I know someone who had to move out of his shared place very suddenly. Fortunately he has found a new place to live, but he's going to need some basics again. I've started to put together some dishes and linens. I haven't taken photos of everything yet. I've got a litte shelf unit I can pass on, and maybe a rug. A different sort of weeding out from what I usually do. This time it will be for household items. Now I look back on everything I got rid of over the past year and a bit, and wish I had some of it back to give to him! Particularly two sets of dishes I took to the Sally Ann in February. Ah well, what I can't find, he'll get from other people. I've been posting so many photos of Tashi lately. Here's one of Bear, who has been a bit put out that she isn't deffering to his alpha-ness. Yesterday she actually went up to him while he was sleeping in her favourite place and snuggled up beside him. She was slow and careful and he started to lick her. I do so like it when the older cats finally start to accept the new addition.

Tags: cats, kitchen, linens, October 2010

When this project started, and for the entire year 2009, I was very committed to the daily ritual of getting rid of something — taking a photo of it, writing about it, and putting it in one of the boxes to leave the house. Some nights I would be ready for bed and remember that I still had to write my blog. I'd get up and do it. This year, I'm less stringent about it. And of course I'm finding that many days can go bby without having the urge to post anything. I'm busy with a new cat, with the garden (making pesto, dehydrating apples), with trying to write a poem every week, and with trying to get to the point where I have a small studio space and time to make some altered domino necklaces and collages. I have a big pile of stuff I want to try and sell on usedvictoria.com, but that takes time too. Now that I'm almost over a wicked cold and am getting back some energy, I am going to try for every 3-4 days. In the meantime, here's a photo of Tashi. If I have to choose between 10 minutes playing with her and the feather toy or writing my blog, I'm going to play!

Tags: cats, October 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

Young cats are like kids. They resist falling asleep until they almost fall over. There are too many birds to watch outside the window, too many other cats to follow around, too many shelves to jump onto, too many keyboards to walk across. Tashi eventually settles down, but not for long. Bear still hisses at her, but she just avoids him. She is much, much faster than he is, and she knows he's just grumpy. He hasn't ever made a move to hurt her, has just tried to swat her away with claws in. The felines in the house will eventually succumb to her charms, just as the humans have. In the meantime, I have given away a cactus that I've had since 2000, after rescuing it from the office of a colleague at an ad agency where I used to work. He moved away and left it behind. It now has a new home in Port Alberni. The pine cones were part of my nature collection — a friend is making Christmas ornaments this year from pine cones, so I donated to her raw materials.

Tags: cats, plants, July 2010

It's been a year since my dear Phoebe (16 years) died. Serendipity took me past the window of an animal rescue in Sidney a couple of weeks ago, where I became instantly enamoured of this beauty. After a few days of discussing the possibility of adding to our cat family, we adopted her. She is almost four months old. Dainty. Lithe. Fearless. Her short name is Tashi. Full name: Isis Eka Pada Isabella Tashi Zumi. I'm not even thinking about things to get rid of. There is a youngster in the house. So far two of the big boys are no problem, but we still have to supervise when she is in the same general area as Bear. He is the one out of sorts this time. But it's only been a few days and the adjustments are going well. Might be next week before I post about objects. I'm too busy playing.

Tags: July 2010, cats

We have a house guest. Our nephew. So I've been preoccupied with things other than getting rid of stuff. However, the nephew and I went to one our town's best secondhand bookstores, took in 15 books for store credit and bought two new books each. Since two belong to him now, technically I'm only bringing two back in for me.
One of the cats is very friendly towards him, one is wary and one has stayed in the laundry basket in the closet for a week now. Bear only comes out to eat at night or when the lad is outside.

Tags: books, July 2010, cats

Once a year, the Times Colonist has a huge book sale. Two days, hundreds of thousands of books. I have signed up to volunteer this year, sorting books before the sale on May 15 and 16. Today I have to work on my projects, but I'm hoping to put in a shift by tomorrow or Wednesday. Yesterday I dropped off a bunch of books that have been accumulating in my "get rid of" pile. I also stopped by a friend's house and took at least 150 of her books to the drop off. She took a couple of my discards, and I took some of hers, but all around, we got rid of more than we brought home from each other. I love this book sale. Always find some great books for my nieces and nephews. Some poetry for me. And crime fiction of course. I am this close to finishing my taxes. I was up til 2am last Thursday -- got to the stage where I know I'm in for a nice refund, so I don't have to rush to file. But I want to get it out of the way by tomorrow. Hoping to get back to more regular posts after that. Random cat is the beautiful Barger.

