There were many people swaying in our village today under the heavy load of unwanted objects. Someone once said that we should live as if we would be moving every week. It is times like today when you realise that is a good idea.

Tomorrow is the day when our local authorities collect unwanted bulky goods. Your must assemble them on specified places on the pavement and the truck arrives during the day and removes it all to the place where they never return. As most male members of the family are at work I saw many ladies organising the goods to be removed, swaying under heavy loads. I had some wooden supports I used for plants in the garden, that I no longer needed and there was also a chair that had seen better days and I was not so sure how to carry it through the garage to the pick up place. However, when you have a No. 1 son that is strong, and tall and has muscles, there is no problem. In a few minutes the chair was gone, removed to the outside and ready to be picked up tomorrow. My son is an expert swayer.

This removal of bulky goods from the local authorities happens twice a year, the last week of March and the last week of August. It costs nothing, but you must have no metal amongst the objects to be removed. The metal collection is a day later. I have a few old pots and pans that I put outside to be removed.

And so this evening our village streets will be full of unwanted objects, although some of them might be useful for others. Before the truck arrives to remove the goods tomorrow, there will be many smaller vans, even cars, circulating slowly along our streets. They are the people that are on the search for something that might be useful, that no-one else needs. Before the official trucks arrive a third of the unwanted objects will already be in the living room of another house somewhere.