Monday 4 February 2013

the tip is the new op shop


Most of the things I've been finding at the tip fascinate me.  The Japanese saucers I brought home last week (still to feature), bikes of all sizes (none for us, we already have enough), paintings and other household effects.  Apparently, when people have estates to clear, they sometimes just bring everything to the tip, rather than having to drop some stuff at the op shop, then trek out to the tip on a separate journey.  Some things, however, are unsurprising, but still shocking en masse - the rows and rows of televisions and outdated computer screens.  Such a terrible waste!  We talk carbon tax on one hand, then allow planned obsolescence by manufacturers, not making them responsible for the end product once it dies after a year or two of use.
We're trying to make treasure from other people's trash.  The rusted baking tin now a planter, filled with geranium cuttings.  Minnie's kennel, now cleaned and de-cobwebbed, the perfect place for our little dog to hang out and shelter from the sun.  She even has a car to play with!  I wonder why you would take a kennel to the tip?  Perhaps the dog had died, or its master.  Sure, it's faded, in the way plastic gets after being in the sun, but a quick spruce and it's fine.
The two wooden planters in the foreground were from yesterday's pilgrimage to the tip.  They both had lids which I unscrewed, then just filled them with some soil and potting mix.  I've planted plumbago, butterfly irises and aptenia.  The plumbago will eventually get too big.  It's actually intended for planting out properly in the garden, however we don't have a bed ready yet.  It needed potting on in the meantime, so these new pots are ideal.  My little row of plants is heartwarming alongside the sand, dirt and weeds of our garden!  Each week, we find these little cast-off pieces that are starting to give our garden its own stamp, putting our personality in to a place of our very own.

PS Thanks for checking Verity, the tip, for overseas readers, is the dump - the rubbish dump!

6 comments:

  1. Ooh - great finds - might have to head down to our tip and see if they have anything good...

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    1. You never know! Our one has a shed, which is where the household effects go. I would be surprised if yours doesn't have one, as I imagine it would be much bigger! There's also a scrap metal section, which is where my chairs came from... amazing!

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  2. Amazing finds - I can still remember scavenging at the tip with Dad - my best hobby. Love Me xxooxx.

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  3. I don't get it- what kind of tip do you mean?

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    1. Ah, I should have clarified!! A dump, a rubbish dump! As well as the outdoor areas where the greenwaste and recycling go, there is a shed with things that are too good to be thrown away! Thanks for checking!

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