The Junk Drawer Episode: All the Random Things We Keep in a Kitchen Drawer

What strange things are hiding in our junk drawers? And what even is a junk drawer? 

In this episode, we explore the contents of our junk drawers, which are a staple in most Canadian kitchens. It's the drawer that collects all the things we don't know where to put. We talk about the random, useful, sentimental, and completely mysterious things we keep there. From bottle openers and too many pieces of string to strange gadgets and things even we don't recognize, you’ll hear plenty of natural English conversation, humour, and everyday vocabulary.

Along the way, we also talk about mosquito bites, practical jokes, childhood memories, and the surprising objects we just can’t throw away.

As always, this episode is for English learners who want to improve their listening with relaxed, real conversations between native Canadian speakers.

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Thanks and we'll talk to you soon.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It sends this is gonna sound so weird, and you're all gonna think that I'm crazy and that I wasted my money, but it works.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello, eepers! Welcome to another episode of Extra English Podcast with Misha and Larissa.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

We are two Canadian English teachers talking about life in Canada, our lives, and anything else that might interest us. And hopefully it will interest you too. So join us for another conversation.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Today we don't have a topic exactly, but we are going to tell you all about the contents of each of our junk drawers.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Let's start by defining junk drawer.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Is this a cultural thing?

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Here's my question. I'm curious. Yeah. We'll need you to your input on this. So I would say in most Canadian kitchens, there is a drawer in which everything that has no place. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah. Everything you don't know where else to put it goes in the junk drawer.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Where's the thing?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Look in the junk drawer. It's kind of hard to say to pronounce junk drawer. Junk drawer. Junk drawer. And junk means like stuff that's not valuable. But actually, some of it's really valuable. And I I use these things, some of them, a lot.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Some of them are really useful. Yeah. So we both have a junk drawer and we've emptied the contents into our own little bins just to compare.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

See what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Fun experiment.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

I thought maybe we should have a garbage bin, also, because half my junk drawer is probably actually junk. Junk, yeah. Could clean up at the same time. All right, let's see. What do you got? Okay. Show me something. Fun item. Oh. This is my uh ID card from the college where I work. And it's in the drunk drawer. It's not junk. It's not junk. It's very useful. Yes. But um, my son loves to play with it. Okay. He likes puts it on and says he's mommy, and so it always gets lost. And I really need it. Yeah. It gets me access to different rooms at my college, and so I put it in the drunk drawer so that I wouldn't lose it. Okay. The last time I found it randomly around the house.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Good job. I don't have anything like that. Uh I have uh a barbecue lighter. Uh-huh. I actually have two barbecue lighters and one of them doesn't work. Why am I keeping it? I I have this idea that I'm gonna refill it, get a you know, but I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Are they built to be refilled? I don't have a barbecue, so I've never had a barbecue lighter.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

And I don't really use them. I have a barbecue which I never use. I'm afraid of it. But I use these for lighting candles because I'm I mean, I also have matches.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Oh, matches kinda kinda scare me too.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

I don't I don't like fire.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Listen, I don't have a barbecue. Let me come over and we can use your barbecue. Yeah. Can you start it? Uh I'm sure I can figure it out.

unknown 2:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Also, I want to know which of these works. So Larissa has a black one and a yellow one. I'm not saying the black works.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Oh, I think I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

I'm trying the black one. Yeah. No luck. Try the yellow one. Let's try the yellow. Does the yellow have like a safe OIC? Okay. Oh, no, I think I have to.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

