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Across the Fence:  Any other garbage pickers out there?  |
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Vintage Redhead
True Blue Farmgirl
233 Posts
Kaylyn
Saint Charles
IL
USA
233 Posts |
 Posted - May 10 2007 : 9:14:23 PM
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My poor kids - I'll be out driving and all of a sudden go from 30 mph and swing to the right and stop. They'll groan and yell "MOM! You're *not* going to go dumpster diving again, are you?"
I was just writing in another thread about my garden art. Got my vintage Radio Flyer wagon curbside on garbage day. Got my flowerpot chair curbside on garbage day. Got my tree-limb basket curbside on garbage day.
My last find was a 1940s era Zenith console radio with AM, police, and weather bands - stood about 4' high - had six Bakelite pre-sets and everything. *GORGEOUS* piece of nostalgia! All it needed was a few new tubes and to have the "saturn" dial refitted with a balancer. I wanted to work on it with my dad and kids. Unfortunately, DH called it a piece of...well, worse than trash, let's just say...and told me if I didn't get rid of it, he'd put it curbside. I gave it away to someone with a "period" house. I was afraid someone would farm it for parts or that it would sit out in the rain and get ruined.
I was so proud the day the I found it - I pulled right over, hoisted it into my truck all by myself, came home and unloaded it by myself with so much TLC. I invited over all of my neighbors - they didn't get it - just to view my prized piece of history. I didn't have to think too hard about the family who saved for this beautiful piece of furniture and entertainment -- something that sixty years ago would have been to them the equivalent of a plasma screen television to my children. Did the family finish dinner every night then gather around to listen to their favorite programs? Did they hear the announcement of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on this very radio? What about the US entry into World War II...or the end of World War II? Was this radio on the day that Kruschev screamed "We will bury you!" Was anybody listening when the assassination of President Kennedy was announed to a stunned nation?
I tried to imagine back to the days of imagination. Long before we had television in every room in the house, I wondered how many hot, sticky, summer afternoons were spent before this very radio listening to baseball games. The imagination it must have taken for those young boys of yesterday to trade their baseball cards, see their heros in print, then try to visualize the game along to the radio broadcast. Maybe they didn't even have the right baseball cards to visualize the heros they were hearing of. A boy had to chew a lot of gum to build his team and chances were that his friends were building the same team.
And what of parents? I found myself wondering if they yelled at their children "Get away from that radio - it will do nothing but rot your brain and make you senseless!" Did they find themselves on a daily basis walking over to this large console to unplug the power cord, telling their children to go outside on a beautiful day instead of allowing themselves to be entertained by a machine? Did they ever regret having brought this beautiful monstrosity into their homes?
In the mythology that I have been able to create in my curbside callings, I find romanticized notions of what the past may have been like for the treasures I have found. But I also find myself thinking that every technological evolution we have made brings us back to familiar ground...that while the names of our appliances and gadgets chance, basic humor nature probably hasn't. We enjoy being entertained. We like to take the easy way to get our information. It feels nice when we can give our families the latest and greatest.
But we also like to discard our things when something newer, better, more advanced comes along. Never mind if it can be fixed or appreciated by someone else...just turn it out the the curb because it has outlived the usefulness that *I* have for it. Can it be rescued? Can it be repurposed? It is a terrible twist of fate to see creative beauty in everyday objects, yet live with someone who cannot appreciate an object not only for what it is or once was, but also cannot appreciate what you may be able to turn it in to. ~ K
~ Kaylyn ~ (Living in Suburbia with a FARMGIRL Heart!)
My Cause: http://nickspavilion.blogspot.com/
My Life: http://vintageredhead.blogspot.com |
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2007 : 9:45:27 PM
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Kaylyn,
That radio sounded exactly like the radio we had in our house when I was a little kid - exactly! We lived in Glen Ellyn at the time, wow! I don't know how long my parents had it....it had the speakers at the bottom, and I remember the preset buttons too. I used to listen to the Franklyn McCormick all night Meister Brau Showcase on that radio. I hope my brain did not get rotted from that program. I wonder if it was the same one. What I'd give to have that big old monstrousity back in my possession! I am sure there are alot of people out there that would like that sort of thing - but its not for everyone. How does the poem go - "Who shall arbitrate? Ten men love what I hate, and loathe what I prize..." some people are big on history, and some want nothing to do with it. I tend to think that everything old is new, and everything new is old and that things just keep coming around again and again. I found an am-fm radio/lp phonograpgh stereo player - just what I'd been looking for to play my old vinyl records on, out on a curb, and I found a beautiful old dresser that I refinished -where, out on the curb. I just recently found a beautiful bright yellow mailbox out on the curb. I enjoy my cd player too - its a strange mingling of the old and the new. We aren't writing letters, or talking on the telephone, we're on computers!!! Its a strange and lovely world. but I too like to think of someone who would be enjoying something, appreciating something that was old - instead of it going into the landfill never to be seen again.....sad indeed. |
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Photobugs
True Blue Farmgirl
363 Posts
Pamela
Post Falls
Idaho
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2007 : 10:15:59 PM
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Oh yes. Big garbage picker. Hubby gets stuff at the dump all the time. They are so weird there though, a few of the workers (paid, not the ones from the jail doing their community service) act like it is their stuff. They do not like people to take stuff I just hate to see stuff go into the landfill when someone can use it. It is so rediculous that someone can't take something that they or someone they know might need. So he takes it anyway. Most of the guys do not care. He brought me home a tall metal plant stand today. It has four shelves on it. Last week it was an old bicycle.
