Decluttering[1]

I sold my swag to Helen yesterday. She came for a flying visit. I gave her a short garden hose with a sprinkler attachment. - no need for that any more in an apartment.

For the non-australian readers, a swag is a piece of camping gear, like a hybrid between a small waterproof tent and a sleeping bag. The term 'swagman' is a derivation of swag ("Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, under the shade of a Coolibah tree...")

The swagmen wandered Australia in the nineteenth century and the Great Depression, carrying their possessions wrapped up in a bedroll of blankets - their swag. They had no need to declutter. Decluttering comes with affluence.

Helen lives near the scene at the top of my blog.

I tend to hold on to things after I no longer need them. I hate to see things wasted or thrown out as garbage. Soon I am going to try to find books I could let go of. It once took me hours to just choose ten books. Here we can give them to a charitable organisation, but there are only few drop-off points and they changed them all. The public libraries used to take them but don't any more.

Fortunately I have a friend who lives close to a drop off point and she will take them, keep any she likes, and pass the rest on.