Tags: books, May 2010, cats

There are a few things in the freezer that need to go. Here's one of them. If the expiry date is too small to read, I'll tell you it ends in 05. As in 2005. The compost just got a bit of old dried out spinach added to the mix. The little fruit nappy is a cat food dish. But the gold rim means I can't put it in the microwave. I heat Barger's food for 5 seconds to take the chill off it. I can only use this bowl when I open a new can that's at room temperature. I have many more cat food dishes — I can get rid of this one.

Tags: food, April 2010, cats, kitchen

I have been out of town a lot lately. Reading and attending poetry events and workshops. Lots of poems percolating. I got married for the first time in 1988. Registered for a set of grey Mikasa dishes. Have used them since then. A few pieces from the 8 place settings have been dropped and broken over the years, but the set is pretty much intact. For the past few months I've been on the lookout for a new set of dishes -- finally found some I really like. So it's time to get rid of the grey ones. As well as some white ones that came along with the current spouse (there are more of the white ones that I didn't bother to put in the photo). He prefers the new set too, so is willing to donate the whites. I plan on taking these to a transition shelter that puts together packages of basic furnishings to help people when they move to a new place. It's weird holding new mugs and seeing food served on a colour other than grey or white, but so far the new dishes are a nice change. I expect we'll be using them for at least the next 20 years. Bear always helps me pack my overnight suitcase.

Tags: kitchen, cats, February 2010

My mother was an Avon lady for many years back in the 70s. I don't remember when Avon started to sell jewellery as well as perfume and cosmetics, but I'm certain this is an Avon ring. The red suede apple ring box was given to me by S.H. eight or nine years ago. She gave me a necklace along with the box, not a ring. I still wear the necklace, but I was ready to give the apple away. I put the ring in the apple, wrapped it up and sent it to M. in New Hampshire. I posted a photo of the box I sent out on December 8 — now that Christmas is over and the presents have been opened, I can show the ring. Bear has been extra friendly lately. Lots of purring. Lots of lap time.

Tags: jewellery, December, cats

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

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

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

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

Reacher. Jack Reacher. Jolly good reads by Lee Child. I was so tempted to keep these because Reacher is my latest favourite guilty pleasure. But I still have two on my shelf that I haven't read, keeping them for a when I need an escape. I traded this stack earlier today for a third Reacher novel I haven't read, and for the loan of a Nevada Barr novel. Now all I need is less work and more reading time. With fall coming, and colder weather, I will start indulging in my greatest extravagance — long, hot baths. I can usually get halfway through a novel in one soak. Bear is getting colder too. The minute I get up from my office chair he sneaks in to take the warm seat. I am able to share for a few minutes by perching on the edge, but then I have to either be hard-hearted and remove him, or roll the chair back and bring in a wooden kitchen chair for me to sit on until he has finished his nap. Mika was on the chair with him moments before I took this photo, but Mika scares away when the flash on the camera pops up.

Tags: October, cats, books

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.

Tags: cats, fridge magnet, miscellaneous, October

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.

Tags: antique, miscellaneous, October, cats

In her later years, my dear cat Phoebe, who died in July, took to squatting on the edge of the litter box. This meant she ended up spraying pee outside the box. So I had to buy lids for the plastic pans (why do we call them boxes?) so at least the liquid could be contained and easily wiped off the inside of the covers. Thank goodness the remaining cats manage to confine their business to inside the box, meaning I have three covers not being used. Today someone was over helping me move stuff into the shed and asked if I was getting rid of any of the covers because they knew someone who wanted one. Just like that. One cover gone. I will probably post the others on craigslist. I babysat Lucy this afternoon. She looks angelic, but she can chew her diaper off in a couple seconds flat if she wants to. Stayed outside to keep her away from feline hostility and because it was a gorgeous end of summer day. I put things into the shed, Lucy watched. I sat in a chair and watched kids play in the street, Lucy sat by my feet. When Lucy's mom came to pick her up we humans went to a street market nearby. Lots of crafts, some produce, music, wine tasting — a lovely evening.

