Pantry!

I think a pantry, any pantry,  needs a top to bottom re-examination and scrub once a year. 

At my house, with very high shelves, this means my husband on a ladder, handing things down to me, scrubbing/drying the shelves, and then putting the keepers away. 

As I was handing the keeper stuff to my husband to put away, I had to urge him to spread things out. I finally said - like a magazine is coming to shoot tomorrow for an article. 

I was very aggressive this year. Everything I questioned, my husband was perfectly willing to let go, he was not attached to anything. He did not care how long we had it, who gave it to us, how much it cost. Progress! 

We sorted based on whether or not we use it regularly, whether or not we use it with a houseful, whether or not we even like it. 

We got rid of things we have had for almost 40 years. We got rid of family things that are older than I am (61). We got rid of things we used to use, but have not used in years. We got rid of things we have never used. 

So yes, ALL THAT pictured above, plus what the girls took, came out of my pantry. 

No, I do not have a before photo for you. Yes, I wish I did. But it was a spontaneous project. We were well underway  before I thought of a picture. 

The pantry now feels like it has room to breathe. 

Bottom left 

Top left

Normally I avoid Shondaland

 I have learned to steer clear of Shondaland shows. 

Shondaland, before I started avoiding ABC -

I loved Grays Anatomy for the first couple seasons, then it turned soap opera-ish for me. Ditto Private Practice. 

I could not stand the flashback style of How to Get Way with Murder. 

I loved Scandal in the beginning, I thought the writing was strong and it was very well cast, then it got a little too off course for me. 

So I learned I was not a Shondaland fan. 

It got easy because I learned to avoid anything on ABC. They/ABC have a very clear type of show business plan that does not appeal to me. The only way I can describe it is I think they write down to what they think is their audience instead of writing up. 

Back to my point - now that Shondaland has moved to Netflix, I run into her. 

Shondaland on Netflix -

I could not sit through even one full episode of Bridgeton, way too soap opera-ish for me. And at that time I did not realize it was Shondaland. Middle was watching, I sat, I tried, I left. 

Inventing Anna on Netflix -

So, when the girls wanted to watch Inventing Anna, I started gathering my things because I was sure I was not going to like it, simply because it was Shondaland. (I realize that is opposite of the general opinion.)

And while I did not love Inventing Anna, I did enjoy it. 

I was familiar with a bit of the true story, I saw a news story (on 2020 S43/E35).

Shondaland story is told with a lot of flashback, normally a negative, but somehow that did not bother me. I am not sure how else they could have done it. 

I got used to the (annoying) accent after a while, I give credit to the actress, because we looked up clips of the real Anna, and it is very correct. 

Each episode is an hour and while we liked the show, each hour seemed l-o-n-g. The ten episodes seemed like a lot. I did not want them to eliminate any of the characters or story, I just think it needed tighter writing and editing. Like 50 minute episodes would have made a big, positive difference. 

LOVED the reporter character, well written, perfectly cast. She 100% made the show. I found this great article - 

https://www.vulture.com/article/inventing-anna-fact-check-jessica-pressler.html

Two big drawers in the kitchen

 These were super fast clean outs. I got rid of a few things. I rearranged dishpans which helped a lot. I switched some other things between the two drawers too. If you are wondering about the hammer, I use it to tap the knife when cutting watermelon, squash, etc. If you are wondering about the new knives, if I have company complaining about the sharpness of my regular knives, I open a new one for them. 

Before -

After -

Before - 

After -

NBC

I love The Blacklist. I think it is smart and well written and unique. It is very well cast. I cannot predict it. The latest season broadcast recently. It was previously the only show I watched on NBC. 

I am watching the newest Law and Order on NBC. I enjoy each week, but not quite as strongly as the original series. 

NBC won me over for a second series this year when they resurrected the original Law and Order (above). I went back and watched Law and Order LA on Prime also. I am currently watching Law and Order Criminal Intent on Peacock.  

I just added a third NBC series - 

This is not a duplicate of The Black List, but it is similar. The writing is very good, it is clever. The casting is fabulous.  I am a big fan of Morena Baccarin. I am becoming a fan of Ryan Michelle Bathe. These two main characters are female minorities and are written as brilliant women. Both actors do a great job. 

