A LONE screw has been staring at me from the kitchen bench for weeks.
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I know it belongs with something, but can't recall what ... and you can bet that if it gets put away, it will never be found again.
Every year I vow to create a place for everything, but I'm not that particular so we live with a normal amount of mess and disorganised chaos.
But there are two rules - there is never to be more than one load of dirty washing to do in the house at a time, and the kitchen bench must be kept clean and clear. So the small, loose screw rolling around the bench is sending me slightly silly.
Let's call it frustration - the type of frustration that leads you to clean things out in a desperate search for the answer. The type of frustration that leads you to 'that' drawer - the one most of us have somewhere in the kitchen. It's the place where all the 'stuff' that finds it way to our kitchen bench gets moved.
Looking through that drawer at the weekend was like delving into a treasure chest but at the same time finding a puzzle with missing pieces and all the frustration that goes with that. It's full of things put away in case they were ever 'needed' again. Reminders of the 'should haves' - like the packets of thank you cards, bought with the best intent but meaningless because they were never sent.
An instant heat / cold pack - the type you may not ever need, but can be sure that if you do, you're likely to forget it's in 'that' drawer. Indeed, you have long forgotten why you even bought it.
Extension leads you're always looking for, stubby holders (never used), sparklers, light globes that don't fit any lighting in the house, bubbles for children's birthday parties mine have long outgrown, old phone books (yes, I still use those) a netball trophy from 1994 and one from a BMX race won many, many years ago. And finally, the small tripod for the camera. We have been looking for that for .... well, for as long as we've had the camera. And that's a while.
Rope. Cable ties. Torches with flat batteries, but a collection of new batteries that don't seem to fit anything we use batteries for. Alas a (broken) candle .... luckily we know where the matches are should we lose power, given we can't rely on the torches.
An old film of recordings from my television news days - another reminder that it should have long ago been converted to a different format. Address books, trinkets saved by little people who can no longer recall why they were special.
Chargers for various electronic devices we no longer use, or stopped using because we couldn't find their chargers. Either way, few of them match anything we can now put our hands on - but we are reluctant to throw them out, just in case...
And those little toys that always need a really small screw driver to enable you to change batteries.
It's ridiculous how much stuff has made its way into that drawer. And it's probably time to part with most of it. But not until we find the reason for 'that' screw...
It's ridiculous how much stuff has made its way into that drawer. And it's probably time to part with most of it.