Project #2
So you’ve been biting your nails, anxiously waiting to learn what you’ve always wanted to know — what I found in my junk drawer. It’s been an exciting project. I’m learning a lot during this solitary COVID-19 life, which I’m now passing on to you, my readers — free of charge!
Firstly, I was surprised at how pristine my junk
looks like mine
drawer actually was. My cabinets were installed 28 years ago and it had never ever been emptied.
Here’s a hint for you: Never work with food on your kitchen counters while drawers below are open. That way, no food or crumbs get into them. (Now, aren’t you lucky to have been given this brilliant tip? Also free of charge?)
My drawers ALL look like junk drawers
I learned that all my kitchen drawers LOOK like junk drawers and I marvel at how my loved ones knew which I was talking about when I used that term. Will they recognize it now?
It’s about a week since I neatened my junk drawer. It will take about a week until it’ll be back to it’s familiar mess. But that’s okay, I’ll then know whose kitchen I’m in.
Stuff I found:
Tin foil to sharpen scissors, rose made of wood, metal straws w/cleaning brush, and bottle opener from France
A beautiful rose made of wood (I think) by Dusty, a wood-wright who moved away. We used to have morning coffee at Benny’s, which is gone too. (Dusty follows my blog. I’m keeping it.)
Left over tin foil, to sharpen scissors. (Another tip! It really works. Cut foil with your dull scissors.)
Some metal straws with a cleaning brush, a gift from Alison. I’m enjoying one I use on my office desk. (You can’t have any, no way Jose.)
A bottle opener, from Paris, with Napoleon on one side and the Eiffel tower on the other. (Please take it.)
Butterfly pin, seed splitters, key chains w/lights, tea holder
A butterfly pin, given me by a friend just before she checked out for good. It reminds me of her and it’ll stay.
Two items to split seed shells, used (I think) for watermelon seeds. Chinese students’ families used to give me them because I like them. (If you know where to buy them I’ll be your best friend.)
Four key chains, with lights. Friends know I like them with a light. (Up for grabs.)
One something to hold tea leaves. I don’t drink tea and have teabags for friends. (Also up for grabs.)
How long will it last???
This most exciting post about a thrilling COVID:19 project is my attempt to help you manage the current crisis. What next? Maybe I’ll find a way to get a hug one of these days. I miss them most of all. Stay tuned. I’ll let you know….
View from Over the Hill 
What amazes me most in our junk drawers are the random, totally useless things that somehow manage to accumulate in there. Examples: one loose screw that must have fallen off some object long since gone and/or forgotten. Mystery keys to no locks known to man. A five-inch-long leather string. A rock-hard, dried up wodge of some unrecognizable substance in a plastic zip-lock baggie. Why were these things saved in a drawer and not thrown away? What was the logic behind those decisions, and who made them? If it was me, I seriously need my head examined!
I think your kind of junk drawer is genetic Susan: And so is the fact you need your head examined. Look who your mother is! Chuckle. I love you, Maughm
I wonder if people had junk drawers two thousand or more years ago. In ancient Egypt or Greece for instance.
Of course they did Neil: We find them sometimes, don’t we? Even cavemen probably knew about junk drawers and collected mastodon bones they thought looked interesting. Ahem! (If you think I know what I’m talking about, you’re in real trouble.) Muriel
I bet they did! Objects in the ancient Egyptian drawer: One ear broken off a statue of Horace; one two-foot long strip left over from a roll of mummy wrap; three shekels found in a robe pocket after that family trip to Jerusalem; a nub from a kohl stick; one child’s sandal in search of a mate…
Do you think they may have my sock which was missing in my last laundry???
Well now ……as for clutter in my drawers….because I can, I throw the clutter drawer out occasionally to keep things organized then I just make new Drawers….junk begone, Wala case closed ….the woodwright….
You made me laugh out loud. Loved the picture of you tossing the drawer out altogether and starting all over. Funny….. Take care of you!
This is priceless, and you have brightened my day! Such fun to go through the drawer with you, and to see your lovely face, as well! How I miss going to Benny’s on Broadway: the bagels, the beer, the coffee, the big, leafy tree shading the patio tables. Oh well, there’s always the Arbutus Cafe—I do hope it’s still there. Is it, Muriel?
Hi Val: Exploring my junk drawer was an adventure and a learning experience. My former editor called to tell me his grandmother called the tea thing a ‘tea egg’, then another friend said it’s a ‘tea egg’. What do you call it? (Chuckle.)
I don’t know about the Arbutus Cafe. Right now, like everything else, they’re closed. Sorry….
Your “tea egg” is also called a “tea ball”, or a “tea ball strainer” by some people. They’re a bit of a bother to fill with the loose tea leaves, actually! Cute though, aren’t they?
Thanks Val: Actually I goofed when I typed what I had been told the tea thingy was called. My editor said ‘tea egg’ and my friend said ‘tea ball’, but once I typed it and posted the comment, I have no idea how to correct it. So, you are right on. I didn’t know I’d have so much fun with this silly post, but I guess we all need something like this right now. Love ya, take care lady, Muriel
What a pleasant blog. It certainly diverted my mind, which is trying to keep its sanity these days, from the negative news to a pleasant experience: happy memories from a junk draw. That French bottle opener probably brought back great memories. Great blog Muriel. It prompted me to go through one of my junk drawers in my bedroom. I found a battery operated bright light that works wonders in a dark closet. It has been lost for 2 years so it was nice to discover it.
Thank you Joe: That was the whole idea. We have so much bad news these days, we need a little nonsense as well. So glad you took time out of the awful present to look through your own junk drawer. AND you found a lost treasure. Great. Enjoy it and take care of you!!!
You are catching up on a lot of stuff. I am glad to see you healthy and stress-free.
Thanks. You’re encouraging. However, no matter how many emails I try to clear out, there seems to be more. I’m beginning to think I’ll never catch up! You stay well now…..
Sending you a virtual hug and hoping you are safe and healthy. Seems like indoor cleaning has never been more popular! Your own forays into the junk drawer prompted me to search for the most out-of-order item in mine: it’s a tie between a single lint-wrapped hard candy and a baby sock (not mine).
Now you have me wondering about the mystery of the baby sock. You have my permission to dump the tie attached to the candy. Good on you! Stay safe.