Useful things

Sometimes I get a spooky feeling that someone is reading my mind.  Knowing what I'm thinking even though I've only just thought of it.  How I'm sitting on the sofa realising it's been a week since I last blogged but what have I got to share with my blog friends. Then I notice that Sian  has updated her blog and lo and behold - what to blog about when you've got nothing to blog about! That's more than a coincidence surely?

So now I'm sitting here mulling over what I can share under the heading of

5 Things it is useful to know.

Because we all know useful things, but there must be something obscure that could be shared

For instance.  you've got biro on a white apple laptop or washable wallpaper, or even a handbag.  How would you get it out? Nail varnish remover? No, it'll likely melt the plastic or take the colour out the wallpaper.  Washing liquid? No, won't touch it.  The answer my dear blog friends is a squirt of hairspray.  Unlikely I know but trust me, it works.  I have personal experience on all three counts.  Son's laptop, lounge wallpaper and daughter's Mulberry handbag.  All rescued.

It's also useful to know how to get the bathroom door unlocked from the outside if a) you have accidentally somehow locked it as you closed it whilst you were running a bath and went downstairs to answer a phone call and closed the door to stop the bath loving dog from going in or b) Grandma can't remember how the handle works.  Oh yes, a thin screwdriver (like the ones you get in Christmas crackers) poked into the hole in the handle works a treat. But only if you have the same design of handle that we do obviously!

In our house, it's useful to know that when the dog jumps on your lap, turns to face you, keeps standing on your knees, looking you in the eyes with an unblinking stare, she needs to go out into the garden for an (ahem) comfort break.  This is a very useful thing to know.

It's very useful to know that if you break an egg into a bowl and a bit of shell breaks off and floats around, if you lower a larger bit of shell in there, it will attract the small piece so you can get it out easily instead of chasing it around with a spoon.

It's also useful to know curry stains will come out of a pale shirt if you soak the affected part for a little while in a solution of a little bit of bleach in some hot water.  Neat bleach is a no-no even on white fabric it goes yellow but if you are careful, and keep an eye on things there will be no evidence of your husband's messy eating. 

So that's it.  One blog post written and now the whole of blog land knows that we are a family of messy eaters, careless cooks, who have leaky pens, a desperate dog who also loves a bubble bath and lock their elderly relatives in the bathroom.