Rie Sheridan Rose

Today, we are going to tackle the rest of the kitchen. It’s light duty compared to some of the work that needs to be done around here, but it’s what I feel up to today.

Allergies suck!

Plus, I have vowed to attempt leaving the Diet Dr. Pepper in the grocery store and only drinking it outside the house… Luckily, I found a tasty caffeine substitute, so no withdrawal headache this morning:

Actually quite tasty.

First order of business, empty the trash. Then we tackle this counter:

Okay, I emptied the dish washer first, and refilled it. Can you tell I really don’t want to tackle that counter?

For one thing, I don’t really know what to do with everything. Some of it is easy, of course — the Angry Orchard box is empty and doesn’t need to be kept…especially on the counter. Broken down and in the recycle box!

The collected potato chip  bags are for the birds. I have been saving them, but saving them without actually putting them out for the birds doesn’t do any good.

Chips crunched and spread on the back lawn. Bags put directly into the outside trashcan.

Crackers were also saved for birds, but there are enough crumbs outside now, and they expired years ago. Trash it is!

Several things left on the counter are drink mixes. The cabinet above the counter has several drink mixes, and I thought that was a good place for them at the time. Now, I am not sure, but that isn’t part of what needs to be done today. You have to set specific goals for the day, otherwise, you will keep jumping from job to job and nothing gets finished. For today, I will put the drinks with the others until I decide if I want to move them all.

I had put the tool caddy over on that counter because Newell’s pills were next to the stove. This makes it harder to cook — the few times I do that — so I think I will switch them back. Having the pills on that counter where he gets his tea ready in the morning makes some sense. And storing them neatly in a box means that they can be put away easily if we ever decide to allow people into the house again…

The cleaning makes that a dim possibility. 😉

So, here’s the finished counter:

And the counter beside the stove where the pills lived:

Three counters down. One major counter to go. Today, I think I am done.

Till next week…keep it clean!

EDIT: Ok, after lunch, a little more energy. Decided to keep going a bit. I really did want to get all the counters cleared today.

On Newell’s suggestion, I moved his daily use teapot to the counter in place of the coffeepot I seldom use. When I need coffee, I can just pull it out of the cabinet, and put it back when I am done.

So, the last bastion of counter clutter:

We will get to the stuff on the floor if we still have the energy.

Took the seed block I’d also bought for the birds and put it in the feeder. Now there are a lot of things on the counter that better belong in the pantry. So, off they go.

Starting to see improvement. Pause to put in a load of laundry — sometimes mulit-tasking is inevitable…

I love the Angry Orchard trees — but why keep the empty bottles when a photograph will do? Bottles in the recycling bin.

Still some things to decide about the stuff left on the counter, but it looks SO much better, don’t you think? 🙂

Well, not the photograph, but the tablet is heavy!

Still, the kitchen doesn’t look too bad. Except for the floor, which really needs a mop.

This time, I really am done for the day. Except for the laundry, which is ongoing…

Keep it clean!

So, as promised last week, we are tackling the freezer side of the problem today. Well, actually, it was Monday that I needed to clear out the freezer to go to the grocery store, so I took some pictures and saved them for you.

Let’s get started.

I actually forgot to take a shot before I started, so this is after I had finished the door.

As you can see, the freezer is a mess. Disorganized, in need of scrubbing, and full of outdated food.

I threw out everything past its expiration date…

And that was only the first bag…

Once everything was cleared out, it was time to scrub things down. We went from this:

To this:

Yes, there is still a bit of gunk around the edges, but getting it that far wasn’t easy.

TIP: Get the gunk wet with the sponge and let it sit for a minute or so. Much easier to wipe out that way.

So, here is the final result:

Before the grocery store, that is. Everything remaining is under the expiration date (and those dates are facing outward for easier visibility.)

I have all my “meat things” on their own shelf, so my vegetarian husband won’t accidentally grab one of them.

And there is room for the vents to work correctly.

Here is the after the grocery store pic:

As you can see, still work to do in the kitchen, but the refrigerator is now clean and full of healthy food.

Here’s hoping we can keep it that way!