REARRANGING THINGS FOR BETTER USAGE OF SPACE AND BETTER ACCESS TO THINGS

 My apologies for my absence. I thought I missed a week – but I have never missed 2 weeks before. - EVEN WORSE - I NEVER FINISHED POSTING THIS ON MAY 6.

I have been doing some rearranging in our kitchen. As I have mentioned before about the organizing rule of “putting like with like” leaves open the question of what are like items. For example in the field of clothing is it all socks together and all underwear together? My husband pointed out to me about a couple of decades ago that this did not make sense. If I wear some types of underwear daily and some types of socks daily - I am opening two drawers every day. If instead of socks together and underwear together (which I had done since I was in my early teens) which meant I had to open 2 drawers every day. If, on the other hand, I consider types of items I wear just about daily- whether socks or underwear in the same drawer - and put the same of these items which I wear once in a long while in the other drawer I only have to open one drawer almost all of the days. Hmmm, I had never thought of like with like as wear daily together and wear rarely together elsewhere. It does work well.

In the kitchen I had changed several years ago from all of a type of items being together to putting what I use daily or almost so together and rarer used items together. Our everyday dishes – a set for 8 – was on two shelves in one of our 4 kitchen upper cabinets on the bottom and middle shelves (of 3 shelves). But there are only two of us. Every time I needed to use something from the middle shelf I had to get a step to reach the item. I now keep 3 dinner plates, our 2 lunch plates, some unrelated dinner plates that I use when cooking, 4 of our soup bowls (as sometimes they are also used for small serving bowls) and 4 of our small plates (for dessert, side plates, etc), as well as two of the same type of the unrelated plates smaller for use as utility plates plus since I have wire shelf to split this shelf in two I also have 2 small serving bowls. On the bottom shelf of the matching cabinet on the other end of the kitchen I have two each of the glasses we use (I like tall thin ones, he likes short wide ones), 2 mugs for hot beverages, some small glasses used for utility, measuring cups (wet and dry), two ice cream cups and some other similar items. I now can reach what I need to set the table for us without having to climb on a step.

But what about our other two upper cabinets? Well one of them is located over our stove – so very rarely used items are in it as I have to climb, not on my step, but on a chair to reach anything. So the good china and rarely used serving pieces/baking dishes are in it.

The fourth cabinet is next to eh 3^rd, but hanging at the same height as the first two – meaning I can reach the bottom shelf. This is the one in which I recently did some rearranging. On the bottom shelf I have some platters, 2 hot plates to put hot dishes or pots on at the table, and 3 serving bowls of the same size and shape with different designs – about minimum in size of the bowls we own. On the shelf above are other items used fairly regularly – the difference being that I can reach and take out the gravy server with the small pitcher kept in it (pitcher intended as for milk or cream when serving coffee, tea, etc, but more often used by me as an alternative gravy server which is why they are stacked together) and more bowls. In this case from my large bowls used for mixing and cooking, a wooden bowl bought to use for reenacting but replaced by a better one for same, and a medium sized serving bowl.

This setup worked well for us in the past as we did a minimum of cooking for the two of us as we ate dinner out 3 nights a week and lunch out daily. But since the pandemic life and cooking has changed.

Last week I thought to myself that I use that medium bowl on the second shelf of the cabinet at least once a week now – and each time I use it I have to climb on the step to get it down and then do the same to put it away. But it is rare that I use even 2 of the 3 serving bowls on the bottom shelf (they are bigger than my small and medium bowls but smaller than my large bowls. Mostly when I use one of them for the two of us I have made biscuits or rolls and need something to put them on table. Hmmm.

So I took one of the three bowls on the bottom shelf and climbed up and took the medium bowl from the second shelf out and rearranged the bowls on the second shelf to include the one from the bottom shelf and put the medium one on the bottom shelf – no more climbing to get it down.

In addition I have been using some pots which are kept in the lower cabinet, under where the bowls are stored, that I do not normally use with any frequency. It has been hard getting the wok in and out as it is in the back left side of the cabinet. In the front right side of the cabinet I have a 8 quart pot (just went and checked as I did not know how large it is) which normally sits unused in the cabinet except for cooking soup from scratch for holidays but I have also been using to make ravioli for dinner every couple of weeks during the pandemic. Behind it sits several items – some for baking, some for cooking – including a large round flat griddle with slightly raised sizes. These pots have sat in this cabinet for decades with no problems. But for some reason now that I am using the 8 qt pot it does not go back into the cabinet easily as the griddle is suddenly in its way.

I had taken the griddle out during the week – since it is rarely used I was going to move it to the basement storage closet (well, technically area where the gas meter is located in the finished part of the basement with walls and door to hide it). But then I started thinking again. I took it and put it in the back under where the wok goes and moves some smaller items where the wok goes to the other side where the griddle had been. It worked. The 8qt pot fits back into place in the front right of the cabinet (with smaller pots stored in it as before) and has no problem coming out and going back in. The left side of the cabinet has the wok in the back on the griddle and since it raised up slightly off the floor of the cabinet and some items which were there have been moved to the rear right, it can be more easily taken out and put back. I did have move one large pot lid to the small half shelf at the back of the cabinet over all of this – but it all works so much better now.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

What area of your home just does not work even thought it meets the “like with like” rule? What other way can the items be sorted to still be “like with like” just using a different standard of “like”? How or when or how often things are used is just as valid of making them “like” items as the items actually being the same kind of item.

STORING ITEMS LIKE WITH LIKE - SOMETIMES WHAT IS USED ALL THE TIME WITH SAME AND WHAT IS USED RARER TIMES WITH SAME IS BETTER

 When I first started reading about getting organized I was a teenager in high school.  One mantra of organizing that I learned about then is to group like things together.  To this day my closet had my shirts sorted by color, my two skirts together and I have 3 hangers, which each hold multiple pairs of pants, hanging from a hook each attached to the back (2) and side (1) walls in the closet.  (These 3 hangers – one holds my jeans, one holds the 3 pants of non-jeans pants I own, and the third holds my old ripped jeans that I use as pjs.)  

My husband was always amazed at this organization – especially since most of the rest house is not so organized – by a lot.  (He is not the greatest organizer either.)  He has changed my thoughts on using this rule for everything.  

I had always (since I was maybe 14 or 15 years old) kept my underwear together and kept my socks and stockings together.  When I lived with my parents this was one drawer.  When we got married my underwear went into the top left drawer of my dresser – a half width drawer – and my socks/stockings went into the same size drawer below them.  

One day husband pointed out the waste of time – every day I would open the top drawer, take out underwear, close the drawer, open second drawer and take out socks or stockings and then close that drawer.  He knew I had in both drawers items that I did not wear as often as others.  That started me thinking – what about putting together items needed every day and ones that are not often worn?  I redid those two drawers – the top drawer now holds my underpants and bras and socks. In the second drawer are things like my slips (haven't worn in years, but if need to dress up will need) and my stockings and pantyhose – only needed for work, religious services and the extremely rare other reasons to dress up.  Now I only have to open one drawer most mornings.  

