Give it up for Giveaway Weekend

It's way too cold and grey for gardening. Might as well spend some time cleaning out the basement and sorting stuff for Giveaway Weekend #2. That's right, on May 15 and 16 you are once again encouraged to dump your junk at the curb so that your neighbors can openly judge you. Kidding! Actually, I love Giveaway Weekend. Last time I cleared out several unwieldy bookshelves and four large boxes of tea lights which I realized I would never ever use. Everything got magicked away as if by elves driving minivans. You might want to keep your kids' bikes and wagons well within your property line though. I know at least one person who lost a tricycle last Giveaway Weekend. People are only supposed to take stuff on the curb marked "free" but a few takers clearly got overzealous.

If you have exceptionally useful junk, you might want to think about donating it to Centre Flavie Laurent. It's a charity founded by the Grey Nuns which distributes donated furniture, household items and clothing to people in need. Though it's been around for a while, I first heard of it recently, thanks to CBC News host Janet Stewart. She wrote a nice note about it on Facebook, of all places.