More stuff, including inappropriate leering and housewifely advice
Since returning to Vienna I've been doing my own cleaning and, strangely and surprisingly, finding some sort of pleasure in doing so. Well, good for me, I say.
Due to feline presence, and also because I want to do my bit for our planet, I try to use the strong stuff (i.e. those sprays etc. which contain lots of chlorine) as rarely and sparingly as possible. Nevertheless, I also want a clean, mould-free bathroom -- nothing is more unappealing, not to mention a health hazard, than a mildew-infested shower. Yuck. On the other hand, I really, really don't like cleaning the shower screen from inside: I have to step into the tub (it's a combined bathtub-cum-shower), and it's just, well unpleasant. BUT, I've found a way to avoid that almost completely, meaning that really serious cleaning with some sort of strong chemical has to take place only once every two months or six weeks, which is a distinct improvement. Plus, it's cheap. Really, really cheap. It also requires a bit of discipline, but since I'm the only one using the shower I don't have to enforce discipline with recalcitrant spouses or children. Anyway, here's what I do:
I keep a kitchen sponge and a bottle of the cheapest possible white vinegar in the shower; after finishing my ablutions, I simply drench the sponge with vinegar, wipe down the inside of the screen, taps and edge of the bathtub, and rinse. If you do it every day (if there are more people using the shower, you just do it after the last one, of course), it works most effectively against limescale and the residues of shampoos, conditioners etc., which means, in turn, that there are no breeding spots for mildew.
In other housewifely news, yesterday I tried a variation on my cabbage soup, leaving out the fennel and bell peppers and adding instead green and Chinese cabbage and red beet. Oh the yummyness.
Oh, and something else: if, like me, you absolutely can't abide the (IMO strangely soapy) taste of Hungarian salami or pepperoni on pizza -- I think salami is good only when cold -- then try to get Spanish Chorizo and give it a go. I fried thin slices of Chorizo yesterday in a minuscule amount of olive oil, until they were crunchy, and sprinkled the soup with these chorizo crisps. Apart from having the advantage of getting rid of most of the fat (chorizos are *very* fat), you also have the taste, which is a bit like fried bacon but better.
So now I'm drooling, which is the ideal state in which to communicate to all and sundry that, in my opinion, Jon Hamm who plays Don Draper in "Mad Men" is quite possibly the sexiest man alive. He looks -- and here I have to give a variation of something I said to mundungus42 about John Miller -- like the result of mixing Jason Isaac's and Timothy Dalton's genes in a genetic cocktail shaker. For those still unaware of the man's mind-boggling dishiness, here's a link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358316/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Go forth, ye children, ogle and drool. And watch "Mad Men", because it's really, really good -- those who are about my age or older will get the bonus kick of recognizing lots of things from our childhood.
Due to feline presence, and also because I want to do my bit for our planet, I try to use the strong stuff (i.e. those sprays etc. which contain lots of chlorine) as rarely and sparingly as possible. Nevertheless, I also want a clean, mould-free bathroom -- nothing is more unappealing, not to mention a health hazard, than a mildew-infested shower. Yuck. On the other hand, I really, really don't like cleaning the shower screen from inside: I have to step into the tub (it's a combined bathtub-cum-shower), and it's just, well unpleasant. BUT, I've found a way to avoid that almost completely, meaning that really serious cleaning with some sort of strong chemical has to take place only once every two months or six weeks, which is a distinct improvement. Plus, it's cheap. Really, really cheap. It also requires a bit of discipline, but since I'm the only one using the shower I don't have to enforce discipline with recalcitrant spouses or children. Anyway, here's what I do:
I keep a kitchen sponge and a bottle of the cheapest possible white vinegar in the shower; after finishing my ablutions, I simply drench the sponge with vinegar, wipe down the inside of the screen, taps and edge of the bathtub, and rinse. If you do it every day (if there are more people using the shower, you just do it after the last one, of course), it works most effectively against limescale and the residues of shampoos, conditioners etc., which means, in turn, that there are no breeding spots for mildew.
In other housewifely news, yesterday I tried a variation on my cabbage soup, leaving out the fennel and bell peppers and adding instead green and Chinese cabbage and red beet. Oh the yummyness.
Oh, and something else: if, like me, you absolutely can't abide the (IMO strangely soapy) taste of Hungarian salami or pepperoni on pizza -- I think salami is good only when cold -- then try to get Spanish Chorizo and give it a go. I fried thin slices of Chorizo yesterday in a minuscule amount of olive oil, until they were crunchy, and sprinkled the soup with these chorizo crisps. Apart from having the advantage of getting rid of most of the fat (chorizos are *very* fat), you also have the taste, which is a bit like fried bacon but better.
So now I'm drooling, which is the ideal state in which to communicate to all and sundry that, in my opinion, Jon Hamm who plays Don Draper in "Mad Men" is quite possibly the sexiest man alive. He looks -- and here I have to give a variation of something I said to mundungus42 about John Miller -- like the result of mixing Jason Isaac's and Timothy Dalton's genes in a genetic cocktail shaker. For those still unaware of the man's mind-boggling dishiness, here's a link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358316/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Go forth, ye children, ogle and drool. And watch "Mad Men", because it's really, really good -- those who are about my age or older will get the bonus kick of recognizing lots of things from our childhood.