Must....clean....kitchen! Or more accurately de-clutter. The end of canning and preserving season always looks like this.. All the tools I use for this process are piled up in the kitchen, The dehydrator, water bather, jars, carboys, food processor, extra large boiling pots, kitchen aid attachments and of course....a gazillion jars of jelly, pickles, chow chow, beets and so forth.
I have a really good reason for not getting everything stored away before now. I think I do anyway. I have been meaning (since we moved in) to clean and paint the preserved goods storage cabinet. Its ugly and once I fill it up with all the goodies I've been working on ,it wont get painted until next year. That is just a fact. I had planned on doing it during the summer but...well...of mice and men and all that... Part of the reason it isn't done is because I couldn't decide how to do it. The practical part of me said 'just clean it and paint it" the artist part of me said 'this is a great opportunity to express yourself." The artist part of me wants to take the time and do a decorative tile thing on the old ugly counter top and once it is complete, move it into the kitchen, under the window, so I will have easy access and get lots of compliments for the cool looking storage cabinet. Since the kitchen needs to be cleaned NOW, I will probably just throw a coat of paint on it and leave the artistry until next year. Its not like I'm desperate to express my innate creativity. I have more creative projects going on right now than I can handle comfortably. I'm not even going to list them all because it will just make me feel bad knowing how much stuff is on my to-do list that isn't getting done. Some of it not getting done is directly related to the mess in the kitchen. Once I get some open space in there, I can finish up the one or two kitchen projects that are screaming to be done and then I can get on with my life. Of course it could be argued on a philosophical level that this IS my life to which I respond It is only part of it and I am done with this temporal experience for this year! In my head I have moved on . Now I just need to make the space for my physical being to move into the next temporal phase. 'Sides... all the clutter is bad feng shui!
Now, on to a completely different topic. Marlow. The trouble with a rescue is that you never know what their experiences or training were before you took them in. Marlow is absolutely perfect in all ways but one. We don't seem to be able to stop him from piddling in the house. But I may have found the solution. Jimmy was playing with him in the house a few days ago and was encouraging him by saying 'good boy' . After two or three "good boys" Marlow promptly hiked his leg to wet on the rocking chair. Then I began to notice that every time we said 'good boy' he would proceed to do his business where we could see him. In an experiment I took him outside and told him the magic words and he immediately voided. I tried it a few more times that day with the same result. It would appear that for the last 7 months that we have been encouraging him to pee all over the house. I told Jimmy about my observation and told him not to say 'Good Boy' as a re-enforcement phrase any longer, cuz 'that word doesn't mean what you think it means'. So, now we are beginning again with housebreaking. If any of you long time dog owners out there have suggestions for how to housebreak a rescue dog.... I'm all ears, cuz this vicious circle needs to stop.
I have a really good reason for not getting everything stored away before now. I think I do anyway. I have been meaning (since we moved in) to clean and paint the preserved goods storage cabinet. Its ugly and once I fill it up with all the goodies I've been working on ,it wont get painted until next year. That is just a fact. I had planned on doing it during the summer but...well...of mice and men and all that... Part of the reason it isn't done is because I couldn't decide how to do it. The practical part of me said 'just clean it and paint it" the artist part of me said 'this is a great opportunity to express yourself." The artist part of me wants to take the time and do a decorative tile thing on the old ugly counter top and once it is complete, move it into the kitchen, under the window, so I will have easy access and get lots of compliments for the cool looking storage cabinet. Since the kitchen needs to be cleaned NOW, I will probably just throw a coat of paint on it and leave the artistry until next year. Its not like I'm desperate to express my innate creativity. I have more creative projects going on right now than I can handle comfortably. I'm not even going to list them all because it will just make me feel bad knowing how much stuff is on my to-do list that isn't getting done. Some of it not getting done is directly related to the mess in the kitchen. Once I get some open space in there, I can finish up the one or two kitchen projects that are screaming to be done and then I can get on with my life. Of course it could be argued on a philosophical level that this IS my life to which I respond It is only part of it and I am done with this temporal experience for this year! In my head I have moved on . Now I just need to make the space for my physical being to move into the next temporal phase. 'Sides... all the clutter is bad feng shui!
Now, on to a completely different topic. Marlow. The trouble with a rescue is that you never know what their experiences or training were before you took them in. Marlow is absolutely perfect in all ways but one. We don't seem to be able to stop him from piddling in the house. But I may have found the solution. Jimmy was playing with him in the house a few days ago and was encouraging him by saying 'good boy' . After two or three "good boys" Marlow promptly hiked his leg to wet on the rocking chair. Then I began to notice that every time we said 'good boy' he would proceed to do his business where we could see him. In an experiment I took him outside and told him the magic words and he immediately voided. I tried it a few more times that day with the same result. It would appear that for the last 7 months that we have been encouraging him to pee all over the house. I told Jimmy about my observation and told him not to say 'Good Boy' as a re-enforcement phrase any longer, cuz 'that word doesn't mean what you think it means'. So, now we are beginning again with housebreaking. If any of you long time dog owners out there have suggestions for how to housebreak a rescue dog.... I'm all ears, cuz this vicious circle needs to stop.