In the kitchen I organized my dishes.  My everyday dishes, a set of 8 servings, were stacked – all the dinner dishes together, all the soup/cereal bowls together, all the small plates together, etc.  This involved two shelves of a kitchen cabinet.  I am 5' 1”.  I can reach the bottom the shelves, but not the ones above.  This meant every time I needed something on the second shelf I needed the step to reach it to take it out and then again to put it back – which of course meant that items were left in the drying rack for days sometimes if I did not feel like climbing up.  I took out 4 dinner dishes (use for serving plates for us also), 4 bowls, and 2 small plates from our every day dishes.  I fit a stack of 3 small serving bowls in the cabinet also.  (The cabinet has a wire shelf rack I added in it so I have 2 shelves in the one cabinet.)  Mixed in with the dishes and small dishes are 2 lighter dishes each also – these I use as utility dishes – serving, cutting on, draining on, etc. Now it is rare that I need something from another shelf for dishes and I don't have to climb up daily – easy to take out and easy to replace.  I have our drinking glasses in the matching cabinet on the other end of the cabinet.  I have 2 mugs on the bottom shelf, two of the drinking glasses I like, two of the ones husband likes, 2 ice cream glasses and 3 measuring glasses.  There are other items on this shelf also, but these are the basic items use from it and I can use without needing to climb up.  Again the upper shelves hold items not used on a daily basis.  In the third cabinet I can reach (between stove and refrigerator) some platters and serving bowls on the bottom shelf.  

Perhaps the problem is “what are like items”?  In both of these cases if like items means all of the same type of items together, the idea does not work.  If instead it means “items I used all the time vs. items I don't use often” it does work.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

How are your items sorted?  Do you have items you use frequently and items you use rarely together as they same type of items?  Or do you put items you use frequently together where they can easily be reached and used and items that are rarely used together in places which are harder to reach for storage and retrieval?  Try the second idea – it works much better.

YOU already know what to do

I don’t know about you, but I actually know what needs to be done for to declutter and get organized.  You probably also know what to do.  You have probably read it in book after book -
       
        1- Go through what you have
        2 - Purge anything that you have not used in X years (generally one or two years depending on the book.
        3 - Separate items that don’t belong where they are into one of four boxes - keep, put somewhere else, throw out, donate, sometimes, a fifth box - return to the owner.
        4- Survey what you have left and figure out how to store it, buying storage containers only after knowing what you need and measuring the space and items to go into storage.
        5 - Keep up putting items away every day.

Oh, this reminded me, I am looking to buy plastic storage to organize the freezer compartment of the fridge better.  For some reason lately a lot of food items we buy are in bags - they used to be packages in boxes, they lie on top of each other and I forget what I have.  I want them to stand up so I can see what I have.  Hold on a minute while I measure the freezer section - hmm mmm mmm - sorry, okay, I am back - that’s less than 10.5 inches tall, 14.5 inches deep, and 19 inches across and I plan on 2 containers across - that would be 9.5 inches across each maximum.  I put the measurements in my cell phone in the Walmart section of my “to buy” list.  I will have to see what is available.

Oh wait  - the timer in my cell phone went off - I have to down to the basement and switch loads in the washer and dryer.  Be right back....hmm mmm mmm.  Okay, back again.  I forgot that there was a blanket in the dryer from last week.  We sleep with two in winter, one in summer and I had this one on the bed, but put the other one on the bed last week and washed the one that was there as we both had colds over the past month and thought it best to wash to wash the one we had been breathing on.  It is now sealed in a plastic bag to keep it clean until it is needed again.  It will go in a small storage piece in our bedroom. Back to all of you, cell phone will go off again in 50 minutes to switch loads again.

Okay - while the above is true, I do other things while I am writing my posts, it is also why the common “simple 5 steps” to get uncluttered and organized don’t always work.  Oh, I also updated the browser in my other laptop while I have been writing this.  It is not that I don’t care about all of you - (I do wish there were more of you, but I am glad to have every one you reading my posts - feel free to tell friends to join us) but we all have to multitask these days.  It is not as easy in the real world as it is in organizing books.

Yes, the basic 5 steps are what need to be done, but sometimes they have to be done in small bites - catch as catch can.  When my husband was screaming about his sock drawer - too many socks, too little room.  He has trouble finding socks which are comfortable and the ones he liked are wearing out quicker and quicker so he is searching for new socks - as the ones he like are, of course, discontinued.  Of course he buys MORE socks and then hates them.  It is hard to convince him to let me donate them - “I haven’t even worn some of the pairs yet - and what if I can’t find new socks and neeeeeed these?  So I went through his dresser drawers - yes, more than just that drawer - over a period of 2 days - on and off when I had a chance. 

What did I find, well, his missing “space pen” for one thing.  I found that the bottom drawer was filled with more James Bond toys.  I managed to add them to the boxes we had bought and put in the spare bedroom (aka the teddys room) closet.  Ah, most of an empty drawer to work with. I put some empty shoe boxes in same.  I use them for drawer dividers - two boxes make 3 delineated spaces across - box, space, box.  I put the socks he does not wear in the bottom drawer. I also went through stuff he keeps on the left side of his top drawer (which is where his underwear and socks are also kept).  He has a small jewelry box  - mostly junk, the few nice pieces he has are in my jewelry box, empty eyeglass cases (yes, I keep same also) and other small items - under these I found the space pen.  Those items were sorted through and mostly stored in the bottom drawer.  Why did all of this go to the bottom drawer?  Well, he could not get something out of same unless he was sitting down as he would get dizzy, so it is a good place to put things he will rarely, if ever need.  I then rearranged the space in the top drawer and sorted the socks he wears into the boxes (the beige set in one box, the ivory set - he calls them white) in another box and the new socks behind them in the same boxes - white socks in with the beige socks and black socks in with the ivory ones - so they are easy to tell apart by color looking in.  Underpants are no longer squeezed into a shoe box, but in the space between two shoe boxes, so they have a bit more space.  (His underpants like mine are rolled as this seems to make them fit in the space better and easier to grab out - he needs to buy new ones of same soon - he complains all the time.) He also has some ankle height socks which he finds comfortable to sleep in during the winter as they keep his feet warm but don’t “bother him”. 

In doing this I did find some items which I knew he no longer needed and would not be attached to - especially the socks he won’t wear - and packed them to be donated.  Also in doing this I had pulled out some shoe boxes from the top of my closet - some were empty and set aside for use in situations such as this, others had shoes in them, and I pulled some shoes off my closet door rack, that I don’t wear, to donate also to make room for some of the ones in the boxes - although the door rack is about 1/3 empty after I was done - and I don’t have a lot of shoes.  (If I let him know, his extra shoes will end up there, so I won’t mention it.)

All of this - socks, underwear, James Bond toys, shoes, etc. took about 2 hours spread over 2 evenings.  I believe in doing things as one can.  Oh, I had no boxes for donation, etc. just some shopping bags.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Use the time YOU have available and try using your innate knowledge of what to do.  You know to throw out garbage  - you just have to figure out what is the garbage in what you have.  You know to donate what can be donated - don’t look at it as you are getting rid of something you loved (or hated and regretted), but rather finding the item a new home with someone who needs it. 

