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Across the Fence:  What is the best thing you found for free?  |
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gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 07:26:20 AM
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Alee's reply on her finds on the solar powered clothes dryer post made me think of my favorite find. A hoosier cabinet. I took the trash to our dumpsters and saw 2 white pieces of wooden furniture just laying near by. In our county we have the dumpsters in a fenced area with a worker maintaining them. The furniture was in 2 pieces and I noticed the rollup door and knew what it was. A hoosier cabinet popular in the 1940's.The top just sets on the bottom piece. My mother has one and it has been in her kitchen as long as I can remember. Anyway I ask the man to help me load it in my car. After I get it home my husband couldn't wait to get it looking new again. It had several layers of paint on it but we got it scraped,sanded and repainted. He also put new oak wood,sanded,stained and varnished on the counter part. We only had to replace one door knob on it. That was several years ago. I have it in my kitchen as a working piece of furniture. Even the rollup door works good. I am proud that I rescued it from being destroyed and it is being put to good use.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
Edited by - gafarmwoman on Mar 07 2008 08:02:10 AM |
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sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 07:29:12 AM
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What an incredible find! It looks beautiful. Who could have ever just thrown that out????
Sharon
Farmgirl Sister #74
Life is messy. Wear your apron! |
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JessieMae
True Blue Farmgirl
702 Posts
Jessie
Raleigh
North Carolina
USA
702 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 07:48:18 AM
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Holy smokes! That WAS a find! I was at an antique mall just last weekend, and Hoosier cabinets were going for hundreds of dollars apiece!
My aunt and uncle threw out their old dining room set and china hutch, and I rescued it. It is beautiful cherry wood, stained a dark reddish-brown. The table has black inlaid wood around the circumference of the surface, and the hutch has beautiful curved glass in the doors. |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 07:54:39 AM
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A bone colored leather and cherry settee from 1930--it's STUNNING. Found it in the garbage in the "rich" part of town.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 08:32:54 AM
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Sheesh!! I have found a lot of goodies for free- a nice, tall wooden 1950's stool, 1950's wall mounted ironing board still in the wall unit, small red side board...that is just a few!!!
Cheers,
Heather
FARMGIRL #90 |
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joyfulmama
True Blue Farmgirl
1175 Posts
Debra
Silver Springs
NV
USA
1175 Posts |
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Tammy Claxton
True Blue Farmgirl
1559 Posts
Tammy
Glen Burnie
Maryland
USA
1559 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 08:47:18 AM
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Beautiful Hoosier!!! I have one too (which was free!!) I also got a beautiful buffet for free off of freecycle. I refinished the top too. It weighs a ton!
My favorite freebie is my grandmother's old hutch cabinet. She's in rough shape and needs a redo, but I told my hubby I wouldn't give it up for anything!
I've also gotten a Queen Anne chair, my end tables, my entertainment center, my dishwasher, and 2 ceramic kilns with 200 molds for free! I love freebies!
Crafty Bay Farmgirl Chapter
"A friend is someone who does things that count, but never stops to count them"
Farmgirl #152
http://countryintheburbs.blogspot.com/ |
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junkjunkie
True Blue Farmgirl
1306 Posts
Judy
Lawrenceville
NJ
USA
1306 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 09:43:01 AM
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Wow...what a fantastic find! It's amazing what people will throw out. Just recently, I saw a beautiful winged back chair on the curb, in excellent shape. The upholstery was faded and not exactly my taste, and it had to be restuffed a little. I had to take it! I brought it into a re-upholstering shop, and they said that it was a really well made chair, about 30 to 40 years old. It's still in the shop now, but I can't wait to get it!
"To have life in focus, we must have death in our field of vision." Benedictine monk John Main |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 10:33:33 AM
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Wow! Let's see- I got a book case and an air conditioner unit.
It really is amazing. Truly "One man's trash is another woman's treasure!"
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 2:18:57 PM
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I found an old waist high 2large, 2 small drawer dresser by the side of the road - drawers stuck, veneer coming off, top broken in two. Picked it up, took it home. took off the veneer to reveal wonderful pure oak drawers. Drawers stuck because it had been sitting in someones basement obviously sucking up moisture. Got some new oak boards to replace the top of the dresser, sanded and stained and varnished it -after 25 years
still have it. A lovely piece of furniture.
