Day 20 – Giving …
The Gift of Giving …
Today we finished wrapping all our parcels, and boy, did that get us excited for Christmas! We had the festive music blaring and the cinnamon candles flickering, it was great!
Picking out presents for our friends and family is possibly one of the best things about Christmas. We probably enjoy it even more than receiving gifts, and we quite like that, too 
But there is something so satisfying about finding the right gift for someone after trying to subtly collect hints throughout the year. And then to see their reaction when they open them! Giving is fun. Making others happy makes you happy. It’s great how that works.
During the first lockdown in March we started seeing people in the neighbourhood putting out little baskets with free stuff like old books, games, movies, plants, apples, etc. We loved the idea so much that we started doing the same.
So, whenever Mona was growing some new plants and we had spare saplings, or when the herb garden was overflowing, or when we were decluttering our offices, or baked too many cookies for our own good we would write a big “Take Me” sign and put things in front of our house. It’s fun to then peep out the window and watch smiling passengers grab a big bundle of fresh mint or one of the books we had already read and loved.
Today it was time to find a new home for a big Aloe Vera plant that had outgrown our window sill. We brought it from our first Lanzarote trip in 2016 when it was tiny, and it has grown about 10 times its size in the last few years. It gave us quite a lot of babies too, one of which we decided was going to take its Mama’s sunny window spot.
So, we made a new sign yesterday and put it outside. This morning it was already gone, hopefully making someone else happy.
Now onto today’s challenge … why not do something similar? Is there anything you could give away? Something that you can spare that might be useful for someone else? Bring it to a charity shop/thrift store/mall/animal shelter/etc. or make a sign and leave it outside! We’ll give you plenty of points 🙂
We can’t wait to see you all on the 23rd for our livestream!
Hugs,
Mona & Lisa
DAY 20 – THE GIFT OF GIVING
Task of the Day:
Give a gift to someone!
Achievable Points:
20 + 10 if you post a photo
I missed the Advent Calendar festivities, since I wasn’t in the Club yet, but now that I’m checking this stuff out, maybe it’s good it’s only May and I can get prepared. lol.
There’s a standing joke in the town where I live that if you set something by the street, it’ll be gone as soon as you turn around. They definitely do the recycle thing. If you DON’T want it to disappear, that’s when you better put a sign on it.
It occurs to me that we can into a habit of showing gratitude to all kinds of people for all kinds of things and actions. A thank you to a store clerk or delivery driver; an organization for recognition. I am guilty of taking my brothers and sisters for granted, and having realized it will try to do better. As we have gotten older, we stopped giving each other Christmas gifts, focusing more on our parents and our children, nieces and nephews. However, this year I happened to run across something my older sister would really like, and I found it in a bargain bin. Memories of childhood and Saturday morning cartoons, and these especially, so I’m giving this to her.
In the little area I live, there are mostly older (older than me) neighbors. Most are truly retired and there are 3 couples who’s families are not able to visit frequently, due to distance and COVID. Since I work daily,
and seldom saw them out, I began checking in on them several times a week. Even in the cold, I sit outside and visit for 20-30 minutes at a time. It’s also common to pickup this or that from the grocery store and deliver it on my way home. I do not feel like I am doing anything special, I was taught this growing up. Their friendship has been such a gift.
Unless its something of major value (like a car) I always take it down to donate it to the thrift shop. Been doing it quite a bit since retiring and downsizing. Today I was out wishing the neighbors a Merry Christmas with some goodies.
