My way (#16)....

Gosh haven't done a "my way" post for a long time! 

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, this time it's a new way for me which has helped solve a crochet problem, so I thought I'd share as you may find it helpful too.

I'm joining knitted squares and needed to hold them in place at various stages. I tried pins but they slipped about and didn't want the extra task of tacking so tried hair grips (kirby grips or bobby pins whatever you choose to call them) and they worked really well. 

For joining along the edge a grip just pops over. 

If you need to butt two edges together you can link two grips

and push one on each piece.  

What's your way?
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My Way (#15 )........

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, HOWEVER this is a new one for me, so I thought I'd share. 

When I'm in the shower with big plastic bottles and soapy hands I found my grip was rubbish and bottles kept slipping out of my hand.

So first I looked through all the saved dispensers and pumps that I've washed and kept, but I had nothing that fitted.

Next onto online shopping and found pumps, but soon discovered there is no standard neck size to the bottles I have.

Seems the alternative is to buy new bottles with pumps and decant what we use then label each bottle and maybe colour code the labels so you can squint with soapy eyes and still dispense the right product........guess what, the cost and effort to buy more plastic to replace plastic is not helping the planet or my moral standards, so I'm not going there! 

So, I wrapped an elastic band around each bottle, making a good grip and I'm no longer dropping them, job done

What's your way?
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My way (#14)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 

Only just realised you might find this useful, though I've done it all my adult cooking life, because I've a very cautious respect for graters!

Soft objects like cheese, hard boiled eggs, etc can be grated slowly but for hard veg you need to get into a firm rhythm and before you know it they're done. So I stick a fork right near the veg end and hang onto the handle not the veg so my fingers don't get too close to the evil useful sharp bits.

Obviously I'd normally be holding onto the grater as well as the fork but I was also taking the photo 😉

What's your way?
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My way (#13) - FAIL....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I like to share. 

Well this time I'm not sharing a tried and trusted method that makes my life easier, this time I've tested out what someone else had said worked for them. ...not someone I know actually, but a post on facebook linking to a post that I read a while ago so can't even remember who to give credit or feedback to, sorry.

If you have shoes that are a bit tight fill them with a plastic bag of water then freeze, because water expands when frozen therefore your shoes will stretch!

As you can see I stuffed the rest of the shoe with newspaper so the expansion could only happen one way. You'll be pleased to know these are new unworn shoes but even so I wrapped them in another plastic bag for hygiene sake.  So I left them in the freezer for 24 hours and it didn't work, so I did it all again for another 24 hours and again it didn't work.

What's your way?
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My way (#12)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 

However, this post isn't about one of my tried and well used methods it's about two new ways I've found for my annual soft fruit preparation problems.

A couple of months ago we harvested a great crop of cherries, this is unusual as the birds would normally get them all, so I actually got to cook with some of them. Then there was the problem of getting the pit out without a dedicated gadget. The amazing google came to the rescue and I discovered that if I pushed the cherry onto the pointy end of a small icing nozzle it worked well, although it did splash quite a bit so the cupboard doors and white tiles looked like they had chickenpox!

And now we are gathering plums that are ripening by the bowlfull daily (very early this year). These gorgeous golden plums get really soft when they are ripe so we eat lots but need to get lots into the freezer for cooking with later. I wanted to de-stone them before freezing but ended up with the most unsightly squashed mess which would be fine for jams but not much else. This time google or asking friends for suggestions didn't solve the problem.

TODAY I FOUND MY SOLUTION  :-)

The plums were open frozen on a tray, then I bag and label. I half thawed as many as I needed. Sharp knife cut them in half working around the stone one side, then a melon baller scooped the stone out of the other half. The trick is to catch them before they thaw too much.

I'd buttered and sugared my baking tin and left the plums in the dish to completely thaw, then covered them with a good layer of semolina to soak up the juice, add sponge mixture and bake!

What's your way?

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My way (#11)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 

We went to the hotel with our overnight bag and smart clothes for our dinner with friends. All scrubbed, makeup on, hair done and dressed I opened my jewellery box to discover my special earrings had been packed with an earring back missing!

After a bit of manic searching for something to use instead I sent Hubby to reception to get a bit of blu-tack. Pushed onto the post at the back it held beautifully secure all evening.

What's your way?
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Advice given and wanted.....

Can you help me with a technical question? I received the email below and thought "that's really useful, I should save it somewhere or share it or better still do both". However just to copy and paste it in meant I lost all the little images, to save each image from the email to my tablet and then paste them in one by one produced big pictures like my photos, not the little thumbnails as in the original email. Perhaps I need to do this sort of thing on the computer and not on a tablet. All suggestions gratefully received.

Meanwhile, (without pictures of vinegar bottles or tubes of toothpaste) you might find the following useful...

Who knew?

Did you know that Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns? 



Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day The vinegar kills the bacteria.

Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly-even though the product was never advertised for this use.

Honey remedy for skin blemishes...... Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.

Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.

Easy eyeglass protection... To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Clear Nail Polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.

Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.

Balm for broken blisters... To disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic..

Vinegar to heal bruises... Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process..