Think about what you use and how you use it - and how often you do.  Something - such as underwear and socks that are worn daily should be able to be reached as easily as possible. 

But remember we do things by habit which may not be the best way to do so.  What you do not use as often, can be harder to get to.  Since I was in junior high school I had a sock drawer and an underwear drawer.  In my current dresser these were two small half size drawers, the underwear drawer being the top drawer, the socks, the next one down.  The underwear had my underpants that I daily wear one of, my bras - 3 of them rotated through wear and laundry, and half slips - short white, long white, short black, long black - which I very rarely wear - only if the skirt/dress is a bit sheerer than normal.  My sock drawer had my every day socks, my panty hose (rarely worn - once a month to work and if there was an event to which I had to wear a dress), my knee high stockings (worn even less), and the socks I wear to keep my feet warm.  Husband said to me one day after we had been married for decades “every morning you open the top drawer and take out underpants and close the drawer.  Then you open the next drawer down and take out socks and close the drawer.  Why don’t you put the items you wear daily in the same drawer and put the other items in the second drawer?  Makes sense - why did I not think of this?  Well, I had been doing it the same way for so long, it never occurred to me that there was a better way.  I now have my everyday socks and underwear in the top drawer - panties are 3 pairs across, 3 pairs up and two sets of same deep (the set in the front is not a full 9 pairs) and the sock balls stand next to them filling the rest of the drawer - no separation between the two necessary.  The second drawer holds my bras in front on one side, my sleep socks across the front on the other.  A box of stockings - pantyhose and knee highs behind the sleep sock.  I have wool socks which I have acquired over the recent freezing cold winters we have had in the back of the drawer.  The slips are stacked between the bras and the wool socks.  One drawer to open every day instead of two - labor saved.

So think as you declutter and organize about how you can change where items are stored - even in something as common as your dresser  - to work better.


My thoughts and prayers to those in the path of Florence. 

HELPING MY HUSBAND ORGANIZE

Last Thursday I went to my client and of course everything went wrong - including my laptop dying and I did not have the cord with me.  The drive home took 2 hours, but at least my car did not stall.  I got home late and had to finish up from work around making dinner, etc. that evening. A rather anxiety causing day.

Husband is a big James Bond fan and he has a collection - of just about anything James Bond.  Last year we managed to clear some book shelf space in our bedroom to move his books into there from our office as we needed the shelf space for other books.  (We have LOTS of books of a variety of types, mostly informational, as opposed to fiction such as the Bond books.)  I figured out I could store the stuff that had been on the shelves in the bedroom (moved there for safety when the house was treated for bedbugs) which was other assorted Bond items - magazine articles and such in plastic boxes on one side of the floor in the spare bedroom closets (a suitcase and a wheeled backpack take up the rest of the floor space - each filled with some other similar pieces we wanted to keep when we cleared out our luggage a few years ago).  There are also 4 “tubes” with posters of varying subjects - including, of course, James Bond, that are stored standing on the floor.

Husband also has a shortage of space in his dresser for his clothes. One drawer was filled with additional James Bond stuff.  So I had an idea.  We bought 2 more plastic boxes (making 4 all together) and I fit the stuff in the drawer, the rest of what did not fit in the first 2 boxes, and some Bond items in an office closet into these 2 boxes. 

I then went back to the bedroom and started going through husband’s sock and underwear drawer.  He has more socks than he needs, but has trouble finding socks, so will not get rid of any.  I moved the socks that he rarely (meaning never) wears to the bottom drawer that had the Bond stuff in it.  I moved his junk jewelry to the bottom drawer - never used.  I moved his new shoelaces “collection” to the bottom drawer (and will add the ones in my drawer when I guess a chance).  I moved his warm weather socks to the bottom drawer - you know, the very heavy ones that one only wears if the temperature is really low and one’s feet might freeze.  I separated the items in the bottom drawer into shoe boxes (and a space between them) to organize them for him.  I then went back to his top drawer and sorted the socks so each style of socks was separate - with a space for the ones in the laundry.  I had a shoe box on one side of the drawer for eyeglasses, cases for same, and pocket knives.  I found a “space pen” that we had not been able to find and had replaced.  Not bad for maybe 45 minutes work at most.

I was so glad that now his drawers would be neat - after all I had previously organized his sweatshirts, tee shirts and pjs right?  I showed him what I did (understand he knew I was going to do this in advance) and he was happy (not egacstatic - who would be, but “great, that is wonderful” happy)..  I had not been able to find some socks I knew he had for sleeping and asked him about them.  He found them on top of his dresser and I stored them in the drawer.  Finally, done! 

Ha, ha.  He showed me the tee shirts stacked on his dresser top.  I thought that they were in use  - no, he had no place for them.  I started pulling open the middle drawers as everything used to fit.  One drawer was partially filled with clothing and partially filled with electronics - mostly old electronics and some space around it all. 

So, when I get another 45 minutes or so, this drawer will gone through to see what is in there and what can be done with it.  I had found plastic photo slide cases (for one to set their own slide film into slides) in his top drawer - do you all remember slides?  I then put them in with other photo stuff elsewhere.  

I have been working on the notes for the talk I am going to give next week (hopefully it will not snow and result in a canceled meeting) at my embroidery chapter.  I have also been noting photos I want to print to show the members.  I was bound and determined not to rush and do this at the last minute (even this is later than I planed to do it) and I am sticking with that.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Sometime someone in your household needs help with their organizing.  Help them - but offer first, don’t just “touch their stuff” without permission.  If you know what you will do explain it to them first.  Don’t throw out anything (unless it really, really is garbage) without permission.  I know that every scrap of paper was something he wanted.  The one or two tiny scraps I was unsure of I asked about and was told what they were and that they needed to be kept. We all have stuff that makes no sense to others for us to keep, but we really feel those items are special. 

FINALLY FINISHED THINGS - AND ADDITION TO LAST WEEK'S POST

I have to add something to last week’s post.  In addition to all of the traditional school supplies, there is another organizing item which is featured and on sale these days as school supplies.  Stores are carrying plastic drawer units for those going away to college.  Many of these are nice sized 3 drawer chests - inexpensive and even stackable (or at least they stack them for sale in the stores).  From personal experience I know that one has to be careful not to fill them with heavy items, but if you need an inexpensive chest of drawers for your organizing, now is a good time to buy one.

I am in an embroidery group - I have probably mentioned this before.  I do most of its computer work - the monthly newsletter and the annual yearbook (list of upcoming year’s programs and info about the group) included.  The yearbook used to be very fancy - with ads from local craft stores and such - but as the group got smaller, the yearbook got simpler.  Husband redesigned it for a for us a few years ago, and then I would update the information each year.  I also took over the newsletter.  When most of the members had email addresses, it became an email, with printed copies of it mailed to those without email addresses.  Now all have email addresses. 

