Chez Larsson

365 Day 113-119

My mom has a small but interesting garden. We don't share the same taste in a whole lot but I kind of like the way she arranged rocks around a small fountain.


Here's another nice surprise in her garden. When mom told be she was getting new furniture I kind of thought, "well as long as she's happy with it" but then I saw these and I really approved!


Ok, I'm gonna have to google these. Hold on a sec. Aha! Wood-Anemone! Anyway, I love them. Useless to pick and put in a vase as they hold for about 5 seconds but they really do symbolize spring.


EDIT: Ok, I did it again. Left one day out. Here it is! My mom and I took many walks with Rahma, her doggy, and I brought the camera to get some inspiration shots. Love these galvanized planters and the buxus.


Speaking of flowers, here's a four inch pile of botanical prints that Martin's aunt gave me years ago. So far I've organized the flowers by color (I know, but I can't help it) but I'm dying to do something with them.


Happy Birthday Mini & Bonus! Love, love, love. And kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. One for each of their five years. We had a bit of a shrimp fest that night and that's Wille's hand which didn't peel nearly fast enough.

Aha, I think I'm on to something. I've got an idea. It does involve moving the boat from our livingroom wall to another location and it still needs to be negotiated but I'm liking this for a change. Will keep you posted on the progress.

Have a good weekend! My friend Anne and her daughter are coming over on Saturday and since the IBS sufferers will outnumber the people who can eat, it will be an interesting meal. Haha!

Too Much of a Good Thing

My mom had this thing about trying new hair and body products. I say had because the photos below are from when I visited last time in November. The photo above is from this weekend. As you'll see she's come a long way.


These are all the products that cluttered up the shower stall and the bathtub. Nothing was full and nothing was entirely empty either. With mom's approval I tossed some of the stuff that she didn't like and then I decanted what little there as in some bottles into one with schampoo, one with conditioner and one with soap.

Then I forbade her to buy a single new bottle until she had used up the one's she still had. Haha!  But it worked! When I arrived at her house last Thursday I was amazed that there were exactly three bottles (one in the shower stall and two by the tub) out and after sneaking a peek in her cabinet noticed that she hadn't stocked up with new ones either. Way to go mom!

Please excuse the quality of these photos btw, they were taken with my cell phone. Remind me not to do that ever again.

Yuck + Get Organized

See that drawer under our oven? No? Well there is one and in it we keep less often used pans and a mortar and pestle.


The thing about the drawer is that because it's right under the oven door, any grease that's on the door will drip into the drawer when the oven is hot. After a while it looks disgusting. A while ago I came up with the solution of a newspaper liner.


All that needs to be done when it's too gunky and disgusting is to remove the dirty newspaper and put a fresh one down instead. Easy peasy!

Oh, do you also want to get more organized...but maybe don't know where to start? My friend Aby's Organizing 101 is the fresh start you need! In this online workshop, led by Aby who is a professional organizer, you'll learn how to move from feeling overwhelmed to feeling motivated, inspired and empowered to get organized, once and for all. Aby will teach you a straightforward approach for decluttering your home. Plus you'll find out how to organize and store all the things you keep so they're easy to use (and put away when you're finished!).

The workshop is loaded with information that makes it simple to create a plan for decluttering and organizing. Plus throughout the workshop you have online access to Aby and a community of fellow classmated. It will give you everything you need to get your organizing projects done. The workshop starts May 6th, next Thursday, and here's where you can find out more about getting organized.

Cleaning a Bottle with Rice

Mom had this bottle filled with some old vinegar and after emptying it out there was still some gunk on the interior walls that would't come out. I heard about this method of using rice somewhere ( Martha?) and decided to try it out.


All you need to do is to pour in a couple of table spoons of uncooked rice in the bottle, add an inch of water and then shake vigorously for a few minutes.


And it works! I didn't expect it to work that well but it did. The rice scrubbed the inside clean. I've heard coarse salt works too. Will try that next time!

Cleaning Mom's Fridge

Exhibit A. Mom's fridge.

My mom has poor eyesight due to a problem with her retinas so when I visit her I try and help her out with things she can't do such as properly clean her fridge.

I'm always amazed at the amount of stuff she has in there (and you should see her freezer!). If I were living alone there would be one piece of cheese, a chunk of butter, a liter of milk and not a whole lot more. I'm really glad that she cooks proper meals for herself though.


I like to take everything out when cleaning. Because there isn't a whole lot of space to put stuff I did the fridge door first and the interior after.


All the shelves and accessories went into the kitchen sink for a good soaking and scrubbing. I ended up not putting back quite a few of the accessories because they are in the way and I could tell mom didn't use them.


Then I turned my attention to the contents. Above you see everything that I discarded. Hint; if something greets you when you open the fridge door or if your veg have funny hair dos it's time to let them go. If the date says 1999 that could also be a clue.
 
When everything was nice and clean and I started putting the shelves back I left out a weird curved one. Just because the fridge designer thought it was a good idea doesn't mean you do. It was just in the way and meant that tall stuff ended up blocking the low jars which ended up going bad and expiring.


I love how there's now space in there for everything and that the shelves have been adjusted to accommodate the tall containers as well as the short. Mom was pleased too.

And what's with these photos by the way? I'm totally unable to use the point and shoot without getting blurred shots. So weird.

Anyways, I'm on my way back home again on the train. It was nice to see mom but I'm excited to go home. All those carpets, paintings and do-dad's of my mom's get to me after a few days. I need a huge dose of clutter free now.