Another load of books gone

46/49 went

I'm up to 138 books taken from outside the door:-). I had thought we reached saturation point last week, bit was apparently because the sign said only "Bücher Zu Verschenken", not "Englische Zu Verschenken" and no Anglophones stopped to look.

 The coffe maker was left at a "Leave and Take" kiosk and went in 5 minutes (as we watched from the cafe across the street).

More books and magazines

After last weekend, more books went then I had thought- only 5 left. Today we added 17 to make 22, a bunch of German children's magazines (they went in 5 minutes) and old Ex-Berliners (they are a good resource for finding shops in Berlin).

Let's see how this goes. I'm also writing up an ad for next week-appliances and furniture.

Mainly clothes

My very favorite (although fake) bag- so worn and leather-bare that I am actually too embarrassed to carry it any more. Shirts and t-shirts and a pair of shoes that are too worn: all to Orange bin recycling.

A piggy bank and a sweater that I will put out this weekend to see if anyone takes (and if not, will go on Friday to the "Give and Take" kiosk, a skirt and a shirt that are too worn and are off to the orange bin.

Books

32 books and some DVDs, set outside to give away. The DVDs went and about 15 books: thi first Zu Verschenken failure so far. Perhaps there aren't enough English speakers in our German neighborhood?

We pulled them in when the weather turned grey—I'll try again next weekend, and add about 10 more that I have culled so far.

More Paper

It never ends.

Paper

Went through pikes of paper work and pulled out the trash and no longer needed- paper recycling and garbage.

Electronics

A CD player/radio that hit the ground too often, an alarm clock that did the same, and a small piece of wood: all to the Orange bin for recycling.

Kinderfahrrad

I don't know know why people need to use Freecycle in Berlin: this bicycle was gone within 30 seconds of our putting it outside.

Still Decluttering

While life has been crazy and we have been continent hopping, I haven't forgotten the "clutter reduction" goal.

These items are all damaged, stained or worn-out: to the Orange bin for recycling. (12+ items)

These are just out-grown and I placed them in a bag and dropped them in the local Kleiderspende (donation bin). Note that I wire the shoes together so they won't be separated. (8+ items)

Out, out darned Spot!

But since even dry cleaning didn't work, t the Orange bin it (and some redundant socks) went.

The Crayon Box

It seems that every week or so I look through the bin the children keeps their pens, crayons, markers and colored pencils in. These are dried-out and unusable. I seem to keep throwing them out, but the bin never gets emptier.

It's a miracle!

Art

Admired, displayed, photographed, and recycled.

Clothing

These to the donation bin

And this to recycling (orange bin).

Desert Boots

Thirty years ago, I really loved these boots. This year, the salt stains wouldn't come out. A good long "run".

One pocket at a time

Trash

Just grabbing things and throwing them away. The hope is, if I do it every day, one day there will be less of it!

Lots more things

Lots of "stuff

Here are a lot of odds and ends- a hairbrush that pulls hair- to the garbage, ice cube tray whose cubes I don't like, to greenpoint. Odd shoes, stretched out bathing suit, shopping bag with a hole: all to Orange bin.

Clothes to Kleidespende

More paper to recycling!

 These clothes all went to the Kleidespend (donation box).




Lots of catalogs and pieces of paper found while going through bins (still looking for tax papers).



A very nice pair of patent leather shoes from T2. The toes were scuffed and if they were mine, I would have spent the 10€ to repair them. Since they are too small for T2, I decided not to repair tham and they went into the Orange bin.

Treasure Kiste

Thing1 made this treasure chest at a party and used it for several years. Now the hinges are stripped and she has a new jewelry box and this one heads for the Orange bin, where small pieces of wood go.

Odds and Ends

Just clearing out some drawers. Everything went into the trash

Recycling clothes

All to recycling in the Orange bin

I blacked the shoes up a bit and then they
all went to the Kleidespende (clothing donation bin).

Giving away

It was very funny that immediately after I put these sneakers out to give away (as the note said- they just didn't fit right:-(), there was a sneaker swap and clothing exchange at the Markthalle in my neighborhood. Berlin is a pretty cool place.
As is usual for things we put outside, they disappeared.
The clothes on the left went to recycling, the ones on the right (childrens') to donation.

Beautifying the balcony

All these clothes to recycling. My shoes,
 German's socks, T1's shoes, 8 shirts and t-shirts:
all to the Orange bin for recycling

These were planted and beautified the balcony. The plastic went to Grünepunkt.

What the flowers looked like after being planted. 

(Showing one of two hangers.)

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Tidying Up

Sometimes decluttering is not just about discarding things: sometimes, it means organizing them. The girls' hair ornaments are a constant struggle. Today, I made a small dent.


I started with everything here, and what remains is this one, organized, group. Everything else was discarded as either broken, unnecessary, or causing damage to the childrens' hair.

Getting ready for tax season

More papers to recycling

Strangely, when I start looking for paper to put the taxes together, I always find an awful lot that can be recycled.

Paper to recycling

A bit of this and a bit of that.

 A bit of this and a bit of that. T2 constructed a tower and we took a photo before it "went away".









A bit of electronic debris to the Orange Bin.




And some worn out clothes to the Orange Bin as well.

Schulranzen

Ouch. This expensive item went to the Recyclinghof (where I hope someone rescued it and can repair it).

A schoolmate of T1's "tried it out" and carried it by the handle, which is strictly verboten and voids the warranty. I was pretty angry, because we started every day reminding her that the bag is not carryable by the handle, she never did so, and the "friend" who carried it "for her" wanted one herself (and wound up getting one a few weeks later).

She never apologized properly and the girls have not been friends since: a sad result.

And then we had to purchase exactly the same thing again, because T1's school books are so incredibly heavy that she must use a rolling bag and the cheaper ones barely last a few weeks.

Sigh.

Still going.

Even though this blog has been quiet, the decluttering has been continuing.

1. Childrens' tchotchkes in the trash
2. Clothes in the donation bin.
3. Clothing to be recycled
4. Papers in the paper recycling
5. More donated clothing
6. and a broken kite in the trash.