You locked it.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

If you're watching it, I'm actually like sitting a little bit of weight. Oh, the yellow one works. Okay, so this one we can throw out.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yeah, there you go. We don't need that. See, we need a garbage bin. We do. Okay, on theme. I also have multiple lighting options in here. Let me just dig around a little in my drunk drawer bin. Oh, I have a box of matches. Ah. But it's hilarious because this is from it's a box of matches from a bar I used to go to in university. Is it empty? No. Oh no. Every like year or two, I use a match. Somehow it just makes me laugh to have had this same little matchbook for that's what this is called when it's matchbox. Larissa's is a match box because it's a box. Mine is just a little thing you lift a flap. There's 20 matches in there. But I've had this for 20 years. Amazing. One a year. And one day I'll use up all the matches and oh, there's something written in here. A phone number. No, a website. A website. It was just a bunch of numbers. Huh. I don't remember why that's there.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Well, it was anyway. This my my box says safety wood matches. I wonder what makes them safe.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Another thing to add to the research list. Yeah. Listen, we don't want to do any research. So when we say that's something to research, we're just hoping you'll tell us. This one I'm very curious about. I might look it up.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

We'll see. But on the same, on the same, in the same vein, I also have a bunch of candles. This is where I keep my candles, do you?

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Uh I so truth be told, my junk drawer is actually part of a drawer. Okay. I only have two drawers in my kitchen. Oh. And they're both very large. Wow. So I've like have those things in there that kind of come part. Yeah. And this is part, and in the little pocket next to you have your my candles.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Do you have a copious amount of number one candles?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

I have three. And no one in your house is turning three.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Nobody's and also like we've already had a list. We've already had a weapon. But I think like we have had 15. Like, I don't I don't know what to do with these. But no, they're vintage at this point. Are you gonna keep them? Well, should I?

SPEAKER_00 5:25

I shouldn't.

unknown 5:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Um we could we can make a thrift store pile.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I would like to thrift these.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

We're turning this recording episode into recording session into also cleaning out the junk drawer session.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Yeah, yes. Somebody at the thrift store, if you find three one number one candles, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

And a five.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

And a five. I'll keep the individuals.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Well, listen, I could use the five. Take it. Thank you. Yeah. I'll put it in my junk drawer. I'll know right where to find it. Uh before we move on, I have also a small lighter. Oh, that's cute. I don't know why it looks like this. It looks like a cross between like a small lighter and a barbecue lighter.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Like a cigarette lighter. Yeah. But with a a thing on the end, like a barbecue lighter.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Like a barbecue lighter. It it's from my neighbor because last Devali, my son and I were wanting to light our candles on the balcony, and I couldn't find my lighter. So she lent us a lighter. But I mostly use the lighter because I don't smoke and I don't have a barbecue. Yeah. I use it mostly for testing fabric. Oh. Because if you if I find fabric at the thrift store, it doesn't usually have a label saying what kind of fiber it is. Right? Is it cotton or linen or silk? And uh burning fabric is one way you can tell.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah. Interesting. So it's very useful to me actually. Use it.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

You can also use it in crafting to melt the ends of like rope.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

I do that also. That's right. Useful thing.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

See useful junk drawer. I have a number of ways to close things. Oh. I've got a clamp and a clip and clothes pegs, but my absolute favorite are these. Look at these. Oh have you ever seen this before? No. Um, if you're just listening, how am I going to describe this? Ah, it's a plastic cylinder. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

They're purple, just to give you the visual.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Inside is another plastic cylinder.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yellow.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

And I don't have a bag to show you on. Oh, I do. So it closes a bag like chips or something like that. You have to fold the bag and you stick this part in like this. It's very effective. I love these. I got them from my mom-in-law for Christmas one year, and I think they're the greatest things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

I haven't seen that kind of gripsticks.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

I love it. Love it, love it, love it.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

How useful. Yeah. I also have clothespins, but what are we doing with these?

unknown 7:54

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

What purpose is it serving? I don't have a clothesline. I do, but not in my kitchen. They've migrated. I don't know what they're doing in there. I don't know either, but I have the same ones. Old school wood things.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

And I have one plastic, red one.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Do you use it?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

No.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

No. I don't use any of them. They're in the junk drawer. Would you use them if they were somewhere else? If they were on the clothesline, yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

