Thursday 4 September 2014

De cluttering - in reverse

When is all this going to end! More stuff in the skip, this time all toys. I've given myself a massive job here, I'm going to be like Santa Claus dishing this lot out. Another car load, my three bed semi is fast filling up, and all because I hate to see useful stuff thrown out. The man said, 'I'm glad you've come, there are a lot of good things here.' I think I ought to set up a house clearing business, I could call it Robin Hood Recycling, taking from the rich to give to the poor :o))
It's a good job I took some empty boxes with me, I had to climb into the skip to retrieve lots of small dinky toys, which had been put in loose. Some of the plastic toys are for very young children and come with batteries, they played a tune automatically as I picked them up. 
Everything is going to take a while to sort out, lots of bits of coloured plastics from different toys, all mixed up. I hope to get it all sorted by Christmas, then some kids can have some extra toys. A lot of it will go to charity shops. 
It's been a busy days today, what with cleaning the house, doing some washing, feeding cats, skip diving, loading and unloading the car. I still had time to make a dinner though. Three dinners in fact, enough for two more days. I had some straight pasta that I wanted to use up, it wasn't enough so I mixed it with curly pasta. The topping is the usual, potatoes, runner beans, courgettes from the garden, plus some frozen peas and Quorn mince, and a couple of cooking apples which my neighbour gave me. Curry powder and garlic powder to flavour it.

Someone asked about the Tesco Veggie burgers I get. I buy the Value ones, four in a packet, usually about £1. I don't buy them very often, they are there just to add a bit of variation to the mounds of steamed veg I eat.

Kitties all tucked up in bed tonight, at my house and Janet's. Think I'll get off up the wooden hill as well. Goodnight.

18 comments:

  1. Oh, such a long time since I heard that expression -- my Dad used to say it. Up the wooden hills to Bedfordshire. I grew up in the UK, haven't been there in 50 years, so now and then this is so cool to read a saying I used to hear at home.

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  2. Still can't understand why this stuff is skip bound rather than the people giving the items to charity stores.
    Jane x

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  3. You have a great plan there for the children at Christmas. There are so many charities who accumulate toys at Christmas, but they want you to go out and buy all the newest stuff....it's gotten a bit out of hand. In any case, it's a great idea. Wooden Hill? Really?

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  4. All of the toys makes me wonder about the size of the house, the number of children and why in the world they are discarding all this stuff without dropping some of it at a charity shop. A lot of children will be happy this Christmas because of your caring!

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  5. What a wonderful find! And now I'm hungry :)

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  6. My dad always says up the wooden hill too and then when he put the lights out he would say,'Night, night, mind the bugs and beasts don't bite.'
    What a kind thing to do skip diving for others. Mostly I peep in skips and if there's nothing I need in there then I walk on by but what a lovely thought to take stuff out and pass it on to a charity shop.

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  7. Those toys look in perfect condition, it breaks my heart to think they could have ended up in landfill. I bet there will be a few cash strapped mothers blessing the charity shop donators for making Christmas presents for their kids affordable this year.

    What do your pussycats think of all the toys? Have any little soft toys suddenly gone missing?

    Anyway, bless you for all your hard work.
    Linda xx

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  8. Wow! I wonder if it was a childminder that lives/lived there. Just a suggestion - parent and toddler groups (the non profit making ones which are often run by the church or volunteers) are usually crying out for new toys. They provide a wonderful service to the community. My daughter has announced she wants to become a vegetarian so I am going to be using your blog for inspiration, your meals always look so nice.

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  9. How awful to dump all those lovely things in the skip! Pure laziness? Thank goodness for the job you are doing, truly fantastic. Find myself feeling annoyed though, that the man had put it in the skip, why didn't he leave it in boxes beside the skip and let you look through. Save you climbing around inside. Pam

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  10. All my clothes are going on a market stall to make cash for the orang utans. I am over eBay and over my closets full...I want to do this for something important. You and your cats have inspired me.

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  11. You are doing a wonderful job...you will even save the man the cost of an extra skip!! But as Pam (above) says...why put it in the skip in the first place? If he had contacted a charity shop they would have collected it; it's very odd altogether.

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  12. Thank goodness you are there to save all these really good things that are being thrown away, it would be a criminal waste for that lot to end up in landfill !!

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  13. Why doesn't this man invite you in to sort out his stuff. It would save him the cost of the skip and the time it takes to load it? I can't understand why people throw stuff away that can be recycled.
    xx

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  14. Danneke having a look in again, What a great Skip you found Ilona, all the toys, small ones could be shared for the Shoe Box Appeals also for the Cats stall, kiddies love buying pocket money items at charity fairs. Theres lots of money being thrown away in that skip which is criminal. Hope you enjoy your holiday again Ilona, I am looking forward to pictures of where you get to this little jaunt.

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  15. We were at the recycling centre once - and it really was rubbish we were dumping - when a large car pulled in front of us and when the chap opened the boot nothing was in bags, the entire boot was filled with lovely looking baby clothing which he put in the crusher. I didn't want to say anything or make a judgement in case a baby had died, but more likely it was just a clear out and if it was it was such a waste

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  16. You're doing an amazing job Ilona, of saving all those items from the skip. Some very lucky children will love the toys this Christmas.
    AussieCheryl : )

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  17. Fantastic work Ilona. I'm always coming home with bits and bobs from my clients who would throw serviceable items away but know I like to recycle them so I donate them to one of our town's charities which does a lot for the local community. It's a small gesture but better than nothing.
    Arilx

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