You might not believe it, but this challenge saved me from a little shame this Monday. This folding cane stroller was purchased yet in Moscow. Then we took it with us to the Netherlands. Sasha travelled around half of Europe in this stroller at the age of 3-4 years. I remember how monstrously it rumbled through the cobbled streets of Liege in Belgium. And I still feel panic when I remember how we got stuck at the entrance to the Paris Metro. I had to jump over the turnstile to the other side, unfasten and release the child, and then fold the stroller right there to get it out… But then Sasha grew up and the stroller was left idle. We did not have time to give it away to anyone before moving from the Netherlands to the UK, as a result, it is stored in my garage for two years now, even without been unpacked. This Monday, doing this challenge, I contacted a friend of mine who lives in Wales. He has a baby born not so long ago and I know that a stroller would come in handy. He was very happy when I sent him this photo. But it was only in the course of that conversation that I realized that that day was his birthday, which I completely forgot to my shame. But it looked as I didn’t. He will pick it up from me as soon as Tier4 is over.
This La-Z-Boy has been sitting alone in a room all by itself not doing much, we thought he’d better be somewhere where he’d be less lazy. So we are gifting it to some friends that can use it (They got separate Christmas gifts as well).
When we lived in LA, every time we de-cluttered we would put things out on our front yard and put a free ad on Craigslist, 15 minutes later it would be gone! Where we’re now, the deer and squirrels don’t seem to be so eager.
We gave this bike to our next door neighbor , their grand daughter got hurt while playing at the park so we thought this would cheer her up.
Bill and Maddie Isenberg
Unfortunately, we are limited in things we can put outside on our sidewalk in our neighborhood. There is a web app called Nextdoor that some of us use to communicate neighborhood events, sales, and give-aways. I usually take my give-aways (like this box of clothes and household items I put together; one of several) to the Goodwill Store nearby. Usually wait until after the new year but you inspired my (again) to be more proactive and get it done before Xmas.
We spend much of the fall with fruit out with a sign “Free take some”. Our trees, tomato plants, strawberries, grapes, etc. produce far more than we can use. Going through our coat closet tonight to give those to the homeless shelter.
I gave away groceries to a needy family
This is my wife’s gift from me. A brand new 2020 Chevy Impala. She is very happy with it and I’m just as happy to be able to buy it for her. It’s her very first brand new car, and she deserves it. I’m so happy I got it for her.I love her so very much. 🙂
We have always taken some time to give unused items to the Goodwill store. Also it’s a wonderful idea to give food to your local food drive or food distribution center for those less fortunate than you.
I gave two ladies in greggs near me a box of ferrero Rocher each,for the great service and for being open in lockdown and box of ferrero Rocher to lady postman
We do this all the time, so we’re pretty much tapped out right now, although the old TV will probably go someplace after the new one gets here. We have “regulars” that cruise the neighborhood and look for freebies like this. On a more formal basis, we’ve donated our old laptops (3 of them) to a group that refebs them for at home learning, the old iPhones went to a domestic abuse group, and my old cameras went to a local school for part of a photography program.
Besides giving a gift to MLT, I’ve been gifting away many of the games I’ve had for over forty years so someone else can enjoy them.
All through this year and leading up to Christmas I’ve been clearing the deck so to speak with a lot of my worldly possessions. In my lines of business I’ve accumulated a lot of items, many are part of my business inventory, but many are tag alongs that I want to pass on to others who will put them to use. One gift I gave recently was a 12-string Yamaha guitar to one of the music ministers at church who is also in charge of the Youth Group. She’s been playing guitar and singing at Mass the past couple of years and I thought she would be interested in having a 12-string to play at Church since they have such a better sound and volume to them. This one happens to stay in tune rather well I think because of the Classic guitar style head on it. So I put some new strings on it and presented it to her as a gift for all the hard work she puts in with the kids in the parish and providing music at Church services. She’s only 23 herself so she’s a kid too in my book. Well she was delighted to get it and put it to use soon after and it’s a joy to me to see and hear it being used. I’ve accumulated many guitars over the years which I’ve picked up at estate sales mostly and just don’t have the wrists left (arthritis) to tinker on them much anymore. I’ll fiddle on my uke when I’m bored and still play the keyboard.
