Suspended – Too much stuff to write about

Today I’m giving away, a great many things…

Hi all, I have decided to move so I’m getting rid of too much stuff to post about.  I am afraid I won’t have time to take a picture of it all and post it over the next several months, I have to move too fast to be ready in time.  I’ve found some great recipients for my stuff though,

My family – of course…the sisters get first dibs on everything

My friends – I’ve reached out and although there aren’t that many who want my old junk, I’m trying to match supply with some specific demands there – I might get a few hits

My friends’ kids – I have a few offspring “new apartment” donations happening that I’m really happy about, I set up my first apartment at University with cast offs and vintage and loved that place as much as I’ve loved any home since

My cleaning lady’s church – they have a giant garage sale that funds a breakfast program for kids in their neighbourhood, pretty hard to do better than that

Goodwill – they help you unload your car and I like that they provide employment and are self funding

Garbage – I’ll try and limit the landfill but there is some stuff that no one wants, and I have some toxic waste (paint cans etc.)

I pledge that I will give away at least 256 more things.  That’s how many days there are left in the year.  I plan to give away at least that many things between now and next weekend.

I want to say thanks for all the encouragement, I’ve had such a great time hearing from some of you and plotting my weekly batch of stuff to get rid of.  It was partly this process that helped me finally reach a decision to move and I’m now really excited about it.  Ironically, I want to downsize and simplify on a bigger scale.  It was very interesting and satisfying to start getting rid of stuff and I’m impatient now to just get it all gone.

To that end, I’m looking for a condo with an excellent view, lots of natural light, low maintenance fees and good closets (I still like my shoes, what can I say!).  If you know of such a place, please contact me directly.

February 8 – Sewing Kit

 

Today I’m giving away a sewing kit.  Why do I keep these things?  The white threaded needle is missing, so I must have used it at some point, but really, does anyone ever use these things? It’s from the Pacific Palisades Hotel in Vancouver. I remember staying there about 12 years ago. I was in Vancouver for a conference and got really sick and missed the second day. I had one of the worst colds I can remember. I spent the day in the hotel, drinking cup of soup made in the coffee maker.  Health aside, it’s a great place to stay in Vancouver, all melon colours and happy people in a good location.

I will put it in the Goodwill box because I can’t think what else to do with it.

January 29 – Wired Ribbon

 

Today I’m giving away this unopened spool of wired craft or wrapping ribbon.

I like to make stuff.  I like to sew, embroider, knit, and make things with my hands.  I get it from my family, my Dad made furniture in his spare time, my many sisters knit, sew, do needlepoint, paint, print, collage…they do it all.  My brother is a master with tools, space, paint, and has become a self-taught immaculate renovator.

I have tended to acquire craft supplies in great splurges of activity, inspired by a new idea.  The project gets executed, maybe in a few versions, and then I run out of time or move on to the next idea.  This leaves me with bags and drawers full of bits and pieces from old projects.  I get some satisfaction by these odds and ends and have found opportunities to use some of them, but I am overflowing at the moment and need to cull the supplies or I’ll never get organized.  I don’t see us using this spool of ribbon I bought a few years ago at Costco.  The colours are pale green, yellow, and pale orange.  It might work for a spring project or Easter, but I’m focussed in a very different direction these days.  Also it’s quite wide, 1 1/2 ” and wired, so it will make a great bow, but is hard to use in a sewing project.

It’s going in the goodwill box and I’m going to practice buying supplies only when I know exactly what I’m going to do with them.

 

January 23 – Bookmark

Today I’m giving away this bookmark.  It came in a Christmas cracker.  I swapped it with a young lad who celebrated Christmas with us and was about to go off to University.  He wanted my cracker prize which was a neat little pocket bottle opener.  Of course, if you were going off to university, would you rather have something for all of your books or something for all of your beer…Say no more.  As it happens, I already have a bookmark, made by my niece, that says “LOVE” and is covered in her doodles, that’s the bookmark for me.

I’m throwing it in the Goodwill box, maybe there is a student working there who is planning to spend more time with their books then their beer.

I should note that I had to go out of town so missed Wednesday and Thursday posts.  I’m catching up.

January 22 – Bean slicer

 

Today I’m giving away this bean slicer or stringer…  I know, why would I possess one of these.  I come by my fascination with kitchen tools from my Dad.  Unlike my mother, who could make a month’s worth of meals with a wooden spoon and a paring knife, my father was a gadget guy.  We had a whole cupboard dedicated to his impulse kitchen purchases including a bun warmer, first generation food processor, and the bright orange veggie slicer that he bought off the tv one night after too many scotches (I still have that one, watch this space).  I bought this tool in a weak moment many years ago while shopping with a true foodie and it has sat in a drawer along with my olive pitter, strawberry grabber, egg poker, and many other single purpose items.  Unlike the rest of them though, this guy has never been used.  I’m going to offer it to my vegetarian sister (who will scoff at it, no doubt) and then put it in the Goodwill box.

