Getting Rid of It - 2/20/2012

•  4 vegetable peelers - I hit the trifecta (quadfecta?) here with one "modern" one I bought myself, a second one I bought myself   (probably the white-handled one) when the modern one didn't work well, one that was my mother's, and one that was my grandmother's.  I might possibly need two around, but I need to verify which two don't work and toss them.

•  4 tea strainers.  Can't blame family here, these are here due to my vague idea of becoming some kind of tea aficionado, abetted by my lusterware collection of teapots and teacups and creamers and sugarbowls.  Let's see, I bought the silverplated fancy one from an antique store (when I was still a starving student living in the studio - this may be the only item I ever bought on layaway).  The ones like tongs and the ball strainer were acquired because they are what other people seem to have.  The one with the green plastic seemed like a good choice a couple of years ago when I decided I was going to drink green tea.  Now, at least 80% of the tea I drink comes in teabags.  When I do drink loose tea, I don't use the tongs or the tea ball because I find them messy/inconvenient.  The silverplated one is nice, but I don't use it much.  The newest one is probably the most useful, perfect for straining a single cup, useable on the extremely rare occasion on which I might make a whole pot of tea, and dishwasher safe.  I can also use the small "regular" strainer for this.  They stay.  The ball strainer stays only because I have repurposed it for gardening for making a sort of anti-mosquito "tea."  Other 2 get donated.   

•  2 "large" mugs.  I've had the Sbux one for a while - it came in a gift basket from someone who didn't know me well, so this is the kind of thing one gets on such occasions. Turns out I don like having a larger sup.  But I recently bought the other one, which I like better because I can also grip it from beneath, and without burning myself no matter how hot the contents.  So, new stays, old goes.

• 6 steak knives.  I bought the four on the right  (three years ago) because the ones on the left don't cut worth a damn.  'Nuff said.

• 2 locksets.  The packaged one I bought when I was having misgivings about who else had copies of my housekeys. (I keep it in a kitchen drawer, so it counts here) .  The other turned up in - wait for it - a kitchen drawer of my new home.  Guess which one I'll pull if I need new security.