miscellaneous
From last summer
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
I have been pretty diligent about taking photos of everything I've gotten rid of, whether or not I wrote about it. That means I have some photos lurking on my drive that I can start to haul out when I don't feel inclined to go through the process of finding something, snapping it and posting it. Here are two things that were in the old shed. I didn't want them in the new shed. A pump and a frame for a chair. My friend Karen gave me the frame years ago, along with a paper pattern of how to rebuild the seat and chair back. Another project that was low on my list. Have to eliminate those projects -- I'm getting too old.
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Dump day
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Went to Value Village with a friend this afternoon. I'd been waiting to get enough things together to make the trip worthwhile. Took two boxes of stuff — officially out the door, no longer taking up space here. I threw in a few extra things on my way out. A puffy vest from the 80s, bbq tongs, and another tea tin. Some cards, two 2010 calendars I don't want — one arrived addressed to the former occupants of our house. They haven't lived here for 11 years. Shoulder pads, a car headrest cover, frame for a certificate, and a tray for cassette tapes. I only came home with two new things from VV, and one of them is being given away as soon as I see a certain person again.
Zoom zoom
Friday, November 27, 2009
This is a prop gun from a TV movie called The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (1995). When the movie wrapped, a whole bunch of things ended up in the trash at the studio where it was shot. I ended up with some costume pieces and this weapon. It's extremely heavy, mostly wood and fibreglass. Almost 4' long. You can see damage on it from where it was thrown to the ground in a shootout in the movie. As far as I know the movie has only been shown once, right after it was made, and I happened to be watching the night it was aired. There were lots of cool props I wish had been thrown out, but I'm sure the good stuff was snagged by the crew. I gave away most of the costume pieces ages ago to friends who actually dress up for Halloween, but I kept the gun longer because I thought I would eventually find a place to display it. A dealer bought it this summer but I am only getting around to posting now. I had to cut the guy who bought it out of the photo. The only picture I could find on the internet of a soldier holding one of the guns is this one. Isn't the rocketship cool? Now that I'd like to have in my backyard.
ER souvenirs
Saturday, November 07, 2009
I saved the first couple of wristbands from my visits to emerg — kept them in a bathroom drawer — not imagining that over the next few years I would make more than 25 visits to ER and hospital as a health issue became more problematic. And so grew my collection. Some good doctors fixed me up, and while there's no way I could ever be a contestant on a reality show (wouldn't pass the medical), I just take a few extra pills every day and go on with my life. It's been four and half years since my last trip to ER — a bit of overkill with ambulance and sirens for that one — and I don't expect to be making any more. So why did I feel compelled to keep these wristbands? If I kept a daily journal like I did in my youth, I'd have written about each episode and glued a wristband onto each page. Like glueing in ticket stubs from plays or movies or boarding passes from plane trips. Or they could have been part of a neat collage of weird things I'd accumulated over the years. Whatever. The bathroom drawer is tidier now.
A week of catchup
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Only two more months to go on the official challenge, but I think I will be getting rid of things long past December 31. Took some paint cans to the recycling depot yesterday. Thought the place might take old anti-freeze but it didn't. Nor did it take the fire extinguisher. We have a bigger one now — not sure if this one even has a charge any more. I'll have to research where else in town to take it. Getting more brutal with the houseplants. This orchid hasn't bloomed in a couple of years. We keep the house too cold, and now that it's fall it's going to suffer even more. I believe I have found a new home for husband's geiger counter — the yellow thing in his hand. He has a new computerized one now. Another pair of shoes. The second pair of Rockports I ever bought. The first pair was in 1986. I bought them to work 12-hours shifts at EXPO ’86, walking around the Canada Pavilion. I got rid of them just last year I think, either that or they are in the earthquake kit as my spare shoes. I will have to check. This black pair is probably 15 years old. Here's the story about the rock. A woman in Sooke paints them and leaves them on the beach for people to find. She places them face up; the message is a surprise when you turn the stone over. I didn't find this one myself, it was given to me by a friend who regularly walks on the beach and has found several over the years. I find it mildly disturbing. I plan to leave it outside in a park or along a path for someone else to find.