I kind of bring them outside.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Yeah. What else? Oh, I have a number of ways of opening a bottle. Okay. Like a what do you call that? A bottle opener. Bottle opener. I have like a full corkscrew. Yes, this one's a corkscrew for opening things like bottles of wine. And it has a bottle opener on the top. Like a bottle. Like it pops off a metal top of a bottle. That's really useful. Yeah. I use it a lot. But then I have also this like Canada keychain bottle opener. Okay. I don't know why I need a second one. You don't? I feel like maybe. It was a gift? Yes. Yeah. Maybe from a student. Which is lovely. Yeah. So I've kept it. Yeah. That is useful. Right? I have a third one. This is shaped like a lion, a tiger, a tiger. It says beer Oh. Yeah, can you read it?

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Beer Lao.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

It's made of aluminum.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Say beer lao?

SPEAKER_00 9:18

It says beer Lao.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Beer Lao.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Which is the national brand of beer in Laos.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

So it's branded for this beer company in Laos where I used to live in Laos. But the funny thing about it is it's made from UXO, which is unexploded ordinance. So Laos the most bomb country per capita from during the what we call in this part of the world the Vietnam War. Uh-huh. Over there, it's called often the Indochina War. And there are tons of unexploded bombs left in the ground, still killing people to this day. So there are non-profits that go safely remove those. Mines.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

We call them mines sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Yeah, land mines. Land mines. Exactly, yeah. Or yeah, or bombs that dropped and never exploded for some reason, I guess. Anyway, and they will turn them the material into products to sell to fund more of that work. That's light. Yes, but then also for that reason, I opened a bottle a few times and it now doesn't work anymore. Because the metal's so soft, it's worn off the little So it's a great idea, but they should use it for something different.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yes. They should fashion that fab that.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Yeah. And they do I have earrings also, bracelets, all sorts of things. Cool. Yeah. So now I just keep it because I it's cool. Yeah. I should maybe hang it up somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, it's a conversation starter.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

It is, yeah. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I've enjoyed that conversation.

unknown 10:39

Right?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Okay, I have one last item that could open a bottle. Yeah. Which is this what do you call this? A m a mul a multi-tool?

SPEAKER_01 10:46

I would call it a Swiss Army knife, but it's not Swiss Army brand.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Yeah, a multi utility knife.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Uh I think it's called a utility knife. I think it's called a multi-tool. I I think she's probably right, but I would call it a utility knife. This one will look up just so I can be right. It has a knife, but it's But it also has pliers. It folds out into a pair of pliers.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Oh my. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

That's very I often keep that in my tool drawer, but it must have just I must have used it for something. Yeah, you just push it together and it oh folds open, folds open. You know what else it is? It's a fidget. Totally. Might just hold it the rest of the episode. Anyway, those are all my bottle opening options.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Speaking of ways to keep things closed, which we did before, but I have elastic bands. Like so many. So many elastic bands.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Oh, I got rid of most of mine. What am I doing with elastic bands? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Like all of them. And what that's just a piece of string. And this string, this is the string from a potato bag. I have a couple of them.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

It's really important that we all keep our potato bag straight.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Let me explain. Let me explain. I think how it got in there. So when you buy a bag of potatoes, here I go, a paper bag of potatoes, it's sewed, sewn together with string. And it's cotton string. So I I think I thought, oh, this could be really useful if I'm using it like in the garden because it'll just decompose and I don't have to worry about going out and finding it or polluting or whatever. But also, it's har for me, I find it really hard to open this. Like you have to do it just right. And if you pull the wrong, the wrong end, it'll it'll not. But when you get it just right, it's so satisfying to open a bag of potatoes.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Makes a good noise.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Oh, I love it. And so I think for all those reasons, I didn't want to get rid of it. But this needs to go in the compost. Put it in the garbage pile. Yep. Done.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