I have the NBC app and the Peacock App. Between the two of them, I am able to watch NBC for free. Sometimes there is a commercial, I think just one at a time, it does not bother me. 

The computer room clean out

Nearly two years (2020-2021) of my husband working at home, and my mother bringing all her photos to my house (2019), and the stacked boxes from my husband’s old office clean out (2017) cumulated in a very big mess. 

If you look at that picture and wonder how the counter can handle the weight, it could not. One of the support brackets broke in half. 

A handyman installed a temporary support post. 

I ordered a four drawer cabinet for storage and to support the counter. I ordered the cabinets (Lowe’s) at the end of January, they arrived mid April. 

Those cabinets are my limit now. 7 years of tax binders/my genealogy binders not included, all the papers/files in the house must now fit in these four drawers. 

This is where we are today, very pleasant workspace, I am in there daily now -

The steps in this process included:

- shipping about 36 packages of photos to other people

- getting rid of 2 old file cabinets on wheels

- installing a 4 drawer storage unit for counter support 

- shredding an enormous volume of old papers 

- limiting papers to what fits in the 4 new file drawers

- repairing the broken support

- cleaning out every cupboard and cubby

- removing all the extraneous stuff from the floor 

- removing as much as possible from the counter

- rearranging the printer/PC work stations 

We devoured both seasons of this series

We are not team rainbow. We are team Dewey Decimal System. Just saying. 

But I absolutely agree with making shelves, closets and drawers look fabulous. 

And how much must they charge to cover all their air fare, hotels, staff? 

Scanners

We compared our two scanners before starting on my genealogy scanning photos project.

The portable Epson was the clear choice. Youngest plugged it into the house PC. It has been doing really well for me. It is able to “pull” a lot of the old images and save photos. 

Here is a good example. 

When I got done scanning some of my great grandmother’s photos, I spread them out on the floor and took a picture with my phone to show you. 

The photo in the left lower corner is my topic. See how it just looks like a muddy mess to the naked eye? 

The power of scanning - the print is almost gone, the scanned one (below) is much clearer. 

I think this photo is a good example because the photo is slightly blurry, there is very little contrast when looking at the original with the naked eye. The flowers and her dress all blend, the color is definitely fading, there is little definition. The scanner was able to pull a lot of the original photo. 

Cooking shows

 One of the winners from the original version of the Great British Baking Show, Nadiya, cohosted the first season of a cooking show on Netflix. 

Two teams of three family members each compete in pairs. Each team cooks three times, two in the studio and once in their home. 

The first season of this show ticked all the boxes for us. We got to see one British kitchen from each family (two per episode) and home cooking. We saw a lot of ethnic recipes. The various combinations of family members cooking together was fun.

We tried the second season and disliked it. They changed the hosts/judges/format. 

So we followed Nadiya over to her next projects/Netflix, we are in the midst of Time to Eat and enjoying it. 

A public service announcement about Polaroid photos

In short, Polaroid photos do not last. In the days before digital, they were “instant” in a very fun way. If you have polaroids you care about, get them scanned quickly.

This print is nearly gone. But I think you will be able to see what the scanner can still pull from my examples (below). 

This first one is the scanned version, the scanner was able to pull up some of the photo. Notice the chimney, trees in the background and details of the snow. They are somewhat visible in this scanned version. If you are trying to place it, this is a big snow on my grandparents’ farm probably in the very late 1960's or early 1970's. 

This second one is the scanned version, lightened.

This last version is what the photo actually looks like. This one was taken with my phone and is a more accurate view of what the photo looks like to the human eye. Notice the trees are not really visible. One has to squint to see the chimney. It looks like night or under deep water. 

A funny little drawer

 Before -

It was a little tricky to figure out how to organize this drawer, because it is very small, 12” x 13.5”.  It houses things I use every day, in a little chest next to my spot in the living room. 

I found a good option, I bought two identical 5 piece drawer organizers. 

I pulled the pieces I needed and the rest are going to Youngest’s new kitchen in (early!) May. 

