The neighborhood trash is becoming my treasure...

One thing I love about the city we live in is their Bulk Trash pick up. Every other week you have the opportunity to haul out your junk for collection. Having lived in cities where you were responsible for hauling your bulky items to a dump and then paying to leave them there, I really have come to appreciate free curbside service.

Granted that the neighborhoods can look kind of "trashy" during those weeks until it has all been picked up, but in general it keeps the neighborhood free of eyesores. You know...the kind that come about when your neighbor thinks that their broken washing machine looks fine on the side of their house, or worse...on their front porch.

This is Texas...we do have our share. Ahem.

There are poor people that scavenge the hood during these weeks looking for items of value they can resell. I am fine with that. At least they are working!

And then there are people like myself that don't purposefully drive street by street looking for finds, but when passing by something interesting have to stop and take a peek. I am sure I would have died if my mother had stopped and picked something off of someone's curb. Either my girls are used to it, or they just aren't old enough to care yet.

I have found lawn furniture, shelving, and a child's outdoor play slide all just by driving by my neighbor's trash.

Sometimes Jerry is on board and sometimes, well, he is just not. Like the time I picked up this discarded gate.

I love it! I love the color, the painted hardware, the age on it...I think the possibilities are endless. Jerry is just not so sure. Or maybe he is just scared that whatever use I find for it will become a "honey-do" for him. My current idea for it is to cut it down and use it as a screen to hide our outside A/C unit at the edge of our patio. We'll see.

One thing that I have surely learned is that if you see something interesting, you better stop right then and get it...or it will be gone! I once drove by a chest of drawers in excellent condition. I was already envisioning them painted in pink for our girls as I drove home to tell Jerry and get his truck. When we returned, they had already become someone else's treasure.

So when I headed out early this morning and saw this on one of my neighbors' bulk piles, I stopped immediately!


Isn't it cute? Yes, I realize that the seat has been replaced with some kind of funky board. But who cares? No one will know once I get a seat cushion for it...which are all on sale for the end of the season right now.

Our rocker has been lonely on our front porch, and I think this is the perfect freebie to paint and fix up to give it a companion.


And this time, Jerry agrees!

I've already started painting it...will post the after pictures soon.