I don't need that. Look at this. We're decluttering and podcasting at the same time. Good job. Uh I also have a ton of elastics, but they're tiny, tiny. Yeah, my son loves to have little pigtails in his hair. We had a house guest, a friend, stay over, and she wore her hair like this. Yes. So of course he wants to be like her. He wants to be like her. So there's about, I mean, you buy a pack and it's like there's hundreds. Hundreds. So I have a whole pile in the bathroom, and I don't know how these ones ended up in the kitchen junk drawer, but here they are.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

There they are.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

There was a lot of them.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

I think elastics tend to migrate there. I didn't buy any of these. They just came on produce and they like find each other somehow. They do. They really do. But after a while they stop, like they lose their elasticity. So I should test them before I put them back in the junk drawer. Well, if you don't use them at all, you should just throw them. But I do sometimes. Like I close my cheese with the Yeah, they are useful. They are useful. I need some. I just don't need to do that many.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

This one's there's some giant ones. I even have more.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

The giant one might actually be from when I taught pronunciation in person, and I used it as a prop.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Oh, look, more. I'm finding more and more elastic bags everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Mine, there's too many in here to even pull out.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

And look, a random, two random bread ties.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Do you use those again? No. It's another closure. Garbage pile.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Garbage pile.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

We can now recycle those in our city, in all of Ontario.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Could we not before? Because I've always put them in the recycle bin.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Oh, maybe we could.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Or maybe we could.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

One of us has been wrong all this time.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

One of us is right now.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Okay, I feel like I have something here that I think you might also have in your junk truck.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Okay, let's see.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Some coins.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Coins? I don't.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

You don't have coins in your junk truck.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

But I have a button.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Almost the same thing. I also have a bill. Oh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

$5. You're rich. I would rather have coins than a button.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Well, I suppose if it were a really good button, but that one's a bit mediocre.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

This is just a yeah, average button. And this, I've got this like package of snaps. Would you use this?

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Um I can't think of anything I need snaps. I have a bunch. Look at this. A single button and some snaps.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Um, so I have cookie cutters. These are kind of fun. I have a circle which I've never ever used.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

No. If you're gonna cut it out, it's it's gotta be a fun shape.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

But these ones are so fun. These um they're Easter themed. So I have a bunny and uh an egg, a decorated egg, and a chick and a butterfly. And they're meant for sugar cookies. And you you first um press the shape, and then there's this little spring which then leaves a design. That's cute. And so you don't have to ice them because they're just already beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Aww, I love that idea. I haven't seen ones like that before.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

I I have a set for Christmas too, and I want to keep these, even though I haven't used them in probably three years, because my daughter every year is like, when are we gonna make cookies? And I say soon.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

And then the next year comes.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

And the next year comes, but she will be so happy when we really do, and I'm not ready to get rid of them.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

No, no, you should keep those. I should keep those. Yeah, I think those are great. Goodbye, circle cookie cutter. Why would anyone cookies are normally a circle already? I can make an egg. Yeah, hello. Okay, I have something I think you might not even know what it is. I'm excited. This it's a small green, somewhat circular piece of fabric. And it has an elastic and it has a tiny elastic on one end.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

So I think it closes somehow.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Uh-huh. Uh no, no idea. It is uh my son has one eye that is a little weaker. And this is an eye patch built to fit on his glasses. Oh. So that little elastic goes over the nose? Oh no, it hooks, it hooks over somehow like that. We haven't, he hates it, so that's why it's in the junk drawer. We never use it. But that's the idea. The other option is to tape his glasses, but then he can kind of look around it, but this kind of covers the eye without attaching it.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Yeah, I would never guess. Yep, that's that's what it is. It's soccer print, also, which is fun.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

He got to choose.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

You think that would make it something he wanted, but nope.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

No. This is something he wants, though. It's a tube of lip balm.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Lip balm. Did your mom make it?

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Of course. My mom makes this. She makes a lot of bath beauty products. So she makes this lip balm and she gave this one to my son. Oh, I have a sticker on it. Yes, to mark it as his. And kids that age, he's three, love something that's theirs.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Can I smell it?

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah, I don't think it has a very strong smell.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Oh, something natural. There's like a hmm.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Let me smell it.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Is it a lavender?