The green basket by the backdoor

This green basket is actually part of a focused paper/files clean out. I am on the lookout around the whole house for extra papers. The plan is to have every household paper/file in our four file drawers. 

Here we go, a spot that was overflowing with papers and  just itching for a sorting - 

Yes, it is a wonder it was still hanging on the wall. 

Much nicer now. 

What stayed: my epipens, garage door opener for my dog neighbor’s house (incase her keypad fails), spring seeds, small amount of emergency cash, gift certificates. 

A couple extra garage door openers went in the hen basket in the credenza. I rehomed a couple things. I listed several things for sale. Things went in recycling and the garbage.   Only about six things moved to their proper files in the house drawer in the filing cabinet. Many things were shredded. 

The whole operation took about 20 minutes. This was done on a very quiet day and made my afternoon feel quite productive. 

PS - I have found a lot of gift cards and gift certificates as I have sorted. If they are somewhere I go regularly, I put them in my crossbody. If they are places the girls go, I give them to them. If they are “future” places, like the greenhouse where I will buy flowers next spring, I put them in this basket. Other future places were the car wash, the bird food store, and a nursery. 

Very useful drawer in the kitchen

Others might call it a junk drawer, but I do not think of it that way, at all. To me, it is an office supply drawer. 

It has occurred to me that all of these supplies are duplicated in the computer room. I could walk down the hall and get supplies from there. And if I was short on kitchen drawers, that is exactly what I would do. 

I suspect this drawer in the kitchen is the one we all use the most often. It is very handy. 

I straighten this drawer pretty regularly. Here is how it looked just as I was getting started, this time - 

My motivation? The medicine bottles lined on the right side, the twisty ties and rubber bands cluttering the back, and the haphazard pens, pencils, markers. 

For weeks I kept thinking - why did I think those medicine bottles were a good idea? What on earth is in all of them? 

One day, waiting for the microwave, I thought, I am going to see exactly what is in all those medicine bottles. 

And to my surprise, they were all empty. And they were very green, ours are brown. I have no idea where they came from or how they ended up on the drawer. They are now in recycling.

I realized - I am not required to save every twisty tie. I use the twisty ties that come on things, but I do not actually reuse them on other things. I saved the very large ones and put them in the garage with zip ties. I pitched the small/obnoxious ones, quite happily. 

Between that drawer and a bag in the computer room, this is how many rubber bands I had in the house -

I saved one and ALL the rest went to my backdoor neighbor. I order asparagus every week which comes with two of the very good wide purple rubber bands, I will be restocked regularly.

I also cleaned out this many fat highlighters from this drawer and the computer room and they went up my backdoor neighbor also. I kept a small set of the skinny highlighters that are much easier to store. 

I kept three of the very good white erasers and sent my neighbor two, still in their wrappers -

I rearranged the drawer a little bit, and here is where we are today - 

Make no mistake, it will needed sorted again in about 6 mos. It is a magnet for weird things. 

A public service announcement about old yearbooks

I am pleased to share - my senior yearbook (1979) went to a county library. I used the post office’s book rate, shipping was very inexpensive. (My brother is now looking thru his things to see if he still has his yearbooks.)

This is not the library in my old high school town. It is actually the next town over, but in the same county. 

This library has a very large genealogy department including a huge collection of local high school yearbooks that they have scanned and put online. Their goal is to get one copy of every yearbook from all the high schools in their county. 

The 1931 yearbook, from my maternal grandfather, is posted on their site. 1931 was his sophomore year. His other three years worth of yearbooks are missing from the collection. He went to a high school two towns over from mine, but in the same county. 

In the process of looking at his one yearbook online, and (really) missing the other three of his years, it was clear the library needed more yearbooks to complete their collection. I found they had all their gap years posted on a “want list” by high school. And I realized all my own high school years (and my brother’s) were on that list. I called to verify and get the shipping address. 

The librarians were excited. I was bittersweet. I was so glad to have found a worthwhile home for my senior yearbook, but a little sad to only be shipping one book, not four.  

I thought I had yearbooks from all four of my high school years. And I thought I knew exactly where they were, in a box in the attic with my husband’s yearbooks. But mine from 9th thru 11th grade were not there, which is a mystery. 

