359 Saturday clean-up--pt.1 Getting ready for the painter

When painters paint, they need to be able to get to the walls, ceilings and closets. This means emptying a room. So today I've been trying to find spaces to store the contents of the guest room. I just can't believe that after three years I am still debating about what to do with the gay guys drapes! They had wonderful, expensive, Architectural Digest taste. I'm sure it would look great in a Budapest Hotel (I heard they won an award for that one), but we are beige people, with touches of taupe or cream. Feeling wild or crazy, I might add a touch of moss green or French blue.

And then there are the shirts I'm hiding from my husband which should have made the trip out the door in the Kidney Foundation sack some time ago. I selected three as work shirts and took them to his office. "See these," I said. "They are either worn out, ugly as sin, or they make you look dead." "Oh no," he exclaimed, "my favorites." "So don't you dare drag them back upstairs," I warned.

I had an empty shelf (top) in my closet which I can't comfortably reach. I climbed up--Whew! Really dusty. So I cleaned that off and am stashing the new Martha Stewart bedding (for the after-the-painter unveiling) up there. I still have to find homes for all the Christmas decorations, extra paintings that didn't fit in the other storage areas, and the hat, gloves and shoes I wore on my wedding trip.

I plan to use my parents' bedroom set in this room, half of which is at our lake house. Then I need to decide if the double bed will fit up there with the dresser I can't bear to give up (my daughter's nursery furniture). In my mind's eye, it looks fabulous, but through my glasses, it sure is a mess.

+ + +

I made up a pie recipe yesterday--tastes pretty good on a hot day. We went out to eat with our daughter last night and then had dessert here.

Peach Fluff Pie

Crust: Keebler shortbread crust

Filling:

Peel and slice about 4 or 5 ripe peaches, cook over low heat in 2 T. margarine and 2 T. orange juice until soft. Mash and add 1/4 t. vanilla. Set aside to cool.

Small (.3 oz) pkg. Sugar free orange Jell-o, dissolved in 1/2 C. boiling water. Refrigerate until it starts to set.

Stir in 1 1/2 C fat free sour cream.

Stir in the cooled, cooked fruit.

Pour into pie crust and refrigerate.

I added some Cool Whip, just because I had some on hand, which fluffs it up a bit.

This would taste more "peachy" if you used peach jello, but it doesn't come in sugar free. You could probably use lemon, but I liked the color.

Serves 6