My charitable giving is a very private matter for me so I’m not really comfortable talking about it publicly but it does seem to lean to two areas currently. Helping the homeless and supporting young musicians to acquire the instruments they need and the equipment also to record and share their talent to the rest of the world. I truly enjoy helping young musicians dreams come true and it takes money for a lot of them to get the chance.
So like I said in my letter to Santa, give, give, give of your resources and your time. Most of us have been blessed in so many ways and it is our responsibility to do what we can to help others.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL.
Lovely theme for today’s Advent Calendar Day #20 ( also happens to be my niece’s 22nd Bday so I sent a creative virtual Bday card I created on Instagram to send)… Giving, the Spirit of Giving, I have indeed in the past given handmade gifts for Bdays, Wedding Anniversary, Xmas, Baby Showers, etc… and poems/poetry too, drawings, etc. I have also donated to the Salvation Army Thrift stores, Bibles For Missions Thrift Stores, Value Village Thrift Stores here, Church Bazaars, etc with clothing donations, misc .stuff, homemade baked goods for church bake sales, etc.
Also twice/3x a year, usually in Spring/Summer/Fall(Autumn) there is a dedicated Give Away Wknd where folks put out stuff , to be Free For The Taking, and it occurs all over the Ottawa area.
This year for some of family Xmas gifts, I’m going to paint a picture for each of my immediate family members ( 2 older brothers, sis in law nephews and niece and an Aunt ( Dad’s older sister)as part of their Xmas gifts for tgem from me.
In the past , a few yrs ago, I did up wee Xmas Tree Toque ornaments and did up a few more this year to give as gifts to friends as I had already given Xmas Tree Toque Ornaments to family as gifts in the past but I’m sharing a photo of tge ones I did up recently to show you what they look like:
For Christmas a few years back when we 1st moved to Vegas we met a new friend(who would turn out to be my best friend). She loved a chase lounge chair we had in the living room so for Christmas we decided to give it to her as a Christmas present. To this day she absolutely loves it. Made me feel soooooooo good!!! Hope I can attach a picture of it(since I am still having trouble posting pics)
We have quit a lot of storage space in our house, but a few years ago we noticed that we were running out of space. We needed to “downsize” our “stuff”. The “one year rule” for downsizing says if you haven’t used something in a year, get rid of it. The rule doesn’t work well for some things like tools, formal clothing, etc., but we had plenty of things that were obvious. Instead of having a garage sale, we decided to just give things away. New Mexico is a poor state, and there are lots of charity organizations that want used things. We are making progress in our downsizing effort, very slow progress, but we now have some extra shelf space.
The picture for today’s challenge shows a few items that we already had in the back of the car, ready for the next trip to a charity.
I forgot I wore my Syracuse hoodie to the hospital so there’s that photo.
Well rats I’m not home to take photo but that’s okay…Still in the hospital..oh btw it’s not Covid..the hospital tested me and I was negative…I hadn’t mentioned why I’ve been hospitalized..Kidney Stones with complications…uugghh and excruciating pain…a mans worst nightmare….but most everyday I have breakfast at the Waffle House…been going there pretty much every morning for 24 years after delivering my paper route….a very good friend of mine has a T-Shirt shop and he makes a variety of sizes and colors…Orange…Navy Blue…Gray with the word SYRACUSE on the shirt….I grew up in Syracuse NY and my favorite men’s basketball ???? team is the Syracuse Orange…after all this time everyone knows me as Syracuse…not Rick…the cooks…waitresses..management etc and at Christmas time all the Waffle House staff gets a T-shirt and other items for example a SYRACUSE refrigerator magnet or for the golfers a Syracuse golfing towel….those type of items I order from Manny’s OnThe Hill…the official Syracuse sports store
I’m a fellow kidney stone sufferer myself, but without serious pain for a few years, now. Used to get excruciating attacks about every 4-6 months. Depending on your body chemistry, eliminating something from your diet may work for you, too. For me it was tree nuts. I used to eat quite a few cashews, pecans, walnuts, etc., especially around Christmas. Doc suggested I stop and see what happens. I miss them, but the lack of pain is definitely worth it. I subbed peanuts instead and I’m fine. Rhubarb also a trigger, so had to give up strawberry/rhubarb pie.???? Could be something completely different for you. Feel better!