It was suggested towards the end of our last year (year is September to June) that need a fancier newsletter, one attached to the email, instead of just an email.  I had been thinking so also and did up a prototype for the board meeting.  The other 3 board members liked what I did and few suggestions for change were made.  After the others left, the president suggested we redo the yearbook also - I had not been prepared for that.  She had a number of changes.

Since the board meeting at the end of June, in and around everything else I have had to do, I have been working on the revised yearbook - it should have been in the mail late July, early August.  She and I have emailed each other and talked on the phone.  I have sent her pages of it in assorted fonts.  Finally it was all worked out and I finished it - yesterday.  This is to be printed up and mailed out - by me.  Today we went to Staples.  (Yes, I am giving the name of where all that follows happened.  In the past we used OfficeMax, but just before last year’s was printed, the local OfficeMax stores closed - OfficeDepot closed here - twice - years ago.)  I had a cover page to be printed on a color paper and 5 additional pages, which are double sided, to be printed, black print, no color.  When we used to OfficeMax, the employees were nice and helpful - what color would you like, how is this one, etc. Today the employee did not even bother to show me the color pages when I asked for green for the color.  The most done was did I want dark green, no, I want pastel green.  Then she asked when we wanted it.  I asked if we could wait - as we did at OfficeMax and did last year at Staples.  Sure - but then the price was extra $20 or so.  I asked when there would no extra fee - pickup tomorrow.  So, okay, we will shlep back tomorrow and take more time doing all this.  We went home.

When we arrived at home and went to our computers to work (perhaps 15, 20 minutes at most) husband found two emails from Staples - we had not given them an email address, not been told or asked for emails and did not want any - one was a copy of the charges for the order, the other was telling us - that the order was done and we could pick it up at any time!  So basically, I got immediate service at no extra cost, but now I was home and would have to go back to get it!  We did not waste time going back and will go back tomorrow while we are out to pick it up and it will be mailed on Friday.  I was more annoyed with them.  We were finishing dinner and the telephone rang.  The answering machine answered (always on here to save time dealing with the spam calls - which almost all of calls are).   It was someone from, yes, Staples.  I picked it up.  I was told that the order was ready and I had not picked it up.  I told him that I was told it would be ready tomorrow.  He was upset that I was not coming and I was told that I could still come for 20 minutes and pick it up.  I told him that he must be kidding and we would come tomorrow.  And the price on the charges for the order is 9 cents more a page than I paid at OfficeMax - even more for the color pages.             

So we are wasting time on a trip back, when the order was done immediately, I wasted time with the phone call, and we wasted paper printing out the emails - as they say that they are required to pick up the order - something I can’t believe!

In addition to all the work put into the yearbook, I have been working on redoing the newsletter.  Today it is just about finished.  Husband helped me get the old header from years ago when it was a mailed newsletter, into the newly designed email one.  I emailed it to myself to see what happens and all I need is the president’s column and any info from board members - I send them an email 2 weeks before the meeting and the newsletter goes out a week before the meeting. 

So I have managed to actually get work done! Yippee. I also managed to finish the embroidery  course I was working on from the group.  Now husband has to finish it for me. 

I managed yesterday, to finish the yearbook with enough time left before dinner to go through a folder of old papers - the sort of papers one tears out or otherwise keeps to do something about - this craft store sounds interesting, the card from this restaurant sounds like it would save us money, I need to write a letter about this, etc.  Most was tossed.  A few were kept.  My todo folder actually fits into the stacking letter tray that it belongs in.  (I have a stack of these on my desk - one each for us, our business, my accounting practice, our reenactment unit, my embroidery group, my todo folder, my “waiting to hear folder” and “club membership lists”, and one for items to be filed.  There is also a top one which has standing holders for papers, envelopes, empty folders and such.

So all in all I feel, finally, as if I have completed things.  Yet, so much more to do.  As I sit here writing, I am waiting for my cell phone timer to ring, so I will know to change the laundry loads - wet to dryer, new one in the washer.  Without the cell phone timer, I would forget and the first load would not make it to the dryer until bedtime at least.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

When something seems like it is too big a project - take a section of it and start.  Just as page by page I finished rewriting the yearbook and the newsletter, you will eventually see the project done - perhaps with time left to do something else small.

TRYING TO CATCH UP

Well, the storm hit last Thursday.  It was not the largest snow storm that has ever hit this areas, but it did drop over 14 inches in some areas.  Husband and I went out in the late afternoon to clear our driveway.  It was still lightly snowing and at first husband was just going to clear enough for us to be able to back our car out of the driveway.  I should explain, we do not back our car out of the driveway as the street is much too busy for us to do so, plus we have trouble seeing up the road when we are pulling out head on as there is a curve in the road and lots of cars (something new the past 6 or so years) that block the view of the curve.  So we were going to do this in case of emergency before we cleared the entire driveway.  Husband kept going however, and we cleared the entire driveway.  We were lucky - one of our neighbors cleared part of our driveway before we went out.  Not sure why - it is not something he normally does, but we greatly appreciated it.  We were using our new snowblower and the snow was too deep in some places for it to work, so I walked along cutting off a section of snow and knocking it over so husband could use the snow blower on the snow.  When we finished we had two problems - the front steps were covered in deep snow which had been blown there and access to our heating oil pipe (for delivery) was also buried in snow.  I cleared the steps, while husband cleared a path to the oil pipe.  Our first major snowstorm and we managed to clear the driveway in an hour.  The additional snow that fell as we were working was very lightly and melted quickly with salt. 

I hope that any of you who might have been hit by the terrible weather this past week - the snow and wind in the northeast US, the tornados in the Lousiana/Mississippi area, or the floods and broken dam problem in California (if I left your weather problem out, I apologize, know you are included) are safe.

We were able to go out on Friday, but decided to pick up dinner locally rather than drive to where we normally go as the roads were icy.  Managed to catch up on some of the assorted paperwork and housework I am behind on.  During the afternoon we went out and bought another bag of melting salt.  We had used up the last of one bag and husband did not want to run out - we had 2 full bags, by my estimate enough for at least 6 storms, but he does panic over snow, so we went to 2 Home Depots and a Lowes to buy a spare bag.

Saturday was a normal day - mostly out of the house and dinner (at Ikea cafeteria - great value) and movie out.  Ah, normalcy so great to have once in awhile.

Sunday husband decided that rather than drive out to where we normally go, we would go to more local stores of the same chains - big mistake, everyone seemed to have decided to go out!  We worked on setting preferences in my computer for the new printer again.  I did not put out the garbage Sunday night for Monday morning as we were having an extremely windy day - lots of wind gusts at 50 mph.  I

Monday we had a short day as we had a board meeting at night for a group we are on the board of, so we had to finish up the afternoon chores early to get there and then it took up most of the evening.  This laptop suddenly had a problem with my Internet software and the rest of the night was used up with husband attempting to uninstall, giving up on same, and reinstalling the software. 