Belling the cat
Friday, October 16, 2009
I've had this cat magnet for more years than I can remember. It's a handpainted piece of wood, about 5" tall, with a magnetic strip glued on the back. A present from my brother. I have enjoyed it, but I'm now ready to part with it. Unlike some other gifts he's given me that I will likely keep forever. Thanks bro.
It's a sign
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Thanksgiving weekend. I'm thankful for what I have, and thankful too for what I no longer have in my life. I hung on to this sign for sentimental reasons. Plus it's really cool. But it didn't fit with the decor (inside joke, as you might have guessed by now our decor is thrift store/cat hair/piles of paper/generic clutter), and it came from a long ago time in my life. I sold it. Proceeds added to my SPCA fund. Love my kitties. Haven't posted a picture of Mika in awhile.
Someone invented this
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Somebody somewhere has a birthday today. Want some candles? The candle holder plays Happy Birthday. Breaking umpteen copyright laws I'm sure. We don't really celebrate birthdays in our house. And even when a cake does appear, I forget about these candles and which junk drawer they've been living in. Random flower is crocosmia.
Roll away
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Hasn’t everyone had one of these at one time or another? I have thought about getting rid of this massage roller for years already. I would pick it up from its home in a basket in the living room (where the plan was to pull it out while watching TV and give my back and shoulders a wee massage) and think I should get rid of it because I never, ever used it. Then I would actually try it out again for 30 seconds or so, feel momentarily great and get a bit of circulation going, and put it back in the basket. This time I am motivated to banish it for good. And though it crossed my mind to dismantle the roller and keep the wooden beads to give to my mother to incorporate into the macrame wall hanging she began in 1975 and still hasn’t finished (it hangs three quarters knotted in a hallway at her house), I resisted the urge.
Slow leak
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I recently took a long plane trip. Took out my travel pack of inflatable pillow, airplane slippers and sleep mask. Duly blew up the pillow in flight, but it didn’t hold air. These days most plane seats have adjustable headrests that bend sideways to support your head. This type of pillow isn’t really needed anymore. I am not going to try and find the leak and patch it. I think it is more that the seams aren’t completely sealed anymore. The blackberries are freshly picked from the neighbour’s patch. Ate a bowl of them for breakfast.
Cart wheels
Friday, June 12, 2009
Not a lampshade
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I thought this might be a cool lampshade, but someone said it went over the neck of a big wine container. Whatever it is, it is no longer taking up space in my place. It’s on its way to the Victoria Cat Rescue white elephant sale this weekend. If they won’t take it, I will compost it. It’s just wicker. Random flower is Dicentra spectabilis. I have several in the garden, though my Dicentra alba is my favourite.
Sew sew
Saturday, May 30, 2009
I have a couple of very nice old sewing baskets in which I keep my needles and thread. I don’t need a third, not so nice one. I believe I picked this up from someone’s yard sale leftovers for free. I’ve never cleaned it up nor put anything in it. So today, at the yard sale, I put it out in the free pile and someone took it. The sale was moderately successful. It all depends on who shows up looking for what. The vacuum (May 27) sold for $15, and the quilt (May 23) also sold for $15. That’s two large items I am glad aren’t taking up space in my place anymore.
Not cushy at all
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Now that I know I’m participating in a yard sale, I can start posting stuff I was eventually going to try to sell on craigslist. Throwing it on a table on my friend’s lawn seems less hassle than writing an ad and fielding emails. This cushion, which heats up and vibrates a bit in an attempt to mimic a massage also has a port to plug in an mp3 player and speakers to blast out the sound. My husband received it as his Christmas present at a corporate party two years ago. There were lots of wrapped gifts under a tree and each employee went up to select one when their name was called. It soon became obvious there were only three variations of box sizes, and indeed, each box of a certain size held the same gift. I figured out pretty quickly which shape resulted in the home version of a chocolate fondue fountain and told my guy to pick anything but that! Ended up with the Homedics MP# Cush music playing 5 motor massage seat, with heat. I took it out of the box to make sure it works, but I prefer a massage from a real live person. If I want heat, I take a long, hot bath. It’s quieter. Random flower is Brunnera macrophylla “Jack Frost.”
