Arrivals & departures

Arrived here today:

• 2 bales of peastraw - to go around the brassicas and leeks I've either just planted or have waiting to plant.
• about 3 cubic metres of untreated wood shavings from the local high school wood tech room - otherwise would have gone to the dump. It is now in the chook run where they can poo nitrogen all over it all winter. Come next Spring, it should be in beautiful condition, the soil in the chook run.

Departed here today:

• the rocking horse. Part of a big clear out of everything possible in order to make a spartan lounge which we will then tear all the wallpaper from and then FH will paint the walls. Cream or pale butter on the walls and deep red on the board behind the fireplace.
• the rest of the avocadoes from the avocado co-op.
• Some more clothes for friends' children. We have too many - no two year old needs seven pairs of tights.

Condemned for imminent removal:

• photos and letters etc from old boyfriends. Why exactly I thought that all these things needed to survive for the interest of any grandchildren, I do not know. But it's time to lose the junk. It's also possibly time to lose the many photos of people who I once knew and now I don't. Do I really need to keep records and momentoes of everyone I've ever known?
• Loads of papery type things like ring binder organisers and overhead projector transparencies and those plastic covers for bits of paper. I don't care if I don't use them much at work either - at least I have room in my work office to store them.
• Bags of perennial weeds. Not on my compost thank you. Together with the rather large collection of booze bottles in the garage, they can go to the dump. One of Fionn's favourite activities, smashing beer bottles at the dump. We're all class round here.
• More clothes. I think it is safe to assume that as I've given away nearly all of the baby clothes (leaving just the special stuff and the organic clothing for my sister) and FH is still waiting for the motorbike which he asked for when I asked for baby #2, that we are not having more children. Which does rather negate the need for owning maternity togs, which I only wore twice anyway.

Frankly, this needs to be just the beginning on the removal front. I'll never be a minimalist, but I'd like to go a lot further down that path than we are right now.