The two big drawers in my island

The two lower drawers in island are huge! They have been re-evaluated and re-organized many times over the years. 

January 2024, this is how they looked when I started - 

Maybe we can all agree, they were tidy. There wasn’t anything actually wrong with either drawer. 

But several factors combined to call for change. 

- I can no longer work the mandolin or food processor (arthritis).

- since I do the dishes every day, I do not need all the measuring cup and spoons.

- I have been steadily moving away from plastic, toward glass and stainless. 

- some of these items retain hidden water coming out of the dishwasher which can ruin wood.

- The hammer sheds rust. (I use it to tap the knife to cut watermelon and squash.)

- The sifter sheds flour.

It was a sad day, but the solution was simple

One Saturday I was cooking a Green Chef bag as an early lunch. 

I grabbed my salt and pepper grinders and my hands could no longer do them. I have arthritis, my hands are the most impacted. 

It was this type of store bought grinder -

I was pretty sad. My list of things I can no longer do, grows a little each year. 

I called my youngest and she happened to be near her large mall, she stopped by William Sonoma and ordered a battery set for me as an early birthday present.

They come prefilled, including batteries. 

They are automatic, turning them upside down, starts the grinding. There is no button or twisting. 

The clerk told youngest that they have carried this style for years, it is very popular, and they sell a lot to special needs people (like people with arthritis).

Very good house shoes

This was an early Christmas gift for me from my oldest and his wife. I opened it at Thanksgiving because I was in great need. After a week, I ordered a second pair to save for when the first pair wears out. 

I have arthritis, I have foot issues that require support. These come with a larger price tag than most slippers, but are well worth it. 

They offer warmth, good support and I feel very steady on my feet. I wear them in the house only. We do not wear street shoes in the house. 

I normally take an 8, I followed the directions on the website to size up, and the 8.5 fits perfectly. I have a thin but slightly wide foot. 

An excel program helped

At a family wedding in August 2022, two of my husband’s cousins mentioned quilts I had given them for wedding gifts (which I did not remember) long ago. 

These two were siblings and the aunt and uncle of the October 1, 2022 wedding’s bride. That put quilts into my brain. 

I was not sure I could manage it, my left hand is quite bad (arthritis). But the thought was persistent - quilts, wedding gift, delayed wedding gift for the bride’s sister, using up fabric I had loved/kept. 

I had a fabulous pile of flannel already cut in 9.5” squares that went together nicely. And I thought that if I was very careful, I could get two large lap quilts out of it. 

Youngest built me a very simple excel program to expedite fabric placement. 

The goal was to lay out one quilt, only using half of each fabric, leaving enough for an identical second quilt. The excel program made it accurate and simple. I laid out the colors on the left (above) and the program kept track of used/remaining on the right (above).

I sewed the 9.5” squares together fairly easily. Middle pressed the seams for me. My long arm quilter quilted them on her machine. I sewed the binding on by machine, I am no longer able to do handwork.

The whole process was humbling. The quilts were so basic/simple that it was almost embarrassing (so far below my previous skill set). 

And it is sort of a sacrilege to sew the binding on by machine. (Normally it is sewn to the front of the quilt and then flipped around to the back and hand sewn so no stitches show.) I had to top stitch it, stitches showed. 

But finished, the quilts were nice. The solid gold fabric on the back is actually pin-whale corduroy, so the flannel quilts are thick/heavy. I did not have enough corduroy, I added a cotton print and used the same fabric for the binding. The colors are both fall-ish and Christmas-y. 

The excel program speeded up the process in an easy/accurate way. It also prevented errors. One of my concerns was making a mistake and then middle having to rip out seams. With the printed plan in hand, I was able to check each square carefully before I sewed, and prevent errors. 

My previous method would have been to lay all the squares on the floor and then run back and forth to the sewing machine. This would have been very time consuming and inaccurate since I was making two identical quilts. 

The excel program allowed me to figure out exact placement for both quilts and be confident I had enough of each color.

Heating pads

NEVER sleep with one. Very easy to get burned.

I use one in the living room. I use the heating pad on my upper back, a cherry pit hot pack on my lower back and two cherry pit hot packs on my feet. Makes a huge difference (arthritis).

I had a long one. But it did not hit my critical shoulder/neck area. The long one is now in my travel bag, on the road it will be useful.

I now have this one (below) and it is very nice. It folds over my shoulders and the tab reaches my neck. There is something like rice/pellets in the rolled edge, so it keeps its shape.

I turn it on high until it gets hot and then turn it to low.

Epsom salts

I have been taking a hot bath with 2 cups of Epsom salts every morning.

The combo of the two (heat, salt) gets my (arthritis) legs, back, hands moving each morning.