Wednesday 13 July 2011

Defeat

You sort methodically, you label neatly, you pack tidily, you label some more, and then....

....you come to THAT kitchen drawer.

You gaze in despair at the junk that undoubtedly holds some essentials, and will take more time than you have to separate one from the other. Cat-medicating syringes, rubber bands (perished), saved string, an old toothbrush, a sheaf of tokens clipped together for some money-saving scheme long ended, a knob from something important, flower food sachets, a single earring, a strainer bag for jam-making, several packs of those bizarre cat treat sticks that have to be hidden from Millie, who adores them but who hasn't learned to open drawers in order to steal.

And so much more. Rather squalid, rather unappealing, but not so nasty that you can throw it out untouched.

And so you tip it into an M & S carrier bag, and tie a knot in the handles. Then you put it in the large cardboard box marked 'Kitchen Misc.' and walk away briskly, humming to distract yourself.

You don't think about unpacking it at the other end. Hum hum hum, la la la.....

23 comments:

flwrjane said...

I will remind you of this post when you are getting settled.

Don't send it to me though, just throw it out.

xo Jane

Hazel said...

LOL! We still have some boxes like that...in the shed that have never been unpacked! But then we have time...only been in this house about 18 months. :-)

June said...

Oh. The dreaded "kitchen miscellaneous." The bane of unpacking. My last "kitchen miscellaneous" box still sits in my cellar, unopened. For twelve years. And yet, I cannot dispose of it...

kathek said...

The dreaded junk drawer! And I thought it was an anomaly to my family! I see we have similar contents, which comforts me. Also comforting me: Just transport it to the next stop and deal. Corks! Why do we save corks that never fit back in ANY bottle?

Anonymous said...

oh we all have one (sometimes two) of them. i keep meaning to sort it out but ...

Mary Ann Tate said...

Oh dear...I cleaned out my brother's house and I was guilty of doing just the same thing. I still have boxes in my garage that I haven't opened yet.

knutty knitter said...

And then, at the far end, it gets put with several non essential at the moment boxes and shoved under the stairs/back shed where it gets forgotten for about 5 years until you suddenly think 'I know I had one of those somewhere, I wonder........' and then you finally unpack what is left of it :)

Been there, done that :)

viv in nz

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

If you just fed Millie more of those treats , she'd learn to open the drawer and could keep it all organised for you .

Anonymous said...

I no longer have a drawer like that - after moving so often, all my kitchen drawers have been reduced to essentials (but we won't mention the pile of coupons/vouchers sitting on top of the radiator cover, the little heap of stuff on the kitchen table.....) I do have to confess to unpacked boxes in the loft, that have probably now been in 3 lofts, and unpacked pictures on the top shelf of the hall cupboard!!

Maggie Christie said...

The trouble with kitchen misc is that it's tempting to throw it away and then you find that you've binned a vital part of your food processor (or maybe that's just me!)

the veg artist said...

I'm sure you will have drawers in your new kitchen - just tip in the contents of the bag, and Hey Presto, a ready-made THAT drawer. If you don't do this, one will only develop on its own. I know. I've been there!

rachel said...

Can i just say, dear Commenters, that while you make me laugh, you are NO COMFORT AT ALL!! I am resigned now to my fate - unpacking is just a fantasy.....

Arthur Ransome said...

Old badges, house numbers, drawing pins (rusted), a disassembled door lock, postcards, paper clips, cat bells (assorted), a yo-yo - all in a carrier bag with the handles tied and waiting eagerly for the move. I emptied a drawer about a fortnight ago and this bag flitted guiltily through my mind just a few moments before reading your post!

Dartford Warbler said...

I agree with the Veg Artist. Just tip it into a bottom kitchen drawer when you get to the new house. It will quickly make it seem like home!

judy in ky said...

I only wish that kind of "misc" in my house was limited to just one drawer.

Anonymous said...

I have only one drawer in my kitchen, can you imagine what is in there apart from the cutlery?

Susan said...

dear team,

worry pas ! unpacking "is" the fun part.
Rock On !!

les Gang

Anonymous said...

ditto ditto ditto!
Here's my version - kitchen misc. in a MacFisheries carrier bag insides a Safeways carrier bag inside a Morrisons carrier bag. There wont be another one!

Ginnie said...

Found you through Alice, so now I'll have to go back and do some reading to catch up!
Love this post, especially as I just cleaned out my kitchen junk drawer when looking for batteries. By the time I found the ones I needed, I had half the drawer emptied. So it seemed like the right time to empty the rest and sort it out.
Congrats on your exciting new chapter!

Unknown said...

I once looked round a house in Chesterfield when we thought we would be moving to the area - the owner called his drawer the 'trinklements drawer' I loved the word and adopted it ever after

ps what is the magic property of this drawer which causes rubber bands to perish so rapidly?

jabblog said...

It's not just one drawer in our house - how I wish it were!
Of course, you could just grasp the nettle - or the bag in this case - and boldly throw it away without looking at it again. Then there's always the possibility (probability, usually) that something vital and irreplaceable will be summarily cast aside;-)

Alicia said...

You may as well just designate a "trinklements" drawer at the cottage and dump all of that in, as it will only magically reform itself in 6 months anyway.

Trinklements drawers, in my experience are much the same as death and taxes!

mountainear said...

Ah yes! We had such a drawer. When we moved it was Sorted Out Good 'n' Proper.

We now have replicated it - full of much the same stuff we threw out 7 years ago. For some arcane reason we call it The Ram'll Oill'.

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