Necessary Purging
Our pantry is that place where everything that doesn’t have a legitimate home elsewhere ends up. There are the old fondue sets, the angel food cake pan, the Thermos bottles, and as it turns out lots and lots of trash.It seems that every trip to the grocery store results in a few more paper bags or many plastic bags. Their addition to what is already there is hardly perceptible.
Every visit to Costco means the need to store large quantities of whatever I buy – paper towels, napkins, bottles of water.
It’s so easy to pass by the pantry when you walk down the hall and not realize just what lies beyond that closed door. Even Jake seemed to be astounded at the mess when I opened the door this morning.
I’m not proud of the cleaning I just did. It was one of those Band-aid types that skims the surface. In fact, I need to take everything out of the pantry, sort and organize, and throw away a lot more than I did this morning.
But at least the dog hair on the floor has been swept and a large trash can has been filled with all those bags that we really don’t need. It shames me to think we don’t go to the grocery store with recycled bags every time. Maybe after seeing what I just threw out that will be my resolve.
In any event, the pantry looks better than it did earlier today and there is space to hold more cast-offs, at least for now.
Do you have a similar place where things just seem to end up?
posted by Barbara at 11:13 AM
7 Comments:
Boy, do I ever!!
I have a spare bedroom- which I have turned into a closet, so the ironing, extra shoes, old clothes for Amvets and anything else that needs to be ditched somewhere when I'm cleaning end up in there. Then there's the overflow into the other spare bedroom. I'm trying to get much better about purging, so we'll see where that goes.
I've bought these great shopping bags -from Trader Joe's-that stay in my car when I go to the grocery store. so, no more extra plastic bags for this girl. Plus, I get 10 cents back from the organic market when I use them instead of their bags- cool!
I don't have room for a space like that, but I know that my bedroom closet could use a major purge.
My workshop gets like that a lot -- done with a job, too tired to put stuff away, so it just gets put on any free horizontal surface. This usually continues until I can't find any of my tools or I can't find any space to work on.
Getting cloth reusable grocery bags is the next thing on my environmental to-do list.
Gewels, Ulysses -- You have both inspired me to buy cloth grocery bags. My small contribution to the environment.
Kristin -- Sometimes having less space makes a person be more careful about saving things, don't you think?
Oh the pantry! I have posted about mine more than once. It used to be very like yours. But since my husband retired he is the F & P P. Fridge & Pantry Police.
We have reusable bags too for shopping, but keep forgetting to get them out of the car, but we do load into them from the carts.
Now my secret stash for dumping stuff is the wardrobe in my computer/sewing room!
Years ago I bought 2 Trader Joe cloth bags. When I lived in the condo I took those bags with me when I shopped. I never bought more than what would fit in those bags at any one time, because I would have to make several trips up in the elevator to the 25th floor if I bought more. Now that I have a garage with entry to the house, I still use those bags but I have purchased two more.
My fear now that I have so much more space is that either the garage (with multiple storage units) or my guest bedroom closet will become the catchall sights.
I will have to be alert to my stashing tendencies!
Great post.........
Hugs,
Kate
Meggie -- Glad to hear clutter is an Australian problem as well! I'm happy to "meet" you and welcome you back here any time.
Kate -- My experience is you fill the space, however big or small it is. So now even though you don't eat any more than before, you will buy twice as much!
Post a Comment
<< Home