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Today I have a few minor tackles to share. The first was to get everything back in it's place after our Easter dinner. I did this yesterday, and though it does not seem like a big job, it is a tedious one. All the china and crystal, along with a couple of special bowls and plates were put back into the china cabinet. .JPG)
I washed the table cloth and replaced it with a different one. Not because I needed a change, but because...well, I will explain in a minute. .JPG)
I got my new bed. It is a monster of a bed...the mattress measures about 15 inches deep. BIG problem. My quilt no longer fits. .JPG)
This was driving me crazy!! Even worse....I made the Pink and Brown quilt that I am hand quilting to the exact size of this quilt!!! Grrrrr. Now I understand why my Zachary growls when he is frustrated! Well I had a temporary fix, since this was going to drive me mad. Remember the beautiful table cloth on the dining room table?? It is actually a bed quilt. For now it will keep me sane. .JPG)
There is a headboard behind those pillows, but the mattress hides most of it. The bed itself is comfortable, but not easy to get in....or I should say on. It will need a king size quilt instead of a queen, which is what the mattress is suppose to be. My mattress pad barely goes over the pillow top part of the mattress and my fitted sheets stop 1/2 way down the mattress. Deep pockets are needed.
Once I got that little tackle taken care of I moved onto one that was very exciting for me.....JPG)
This is the inside of my Grandfather's square cast iron skillet. It is a treasure to me and I would love to use it. I have tried everything over the years to get the rust off and make it acceptable for use. While watching the show "How Clean Is Your House", Aggie showed a woman how to get rid of this. Her pan looked ALOT worse than mine and came out wonderfully!! I was going to give it a try. 2 simple things could accomplish the job and I had both.... .JPG)
A potato and dishsoap. I got to work.... .JPG)
It seemed to be working....the potato had rust on it. .JPG)
Wow...would you look at that! Now I will let it dry completely.....
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Nope. Still no good! .JPG)
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I have skimmed through both of these, but they are calling to me to give them a good read. I just explained to Charlotte this morning that if we spend all of our time in front of the television, our brains will become soft. Put your face in a book and it is like a pencil in a sharpener. Reading keeps your brain sharp. She is reading right now, and I am off to join her. Have a blessed day!!
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15 comments:
Ok Bren,
You know I luv ya! But honestly...when you said about the quilt no longer fitting, and how that frustrated you....I just couldn't help but think that maybe inside, your heart was doing a little happy skip....because now you have a great excuse to make a new quilt! I just got a new mattress set last summer, and it was about triple the height of my old mattress! So, I feel your pain, but I am sort of giggling too!
Monique
The tackles you did look great! Good luck getting the cast iron pan back into shape. Guess you can't believe everything you see on TV (another good lesson for Charlotte!)
Enjoy your reading time!
I reread The Hidden Art of Homemaking once or twice a year. It always inspires my creativity.
Even though I have a queen size bed, I do get king size quilts and bed coverings (except sheets). Otherwise they are not long enough. Our mattress is not THAT deep but much deeper than the original mattress on our bed was before we had to replace it.
Bren here is a link http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CastIronPans.htm. This explains how to clean a cast iron skillet. I use this method. I somethimes put a light oil on the skillet after it dries on the burner,then put it in a 200 degree oven for an hour or two to season it.(Always dry on a burner and give it a light oil. Otherwise it will rust again.) Hope this helps. Karen
Oh no! I'm sorry your quilt doesn't fit anymore! I agree with Mrs. Ritchey though, now you can make a new one!
With stubborn rust on cast iron, I've read 2 things. One is to pour a can of coke into it, and let it sit for a bit (how long a bit is, I'm not sure ;)). The phosphoric acid removes the rust. If that doesn't work, you can sand it, then re-season it.
Wow. Gotta try the potato & dish soap on some of my pots & pans. See if I have any luck.
Stop by anytime. I'll get you a glass of iced tea & you can put your feet up. You've been busy!
Confession of an Apron Queen: http://anapronaday.blogspot.com
We had a mattress set once that was very very tall. I almost needed a step stool to get up into in. I too had problems with quilts fitting it. Not a fun problem to have when you have a quilt that you have worked very hard on and you realize it doesn't fit the bed. We have a new mattress set now, but Hubby lowered the supports for the box springs so it wouldn't be too tall. That made a big difference. I guess you will just have to plan on the pink and brown quilt to be folded and put at the bottom of the bed. It will still be beautiful!
What a shame about your Grandmother's pan. I cant offer any advice but have you tried CLR? It may be called something else over there. Supposed to get calcium lime & rust off anything.
When it gets nice enough to open the windows, you can put cast iron into a self cleaning oven cycle. This will STRIP all the old seasoning so you can start over. It WILL smoke, so you may want to have a fan blowing out of the window to avoid smoke alarms (guess how I know that!). The rust will still have to be sanded off with steel wool or wire wheel on a dreml tool after it cools(maybe the potato trick would work to clean up afterwards). Then begin seasoning. I use olive oil almost exclusively now; when I started with my camp dutch ovens I used white Crisco. Google seasoning cast iron and you'll find plenty of suggestions!
HTH
Your Easter Table was beautiful. Good luck with the Cast Iron. I have some that needs some TLC.
Robin@heartofwisdom.com
http://www.heartofwisdom.com/heartathome/
Well, all the things I was going to suggest for your cast iron pan have already been mentioned. I will add, though, that the time and effort spent getting an old piece of cast iron back into usable shape is well worth the effort. There is nothing in the world like good, OLD cast iron. My favorites were all my mom's and one of those was her mom's!!!
Great choices for reading!
oh you're going to love the Edith Schaefer book I read it years ago and found it very inspiring!
Hey Bren ~ Lovely pics of your home! Thanks for sharing!!
Also ~ I love cooking with cast iron. However, the maintenance of them when they become rusted is sometimes hard. My hubby says we need to keep them "seasoned" ~ oiled up. If you find a way to restore that skillet, I would love if you would share what worked!!
Blessings,
Katie
You had me fooled for a minute. I thought the potato trick really worked until you showed the next picture.
I also thought you'd be happy the quilt didn't fit. Now you get to make a new one!
And just so you know... I think of you and your Tackle it Tuesdays whenever I tackle a little project around the house.
I love watching "how clean is your house" and have used several of the tips with great results.
I did just find this http://huntsville.about.com/od/food/qt/rustcastiron.htm, there's other ways to clean the pot there including the potato way.
I have a wok that starts rusting at the drop of a hat. What I do is after washing it, I put it on my stovetop and heat it until it is completely dry. While it's still hot I pour a little oil in and with paper towels rub it over the entire surface. It leaves a thin coat of oil over the surface and prevents the rust from forming. Hope this helps
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