Throwing away

What should I throw away?  I have a rule, anything I have not used in the last year must go. That works quite well for clothes unless they are for funerals or special occasions. But what about my mother’s Ottoman and an old family treadle Singer sewing machine?

I remember my mother getting her Ottoman from a shop in Hull. It was made by blind people, my mother used to collect stamps (rather like Green Shield Stamps) from volunteers who came to the house and when she had enough, I drove her to ‘The Blind Shop’ in Hull to see what to get. She chose this Ottoman made of basket weave with a foam covered top. It looks very old-fashioned and out of place now, but I haven’t the heart to get rid of it. It is also very useful for storing bedding.

My black and gold sewing machine looks like an ancient relic, but it still works and not so long ago I made some kitchen curtains using it.  It is very ‘green’ for these modern times as it does not use electricity or any form of fuel except of course pedal power so long as your knees are in working order. But sadly, it is not for modern times and I am donating to a museum representing my childhood and an age gone by.

In her early twenties and not long married my mother, trying to get everything spick and span and sweep out her new home, lost her sparkling engagement ring. I read recently about a Shropshire woman who lost her wedding ring and a man walking by M&S in Shrewsbury by chance found it. He was able to use social media and Radio Shropshire to find the delighted owner. But in the 1930s there was no such help and Mother’s ring was buried in the garden soil until many years later my eldest sister found it shouting -

‘Finders, keepers.’

She could not keep it of course but was promised that eventually she would be left it in the will. So, she is the proud keeper of the diamond ring now.

I am not getting very far in my quest to throw things away as you can see. But help is at hand because the rules for going to our recycling centre has changed yet again, this time in our favour.

“Thank goodness!” exclaimed my friend, “I can go on a whim and get rid of things as I go along.” We all found it difficult to make an appointment to recycle and realised that it is something that we do on the spur of the moment.  Sense has prevailed, but not with my old Ottoman.

(Taken from my column in the Shropshire Star)