I am obsessed with recycling. And reusing. I also get agitated when people make decisions to create waste because it is more convenient than doing dishes. I was at a function last month where everything was plastic. The tablecloths, the glasses, the cutlery. Good quality plastic. The kind you could wash and reuse over and over again before it deteriorated. If ever. Would you throw metal cutlery in the garbage after using it once? I don't have time to research how long it takes for a plastic fork to break down, but a quick google said plastic bottles take 700 years to deteriorate. I went all the way to the United States and all I brought back was a load of garbage! So glad the border guards didn't open the trunk. Plastic glasses, plastic tablecloths, plastic cheese trays, plastic bags, plastic mesh that the crysanthemums were individually wrapped in, plastic cutlery. The tablecloths will eventually be reused for painting projects. What I can't reuse, I have recycled. My friend wanted some of the glasses. Other than that, I figured doing the dishes after three days and trying to catch some of the US Open was more pressing / more fun than catching up on my blog. I forgot to take photos, but I gave away six books today as giveaways at the first Planet Earth Poetry event this month. Everyone who shows up and pays $5, which will go towards charity, gets a book. I had some extra poetry books and a couple of novels to contribute.

2002 tax documents and receipts that is. I am trying to shred one old year every two weeks, to coincide with the recycling pickup. Each year fills the shredder receptacle almost to the top. And it's a tall receptacle. I still have years prior to 2002 to shred, but that was the year in the box at the front of the pile. It's very satisfying to feed the papers into the machine. Of course I take a quick glance at the documents before they go in and am reminded of who I phoned, what I bought, how much I earned — a brief trip back in memory to what was going on that year. But it's all bye bye now.

Tags: paper, August 2010

Or even older. I've had it for at least 20. And who knows how long the woman who gave it to me had it before she got rid of it. It has looked better, but ever since we moved here I haven't had a sunny indoor spot for it and it has suffered. I've got a couple of young jade plants on the go that don't take up quite as much room. This plant is going to a new home with Will and Curtis. Ditto for the mounted sunflower poster. I was going to paint over it as a practice board for acrylics, but it's big and heavy. I have enough canvasses to use up. Tashi — just because.

Tags: art, plants, cats, August 2010

Four tiles have gone to a friend of mine. She was over and saw them out on the cupboard. I have never used them in a project or even put felt on their bottoms and used them as coasters. They are handmade, handpainted, probably from Portugal, but I can't remember. Tashi is settling in. She and Barger get along the best so far, despite his being so much larger. She is teaching him how to play, something I don't think he ever did as a kitten. He has always been a bit stunned when it comes to play. He watches her antics as if she were a baby chimp and not one of his own kind.

Tags: cats, crafts, August 2010