Sharing Treasures

Yesterday, my friend Toni and I went around to a bunch of Op Shops.
I found a few treasures ... want to see ?

I love finding little bits and pieces for my food photography ...



We also went to a local craft shop and found some neat yarn.
I can't wait to start a couple of new projects.
Speaking of yarn and projects ... have you heard of Ravelry ?
It is the neatest site for those of us who do stuff with yarn.
You have to send them an email to get an invite but it only takes a couple of days to hear back.
Then you can become a member and post what you're doing and save patterns and a whole bunch of stuff to your favorites !!



Go have a look !
And make sure you become my friend once you join !!
This is me.



Here's my most recent project ...
I call it a feather scarf.
Probably because Toni calls what I'm knitting with 'the feather stuff'.
ha



It's pretty.
So soft.
And it's been a really easy project.
I'm almost finished after only a couple hours of knitting.



Remember the other day, I mentioned that I had defrosted my freezer ?

Well, today ... as part of Sandra's Tips on Tuesday ... I'm going to show you how.
I'm sure you're thinking "I know how to defrost a freezer ... what could I possibly learn?"
But there is one tip in here, a little something I learned from a friend years ago that you need to know about !! Especially if you have an ancient fridge like us !!

I think our fridge is as old as me.
I was born in 1973.
The freezer ices up like nobody's business.
I usually defrost it when I can't shut the door anymore.

I'm serious.

I didn't think about doing a post about this until after I had started.
So, here's my freezer with some bits already scraped off ...
I use a metal spatula to get under the ice ... that's what you see on the right side of the photo.
Actually, I've just realized that photo is sideways.

Oh well.
Not gonna fix it.

Check out this chunk of ice !
I should consider running some sort of Australian Ice Age theme park.
I could totally outfit it with the ice this old thing produces !

So ... metal spatula in hand, I pull off chunks (big chunks!) of ice.
Then I use my little dust pan to pick it up and get it out of the freezer ...

And I fill a bucket ... a couple of times !!
Now ... here's the tip you've all been waiting for.
How to get the ice to come off so easily !
Like I said, a friend taught me this years ago ... a male friend, can you believe ?
It's true.

After you have gotten all the ice off of the inside of the freezer,
wipe it with a bit of dish washing liquid.
Yep, it's that easy.
It makes the ice come away so much easier ...

And there you have it ...
My freezer is clear of ice and lemony fresh !!

And that, my friends, is all for today !

Gotta go make dinner.
Gyoza
Udon Noodles
and I'm gonna bake some
Poppy Seed Muffins
too.

See ya !

Sharing A System

My cousin Jill told me not long ago that "the longer she lives on her own, the more she thinks I'm not human." Don't worry ... it's a compliment ! Apparently, I accomplish lots.

I think my biggest "accomplishing lots strategy" can be summed up in one word. Organization. Yeah, you're right, you're going to get sick of me saying it ! But ... it's true !

Remember that post about everything in my house having a home ??

Well, this may be a bit freaky, but it goes beyond my stuff. Even my thoughts have a home !!

These little books that the kids use for school ... they are my brain !! You see, when the stuff is in my brain, it's all jumbled up. It's gets mixed together ... kinda gooey. I can't keep track of it. To make any sort of sense of it, I either have to talk about it ( poor Rory ! ) or I have to write it down ...

These little books are great. They cost about .37 cents each, or .08 cents in the back to school sales !! They live on the little shelf built into my computer desk.

There's one called "Blogs & weekly ..." where I jot down those blog ideas that rattle around in my head ! or things I need to remember to write in my weekly letter to family and friends.

"Menu Planning & Recipe Ideas" ... you guessed it, I plan my menus in this book. I even do my grocery list in it and take it with me to the store. When it's time to cook, or do my Menu Plan Monday posts ... it's all there in one place. If I want to try a recipe from a cookbook, I write it in here, recipes I see online that I want to try straight away ... in the book !

"Budget Stuff" ... money saving ideas, things Rory and I talk about for our budget, calculations that I might want to look at later. This book doesn't have heaps in it ... but it's a good reference for the next time we talk !

"HTML & Photo Editing" ... I'm a learn as I go type person !! I see something I like and then try my best to figure out how to do it. If that doesn't work, I either get a book to teach me how, or ask someone !! I kept having little notes all over the place that I could never find when I wanted to do something again ... time to make a book !!

The black book with no title ... that's my "work" book. It helps me keep straight the things I have to do at work. I bring it home with me so that as I think of things I can jot them down ... otherwise, I may never think of them again !

The open book in the middle of the photo ... well, that serves a temporary purpose. That's my travel book. Right now it is telling me all the things I need to do before we leave for the States. It's got the beginning of a list of things I need to remember to take. It will soon hold a list of everything I need to pack. I told you ... these books are my brain !!! This book will travel with me so that when we are coming home, I can check that we've packed everything that went with us so it comes home ! Call me anal ... I don't care ! I'm not human, remember ?! :)

This system works well for me. I think that is one of the keys to living an organized life ... finding systems that work !! It's not hard ... I promise !

I'm submitting this post to Sandra's Tips on Tuesday. You can pop over there and see what others are sharing ! You just might find a system that could change your life !!

Or maybe you have something to share ...