Yesterday was .... Valentine’s Day!  We had a fairly normal day and then treated ourselves to dinner out - at Ikea again.  We have a tight budget.  Plus no dressing up.  No gifts.  I strongly believe that the giving of gifts does not prove love.  It is the day to day fixing of computers, making my ancient software and laptop work, helping my husband with his weaving when he needs the equivalent of “an apprentice”, and so on which does. 

Today we changed the oil in the snow blower - it is new and hit the time it said to change the oil.  We are not used to doing such things, but thought we had thought it all through.  We had a disposable pan to drain the oil into.  As we started I thought to put down a large piece of cardboard from the box the snow blower came in to prevent oil on the floor.  Husband did not put on his disposable gloves - he was using a wrench to remove the plug to let the oil out of the blower - he scraped his finger rather badly.  We had to stop and run in and deal with it.  We then finished the job.  The dirty oil is in the bottle it came in and we will bring it to the local service station who told us they will take it.  When we went back into the house husband had bled through his bandage.  We cleaned his finger again and put on more antibiotic gel and I bandaged it tighter - he did not need to bend it as he did when we were doing the oil - so far it has not bled through and it has been hours, so I guess he does not need stitches.

How does all this relate to organizing?  Well, like everyone else there are weeks everything goes well and lots get done.  Other weeks - such as the past few - too many things go awry and little gets done - just the minimum.  How bad did we get behind?  While we don’t buy Valentine cards for each other - we do buy them for my family and husband’s nieces.  When we came home from dinner on Valentine’s Day we suddenly realized - we had never even bought cards for them due to all the confusion.  He sent a text to his older niece apologizing to the two of them and I sent an email to my family doing the same.  Next year this will not happen - we will be organized enough to buy and send the cards - I put it in my computer organizer to remind me!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Okay, now you know not to try to reinvent the wheel, but to also think outside the box if something is not working. I wanted to point out that sometimes odd things can improve what your organizing, but there may be a learning curve for you with change.

First - growing up I had full size drawers in my dresser.  I had a dresser with my underwear and my socks (stockings, related).  When we married my dresser had only 3 full size drawers, the others were half size drawers, so thinking logically, I put my socks in the top half size drawer and my underwear in the drawer below it.  I went along this way for years - well over a decade. 

One day husband, who has all full size drawers in his chest which matches my dresser and therefore has socks and underwear together, asked me why I have my drawers set up so that every day I have to open one drawer and then a second drawer.  I thought about it.  I have types of socks I commonly wear - stockings and other types of socks are worn much more rarely.  Similarly I have kinds of underwear I need to take out the drawer daily and other kinds of underwear which I need rarely.  I thought and thought.  I then put the socks and underwear I need daily in the small top drawer and the rest of both categories in the second drawer.  It has been some time since this change - sometimes I still forget and open the lower drawer to get what I need, but I mostly have gotten used to the change and it is more convenient.

Second - I don’t know if I have mentioned this but last year husband made me two small replacement drawers for the kitchen.  We had mice and they were through the drawers.  As a combination of being grossed out at using the drawers, even after they were sanitized and cleaned for cooking related items, and the fact that the drawers might very well date back to when the house was built in the early 1950s and were not nice to begin with, he made me new drawers. Basically this is a matter of making boxes the right size and then we attached the drawer front which had not been exposed to the mice - but were cleaned and sanitized anyway.  (There is still the bread box drawer where we found the mice to be remade.)  Most of the items in the drawers were thrown out unless they were impossible to replace or expensive (and since they were small drawers not much was the latter).  One drawer again holds my dish towels.  The other I had to figure out what to use it for.  I rearranged some items between my “silverware” drawer, which has all manner of small kitchen handheld items (this is elsewhere in the kitchen and not where the mice were) and some items which had been in this drawer or replaced what had been in this drawer.  For the most part I have had no trouble adjusting to the change - except one item - scissors.  I have a large pair of utility scissors which were in the silverware drawer.  I realized that some items belonged in same and not in the small drawer and moved the scissors to the small drawer.  Great idea.  I also moved the flashlight from the silverware drawer to there and some other non-food use items - no problem with any of those.  So when I need the scissors I open the silverware drawer, swear, close it, and then open the correct drawer.  I am doing this less and less though.  (By the way, I was looking for a small squarish box to hold items in this drawer and a similar one to hold items in the silverware drawer and found a small lidded plastic box during back to school season in a dollar store and I took it apart - the lid sits upside down in one drawer and the bottom in the other drawer - both perfect sized and $1 for the box!)   

So think about where you keep things and why - there may be a simple change which can made a great difference in your day - just remember there might be a learning curve if you have had something someplace for years and change where you keep it.
       

RETURN FROM TRIP AND EMPTYING THE RV

Well, we finished our trip last week and came home.  When we arrive home we have to take out of the RV the things we brought in and the things we bought on the trip.  I have a check list in the house to check after I think I am done.  I also remove the stuff to go to the house in a pattern so I, hopefully, don’t forget anything.  I have 3 cloth supermarket bags and of course, lots of store plastic shopping bags to use.  We leave the RV battery on so I can I can turn on the lights inside..

I start with the logical - I empty the little refrigerator.  One of the cloth supermarket bags has a blue handle - I use this one for anything which must go into the house refrigerator right away. During this trip (and many to that area) we bought some sausages at a local butcher shop.  They, of course go in this bag.  Also if my husband has insulin that has not been opened yet (or else it does not need to be refrigerated) it goes in this bag.  He always has insulin which is in use and not refrigerated and I add that into this bag also, just so it gets unpacked right away.  Then I add after these items other refrigerator items that are less important to keep cold - soda, juice, frozen plastic ice (they will always refreeze if they defrost), etc.  I have to not only deal with the size of the bag, but also not making it too heavy and I try to keep the weight of each bag manageable.  When I have a bag ready to go into the house I put it next to the third seat (see last post) and husband will come and take it out. When the refrigerator is empty I turn off the refrigerator.  There is a knob inside which turns it on and off, as well as adjusts the temperature in it.  We don’t want the refrigerator on when we are charging the battery, etc. between trips.

When I am done with the refrigerator items, I move on to the other food we have left in the RV.  The food is all in plastic boxes to prevent the smell of it attracting bugs or rodents.  The food is kept in 2 specific shelf sized cabinets and I make sure the 2 are empty even if I only remember putting food in one of them.  The other one may have other items - the empty cloth food bags, sweatshirts, empty laundry bag, etc.  This will usually fill the other 2 cloth bags when mixed with the refrigerator items which did not go out in the blue handled bag, if there is excess I use the store plastic shopping bags.

Next I add the clothes I used as pjs and the towels we used during the trip to the laundry bag with the dirty laundry to go out and close it.  I leave it on the floor in front of the third seat.   I pull any sweatshirts or jackets and put them on the third seat to go into the house.  I pull out husband’s computer and tablet, my embroidery and other items from a section in a cabinet.  They again go on the third seat.  Husband runs back and forth between the RV and house bringing all this into the house.  I also pull my computers, the “last minute bag” and anything we bought which stored with them under the bed and leave it for him to take.  I add to the last minute bag the box I took out at the start of the trip with things we always need on the trip - our medications and such.  The rest of the items are generally not always used and are stored in the bag.

