HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

As you get older, take it easy.... It's amazing what you can get done with the minimum of effort if you use your experience. A friend of mine was once accused of confusing activity with action and that sums it up perfectly. Far better to be 'inactive' for a few minutes while you plan what you are going to do and then put it into effect. My daughter rang yesterday afternoon and asked me what I was doing, when I told her she said she was going to give me her front door key and set me on as home help.....

[Stanley]

As you get older, take it easy.... It's amazing what you can get done with the minimum of effort if you use your experience. A friend of mine was once accused of confusing activity with action and that sums it up perfectly. Far better to be 'inactive' for a few minutes while you plan what you are going to do and then put it into effect. My daughter rang yesterday afternoon and asked me what I was doing, when I told her she said she was going to give me her front door key and set me on as home help.....

[Cathy]

So true Stanley, instead of zig-zagging around a room getting things done, it's better to do as much as you can 'left to right' (in my case - being right handed), saves a lot of legwork and getting dizzy. And finishing a room at a time, as much as possible too can save a bit of time.
But hey we are only human and we can only try. Some days aren't quite that straight forward.

[Tizer]

Some parts of our house are a relatively long way from the garage/workshop and I've learnt that it makes sense to work out what I need to do a job in the house and make one trip rather than several. (But I still usually manage to forget something!)

[Wendyf]

I wish we had commercial elderberry orchards and were able to buy cheap elderberry cordial. It would be packed with healthy antioxidants and vitamins. And for those who prefer an alcoholic drink, elderberry wine would at least give a good dose of those beneficial components to counter the effects of the alcohol. We used to make our own red wine from a mix of elderberry and apple fruit and after a few years maturation it was like Cabernet Sauvignon. I do think we in Britain have missed a trick by not commercialising the elderberry. It could be our national fruit!

Tiz, I've just opened a bottle of the elderberry & raisin wine Col made last year and it is very, very tasty!

[Stanley]

Wendy appears to have life sorted...... (She must have had a bit of a think.....)

[Wendyf]

Wendy appears to have life sorted...... (She must have had a bit of a think.....)

Think?? Not sure about that.....bit of a drink, yes!

[Tizer]

I'm glad to hear your wine is a success Wendy. The raisins are a great ingredient, they add `grapeyness' and give the home-made wine a mores similar flavour to commercial grape wine. It reminded me that we used to add a tetrapak of white grape juice to our recipes for the same reason and our elderberry & apple wine would probably have had that too.

[Stanley]

Ahh, the Tetra-pack! Can you remember the accidents when snipping the corner off! If you held them too tightly you got a fountain.....
There was a similar Gumption Trap with the old wide necked milk bottles with waxed cardboard closures. We soon leaned to push the prepared straw hole cover and prise the lid out instead of simply pressing with the thumb! The school milk third pint bottles had the same closure and the kids were given straws.

[Stanley]

If you store canned goods upside down you will find they empty far more cleanly when you open them.

[Cathy]

When I have fish in an unopened can I turn the tins over every so often so that the oil inside completely covers the fish... Is that weird?

[Stanley]

No Cathy, unnecessary perhaps but not weird. I once saw a machine in the warehouse at Bibby's foods in Cumbria where we delivered bulk milk and I noticed a long low cage that was shaking back and forth. Being a nosey bugger I asked the man what it was. "It;s for shaking tomato ketchup before we load it for delivery". Ask a silly question.... However it turned out he wasn't joking, it was to break up the plug that forms at the top during storage. We could buy unlabelled cans by the box full in the factory shop very cheaply. That was an adventure, we never knew what was in them until we opened them!

[Stanley]

In the old days when tinned foods and bottled jam wasn't as reliable as it is today the standard test for telling if food was bad was if the tin was 'blown'. That is if the pressure of gases generated by deterioration had bilged the can. Some jams had a depressed section in the middle of the lid and if this bulged out the jam was bad. We don't normally see this today but if you have a blown can, throw it out!

[PanBiker]

A lot of Jams still have the depression in the lid as do stir in curry sauces and lots of other bottled produce, the underside of the lid usually has a very thin integrated rubber seal. You get a pleasing pop when you open them for the first time.

[Stanley]

Those tops are so efficient you sometimes need a special tool to get the lid loose the first time. I've seen them gripped in the hinge side of a door jamb to grip them. If you have a really stubborn one pour boiling water over the lid, that usually loosens them enough to break the seal.

[Cathy]

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These are what I use to help open stubborn jars, sauce bottles etc. Not sure what they are called, gripping mats maybe.
Sit the jar on one then place one on top of jar and turn to open. I find them to be a great little helper.

[LizG]

I use a jar key to release the top, then it's simply twist and open. Available at all good kitchen shops. (House and Howards have them Cathy).

[Stanley]

I have a tool for lids but some defeat even that!

[Bodger]

Turn the jar /bottle over and slap its bottom, bu make sure that the bottle is over a waste receptacle, i slapped a sauce bottle a little too hard and the neck broke, sauce all over the table cloth !!

[Tizer]

When I was a kid at a birthday party my Auntie Freda picked up the HP Sauce bottle and shook it. Unfortunately she didn't look to see if the cap was properly tight, it came off and the wallpaper got a lovely smattering of brown sauce. Us kids thought it was brilliant!

[PostmanPete]

A great (and cheap) way to get the lid off a jar is to put a thick rubber band (ask your postman for some.....!) round it first to get a good grip.

[Stanley]

Tiz, Mary once did that trick when a gang of us were having fish and chips at Harry Ramsden's. We had been to a function and everyone was dressed up. She shook the ketchup, the lid flew off and she got three dresses and a suit! HR's apologised and paid the dry cleaning bills.
So today's valuable tip is always check the lid before shaking!

[Cathy]

And always check that the lid on your take-away coffee is securely on before taking a sip!

[Stanley]

I'll bet that's right Cathy! I don't use them.
I was thinking this morning as I walked round the town with Jack that perhaps I have a touch of OCD. I like my routines and you could almost set your watch by the sight of Jack and his companion animal walking across the green. It doesn't end there, I feel really happy and secure when everything in the house is at a straight edge. The coal ordered and stacked tidily in the newly swept yard, the trash bin empty, the washing done, the sink and the toilet clean and bleached. Perhaps this is why I find the way people leave litter about in the streets so offensive. Not just litter but glasses they have carried out of the pub and simply dropped where they finished it. Who cleans up after them at home? Or do they live in chaos. Does that chaos extend into their lives and attitudes?
So today's tip is that a tidy mind means a tidy and happy house and if you can crack that the rest of your life stands a chance of being tidy and happy as well.
{It must be deep rooted stuff. Jack loves his routines, he measures his day by events like walks sleep time and tea. He knows when I'll entertain play and when to leave me alone.}

[Wendyf]

If you had OCD you wouldn't even be able to leave the house to go for a walk in the morning before you had gone through some awful repetitive routines, you are just a control freak Stanley!
Much too much going on here to be in control of things, if I needed to keep on top of everything I would quickly go mad. I enjoy living in relaxed and happy chaos!!
(Says she, swigging a glass of home made elderberry wine and listening to her favourite music while her hubby cooks tea.)