Sunday 7 September 2014

I was given a tiny

"thank you" gift the other day. It is a very small "pillow", no more than 3cms square. It has been exquisitely well embroidered. There is even a tiny kangaroo on one side.
It came from one of the organisers of the OIDFA Lace Conference 2014 and I appreciate her thoughtfulness.
But, I wonder what one does with such things. Remember? I cleared out the china cabinet. I got rid of things - or so I thought.
The Middle Cat did turn up yesterday morning. She brought some boxes with her. She failed to take anything away but we did pack some things into boxes. My nephew will, she informed me, have to carry them out to the car. Right. 
I may add some more things to the collection. There are things stored in "the shed". 
Now you need to understand that "the shed" is not "the workshop".  "The workshop" is sacred. It contains timber and tools and screws, nails, nuts, bolts, timber, machinery, racks with - did I mention timber? It is the Senior Cat's space.
"The shed" is where things get put. The Senior Cat put it up with the idea that it would store things not wanted in the house and "tidy the place up a bit". Of course that did not work. He rudely refers to it as "the wool shed" and tells people I store my yarn stash out there. I don't. There is one, well sealed box of yarn out there ready to be used for blanket squares and another of blanket squares ready for the next two blankets to be made and raffled off for charity.  What else is there? There's the very heavy "stoneware" dinner set that was given to my mother years ago and another gifted dinner set that can't be used in a microwave. What is more we don't like either of them. We prefer our perfectly ordinary cheap Blue Willow pattern set thanks very much. There are books and magazines and photo albums and old videos and more books. There is a box of spare tricycle pieces.
And then there is the Senior Cat's conjuring apparatus. He doesn't use it any more but he can't quite bring himself to give it away - yet. He says he will "think about it". There is his "sound system" which does get used from time to time - people come and borrow it. There are more books. There is the Senior Cat's "technical Lego" which, having solved the seven or eight problems for which it was bought, he no longer needs but "might be useful again one day". There are some boxed games and jigsaw puzzles which he also keeps on the grounds they "might be useful".
So, where do I put the little pillow? Where does it belong? Do I keep it? What do I keep it for? It was a lovely gesture but what do I do with it?
We have "stuff". We have too much "stuff". I am going to have to do some more clearing out.

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