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Whenever we go to see family and friends, we always consider what we can take with us.
My inlaws are down-to-earth, warm and caring people who are also frugalistas in their own way (yes, I’m truly blessed). On Saturday, I was on a fabulous women-only Goddess course run by Bec and Suzy at Song of Oya, so hubby went out to visit his parents by himself.
Hubby took with him a heavy, wrought iron doormat.
I continue to be inspired following my chat with Skye Alexander about feng shui, and we continue to make small, intentional changes to our home. In the family home I used to share with my ex-husband, we had crushed brick throughout the garden. My ex bought a wrought iron doormat so that people could scrape their shoes off before coming into the house, thereby avoiding bringing stones in. We bought it from a lifestyle or gardening store – I can’t remember where, although I remember it was a bit of an investment at the time.
Now my kids, Neil and I live in an apartment and a heavy wrong-iron doormat is impracticable. Actually, it was really annoying. I’m realising that, in feng shui terms, the entrance to your home says a lot about you. It’s important that it is clean and not cluttered.
This doormat was clutter to us. Actually, more than that, it was an obstacle. It was difficult for my kids to walk over, and difficult for me to walk over when I was wearing heels. Every time I walked over it, on some level I was remembering the previous house I shared with my ex, including memories I would rather forget. I want our new home to be a place of love and peace – and this was not the right symbol.
We had bought a new, smaller doormat the weekend before when we were at Bunnings. Hubby then took the wrought-iron one out to my inlaws, who live on property around 45 minutes away. They have pebbles in their yard, so this type of doormat is suitable for them – and they have a use for it.
Hubby also gave them an old bamboo blind.
The day before, we went to our AirBnB, which I own in the Canberra suburb of Scullin, to do some cleaning and a bit of updating. We felt that the bamboo blind in the kitchen made the place look a bit retro dated (and not in a good way). Plus, it didn’t do a good job of keeping cold air out.
We spent around $30 on a rubber backed blind that looked modern, and would provide better insulation. Doesn’t it look much better?
My in-laws have a balcony that gets strong sun streaming in of a morning. Hubby gave them the blind and they felt they would probably find a use for it along that deck.
Of course, we when we give to family we don’t dump stuff. We ask first to see if it’s something they might need or want. If not, we’ll take it home. Plus our relationship with family is more than just stuff: Neil spent time out there helping his Dad with stuff, and then came home with a dozen free-range eggs from their chooks.
We also took a stack of Wilbur Smith novels out to our AirBnB property. We have a bookcase in there that I like to keep stocked with good reading material. The idea is for it to run like a Street Library, i.e. people can take what they want at any time and put a book back if they like. In practice, no one has taken any books but they are welcome to if they like.
#joyfulgiving366 tally
- A wrought-iron doormat
- A bamboo blind
Do you give things to family members?