Busy Monday

I don’t have any “before” pix but this is what my pantry looked like after I spent the day clearing it out.

It may not look like it, but I got rid of quite a bit.  There was a fair amount of food well past its prime.  Some Sure-Jel with an expiration date of October 2000.  I decided not to take a chance on it lest I spoil a batch of jam just to save a few dollars. 

I also found two of these Chinois:

One set apparently came from a thrift store and still had the price tags attached.  I don’t know where I got the other one but it has two wooden pestles.  Both are out the door because we no longer use aluminum utensils but I think I’ll keep at least one of the pestles.  I have a similar sieve from Ikea, supposed to be used to drain yogurt and made of stainless steel.  Instead of a stand, it sits in a cannister with a handle.  By the way, Chinois are usually used to strain the fruit seeds and skin out when making  jam.

The reason I did all this work, aside from the fact that the pantry was such a mess I could hardly walk into it, let alone find anything, is that we are having new kitchen flooring installed Saturday.  We have lived here for 16 years and the linoleum wasn’t new then.  Every year we talk about having it done but now we’re actually doing it.  I had a really hard time choosing a design.  Everything was “faux”, either faux brick, faux wood, faux stone, faux tile, none of which really suit a house built in the late fifties.  Next job will be painting the kitchen; and possibly changing out the lights and adding a ceiling fan.  We have them in all our other rooms and it really makes a difference in the summer.

These clouds are supposed to bring us rain most of the day tomorrow, then showers most of the rest of the week.  This morning we had some sprinkles that started just after I got home from my morning walk.  This year has certainly been odd, weather-wise.  We almost never have measurable rain in May but this year the storms just keep coming.  The temps have also stayed lower than normal.

Going, Going, Gone

This weekend was the quarterly Bulky Item Recycling event at the local landfill and I gritted my teeth and donated this chair and the sewing table.  We had them in our yard sale last month but they didn’t sell.  Go figure. 

  

I bought the chair in about 1975 at a Salvation Army store in San Jose.  The upholstery was fully intact at that time. I think it cost $15 and they delivered because I didn’t have any way to get it home.  I loved the shape and the carved wood arms and feet.  I did not like the color but, in those days, I was quite capable of doing the reupholstering  myself.  We put it upstairs in the master bedroom and I spent many an afternoon happily reading, knitting, doing needlepoint and, later, counted cross stitch.  Somehow the reupholstery job didn’t happen.

When we moved back east, the chair went with us.  I don’t remember where it lived when we were in New Jersey, but when we moved to Florida I covered it with a couple of flowered sheets to match the bedding in the guest room and it looked pretty good.  When we moved back to California, the sheets survived the move without any disturbance and, in our current house, it has spent time in the guest room and, for the past several years, in our living room.  It has been a good friend for almost 35 years now but, once I made the decision to sell get rid of it, it wasn’t too hard to say goodbye.  The husband didn’t even ask me to help load it into the truck.  He probably thought I might change my mind.  My new knitting chair is the wooden rocker that my co-workers at the Court gave me when I retired.  It’s a little hard on the rear, but I have plans to make some cushions for it.

 

The sewing table doesn’t really have any sentimental memories.  I bought it with a Singer Slant machine at a rural yard sale, maybe 10 years ago.  I thought it was very clever, the way the front of the cabinet pulled out to reveal the chair.  In real life though, it was difficult to pull out and the seat was uncomfortably hard.  The sewing machine has some mechanical problems and is sitting in the back of my closet waiting for repairs.  It has a lot of cams with it and could possibly be a good machine if I ever get it to work.  Not that I really need another machine….

So that’s two large items out the door on our way to getting organized.  My family will be happy to hear this.

Until a few days ago, June had been rather gloomy.  But yesterday it was 100 and the prediction for today was 101.  However, the good old fog started through the Castroville Gap and we topped out at 92 in the late morning. 

Still Undecided

The morning papers still didn't know which Democrat has taken California in the primary although it may be decided by now. I'm still trying to avoid TV news and L is watching Vertigo instead of the news.

Today I prepared the taxes. I decided not to put it off any longer because I want to do some relocation in the house. Mom may be coming to stay with us for a while so I'm changing the tech center into a guest room and moving the desktop and all my office supplies into the sewing room. It may be crowded for a while (until I weed out all the junk) but Mom and any other guests we might have should be a lot more comfortable not having to share a room with all my sewing stuff.

I just looked out the window and there's a beautiful sunset. Not wanting to try to photograph it, I logged onto KSBW.com to check their webcams. Fremont Peak showed a big fog bank, Monterey appears to be socked in, but Santa Cruz was clear; looks like low tide.

I started Clue 2 of the SSS last evening and found it not too difficult. I managed four rows and hope to make good progress tonight.

If not now, when?

My new mantra, still in beta.

I found this when I was unpacking the Christmas decorations. Someone gave it to me at the office a couple of years ago and I've never used it. What am I saving it for? So this weekend it goes into the bathroom soapdish and we will use it for its intended purpose until it disappears in a flash of bubbles. Actually, I do know what I've been saving it for.....the grandchildren will love it.