I have also picked up things sitting along the road next to trash cans waiting for the garbage pick up. I feel kinda silly doing it, but it does not stop me.
Hubby and I are kinda known for dumpster diving and finding things in odd places and bringing them home.
I think we are doing a good deed...as you mentioned saving something from certain demise at the dump.
Pamela
http://homesteadmercantile.blogspot.com/ |
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elah
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Emily
SW
Michigan
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 05:35:26 AM
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Hubby and I are divers too! Mainly hubby but I part take too. We are always amazed at what people consider trash. My daughter has a nice plastic play house, that is missing two sides, that we got out of someones trash. It's one of the wood cabins with the green roof. We have an L shaped wall with the swing door and built in table and the full roof. For the two sections that are missing hubby made a support out of PVC piping. It's great! My daughter spends a ton of time in it and I can see what she is doing AND we can both fit in there with the open sides.
That was are most useful find. |
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junkjunkie
True Blue Farmgirl
1306 Posts
Judy
Lawrenceville
NJ
USA
1306 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 06:30:15 AM
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| Very interesting thread! I do see some nice things curbside, but it's too hard to just pull over at times...especially in this little, congested, traffic filled, crazy driver state! I have a coworker who gets some really nice things, like an Andronick (sp?) chair. Kaylyn, you write beautifully and very descriptive. Very good imagination! |
Edited by - junkjunkie on May 11 2007 06:32:33 AM |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 06:59:52 AM
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Oh ladies....what kindred spirits we are!!! We only have "big garbage" day twice a year. This is where we can put anything curbside. The rest of the year it has to be brought to the dump. well, my husband and I go out after evening milking and drive around looking for "treasures" I can't beleive what people throw out. Perfectly good things. It is fine that they don't want them, but why can't they donate it to Salvation Army or goodwill? Anyhooo, the other day I got an old enamel sink with the seperate Hot/Cold taps. Not sure if I'll use the sink, or take of the taps and make a towel rack/holder.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
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EmmJay
True Blue Farmgirl
352 Posts
Mary Jane
Amherst
Nova Scotia
Canada
352 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 07:01:35 AM
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HA HA HA
I bought a van (couldn't afford a truck) and yesterday, hubby and I got some fencing, a double bed frame, and light posts for the end of the driveway. People are throwing things away, as we are approaching a Spring Clean Up here. I am always on the lookout.....as the saying goes.....
"One Man's junk is a Farmgirl Treasure" 
MJ
"Thank GOD I'm a country girl"
http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/EmmJay07/ |
Edited by - EmmJay on May 11 2007 07:02:00 AM |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 07:14:51 AM
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I just got a long farm bench last night! Someone had put it out for todays trash and now it sits out front under our dogwood tree. Almost had a swinging kitchen door this morning but it was way too big. I have been a "recycler"for a long time and it's funny because in the beginning I hear "WHAT are you going to do with THAT?" and later after it has been put to good use I hear "That's so cool, where did you get THAT?!!"
My best find so far were 2 etched glass parlor doors from a victorian house that was being "modernized". I saw the guy coming out to the curb with them and stopped. He looked surprised I was interested in them and offered to drop them off for me! I didn't push my luck and somehow got them in my car!
My husband restores old houses and is constantly amazed at what I find...now if I could only get him to work on THIS old house more!
Happy junking girls!
PS..2 weeks ago... a Brand New wing chair and matching ottoman (still wrapped in plastic!) At the curb for trash! Now it's in our bedroom! I asked a neighbor why the chair was at the curb and she said that the husband had bought it and it was the wrong chair! (Wouldn't YOU have taken it back?)
My good fortune I guess and it matches too which is really strange, I didn't even have to make a slipcover! YAHOO!
with a happy heart |
Edited by - bramble on May 11 2007 07:23:17 AM |
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Kathie
True Blue Farmgirl
2436 Posts
Kathie
Thonotosassa
Florida
USA
2436 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 07:17:14 AM
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I just love junk!!!
