Hi! Sorry about the lack of posts over the last few days – we’re in Madrid at a technical conference/holiday — I had hoped to update from the airport on Wednesday and from here yesterday but the internet didn’t allow it. Naughty internet.

Most people here rave about the Prado and the tapas but because I’m a recycling nerd, I’ve been spotting the numerous recycling bins around the place, and raving to my travel buddies about how the glass drinks bottles seem to be collected regularly from bars by the supplier for direct cleaning/reuse rather than the more labour intensive generic glass recycling. !Excelente!

So anyway, suitcases. When I was packing our bags on Tuesday night, I found one of our wheelie suitcase is now 50% less wheelie – one of the wheels must have broken off on a previous trip/during our house move. If we can find another wheel around the right size, we’ll probably try to fix it because otherwise the suitcase is perfectly fine but what else can we do with it now it’s a bit annoying for travelling?

I’ve seen pretty, old clam-shell suitcases uses to make pet beds and we’re actually looking out for an old trunk/hat box to use as a wood basket near our new woodburning stove – but the one that’s broken is of the generic modern type, which might look retro and interesting in fifty years time but now if we use it for anything on display, it’ll just look like we’ve not unpacked from a trip. The cats are magnetically drawn to half-packed suitcases though so I doubt they’d complain.

Other suggestions?

I guess a related question is what do you do with suitcases when you’re not travelling? Do you and your friends/family reduce the amount needed by sharing? Are there any places that rent out suitcases to stop everyone having to buy and store their own? Do you use them for other storage around the home? Or do they sit empty in a far-away cupboard?

(Normal service should resume from Tuesday. :) )

We’ve had an email from Pam, asking:

How do I construct a garment rack from any materials, that will display my tie dyes openly so they can be seen? It can’t be too heavy to transport, and can’t end up top heavy.

Not picky about materials, just needs to look presentable and not require anything well, like soldering tools, etc. Looking at the ones for sale, it does not look like rocket science.

I saw a great idea for making a display stand out of an old suitcase recently – the creator is using it for showing off dangly earrings but I guess it could work for ties too.

Another idea might be to make a rack out of copper pipes – like the one I featured on Things To Do Today last week – you could maybe salvage and polish up some old ones, and as the how-to explains, it’s a no-solder job because you can buy/salvage the elbows and joints and it’s just a case of clicking it all together.

Any other ideas?