Tags: household, cats, dog, September

My cats loved, loved, loved this drinking bowl/fountain. But it ran on electricity 24 hrs a day and the filter needed regular replacement and it seemed whenever I went to the pet store there were no filters in stock. The worst feature of this CatIt product though was that it became very slimy very quickly and had to be completely dismantled and carefully washed. Taking it apart was not easy. Whoever designed it made it really tough to keep clean. So as much as the cats, in particular Mika, enjoyed drinking the moving water as it burbled over the top dome, it is now being recycled. I can’t recommend this product. The fig was part of my breakfast this morning. Fresh picked from our tree. Yum.

Tags: cats, household, August, garden

This was only ever decorative. Never once used it to make tea. But it sort of matched a set of kitchen canisters I have somewhere (not in the kitchen) and so I picked it up from somewhere. I think it might have come from my mother’s house – something she was actually going to get rid of – and silly me interrupted this little teapot’s journey to a 2nd hand store. Now it will finally reach its destination, after a long stay at my place. Random cat is Barger, in one of his favourite positions.

Tags: kitchen, teapot, August, cats

My dear cat died just over a week ago, after turning 16 in June. She had some sort of sudden neurological event, probably a stroke, and just faded away over the course of the next few days to the point where she could no longer stand up. The vet came to the house to put her to rest. I had Phoebe from the time she was a few weeks old. A friend had rescued a pregnant stray and I was looking for a new cat, as my Vincent had died a couple of months earlier and his pal Nigel needed a new friend to play with. I remember sticking my head under the bed where the mother cat had stashed the kittens. Phoebe was the first one to scamper over to see who had come to visit. She definitely picked me out and not the other way around. She was fearless and independent and aloof. She had the biggest ears I’ve seen on a kitten. She and Nigel became fast friends. When she was an outdoor cat, she loved to sit on a fencepost in the pouring rain. We were all lucky 13 years ago when my husband came into our lives and had no problem with cats on the bed at night. Nigel died in 2000 at age 17. We have three other cats now, but Phoebe never loved them the way she did Nigel, though our latest, Barger, who has only been with us for a year, was definitely her favourite. He kept her company on the bed many times in her last days. Phoebe was a petite little cat. She loved to chase a feather twirling on the end of a spinning lure. Her favourite treats were tarter control, but I always called it out in French, “contre le tartre” and she would come running. She became an indoor cat early on (all our cats are now), but she learned to go outside on a harness and leash and we would spend many mornings wandering around the back yard together, or she would sit on her favourite part of the path and watch for butterflies and hummingbirds. She was very vocal when it was time for me to go to bed, impatient for me to settle down so she could get into position on my shoulder. I got so used to her being on top of me that I didn’t even feel it after all these years. She never sat on my lap, but she would sit on Lyle’s. He would be working away at his computer, look down and realize Phoebe was sitting on him, without him ever having noticed her jump up. I knew she was getting old, but I was hoping for another year or two with her. Losing her this quickly was quite unexpected. I guess I’m writing about Phoebe because I know my friends read this blog (some of them have even caught a glimpse of her once or twice). This site is about things that leave my life. So far I’ve been lucky enough to choose what leaves and when. But not this time.

(I’m going away for a few days. I’ll update the site again by August 7 or so.)

Tags: cats, July

Here’s a hard one. My brother gave me this cat. It peered over my bookshelf for many years. It fell a couple of times — I reglued the tail and you can see a little chip off one ear. I thought it would be appropriate to donate it to the cat rescue thrift sale. There was a whole table of cat knick knacks there. I don’t know if anyone adopted it or not. Sorry bro, it did have some sentimental value because it was a present from you, but I have a photo of it and the memory that you thought of me and gave me a little cat. Thanks! Random flower(s) are a climbing rose from my garden and a blue geranium.

Tags: cats, knick knacks, June, random flowers

I got talked into hosting a clothing party for a friend (at the time) who was trying to get some extra money. I should have just given her $100 and saved the bother of trying to rope in other people I know to come and buy clothes. I bought three things, two of which I still wear once in awhile, but this I will never wear again. Not even as a layer to keep me warm in the chill of my office in winter. It was a happy day to donate this to the thrift store. I’m posting another friend’s beautiful cat Hattie to cleanse the visual palate.

