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| The Snake River looking toward the Southway Bridge on April 23 |
While Hallie was here last weekend, she went up into the storage loft in Mike’s shop. I don’t like to think of myself as physically challenged, but I no longer climb into the loft. Hallie volunteered to go, and with Mike’s help, we brought a lot of stuff down to be sorted and discarded.
“I can’t believe you stored this stuff,” said Hallie.
“I
didn’t think it was my place to discard your things,” I replied.
You see, at the time we downsized from the “big house,” Hallie had just graduated from U-I and moved to Great Falls. She wasn’t available, so we literally packed up her leftover belongings and stored them in the loft. So now, 20 years later, we had a lot of “little girl” things to go through, mostly stuffed animals and a few dolls.
When I think of our carbon footprint, I have to wonder about stuffed animals. They’re so appealing when new and fresh, but then they get old and dirty. I wonder if thrift stores want them because even if they look clean, you don’t know where they’ve been. Seems to me you almost have to throw them away, which begs the question, how many should we buy/make in the first place?
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| The milk-drinking cow & Love-a-Lot Bear |
Nevertheless, back in the day, Hallie loved stuffed animals, so she went through the stuffed animal bin carefully. She cut the music box out of her pink elephant, probably her favorite, and tossed his body into the trash. I salvaged the Care Bear I made for her in 1985 and laundered it. I also saved the stuffed cow, her junior high home ec project. She took the lifelike rabbit hand puppet that Aunt Joni gave her to share with Silas. We disposed of the rest.
When we came to the second bin – mostly dolls and doll clothes – Hallie made a cursory search and said to throw it all away. Naturally, I couldn’t do that without sorting, so I spent hours on Tuesday (Hallie was gone by then) sorting through it – some for the trash, some for donation, and a small box for the farm.
On Tuesday (April 26), Mike replaced the sink and faucets in the master bath and hung a wicker shelf above the toilet in the main bath. Then he complained that he hoped he had more energy on Wednesday. KW
3 comments:
I am so impressed with the bear you made!!! Wow! You tackle many things I would never try. Kudos to you! I'm with Hallie--I have to say that I love throwing things away. I find it very therapeutic and liberating. I was ruthless at Mom and Dad's. My brother, not so much.
I made three Care Bears when we spent the summer of '85 in Challis, ID. I bought the furry fabric at a department store in Salmon. I don't remember what inspired me to do it. Hallie's was "Love-a-Lot" (pink). Milo's was "Good Luck Bear" (green), and Clint's was blue. Can't remember his name. I have a picture of the three of them with their bears someplace. Of course, the boys didn't really care about a stuffed animal, but it was something to do, and we all enjoyed that.
I do love to make stuffed toys. And YOU tackle things I would never try. LOL
Interesting that your brother is more hesitant to toss. I wonder what's behind that -- nostalgia? environmental concerns?
Nostalgia.
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