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yeah. Or maybe a little. Yeah, lavender, I think.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Yeah, it's a great lip balm. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

I'm not gonna use it. Sorry, I definitely won't use it. Uh do you know what this is? How do I describe this? It's a it's a keychain, but then it's got um a metal ring.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Oh. It's a metal ring with like hinged, an outer circle that can be pulled apart.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

With little hinged pieces. Yeah. Does it serve a purpose? Or is this a magnet on the back? It's not. Oh. Oh, we'll put this up on our Instagram so you can have a guess about what it is, but I will continue to um uh does it hang? It doesn't. Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

What? You're you're not completely off the mark.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Hmm. It has a little cat on it, which is the cat is doesn't have anything to do with it. Okay. It's a fun guessing game. Uh it doesn't hang. Does something go in here between the the hinge piece and the inner circle? Gosh, I don't know. Do you want shall I shall I say or shall I not say? Oh, good question. No, I think you should keep it. Don't tell me, and I'm gonna keep thinking about it. You think I'm we'll put it on our Instagram, you can all guess, and then you can can post a video and let us know. Okay. It's a mystery item. Mystery item. Okay, I have something I bet you've seen one of these before. I don't know why it's in the junk drawer. Is it a comb? Yes, but it serves a purpose.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Oh. What purpose?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Oh, I'm I'm happy for you that that's unfamiliar.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Oh, is it a lice comb? Oh, a lice comb. Oh no!

SPEAKER_00 19:26

It's one of those combs with really close together teeth for combing lice. I haven't had to use it. Okay. Um, but I got it in preparation. My son lived in a group home before I took custody of him and uh lice is common. Yeah. So but I also think I will have to use it eventually.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Listen, everybody, not everybody, but it's it's not unusual to have a lice scare. I have I had lice as a kid.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Oh yeah, I've had lice.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Actually, as an adult.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Oh, it's that was the worst.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

It was my birthday. So that's a whole other story.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Oh my goodness. Okay, I have no idea what this is. Not just like it's not a guessing game for you. I actually have no idea. Small blue plastic. And I don't know why it's in my junk drawer and it's not coming home when it's not a milk bag cutter. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Milk in Canada comes in bags. Sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

But it doesn't have a sharp piece of it.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

You're right. I I thought maybe in that little crevice. No. Okay, mystery item, toss it. Oh, speaking of things that should be tossed, I have a bunch of old, who knows how old. Years, I'm sure. Uh, packets of soy sauce. Ew. I mean, I think soy sauce probably lasts a long time.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Does it have an expiry date?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

I don't think so. So I feel like at this point it's probably separate.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

For individual sale, product of China, and then a couple different brands.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Oh. August 2026. I'm keeping those two. You are not. Don't you have soy sauces? Yes, but I like it in the packets because sometimes I want to take something to work. Yeah, okay. And I don't want to have to like bring a little jar.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

This one doesn't have a I don't know if it goes to it.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Let's get rid of it. Garbage.

unknown 21:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

I've got three random, um, well-used, well-loved recipes. Cute. But just written on like calendar pages and I love how you can see they are well used.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

They're stained, they're a little crumpled.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

For oatmeal cookies, one for pumpkin muffins, and one for mulberry squares.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Mulberry squares fits in with uh something else we've talked about recently.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Mulberries are going to be ripe. Mm. They're a little bit late. Maybe end of June. End of June.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, you're right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

We got some time.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

A little later. Do you know what? Earlier I talked about bottle openers, and actually I have two more? Two more. Why do I have so many bottles? Also, what bottles am I opening? I don't drink beer, which is the one that usually you would need this part. Anyway, I have what does that bring us up to? Five. But you're keeping them all. Well, no, I should get rid of some, shouldn't I? You well, one of them is sentimental. Yeah. I mean, it's a cute object. Mm-hmm. I listen. You're right. I'm gonna get rid of this Canada bottle opener. Up here. Thrift store pile. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Ooh, this is so interesting. This is the cap of um I have a I have a planter that has lights. Oh it's indoors, like an indoor little little greenhouse kind of. And there's pots. Yep. And this goes on top of it, and then the plants grow up. I was wondering where that went. Do you need it?

