This weekend I had an empty house. My gorgeous husband is busy building the Basildon Bond garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and my children were with their Dad (we are a "blended family" - please pass vomit bag for use of that phrase!). There were times when an empty house would have filled me with excitement - from the thoughts of lie-ins, reading the papers over an unspilt coffee, alas I was unable to do any of the aforementioned, I had the sitting room to unpack it's been like Beirut since we moved in a few months ago. My only breaks were for the obvious, plus chicken and dog duties. This horrific task was inevitable but the arrival of new book cases meant I could postpone the heinous task no longer. Battle commenced Friday night, involved strong coffee and really rubbish TV in the background, back to back Come Dine With Me Saturday and Sunday so not all bad, the task continued until last night at 1am when the horror movie sent me over the edge and I gave in. The results are really quite commendable. I was even able to hoover the carpet without bashing boxes, sucking up Lego or having to move paperwork and magazines first.
So I turned the room from this look...
To this!
Apologies for the appalling photography BTW.
The room is not fnished, no curtains, no shades on the pendants, but the bookcases arrive tomorrow! So I now have a tidy sitting room, which makes the rest of the house look rubbish, I've set a precident.
With all the unpacking it meant a trip to the tip today. I find the whole recycling thing quite a worthy cause. It upsets me when I see a plastic bottle in a normal bin, sometimes I even bring them home from my parents house as plastic recycling is not available kerbside in their area, my brother mocks me unrelentlessly for this. Don't get me wrong I don't knit my own yogurt, or crochet bread but I do like to do my bit. So with this in mind I filled the car with 2 boxes of recyclable bottle/jars/cans, 12 empty cardboard boxes, a bag of old clothes, a bag of coat hangers, a huge crate of paper (burnt the private stuff) and off I went.
The men on site were like bees round a honey pot - straight to my boot (could have said back end but that has filthy connotations lol), they unpacked most of my rubbish for me - no better service available elsewhere in North Yorkshire - when I held up the enormous bag of plastic coat hangers they told me to put them in landfill - I was filled with horror and they went straight back in the boot! I just couldn't bear the thought of all these hangers ending up lying about for the next 100 years... As I drove off I saw a a man walking towards the landfill container a bucket in one hand and a bird feeder in the other. I had to bite my lip as far as the bucket was concerned but I couldn't hold myself back over the feeder so look what this Magpie brought home. Shameless!
I don't even think it's been used. Why landfill when you can recycle? *Smug grin*
Having saved this perfectly good item from the landfill, free of charge I then went and spent £3 on peanuts to fill it - typical!? The saving grace is that every time I see it I will smile, knowing how amused my husband was to hear how I could hang out of the window of a car to scrounge free stuff - love it :)
So I turned the room from this look...
To this!
The room is not fnished, no curtains, no shades on the pendants, but the bookcases arrive tomorrow! So I now have a tidy sitting room, which makes the rest of the house look rubbish, I've set a precident.
With all the unpacking it meant a trip to the tip today. I find the whole recycling thing quite a worthy cause. It upsets me when I see a plastic bottle in a normal bin, sometimes I even bring them home from my parents house as plastic recycling is not available kerbside in their area, my brother mocks me unrelentlessly for this. Don't get me wrong I don't knit my own yogurt, or crochet bread but I do like to do my bit. So with this in mind I filled the car with 2 boxes of recyclable bottle/jars/cans, 12 empty cardboard boxes, a bag of old clothes, a bag of coat hangers, a huge crate of paper (burnt the private stuff) and off I went.
The men on site were like bees round a honey pot - straight to my boot (could have said back end but that has filthy connotations lol), they unpacked most of my rubbish for me - no better service available elsewhere in North Yorkshire - when I held up the enormous bag of plastic coat hangers they told me to put them in landfill - I was filled with horror and they went straight back in the boot! I just couldn't bear the thought of all these hangers ending up lying about for the next 100 years... As I drove off I saw a a man walking towards the landfill container a bucket in one hand and a bird feeder in the other. I had to bite my lip as far as the bucket was concerned but I couldn't hold myself back over the feeder so look what this Magpie brought home. Shameless!
I don't even think it's been used. Why landfill when you can recycle? *Smug grin*Having saved this perfectly good item from the landfill, free of charge I then went and spent £3 on peanuts to fill it - typical!? The saving grace is that every time I see it I will smile, knowing how amused my husband was to hear how I could hang out of the window of a car to scrounge free stuff - love it :)
Wow what a transformation that room is! Bet your hubby thought he'd come back to the wrong house!
ReplyDeleteI've blagged stuff at the tip before, much to my other half's horror! It is kind of embarrassing, but I don't get why some people throw perfectly good stuff away. Not only have you done a good deed for the planet, but you've made the dickie birds happy too :0)
Thanks for linking up x
That room looks massive, nice job! BTW I have those dumbells, although mine are gathering dust at the moment. :(
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for displaying my blog badge, it's made my day, you're too kind! :)
Well done on the hard work and I like your comment about blended families phrase. "If you go down to the tip today, you're in for a bargain or two". Well done you! Feed the birds, no pence per bird feeder. My finds are at http://celebratingmums.wordpress.com
ReplyDeletehi, found your blog through bmb. excellent job on the room, it looks fab!
ReplyDeletei too have a "blended family" *cringe*
and i would have come back with the bird feeder, if i cant recycle i try and reuse always :)
xoxo