idea.

I love the empty kitchen space and looking at all the objects in it that we have used so many times, in the service of COOKING and our shared love of making AMAZING MEALS.

And temporarily – look – we can see some bricks!

Gone, too, is COVID, so we are managing all the domestic upheaval without illness to contend with on top – thank you for your well wishes and kind notes and emails, I appreciated them a lot.

It’s been a time of great change; we are doing all our meals in the downstairs dining room, making great use of a microwave, which is a huge novelty to us both as we’ve never really used one before. All the cheering postcards and notes from friends have been moved to the temporary kitchen area, and Mark’s brewing kettle supplies us with hot water for washing up. The new kitchen will be here by mid-April and I am very excited, while also acknowledging that saying goodbye to the old one feels like the end of an era.