But I don't think 15+ year old ibuprofen 600s would do much to make it go away. This is something I keep meaning to take to the pharmacy for proper disposal. No flushing down the toilet. These belonged to my ex. That's his handwriting on the bottle. I can't for the life of me remember which ailment warranted so many big pain pills. Now that it's colder and the fire is turned on a couple times a day, the cats love lolling on the warm floor in front of it.

Tags: personal products, pills, November, cats

Oh Reba, I used to bop along to Why Haven't I Heard from You. Loved the video too. That song isn't on this CD. Didn't really care for Carlene or Leann or the guy in the cowboy hat. Don't much listen to CDs at all anymore, most of the time I listen to everything through iTunes on my computer. Still have some credits left to spend at the iTunes store. I miss summer. These are Oregon dahlias we bought at a street market in Portland a couple of summers ago.

Tags: music, November

I have drawers filled with old and empty frames — for the watercolours I am going to paint and fill the frames with. Now I am willing to weed through the frames more drastically. The icing caps have no tube to go with them. It's Saturday night. Got to get away from the computer for a change.

Tags: kitchen, frames, November

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.

Tags: odd, miscellaneous, November

In every size. Because if things come in sets or sizes, I seem to end up with all available sizes. Just like crochet hooks. I have hooks small enough to crochet sewing thread and large enough to crochet wide strips of material. And pencils. I have pencils 6H to 7B and everything in between. In the years when I was an avid knitter I ended up with needles of every size and of course some duplicates. So when my friend mentioned that her niece had recently taken up knitting and she wanted to buy some wool and needles for her, I offered part of my collection. I gave my friend two long pairs, two circular needles and four straight needles for knitting socks. Plus a handy dandy guide with holes in it to find out what diameter needles are if they aren't marked.

Tags: knitting, crafts, November

Some charms I don't wear. A few more bitty blings to drop on the street for kids to find. They're kiddie sized. I've got a thick neck.

Tags: jewellery, November

I just got the little drawer unit at the Cat Rescue Christmas sale a couple of weeks ago. I know, I know, but it was for a good cause — and I collect miniature chests of drawers. However, my husband really loathes it, even though I planned on putting a coat of paint on it. I'll put it in the Sally Ann box. The metal shoe is quite heavy, about 4 inches long. Something I've looked at many times, going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to keep it. I thought about putting a trailing succulent in it, using it as a mini-planter. Even checked out all the babies growing on my succulents today, but didn't find anything suitable. Decided not to keep it. Now that it's colder, the cats are loving their cuddlers. Something about that weird synthetic fabric attracts them — it must insulate very well. We've got four cuddlers around the house, and there's usually a cat in at least one of them. I'll snap a photo of when Bear and Mika decide to share. Pretty squishy in there.

Tags: toys, November, knick knacks, cats

This product turned my husband's teeth brown. Yup. Google it. Doesn't happen to everyone, but it happened to him. Gone now, but the discolouration was disconcerting to say the least. The garden is brown now too. Much of it. Sodden and mucky. Rain and more rain. Just a few more months before it looks like this again.

Tags: personal products, November, garden

Old alarm clock. The batteries are long dead and have started to go crusty. I'm dismantling it for plastic recycling and taking the old batteries to dispose of at the battery recycling place. The book on the left, The Moon & the Virgin: Reflections on the Archetypal Feminine, I've never read, and the Whitley Strieber book came into the household when my husband did. He doesn't want it anymore. Barger was not thrilled I decided to take a photo using his blanket as a backdrop.

After Planet Earth Poetry last night — Wendy Morton launched her fabulous new book "What Were Their Dreams" — I went to the pub with a few poets. I am usually tucked into my bed by 10, but it was midnight before I got home last night. So here are two items. One is a green vase, about 7 inches tall, part of my green ceramic vase collection. I bought it at a thrift sale or yard sale, can't remember which. I have never put flowers in it, there were always other vases I reached for first. So it can go. The second item I picked up from a "free" box on someone's front lawn. I thought it was a banana holder. Something is obviously meant to hang from the hook part, but a bunch of bananas it is not. We tried.

Tags: kitchen, vase, November

I don't have a table large enough to use this as a centrepiece. I have used the rectangular containers on their own to hold flowers, but have never used all the pieces as one unit. I don't know where I will get rid of this, perhaps the household consignment store. At one point I gave it away to a friend, but she didn't use it either, so she gave it back to me when she was decluttering. This time I will make sure it goes away never to return.

Tags: vase, flowers, November, household

For some reason I had the notion, from something Douglas Coupland wrote I think, that single-flavoured Necco rolls were scarce. So when I found these in a candy shop in Littleton, New Hampshire, I bought them. Had a vague idea that I would send them to Coupland. But then I couldn't find the reference anymore and got confused about the availability of the variety pack versus the single-flavoured one. So these two rolls have remained in my writing desk for many years. I would love to have a display area of cool products with pretty retro type on the packaging, but it's not going to happen in this lifetime.

Tags: food, candy, November, cats

This multi-purpose office stamp ends with the year 2000. One of those cool things I hung on to because I envisioned stamping envelopes to electricity or utility companies with "Backordered" or "Cancelled" just for fun. It sat in my office supplies drawer for many, many years. I used it a couple of times. Most of my bills are paid online now. I have a friend who does rubber stamping and I'll ask her if she wants this. I'm off to a Jann Arden concert tonight. Looking forward to it. Pretty sure her song "Insensitive" was written about someone we all know.

