One Thing

What comes immediately to your mind when you hear that phrase, ‘one thing’? Ok, now you can keep reading.

You know that old phrase “one thing leads to another”? Last weekend was a prime example of how we get lost in what we are doing and can be easily led astray.

Our Saturday chore was to try to make some sense of the kitchen pantry while incorporating my daughter’s dry goods in with mine. I’ve done that with each family member that moved in for a time. Who knew that this activity would become a wanderlust? We emptied out EVERYTHING! Then I washed down the shelves and we took stock of what was there.

It took all day to clean out and rearrange.

If you think pickled foods and stuff in glass will last forever if unopened, have a second think. So, I opened and dumped things, rinsing out glass jars and putting them in a recycle bin. My heart did a thud seeing the waste. I find it abhorrent. It all looked fine last I looked. Quite the wakeup call here.

All years past the use by dates. Too sad. I hate waste.

As we took a short break, we watched another episode of Marie Kondo’s Netflix shows to keep us encouraged while we had a hot bowl of the Matzo Ball soup, I’d made the night before with lots of garlic, leftover turkey and noodles to chase away the winter germs. Then we watched natures show of beautiful snow showers.

Once everything was placed in systematic order, ‘genius’ here decides to pull out everything from the liquor cupboard and see what’s there. Some was mine, my daughter’s and my sister’s. I played the game ‘what one thing is unlike the other’ and that led to cleaning the stove top. While I was at it with a vengeance, my daughter, seeing all the lovely liqueurs on the floor, thought it would be lovely to make a quick run to the grocery for ice cream. You see the link here, right?

Sorting and separating out what doesn’t belong

What are these doing down here with the wine and liqueurs?

Reds for some friends, white for others and the rest for ice cream. Yum

Liqueurs and ice cream go together and we needed to be rewarded for our hard work and the organizing of such wonderful goodness. It would appear that I’m quite the lush but the liquor has been there longer than some of the pickled foods I had to toss, some much, much longer. So, in the event of an apocalypse, you know now what will stay good and what won’t. Forget the food and keep the booze.

14-year-old stove but at least it’s clean now. One thing leads to another.

Next is the tea and spice cabinet. Oh my word, that could be problematic. I think the teas will need their own cabinet so what will have to go? Hmmm.

Many of the blogs I have been reading in the last couple of weeks are reverberating the same theme. Everyone seems to be clearing clutter and purging excess. Most people wait till spring to do these things. What pushes us to do it after the first of the year? Do you stockpile anything?

Happy Valentines Day everyone. Have a little loaded ice cream to celebrate.

 

Oops, wrong holiday. I think it’s time they go somewhere else

From my heart to yours,

From my heart to yours

Marlene Herself

 

A Fantastic February

January was a long and arduous month. I was happy to wave goodbye. I accomplished little to speak of other than finally recover from the bronchitis I got after my back went out so completely my daughter had to wheel me into urgent care.

I used what they told my daughter to take for her bronchitis as it seems she gave the bronchitis to me while she was caring for me in my incapacitated state. What a sight we were. It seems you are most contagious the 3 days before symptoms present. We picked up masks as we entered the urgent care because there were so many with flu in there.

Avoiding the flu before we knew we had bronchitis. At least no one got that.

The first of February saw some return to health but still the need for resting. Now I’m almost back to normal and accomplishing a few things. I sent out several cards to friends as well as a birthday card to my aunt Mary who is my dad’s youngest sister and only a 18 months older than I am. We first met when my mother and I were left across the street from dad’s family while he was doing a yearlong tour of duty in Korea. Someone thought it would be cute to dress us alike.

 

Who thought dressing us alike was a good idea/

I didn’t see her again until I was 10 and then again at almost 14 when I move in with my grandparents. I was the little sister she never, ever wanted. For a year, she tried to teach me all the things a teenage girl should know. I was a little slow but she was a as patient as any 16-year-old could be with some little tag along. I’ve worked hard to nurture the friendship even though we have not seen one another in more years than I can count. She’s family and I appreciate what she did for me.

I’ve managed to get a little machine embroidery done. These are part of a set of six that will go into a quilt top wall hanging when complete. I’m avoiding a project that scares me so I decided to do these until I’m sure my brain has settled down from the coughing and sneezing as well as painkillers. I do not do well with medication. Scrambles my brain so I don’t connect the dots well. Can you tell here?

Lighting makes all the difference on how the fabric color looks.

Five by seven inches then borders will be added

I am also finally well enough to do a major clear and clean with some help from my sister. We can make a pretty good team. This has all needed doing for quite some time but the trick is to invite someone to visit that has never seen your home. My friend, Alys of Gardening Nirvana will be here next week and I have definitely let this place go for way too long. So, a fire has been lit under my lackadaisical self and things are finding their proper homes once again. I have filled more boxes for the thrift store and delivered them.

Half full of possibllities

Still room for more. Headed for the Senior center.

A box of “She was gonna”

There is another one in front of me that I have named the “she was gonna” box. The box of “good intentions” to read and make and do. Giving myself a break by passing it off to let someone else have a crack at it. It’s feeling so much lighter here already. And the weather feels like spring and will remain so all the way through her visit! I am so excited to finally meet after all these years of reading each others blogs.

 

What does it take for you to get things done you’d rather put off?

 

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself