Exchange

Before I moved to this house three years ago I threw out lots and lots of stuff. Before I moved from here to my temporary attic I threw out lots of stuff. Before I moved back in here I threw out yet more stuff. Stupidly one of the things I threw out three weeks ago was a very sturdy small cardboard box that had once (before I acquired it from a supermarket) held six bottles of whisky. It was a great little rubbish bin. Now that I'm sorting here I'm throwing out more stuff and I badly need a bin within throwing range of wherever I happen to be in the house. So this afternoon I headed out to the supermarket to see how many whisky boxes I could get. Before I got there I found some lovely bits of solid wood about to be taken to the dump by the people turning the recently closed Eastern European food shop into a Kurdish food shop.

Most of my wood went out three years ago and I now need some to make furniture. We got chatting. Yes, they'd be pleased for me to take it and would I like to choose some other pieces still inside the shop? No, they don't yet have a baklava supplier. Yes, they'd be very happy to talk to my Syrian baklava-maker friend. Did I know about disposing of old plasterboard? Well, as it happens I do so I told them.

Although I'd promised myself there'd be no lifting or carrying today this lot was too good to be true - and the big pieces just fit into my newly tidied shed.

By the time I got to the supermarket someone else had just been in asking for boxes. I'll have to go back in the morning.