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Does it does it is it necessary? Yeah. Oh, well, good thing you found it. Good thing. We're accomplishing so much today. Look at that. I have some of this. I don't know why this is here. I should put it somewhere else. Afterbite. Afterbite. Does it work? Yes. I love this one. Afterbite is you put it on after a bite. Like a mosquito. Yeah. A cre a bug. And it just stops the itch.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Yeah. I'm yeah, I'm gonna put it somewhere where I'll remember where it is.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Yeah, maybe the bathroom.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Yeah, maybe like the first aid kit. Or maybe my my basket of summer accessories, bike helmet, etc.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

So I have a really interesting device for mosquito bites.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Oh, a device. A device.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yeah. Um, it it sends. This is gonna sound so weird, and you're all gonna think that I'm crazy and that I wasted my money, but it works. Um it's a little device, it heats up. You put it on the bite, it heats up for six seconds, uh-huh, and then it hurts because it's heating your skin. And then after six seconds it turns off, it's just gone. Really? I don't know how it works. I don't know the science behind it. It's from Germany, so that seems fairly legit.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Anyway. Are there a lot of mosquitoes in Germany? I just feel like the way they think about devices. Yeah, I don't know. Do you does it is it does it get hot enough to leave a little mark?

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Doesn't leave a mark. Oh, so I want one of these. Well, I'll bring it, I'll bring it over sometime. You can try it out. It'll be fun.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Love that. Oh, look, I have oh, two cute things in here. This is some shea butter, which this is something that shouldn't be in the drunk drawer because I forget about it and I don't use it. It still smells good though.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Use it for your hands, lips.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

I I used it for a little while on like diaper rashes on my son. It's a nice natural alternative.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Um on cracks in the winter?

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Totally, yeah. Yeah. It's a really nice, it's a local company. I mean, obviously, shea trees don't grow here. Tree? Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 24:35

You can't harvest shea butter here.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

You cannot.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Or whatever they harvest to make the shea butter.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

I I always assumed it was like a sea. Well, gosh. E burst. More research, quote unquote, to be done. Slash please tell us more about shea butter. Yes, the shea butter and the afterbite. It's a good idea. Okay, also I have this cute little cat. Oh, somebody crocheted that.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Yeah, isn't that cute? Is that amyg amigo? What do you call that when the name of this curtain?

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Yeah, oh, that's adorable. Right? Is it a gift? No, I bought it at a little street festival for my son, so I should put it in his toy bin. Yeah. I'm gonna just toss it.

unknown 25:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

The toy bin is everywhere. Everything is a toy blower. It got closer. Um I I have a paintbrush.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Just one loan. Looks like it's never been used.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

It needs to go with the paint supplies.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Uh a single pen and a single marker, but that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Those are useful. I have a couple pens and pencils in here too.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

This needs to find a better home.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Uh oh, a little cow candle. What else? Uh oh, why, why? I have the tag from a lovely gift I received once. I think I wanted to remember like something about it, but I should just take a picture or just remember. Or just remember.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Is it going? It's going.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Butterfly symbolizes transformation, balance, and grace. Transformation, balance, and grace.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Well, now we've recorded it. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Okay, good. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Um, I have a couple of glasses cleaning wipes. Okay. Useful. I have those all around the house.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

I have a piece of plastic, I don't know what it's from.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Oh my I have a piece of plastic I don't know what it's from, and it looks kind of similar. Wow. They're both cylindrical. Mine is maybe metal and it's got one closed end.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Yeah, mine, I it's I'm not gonna find what it's for.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Do you know what? What? I think mine is the cover of the light switch of that light. Oh. But I put it in the junk drawer because it's round and I get nervous about round things.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Oh, choking hazard.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