In the process of hunting for my missing yearbooks, my mom realized she still had a variety of yearbooks from her second husband. Some high school, some college, some from when he was teaching, all of these were old. I donated them to the genealogy department my local library, they have a national collection of materials. They are very pleased to get them. 

Two medicine cabinets

I have discovered if things have a place, I am far less frustrated. If I find a stray pair of shoes, I take them out and put them on the garage shoe rack, with very little thought and no annoyance. This realization/coping mechanism has made a huge, positive difference in my life. 

I wipe the bathroom counter and sinks most mornings, just before I hop in the shower. There is always a little something on the counter on my husband’s side. I put it away, no problem, because it is usually just one little thing. 

If I went weeks without wiping the counter, lots of things would collect on his side and my side. So the wiping serves two purposes - decluttering and actual scrub/cleaning. 

Last month, cleaning out the computer room, I found about a half dozen containers of dental floss. I put it all in my husband’s medicine cabinet. But then in subsequent days, putting things from the counter to the cupboard, floss kept falling on my head.

I have learned, to truly organize a space, I must pull everything out and start fresh.

Note: in the above picture, I had already put all the floss in a long/skinny basket. There was a lot of floss. Those baskets work GREAT in medicine cabinets, I have one in mine too (below). All the moisturizer bottles in mine, tip out on my head easily. That basket works wonders at keeping them steady.  

While his cabinet was empty, I scrubbed it and actually reduced the number of shelves. I had done the same thing in mine previously. Less shelves made for better storage in both cabinets. 

I was going to have my husband go thru his medicine cabinet  pile on the counter, but decided to look at expiration dates and pitch the old stuff first. Much of it dated back to 2014-16, by the time I pulled the expired stuff, the rest was very simple, and I reorganized it in his cabinet. 

What is very interesting about this process, was the week before we started on on the computer room, my husband had me add dental floss to the grocery order.  

Once it was all together in one spot, so much dental floss. I have found this with many other areas of the house, like rubber bands. Once they have ONE designated spot, it is startling how much there is. 

A public service announcement about standard size envelopes

First, let me announce, I am now up to 28 photo packages mailed. Each one is very exciting.

I have been using the kiosk at the post office, after hours, for almost all my mailing needs for the last couple years. I have mailed a lot of things since March 2020.  

Several Saturdays ago, I had two packages to mail that needed checked out by a clerk. I had a box going to Sweden which required a customs form. I had a box going book rate to a library (yearbook donation post coming soon). I could not do either of those at the kiosk. 

That day, I had three envelopes going also. These 3 were envelopes I normally would do at the kiosk, but since I was going IN anyway, I took them all to the counter. One was half size manilla filled with photos, one was a greeting card size full of photos, and one was an empty square notecard in a square envelope. 

I put a stamp on the square one, at home, because it was not heavy. 

When I got to the counter at the post office I commented one already had the postage and the rest needed weighed/calculated. 

The post office clerk said the square one needed more postage because it was square. Evidently, square, regardless of the size, must be hand sorted, they get caught/destroyed in the machine/reader/sorter.

So I paid for 30 cents more postage on the square one. He processed the rest of my things. 

I went home and collected all my square envelopes and gave them to a friend who uses them for scrapbooking. 

Very interestingly, later that same day I was at a bookstore, having them buy back old computer games, and I browsed in the close-out notecard section while I waited. A shocking number of the close out notecards were undersized and/or square. (I found cute notecards, 3.5”x5”, and got them for youngest with my store credit. I try to use store credit immediately.)

I am sure I have used square envelopes in the past, with no extra postage, and now I wonder if they ever made it to their destinations. 

The mystery 8th grade class photo from 1933.

The first story was the 152 mystery photos from my great grandma’s album that went to the library. The second story was Delbert. This class picture is (I think) my last mystery photo/the third story. It is so nice when things work out in threes. 

Unfortunately, the photo was clearly cut to fit some crazy shaped frame long ago. Many of the names are no longer readable on the back. I can sort of make out the ones on the front enough to be fairly certain no relatives are listed. I also do not recognize faces. Did you notice “8th grade” and “1933” handwritten on the bottom?

