Stuff

I burned a pot. I tried all the boiling with carb soda methods. I scrubbed but it was unretrievable. Sugar.

It was the middle sized pot, the only middle sized one I have. So “new pot” went on the op shop list.

The new pot is much better than the old one. It has a heavy bottom and a tight fitting pyrex lid and I can steam a cob of corn for lunch in less than a minute. Op shops are so stuffed these days we found it almost instantly and had any number to choose from.

Our op shops are so stuffed, most of them aren’t taking donations at the moment, or only taking donations of specific things. None of them are taking clothes. Facebook Marketplace is overrun with posts about clothes for sale. “Wardrobe clean out. Brand name clothes size 8 – 10. Nothing over $10”. “Huge bag of quality clothes. Baby girl sizes 00 to 2. $5 for the lot”. I’m sure the mum doesn’t really want the $5, it just seems so wrong to send that huge bag of stuff in perfect condition to landfill.

I remember when my grandmother died, twenty five years ago, we all congregated at her house, kids and grandkids and great grandkids. We sorted all her stuff with tears and stories and tenderness. She had a collection of beautiful china tea cups, regularly used, and all her bridge ladies had a favourite. We put them out for the reception after her funeral, and everyone was invited to take the one they used home with them.

Almost nothing went to the op shop. Even the everyday kitchen equipment – a great grandchild about to move into a share house eagerly claimed the colander and the wooden spoon.

It felt good to be taking my new pot home. A couple of dollars donated to a good charity, no new metal or plastic or packaging, I bet it came from somewhere much more local than China. A very good quality medium sized pot for my kitchen that, (if I don’t burn it) will hopefully be carried off eagerly by one of my great grandkids about to leave home. Along with the handmade wooden spoon.

(And the image? My front yard garden at the moment. Because a you don’t need a photo of a pot ).