Library of Things

Our town's "Building Resilience And Community Engagement" (BRACE) group (some of whom are 'pious,' remember?) has a 'Library of Things' available for townsfolk to rent out for a minimal charge. It's a drive to encourage people to borrow and not buy new things for that once-off use. They have a catalogue of just over 200 items that have been donated. They have board games, sewing machines, carpet steamers, tools, camping equipment etc.

Sounds like a good scheme to me. Maybe giving the carpets a steam clean or power washing the house will get done one day! They also have 3 sewing machines for rent, which should come in handy.

The same group participates in a Repair Cafe once each month. This is where volunteers with knowledge in fixing electronics, furniture, small appliances, clothing, jewelery, etc lend their skills to fix people's broken things that have been brought in. Not everything can be fixed, and an attempt is made not to undermine local businesses that might offer that service such as bicycle repairs. Refreshments are provided for the community as the repairs are carried out. We hope to go along to the one in July and see how we can help/participate.

I think this poor couch that we inadvertently found ourselves paying for (see Couch story) in January

and which now looks like this: 

could be a candidate for the Repair Cafe ...

Dale has quite a reputation for breaking chairs, and this one was no exception. I was in the kitchen when I heard a bowl hit the tiled floor in the conservatory where Dale had been sitting reading. The only thing broken was the chair - both Dale and the bowl were still intact. Oh well! It was such a dirty yellow that I'd intended covering it to make it more acceptable but now ... is it even worth it? If it's this easy to break, will it stand up to being used on a regular basis? It hurts to give away when we reluctantly paid $70 for it only a few months ago.