First, I sent this electronic image to the genealogy department in my birth town library. The lady there can work magic. I heard back pretty quickly that she had traced several of the names to Dolton, Illinois. They suggested I write to the genealogy society there, I did. 

Part of that makes sense. My maternal grandmother lived in Dolton as a child. 1933 is about right for her to be in 8th grade. Two problems: she does not appear to be in this picture. I think she only completed the 6th grade. 

I heard back from Dolton genealogy society. This is what they said -

“This school still exists. It is in the elementary school district where I attended as a child. The school is located at 14151 Lincoln Avenue, Dolton, IL. It is in District #148 which covers parts of Riverdale and Dolton. The district office is located at 114 W. 144th Street, Riverdale, IL 60827. phone 708-841-2290. I looked for some of the names that were listed on the photo. Most of these students were born in 1920 in Dolton. I tried to locate a graduation list on Newspapers.com but could not find one. The Pointer was the local newspaper in Riverdale and Dolton at that time. I know that the Dolton Public Library has microfilm of the Pointer newspaper. I would check with them to see if they can locate a graduation list. Please send a donation to our Society for the time spent researching this question.”

I first mailed them a check for $5. I rarely have to pay, on this project I ended up paying twice. 

She did not state the name of the school, I looked it up from the address. It is Lincoln Elementary. The “Lincoln” becomes ironic later in the story. 

Then I called the Dolton library and the reference librarian told me their microfilm machine broke and they pitched all their microfilm. (I wrote back to the Dolton genealogy society and told them this shocking news). 

Then I called the School District office and was told by the assistant that their records do not go back that far. I left a message for one of the head people, just incase. 

Then stumped, I called my genealogy department at my local library. He gave me the number for the Illinois State library. I did not know there were state libraries. The Illinois State library could not help me, but gave me the number for the Abe Lincoln Presidential Library. 

And the reference librarian at the presidential library confirmed they have newspaper archives from the Pointer newspaper in Dolton/Riverdale from 1933.

I had to register (online) with the Abe Lincoln library. There is a $5 fee for each article, and they are sent by email as a PDF. 

I sent the reference librarian (doing the actual search) a copy of the front and bank of the photo as well as the information from my birth town library and the genealogy society in Dolton. 

I heard this past week that she had success. I mailed my $5 check, online payment is usually not available for these searches. So I should be getting my PDF, maybe this coming week. 

I have a plan. If the list confirms no one in my family is in this photo, I will do two things. I will first see if my local library genealogy department wants to scan/post the photo and class list. And then I will see if the Abe Lincoln Presidental library wants the actual photo. 

Delbert

I do not pitch things lightly. And that definitely includes photos. 

As I have shipped and shipped, 23 packages, the piles have definitely dwindled. I am left with my direct line/keeper people which now feels very manageable.

But I was also left with mystery/unknown photos. I have been working on those, steadily. 

Dropping off 152 unknowns at the library definitely helped reduce my mystery pile. That left just a few. 

It is just crazy what I have found in the unknown photo stash. Here is a good example -

(There were more photos). 

I have absolutely no idea how we have these pictures. The city and the face and the name mean nothing to me, my mother, my mother’s sister, my mother’s sister-in-law and brother. 

I am pretty sure I found the right guy and posted them on Find a Grave, so they are saved. 

The Genealogy Dept in my birth town, who knows my extended family, could not place him (as related to my family) either. But they found his grandson’s mailing address for me. 

I sent the package of photos with this note - 

January 25, 2022

A couple years ago, my mom and I started sorting extended family photos including those of my grandparents and great grandparents. (My mom just turned 81, and lives a couple blocks from me. I am turning 61 in March.) The photo clean out has been a very worthwhile project, and much easier to do while my mom is still alive/well/able to help identify/sort. 

We ran across the enclosed packet of photos. We suspect they were in with my great grandmother’s things. Her name was ________________ and she lived at Koontz Lake in Walkerton, Indiana. We are only guessing this because Pierceton and Koontz Lake are sort of near to each other. Otherwise, it is an utter mystery to us, how these photos ended up at my house. 

The genealogy department at the _______ County library was able to trace Delbert and if they are correct, you are his grandson. If this is not correct, please contact me. If it is correct – surprise, here are photos of your grandfather from long ago. 