As I’ve said a time or two already, I recently retired. One of my primary tasks in retirement is reducing the amount of clutter I’ve accumulated over the years. I have already made a few trips to Goodwill. When it comes to all my books (hundreds), after selling a few of the more popular titles (Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc) to a used bookstore, and donating a couple of boxes of less popular titles to Goodwill, I thought of something more fun. So, I spent a week building a neighborhood “library” to put up in my front yard. Here’s a picture I took right before Halloween:
The neighborhood library is a common occurrence in Ottawa in the different communities/neighborhoods, and one time someone had to take theirs apart and move it back so not to be on city owned property ( yes, the city can be picky/petty about things, sometimes) but I love this idea.
We have been our neighbor’s surrogate parents for quite some time now. She is struggling with the recent loss of her older brother, so Christmas is missing something this year. We try to fill in where we can and assure her we are always here for her.
Each year Santa drops off an early delivery of gifts for her, her boyfriend and their son.
Her on is eleven now, we think he figured out where the gifts come from.
Merry Christmas
JP
Thank you for setting this challenge. It has made me get my A in gear and finally finish going through my wardrobe to find the items that I can do without. As I’m hardly a fashion guru the things are rather ordinary. I’ve attached a photo of what I have put aside for now. There is a pile of old tee shirts but don’t ask about the shorts!
I plan to take half to a charity shop and give half to a charity for homeless people, the coats in particular will be ideal for them. I did the same when I moved from Birmingham down to London in 2012.
Sadly, as the south east of the UK is now in tier 4, all the charity shops are closed and unlikely to reopen for a while so I cannot hand in the cloths or leave them outside. There is a Salvation Army cloths bank in my area but too far away to walk to (I don’t have a car). I don’t want to use a bus as they should be for workers only but I’ll leave them somewhere as soon as I can. I’ll search out a homeless charity over Christmas as I suspect that they will still be able to receive things. As I’m on holiday between Christmas and New Year I may be able to hand them over then.
Also going into tier 4 has now prevented me from completing challenge 6 and Get Crafty. I’m not really that practical with such things and I have been working out what I could do. I decided to try and create a manger and stable scene, hardly original, but I needed to but some bits n pieces to achieve this. As all the craft shops are now closed this is impossible. C’est la vie and so for that challenge, Nesbitt null point!
Edit. Thinking about it I also have a lot of CDs that I do not really want (none by MLT of course) so I will include those when I eventually mange to get to a charity shop. I suspect that it will be Barnardo’s on Whetstone High Road, only 10 mins walk from home.
At the Fountain Pen Network forum where I am a long time member, they have a “Pay It Forward” section where people can donate pens for give away. So I decided that is what I will do and brighten someone’s Christmas. Might not seem like much, but when your passion is fountain pens like the people at this forum, it brings a lot of joy. I will be giving away my vintage 1950s Parker 51 fountain pen in mint condition on a free giveaway draw. Just for perspective, Parker 51s are legendary and sought after like a vintage 1950s Gretsch Duo Jet or Rickenbacker 325. Maybe this is a great way to clean out my collection (50 fountain pens, well 49 very soon). 🙂
Here are the screenshots.
Max Dog is my ID at the forum.
Here is my giveaway draw posted at the Fountain Pen Network forum. Can see the post at this link.
Now I just patiently wait until Dec 24th until everyone interested in the pen puts in their name, and then I draw the winner, to be announced Christmas morning. I already see people putting in their names. Boxing Day, I will go and ship it to the lucky winner. Can hardly wait! Giving can be so fun and rewarding indeed! Thanks Mona and Lisa, you are both brilliant!
