It really hurts my soul to see a piece of perfectly good furniture in the trash. I can't stand that it'll just end up smashed in the back of a garbage truck and then chucked in a landfill. Sometimes that's the only reason I'll pick up a piece - even if I don't like the looks of it. But this morning when I looked at the piles around my house I just couldn't justify adding to it. Not until I decide what to do with some of this stuff.
I've had such good luck lately, in fact, that everything I've been thinking of purchasing has shown up on the neighborhood listserv within the next couple weeks. For example, I've been lusting after a paper shredder for ages, but haven't wanted to buy one. Those ugly suckers can be expensive and there are so many other things I'd rather spend my money on. Our "to shred" pile has been growing ominously lately (I did a file cleanse a couple weeks ago) and it was time to bite the bullet and buy a shredder.
The day after I'd come to that conclusion, what should show up on the listserv but a like-new paper shredder. For free! Blake and I put the Bear in the car and drove right over. I spent the rest of the evening (I think it was a Friday night - how's that for nerdy?!) gleefully shredding my pile and oohing and ahhing over the efficiency of the shredder.
I had also planned to buy new toilet seats that weekend to replace ours because it was just time. The day I was going to head up to Home Depot someone from church emailed the listserv saying they were re-doing their bathrooms and had a bunch of extra still-in-box toilet seats to give away. I think Blake questioned my sanity when I told him I was going to pick up toilet seats from our neighbor's front porch, but now I'm set with brand new toilet seats for the foreseeable future.
The moral is - ask and ye shall receive. Or think lustfully and ye shall receive (wait, that doesn't sound right?).
So, without further ado, here's some of the other garbage I've hoarded the past few weeks:
- A brass and pewter lamp straight from the 1950's. With a more modern shade to contrast the ornate scroll-work I think it could be really awesome.
- A 1970's cane-sided recliner. The rust colored velvet (velour?) upholstery is in great shape even though the color isn't really my jam. I'm debating whether to recover or sell this sucker. It'll take a heap of fabric because it's a recliner and there's a lot of detail work in the welting and tufting. We'll see if I feel like I can face project. Maybe I'll get lucky and find 10 yards of great fabric at a yard sale. You know what they say about the power of positive thinking...
- A hand-quilting frame. My neighbor (who is a member of not one, but several quilting guilds) had an extra one and I snatched it up. For now it's hanging out in my front window. Gorgeous, I know. It's not for me, of course, but to donate to the church. We do quilting service projects a couple times a year at church and only have two frames, so it'll be nice to have another one on hand. And again: FREE. You can't beat that.
- And last, but not least, is a brand new Atari gaming system for the iPad. I think I'll probably give it to my nephews, but am keeping it on hand until after my parents come visit in June. I think they'll get a kick out of it. I'm not much of a gamer, but I do think it's cool looking and it takes almost no space to store, so for now it stays.
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