Salvage, recover, recycle

This week I came back from a short and very enjoyable visit to the UK. It was lovely to see everyone and to give my little crochet gifts to the children. After the wind and rain that fell upon me for (almost) all the time I was in good old Blighty, it felt decidedly spring-like when I got back. Here's the gorgeous view of Mont Blanc that I had from the plane on the way down:

Beautiful, isn't it? Mont Blanc is so majestic and I feel so privileged to see it almost every day from our bedroom window (depending on how cloudy the sky is). But the view from the plane was really something special.
Well, it felt so spring-like and bright that as soon as the weekend allowed it, I started to spring-clean our flat.
I have inherited the hoarding gene from my mother's side of the family but I do try to fight it! Today I decided that the old cream handbag I bought about five years ago had actually reached the end of its life and I wouldn't be using it again. So off it went to the bin. For about five minutes. Then the salvager inside me sent me right back to get it out again.
The bag was synthetic and badly stained, and I knew I definitely wouldn't be using it again. So why, you may be asking, did I get it out of the rubbish bin? This is why:

That stained cream synthetic bag had hidden treasures! One key holder, one lovely buckle, two rectangular metal rings and a 12cm metal zipper. I reckon if I'd wanted to buy all that stuff it would have cost me quite a lot. And being a crazy crafter, I know I'll use them. The moral of this post is: Throw away what cannot be used again, but don't forget to recover and recycle all the hidden treasures first. Have a great weekend!