Out With the Flotsam

Winter is getting mean around here with low temperatures and nasty winds, so what better time to set the house in order before the weather warms up.
Either that or suffer a serious case of cabin fever.

I began with the kitchen drawers and here is a display of utterly unnecessary drawer clutter.

The microwave egg poacher seems like a good idea but I seldom have good luck with the results. The egg either explodes all over the oven or the egg is chewy. I have returned to simmering in a pot of water and it works just fine.

My cousin tells about his first and last experience with nuking an egg. He read the directions, put the egg in and turned it on, made the toast and when he opened the oven door, the poacher was there with lid off and no sign of the egg. Not even a hint of yolk. Nada.

The cherry pitter is a lovely invention but in fact, the last time I pitted a cherry was years ago when the kids were small and a neighbor brought me a pailful from his garden.

Then there's the gizmo that produces frenched green beans. A lovely thing and it works perfectly. Again, the last time I actually used it was in my other life.

The butter curler thing is probably a great thing to own if you're a caterer.

Strawberry hullers are a must. Make that singular--huller. I had several of them and since there's just me, more than one is overkill.

The bridge cloth. Well, I was in Value Village and it reminded me of the cloths my mom had for her regular bridge games. Someone had elegantly embroidered it just so for that other age when after the game, out came the tea cart displaying the silver service, the tea strainer and those tiny little finger sandwiches.
Turns out that the corduroy ones I made cling to the table nicely and there is less glare.And I don't make finger sandwiches.



I bought this little beauty years ago and left it sealed up while I waited for the inspiration to actually use it, once I figured out how to use it.
It's a sharpener for small garden clippers and you know what? It works like a charm. Just a few whisks back and forth with that and those puppies are sharp and ready for business.

It's always rewarding when a gadget turns out to be really, really useful.

Now back to the de-cluttering.

What A Difference A Baby Makes

The first thing I want to say is that there is problem with my computer and until one of my children comes to repair it there will be no pictures. As long as I'm being honest, I don't know how to do hyperlinks either.

But the following is what I really have to say.
My granddaughter (lovedoodlemuffin.blogspot.com)had her first baby a year or so ago and she recently experienced her first post-baby angst when she looked in the mirror.
What she says she saw was a toss-on-the-first-track suit that's reasonably clean woman with a ponytail wrapped in an elastic band, a hair-do that hadn't changed since she gave birth.

I recall those first-baby days days so vividly--you eat, live, breathe for that sweet little protoplasm.

I don't think Hal and I had an adult word between us for months while we discussed colic,poop, what the crying meant and whether the child was really as brilliant as we thought. And I certainly didn't take time to examine me during that stage.

Slowly, very slowly, the parameters change and baby becomes a member of the family and the parents ease back into adult humans with their own thoughts and needs.

That's where my granddaughter is today.
There is a lovely glow about a new mom that remains with her for months so she will see herself more objectively than those of us who love the glow.

Standing before her mirror, there was an explosive "EEK," as she morphed back into a grown-up person with personal needs.

This is the first of many. many 'eeks' that will come along. At first it's all on the parents' side, and then the child tacks "teen" onto his age and the power base shifts.

So I say enjoy every baby moment and those "me time" moments.

Today that sweet girl has a new hairdo and new clothes and the elastic bands will remain on the broccoli until the next baby comes along and she starts the process all over again.

That's the circle of family life.

A Family Multicultural Season

It seems I'm not quite done with Xmas memories.
Our last Christmas day cooperated nicely with the weather so the snowstorms disappeared and rain fell instead.
We had the regular socko Christmas dinner that Mike and Lorrie always tag-team. both of them are to-die-for cooks and we are the appreciative recipients..
Then we switched to Thai style for New Years Eve.

I am blessed with amazingly warm and intelligent daughters-in law and this good fortune continued when #3 son married Aw.
There are lots of reasons to love a Thai daughter-in law. For starters they treat those of us of the older persuasion as if we are goddesses.
In the case of Aw (short for Ladawan) she is a brilliant Thai chef and she makes her husband (my #3 son) happy.
She goes along with all our Christmas traditions and probably rolls her eyes at Buddha calmly observing from the altar in the bedroom.

Back to new year's Eve.
We live in Ontario and Thai time is twelve hours ahead of us.
So...
We gathered at Steve and Aw's place before noon, ate lavishly,laughed and teased and were done by three in the afternoon.
How's that for a sane and all-encompassing new year?
Using the magic of Skpe, Aw talked with her family in Bangkok and Steve talked to them in his pigeon Thai while she tactfully translated.
He's pretty good we think, but she just smiles. Anyway, he's more accomplished than we are.
So there we are--another year and we all squeaked by intact.
We'll see if we can do that again this year.