I have a drawer where old leggings go to die. The inside seams eventually wear out, I sew them up, the repaired seams are irritating and I never wear the leggings again. In the past I have cut off them off above the knee, to wear as weird leg warmers around the house (we skimp on heat, preferring to wear lots of layers than to spend money on making air warmer), but I have enough to keep me warm for the next few years.

Tags: clothing, February

I am going to refuse buttons from now on, no matter how good the snacks are at the launch party. These probably came in a goody bag. And the TV station has changed logos twice since these came out. Boring I know, that’s why Phoebe is in the photo again.

Tags: flair, February

I volunteer at an annual gala called Eye Appeal, which raises money for the CNIB. Three or four years ago I bought this painting. I’ve looked at it long enough, so this morning I donated it back to the event, which this year is on May 1st. Let’s see if I can resist coming home with some new art to replace it.

Tags: painting, February

I have files and files — reference for paintings, articles, craft instructions, recipes etc. Today I had a spare hour, so I went through some files and tossed out a bunch of papers I don’t think I’ll miss. I recycled a few large stacks before Christmas — before I started this blog — but with only a bit of time here and there to sort through files, there’s still a lot of purging to be done. (I also trashed dozens of old work files on my computer today and deleted almost 100 emails — too bad none of that makes my living space look tidier.)

Tags: office, paper, February

My mom gave me this box of bookplates years ago. I used a few, but I’m not very fond of the colours or pattern. I recently received another gift of bookplates (thanks Sav) and I like them better. So out with these and in with the new ones.

Tags: books, February, miscellaneous

These were great when I got them. All natural ingredients, locally made. Unfortunately, having no preservatives means the wax or oil in these lip balms has gone sticky and a bit smelly. One stick has hardly even been used. I hate waste, but I can’t stand the way my lips feel with this stuff on them. I’ll recycle the plastic bits. In the meantime I already have a new chapstick that came free with a bottle of zinc lozenges. So between that one and one from the Body Shop (I’m embarrassed to admit how old it is), I’m kissable.

Tags: personal products, February

This mug was made in Kenya, with Kenyan clay and glazes, by a potter whose studio outside Nairobi I remember visiting with my mother. This would have been between 1976 and 1979. I have kept it for sentimental reasons. It was chipped long ago in a move so I don’t drink out of it. Part of my challenge in getting rid of things is to let go of sentiment. No one is going to use a broken mug, so I will break it down and consign it to the garden for drainage at the bottom of pots.

Tags: kitchen, household, February

I read crime fiction when I’m in the bath. Someone got me hooked on John Sandford’s Prey series years ago and I have since managed to collect all of them, either at second hand stores or at the annual Times Colonist book sale. Which is this weekend. I went. Almost half a million books: paperbacks $1, softcover $2 and hardcover $3. I simply cannot resist, though I bought fewer books this year than last year. And yes, I found Invisible Prey, the only one I was missing. I’m not yet willing to part with my collection, but Phantom Prey was definitely a disappointment. It annoys me to read a book in which the murderer ends up to have multiple personalities, one of which is, of course, a friend to the other characters in the book, the other one meanwhile offing everyone else. Surprise! Usually I stop reading as soon as I figure out the author has resorted to this cop out, but I did persevere to the end of this one. I suppose after 17 previous books in the series there was bound to be one I didn’t like as much. So while more books came in yesterday to add to my crammed bookcases, I have no difficulty parting with this one.

Tags: books, February

I bought this for $2 at a yard sale because I wanted to set up a living room light on a timer for when we were out after dark. Never happened. Still seems like a good idea to me. (Confession: this isn’t the only one I have. I bought two of them at that yard sale. So if I ever do decide to figure it out, I still have the equipment.) (Even the cat is laughing at me for having this for so long.)

Tags: electronics, February

I keep thinking summer evenings will be warm here. Warm enough to sit outside as the sun goes down and light candles in these glass holders. Truth is, it’s usually breezy and cool. If I do have time to sit outside, I prefer to do it late afternoon when it’s nice and warm. I bought these at an end of season sale at The Bay, dirt cheap, but I’ve only used them once or twice. Today I gave them away to a young woman who helped me with some garden tidy up. She’s a smoker, so I know she spends time outside in her yard after dark!

Some days I wander around the house wondering what I can possibly get rid of today. This is totally random. I came across it in one of my junk baskets. I should give this yo-yo to one of my nephews. It will go in the giveaway box for now and I’ll decide by the weekend where it’s going.

Tags: toys, February

It’s almost tax time. I should be entering receipts, but I’m going to go to a movie instead. Quicktax is what I use to figure everything out. But why have I hung on to the software from last year and the year before?

Tags: office, February

I was at a dinner party last night. The host had a vase of pussy willows by his fireplace and one of the guests commented she’d love to have some. I knew I had some at home that I was willing to part with, so today when she came over I gave her these ones. (I still have another bouquet of them, for when I start painting again and need examples.)

The bulletin board from two days ago disappeared from the front yard the day I put it out for the taking. Phew!

Tags: garden, February

There must have been a bin at an office supply store. A pack of 10 shrink wrapped message pads for $1 or somesuch deal. Otherwise why would I have actually bought paper? I think I bought them when I knew I was going to do a 3 week stint at another studio and wanted to have an official system for phone calls. At home I use the margins in ad flyers for messages or the backs of envelopes. I have paper everywhere. If I don’t print on both sides of the paper for proofs or editing, then I use the backsides for notes.

