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Bag It for Next Week

My ABC Wednesday theme: The Mama and Her Authentic Green Thumbs
. . .and Fingers

The Mama saves the empty plastic bags in which potting mix, garden soil, and wild bird seed come. I'm not talking about small plastic bags. They are bags that once held 1.5 or 2 cubic feet of dirt or 40 pounds of bird seed.  Once upon a time, I threw the bags away only to learn that the Mama fished the bags out of the garbage can and hid them in the garden shed. "I can use them for something," she said,  when I found the bags.

Yup. The tiny, 90+, always-resourceful lady did find a use for the bags for her garden work. When she's in cleaning mode, which is pretty much every day, she carries a bag in which to throw leaves, twigs, weeds, and other green waste. When the bag gets too heavy, she leaves it for me to pick up and empty into the green waste recycling can. 

Some weeks, the green recycling can gets filled within two days because we've been pruning trees or pulling out vines or such. Then, the Mama tells us to bag any green remains to put into the recycle can next week.

Today, these huge plastic bags are stored in their own container next to the recycle cans. We have about 20 empty bags. Yesterday, the Mama wanted the Husband to rake the leaves off the front lawn, but he couldn't because there were no more bags. She sighed.

Ah, but this morning, she found a bag behind the shed. "Here," she said, throwing the bag at me. "Go rake the leaves."


I'm hooking up with ABC Wednesday today. It's the letter B. Click here to read other posts.




Comments

  1. Hi Su-sieee! What a great creative post for the letter b...I've been bagging some stuff in the yard this week. Hope the rest of your week is terrific...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ellen. In a bit, I'll be going outside to empty more bags into the now empty recycle can. Then it's up the ladder with the pruning shears. Whooo-hooo!

      Delete
  2. Hello Su-sieee!
    The Mama sounds quite a character, she sounds a little like me but I'm not quite as old
    I do hope I have her resourcefulness when I'm ninety.
    I like saving cardboard boxes, much to my husbands irritation,
    I diligently store them in the garage and then he sneeks in and flattens them then puts them in the re-cycling bin.
    Hence, whenever I need a box, I tootle into the garage and, Lo! and behold....No BOXES...Grrrrrr!
    Best wishes,
    Di.
    ABCW team

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You need to find a hiding place for the boxes, Di. Or, tell your husband to go purchase some empty boxes. The cost is so crazy, he may just stop flattening them all.

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    2. That's a jolly good idea Su-sieee,
      The husband once had to buy a Jiffi bag for me to send some valuables to Daughter no 1 in London, which also had to be registered, wish I'd done it myself, he grumbled forever and a day about the cost.... another Grrrr.
      I shouldn't grumble about him but sometimes living together 24/7 has it's drawbacks, but then, we do have lots of laughs together, most of the time,
      Have a great weekend and hide those ladders from the The Mama..
      My three girls refer to me as the Mama too...coincidence or what ? Also I have a gorgeous cat called Princess Chloe who spends most of the day sitting on my lap whilst I tap away on my keyboard.

      Best wishes
      from a very gloomy UK day
      Di..xx

      Delete
  3. The Mama is really an admirable lady! I am 10 years younger and don't work in my garden, which is a lot smaller than hers. I have a gardener. I have a good reason to stop working in the garden, because my back is getting worse and worse. Fortunately I can walk and climb stairs and cycle.
    Saving and reusing bags is a great idea. We also have recycling bins.
    Thanks for your visit. I don't think that Bathmen looks like Puyallup, Washington area. Because Bathmen is a real village and Puyallup is a town and has higher buildings. Bathmen is situated in lowland, there are no mountains and it is very rural with woods and farmland .
    I wish you a very happy weekend!
    Wil, ABCW Team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you, Wil, keeping active with your bad back. I was remembering Puyallup in the 1980s. I suppose it had to change since it's near Tacoma and Seattle.

      Delete
  4. Wonderful! This is called resourcefulness! In India we recycle things too. I save plastic bags for re-use too! Gives me a lot of satisfaction that in my own small way I'm building a greener planet! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Recycle, reuse, reduce! Be resourceful. The Mama calls it, "Be economical." :-)

      Delete
  5. Your wonderful mom puts me to shame:) At least I have an excuse for right now-winter! None in the summer-she is an amazing mom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is amazing, for sure. I wish winter was an excuse for her to slow down. Yesterday evening I went outside to find out why she was still in the yard. She had just finished turning other the soil and mulch in her vegetable boxes. Gotta love her! :-)

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  6. What a good environmentalist she is!

    ROG, ABCW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This kind of stuff is part of her nature. Thank goodness. :-)

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Thanks for the good cheer. :-)

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