Quaker Oats for fast pain relief.... it's not for breakfast anymore! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

My way (#10)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 

This one is my NEW way! I've been a knitter for as long as I can remember, my mum taught me when I was a young child and of course back then we only had straight needles either single or double pointed. Many years later I discovered circular needles for knitting in the round (did they come across from Europe?) and now I've just realised that using circular needles even for flat work is so much easier, no dropping stitches in storage, no long ends poking me in the chest, no need for a big bag as they just curl up into your ongoing work.

And for this little jumper I'm using double-knit doubled up, so pulling two strands from two balls together and this time I thought to put each ball into a sandwich bag tied loosely at the top and they don't tangle at all......now why didn't I think of that before ;-)

What's your way?
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My way (#9)...

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 

I've just finished a huge pile of ironing and was left with a blouse that always falls off clothes hangers and of course I didn't have a spare hanger that has the not slip ends so I wrapped a rubber band around each end and that did the trick. I've done it this way for years and the only thing to watch out for is after quite some time the rubber bands perish and need replacing, but even then they have never left a mark on my clothes.

What's your way?
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My way (#8).....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


I'm a very amateur artist and like to paint in acrylics mainly because they travel well to my art group which meets fortnightly and also because they are great for covering up mistakes and changing my mind and painting over! However I'm quite mean with the expensive paints and also can't bring myself to pay out even more for the art-shop stay wet palettes! So I always use those flat(ish) plastic boxes that our Chinese takeaway comes in and first I line it with two layers of kitchen paper which I have made quite damp then top that with a layer of grease-proof paper. My paint gets squirted round the edge and the mixing is done in the middle (I rarely water down my acrylics so nothing is too runny, but if you need to you can use the lid then wash it up). At the end of the session I snap the lid on and make sure it is stored in my bag flat, or all the colours run to one end of course. Two weeks later I'll arrive at my art group, open the lid and be amazed yet again that the paints are mostly as wet as I left them!!!

Of course having these free, throw away boxes means that I can have more than one project on the go and more than one palette always ready. So easy to clean, just lift out the lining paper and throw away and start again, plus when they get really yucky there's no guilt in throwing the whole thing away.


What's your way?
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My way (#7)...

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


I put a couple of new pictures up on my wall yesterday and wondered if you knew that by hanging the wooden frame of a canvas on two level pins it will always be level and that for a framed picture if you mark the little metal bit it hangs on at the back with a pencil on the very edge then press it on the wall where you want it to hang it will make a small mark where you need to bang your nail in.


What's your way?
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My way (#6)......

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


We all get spot stains on the carpet from time to time, well I'm for ever carrying mugs of tea or coffee from one room to another. I've found baby wipes the best thing for getting them off and it doesn't seem to matter if they are good ones for delicate skin or supermarkets own value range!

What's your way?   
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My way (#5)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share


Halloween for me is another fun event to enjoy for the children, however, I really do not like mine trick or treating. I'm not saying that I disapprove of others doing it and in fact we always have sweets ready for those that knock on our door but for our children and now our grandchildren there is another way.

We are so lucky as in this house and our first house (where our children were born) we have lived on the flight path for all witches going to their halloween party. As you may know witches are very greedy and always overload their broomsticks with party goodies. So looking up into the dark night sky if you see the flashing light of a broomstick crossing the sky it's time to get ready for a bad rider turning a corner too fast because that seems to be the moment they drop some of their sweets out of the sky right into our garden!!!


We had great fun last night chasing round with our three little ones searching the grass with torches and gathering up all the dropped goodies  :o)


What's your way?
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My way (#4)......

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


One of my pure indulgences are my nails, I've worn acrylic coated painted nails for years and although I've always used experienced and talented nail technicians at times I've had to do DIY repairs to see me through to my next real manicure. However, I'm never going to do time consuming (and smelly) repairs on holiday so now in my 'first aid' kit I carry super glue in case an acrylic starts to lift or threatens to pop off it is quickly fixed.

What's your way?
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My way (#3)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


I seem to be finding it harder and harder to thread a needle even with my expensive verifocals on, all that sucking the end of the thread then poking the needle and moving it around so the colour of what is behind it changes hoping that will help and then more sucking! So now I often pinch the very end of the thread between my thumb and first finger of my left hand and with my right hand lower the eye of the needle over the thread and that usually works well......or if there's someone else in the room I get them to do it   ;o)

What's your way?
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My way (#2)...

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. What's your way?


When I open a bag of frozen food, peas or cocktail sausages or whatever, I never tear or break it open or even cut the corner, I always cut right across the top then use this strip to tie round the bag when putting the remains back into the freezer...got fed up holding wet defrosting food bags while rummaging in drawers for those blessed bag clips that never stayed shut anyway!
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My way (#1)....

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 

Washing on the line..

* Garments need to be inside out to save the sun's bleaching from spoiling the right side.

* Pegged under the armpits so you don't get those horrid stretched marks on the hem or shoulders.

* Pants and boxers only need one corner peg so they hang discreetly.

* Tights can be attached to the line by the waist but also add a peg to each toe for weight to save them blowing over the line and getting tangled.

* Colour coordinating your pegs to garments is (I've been told) going over the top!

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