Love your hoosier - its gorgeous. |
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Farmtopia
True Blue Farmgirl
1465 Posts
Zan
New York
New York
USA
1465 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 2:20:37 PM
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The best thing I found for free? Umm....tall guy, athletic, cooks dinner sometimes, doesn't speak to me cruelly, hugs at night. Asks nothing in return...well, maybe wants to hold my hand...that's free :D
Ok...oh, wait--you meant objects! I see ;) Well, going that route, I remember once when I was younger, I found this beautiful TALL round Christmas cookie tin and dragged it to the house. My mother immediately told me to throw it out, as it was obviously garbage, but I opened it quickly because it felt a bit weighted down and inside were all these old, vintage Christmas decorations that someone apparently thought were too old. They were in great shape...40 pieces, some in old carved wood, very old European style. Yep, my mother quickly changed her tune after that. We still use some for the family tree even today! :D
~*~Dream all you dreamers~*~
View my work:
www.bigtownfarmer.com
www.pumpkinpatchparlor.etsy.com
And Blogs:
agriculture: www.bigtownfarmer.blogspot.com
art: www.queenofcrows.blogspot.com
animals: www.big-luv.blogspot.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 3:14:54 PM
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Wow Zan! That's a pretty amazing find!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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gafarmwoman
True Blue Farmgirl
244 Posts
Pam
Georgia
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 3:49:27 PM
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Yeah Zan, I think the tall, athlete that cooks sounds like an exceptional find. You better hold on to that one. I found a shoe box full of Christmas ornaments from the 1960's at a thrift store for $2.00. They were in excellent condition and each one was wrapped in a little baggy. Some said-to Grandma or Grandpa. I was excited to get them but wondered where they came from. The way they were taken care of it was obvious they were sentimental to someone.
It sounds as if you all have had some very good luck on finds too. Do any of you have pictures posted of your finds? I'd love to see them.
You can never have enough friends.
Please come and sit a spell with me at Life on a Southern Farm
http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 4:57:02 PM
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A wicker table that was sitting on the curb down our street. There was an entire wicker set! I gave two chairs to my daughter for her porch and did not have any room for the loveseat, so had to leave it for someone else!
The hoosier cabinet is beautiful!
I took out the hug from my hubby comment, because it was too far off the topic, but I do like the free hugs he gives. :)
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Mar 08 2008 12:21:16 AM |
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Ronna
True Blue Farmgirl
1891 Posts
Ronna
Fernley
NV
USA
1891 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2008 : 6:03:00 PM
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Thrift shop finds I could list for days, many things for pennies on the dollar. Best free has to be my Rainbow vacuum and the 55 gal aquarium with wood stand and all the accessories. I think most people could name free stuff from family, but I would consider that more to be inheritance gifts. My mother didn't know or care about quilts, but a lady she visited in Japan (who is a well known quilter there) gave her a small wall hanging made from 100 yr old men's kimono's and she gave it to me.
Ronna |
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Farmtopia
True Blue Farmgirl
1465 Posts
Zan
New York
New York
USA
1465 Posts |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
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nashbabe
True Blue Farmgirl
687 Posts
687 Posts |
Posted - Mar 08 2008 : 06:30:25 AM
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Wooden freestanding clothes drying rack by the side of the road. Was very easy to fix, and I use it as a display for items in my farmers market booth.
Crunchy crafty goodness and psychoses...;-)http://nashbabe.blogspot.com
groovy stuff 2 buy...http://www.alittlesplurge.etsy.com |
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Peanut
True Blue Farmgirl
603 Posts
Jennifer
Waverly
Virginia
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - Mar 08 2008 : 12:08:23 PM
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Hmmm. My husband brings so many things home from barns and abandoned houses that it's hard to pick!
I have a 1910 dining room table, an antique peanut harvesting basket,his most recent find... the portable chicken coop.
I have found so many things in this house already. Keith left the barns and the upstairs untouched. From upstairs I have a wooden ironing board and a farmhouse kitchen table. From the barn I have some beautiful large crockery bowls.
My new blog! http://thecottonwife.wordpress.com/
"What is a farm but a mute gospel?"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Across the Fence: What is the best thing you found for free? |
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What is the best thing you found for free?
