I went with my parents to the farmers market in the Small City last Thursday to buy tomatoes, since my tomatoes haven't done jack this summer and I haven't had any to can. I bought about a bushel of seconds, intending to make salsa and then maybe just freeze some. They were all in my reusable grocery store bags, of which they filled about three.
I did make a batch of salsa, but there were still a couple of bags of tomatoes. They couldn't be stored on the floor in the kitchen, thanks to a certain small someone who likes to pull them out one by one and leave them all around the kitchen. So I put them on top of the table in the kitchen.
And then it was yesterday. Which was three days after I bought them. The MiL went to move the bags off the table and found . . . grossness. Specifically, one of the tomatoes in one of the bags had rotted to the point of liquefying, which then leaked out of the bag and made a black-ish stain on the table. The antique farm table that is probably 150 years old and that I just made an indelible stain on thanks to my stupidity.
Once again . . .
SHIIIIIIIIT.
The MiL thinks she may be able to bleach it off, but still. I'm considering retiring from my position of head housekeeper, because I apparently can't be trusted to take care of anything without damage anymore.
7 comments:
You are just trying to do too much dear. You need to take a little break. You are probably the most organized and efficient person I have ever come across. This is just your mind and body telling you to take it easy for a bit.
My philosophy when I've been in period of doing little things that drive me crazy: it's ever, ever so much better to make a bunch of little mistakes that hurt no person than to make one big one that does. I figure it's sort of like earthquakes: a bunch of little tremors are no big deal. An 8 point quake is.
So sorry about the tomatoes! Sometimes I feel like the more I try to get done in a day, the less I actually achieve, especially at this time of year ( I can't hear you, blighted tomatoes rotting in the garden...).
At any rate, all is not lost regarding your table; I don't know what the finish is, but you don't strike me as the sort of folks to put a wicked heavy coat of polyurethane or something on a antique. So, as long as the stain is in the wood, not the finish, oxalic acid is your best friend. You can usually find it at paint or hardware stores. It's good because it bleaches out stains, not the natural color occurring in the wood. You'll probably have to touch up the finish afterward, but that isn't generally as hard as professional finishers would like you to believe.
Grampaw Cubby told me his mamma left that stain when she was short on time to make all she could with the tomatoes. He said she was always busy doing something.
Says Cubby's grandchild one day.
You will have left an actual mark along with the story mark. :) Beth
Thank you for this. Just ran downstairs and rescued the table from two leaking rotten tomatoes. I had been meaning to get to them all day...
You might try diluted deck brightener, that stuff gets a lot of black out of wood.
Hugs to you. This kind of thing is irritating way out of proportion.
I got super forgetful/clumsy/stupid and then I found out I was pregnant.
Just saying.
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