Giving it all away

Every cloud has a silver lining, and ours was a brighter day that allowed us to set up stall outside our house in the great garage giveaway.

Come 10am this morning, posters had been printed and stuck with brown packaging tape to local lampposts, the table had been erected and Stephen put all his years of retail experience to good effect by arranging the stock in a manner guaranteed to entice passers-by. (The latter being, admittedly, a big ask when one lives on a cul-de-sac.)

It boded well that even before everything was displayed, a couple of neighbours appeared, had a look and a chat before making off with some booty. Stephen spent a happy morning in the sunshine gossiping and watching the pile slowly diminish.

After lunch, the table was replenished with what had been in the carrier bags in my car before Stephen took a quick trip to our friends Val and Trevor with all the books. I tend to think that Trevor was not really expecting seven cardboard boxes, three shoe boxes and a carrier bag full of books but he accepted them manfully and we are sure that he and his masonic friends will make good charitable use of them.

By the end of the afternoon, we were pleased and not a little relieved to see that a good deal of stuff had found new homes. Stephen has now boxed the remainder up and we will get in touch with the British Heart Foundation, who will hopefully take it away together with the television from the bedroom (the one we bought to be prepared for the digital changeover, not realising that North Street was destined to be in a dead zone, technologically speaking).