My giveaway draw contestant list is growing. This is a lot of fun. I may need to do concessionary prizes, and more giveaways. If this keeps up, I might end up giving away all my pens next year! 🙂
I completed the draw and awarded a winner, and will be shipping the pen out on Monday. About 30 people participated, and the enthusiasm and cheer it brought out in the forum community was really the most rewarding part here. Many more just commented, so delighted by the gesture of giving away the pen. That positivity is what everyone needed. Mona and Lisa, your giveaway challenge was such a groovy idea that brightened up so many in a little corner in the Fountain Pen Network community, and I got to show off my MLT cap too! 🙂 I wish you could see all the responses and comments, but unfortunately this part of the forum is restricted to forum members only.
About one month ago my wife and I were exposed to someone with Covid-19. We quarantined in our house with my wife mostly staying in our bedroom and me in my office and our guest room. Fortunately we tested negative twice including at the end of the 14 days. Hearing about all the unemployment and struggles people were having we decided to use the time to sort through clothes and other household items to see what useful things we could find to donate. We ended up with a rather large amount of items to give away. After the 14 days were over, we donated the them. We also purchased pantry items at the grocery store and donated them to our local food pantry. I am not sure if this counts for today’s challenge, but that’s okay. We did it to help people in need during this difficult time.
This is a nice one. I’ve always been of the mind set where I’d rather give something away rather than sell it or toss it out. So my challenge was, what do I have right now that I could give? Then I remembered how I had a shelf unit in the house that I put in my shed. I was going to clean the shed out this spring and use the self to store stuff in. But I don’t really need it so I dug it out and dragged it to the side of the road. I hope someone can get good use from it!
Another beautiful idea. We tend to donate things often to local charities and thrift stores and this challenge came at a good time because I had just sorted through my books and had a pile to give away. So today was the day! I took them to one of our local thrift stores that employs individuals with disabilities. The picture shows the books, the store and the donate here sign.
I was training several years ago at a martial arts dojo. Since I stopped this Wavemaster’s been standing unused in the back room. You got me to finally do something about it. It’s on the curb with a “FREE” sign on it and I’ve put a listing on the “Free stuff” section of Craigslist.
There’s more clutter here I should give away, too, but maybe when the weather’s better!
And it’s gone!
I’m not writing here for collecting points, I just would like to give a big compliment to (in alphabetic order) Lisa and Mona:
This advent calendar, probably unique in the whole music industry, with all the wonderful game ideas, reflects your lovable character in a really great way. You are not only fantastic musicians, you are also kind-hearted people – Rudi and Michaela included! I admire and love you all and I can’t even express in words how much.
Merry Christmas to you and all your fans!
I will second your thoughts!
Ditto.
I would like to “point” out that not all giving has to be material. Giving thanks and appreciation is also giving. I’ll let the twins (by age, oldest to youngest, they are also Lisa and Mona) decide how many points that is worth.
Well said indeed.
Echoing your sentiments…!!
Amen to all of you! And Merry Christmas, as well!
perfect you said everything i think about this fantastic Wagner family.
Agree completely! So glad I joined the MLT club this year.
Absolutely! Merry Christmas!
For some years in Fresnillo, when I am on vacation, we help an old man (Don Brígido) who recycles plastic and sells candies to help him, we give him clothes, some money and tamales that my sister makes for her Christmas Eve dinner. (the tamales are for breakfast on the 25th).
This year in March Don Brígido got sick, every month I send him a pantry and some money and my sister gives it to him with some other things that she brings him.
He just visited it today so we have no photo of evidence.
I did this a few weeks ago! (before all the snow)
A man drove by on a tractor with a bucket loader and took all the stuffed animals 🙂
I’m sure had had a bunch of happy kids.
