We had a new range put in the kitchen Saturday — not as easy a task as it sounds because we have a small kitchen with an unusual, toy-size range (24 inches wide instead of the usual 30 inches). This made us hesitant to replace the ancient old range — I’d guess it was more than 20 years old — because our options were limited. However, we couldn’t easily modify the kitchen to accommodate a more typical modern model — it would require a complete kitchen rebuild and probably $20K or so out of our pockets.

The old range was tucked into a slot in the cabinetry near a corner, meaning that anything that managed to find its way underneath it was likely to stay there. Thus, when the crew came in and pulled the old range, we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of an archeological dig. Among the items, almost none of which we placed there in the nearly 11 years we have lived in this house:

–A miniature Frisbee of the sort you use to play with little dogs. But there’s no way we tried this with our dog — he’ll almost never chase anything and will give us a Hell To The No Stare if we even try.

–A mouse trap (which, if it ever was used and went off, would have been a bear to remove with a mouse in it)

–A small container of powdered instant lemonade, conveniently melted to the floor. Fortunately, the floor under the range was unfinished and the container scraped right off.

–A small strainer (“There’s where that went!” my wife said).

The range was the Last Appliance Standing among the original kitchen appliances that came with the house. The water heater’s also been swapped out and the air conditioning got replaced a few years back. Most of the windows have been replaced; I’m guessing the heater might have a year or two in it, tops, and the day is coming when the remarkably durable washer-dryer combo will have to go. I’m starting to look at the roof, and the chimney could use some work, and this spring I’m going to replace a gate and repair some rotting wood on the shed (really).

When you own a house, it never ends.