There Was An Old Woman...

Many of my projects tend to resemble the song "There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly".  They start out innocently enough, but before I've finished they have morphed into something else entirely.  Today's project is a most excellent case in point.

Last week I washed up several large pickle jars that I simply couldn't bring myself to throw away--because they might just be good for something--and stored my bulk dry pantry items like pasta in them.  I've had a mouse in the kitchen nibbling on my bags and, in general, making a mess in my cupboard.  So now all of my edibles are safely put away in nice, clean pickle jars...or so I thought.

Yesterday I went into the cupboard to get the hot chocolate mix and when I picked it up a rain of coffee beans fell out of the cupboard.  The mouse, deprived of its easily accessible food stuffs, had vindictively chewed holes in the bag of coffee beans.  The beans are now in a non-chewable coffee can...

Then, not being happy with the depredations already caused the mouse chewed up two dry packages of Ranch dressing.

Today's project started out as cleaning the cupboard from the ranch dressing powder that was all over...First I took out all the items in the cupboard and set them all over the counter.  Then I decided it was time to replace the contact paper on the shelf and removed that.  (You see how this is going?)  Next I swept the shelf with a small broom and deciding that was insufficient, I proceeded to vacuum the shelf...Since it was still sticky, I then scrubbed it with vinegar...

By this time the back of the cupboard was clearly visible and the '70's patterned pressboard with orange, yellow and lime green pattern was quite offensive.  So off I went in search of lime green paint to cover this atrocity.  Well, the green didn't go too well with the dark brown sides of the cupboard and so those were duly painted also...

Needless to say, the contact paper is not replaced, all the stuff is still all over the counter, the green has to be given another coat, and I had to leave for work!