The Goodwill Bins

Yesterday three of us went to the Goodwill Bins, an astonishing experience.  In a large room there are many many blue bins, all on wheels in rows, all FILLED with junk.

Some bins have only books, some have only clothes, some have junk.  Mostly (except for books) you pay by the weight.  At 4:00 p.m. the 6 or 8 bins that have been there the longest are taken away, making room for more bins with “new” stuff:

The place is now packed–mostly men.  They line the yellow lines waiting for the new bins to arrive:

Then in come the new bins and a free-for-all begins:

Mostly, it’s stuff you wouldn’t want:

but there are hidden treasures and here’s what I got:

Three new heavy crystal wine glasses for the beach house (to replace the three we broke this summer), some forks and spoons for the beach, a few books and a terrific deck of botannical cards for Christmas gifts (you’re probably glad you aren’t on my gift list when you see this) some old pattern pieces for “works on paper” at the studio, and some old ornaments of my favorite type where the red has faded to pink.  Then to the studio went the following:

a few more books for inspirational/collage purposes, an old tool box to corral pens and clutter, and a little picture frame to put something in for somebody’s stocking stuffer.  All-in-all a fascinating 45 minutes.  It’s a treasure hunt–some people rip through throwing stuff everywhere and some people carefully pick to the bottom of the bin (us) to see what we can find:

Here’s Kay’s box: