Recycling and Freecycling

As I mentioned earlier in this blog I am a member of Freecycle in Cape Town.

Last week there was a posting offering two pine kitchen counter tops, two round steel kitchen sinks and three security gates.  And Katharine, the lady offering the goods, lived in my part of town!!  Happy days!  I contacted her and arranged to go and view the items - immediately!

They were perfect.  The pine kitchen counter tops are brilliant - about 4cms thick, with only a slight burn mark which will sand out easily - they will need a little bit of cutting / adjusting but when I walked into her kicthen they just leapt out at me - they are absolutely perfect farmhouse kitchen counters - and are in very good nick.  They had obviously been very well looked after as I couldn't find a speck of water damage.

And the kitchen sinks - obviously I don't need one of those (my Belfast sink is perfect) - so I thought I'd use them as planters - plugging up the drainage hole with small pebbles and growing garlic and lettuces in them - talk about square foot gardening :-)

Even the security gates are perfect - the single one will go outside our future bedroom door, which isn't the strongest, and the double ones will go outside our kitchen door - covered in shadecloth or wooden branches they will be perfect for, firstly, keeping anyone / anything (e.g. snakes) out and secondly they will be a tremendous help in muting the wind which always rushes inside if the door is open.  The security gates are slightly rusty, but that will sand off easily and then a lick of paint - no one will know the difference.

And they will give us peace of mind that when we are not there, the most vulnerable part of the house - the back - will have some form of protection.

This project is certainly giving me back my patience in this rushed, hurly-burly world - "slowly, slowly" is our key phrase ...   But we know it will all be worth it in the long run.

And the excitment and anticipation grows with every step forward, no matter how small it is.