The Little Things

Living in an old workshop whilst we contemplate its renovation is certainly a novel experience. We live a kind of ‘glamping’ existence, being quite inventive with few resources and largely making things up as we go along.

It’s amazing how quickly it became normal to prepare food on an old workbench in the same room as I have my bed, or wash up in a series of bowls on a camping table next to a load of old tools. But we humans can be adaptable creatures.

Of course, there are certain things that I miss and find harder to do without, so when I’m suddenly reunited with such items, however commonplace they may sound, I get really quite excited.

I can currently only dream of a kitchen, but maybe one a little more rustic!

Our cooking arrangements until recently had consisted of a microwave, a couple of camping stoves and an Antony Worrall Thompson health grill. Despite becoming quite inventive with menus, there were still meals that we all missed, and I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms from not being able to bake. So you can imagine my delight when we became the proud owners of a mini oven!

With numerous settings, and even a small two-ring hob on the top, we can now cook almost anything (though I think a full-blown Christmas dinner may still take some thought). Casseroles, pies and even oven chips suddenly feel like a luxury cuisine, having not tasted them for so long.

The day we took delivery of said oven, all of us crowded round expectantly, struggling to discard the packaging and have a go of our new toy. It now proudly sits on the worktop (sorry old workbench with wipe-clean covering) and is certainly earning its keep.

If we can get this excited about the appearance of a mini oven, what state are we going to be in when we become the owners of a whole new fitted kitchen? They’ll probably hear us cheering from miles away!

You can now read a review of said oven here