So I put it somewhere you couldn't find it.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Okay, you should keep that.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

I suppose. I I mean that lamp looks alright without this. It does. Maybe I just toss it. Or I put it on with some glue. Or put it back in the junk drawer. Say, wait till your son doesn't want to eat things anymore. He's mostly past that stage. Thank goodness.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

I hated that stage. So stressful. I'm getting rid of this.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Great.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

I've got some random pieces of rope. Who knows why? I thought I would use them for something.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Oh. You should put those with your crafting supplies. I could go in their craft supplies.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Yeah, it could be.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

I have a lighter. I have a piece of plastic that says frigid air. So it's from your fridge. Well, frigidaire makes a bunch of appliances. I also have a dishwasher by them.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

But so that piece came off from something.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Came off something. And you're doing fine without it. I might just recycle it.

unknown 27:40

I think.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

I'll double check that something is not obviously it's probably the fridge, I guess. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah, if we can't identify it, we probably don't need it.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

It's not a functional piece.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

That's useful. Oh yeah. Oh, food coloring. I don't know why I have two. Maybe I ran out of one color and I needed to replace it. Anyway.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Food coloring here usually comes in little packs of four colors. It's just liquid drops you can put in food to color.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

And the shape is so interesting.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

They're so cute.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

It's unnecessarily cute.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

It is.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

This shape is for squeezing, but then why is the top pointy?

SPEAKER_00 28:17

It's like a teardrop shape, but the cap is pointy. Plus, they this company, which is what everyone uses, has had the same packaging for 40 years at least, I think.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

It's unnecessarily cute.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

That's what I say about it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Also, they give you a green, but they also give you a blue and a yellow. But blue and yellow makes green.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Yeah, why four instead of just the three primaries? Yeah. So many questions. So many questions. I have one drywall anchor. Which is annoying because the other day I was putting up new blinds. Yes. And I ran out of anchors. I ruined an anchor because I anyway. I needed one more. Well, you have it. Well, but I looked all over. Who would have thought? I have a whole tool closet. Why don't I put it in the drunk drawer? Anyway, eventually I'll need one again. So I will add it to the closet. Put it in the tool closet.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Okay, and then I have three unnecessary amounts. For your glasses? Glasses cleaning cloth different than the wipes, which are wet and sealed. Those are useful, but I should disperse them around the house a little more. Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

You have anything else in there? Um, I do. I have, oh, the instructions for frozen chicken burgers.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

How to cook them. Do you is this the only spot in your house where you keep recipes? I no.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

I have other places where I've started recipe collections and then it petered out, petered out. Um mostly I just look up a recipe every time. I don't have a good system. I'm not so good with organization.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

No. We're currently going through our large junk drawers. That makes sense. I'm not either. Um I have a sticker. A sticker. With a cow on it. Uh-huh. Always need one of those.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Uh and I have a very surprising thing.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I have a spider.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Not a real one. You purse, don't worry.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

It's not a real spider. It's it's rubber, and I don't know why it's there. I don't know why I have it. Why do I have a spider? You don't remember my junk drawer. Did someone hide it there as a prank? I I feel I feel like we had it for some reason. My daughter is afraid of spiders, and she probably said, get it away from me, and I threw it in the junk drawer. But I should have just thrown it in the garbage. Well, garbage pile. Well, maybe somebody wants to find it.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Oh no, do you want to keep yeah, thrift store?

SPEAKER_01 30:43

All right.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Mmm.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

No? Yeah? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Oh, okay. I'm just I'm impressed with us for being so good. Practical, multitasking today. Anyway, that's our junk drawers. Mine's empty.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Yeah, that's what I got. That's what I got. Uh so curious.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Is the junk drawer universal? Is it something that everybody has? Is it something that is more of a North American thing?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Are your contents similar?

SPEAKER_00 31:09

Different? How many elastic bands do you have? That's what we really want to know.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

And what are you doing with them? Thanks for listening to another episode.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

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