Tags: office, November

I have a small collection of depression glass in a pink Queen Mary pattern that I will get rid of eventually. Maybe sooner than later. This is not Queen Mary. I don't even know if it's depression glass. Pretty sure these bowls came from my mother, who thought because I had some pink pieces I might want more. Trouble is, I'm not fond of pink glass. Give me green or clear. So these fruit nappies are in the box to go to the consignment store unless someone pipes up.

Tags: kitchen, glass, November

As I was waiting for an appliance to warm up this afternoon I stood in front of one of my bookcases and took a long look at one row. I found three books I have never read and am never going to. A 1931 Random House edition of Andre Gide's The Counterfeiters, Life at Its Best by Ellen G. White, and The Psychology of Sex by Oswald Schwartz. (Mom, if you want the White book let me know and I will put it aside for you.) I'm starting a box of books to take to a secondhand seller here in town. If they don't want them, I'll donate them to the Times Colonist book sale coming up in early 2010. I go every year and come out with 70-100 books. I don't want to buy that many this year! I'll have to take a photo of the mayhem this year. People line up in the middle of the night to be the first through the doors when they open and have first crack at well over half a million books. I take water and a snack and browse for hours. Heaven. Haven't see the sun in awhile. On one of the last sunny days we had, Barger was happy to sit on the car and warm up with me.

Tags: books, November, cats

Today I went to a Christmas bazaar/thrift sale for a local cat rescue charity I support. I always give them an official donation of money but I also like to support them by rummaging through their stuff and buying a few little things. I satisfy my urge to hunt for cheap thrills and get to enjoy the very reasonably priced coffee and cake service they offer too. This time I did a bit of reverse shoplifting. Before I left home I put these two small vases in my jacket pocket along with the elephant brooch from September 30. When the table attendants were looking elsewhere, I put the vases in with housewares and the brooch in amongst other brooches on the jewellery table. By the time I left the sale, the two small vases weren't there anymore, so I assume they sold. I know three items didn't bring in much extra money, but these things would have just gone into the Sally Ann box otherwise. Obviously I didn't get my act together in time to donate a whole box of stuff to the sale ahead of time like I have in the past, but doing this measured a couple of notches on the fun scale for me. I would make a lousy thief. I had trouble being nonchalent while adding to the tables — I certainly don't have the nerve to take something off without paying for it.

Long day. No photos. Too tired. Two things tomorrow.

I forgot to take photos today of the demolition. I've had two raised beds in the back garden. Built 10 years ago. The boards were splitting, dirt was spilling out. They were knocked down today. Construction on new, higher beds has begun. Using reclaimed lumber. Here is a photo from the summer in which you can sort of see the raised beds. I will post photos of the new ones — and the new cold frame — once they are finished this weekend.

Tags: garden, November

I only finished one of these. Grift Sense. Just couldn't get all the way through the Martha Grimes. If I had more time to read I would give it another try, but I still have lots of books to read for the first time. Someone in my old book club said that if you aren't hooked by a book by the time you read the number of pages equal to your age then you should stop and go on to the next one. Good advice.

Tags: books, November

My Canon lenses don't fit my new camera. So I gave this 50mm and 24-70mm to my brother. Replacement lenses are going to be expensive, so I don't plan on buying them anytime soon. I'm really happy with my new camera though, so I don't miss these yet. I also figured it was time to get rid of my first digital camera, a Fuji Finepix, which I haven't used in a couple of years. I'm hoping my nephews will start playing around with it and take their own pictures — no worries about messing up daddy’s camera.

Tags: camera, November

But I'm willing to share. I got this tie, which makes spooky, spooky noises when you press a button near the the mummy’s nose, last Halloween from a friend. (thanks E!) I wore it last Halloween, even went to a poetry reading with it on and played the tie into the mike before I read my poem. This year I went to visit my nephews just before the 31st, and took this along for them to have fun with. I heard the scary sounds more times than I really wanted to and as far as I know the battery is still going strong. It has taken me this long to download the photos from my trip (a different camera), so this entry and the next one are for things I got rid of at the end of October.

An ex gave these beautiful blue slippers to me. They were comfortable and soft and warm and the blue leather and beads were pretty to look at. I wore them out completely over the years. I kept them for sentimental reasons, but now I have gotten rid of them. Well, mostly all of them. I took the beads off and am keeping them for awhile. I might use them later in a jewellery project. The cats have been playing with the suede ties. The rest of the slippers are deep in the bottom of my big compost pile. Leather and lining will eventually disintegrate. A fitting end.

Tags: shoes, November

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.

Tags: miscellaneous, November, odd

The colour on these is so pretty. More vivid than this photo shows. I imagined vibrant green and turquoise succulent with their vivid yellow, orange and pink flower stems growing in these pots. I have lots of succulents, just never got around to planting them in these. Out you go. (I found this shot of succulents on the internet, if it's yours and you want it off my site, just let me know.)

Tags: kitchen, garden, November

I collect globes. I have a lot of them. I bought this one in Vancouver, in an antique mall downtown, around 1992 or 1993. It is circa 1944, on a metal stand that someone painted black a long time ago. It is paper over cardboard. More than 12 inches in diameter. Some wear in the cardboard where it attaches to the spinner at the base. Not bad for something 65 years old. I really like it and I still wonder if I should get rid of it, but I am going to commit to trying to sell it. I will try to put an ad up on craigslist and UsedVictoria this weekend. I am going to line up all of my globes, choose the ones that are my absolute favourites, take a deep breath and try to sell the rest. I find globes and maps fascinating — the older the better of course. I look at countries whose names have changed, whose borders have been adjusted — so many places I’ll never get to.

Tags: globe, antique, November

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.

Tags: paint, fire extinguisher, plants, miscellaneous, shoes, odd, November