& my head is spinning with so many ideas over what it can be transformed into!! & what it must have been like when it was new in some ones house all those years ago..
I really like the things alongside the road.. I think these are almost more fun then the garage sales sometimes!! You almost feel as if your getting away with something .. or something like that.. because the owners have THROWN it AWAY!! & never even saw it's NEW potential!!
But i kills me when someone looks at a transformation like.. "what????" or "Why???" They just don't get it..
& i want to shake them!
How do they not see it.. & how can they think that new is always better.. ? They miss out on so much with those blinders that they are wearing! Must be like in the Matrix.. "do you want the blue pill. or the red pill?" we obviously took the pill that offered up an opened mind to creativity!! & they chose the safe one that kept them at the department store!
More Treasures for us!!
Kathie
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
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ponyexpress
True Blue Farmgirl
320 Posts
Sandy
Kirkwood
Missouri
USA
320 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 07:43:28 AM
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Kaylyn - don't forget the Ovaltine! The holiday movie, Christmas Story, has little Ralphie listening intently every week to his favorite radio show, writing down the coded message, and drinking lots of Ovaltine so he can send off for the special decoder ring!
I used to be a much more active "repurposer", but since moving into the townhouse, there just isn't room (inside or out) for collecting potential treasures. << sigh >>
A project I had seen that really made me smile was an old console television cabinet with the insides and legs removed. The outside still had all the dials and knobs, though. It was fitted with a fluffy pillow on the inside and became a very chic dog house for the living room. The pooch - a pampered pug - hopped in and out through the opening left by the picture tube, and the little house was named HDTV -- "happy dog television"!!
I've learned that it takes as much time and energy to wish as it does to plan.
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 08:26:46 AM
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I'm a third generation trash picker! (That I know of.) I think it's the thrill of the hunt that makes me do it! My dad is the King though. That man has the most incredible luck. My parent's living room sofa came from the trash. It has a solid maple frame with mortice and tenon joints. It was built to last! The two chairs that sit nearby? Trash. When they lived in Florida, he would walk the neighborhood with his little dog, scoping out the offerings. Then, back to the house for the car to race off to get them!
When they were getting ready to move here, we had a big yard sale. Most of the neighbors came (mostly to see what had been being stored in the garage) and one of the women exclaimed "Oh, I have to have this chair! I had one almost exactly like it and I threw it away!" Yes, she bought her own rocking chair. Dad had put on new cushion covers and tightened up the rungs. :) All he did was stand there with a smile on his face. Ya gotta love that man.
Karin
Wherever you go, there you are.
Come visit me at:
www.madrekarin.etsy.com
www.madrekarin.blogspot.com |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 08:40:57 AM
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I've been picking stuff up off the curb since childhood, when I made myself a playhouse out of pallets, a tarp, and a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet.
My best score recently was a huge, wood, Victorian style dollhouse. It needs some remodeling, which I'm doing gradually. I always wanted one when I was a kid. Well, better late than never, right? |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 09:18:03 AM
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I've been doing it for years. I furnished my ENTIRE first apt. that way. I sanded & painted the things I wanted to change & no one ever knew the difference. My sister & I used to take my brother-in-law's truck & pack it in!! Was great fun.
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9092 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9092 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 10:08:27 AM
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Its a great thing to be doing, hate to see good stuff wasted. It isn't something I have got into YET!! Oh help me if I do, I have enough trouble staying away from thrift stores and garage sales, I would be out scouting the area on garbage day and become obsessed with yet another thing.
NANCY JO
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
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MariaAZ
True Blue Farmgirl
203 Posts
Phoenix
AZ
203 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 10:13:33 AM
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A few weeks ago, just before the city came and hauled away all the big trash in the alley, hubby found an old Singer sewing machine in a pile of rubbish. It's pretty beaten up, and has undoubtedly seen better days. It doesn't work, and I love tinkering, so I decided to see what I can find out about it. Turns out that Singer tracked all the serial numbers and you can look them up on their website. Our little find was manufactured in 1894, making it 113 years old! It was originally a treadle machine, but someone along the way had it converted to electric. Now I REALLY want to see if I can get it to work. I have a workhorse Viking sewing machine, but I think it would be rather neat to sew something on this vintage beauty!
