A random collection of quirky pieces and limericks that don't fit into any of my other stories, so I've given them a book of their own. They're a bit out of left field; a lot like me.
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I used to just love Mondays and here's why. From 2009 till 2016, I did voluntary work with M.I.F.S.A, which stands for Mental Illness Fellowship of South Australia. A few close members of my family suffered with mental health issues and I, that is we (my husband came too) attended an eight-week course specifically for carers. We enjoyed these eight weeks and learned a great deal. During that time I made inquiries about some form of voluntary work with M.I.F.S.A and was referred to the lady who was the volunteer coordinator. To cut a long story short, I was very keen to work in the small op-shop ( known in your part of the world perhaps as charity shops) and so began a delightful six and a half year association with the Sunflower Shop ( don't you love the name?) every Thursday afternoon. Besides my shift at the shop, I also did sorting at the M.I.F.S.A headquarters which was a bit further down the road in the same suburb; Goodwood, which is very close to Adelaide's CBD.
I sorted with the volunteer coordinator, Elsha and sometimes a third person would help out; Thelma, who I also worked with in the op-shop. We had two very hard-working and capable drivers, Peter or Paul who'd leave about nine in the morning to collect the large numbers of donations left in collection bins in other suburbs.
Another day for sorting was Friday morning, but someone else worked with Elsha then and I only sorted on Fridays if the other person was sick or on holidays. Monday was my day and I really looked forward to it. Whilst waiting for our driver to return, there were always bags left from the previous sorting session and it was a real eye-opener, seeing what people donated. The contents of the big hessian bags vacillated between Lucky Dip, Pirate's treasure chest or Pandora's Box. This fits into the 'Reely Trooly' collection because of the weird and wonderful items we'd discover, as you'll see.
Here's a random collection of things we'd find , in no particular order. I could, I suppose, arrange them in alphabetical order, but I think it's more fun this way. Kids' books, adult books, magazines, old and new, shampoo, shower gel, sequins, buttons, a five cent coin, kids' toys,kitchen scales ( usable or maybe not) men's suits , cushions,quilt-covers, a 10 cent coin, more toys in varied condition, a gorgeous retro-dress ( why on earth would someone be throwing this out? ). A not-so- gorgeous dress, a rather bad example of an eighties bridesmaid's dress. How many of you wore an eighties bridesmaid dress? Then nail polish, and sometimes nail kits,milk jug, tarnished knives and forks, scarves, a squashed sun-hat, an old toaster, a foot-spa, still in its box; a sewing kit, earrings, bracelets, a small brown spider-yes, a real one, not plastic. We'd jump about and scream until one of us got rid of it, which was never me, by the way. Greeting cards, both Christmas and birthday, more kids' clothes-these were sometimes so-oo cute, more books, food magazines, towels, some I'm sorry to report had unpleasant stains e.g. blood ( yes, really). Paint-spattered clothes ( why on earth put those in? the lazy so- and-so's obviously couldn't be bothered to put them in their own bin).
Is your head spinning yet? Wait, there's more! Shoes,a big collection , some really good, slippers containing a cockroach that scuttled away into a corner,a battered suitcases and yes, they usually had something inside them - such as a collection of ancient books or magazines, not old or interesting enough to be retro, just out-of-date, daggy and dog-eared. A bag of disposable nappies, and I'm sorry to say that sometimes we even found dirty nappies. No, I'm not kidding! Then a one-dollar coin, beads, garden gloves, completely new, another toaster, an old mobile phone, plastic dinosaurs, last year's Easter Eggs that the weevils had partied on .( don't these people own bins?)
Wait, there's still more; handbags, one containing a two-dollar coin . It always seemed that the other two found money, but that changed one morning when I pulled out two fifty-dollar notes from a jeans pocket. Thereafter, I always checked jeans pockets; sometimes they were quite lucrative. Wrapping paper, some a bit shredded and ribbons, mugs, kids' bowls and spoons, not always washed, saucepans which were quite often greasy and couldn't have even been cleaned up for sale. There were always clothes, in varying condition and even lengths of fabric; and half completed sewing with pins still in it. Ouch!
I'm leaving the best till last. Not really best , but a most unwelcome and unpleasant donation- a Red-back spider. Yes, really!. A real, live nasty little critter. A small, but violent escapee from someone's shed. Thelma was there that morning and she killed it. Elsha and I stood on the other side of the room. Then it was time for a break. After the shock of the spider, we realized we were hungry.
Just for the record, any money we found went into a jar to buy-chocolate bars, sold in the staff lunch room as a fund raiser. No, I promise I'm just kidding. Naturally we passed it onto M.I.F.S.A.who did such good work in South Oz.
I think I may have left out wooden spoons and fly swats which could have been used to whack those people who give us spiders; or old drug paraphernalia. Yes, I nearly forgot about that. I came across a rusty spoon, old needles and lighter in a handbag. What on earth were they thinking?
It was truly an amazing time, the whole six and a half years. I just loved it and we had fun and laughed a lot. The Sunflower Shop had a reputation as one of the best op-shops in town. Customers would come into the shop and would tell us; 'This is our favourite shop, we love it' and they came to chat as well as to buy. Elsha and I had a good understanding of the tastes of the local client base which ranged from young trendies to Mums with kids and older, but stylish women and always those who found it hard to make ends meet, as we'd price goods low to meet those needs. We managed to find quirky, fun and fashionable items; truly something out of the bag.
Today, Elsha and I are good friends and we still meet up for lunch or coffee every so often. Neither of us works at M.I.F.S.A any more, as the shop was sold to another charity and things were not the same after that, which unfortunately just happens sometimes .