Losing these keys
Monday, April 13, 2009
Free shine
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Clean, never been used. Genuine leather handles, made in Italy. I believe this is for buffing shoes. I picked it up at a thrift store thinking I could thread my seatbelt through it to give me a soft edge where the belt rubbed the side of my neck. The mechanics of it just didn’t work and I didn’t want to cut the buffer up to slide it on. Anyone out there still shine shoes? I have a whole kit I use about once a year. But I prefer a good old-fashioned brush to this sort of buffer.
Doomahickey
Friday, March 27, 2009
Another keychain. The flashlight in it used to work. I used to use the light to look into the far regions of a junk drawer in a poorly lighted room. Eventually all batteries lose power. There was a realtor promo on the outside but I photoshopped out the name and phone number. If you want a good realtor call my mother.
My husband went to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and all he brought home was a broken tail bone and this inflatable pillow
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mystery metal
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Glass cactus
Monday, March 02, 2009
I think this is a stir stick for a fancy drink. It came standing up in the pot of a cactus plant that I got from a guy I worked with who cleared out his office when he left for a new job. Actually, he gave the cactus to someone else we worked with, but a year later, when I left, I rescued the thing and it is still alive after 8 years. Some people believe you never ever ever have to water a cactus. Never. Well, maybe not this kind.
These didn’t stick
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Burn bright my little lovebirds
Friday, February 13, 2009
Odds and sods
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Frankly quite an ugly ceramic tray with bits of beachcomb wood in it. It came in a box of stuff I bought at the auction a few years ago (wood included). There was one item in the box I really wanted and the rest came along for the ride. Getting rid of the wood is easy, I’ll put it around one of my garden beds. The tray will go into the Sally Ann box or I will smash it and use the pieces for drainage at the bottom of my patio pots this spring.
Feel lucky?
Sunday, February 01, 2009
A new month! January is now archived, but accessible through a link in the sidebar. (That’s a note for you mom, look to the left, just above all the red tags at the bottom.)
Another category that tends to accumulate. Key rings. I have more of them than I have keys. A keychain doesn’t take up much room in a drawer, but when you put together all the small things which individually don’t take much space, all of sudden your living space is crowded. This key ring has a $5 chip in it for a Great Canadian casino. Don’t have a clue how I ended up with it. Have never stepped foot in a Great Canadian casino.
Another category that tends to accumulate. Key rings. I have more of them than I have keys. A keychain doesn’t take up much room in a drawer, but when you put together all the small things which individually don’t take much space, all of sudden your living space is crowded. This key ring has a $5 chip in it for a Great Canadian casino. Don’t have a clue how I ended up with it. Have never stepped foot in a Great Canadian casino.
Going postal
Monday, January 19, 2009
This might not look like I’m getting rid of anything in particular, but these three packages are the culmination of many months of “collecting” presents for friends and family. For my niece and nephews I pick up books throughout the year that I think they would like, mostly from yard sales and second hand stores. For friends, I keep a lookout for things I know they collect. Inside these boxes are more than 33 individual items! So this is a great day for me, for having finally (partially) cleared out the gift drawers. For E.S. who reads this blog — your Christmas parcel is now officially in the mail. (the cat stays)
Shake away
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I went to a private screening of Sex and the City and was given this popcorn seasoning. Thought I would make popcorn one day and season it. Hasn’t happened. Normally this sort of indestructible food item would stay in the cupboard for years. I’ve got a parcel (late Christmas presents) going out to my nephews — I’m going to throw these in. Perhaps their mom or dad will make them a tasty snack.
