There are too many picture frames in this house! When we emptied the loft on Tuesday I found a whole box of family photos and random pictures - and many of them were in good frames. Then there was a box of 8 smaller wooden IKEA frames left over from a Holiday Club craft project, and the box of "pictures we formerly had on the walls in Kirby but not in this house".
Bob helped me remove all the photos, and we amassed about 25 frames for which we have no use [if we hung all the artwork on the walls at Cornerstones, it would be like the National Gallery - 30 pictures in every room] I posted in the Ferndown Kindness Group- and a lady has been to collect the frames. No point in trying to sell them, and if a Charity shop were open for donations, this lot would rather swamp them.
We've kept three IKEA "Ribba" frames- because we used to have a wall of black and white family photos all mounted in these frames, in the lounge in Kirby. I've found a few more pictures that I'd like to add to this and we will display them in the hall at Cornerstones. But all the rest are going.
Last Saturday, Bob and I walked to the postbox, and noticed someone had a load of 'free' stuff on their lawn. Is that a Ribba? I said - then reminded myself we did not need it. A couple of days later, on another postbox stroll, I saw the frame again- at the top of the road, this time smashed on the pavement. Had somebody picked it up, then dropped it by mistake? If so, why didn't they clear it up? Next to it was a child's plastic wheelbarrow.
It was almost 3pm, and time for the children who were at school to come home - there are often adults, children, toddlers, and dogs on the path mid afternoon. I came home home, got gloves and a cardboard box, and went back to retrieve the glass. When I got back to our house, I discovered it was like a RIbba, but different proportions. It's all been carefully disposed of now. My neighbour said she'd noticed a family with a small child pushing the barrow full of stuff, and it tipped over. Maybe he'd collected the freebies on his walk up the hill. [The barrow has gone now]
Cornerstones is in a much quieter close - very few children going past. I'll miss that. But my youngest neighbour there, who has mobility issues, has just got a fantastic new TomCat trike. This innovative company specialises in bespoke trikes for those with special needs- enabling them to enjoy the fun of cycling, and safe exercise in the fresh air. I look forward to chatting to her this summer as she pedals by with her Mum jogging behind.