Saturday, October 10, 2009

May Day Flower Pot Rescue Story



This adventure begins one Friday morning before I left for work, the year 2005, when DH came back from Home Depot and said "There are two flower pots I think you are going to want in a trash pile. But ... they are huge. Let's go look at them". So off we went.

We had passed these pots for years and years. They were on either side of a driveway and evidently new owners of property didn't want them. These pots are about 40-50 years old, maybe older.

When I saw them I wanted to cry because they were just too heavy for us to deal with. We came back home, and I got ready for work. DH went up the street and asked a road crew if they could help and he would pay them. He talked to three different people, and the boss said lets look at them and after looking at them, he said he'd be back at such and such a time. Well, he never showed and that was very disappointing. We thought maybe the guy would show up on Sat. but he didn't.

It happened to be trash pick up day too on Friday, so we had no idea if they'd be around after the trucks came along picking up. DH and I both said if these are meant to be ours then they will be, if not, then that's just the way it goes. We didn't really NEED these, but we did hate the thought of them going out to the land fill to just get broken and buried. He went by Sat. morning and saw that everything had been picked up but the pots. When I went by on the way home from work, I saw them there still with another pile of brush and trash growing also.

Saturday night as we were sipping a glass of pre-dinner wine, DH thought of using our a.c. jack. I went out to where it was to check what weight it would hold and it said 500 lbs. We got in the car and went to where these monster pots were and took measurements of the things so that DH could figure out how much concrete was in them and how much they would weigh. He figured around 370 lbs. each So we got all excited about doing this project and since it was going to be Sunday morning when we'd be doing this we knew the traffic would be light and it would be quiet, so decided to get up early. Early wasn't the word for it. DH woke up around 4 and couldn't go back to sleep for thinking about how to do this thing so we got up. Got things loaded into the truck, had one cup of coffee and took off.

It happened to be May Day, the first day of May and the morning air was breezy. We could hear roosters crowing in the neighborhood and we hoped for a smooth move of these pots.

I made sure I grabbed the camera and here are the pictures from our adventure.

Click on pictures for larger image.

******

In this first picture
you can see the roots of ancient jasmine growing out the bottom
and also the thick stems out the top.




DH had to cut the roots off the bottom in order to load them into the van.



Here it is getting lighter and you can see how the a.c. jack was used.
What a wonderful tool!


We backed the van up to the raised pot,
lowered it into the van,
tied the jack in place and headed for home,
which thankfully was just a few blocks away.
You can see how close to the ground the jack was,
barely off the road.




One flower pot at a time.
I hoped someone didn't come and take the other one
while we were at home unloading the first one. They didn't.



Here I am, the happy 'curbside shopper',
excited to have these wonderful flower pots .


Here they both were, waiting to be stood upright.
I've got to find the 'right' plants to put in them.
I've tried a couple of things and haven't been happy with the look.



The next two pictures are close-up shots of the shells on them.
There was quite a bit of this kind of work done many, many years ago.
We have two other pieces with shells in the concrete work,
a birdbath and a column.







We are so glad these did not end up in the landfill.
The property where these had stood all those years
looks like something is missing now,
as these two pots made the place interesting.
Now that little artistic spark is gone,
which is their loss and our gain.
They have added to our whimsical, cottage gardens.

It is amazing what people will just throw away.
For people like us, some of these things are treasures,
ready to by reused, recycled or repurposed.

Keep your eyes open,
you never know what treasure you might find
on the side of the road.



Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL


15 comments:

Debbie's Garden said...

If there was a Curbside Shoppin Emmy award I think you'd get it! Your hubby could've easily said a flat out NO its too heavy, cant be done.

The "I have to have it" feeling is overwhelming when you see a treasure out for trash isnt it? You don't get that same feeling when you see something you love in a store. Maybe because you're saving this treasure from landfill death? And its really,really a last chance find?

Did you kid hubby after they were placed with a "hmmm, I think they'd look better over there"?

sweetbay said...

Kudos to your husband for figuring out how to get those home! I'm glad they were able to make it to your garden. :)

Nell Jean said...

Flower Lady, this is a fantastic story. Where there's a will, there's a piece of machinery to do the job.

I'm crazy about shells in the garden. They are so appropriate for a Coastal garden. We have lots of shell fossils in the native rock here, so I figure we're close enough to use shells, too. I used lots of shells in the greenhouse until the dog started taking them out to chew on. I guess I'll have to start back setting them in concrete so she leaves them alone.

L. D. said...

It is just as satisfying that you figured out how to get them home. They are neat and very heavy. They have a lot of character. Good for you two. I am still using my neighbors window boxes that she threw away. Loved the story.

Jenny wren's nest said...

Good rescue!
My husband has a backhoe and the neighbors are are always needing assistants, its O.K. at long as long as he does my jobs first.
Jenny

Flowers said...

Thanks for sharing the May Day Flower Pot Rescue Story. You seems to be a great lover of modern art.

Connie said...

What a fantastic find! So glad you rescued these....they will be a wonderful addition to your garden. Your DH is brilliant...and persistent!

Noelle Johnson said...

Hello. It takes someone with a good eye to see the hidden treasure in objects that many would just throw away. What a great addition to your garden!

Anonymous said...

Rainey

I guess where there's the will there's a way! Those pots are so perfectly Floridian. What do you plan to plant in them?

Jane

Anonymous said...

I loved your story --great ending. Glad the trash man couldn't pick them up!
What a treasure now you have.
vickie

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I love that you were able to get them home and use them. I agree that it's sad what people will just throw away. There's almost always someone that can reuse something, even it's in a different way than the original purpose.
Those are some really nice planters, I bet they do add a lot of interest to your garden.

LeSan said...

Holy Cow, what a find! Debbie is correct. You two should get the Curbside
Shopping Emmy. LOL I was feeling your anxiety as you thought you might not ever get them when they were so close at hand. A great big Kudo to the mysterious DH for figuring out how to get them. I also want to tell you how lovely you looked standing next to them with your winner's smile!

flower pots said...

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FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Good grief! I am behind in keeping up with my blog.

Sorry folks.

Thank you all for visiting and your kind comments.

Debbie ~ An Emmy, that's great :-) It is really exciting for sure when you spy a treasure curbside. Sometimes treasures are more buried and that's really a thrill.

SweetBay ~ We are getting too old to be lifting heavy things these days and hope we don't see any more, but if we did and couldn't live without it, I'm sure we'd figure a way to get it home. DH's brain just kept working on getting these pots home and now they are here.

Nell ~ I think it's neat having shells in the garden, whether they be in concrete, alone, or are in rocks, embedded or fossils.

L.D. ~ It was and still is very satisfying to have done that little adventure. It's great to recycle, reuse, repurpose.

Jenny ~ A backhoe would be a real handy piece of equipment to have.

Flowers ~ You're welcome.

Connnie ~ Thanks. Brilliant and persistent, yes. My hero.

azplantlady ~ They are a wonderful addition to our compound/gardens.

Jane ~ As of yet, I still haven't figured out what I want in those planters.

Vicki ~ If the truck with the scooper had come by, they would have been gone, but with just regular pick up, they were way too heavy for guys to just throw into the back of the truck. :-)

Catherine ~ We check curbside all the time when we see a pile because you just never know what might be there.

LeSan ~ Thank you. Anxiety was building, and we were happy to have moved both of them to their new home.

FlowerPots ~ Thanks.

Have a great day everyone ~ FlowerLady

Tara Dillard said...

Can't wait for you to do another post about these pots.

Where they are located now.

How they are planted now.

They are toooooooo wonderful.

Glad they are in a loving home.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara