a thousand and one uses for reclaimed olive pits

we had a bit of trouble lighting the stove today so we had to use a candle to light long tubes of newspaper, then direct the flame down to light the fire from underneath.

the stove was cold. we put the candle on the stove, near at hand, to light the paper wicks. we lit tube after paper tube and seeded the flames from underneath. finally we got the stove to light.

by the time we finished high fiving, the candle was melting and smoking hot wax was running all over the iron stovetop.

mo, though, had exactly the right idea, grabbed handfuls of olive pits from the fuel bucket and spread them over the liquid wax. then we brushed the pits away into a cardboard trough, and the spill was basically dealt with.

turns out mo has used olive pits to contain all manner of chemical spill, diesel fuel, oil, etching compounds, even...

...caustic soda! today we came home with sodium hydroxide to use to clear this house's slow drains. don't worry about a thing. we have beer, and, in case of any spills we have, like, bags of olive pits.