Category Archives: Home stuff

Paper towel hack

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Disposable paper products can be a great thing or just another way to separate us from our hard-earned money. I’m not a greenie by any stretch of the imagination but I’ve cut down on buying/using some paper products: paper napkins, paper plates, tissues, paper bags. Paper products I can’t give up are: paper towels and toilet paper.

Terrycloth hand towels are the norm for us, however, I like to wipe up greasy, oily spills and other grossness with something I can throw away.

This started years ago when paper towel companies came up with the “select-a-size” gimmick. I ignored it. Then I bought some and lo and behold, I loved having that choice of a half-sheet, whole sheet or even one-and-a half sheets and beyond.

I waste less when I can pick a smaller towel for a smaller clean-up.

The last time paper towels were on sale, I bought one (or two) packages. I thought they were the select-a-size but when I was putting them away, I realized they were the whole sheet towels.

Enter the hack: I cut a roll of towels in half with a saw so I have half-sheet paper towels. I wanted easy access to both sizes of towels so I had to come up with a way to adjust my towel holder.

This is the super-duper strong magnetic paper towel holder I have (more colors available) that lives on the side of my refrigerator. It comes in two pieces so I can expand it with a longer core to fit both rolls. I used a tube from an aluminum foil roll that was smaller than the paper towel core, making vertical cuts at the bottom so it would fit snuggly over the end.

I put one roll over the new core,

the half roll,

then the top of the holder keeps everything in place.

I have two pieces of cardboard between both rolls so they can move independently but haven’t perfected that yet as they both turn when getting a towel.

So that’s my life hack.

Patti

Socks, KAL, Snow, Door, Bread

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First: The Socks I am on track to finish the second Broken Seed Stitch sock by the end of next week.

I just finished the heel flap on sock #2 and am ready to turn the heel. Then the gusset (which I detest), the rest of the foot, and finally the toe!

This picture is the side where the colors change. You can really see the jog in the stitches on sock #1 on the right. I tried to tighten the yarn at the color change point a bit on sock #2 so it isn’t as noticeable.

Second: KAL Winwick Mum is having a Winter Haven KAL. (That’s code for Knit-A-Long) One doesn’t have to knit the same thing as everyone else but she’s included a free sock pattern if desired. She has other patterns as well. The requirements are easy to join the KAL: knit one of her patterns or use one of her yarns from West Yorkshire Spinners. The Easy Mosaic socks I recently finished is one of her free patterns.

I’ve never done a KAL before but I’m going to try this one and use her free pattern called Trailblazer socks. I have to finish the BSS socks before I start on these as I need the short circular needle from those socks. Plus I need to shop my stash for the right yarn.

Third: Snow Mother Nature dropped 6-7 inches of snow on us Sunday night and Monday. We weren’t surprised that schools were closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday. But Wednesday and Thursday?? The roads were clear by Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Aitch emailed a teacher friend about no school. Evidently the wind chill factor was so low, the powers-that-be decided it was too cold for the kids to wait for the bus. 99.99% of the kids ride a bus and sit in their parent’s warm car/truck/SUV when waiting for the bus. Whatever. We don’t have kids in school and we’re both retired so it shouldn’t concern me.

Pepper loves the snow but hates getting her sweater on. Is it because it goes over her head? It’s a struggle but I put it on her if it’s below 25oF.

Fourth: Door Our front door was bare after I took down the Christmas decorations on Monday. I thought this was perfect.

Fifth: Bread I took advantage of the below freezing temperatures this week and baked bread to help heat the house. Two beautiful loaves of bread warmed us inside and out.

In fact this was lunch the day I baked it along with a glass of wine. I still haven’t found the perfect “sandwich” type bread recipe as mine always seem to have a course crumb. Any help would be appreciated.

I had a home improvement hack and some other things to talk about but this post was long enough.

Patti nona

Saving plants

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Our weather has turned much cooler this week. In fact it’s supposed to get close to freezing tomorrow night.

Just to be on the safe side, I brought my outside plants in for the winter.

I’ve had that asparagus fern (in the middle) for at least 10 years. I repotted it this spring and left it outside all summer. It really flourished!

The coleus on the left has also been around for a few years. I was surprised that I could keep that planted alive that long. The bright green one was pinched off the one of the plants from the planter on the right and just stuck in the soil. It took root and seems to be quite happy.

The planter on the right was new this year. It’s getting tall but scrawny. I think I’ll need to cut some of those plants back and hope I don’t kill them.

They are sitting on the “formal” dining room table for now. If we get company this fall or winter, I’ll have to find another place for them so we can sit at that table instead of crowd around the small table in our kitchen.

I think I need a new garden flag as that one sticking in the planter is so faded. “It’s Always 5 O’clock Here”

Do you try to save plants from one year to the next or just leave them outside and let Mother Nature do her thing?

Patti nona

April 2024 update

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The mauve (pink) carpeting has been on the stairs and two of the bedrooms on the second floor since we built the house in 1994. I never liked it from the get-go. The first floor is a lovely neutral beige. It needs to be replaced which will happen in the distant future.

See what I mean?

Granted the orangy oak wasn’t quite that pronounced at first and aged to that ugly color over the 30 years we’ve lived here.

I ran into some issues with the stain. The wood stair treads took the stain but the railing did not.

(I accidentally spilled some stain on the carpet in front of the door. Oops!)

After consulting with experts and expert-wanna-bes and messing around with this project for over a month, I finally found a solution with Minwax Polystain (not a paid review). The color is Espresso and I love it. I also decided not to stain the second flight as nobody goes up there and with the landing, it seemed like a good cutoff point. Plus it gave me less work to do.

To show off the darker treads, the risers were painted white.

The finished project with the new carpeting.

This has been on my bucket list for at least nine years! I’m very pleased with how this turned out. No more mauve carpet except for a few scrap pieces in the basement.

Got any big changes in your house?

Patti