Tags: cats, June, clothing

Got our fourth cat a year ago. He was almost totally deaf when we got him, but now he has the best hearing in the house. I think going deaf was a coping mechanism -- who knows what happened to him before he ended up at the SPCA. Seriously though, my husband banged pots behind his head, blew whistles etc. to try to determine his level of deafness. He didn’t even budge. Anyway, Barger is a sweet old cat who loves a lap and only bites occasionally. He goes outside on a harness for a “walk” every day. His idea of a walk is to go to the end of the driveway (after eating grass) and then flob over for a nap on the warm pavement. We keep telling him he could nap inside and let us get back to work, but he gets really growly if we try to take him in too soon. It took the other cats several months to adjust to him, but everyone gets along well now. As I’m typing this I have Phoebe almost on top of the keyboard meowing that it’s time for the humans to go to bed. Barger is on his special stool beside my desk. Mika is watching intently out the screen door to the patio, smelling the neighbourhood on a summer night and Bear is on the top level of one of the cat trees. Oh, and I’ve gotten rid of these little salt and pepper shakers my aunt gave me.

Tags: kitchen, June, cats

I went to the Victoria Cat Rescue Society strawberry tea and sale today. Had the strange experience of seeing my donations on various tables at the sale. CDs, salt and pepper shaker, books, bowls, Christmas decorations, candles, and more. One thing I know for certain sold today was this set of ice cream dishes. They scored $10 for the rescue cats. I bought them years ago at a sale, used them once or twice, but somehow my visions of entertaining friends outdoors in the summertime and plying them with custards or sorbets or ice cream topped with chocolate sauce and whipping cream never materialized. I even bought long handled sundae spoons. Random cat is Jasper Friendly Bear.

Tags: household, glass, June, cats

I have long hair again. I suppose I could use these rollers for a bit of curl, but a straightening iron only takes about 5 minutes. Putting hair up in these things and then using a blow dryer to try and set some wave just takes too long. My hairdresser talked me into these many years ago, but I wasn’t born with curly hair and that’s fine with me. These rollers were in the free pile at the yard sale and someone took them. Random cat is Phoebe, my eldest, 16 this month.

Tags: personal products, June, cats

One of my husband’s sweaters. It has been in an upstairs closet, in a stack of four sweaters, for the past couple of years. He hasn’t worn it once in that time. He agreed to let me take it o the Sally Ann. One of the other sweaters in the pile was the one he was wearing the first time we kissed, so even though he hasn’t put that one on in years either, he said it has too many memories for him to give it away. (Bear showed up to sniff as I was taking the photo. Now just have to catch Mika in a picture and all four cats will have been posted to the site.)

Tags: clothing, April, cats

I’m getting tough with myself now and going through my vases again. I really like the frosted glass on this one, it’s heavy and holds a single big flower very well. Oh well. I know I can’t just get rid of obsolete and useless things, I’m going to have to get rid of things I like too. Things I have enjoyed using. (Barger always gets curious when I take out the camera and goes to sniff whatever I’m setting up.)

Tags: vase, knick knacks, April, cats

Always bringing home new cat toys to see if I can stimulate the aging felines into a bit of play. This mouse is splitting a seam. And it has ordinary stuffing, no tempting catnip inside. There are dozens of other toys lying around -- I’m sure one gets sucked up into the vacuum every time I clean house.

Tags: cats, April

I’m not going to have access to my blog for a few days so I’m posting for four days now.

I still have a VHS player and I still tape TV shows, but why do I need to protect the tapes in plastic cases? I don’t. I can’t be bothered to put the tapes back into the cases anyway. So three of them are off to recycling — the three I came across this week.


Another vase. It’s plastic, so it tips over easily. Not as pretty as my glass ones. Into the Sally Ann box.


Cat toy that the cats easily ripped off a scratching post and haven’t played with since. There are cat toys all over the place that they do have fun with. This one was fine for batting at when it was suspended, but I think it’s too heavy for them to bat around on the floor.


My friend was over and saw my get-rid-of pile of books near the front door. This one caught her eye. I wouldn’t let her leave with it until I’d taken a photo of it for the blog. I usually cook without recipes now.

Tags: cats, vase, books