KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

silvasava

Oh GQ - totally with you on the books! Mea culpa - I have Nancy Spain's cookbook. It was given to me as part of an engagement present from my grandparents when I was 18. So it's well over 50 years old now. I think I've only ever made 3 things from it. Stewing steak cooked in condensed tomato soup ( not bad actually) jelly with evaporated milk whisked in to it - kids loved it and something with liver done in toasted bread cups (!!!! ) I do pass my books on but DH keeps his ( I love Ian Rankin too)
Grey day here today so housework and hopefully some incidental kondo - maybe the box of cards I've been keeping ...........

GreyQueen

Siebrie wrote: »

I always joke that I have so many books that I have to store them off-site, i.e. the local library

:j Excellent - I'm stealing this right now!

VJsmum

I have in the past also been guilty on the books front - I still have "Wild Swans" because i didn't manage to read the last 10 pages or so - this was back in ..... goes to check, discovers we don't have it any more :T . But we did keep it for 20 years or so. Same with Captain Corelli's Mandolin - I read the first chapter, loved it, couldn't get beyond it. I know that went a while ago, but was kept for over a decade.

Now DD has come back with all her books, we may have to cull a bit further. I refuse to buy yet another bookcase for them...

The kindle is another matter

OH is a hoarder of maps - old and new. He refuses to part with any of them..

PollyWollyDoodle

Ooh, jelly and evaporated milk - a childhood favourite!

Great post about the books, GQ and you've identified the ones I've mostly got rid of. I have one old map book, it's a road atlas that my dad used and it predates most of the motorways, I really like it and it reminds me of him. On the most recent cull, I released -not without some pangs - the dictionary and thesaurus. These were things I never thought I'd part with, but if I (rarely) need to know the meaning of a word I Google it.

Not parting with my much-loved and often read poetry books though, some of them would be hard to replace and word for word, published poetry is quite expensive compared to chick-lit! :rotfl: most other books are transient though, bought from CS, read and passed on to my sis, who reciprocates.

daisy_1571

GQ !! Have you been in my house looking at my bookcases with your notebook in hand ??? *crosses arms, taps foot waiting on gq to own up :cool:* cos you might have put the kettle on while you were here and we could have had a cuppa before you exposed my bookcase secrets to the world :rotfl::rotfl:

Daisy xx

[Deleted User]

lol, Daisy!!

I think I have finished, for now, done all the upward facing kitchen drawers, having a break. It was easy until I came to my herbs and spices, you would not believe the number of vanilla pods that I have, all safe snug and lidded. Looks as though my future hm ice cream will be very flavoursome

I poured several essences and extracts down the sink, cherry, peppermint etc. I do remember buying them to flavour cakes and the creamy toppings that I never made. Spices were more tricky but they weren`t so tricky once I started, I mean how much is a fresh spice if I need it? .My spice drawer was beautifully arranged, lined aluminium screw top pots, all fully labelled in white, green, yellow and red. Three layers high but I could always lay my hand on any spice, while standing. I am down to just the one layer now plus the drawer below, holding nutmeg graters etc. I am very satisfied, there is no doubt that my food is plainer, I don`t want endless obscure spices any more. Some of the things I chucked, whole mace, a load of peppercorns, many whole nutmegs etc

I think I will have a macha tea now, not the fancy brush way, just a hand whizzer

short_bird

GreyQueen wrote: »

5. Books on crafts which were very much the fashion back in the day; I don't think pebble-polishing machines and pebble jewellery and macrame are coming back, and for that I give hourly thanks.

6. Books of patterns to things which will probably never go out (knitting and crochet) but which patterns are so horrible no one would ever want you to make them.

GQ bad news... macrame is back... and the awful crochet pattern photos do do the rounds, but in an ironic manner

Meanwhile, I brought more memories than stuff back from Prague and abandoned a few articles of clothing that were past their best.

carrielovesfanta

If you want a real giggle, read the intros to each section of the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook (I will post some more when at home).


One of my favourites is that "the sense of pride when presenting a freshly baked loaf to her family, is a feeling that no housewife should deny herself"

[Deleted User]

[QUOTE=carrielovesfanta;73375330

One of my favourites is that "the sense of pride when presenting a freshly baked loaf to her family, is a feeling that no housewife should deny herself"[/QUOTE]

Hmm, then I am guilty of that, I felt tremendous pride in being able to put freshly made and home baked goodies on the table. Everyone appreciated what I did, after all I was at home all day, the hub of the family wheel,while my dh was working so hard, at least 50 hours a week. We had our unspoken demarcation lines and we pulled together as a family. Like many families did. Maybe that is why we went the whole run of 45 years until death us did part. Nothing wrong in being a housewife in those days, at least while the children were young

I have truly finished for the day now, just getting a nice meal sorted for my lunch and then RnR. Not so much out today but it was very worth doing. I do have stuff for the cs and also stuff for the tip but on thursday. I am constantly re-assuring myself that what I have left is what I want to keep, including the tops that I can place on my kilner jars to extract the air, and the weights that I need for when I bottle fruit. I am not giving up my entire way of living

carrielovesfanta

kittie wrote: »

Hmm, then I am guilty of that, I felt tremendous pride in being able to put freshly made and home baked goodies on the table. Everyone appreciated what I did, after all I was at home all day, the hub of the family wheel,while my dh was working so hard, at least 50 hours a week. We had our unspoken demarcation lines and we pulled together as a family. Like many families did. Maybe that is why we went the whole run of 45 years until death us did part. Nothing wrong in being a housewife in those days, at least while the children were young

Ah sorry Kittie, I didn't mean to it to denigrate anyone's decision to be a housewife or the hard work that they have put in. I actually make all our bread and do most of our cooking from scratch, and it is something I take a lot of pride in. My mum was a stay at home mum too and a marvellous baker.

The way the intros were written, it implied that making a loaf was about the pinnacle of what you could hope to achieve in life which made me titter.