Random pictures of Household Items

This does not sound like a very interesting blog piece.  I should have thought of a clever title, but I didn't. I have taken pictures over our time here of things around the house that are different from what I have ever had in a house in the US, no matter what state we were in.  Therefore, I found them interesting enough to photograph for "posterity."

This is the type of broom and dust pan that is used in every home.  It is super light being made of aluminum, the brush is very thin and the dust pan has a handle as tall as the broom so as not to have to bend over, like the ushers use at the movie theater.  I have not seen another type of household broom sold here in Taiwan.  I'm actually missing my O'Cedar, but I like the dust pan.

This is the biggest tea pot ever!  This is used to boil water for washing and rinsing the dishes, as well as making soup or instant coffee or tea.  You can supply all of these with one full pot.  The steam release is in the cover knob and can really sing!

This is the "socks dryer."  You can hang a dozen pair of socks on this little contraption and take up very little space.  The blue "rope" that is strung to the same hook as the sock dryer is my clothes line.  It is made so that you can hang your clothes on hangers and slip the hanger hook into the divided spaces so that the wind won't blow them into a clump...which it will if you don't do something about it.  I choose to use old fashioned clothespins but hangers really do save space.  Everything in Taiwan is designed to take up as little space as possible.

I also use the clothes pole to dry clothes.  It does have the issue, though, of the wind blowing the clothes smack together so that they can't dry as quickly.  "Quickly" is relative, as I have complained before about the amount of time it takes to dry clothes in our humid air.

This is a rice bowl, my favorite dish in the cupboard.  I don't use it for rice.  I use it for oatmeal.  I can make oatmeal in the morning and with the cover on it, the cereal will stay hot until everything else, including Don, is ready to eat.  I also use it for ramen noodles.  Boil the water in the giant tea pot, pour it over the noodles and flavor packets, put the cover on, let it sit for 3 minutes and we've got supper!  A-tai is going to buy me two rice bowls to bring home!  Yeah!

The orange hose is a permanent fixture in every bathroom of every house.  It is, as you can see, attached to a separate spigot under the sink.  It is for rinsing the floor daily and the water runs into the drain in the floor. (Note the water jug on the floor.  I have a pitcher on the shelf above the sink filled with bottled water for brushing our teeth...including dunking our tooth brushes.  I refill the pitcher from the gallon water jug on the floor.)

Almost all the door knobs in the house have these fabric covers on them.  They could be for decoration only, but I think they may be for sanitary reasons.  You can remove them and put them in the washer.  I realize there are many cleaning products to spray door knobs to get the same effect, but I'm not sure if they are used.  These covers are cumbersome because you can't get a good grip on the knob to open the door, so I'm assuming they have a practical purpose rather than decoration only. We've removed many of them for the very reason we couldn't manage to open the door efficiently.  We'll replace them when we leave.

I love this feature in the closet/ dressing room.  This is a sliding door that is hiding...

the balcony door!  Slide it over the closet and you've got an entrance onto the balcony.  Close it and you've got a solid wall.  Very clever...and space-saving.  Very IKEA.

The last item I am going to document is this little "shed"/ "cabinet" that shelters the gas tank for the stove in the house.  It is outside in the very narrow alley.  You put your hand into that open slot in the door that is at the exact height of the handle to turn on the gas.  When you're done with using the stove, we were told to go outside and turn it off.  Note the door next to the gas tank "shed."  That is the neighbor's back door.  We're all really close together!








These are household items that I have not used or dealt with in my houses in the US.  They make life interesting.