Better Late Than Never!

Back in November, I did what I do each year in either September or November, I took a photo a day (or, at least one photo a day).

I found, much to my dismay, that Picasa doesn't work on a Mac the way I am used to, and so I have resorted to the quickest option I could find - emailing the photos to myself from iPhoto, ten at a time! I don't know if I had chosen a different method I could include more photos. Oh well.

But then I find that the collage doesn't stay in a collage :(

So, after a few more hours and a number of downloaded and then deleted collage-making apps, I have finally resorted to paying money for a collage app that does what I want - and easily.

Without further ado, here is a collage of my November photos.

It's not all of them but a goodly selection.
Enjoy!
:D

Have I ever told you...?

...that I like cleaning kitchens?
Well, I do. Ovens and stove tops, in particular! I really, really like cleaning ovens and stove tops. I find it very satisfying.

I remember, many years ago, watching my Mum emerge from a filthy oven in a rental house we lived in, dripping with perspiration (it's hard work, you know!) and being horrified at how people could let their oven get that way. Little did I know back then that I would actually enjoy the task of cleaning what others left unclean.*

I have noticed that it really doesn't take very long for an oven or a stove top to get quite dirty. And I reckon a good clean once a year is as good as an OCD wipe down every time you use it! I fit into the former for the oven and maybe the latter for the current stove top - but that is only because it is a glass top, which makes it very easy to clean.

Here are some before and after pics - You may recognise your stove!

There's this stove top! (Sucks in air!)

Which ended up like this. Phew!

Knobs are interesting. There's not much difference between this...

 and this. But...

this is what's underneath.

In one rental place we lived in they'd put a new sink in but they didn't take off the protective coating. The mould was thriving in and around that protective coating so I got stuck into it.

The result - nice shiny, clean stainless steel.

Oven doors are relatively easy to clean. From this...

to this. It's no trick of lighting!

Gas stove tops are easier to clean than electric coil hot plates and their surrounds.

Oh, the joy of taking something like this...

and making it like this.

Ok. There is just one thing I'd like to tell you.
Never, ever, use one of these - the coarse stainless steel scratchy kind.

Cos this is what happens - severe, irreparable damage. It reminds me of an ad that used to be on tv years and years ago that showed an ice skate spinning around scratching into the ice which turned into a 'harsh cleaner' on a stove top.

So, what do I use to clean ovens and stove tops?
Three things - steel wool soap pads, paint scraper; and a screwdriver. Four things - Water!
Oh, and elbow grease!
That's all.
Please don't use chemical oven cleaners - those oven cleaners are toxic.  I think I have lost two pregnancies to oven cleaner. :(

So there you go.
Congratulations if you got this far!

:D

*I'm talking about kitchens. I'm a fan of most cleaning but I'm not a fan of cleaning toilets. Just sayin'.