Spice of life.

I overheard a conversation in a cafe the other day. Two men were discussing blogs.  

Old man Orchardist said"blogs are weird aren't they? The fact that people think their lives are so interesting that others will want to read it. " 

Old farmer in his homespun jersey with collar up replied, "I don't know who has more time on their hands, those that write the blogs or those that read them." 

 I grinned into my flat white knowing my father and husband would agree. And the old man orchardist and farmer were right. Blogs are for those with some spare time on their hands, something I have been struggling to find this last month to write or read in blogland myself. 

And it comes back to what the purpose of this ol' blog of mine is.  Some days are just days with nothing worth recording. But the reading of other blogs I savour. I don't get to do it until all the kids are tucked up in bed for the night and then I open up the laptop and loose myself for an hour or so. There are only a handful I follow closely but the encouragement, inspiration, teaching and support they give is something I would never get from reading a newspaper, trashy mag, or a novel which is what I used to do in that spare time. Blogging for me offers an amazing community that I don't expect men would ever really understand because they just aren't wired like us. Yes some men blog, but I think I'm right in saying blogging is kinda a girl thing. 

Anyway, I stumbled across this blog of Katie Davies last night as I sat down to write about my latest craft completion. I read through her blog, her stories well past midnight and haven't been able to stop thinking about it all today.  She  went to Uganda on a GAP year when she was 18, then returned home to the States to start university but couldn't escape the calling on her heart and at 19 returned to Africa, started her own charity educating and feeding children so they are able to stay with their families and not in orphanages. She is 24 now and lives in the village in Uganda she ministries to with her 13 daughters she has adopted.  Can I repeat that she is only 24!  She has written this book which became a New York best seller and I have ordered a copy which you are welcome to borrow after me. 

 So you see, after reading Katie's blog and the life she leads, sitting down to post a blog on my latest craft just seems ridiculous. 

Seriously, I feel R I D I C U LO U S but I promised my friend I would show her how it turned out so spice rack it is.

In a bid to actually do some of the pins we were pinning on pinterest.  Some friends and I have started meeting once a month with the specific intention of doing one of our pins. Whether it is a hairstyle a recipe, sewing some clothing, or doing a craft.  

We've had 2 so far. They are fab, and because Kate and Jenny are fellow bloggers themselves, the conversation often turns into sharing posts we have read.  These are real life friends of mine Dad, We do talk face to face. They just happen to be blogging friends too. Infact if Oliver gets his way and marries Lily Grace, Tamara and I will be in laws one day. 

Back to spice rack.  In the move, our spice caddy was dropped and 2 jars broke. 

It has annoyed me these last 6 months that those two red lidded jars i replaced the broken ones with don't match the others.  These spice jars annoy me too because the mouth of the jar is too narrow to fit a teaspoon in.  They also annoy me because they don't fit a whole box of spice in them so when I run out and buy a box of spice to refill, I am left with about 4 teaspoons of spice left in the box.  Too much to just throw away but now I have to store all those almost empty boxes somewhere as well as have the spice caddy taking up valuable bench space.

I have been thinking about magnetic spice jars for a long long time and utilising the side of a cupboard next to our stove.  So after pinning a whole heap of ideas on my pinterest board I got to work.

I brought some 100ml glass jars with black lids and some super strong magnets to glue onto the lids.

Labels I printed out for free onto white sticker sheet from this website

and the sheet of steel which we screwed onto the side of the cupboard  I had cut to order while I waited for a mere $30.00 from a local sheet metal place.

Those jars hold 1 and half boxes of spice so no more extra boxes lurking in cupboards. I love that they are in a handy place right by the stove and that I can fit a whole tablespoon in if needs be. (Not that I would recommend that with chili powder.) 

So there you have it. Now if you still have time-go read Katie's blog or Ann Voskamps blogpost about her and be inspired.

Also if anyone would like my old spice caddy, you are welcome to it. It's all cleaned and ready to go to someone else's kitchen- (someone who has little teaspoons).