Organizing

I've undertaken what is for me a huge project. When we replenish our spices, we buy them in bulk and refill the existing jars. Therefore we have on the spice shelf jars that go back thirty-odd years and that have never been cleaned. The spices are fresh, but the jars that hold them are a mess—grubby lids, faded and illegible labels. The corner where they are stored is in shadow, so when I need a jar I must lift up and peer at six or eight jars, straining my eyes to read the labels. Eventually, with loud complaints, I have to go find a flashlight to help me find the one bottle I'm looking for.

 

All that is now past. Each jar is being emptied, washed inside and out, its label removed after long soaking, its lid scrubbed clean. Using my phenomenal computer skills, I have typed up a list of spice names in a clear, high-contrast font, the print-out has been cut into labels, which I am applying to the fresh jars with scotch tape. They are beautiful. (Someone just informed me that scotch tape will not work for this. I don't know what she means; the new labels have lasted for two days already.)

 

Best of all, I am putting the new labels toward the top of the jars so they are visible above the wooden strips that guard the jars from falling off the shelves. I can find a needed spice with just one glance, no flashlight needed. It's very exciting. I've been spending just an hour or two a day and I'm nearly finished with the project. What better way to start the new year than to complete a mindless but necessary task that has been postponed for thirty-odd years?

 

 

Copyright 2012 Ann Tudor

www.anntudor.ca
http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com