Tag Archives: recycling bin

Well, It Sounded Good

18 Jun

This morning The Squire announced that we were going to clean off the picnic table on the patio, so he can put it on Freecycle.  Now, cleaning it off is a good idea, but I am not too crazy about getting rid of it.  It would be lovely to be able to sit out there in the evening and watch the foxes play in the Back 40, or just enjoy a cuppa and a good book.

We dragged over the trash can and the recycling bin, and had at it. It really didn’t take too long to get most of the junk off there, and we found quite a few things that were either MIA or would come in handy.

And then, yours truly began the sneaky process of piling it up again! Back when grandson Matthew was about five, he and I collaborated on putting together a McKinley doll house.   http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/24504323   After it was finished, we decided to work on a lighthouse, but that project somehow died a-borning, so the kit went into the barn. Recently, Eldest Daughter, who is in the process of moving the South Carolina, offered one of my nephews a roll-top desk and chair that had belonged to my mum. He accepted and we brought the desk here, as it would be a lot more convenient for him to pick it up. Besides, he can collect his kids’ Christmas gifts while he’s at it. And by the way, would your sons want to build a lighthouse? The Squire and I spread out and checked out all of the pieces that are in that kit, and wrapped it back up.

“You know, with this table cleared I could bring Matthew’s McKinley down here and work on it here on the patio.” The Squire was not pleased with that suggestion, but the patio is cooler in the evening than the workshop, and I really do need to get on with this project. We shall see. It’s been sitting around, first in their basement, then in our barn, and now up it the workshop, and if I’m going to get it finished before Austin graduates from college, I need to hustle. he’s pushing two, already!

We also went through several of my parents boxes that had been stashed here and there.  Lawsy, the stuff my mum kept! A quart zip bag full of keys. A bunch of receipts for donations to every cockamamie organization in the world. A huge bag of L’eggs eggs – which are probably worth a fortune on eBay.

And books! Another of my nephews is giving serious consideration to following in his grandfather’s footsteps and going to seminary, so I pulled all of the books I figured he could use and packed them up. He’s going to have to come get them, as mailing this thing is going to be very pricey.

All in all, it really looks good out there. It may not be obvious to the untrained eye, but we filled two trash bags and two recycling bins – and we’re not really finished yet!

 

 

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It Worked!

7 Jun

Last night, I trundled the wheelie bin out to the road, and put it carefully beside the mailbox. I lowered the handle so the lid wasn’t locked in place and moseyed back to the house in the dark.

When I opened the shades this morning I was annoyed to find the bin was exactly where I’d left it last night. Either the recycling crew hadn’t been around yet (they normally come through about half past four) or they were in a snit and had passed us by. The latter more likely than the former, frankly.

Mea culpa, and all that jazz. The bin had been emptied, and was positioned – upright and with the lid on – a few feet further up on the lawn. Maybe the expression “over my dead body” really meant something. I’ll have to leave them a box of cookies or something next week.

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Old Bones

21 Mar

Wednesday morning I took my “grabber” when I went out to collect the recycling bin from the end of the drive, and picked up all of the beer cans, paper cups, and soda bottles from the ditch, along with a human ulna. From the size of it, I’d say it was from a child.

I brought it up to the house and wrapped it in a paper towel, intending to put it in my car and take it over to church, so Fr. Matthew could bury it in the cemetery. I put it on the shelf under the kitchen window, and didn’t get around to moving it, and now it is gone.

Back in the 20s, one of the local hospitals got rid of all of their medical specimens by taking them to the dump.  About thirty-five years ago, the State Highway Administration did some major repair work along our road, including replacing the culvert, and, unknowingly got their fill dirt from the same dump. From time to time, a bone will work its way to the surface, and The Squire or I will wrap it up for a proper burial.

The first time we found a bone – a stained and gnawed femur – I called the police. A young man had disappeared in our area and I thought maybe we had found one of his bones. The officer who came to the house told us that the young man had been found years ago, buried in a shallow grave in the State Park about a mile up the road, and then explained about the medical specimens.  He said bones turn up from time to time, and some people really panic over it. I suppose if what I had found was a mandible, rather than a femur, I’d have been a little less sanguine about it.

Anyway, I am really upset about some animal taking this arm bone. This was somebody and whoever it was, they deserved better, not only from the hospital, but from me.

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