Visit my blog at www.craftyfool.net |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 10:13:56 AM
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This is so ironic...I was just talking to a friend of mine that owns a little antique shop, and while we were catching up, a younger guy passed by and said, "Oh, Shirl..I see your busy, I'll be back..." when I asked who he was, she told me that he's basically a garbage picker, who in the last 6 weeks has brought her $2000 in sales on Ebay. He doesn't really want any money for his stuff, just $10 or so (and she always gives him more money when it sells big), but he just basically sells stuff to function. Last week, he brought her this really ugly totally tarnished silver tea pot, that when she cleaned it up, was a service for the L&N Railroad, made by Gorham. She sold it for $650 on ebay, and then he brought the "ugliest" dolls she said she'd ever seen and told her they were the famous "Betty Lee" dolls, and he had outfits, still in their little paper boxes. She sold those ugly dolls and their clothes for almost $1300!!!!
I guess you never know, do ya?
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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Naomi Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
1563 Posts
Naomi
Sunshine State
USA
1563 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 11:43:11 AM
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I love to "dumpster Dive". Living in Moscow (Idaho) is perfect for it since we are a college town. Unfortunately, it seems that college age kids view many things as expendable. We have gotten everything from dining room chairs, to a book case, to a brand new and functioning air conditioner. I don't purposefully drive around on trash days, but if I see something curbside- I am not afraid to stop!
Alee
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 12:12:35 PM
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I furnished 2 apartments and a whole house dumpster diving!! What I love is usually I find older pieces of furniture or dishes, etc...that I just love. I also used to dumpster dive to find items to give to a charity to sell. I know you all know they kind of stuff you can find.
Cheers,
Heather |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2007 : 7:33:03 PM
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My husband looks for push-type lawn mowers by the side of the road this time of year. People get them out and can't start them so put them by the curb and go buy a new one, I guess! Sometimes all he has to do is empty the gas out and put in fresh gas and a new spark plug and off we go!
My one and only big find was when I was looking for materials for an art project I wanted to do - I wanted to weave a replica of a circuit board...I had some dark green yarn and some silver beads on a string. I looked in a dumpster behind an electronics consultant storefront and they had evidently just cleaned out their storeroom - I found about 15 older car-phones (not like the cell phones we have today, these actually had cords) I scarfed up several, took them home and disassembled them and wired the pieces into the weaving. I called the piece "Women's work is never done" it symbolized for me how women's work has been trivialized over the eons from weaving, to circuit board assembly, to telephone operators (which are pretty much obsolete now..) - How come we still get paid less for doing work that is just as important to society? Anyway, I took it to work to hang as wall art and my boss didn't like it, so home it came... Don't know if he didn't like it from a political point of view or a artistic one!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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Vintage Redhead
True Blue Farmgirl
233 Posts
Kaylyn
Saint Charles
IL
USA
233 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2007 : 07:49:28 AM
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Brenda:
I checked out both of your blogs to see if I could find your weaving "Women's Work Is Never Done." Didn't see it on either - did I miss it?? If you haven't yet posted it, would you mind terribly much doing so? I would *LOVE* to see your creation. It sounds absolutely *MARVELOUS* and I'm very intrigued - I agree wholehearted with:
quote:
Originally posted by brightmeadow
How come we still get paid less for doing work that is just as important to society?
We're valued enough to be *paid*...just in most cases, not enough to support our families enough *on our own* when situations, for whatever reason, require. ~ K
~ Kaylyn ~ (Living in Suburbia with a FARMGIRL Heart!)
My Cause: http://nickspavilion.blogspot.com/
My Life: http://vintageredhead.blogspot.com |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2007 : 07:51:48 AM
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| Do you guess Freecycle? A little bit cleaner, but you miss the thrill of discovery! |
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kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
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MariaAZ
True Blue Farmgirl
203 Posts
Phoenix
AZ
203 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2007 : 3:53:07 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by kitchensqueen
Here in the city, we call ourselves Dumpster Divers or Alley Rats. :-) One person's trash is another's treasure!
Alley rats... now THERE'S a word that brings back fond memories! We didn't have dumpsters; rather, the old fashioned metal trashcans everyone kept in the alleys. I didn't hear the term "dumpster diving" until I was in junior high, but we all knew what alley rats were, because most of us kids partook in that most noble activity
Visit my blog at www.craftyfool.net |
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Photobugs
True Blue Farmgirl
363 Posts
Pamela
Post Falls
Idaho
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2007 : 11:02:52 PM
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I have gotten some pretty neat things from freecycle, too. Recently a big box of Country magazines. Last summer a batch of old window screens that we plan to make things out of and an neat old chair. Plus some other stuff.
Keep at it gals...keep that stuff outta the landfills!
Pamela
http://homesteadmercantile.blogspot.com/ |
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junkjunkie
True Blue Farmgirl
1306 Posts
Judy
Lawrenceville
NJ
USA
1306 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2007 : 06:37:33 AM
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| 'Freecycle'...how cool is this?! Thank you for posting it. I looked it up and saved it. |
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Across the Fence: Any other garbage pickers out there? |
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Any other garbage pickers out there?
