I really am hopeless at throwing things out… so many items might just possibly come in useful in the future and I just can’t bring myself to consider them to be trash. Even recycling can be a challenge, because I’m always aware that it’s better to reuse or repurpose an object than to break it down and make it into a whole new something. As a result of this, our contributions to landfill are small, but our house is stuffed full of, well, stuff. We are trying very hard to cut down on what comes into the house to avoid too much accumulation.
My new old calendar
Recently I have been trying to have a bit of a clear-out, before my office bursts at the seams and so a few weeks ago I went through some old calendars and diaries, cut out any pictures I thought might be useful for teaching (the Trees for Life diaries were particularly good for this) and put the remnants in the recycling. There was one calendar, however, that I just couldn’t bring myself to dispose of because it was made by my friend Anja for 2003 and contained lots of her own drawings. So, I put it to one side thinking that, perhaps I would cut it up and make a collage of the pictures. Then yesterday, Mr Snail-of-happiness came across it and noticed that the days were right for this year… it’s 11 years old and that’s the time that the days and dates match up again.
So, Anja’s calendar is now in use again (I hadn’t written on it first time round because it was so lovely) in my office and I am feeling smug that I didn’t throw it out or cut it up. OK, OK, I know that I can’t keep everything, but sometimes I do feel pleased with myself that I held on to an item that did turn out to be useful.
The Snail of Happiness 
katechiconi
/ March 24, 2014A neat illustration of the phrase “What goes around, comes around”. Will you keep it for another 11 years, do you think?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 24, 2014Maybe… no, don’t encourage me!!
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katechiconi
/ March 24, 2014I like your idea of using the drawings from the calendar for a collaged image. That would be repurposing rather than just hoarding!
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davidprosser
/ March 24, 2014This year in the post-Christmas sales I bought a ‘Make your own’ desktop calendar. Last year’s calendar had wonderful pictures of Yvonne’s wedding and of Julia which I cut out and slid into this one. I can now see all my favourite pictures again and next year I reuse the pictures again in the same way.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 24, 2014Hey, that’s a great idea.
Hope you are staying warm today – the weather here is bitter
xxx hugs xxx
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Karen B
/ March 24, 2014I love this post and that you could not throw away the special calendar which meant something to you. Like you, I am a hoarder, but the minute I make myself throw something out I regret it because I need it. I have a lot of ‘stuff’, but I remember every little item and each thing is precious.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 24, 2014We are squirrels! I’m sure almost everything comes in useful sooner or later 😉
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Crochet Crush
/ March 25, 2014Oh wow! I’m so glad you posted about this – I bought a beautiful diary (unused) a few years ago from a second hand book shop just for the illustrations. I’ve just checked and it is in fact from 2003 🙂 I shall be able to put it to good use now! Thanks!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 25, 2014That’s brilliant… you have made me smile!
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