I then go to the closet and pull out the clothes we have not worn - we always bring extra clothes for a day or two just in case something happens to what we are wearing or something happens and we have to or decide to stay longer than we planned.  This all goes into the second (clean) laundry bag.  I make sure to put it to be taken on a different run into the house than the dirty laundry and make sure husband knows which is which.  The bag of dirty laundry will be tossed down the basement stairs to where the washing machine is, which the bag of clean clothes will go by the stairs to upstairs to be unpacked.  I take the spare shoes out of the cabinet they are in and put them in plastic shopping bags to go into the house.

I then go to the front of the RV - the “van” part.  I pull out things we brought in which go in the house or the other cars - spare eyeglasses, store coupons (if we need to buy something while we are away I have them to use), papers from the trip - reservations, directions etc., crackers I keep in the door in case husband has low blood sugar while driving and needs to eat something without pulling over, etc.  These go in a store plastic shopping bag and are again put to be taken into the house. I add any magazines we brought or the freebie local ones we picked up on the trip - you know - the ones with local ads, coupons and what there is to see. I also take down the EZPass (this is an electronic device to pay tolls enroute) from the window and put it away.

Some trips I strip the beds and break them back down while unpacking the RV.  Most trips I leave the bed made and either take it down a day or so later (we tend to get home very late at night - technically very early the next morning) or if we were on a short trip and going on another short trip within a week or two  I leave it made up to use again.  (I told you in an earlier post that I HATE dealing with sheets.)

I then walk around the inside of the RV I put my hand on each spot that needs to be empty taking inventory in my head of what was there and “did I take it all out” - sometimes I look in - and go through step by step checking that all has been emptied.  I also put a bath towel (saved for this purpose) on the top shelf of the refrigerator so that if there is any ice on its tiny freezer when it melts the towel will catch it and I will not have water in the refrigerator or on the floor of the RV - the door of the refrigerator is left slightly open to avoid odors forming in the RV (and there is also baking soda in it for the same reason).

Meanwhile husband has been running back and forth carrying everything into the house.  He is generally exhausted and I keep telling him to leave stuff for me to bring in.  After this last trip he also turned on all the air conditioners in the house to try to cool it off.  It did not work - it was still too hot in the house when we went to sleep.

I close the curtains in the RV so no one can look in and see what it is.  I then turn off the lights in it and in the dark I turn off the battery and check that its red LED is out.  I then go out the door.

We then start on the back of the RV.  There is a space under the head of the bed which is accessed from the rear doors of the RV(remember it is a van converted to an RV).  We have 3 laundry baskets in it to hold stuff and keep it from moving around (remember this is important when one’s “house” is being driven around over bumps and around curves - one does not want anything moving and everything has to be secured in some fashion or at least stay in a very limited area).  One basket - the hardest to reach - has items we might need on the trip - air pump, tools, and such.  The middle basket has some additional items of such and empty space.  The last basket - the one we can most easily reach has some small items for set up at the RV park - and room for purchases during the trip.  Anything we bought has to be brought into the house.

When we know that everything is in the house we lock the RV and go into the house.

In the days after the trip I have to empty the clean water tanks by removing a cap from a pipe under the RV - we let it drain and a day or so later I put the cap back on.  The cap has a specific place in our side porch to sit until it goes back on.  Since this is clean water it can be allowed to just drain out and does not have to be disposed of as does the “used” water (which was dumped out at the RV park before we left it at the end of the trip).

I look at the check list in the house to make sure everything is in and then toss the “stuff to bring and do before the trip/stuff to make sure is in the house after “ list.  Then, of course, comes the sorting out and putting away of stuff in the house for a couple of days afterwards.  Checking the answering machine messages.  Laundry will done in a day or so.

 Now even the best laid schemes can go wrong.  We arrived home overnight Saturday to Sunday.  Monday evening my husband says to me “Where did you put the bag of pretzels I bought on the trip?”  (We can’t get these pretzels at home and he will buy a bag - or two - when away to have at home.)  I stared at him and tried to get my brain to work.  Then I remembered.  I had brought a larger plastic food box with us knowing that he was going to buy the pretzels and it did not fit where the food boxes fit due to the fact that it is larger.  I put it elsewhere in the RV “kitchen” and since it was not is a spot I usually use or empty - I forgot about it.  Out to the RV to get the pretzels.

As of tonight the laundry is done.  The clean clothes from the trip and those washed on our return are put away.  I have been catching up on mail and such.  The water tanks are emptied and the cap put back.  Food is still in the boxes, but since they are items we use at home, I am using them from the boxes here to empty the boxes.

Now if only I can find the store loyalty cards which I keep in the RV and we could not find when we went to one of the supermarkets.  Husband has me keep them on a key ring so I don’t loose any - so instead ALL of them are missing.  Hopefully they were tossed into the drawer in the RV or the map pocket - when the temperature comes down into the 70s later this week I will go in and look.  If not, I have duplicates of all of them but one.  -  And you thought I was going to say that all is done and back to normal!

ORGANIZING AND STORING IN OUR TINY RV - PART 1

I have mentioned that we have a VERY small RV.  We went away for Independence Day weekend in it.  We spent 6 days and 5 nights in what is basically, as my husband sometimes refers to it, a large metal can.

Life in this RV has to very organized or it becomes a giant problem.  Items have to be stored in such a way that they will stay in place while we are driving.  Roads around here tend to have lots of potholes and lots of repairs so it is a bumpy ride.  While the cabinets and cubbys come with devices on them to hold them closed, we found that the drawer (notice I said “the drawer” as in the only one - technically there is a shelf which also moves like a drawer, but there is only one drawer) kept opening when we bounced.  We would be driving along and we would hear different odd sounds than ones we normally hear and I would turn around and the drawer would be open.  My husband finally figured out a way to install heavy duty hook and loop tape to keep it closed.  The drawer holds an assortment of small items that might be needed to be at hand.

We all know the concept in organizing of items should be stored near where they are used.  Sometimes this does not work in our RV.  I have to fit the items to be stored to the size and location of the space.  Once the bed is made up  - and it stays so for at least an entire trip, if not two or three short trips in a short amount of time - we cannot easily access two of the cubbies both of which are located over the sides of the bed.  Therefore while it makes no sense to store one’s spare shoes over the bed - that is where they are kept.  In the back of this long cubby, which is on the “kitchen” side of the RV I keep a spare backpack (I forgot mine on a trip and need it when we are away from the RV and cannot easily get back to it during the day), some plastic covers for the bed and “car” seats, shower shoes (for using the showers at RV parks), a spare pair of slip on sneakers for me (in cold weather we can’t use the toilet in the RV and this way I don’t have to deal with shoe laces if I have to “run”), and the shoes we bring with us for the trip.  Unless it is a longer trip I wear either a pair of sneakers or shoes (which can be worn in the rain) and bring and store the opposite pair.  Husband will also wear a pair of sneakers or shoes and store the opposite plus another pair of shoes.  We will put some of the plastic covers on top of the shoes to keep them from bouncing around and making noise.  Generally if we need different shoes for change in weather I take them out in the morning before I am out of bed and put the pair each of us had been wearing away in the cubby so this space we cannot easily access when out of the bed is a good use of the space.