Tags: office, February

I actually don’t want to get rid of this, but I haven’t found a place to hang it up, so have been unable to populate it with photos, clippings, cards, receipts, etc. It has been leaning up against a wall in the upstairs bathroom. It is a small bulletin board, about 3.5ft by 2. The rain has stayed away for a couple of days now — if it is still dry tomorrow, I will put this out on the street with a “Free” sign on it. Maybe someone will take it away.

Tags: household, February

These wee candles were party favours from a great party we went to a few years ago. Time to light them up. It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow — I’ll put them on the table and we can drink a toast by candlelight.

Tags: miscellaneous, February, birds, candle

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.

Tags: miscellaneous, February

So I’m not single. But I love socks. I always have to have at least one pair of brand new, waiting for a special occasion socks in my drawer. I don’t get rid of them until they are threadbare. Last week I heard Patrick Lane read a new poem called A Woman Cleaning Out Her Sock Drawer and was inspired to tidy up mine. I’m recovering from a broken wrist, so for the past few months I haven’t been able to fold my socks the way I normally do and have just been pushing them into the drawer. Feels good to have it tidy again. Found two pair that I am willing to toss.

Tags: clothing, February

This is a beautiful antique wooden frame on a stand. The inside frame swings back and forth. I always meant to put a black and white ancestral family photo in it, or something sepia, but never found the perfect photo or the perfect place to put it. I’m going to start filling another box — stuff I’m going to take to the swap meet as soon as the weather warms up. So if no one sends me $10 for this, I’ll try to sell it later. At least it will be out of sight.

Tags: knick knacks, February

Today I have something fabulous coming in and some old clothes going out. I went to physio today (recovering from a broken wrist) and received a tin of my favourite coffee in the whole world from my therapist. We’d spoken about Africa last week and discovered we’d both been to Tanzania. Somehow we ended up on instant coffee — she’d brought a tin home but wasn’t drinking it, would I like it? Absolutely! I had an especially lovely coffee break this afternoon. Thanks Kim. I’m sending $20 to the charity you support, www.fortheloveofafrica.org. As for the clothes, the checked pants are tapered (I no longer wear tapered pants) and when I tried on the batik top in front of a friend, she said I shouldn’t ever wear it again.

I took my first big bag of discards to the Sally Ann this afternoon. It feels great to get these things out of the house. Small steps I know, but purging has been low on my list of priorities for the past decade or so.

Tags: clothing, February

I’ve bought a lot of software. I upgrade when I need to. Which means I end up with old cds of obsolete software cluttering up my office drawers. I’m soon to upgrade to CS4, which means 8.0 was six versions ago.

Tags: software, February

I also took down a bat house yesterday. It has been up for years too, also never inhabited. The bats don’t seem to want to raise their babies in my yard. This will join the swallow nest box at my friend’s place in the country.

Tags: garden, February

Several years ago I put up a bird house for swallows at the top of a tall pole in my backyard. I know swallows require a long open approach to a nest box, which I couldn’t offer, but I held out a wee bit of hope. I have had success with other nest boxes, but never with this one. I risked life and limb at the top of a rickety ladder yesterday, unscrewing it from the pole. Off it goes to a friend who lives in the countryside with open fields on two sides of her place. I look forward to visiting when the swallows are zipping back and forth to the box with bugs to feed their babies. (The thing hanging on the right side of the shed is a mason bee house. I’m hoping to attract more of them this year.)

Tags: garden, February

Remember when this author was making the rounds of all the talk shows? My mother-in-law gave me this book over a decade ago (thank you!). I read it, filled out the gratitude journal that came with it, put in on my bookshelf, and once in awhile would pull it out to read a random entry. Recently a friend of mine mentioned she’d like to give her daughter a copy, so I thought why not pass it along. By tomorrow this time it should be on its way to Oregon.

Tags: books, February

I have a vast collection of vases, all manner of shapes and sizes, in glass, porcelain, ceramic and plastic. I saw this vase one day at a thrift store but wasn’t immediately smitten, so I didn’t buy it. When it was still there a couple of weeks later I ended up taking it home. It’s lovely with daisies or rudbekia. It’s also the perfect size and shape to hold paintbrushes, about 5in high and 3in across.

Tags: knick knacks, February, vase

If you’re not related to me and you give me grad photos of your children, this is official notice I might not keep them forever. The woman who gave me these dumped me as a friend — in a phone message — because I visited her ex-husband (I had been friends with both of them when they were married) in the hospital after he suffered a medical emergency. These photos have been propped up on one of my bookcases for enough years now. The kids are grown; she’s probably not talking to them anymore either.

Tags: photos, February

A bike light. Have moved on to a bigger, better, LED version. I’m conflicted about whether to give old things like this to the Sally Ann — it’s hard on batteries — if I’m no longer willing to use an inefficient object, why would I want to pass the problem on to someone else? What if they don’t use rechargeable batteries? Perhaps it’s better to take this to the depot and let them recycle what they can from it. It will cost me $2 to turn it in.

Tags: electronics, February

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.

Tags: miscellaneous, February