26 February 2007

Treasure Hunting

My favorite part of the weekend just gone was kerb crawling the streets of one of the wealthier suburbs with sister and friend, looking for treasure that may have been discarded for the local street verge throwout.

Some may find this practice degrading, or even ghoulish, but I see it as a form of recycling. It's amazing how wasteful our society is and what gets thrown out. Recently I've noticed a plethora of larger televisions, no doubt many are in good working order, but I suspect they've been replaced by a plasma screen model.



We have some rules - we try not to disturb the piles too much - I know people would hate to see their trash scattered in all directions. We've also developed a fine eye for spotting something useful at the back of a rubbish pile.



My past finds have included a beautiful mahjong set complete with racks, and two over-the-top gilt lamps that you can see in this picture. Last weekend I found two small wall shelves in the shape of angels with gold detailing - they suit my current rococco themed phase of decorating.

S won the spotters prize first off - with two authentic boomerangs, and sister was very happy with her haul of garden pots.

22 February 2007

Regrettable clothing


I'm going through my old clothing to see what needs throwing out. It's not that I love clothes - I just find it hard to part with them. The first suspect is this one. You need sunglasses to wear it - but it's pure wool - and hand knitted! And warm! Forget that it's shapeless, and if I wore it I'd look like something from Play School. I don't think I've worn it for 15 years, but it's going - today!




21 February 2007

Blogging again - on holidays

I'm on holidays for two weeks and decided to start blogging again after a long hiatus.
The book that spurred me on is No One Cares What You Had for Lunch - 100 Ideas for Your Blog. It's a good start for someone like me who suffers from "bloggers block", and provides lots of ideas for subjects to opine on. So lets see where this leads me. (Oh - and I've changed the name, too)

I'm using my holidays to start some good habits again. My projects:
  • Get organised - throw out all those unused old clothes
  • Start exercising properly again - gym or bike
  • Get in touch with old friends, be it coffee or just an email
  • Choose a shed - a large double garage if possible (a girl's gotta have a shed!)
  • See some culture - the Perth International Arts Festival is on again

I've already seen some culture - last night I saw Marcus Zusak at the State Library as part of the One Book program of events. Ashamedly, I haven't read the book yet, but after hearing him speak - that's another thing to add to my "to do" list. He was so unassuming, but obviously committed to his work. I liked how he spoke about ensuring that there'd be a small gem on each page, be it a phrase or a character. He used another author's phrase about a cruise ship entering New York Harbour like a mountain in a tuxedo.
Now that's writing!