Over the opposite side of the bed I keep spare bedding in the cubby (on the “toilet” side of the RV) and there are the entertainment controls - cable/antenna connections and switches and related.  They are at the front of the cubby right inside the door of it where they can be reached while standing at the foot of the bed (these came installed here, although we have added some additional items).  The spare bedding is in further (these two cubbies, unlike other cubbies are long and extend further towards the rear of the RV) as if I need to access them I will be taking the bed apart and will be able to reach them.

In front of the cubby with the shoes (on the “kitchen” side) is another cubby - same door and opening, but it does not extend in any direction and is therefore maybe half the size of the rear two.  In this cubby we keep items we need to be able to reach when getting up in the morning and going to bed at night.  It is also located over the bed, but since it is at front of the bed, it is easy to reach without climbing on the bed. Our first night in the RV we had to keep taking things out, putting them away, taking out something else, etc. to get ready.  As a result of this I came up with the idea of a plastic box each.  We each have a flat plastic box with the personal items we need at bedtime and in the morning - hair brush, comb, tooth brush, toothpaste - I keep my cell phone cords in mine, husband does not keep his in his box, and such.  These stay in the RV all the time.  There is a third box which goes back and forth to the house each trip - our medications and small items which need to come out to the RV for the trip are in this box.  At night I take out the 3 boxes.  Husband’s box goes to the right side of the kitchen counter (on the glass of the stove) and all his needed items for preparing for bed will go on that side.  My box goes on the left side of the counter (which is an actual counter top section and is on the side towards the bed) as does our checkoff list, refrigerator thermometer and some other items for the evening.  I will take out the “day of the week” box marked with, of course, the day of the week which has our pills for that night and replacement pills for those used during the day and morning pills for the next day.  (Sunday box, for example, has the pills which we will deal with Sunday night - Sunday bedtime pills, replacement pills for those used Sunday during the day and needed for Monday during the day, and Monday am pills.)  I put the pills we are taking at night in two plastic bottle lids (because they are the right size and shape and they were kept for free when their bottle contents were used up and their bottles tossed) and place the lids on the counter.  I get out my pocket pill box and get husband’s from him and replace the pills used.  When we take our night pills the bottle lids are put back into the box and the box goes back in the cubby - while the other two boxes stay out to be used in the morning.  Husband has the day of the week pill box for the morning on his side - he takes his pills and puts it on my side of the counter (did I mention the only sink in the RV is in the center of the counter, between our two sides?)  for me to take my morning pills.  The box is then put back into the box it came out of. 

Also in this cubby is a SMALL plastic crate which holds husband’s electric shaver and some other items we need - including a very thin tarp, which folds down to nothing, to put on the bed if we have to get on it in our street clothes (including for emergency shoe changes) as we did not like going on the bed in street clothes before we had bed bugs, and certainly not after..  We keep a plastic shower curtain folded in this cubby on the top of the other items - when it is not in use it helps keep the other items in place.  It is used when it will be raining during the day.  I cover the rear end of the bed (which is the head of the bed at the rear of the RV/van) so that when we open the rear doors during the day the bed will not get wet.

Oh, my, an article already and we have only covered what is over the bed.  I guess this will be Part 1. 

Understand that everything in the RV has to be secured and in a specific spot so we can easily find it and then after being used it is returned to it’s spot (unless it is disposable) so we can find it again and so that it will not go bouncing when we drive - or flying around when we stop, start or make a turn.

CLEANING UP AFTER THE MICE - FINALLY DID A DISGUSTING JOB

Sometimes I, and I am sure all of you, have great plans to get things done, but something keeps us from it.  Sometimes it is the fact that some things we have to do are just plain disgusting to do or we don’t want to do them for some other reason.  All of this leads to tasks being put off.

We had mice in our kitchen a few years ago and I have not finished cleaning up from them.  Yes, a few years ago. I may or may not have mentioned this before.  We had an exterminator come in and deal with them.  I pulled almost everything out of the cabinets under the sink a month or so later and either soaked items in bleach and water mixture or tossed them.  I did the same with the 2 small drawers we have in this cabinet area.  I never got to the small cabinet below these drawers and the bread drawer next to them.  Since the bread drawer was where we found the mice, I have not really been able to deal with it. 

My husband told me that he when they had mice at the place he worked, clean up had to be done  be done with bleach and water mixture wearing disposable plastic gloves and masked while they did it.  This is part of what slowed the process down, in addition to the gross out factor of what I had to do, I have a problem with a face mask as I am small boned (fat, but small boned) and the masks do not fit me correctly.  So I dealt with the mask for as far as I could back then and then stopped.  I kept planning to get back to it.

In the interim the cleaning supplies which had been stored under the sink (and the containers were soaked in the bleach/water mixture when they were removed) and replacement purchases since, have been stored in 2 stacked cardboard boxes in our craft studio off the kitchen.  (A lot of items were just thrown out if we deemed them too far gone to keep or easy and relatively cheap to replace.)  The boxes long ago collapsed on each other leading to disorganization in them and there is less than a foot of space to walk between the boxes and furniture in what is a tight room.  The studio was in the middle of being put back together from the bed bugs in 2009.  This project had been stopped as we needed to replace a dresser used for storage and could not find one the correct size.  Of course as soon as we found one, the mice came to visit.  So the studio organization cannot be finished until the mice clean up is done.  Sound familiar?

Last fall I went looking online to check about cleaning up after mice and found that the government instructions are to spray the area and items with Lysol.  No mask needed.  So I did that. I sprayed the 2 cabinets and the 3 drawers.   A week or so later I went to work on the drawers.  I pulled out the top small drawer (and I do mean small) and cleaned it with bleach and water.  I had new shelf liner to put in it.  I looked at the drawer and was still grossed out by the thought of putting my dish towels in the drawer (which is what was stored in this drawer before) even sprayed, cleaned with bleach and relined.  I looked at the drawer and realized that it was just a small box with a front to match the cabinetry attached to it and that the front had not been exposed to the mice as it sat outside of the box front and the cabinet front.  The drawer was also old - our house was built in 1949 and since then the cabinets were recovered and had new doors/drawer fronts put on, but the insides were the original cabinets and drawers.  The wood the drawer was made of was definitely showing its age.  Husband, in addition to other crafts, does woodworking and I suggested to him making new drawers, as it was a only a question of making boxes and attaching the decorative fronts.  He looked at what I showed him and agreed.  So we made new small drawers for and replaced the 2 small drawers using the old fronts.  In the spring we plan to do the same with the bread drawer.  We need warm enough weather for the finish to be applied and ran out of time.  So, I now have a drawer for my kitchen towels again and no longer have to keep them in the studio and have them in the way there, as well as again having a drawer for a few of my lesser used kitchen tools.  But that was where I stopped, short on time during the assorted holidays and, to be honest, avoiding what was a disgusting job.

