Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Curb-side shopping Freebies

Good morning Folks ~ Part of living frugally is 'curb-side shopping'. It is something we've done since the beginning of our marriage, and DH did it before that. We've found lots of good items over the years. You never know what you willfind, discarded by the side of the road.

This morning DH headed off to the auto mechanic to have a look at his van, on the way, he got stopped by things just begging to be picked up in a curb-side pile.

The real prize is the tramp-art-table. I love it and we've not found anything like that in quite a long while. It needs some TLC, then it will be a little gem.

The rest is ok stuff. A basket of artificial ivy, roses and irises and other greenery. Two hand painted lamp bases, an exercise mat ( that I've been wishing I had ), 3 black octagon shaped plates from France, and a heavy iron and marble coffee table minus the glass top, oh yea and a comforter. We will probably sell the coffee table in a yard sale, and the spread also.

Anyway, it's another little adventure in our life. Freebies are always fun. DH did hear back from the mechanic and it's the ignition coil. Not an expense we needed right now, but a necessary expenditure.
















Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL


19 comments:

Carol said...

A great way to recycle! Some lovely treasures found. Good luck with your car. Carol

D said...

Hello flowerlady, that table is beautiful! One of our favorite places to go is the local St vincent dePaul thrift store, an org to which we donate and a great spot to pick up a few odds and ends, i.e. I had a mad hatters tea party for the neighbor ladies and found a couple extra tea pots for a few $$. ;)

Becca's Dirt said...

Wow - I just love to find stuff like that. Wish I was there - I don't have a coffee table and yours is so beautiful with the cutwood in the top.

Anonymous said...

Wow did you ever find some great stuff -the table is so pretty and so are the lamps.
vickie

Nell Jean said...

Don't laugh. The music was the one with the rain and with the snow falling too I got worried about the table. Talk about entering into a blog....

Anonymous said...

Awesome table! It's hard to believe what some people with throw away.

Christine B. said...

Wow, good haul! I haven't been much of a curbsite shopper since college, but I may have to start snooping around again.

Christine in Alaska

gld said...

Great finds.

I have never lived anywhere they did the curbside thing.

The table is a beauty.

Anonymous said...

Love that table! We have two old-fashioned metal chairs on our porch that came from the curb. When we lived in a fairly affluent area we could even get almost new appliances. People would redo their kitchens after buying a house and just throw out the appliances. Since the sellers had replaced the appliances to sell the house, they were practically brand new. Why they didn't donate them to a charity is beyond me!

Jane

Jenny wren's nest said...

That table is beautful.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What great finds. I love the table!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Isn't it fun? I shop for treasures at our school' rammage sale. It's unbelievable what we see there!

Joolz said...

Hello Flower Lady

I've been looking at your lovely kitchen over at Down to Earth with Rhonda Jean. You have a lovely, home comforting space there. Isn't Rhonda Jean's blog wonderful? I've really been enjoying her 'You, me and the Kitchen Sink' posts.

Merry Christmas to you from Australia.

Cheers - Joolz
www.simplyjoolz.blogspot.com

sweetbay said...

Beautiful table. That's a great find!

Kim said...

WOW what a table!!!! And that kitchen of yours is so lovely and homey. Makes me happy.

Becky said...

THAT TABLE IS AMAZING! And if you lived closer I'd buy the coffee table as I have a crate of stone tiles waiting for a table. I am itching to have a coffee table made from them. And your blog is AWESOME!
Becky in SC

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Hello everyone ~ Thanks for visiting and for your comments.

Carol ~ We sure enjoy saving things from the landfill. There is so much perfectly good stuff that just goes to waste. It was the ignition coil on the van. Not an expense we were expecting. The van runs fine now. :-)

Di ~ Thrift stores are great! As are yard sales, and flea markets. We have cut way back on buying things, we're not adding to collections anymore. Trying to declutter.

Becca ~ That table was a great find. Treats like that are rare.

Vicki ~ I like those lamps too. Some of the paint is coming off, but I like them anyway. I'm trying to figure out what to do with them after I take the old lamp guts out and the rusting bases off.

Nell ~ That is too funny! Glad you got into my blog.

Merrie ~ It is amazing what people will throw away. So many want new, now, and just toss the old.

Christine ~ Just keep your eyes open. You never know what is going to be in a pile of discards. DH didn't even see the table at first as it was leaning over on its side.

Gld ~ I think it's living in suburbia or cities that curbside shopping happens. I will have to go around and take pictures of things we've found through the years.

Jane ~ Wow, getting good appliances would be great! There are lots of people who go around daily picking up stuff that people dump. We just take stuff when we come up on it and it looks like we might use it. Glad to know you're another curb side shopper.

Jenny ~ Thanks.

Catherine ~ Thank you.

Tatyana ~ It is fun. Rummage sales are fun too.

Joolz ~ Thank you for your kinds words about our little place. I love Rhonda's blog. It touches my heart and inspires me and It is nice meeting new people through her.

Sweet Bay ~ Thanks, definitely a great find.

Kim ~ Glad our little kitchen/scullery makes you feel happy. It does me too.

Becky ~ this table would look neat with a tiled section in the middle. It had had glass, but it wasn't with the piece.

Thanks again everyone for your comments.

FlowerLady

Becky said...

Don't forget FREECYCLE!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Wow, I can't believe the nice things people get rid of. I hope these things were not waiting for the garbage collectors, but the people put them for someone who would use them.