I like my beans whole.

 

January 14 – Finger Puppet

Today I am giving away this little lamb finger puppet.  I am not totally sure how it came to be in my possession.  I think it was another stocking stuffer from my Southeast Asia trip last year (see the book marks on January 4th).  I like the little guy but can’t think what to do with it or imagine ever finding a use for it.  I’m giving it to a friend of mine with a baby.  At least she has an excuse to play with finger puppets.

Bye bye little lamby guy

January 12 – glasses case x 2

 

Today I’m giving away these eyeglass  cases that come with readers. They’re not bad cases, but they don’t really do anything to protect the glasses so I always end up putting my readers into one of my hard cases that can go into my purse and hold their own up against my wallet, keys, gum, pens, phone, etc.  I do terrible things to glasses, drop them, sit on them, put them in a pocket with scratchy keys, step on them even. These cases will not stand up to the abuses of my clumsiness and general lack of coordination.  I also like to clean my glasses and these cases don’t really hold one of those little lens clothes. To be honest, I can’t imagine anyone finding them useful, but I’m going to give them away in the hopes that someone more clever than me can repurpose them and give them a new life.

They’re going to the Goodwill.  I have been told by a number of people that I need to find a more creative destination for my stuff.  I will work on that, but in the meantime, I think the Goodwill is a great organization and I’m happy to support them. They provide employment for people who might otherwise struggle to find jobs, people with limited means can find good stuff without spending a lot of money, and they’re epic recyclers. Everything in their stores would probably be in landfill if it wasn’t for them. Check it out http://www.goodwill.on.ca

 

 

January 10 – Blackberry cover

 

Today I’m giving away a leather blackberry cover.  I have gone over to the dark side and am now and iPhone user.  I have to say ,I’m not as big a convert as I thought I would be.  I just use my phone much differently now.  When I had a Blackberry I sent and received 100’s of emails a day, most days.  I don’t do that with the  iPhone, I can’t.  The absence of a keyboard makes me so much slower that it’s better to just wait and get in front of a computer when I have a lot of email.  On the other hand, I use my phone browser constantly on the iPhone where I just wouldn’t bother with the Berry.  Blackberry browsers are ridiculous they’re so slow and useless.  I wish the BB10 had come out sooner, and with a keyboard, I understand they’ve improved the web experience, because I wanted to support RIM even if they didn’t deserve it.  It’s too bad, now I am disappointed in both Apple and RIM.

All my Berry using friends already have cases so I’ll put this in the Goodwill box.

January 9 – Marketing Hall of Legends Water Bottle

Today I’m giving away this water bottle that I got in a Swag bag when I attended the induction of my friends Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk into the Marketing Hall of Legends.  This accolade was long overdue and much celebrated by all of their friends, industry colleagues and their famillies.  Relieving myself of this bottle has nothing to do with my enthusiasm for their recognition.  They both gave awesome speeches and so did the other inductees.  It’s a great thing to see people recognized for doing impressive work, it doesn’t happen nearly often enough.

I don’t want the bottle because I already have many (we may see more here before the year is out) and I don’t like plastic.  I’m actually trying to reduce the plastic in my life in other ways as well.  It’s the scourge of oceans, continents and pretty much the whole natural world.  We are so incredibly dependant on plastic, the little things we can do must be encouraged.

I was going to put this in the Goodwill box, but I checked and I’m pretty sure it’s recyclable so it’s going in the blue bin.

 

 

January 4 – Handy Bookmarks

 

Today I’m giving away these bookmark/paper clips.  They are not even opened so someone is going to be able to give them as a gift or trade them for something they want.  They were a stocking stuffer from my travel friends.  We went on a long trip to SE Asia and were away for Christmas.  We agreed to have stockings on Christmas morning and had a great time filling each other’s home-made stockings with little Christmas goodies.  I loved everything in my stocking, including these fun bookmarks, but a year later, I haven’t even opened the package so I’m giving them away.  Incidentally, my friends have subsequently moved across the country so I’m pretty sure they’ve unloaded most of the non-edible contents from their stockings by now too.

Again, they would have been great for my nephew’s Looney sale before the holidays, but having missed that, they are going to Goodwill.