A Woman's Toolbox

I've been making trips to our storage unit, slowly bringing everything home. I finally reached the last of the boxes—the ones we packed when we moved from the farm. Most of them were filled with my kitchen things.

As I started unboxing everything, I had to laugh.

Apparently, while my favorite baking pans, mixing bowls, and kitchen gadgets were tucked away in storage, I bought replacements because, well... I needed them.

Now I'm finding the originals.

Three square baking pans.

More little baking sheets than I realized I owned.

Extra mixing bowls.

And enough cookware to outfit a small army.

Am I getting rid of any of it?

Nope.

Do I plan to?

Nope.

Will I use it all at the same time?

Probably not.

But here's the way I look at it. A man can have ten screwdrivers, three socket sets, and a garage full of tools, and nobody thinks twice about it.

Well, my tools just happen to live in the kitchen.

My cast iron skillets have cooked thousands of meals. My baking dishes have held countless casseroles, biscuits, cobblers, and holiday dinners. Every pan has a purpose, and every one has memories.

So if owning several baking pans makes me happy, I'm keeping them.

Besides, around a homestead, you never know when you'll be baking extra biscuits for company, making pies for the holidays, or filling the freezer with meals for later.

Not everything is staying downstairs.

Some of it will go "upstairs." Well... that's what I call it anyway. It's really the attic.

One thing I absolutely love about this little house is that it came with a real, usable attic. It stays dry, has a light, and it's big enough to store the things I don't use every day.

When we first moved in, I even thought about finishing it into another room. It's big enough that it probably could have been a nice little bedroom. But after thinking it over, I decided it was more work than I wanted to tackle right then.

So instead, it has become part of our homestead storage. Chris takes out the screw that holds the attic door in place, pulls down the ladder, and up we go. I flip on the light, put away what I don't need right now, and know it'll be there when I do.

That's one thing I've learned over the years. Every season of life looks a little different. Sometimes you're building rooms. Sometimes you're simply making the best use of the ones you already have.

And right now, that's exactly what we're doing.

Some folks collect tools.

I collect cookware.

And I'm perfectly okay with that.

— Marcia, The Oklahoma Homestead Woman