Today I’m delivering a few gifts and some homemade banana bread / pumpkin bread / apple crisp to some people that wouldn’t have it for Christmas.
I will also be stopping at the store to get some other items for people that can’t get out.
Hope this qualifies
I run a small business (one man really -me! LOL) building and selling ‘ghost boxes’ for paranormal investigators. Every year at Christmas time we (my wife and I) donate one of our boxes worth £100 to be raffled off in order to raise money for a charity.
This year we have chosen the Cancer Fund For Children. Those taking part get a box for the price of a ticket £2 and 100% of the takings goes to this very worthy charity. We love to spread the Christmas spirit, especially for those who need help the most.
I had never thought about doing such as this before but looked at what I didn’t use, found this and so put it outside my front door. It didn’t stay too long so hopefully it has gone to someone who will make good use of it. Merry Xmas.
I’m not surprised that Aloe Vera plant has thrived in your happy household, supported by lots of beautiful music. No wonder it has produced so many healthy offspring.This is an excellent challenge and one I’ll need to give serious thought to. Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas.
This hits the nail on the head for me. This time of the year, and to be fair all year long, when I can I so enjoy giving to others when I can. I do it for the simple reason for the joy I get from seeing their faces, and because I really want to. I love paying it forward.
The first picture is what a very kind couple gave me this year, just because. It has totally blown me away. 55″ Smart TV. I always wanted one, but could never afford.????????????
The second picture is for a friends wife. He asked if there was anyway I could get or make (I make American football helmets) (get them restore them and put the correct decals on them) She is a big fan of Tennessee Titans Pro Team. What they both don’t know is that its signed by the former Quarterback of that team. Signatures make the value soar. Its really a very nice gift. What the husband doesn’t know is that I’m not gonna charge him anything for doing it. ????
The third picture is, well if you are going to drink a coke it might as well be with one of our favorite bands members. This time it happens to be with Ms. Lisa. It is also in her color of red!
Though that is Not her favorite color. ????????❤
Not to leave Ms. Mona out at all. I included her in yesterday’s challenge. Something that’s dear to her heart.
Thanks ladies for this awesome challenge. Love it!
Time honored tradition in my neighborhood. This year has been particularly fun for giving as the various lockdowns and restrictions have increased foot traffic on the sidewalks and interactions in the backyards. In the late spring the gardeners set out extra seedlings – my contributions are almost always heirloom tomatoes (the hillbilly being my all-time favorite). In the summer this year we set out toys for the younger kids that had a summer without public pools or youth sports that they could pick up as they were out for a walk. My kids are 13 and 15 so I set out smaller tables, chairs and even a small rocking chair that my family had enjoyed but had outgrown. I have to consult the weather forecast when doing this — but they all get scooped up quickly. Late summer and fall you can collect enough food for a week just by walking in the evening — everyone grows more than they can eat and want to give it away before it goes bad (although a few folks bought new canning equipment). Getting is good but giving is better.
Today’s task provides me with a perfect opportunity to make a decision about gifts I received almost two years ago. When I retired from the college two years ago, the students in my classes and several faculty members gave me a large number of colorful “novelty” socks (first photo) because of my penchant for wearing these kinds of socks with an otherwise drab and conservative wardrobe. I don’t have much cause to wear such things now, and they have been sitting in a container in my closet. Tomorrow, when the agency is next open, I will be bringing the entire contents of the container to a local Community Clothes Closet (second photo) to donate them all. Thank you for this task!
I don’t know whether it counts, but every day from December 1st to December 24th I’m giving a little digital something to my friends and family through the daily advent calendar door of my self-made advent calendar, I’m posting a screenshot of today’s gift here (I can send you the link, too, if you like). We are living in lockdown at the moment in Germany, so personal contacts have to be reduced, which is why I prefer to give digitally and not in person at the moment
I LOVE your????, ladies! It’s a huge part of what makes your ???? so special!