Well, last week I decided it was time to stop putting the project off.  I opened the doors to the cabinet under the sink and looked.  There were 3 bottles of floor cleaner for the flooring that we had on most of the first floor of the house, 2 boxes of matches and a zipper bag with wicking for decorative oil lamps (for use in blackouts).  I put the aluminum pan I had used before for soaking in the bleach/water in the sink and soaked the 3 bottles and washed them clean.  I dried them with paper towels and set them on some newspapers to finish drying.  I tossed the matches - cheap enough to buy new ones and how does one wash a cardboard box?  I then tossed the bag that the wicking was in and put the wicking in a new bag. I, of course, wore disposable plastic gloves for all this.  Now all was done under sink except the big job.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I finally did the job I had been putting off.  We had previously organized the cabinet by putting a 2 wire drawer unit in a year or so before the mice and I did not want to take it out.  I planned carefully.  I put newspapers on the floor to hold the pan with bleach and water (in between using this disposable plan I keep it inside a knotted closed plastic kitchen size bag).  I put newspapers on the floor to hold other items I needed.  I pulled 10 sheets of paper towels off so I would not have to touch the roll while working.  I brought the kitchen garbage pail over and opened it.  I had disposable plastic gloves.  I then mixed the bleach and water and sat down on the floor to start work. 

I started with the pipes inside above the floor of the cabinet and then went on to the inside top edges of the cabinet and the walls of same.  I then started at the back of the side of the cabinet which does not have the drawers, working my way forward cleaning the floor of the cabinet. It took several passes of cleaning in each area I worked on to make sure it was clean.  I then ran out of paper towels.  I took my gloves off, careful not to touch the outside of them and set them on newspaper.  I pulled off another 10 paper towels, got my gloves back on without touching the outside and went back to work. 

This was a little harder.  I had to pull out the drawers to wash them and I also had to wash their frame and I did not want to deal with removing the drawers from the unit.  With the drawers pulled out as far as they can be I had to reach around them to reach all of the floor to clean it - again repeating until I was sure it was clean.  While working around the drawers I found a ripped open pack of mouse poison from the exterminator and picked it up with a paper towel and threw it out, then went back and cleaned the area of any leftover poison a few times using a clean paper towel each cleaning. 

When I was done I threw out everything except the pan from the bleach - I still have items to soak in it - and put it back in its knotted closed plastic bag.  I took the garbage bag out immediately to the pail and it will be picked up tomorrow at the regular pickup.  (Of course I immediately put a new bag in the kitchen pail.)  I left the cabinet doors open to let air in to help dry the floor.  A major job that has been put off is almost done - and the worst part of it is what is done. Well, except for the overwhelming smell of bleach and Lysol which is still dissipating.

I am going to line the floor of the cabinet with shelf liner.  It was never lined before, but I decided it needs to be done now.  I actually was thinking of doing this tonight, but then remembered that I had not written a post for tonight, so I will get to it next week - I hope.  I will then put back the cleaning items I have.  It will be much emptier in there than before. I will also buy a new small plastic tray for the top drawer in the cabinet as I used to keep my sponges and such that are in use in a similar one - then the area around my sink will be a bit clearer.

Getting a job done that one did not want to face is an accomplishment and I am glad to have the worst of the job done.  That leaves the small cabinet under the drawers to do and the new drawer to replace the bread drawer to make.

KITCHEN CABINETS -START

I said that this week  I would tell you what I have in my kitchen to use - or at least start.  Obviously the amount and assortment of plates, etc. that you need will vary by what you use them for, how many of you there are, and what you need.  I wanted to tell you what we have, why we have it and where I keep it and how I organize it to help you decide what you might need.

In the wall cabinet over my dishwasher I have a set of everyday dishes for 8.  Why 8?  This was the standard set for dishes when we were married.  We also never thought that we would stay a family of 2.  We have dinner dishes, bowls for soup or cereal, small plates (for cake or side dish), cups, and saucers.  Do we need them all, not really, but we do not want to break up the set and if we break some - oh, that’s right.  I actually have 15 bowls, 2 of which have small chips.  I broke a bowl  - okay, I have broken several bowls, but the others were replaced.  When I went to replace the latest broken and the 2 chipped bowls I found out that the company had completely changed the shape of the bowls and complained.  They sent me 8 bowls in the new shape - free.  I am used to the old shape and will need to break a few more before I switch to the new ones.  So the old ones are with my dishes and the new ones are in the other wall cabinet with my glasses.  (Since I use ceramic dishes the chipped bowls are good for use around the house where an electric connection has to be made, say with an extension cord, that would be sitting on carpet and could be a fire hazard.  I use the chipped bowls to hold the connections and help to prevent a possible fire.

I do not keep the set together - a stack of dinner plates, a stack of small plates, a stack of bowls... I used to.  I realized that it was inefficient to keep it all like that.  I am on the short side and can only reach the bottom 2 shelves of my wall cabinets (and only the front of the 2nd shelf ).  So I decided that it was silly to keep things together just because “one does”. I put what I use most often where I can reach it without a step and the rest above where I need a step to reach it.

So on the bottom shelf of the cabinet I have 2 dinner size dishes from the set in a stack with 4 other dinner size dishes.  2 of these others are “Corelle”.  I use these for working on as well as in the microwave.  (My ceramics can go in the microwave or the oven, but I prefer not to put them in the microwave.)  I also use these for cutting up food on.  The other 2 are heavy weight plastic plates.  They were inexpensive and are used under food in the refrigerator - such as for meats which might leak.

Next to the dinner size plates I have 6 of the 8 small plates, mixed with 2 of the saucers and 2 “Corelle” small plates.  We do not actually use the cups and these saucers are used under gravy servers and such.  The “Corelle” plates are used for the same purposes as the larger ones.  Why 6 of the 8?  That is what fits in the space with the other 4 plates. 

Between the two stacks of plates I keep the bottles of our medications.  They stay dry and are convenient for filling our weekly pill boxes on Saturday nights. 

I have a wire rack which sits over all of the above so I can put more items on this same shelf - remember I can’t reach too far above it without climbing up.  On the wire rack I have 4 stacks of bowls - the 7 soup bowls to my dishes, 3 of the 7 (broke one of these also) small bowls that match my dishes, 2 small serving bowls (same company as my dishes, different pattern), and 2 “Corelle” small serving (or large soup) bowls.  I think what most of these bowls are used for is obvious.  The “Corelle” bowls are used for the microwave as are the plates.

Boy, all that on one shelf.  This is probably about 90% of the dishes we use for dinner.  I can reach what I need and put it away easily.  Storage this way is easy for me.

Between the wire rack and cabinet wall, standing up is a trivet and our small collection of rarely used takeout menus.           

Do you store your dishes as sets or as you need to use them?


“Corelle” is a trademark name of items made by Corning Glass.  I am not endorsing in any way the plates, merely mentioning that I use these unique plates/bowls in this manner.