Either way, my mother and I are very curious to hear from you. Maybe you have an older relative that might shed some light on these mystery photos.

The unknown photos from my great grandmother’s album

As I mentioned, after I shipped hundreds of photos, I was able to focus on what I had left. Besides my direct line keepers, I had a lot of unknowns. I do not pitch photos easily, but I also have a use it or lose it philosophy, finding a solution for a pile of unidentifiable photos required thought. 

Last month, with much relief, I dropped a large envelope with 152 photos off at the local genealogy department. Yes, that picture (below) is 152 photos, doesn’t look like that much, does it? 

In Indiana, many county libraries have very good (staffed) genealogy departments. I use several of them regularly. The one in my town happens to be one of the best in the country.  

I had called earlier and explained that I had unlabeled photos from my great grandmother’s album that were approximately WWI era. They discussed it within the department and then called to say that yes, they wanted them, if I was willing to write an accompanying piece about my great grandmother. 

I wrote, youngest helped me edit. I included information about my great grandma’s parents and grandparents and two husband’s. I talked about the restaurant that her mother and step-father ran in the early 1900’s near the railroad station, where they worked and met many people. I talked about who might be in the photos, mentioning family lines and WWI soldiers. 

The library is going to scan the photos and include my piece when they post the collection online. I am not sure if it will be edited or included as I wrote it. 

The relief, to have something meaningful to do with those photos, was huge. I estimate that most were taken before 1922. So yes, 100 year old photos. 

I could not bring myself to pitch them. But I had to think very hard what to do with them. 

I shipped hundreds and hundreds of photos to extended family

Added later - very important to put all the photos in zip lock plastic bags. My niece’s box was delivered to a door they never use. It got wet, photos in their bag were fine.

These (below) were the bigger packages, I used flat rate boxes from the post office. It was $16 for the larger boxes in this picture and  $10 for the small. The larger envelopes were all under $5, and many were $2. 

It was about $90 postage for this first pile which included many hundreds of photos from my house and my mother’s house. I shipped mostly to my first cousins, my brother, my niece and nephew. They received pictures of themselves, with their siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. 

Yes, there were a lot over overlapping lines. I used my best judgement. 

And the most important part? I went thru everything, before I shipped the first box. The metal cabinet upstairs that I thought only housed photos from my husband’s family, had lots of other friends/family photos. 

I was very, very happy with this project. I have saved my kids a lot of grief. Cleaning out our house at some future date, this would have been impossible for them. My mom (81) sorted hers. I sorted mine. I combined, resorted and shipped. 

More info is here -

https://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-extended-family-photo-project.html?m=1

The following week, I shipped several more half size mantilla envelopes, not in the picture. Then more envelopes went, one or two at a time. These went to college friends, my mom’s first cousin, former neighbors, some of my husband’s cousins. I shipped an envelope of slides to my aunt and uncle. We included a note with every package. 

We are hearing back from people as the (23) packages arrive. Some are excited, some are joyfully tearful. People are getting together to go thru their boxes. 

And yes, as soon as we ship, even though we went thru things carefully, we find a few straggler photos. I have a system in place for that now. 

I put three odd red envelopes in the cubby with my holiday card supplies. When we find a random photo now, it goes in the red envelopes and then will be distributed in my holiday cards next year. 

I saved the “direct line” photos of myself with my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles. Getting rid of the hundreds of extras, allows me to really focus on the photos I saved. I am now working on several projects. 

Slides - a public service announcement

I am sorting family photos. We have very few slides. 

This is a public service announcement, because we did not know, the slides were in boxes. 

That is my mom in the white coat, who is now 81, so these slides are about 65 years old.

We looked it up, this happens to slides with age. They do not last. 

If your family has slides, get the important ones printed. 

We have very few that we care about. My husband is taking the keepers to the downtown library. They have a scanner that we can use for free to scan slides to digital. Have to take your own memory stick.

Also photo places will convert/print them. 

We do not have a lot. The ones on the light box are from my mom’s family. There are only a couple keepers. The ones in the bin are from my husband’s side. We do not know how many keepers, we suspect just a few.