having to drive into Albuquerque anyway to pickup my son from work, i hit the recycling bins. if you go to the website for ABQ there's a list of all recycling bins in town, i have my own route i follow and just get lucky.
the biggest find was 9 blue glass bottles, 2 bombay saphire, one of big stupid costco vodka bottles and assorted others. they are all put away by this moring in their special bins. i also picked up close to 15 pounds of aluminum cans, a piece of copper tubing, a pair of italian leather shoes and a steamer. i'll donate the shoes to the local thrift, use the steamer, cans are 70 cents a pound, and the copper wil go into the growing copper pile. Almost forgot the two burlap bags of corn cobs and husks. making a berm in the front yard to collect water with trhose. Blaze the dog sneaks out and eats some and probally the gophers steal a couple. that's great!
My son scrounged a fabulous kitchen sink, though there wasn't room inthe truck and i'll haul that home on Sunday.
getting the energy to start a bottle wall. it's easier to put it off.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
stuff i got yesterday and how i'm using stuff today
things I got yesterday; one pair vintage croc cowboy boots(great find),one 1962 home ec text book, 2 necklaces to tear apart,one small mirror with crusty backing, one 1970's "Careers" game(complete), two boxes poker chips and one pair of white babies shoes from the 60's.
today I built tomato planters using scrap wire, black plastic bags and some of the leaves I dug out of the recycling bins in Albuquerque. They are pretty deep and the leaves will break down over time and form leaf mold, that's a great compost. It will add much needed acid to my alkaline desert soil. The black plastic bags will condense water at night when there's a great tewmperature change and help to water the tomatoes. I'll transplant the tomatos in a week or two as we're still frost prone.
today I built tomato planters using scrap wire, black plastic bags and some of the leaves I dug out of the recycling bins in Albuquerque. They are pretty deep and the leaves will break down over time and form leaf mold, that's a great compost. It will add much needed acid to my alkaline desert soil. The black plastic bags will condense water at night when there's a great tewmperature change and help to water the tomatoes. I'll transplant the tomatos in a week or two as we're still frost prone.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
too much stuff
Stuff, other people's, mine, yours. My life seems to revolve around stuff. good stuff, junk, old stuff, valuable stuff, trash, collectible stuff, stores full of stuff, land fills full of stuff, dead peoples stuff, george carlin's stuff.
I'm currently rebuilding my house from other people's thrown away stuff. Recycled, up cycled, scavenged, used stuff. I stop people on the way to the landfill, pick through garbage and answer ads on Craig's list. sometimes it's free sometimes i purchase it from thrift stores and once in while followed by a rush of guilt, i buy from a box store. I store it all in giant piles in my yard. I'm lucky to live in a part of the country where I can do that. I recently heard on the local public radio station that helicopters would be patrolling a local counties backyards for piles of "junk". Who decides what's junk or perfectly good stuff to be reused? Do they give a class on that, can you be certified? That might make a good career choice for someone like myself if it was trash, maybe I could bring some to my house and store it where the helicopters haven't patrolled yet.
I've tried over the years to sell stuff. mostly stuff that pleases my eye and a few others,too. I've made large sums of money reselling stuff but I've never been able to control when or where i get the money. it never seems to come when i need it and when i take a good look at my merchandise, all i seem to have is a pile of eye pleasing stuff.
I recently become obsessed with the nuclear accident in Japan and it makes me wonder what will happen to their stuff. Friends told me the weekend after 9/11 the 26th st flea market in Manhattan did record sales. is this an example of the bumper sticker, who ever dies with the most toys wins? Or were the survivors so elated to survive, they had to reward themselves with more stuff? Can stuff really make your live happier, more satisfying? Will we be well dressed victims of radiation poisoning?
I'm currently rebuilding my house from other people's thrown away stuff. Recycled, up cycled, scavenged, used stuff. I stop people on the way to the landfill, pick through garbage and answer ads on Craig's list. sometimes it's free sometimes i purchase it from thrift stores and once in while followed by a rush of guilt, i buy from a box store. I store it all in giant piles in my yard. I'm lucky to live in a part of the country where I can do that. I recently heard on the local public radio station that helicopters would be patrolling a local counties backyards for piles of "junk". Who decides what's junk or perfectly good stuff to be reused? Do they give a class on that, can you be certified? That might make a good career choice for someone like myself if it was trash, maybe I could bring some to my house and store it where the helicopters haven't patrolled yet.
I've tried over the years to sell stuff. mostly stuff that pleases my eye and a few others,too. I've made large sums of money reselling stuff but I've never been able to control when or where i get the money. it never seems to come when i need it and when i take a good look at my merchandise, all i seem to have is a pile of eye pleasing stuff.
I recently become obsessed with the nuclear accident in Japan and it makes me wonder what will happen to their stuff. Friends told me the weekend after 9/11 the 26th st flea market in Manhattan did record sales. is this an example of the bumper sticker, who ever dies with the most toys wins? Or were the survivors so elated to survive, they had to reward themselves with more stuff? Can stuff really make your live happier, more satisfying? Will we be well dressed victims of radiation poisoning?
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