Friday Five: Fall Cleanup Edition

1. Are you a hoarder or a minimalist?
I am a hoarder who wishes I were a minimalist.

2. Name one important object ( could be an heirloom) that you will never part with.
My mother's lifesize Westmoreland milk glass hen on nest, which used to live on the shelf above our stove in our old farmhouse. It's not only an heirloom which brings back fond memories, but it's really the object that helped me develop an interest in art glass and antiques in general.

3. What is the oldest item in your closet? Does it still fit???
Let's see...I have a red shaker sweater from my college days that hasn't made its way into the mission bag yet even though I'm currently a little... overly voluptuous to wear it, at least in public.

4.Yard sales- love 'em or hate 'em ?
It depends. I hate yard sales that are all clothes, or that try to sell broken/hopelessly worn items: Just throw the damn thing out! I like poking around yard sales with good useable items (right now I'm looking for a gently used mountain bike) and real collectables. This spring Fellow Traveler and I visited a really nice yard sale at a farmhouse -- I wound up with a charming, apparently handmade squirrel nutcracker that now sits on my end table, and she wound up with some eBayable knick-knacks.

5. Name a recycling habit you really want to get into.
Once upon a time Outer Podunk had its own recycling center. This was great -- my mother and I faithfully sorted and bundled all our throwaways every month, drove them to the center and felt good about it. The center closed when it became economically unprofitable for the owners; a citizens' group is trying to revive county-wide recycling here, but it just can't seem to get the ball rolling. This is really too bad, since the next closest recycle center is about 20 miles away. One of the things that impresses me about Benzie and Leelanau Counties is their commitment to recycling -- they have community recycling centers all over the place. There's just a different spirit and set of social priorities up there, that I wish would migrate south.

And for a bonus- well anything you want to add....
I admit that I have an addiction to collecting paper -- paper of all kinds -- that I am powerless to overcome. Paper is overtaking my desk...my file cabinet...my spare bedroom...my vehicle. HELP!