While we’re talking about stashes.

By now, everyone knows my mom had a few “colections,” and for some unknown reason, I brought most of them into our house when she died.

Slowly over the years I have whittled some of these collections i.e. stashes down. In 11 years I’ve either used them up, given them away, or tossed them out.

One stash I doubt I’ve mentioned much is the card collection.

I remember Sandie sitting at the table at mom and Jacks house in 2003, matching hundreds of envelopes with cards. Hundreds! We each took a huge stash as we are both letter writers and birthday card senders.

I ran out of those cards years ago. Still I keep a box of cards at the ready incase I want to send a note to someone. I will say, like  most of the stashes I have around here, right now, picking are slim.

Hold that thought.

It is very common on Bowen Island to put free things at the top of your driveway when you want to get rid of stuff. Usually it doesn’t take long and someone comes by to grab your trash as their treasure. This is how we got our freezer. This is also how we got and got rid of a treadmill.

Driveway freebies are a great thing on the island, That is until someone puts a couch out there, that doesn’t get snapped up before the rain comes… then, it becomes the problem of what to do with a soggy sofa. For the most part free stuff at the end of driveways works great on this rock.

Yesterday, on my morning walk I came across such a driveway. There were several boxes of stuff with the free sign on it. I glanced through and saw a smaller box full of cards — unused, blank cards! I took the box and thought I’d sort them at home and take what I don’t want to either recycle or the tacky shop.

It was a score! In this box were nice, new, still in the wrapper cards of all occasions. I sorted and refilled my card stash.

There were some doosies in there as well. My favourite was this one of a big lady in three panels. It says…

She came. She criticized. She left.

Believe me — it is funny!