Sunday Clutter

I had every intention of having a ‘ME’ day today. I thought I’d go downstairs and dig out my old sheets and plan on how I was going to use them to make my next Stacked Coin quilt. I also thought I would get my quilt cut out, as we are going to each make a stacked coin quilt as a project at November quilting.

I had groceries to put away from my big grocery shopping trip yesterday, and before I knew it, I had made other plans. My kitchen cupboards were a mess, and held food and little kitchen appliances that we use all of the time (when we cook, for those reading this post who know I hate to cook.) Any time we wanted to get something out of the cupboards, something else had to be moved to get at it. I decided then and there, that I would make my front entry closet, which had served as ‘half pantry/half appliance closet/+whatever else had to be hidden for quite some time, a ‘Pantry specific’ space. Louie added some supports to two of the shelves I would use for cans, then he had to go to a meeting in Cedar Rapids. I think I started this project at 10:something am. It’s 5:31pm, and I think I’m pretty much finished, except for taking a bunch of stuff to the recycling center, and finding a place for a few mops, which are not going back in the closet. I have one dust mop and one broom, and that is all I’m putting in there.

I was reminded quickly how one job, leads to another, and another, and pretty soon I was tripping over ‘stuff’ all over the floors, and I couldn’t find my kitchen counters. Before I knew it, not only was I cleaning and organizing and building a pantry, I was also cleaning out three more kitchen cupboards, the refrigerator, and the freezer. Here’s some pictures. (Be kind, and please don’t notice the DUST!)                                               Have you ever seen the movie ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’? Laura runs away from her abusive husband, and when he finds her (but she’s not sure yet), she knows he has been in the house, when she finds the bathroom towels hung perfectly in a row, but also when she opens a kitchen cupboard door, and all of the canned goods are facing straight forward in perfect rows, so you can easily see what is in them. They are also organized by same same, together. (A little OCD going on here, huh? Well how ELSE do you know what you have?) As I was moving stuff from the kitchen to the pantry, I had no clue that I had 15 cans of Tuna and 3 cans of chicken, and Louie had no clue he already had 9 cans of sardines when he bought 3 last night.                                     Powdered sugar…we have powdered sugar???!!! YES, we DO! Well, what do you know?  There was some space on the floor under the last shelf, so I left the metal basket of cleaning supplies and a jar of touch up paint in the closet, but that stuff is pretty much hidden by the kitchen trash can that holds our empty soda cans which will be turned in and redeemed later…Oh, that Iowa deposit law. I’m sure it does keep a lot of cans off the highways and out of ditches…but sometimes it can be such a pain!                                                                One broom, one dust mop, and one extension cord, and hanging high up on the wall, a dust pan.                                                                      In the kitchen, my small appliances, like my crock pots and steamers are now easily within reach, and I don’t have to move a thing to get to them. Yippee! I did leave a FEW things in the kitchen cupboards, but not much.Things like jars of peanut butter (I like creamy, Louie likes chunky) opened bags of dried fruit, and trail mix, cooking sprays, and tea bags….                                                      …and soda crackers, under the steamer…                                                                 …and our countertop grill is also within easy reach….along with my egg cookers. I love my egg cookers. They hard boil, or poach, and I don’t have to mess the eggs up anymore, wondering if I cooked them long enough. When the cookers run out of water, the eggs are cooked! On the top shelf is a box of light bulbs. I had to use the cupboard above the sink for my electric skillet, because there was a bit more room in that space, compared to the top shelf above the grill, so the light bulbs had to move to this cupboard.                                       Other ‘new to me’ things are, my shelf above my mirror, and the floral garland between the shelf and mirror in my kitchen. Louie and I put the shelf up yesterday morning, and this morning, I hung the garland and put the teapot, pitcher and little pumpkins on the shelf. There was a smaller shelf there before, which held the greenery, so that isn’t really anything new on the new shelf. That shelf? Oh, I got it at a thrift store for $5, and it is solid, beautiful Oak! I have others in the house that are much like this, and when I bought them new from an Iowa Crafter’s store, I paid about 10 times what I paid for this shelf.                                                                                      Last week, I found a cute ‘Raggedy’ Angel doll. She had some ‘issues’ that I addressed yesterday, but now she is as good as new. When I bought her, I had no clue she would fit in so well among my other rag dolls, but she does, along with my Raggedy Ann/Andy/Pinwheel quilt I have hanging in my office.  I made this quilt before I started using my Juki and Hinterberg quilt frame, so it is only quilted ‘in the ditch’. The white blocks with the Ann and Andy characters were bought off eBay from someone who machine embroidered them.                                                          Yesterday I got a kitty! Ok, so he’s an Isabel Bloom kitty, and not real. I actually bought him for a gift (from an indoor flea market), but this morning, when I unwrapped him, he kept looking at me and smiling, so now he keeps me company while I am at my computer. (He’s now MINE, and he doesn’t poop! Yippee!) (Guess I’ll just have to find another gift now.)                                                                       I also managed to get my little bear dressed up for fall this afternoon. I’m really not into Halloween, but loved this little costume, and she looks so cute and colorful standing by the front door.                                                    Thanks for the visit! Louie should be home soon, then we can find something for supper and maybe we can get all of the cardboard and plastic over to the recyclers before we sit down for the night. I’m ready to just sit and ‘veg out’. I hope you all had a wonderful Sunday. Even though mine was a lot of work, the end result was well worth it, and hopefully, we can keep better tabs on what we need for groceries. Organization feels so good to me.

Be blessed, enjoy God’s gifts, and have a wonderful week!

                                         Michelle