Finding old things new homes...

This morning it seems like spring has finally arrived in Madrid. Hurray! I have watched a beautiful sun rise from my bed as I checked my emails and mentally prepared for what looks set to be a busy day. Its time to enjoy all the new life and energy that longer days and blooming nature brings.

And speaking of new life, a BIG part of my life over the last few months has been about cleaning out my flat and finding old things new homes. And its interesting to stop and analyze what that work has involved and how it developed.

The first stage was relatively straightforward, aswell as probably the most boring and even painful: sifting through the paper trail of my adult life: 17 years of bills, taxes, and bank accounts that had to be cut into small pieces (at one point I seriously considered a shredder as a desirable AND highly necessary product - thank goodness I couldn't move!) It all was then sent off to be recycled into more paper that I hope will lead a more exciting life as a novel. It was also a way of making peace with my past.

The volume of magazines I chucked was even more impressive - dozens of kilos of paper that had been accumulating dust on the off chance I might need to look back at something, sometime. Still, it was a struggle to let go and I reached a compromise: sifting through every page and cutting out things to add to my scrapbooks. Thus there were two versions of recycling at work at this stage: creative and physical. Taking them down to the recycling bin took many trips over many days. But the result was surprising: suddenly my living room felt much "lighter" from having cleared all the top shelf of my built in bookshelves.

Next came my books - a careful selection of airport bought best sellers that I'd never reread was carefully packed into my shopping cart and handed over to a second hand book seller on the "cuesta de los libros" in exchange for enough to enjoy a breakfast at Starbucks. Still, the best part was thinking those books would continue to entertain others.

By this time, spring was nearing so I began Spring cleaning, which meant going through clothes, shoes... this is a piece of maintenance work that I have been efficient in doing on a regular basis, so it was straight forward because I have a well developed method. And this time around, with no new arrivals to accomodate, it was a relatively painfree and fast experience. The result was barely a bag full of fashion experiments bought as such during past sale seasons made their way to the charity box in my neighbourhood where I regularly deposit the cast offs I know no one else around me will want.

Surprisingly it was much more difficult to figure out how to make sure my cast off ring binders got a good second life. I ended up taking a friend's advice and placing them atop the paper reycling bin the first day the rain stopped. Spent the following hours checking regularly from my terrace if they were still there. By noon, someone had picked them up to give them a new home. Was very happy it took so little time.

A pair of domestic electrical appliances that no longer work and a hand held vaccum cleaner I haven't used in years are more tricky, and I have yet to find them a new home or take them to a "clean spot" where they'll know how to make good use of the parts.

But my last stage of this project is a pair of jeans. They're from a limited series, very exclusive, but never worn because I never fit into the sample size. Still, they might be of value to some jean connaisseur so I have dediced to put them on sale in eBay. Just curious to see how it works and what they might offer for them. Its a pity I took the paper labels off... still they are supposedly pretty rare so that might liven up the bidding. Will let you know how that goes when I get around to it, because of course the first thing I have to do is photograph the thing!!! Meanwhile, here's a scanned detail of the print... See why I need to find a camera? ;-)