Never come back empty handed

Latest Articles

Never come back empty handed
Page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Author

Message

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 05 2:41 pm Post subject:

I certainly believe in magic when it comes to giving and need. When I worked at the civic amenety site as an atendant, often the right stuff would come in just when I needed it, and it also worked for others, even the most obscure items. One day a newage traveller walked in (the site was in the middle of nowhere) and got himself really busy in the scrap skip. Eventually I asked him what he was after, and he told me that he had just set off with his horse drawn caravan on a long trip, and had to park it up a couple miles down the road, and had to find some kind of braking device for the wheels, like a wedge to slip under to stop the caravan from rolling away. He found something that just about did the job, but was not very satisfactory. Anyway, he made off with it, and ten minutes later someone brought in welded frames that were specifically made for that very purpose, to stop their caravan rolling off, and it even had the curved upper to fit snuggly under the wheel. Damn, I thought, this traveller is gone now, and I can't get it to him. A few minutes later a regular called in, and I told him about it, and where the traveller was staying for the night (he had told me the farm's name). As it happened, this regular knew the place, and was going past on his way home and dropped off the wedges. If there wasn't some devine intervention!

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 05 8:40 pm Post subject:

i've had things like that happen to me most of my life judy so i know exactly what you're on about

when we lived on skye we were forever bringing items home (including the lumps of coal you found scattered about every so often) we kept them in the shed until needed. many a time a friend mentioned a need of something and quite a few times we'd have a look in the shed and lo and behold there it was, usually had for free due to our walks etc. and of course it went the other way around as well...

skye wasn't an easy place to live financially speaking as it's hard to get regular work there BUT once you get accepted into a community and make friends there you'll find you don't need as much money as the goodwill going about helps you make up the difference

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 05 10:01 pm Post subject:
I find this too, I give a fresh loaf each week to neighbours, and they give 12 duck eggs a week to me. A lad kepps me in veg seedlings, so I let him plant his fruit canes in my wood. And so on.....

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 05 3:11 pm Post subject:

Madman wrote:

I find this too, I give a fresh loaf each week to neighbours, and they give 12 duck eggs a week to me.

And very good eggs they are too!

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 05 5:59 pm Post subject:

indy
Guest

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 05 8:08 am Post subject:
I am sure you have all heard of www.freecycle.org but that gives you the same warm fuzzy feeling!

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 05 9:00 am Post subject:

Without wanting to sound too airy-fairy; I think this whole "giving and receiving" thing is an ancient human ethical impulse that goes back right to the very heart of civilisation.

Without the basic impulse to cooperate and help each other out, the human race would have fallen at the first hurdle. Cooperation is a vital survival skill! And yes, it makes you FEEL GOOD. Things that enable you to survive like eating food, having sex and taking exercise - they all make you feel good too.

Do you think that the act of cooperation releases endorphins in the brain like those other activities do? Is that what gives you the feel-good factor?

Oh dear. I seem to have failed in my endeavour not to sound too airy-fairy

tawny owl

Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 563
Location: Hampshire

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 05 9:31 am Post subject:

Lozzie wrote:

Do you think that the act of cooperation releases endorphins in the brain like those other activities do? Is that what gives you the feel-good factor?

I'm sure it does. Very young babies take their milk purely because they're hungry - it's simply survival instinct. However, by the time they're about 3 months old, they'll take extra milk if encouraged by the carer smiling and cooing at them; it makes them feel good, so they'll cooperate. Similarly, the instinct for toddlers to grab things and refuse to share can be overcome by lots of praise when they do share - getting the carer's attention is worth more than the thing they've grabbed, which is the whole basis of all these 'Little Angels' and such-like programmes.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Thu Sep 22, 05 9:53 pm Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

Woodsman wrote:

I find this too, I give a fresh loaf each week to neighbours, and they give 12 duck eggs a week to me.

And very good eggs they are too!

Need any more?

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 05 12:28 pm Post subject:
I find all sorts of great things. Sometimes it makes me wish I had a car to get it home skips are good too, the amount of perfectly good stuff people just chuck out

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28238
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 05 1:13 pm Post subject:

2steps wrote:

I find all sorts of great things. Sometimes it makes me wish I had a car to get it home

skips are good too, the amount of perfectly good stuff people just chuck out

My last street find, was a hovermower from which I was able to get a replacement blade for mine. Convenient as I was having trouble identifying the right blades.

2steps

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 5349
Location: Surrey

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 05 4:22 pm Post subject:
excellent last year we really wanted one of those child seats you put on bikes but couldn't really afford one. Then we found one in a skip al lI needed to buy was the bracket that attactes it

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Mon Oct 03, 05 8:47 pm Post subject:
And today's find is: a pair of long-handled shears. There I was, at the dump, old chap about to chuck in some codswallop when I spotted them on to[ of the heap. Fished them out, took them home and they're perfectly good! Why do people do it?

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Mon Oct 03, 05 8:51 pm Post subject:
No idea, But not complaining!

hermil

Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 42
Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 05 10:34 pm Post subject:

I agree with the above, we make a lot of home-made preserves and on the allotment this year people have given us quite a lot of their surplus fruit which they have no use for, so we make jam/chutney out of it and share it with them.
At work I ask people to bring in their empty jam jars etc. and give them a jar of what we've made in return. What goes round comes round.
Not had much luck in skips lately. I found a watering-can which will do as a spare for the allotment. Most of the skips I've looked in have got tons of rubble shovelled on top of anything that looks remotely useful - not very sporting of them, is it?

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle	All times are GMT Page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next
Page 2 of 3

View Latest Posts