Thanks, Rita. I really enjoy doing posts like these too. I think it might become intrusive (to me/our family life, that is) to do them every weekend, but when the spirit moves me, as it were, it's nice to notice and document some of these everyday details. So I'm glad these posts are appreciated!
And yes, a little light industry. But it's the weekend, let's not get too carried away! :-)
Oh, your daughter finished Harry Potter?! "Era" is exactly the right word, and that is *such* a bittersweet one! When my older two (and I) were first reading HP it was such a drawn-out process (we joined in after the fourth had been published, therefore the remaining three were slowly meted out, which was both maddening and delicious!). Does your daughter harbour the wish that a letter from Hogwarts may come for her on her 11th birthday? (My daughter certainly did, and our youngest, who turns 11 in March has said/joked that he may just get *his* letter ("so haha, big sister!")). Have you read the books, Sarah?
I'm a big fan of weekends that contain just a little bit of industry! There's something really nice about just cleaning out ONE cupboard, as opposed to doing a whole kitchen clean-up, say. I was reflecting on this this weekend --- I will likely never take a whole-hearted stab at Kondo's "category" approach to tidying because the thought of having multiple rooms in various states of upheaval makes my head swim and my anxiety go into over-drive.
And a technical question: I can't quite tell if there's eggs in your Sunday morning breakfast (which looks delicious, btw :) ) --- I'm relatively new to cast-iron pans (I bought ours about 4 years ago) but I can't figure out how to cook "runny" things (other than pancakes) (so, say, a mock-scrambled egg dish with chickpea batter) without the pan getting completely caked with the stuff, thus necessitating a huge scraping and a major re-seasoning effort. Does that sound like my pan is simply not seasoned well enough, or is this just a function of cooking in cast-iron?
Yes, she'd been working on them since last June or thereabouts so "era" really does seem appropriate! She was so excited when she finished the last book on Saturday about midday, but then by Sunday night she was sobbing at the loss. Bittersweet, indeed. (And, even the fact that she got upset -- to know that she is having that experience as a reader of getting so into a fictional world was wonderful to me at the same time that I wanted to comfort her.)
I haven't heard anything about a letter from Hogwart's, but she really wishes there would be another book in the series. I haven't read them, but now that I see what a big deal they are to her I might have to!
I agree that "tidy by category" could be quite overwhelming! The way I'm making that work for me is to tackle very, very small categories, of which that before-and-after is actually an example: ok, let's do pantry goods. After all some micro-categories are really only stored in one place. But the "tidy by category, not by location" prescription was actually really useful last weekend, when I did medicines, which were found in the bathroom, hall closet, and kitchen cabinet, as well as a few things scattered throughout the house.
Love posts like these. Your weekend looks cozy and balanced. A little industry is just right. :-)
ReplyDeleteLove posts like these. Your weekend looks cozy and balanced. A little industry is just right. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rita. I really enjoy doing posts like these too. I think it might become intrusive (to me/our family life, that is) to do them every weekend, but when the spirit moves me, as it were, it's nice to notice and document some of these everyday details. So I'm glad these posts are appreciated!
DeleteAnd yes, a little light industry. But it's the weekend, let's not get too carried away! :-)
I love posts like these too :) .
ReplyDeleteOh, your daughter finished Harry Potter?! "Era" is exactly the right word, and that is *such* a bittersweet one! When my older two (and I) were first reading HP it was such a drawn-out process (we joined in after the fourth had been published, therefore the remaining three were slowly meted out, which was both maddening and delicious!). Does your daughter harbour the wish that a letter from Hogwarts may come for her on her 11th birthday? (My daughter certainly did, and our youngest, who turns 11 in March has said/joked that he may just get *his* letter ("so haha, big sister!")). Have you read the books, Sarah?
I'm a big fan of weekends that contain just a little bit of industry! There's something really nice about just cleaning out ONE cupboard, as opposed to doing a whole kitchen clean-up, say. I was reflecting on this this weekend --- I will likely never take a whole-hearted stab at Kondo's "category" approach to tidying because the thought of having multiple rooms in various states of upheaval makes my head swim and my anxiety go into over-drive.
And a technical question: I can't quite tell if there's eggs in your Sunday morning breakfast (which looks delicious, btw :) ) --- I'm relatively new to cast-iron pans (I bought ours about 4 years ago) but I can't figure out how to cook "runny" things (other than pancakes) (so, say, a mock-scrambled egg dish with chickpea batter) without the pan getting completely caked with the stuff, thus necessitating a huge scraping and a major re-seasoning effort. Does that sound like my pan is simply not seasoned well enough, or is this just a function of cooking in cast-iron?
Yes, she'd been working on them since last June or thereabouts so "era" really does seem appropriate! She was so excited when she finished the last book on Saturday about midday, but then by Sunday night she was sobbing at the loss. Bittersweet, indeed. (And, even the fact that she got upset -- to know that she is having that experience as a reader of getting so into a fictional world was wonderful to me at the same time that I wanted to comfort her.)
DeleteI haven't heard anything about a letter from Hogwart's, but she really wishes there would be another book in the series. I haven't read them, but now that I see what a big deal they are to her I might have to!
I agree that "tidy by category" could be quite overwhelming! The way I'm making that work for me is to tackle very, very small categories, of which that before-and-after is actually an example: ok, let's do pantry goods. After all some micro-categories are really only stored in one place. But the "tidy by category, not by location" prescription was actually really useful last weekend, when I did medicines, which were found in the bathroom, hall closet, and kitchen cabinet, as well as a few things scattered throughout the house.
Re: cast-iron skillets, yes, there is an egg in my breakfast. It actually did stick to the pan a fair amount, but that's probably my own fault for not cleaning the pan between sautéing the onions/peppers and scrambling the egg. Oh well. I find that with cast iron, the more you use it the more non-stick it gets, slowly but surely. But also, as for cleaning, we've been using these simple little pan scrapers:
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-SCRAPERPK-Durable-Polycarbonate-Scrapers/dp/B0039UU9UO/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1453743551&sr=1-1&keywords=lodge+scraper
And while they look like nothing much they really get the job done! No re-seasoning necessary afterwards (and we use them on our stainless steel pans too).