Each year, one of our local ???? stations teams with the community college I’ve mentioned before and the Salvation Army to hold a toy drive, and I try to help as much as I can. Here are pics of most of this year’s items I donated. I always try to give some musical instruments to encourage budding young artists to pursue their dreams!
Thank you for all the lives you bless with your thoughtful gifts, and for encouraging us to make a positive difference in the ???????? around us!
This is the last book of the 10 copies I’m delivering to all members of our book club. Sadly, we were able to have just one meeting this autumn before the Corona situation got worse. The book includes merry Christmas wishes and a tentative date – set in March – for getting together. Let’s hope it will happen. I will just drop the gift into the mail box. No hugs, no hand shakes…
I had played in bands in the late 60’s, early 70’s and then life happened and I retired from music at the age of 27. In 2007, I got inspired to buy some equipment and wrote and recorded my own songs. This went on until 2012. In that time I made eleven music cd’s, all on my own. I had started number 12 and had about 8 songs on that one, when I became totally blocked of creativity. Number 12 remains the same today. What amazes me looking back is I put out all this music in 5 years while working a full time third shift job. Wearing all the hats, musician, recording engineer, producer, etc, etc.
I am not that good of a musician, and an even worse singer, but I did it. Quickly saw I would never make a dime on my music, I decided I would give it away for free to whoever wanted it. I still do this to this day.
I am still blocked. I wrote one song in 2016. I do not know if that was all the music I had in me, or whether there is more. I hope that there is. Your music is so good. I know that is not the same as putting something out in front of your house and seeing some one pick it up.
Around here that is one of my big pet peeves. Because people don’t put stuff out with a sign because it’s a gift, they put it out because it’s junk they want to get rid of and are too lazy to take it to the dump themselves. So it sits out in the rain uglifying the whole neighborhood until the management forces them to do something with it. I sure wish it worked the way it does in your neighborhood! That sounds wonderful.
I thought I might make a charitable donation to one of my favorite causes and send the two of you a Christmas gift all in the same stroke. Kind of hard to take a photo, but how a bout a screen cap? I sure wish I could take a photo of me handing it to you in person, but that would be one loooonnng trip.
If this doesn’t qualify or fit the bill, please let me know so I can do something else and not lose the points!
There can be problems when there is a neighbourhood culture of passing on unwanted items.
Our virtual department lunch on Wednesday was regaled with a tale from one of my colleagues, when her husband was serving in Cyprus. They’d put furniture they were moving to another location on the pavement beside their car and went inside briefly. When they returned, misunderstanding neighbours had taken away their furniture, believing it to be a gift. I don’t think they got it back.
Yikes. Hadn’t thought of that aspect of it, although if you don’t know who took it it’s hard to know if they took it mistakenly or brazenly stole it.
Hi Mona and Lisa, that is a magnificent Aloe Vera plant, wow! Mona must have supernatural green thumb powers! The Advent challenge is getting more challenging, but such a noble idea for todays! Will have to put on my thinking cap to see what I can do to meet the challenge. 🙂
My form of charitable giving isn’t really what you want for this seasonal challenge. As a family we support a number of charities through our church or direct contacts – Christians Against Poverty (debt counselling), Blythswood Care (shoeboxes filled with practical stuff and a toy and delivered by lorries to parts of Eastern Europe), Cancer Research, Barnardo’s (whose charity shop in Perth has taken donations of a very large number of books, DVDs and CDs several times in recent weeks as we emptied our loft as part of downsizing) and Concorde/Revolution (the oldest independent record shop surviving in Scotland, which took my several large bags of musicassettes as a donation for them to sell alongside their vinyl) among others.
We get Gift Aid receipts from time to time (Barnardo’s send me them after they sell the books etc.) and the attached photo shows just a few of the recent ones.
I wish we lived in a neighbourhood area where leaving items with a note attached was the norm. Sadly it just isn’t done here.
These are a few recent Gift Aid receipts.