last week I sorted all my charity shop stuff. Part of that sorting was picking up stuff that lives on the floor (I do have an assortment of empty shelves in my bedroom & living room, but ... ) so I could vacuum both rooms, a very slow job as my back & legs need lotsa' rests! I've never had such a full bag of dust, as I decanted it into my garbage I rescued several pins - pearl-headed & safety!!

Donations go to 3 charity shops, each has a different emphasis - the Community Centre takes general household stuff (china & kitchenware, clothes, books & household stuff etc), The Sewing Basket's name says what it takes, & Reverse Garbage (est 1970s) takes all of the above + industrial discards - empty thread cones from clothing/textile manufacture make dolls etc, used & unused advertising posters/banners etc, unused plastic jars & lids, left over stock (last year I got some pillowcases to store my winter woolies) ...

Now I have 3 labelled piles just waiting till my friend with car can take me & the biggest collection to Reverse Garbage, I can take the others myself.

The Reverse Garbage pile includes the suitcase I got when I was 21, it once lived under my grandmother's lovely dressing table & held off-season clothes, plus a collection of big gift boxes that could have held a pair of boots, but the stuff they held has gone to new homes. The biggest box once held packets of photocopy paper, it could have held 2 pair of boots!! & long ago I covered it with pink fabric - it's the perfect item for the treasures of a little girl who likes pink.