"It's only a year old, I just bought the damn thing last year, it's my grand daughter's but she doesn't ride the frickin' thing anymore, go ahead, take it, take it." Then he said the only thing that was wrong with it was that the brakes don't work. I kind of hesitated then because I don't really know anything about bikes or how to fix them, and didn't want to have to store it until I could get around to even trying to fix it, but he was so insistent and seemingly happy that someone wanted to take it, that I just ended up loading it into my car anyways, figuring that if it didn't work out, I could just put it at my own curb with a sign saying "FREE!"
However, when I got home and checked it out, the brakes worked just fine. My son got on, and rode it, and everything seems to work perfectly. Maybe his grand daughter was lying about the condition and was using that as an excuse to get rid of the bike or something...
I also spotted a clear garbage bag in the pile that looked to contain some interesting stuff. I asked the guy "Is this her stuff too? " He said "Ya, I don't know what else she's getting rid of, could be anything" So I told him it looked interesting, that I would take it home to sort through, and then donate whatever I could to the second hand store.
Inside I found this hat...
This gymnastics or figure skating outfit and stuffed monkey...
And a variety of other things like: A purse, tonnes of stickers, unused colouring/activity books, an MC Hammer CD, envelopes, many note pads and post-its, a bag full of pens, hair accessories, a belt, costume jewellery, a Play-Doh pocket knife tool, a wallet, a wallet/purse combo, craft items and nail polishes.
Further down the street I found this box full of junk. The old lamp caught my eye, so I decided to take it home for sorting. It contained a tonne of hardware, latches, knobs, hinges, and more. It even had 2 rusty old animal leg traps in it. I could swear I took pictures of it all, but they aren't on my phone or camera, so they seem to have mysteriously disappeared.
In any case, the old lamp was just too far gone to be saved which is a real shame. It was made of solid stone. I'm not sure if it was marble or not, but there were chips and cracks everywhere. The real treasure however was hidden at the bottom of the box. There I found this old pie plate from the 1920's.
As you can see on the plate in the picture, back then when you bought a pie, you paid a 10 cent deposit which you would get back when you returned the empty pie plate. I just love this find and plan to hang it up over a door in my kitchen. I can't believe this little piece of history almost ended up in the dump!
On another day I picked up yet another kiddy swing...
Another pile that I drove by had a bunch of boxes, bags and skis out at the curb. I peeked into a couple that looked like they might be interesting...
Inside this bag I found: 2 vintage hats, 2 dress shirts and a tie, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of socks, and one pair of shorts, a few balls of wool, 4 pairs of airline issued head phones, 3 sleeping masks (also presumably from the airline), a pair of packaged ear plugs, a pair of scratch free sunglasses, a naughty ice cube making tray, and a real wig from the Sallie wig company.
Packaged and rolled up inside some paper and a plastic bag were also a bunch of film or camera pieces...
Another bag contained a pipe collection. These were the ones still in good shape, there were just as many that were cracked and held together by tape. This guy was a serious smoker!
A box contained 2 clean, brand new looking pet bowls, a red collar, nail clippers, and brush. Only the black halter lead looked dirty and used.
I peeked into another black bag and saw a machine that looked interesting so I threw that into the car as well. That bag contained a bunch of old dirty curtains, but on top of them sat this vintage 1960's Jules Richard Barograph. It's so freaking cool, and after messing with it for what seemed like forever trying to figure out how it works, I found a winding key inside, and yes it ticks and slowly spins!
More driving let to finding this excellent condition play pen. I took the cover/carry case off for the picture because I needed to sew a seam that had opened. I think this is the only reason (other than not needing it anymore) that it was put at the curb, because I can't find a single thing wrong with it.
I stopped at another pile that just had a bunch of construction junk, but I stopped because I saw this poor house plant out there amongst it all in the cold. It was in pretty rough shape, all the leaves were wilted and floppy, but I hoped that I could bring it home and make it all better.
It's only been 2 days and it's already looking much happier. I picked off all the dead leaves and stems, and when it is healthy enough, I'll transfer it to a nicer planter. On the right you can also see a bit of my garbage rescued spider plant from last summer, who was thrown out because, according to the homeowner, he "made too many babies".
I call this bag "the break-up bag". There was a piece of paper inside from a woman saying she was hoping her boyfriend was as serious about the relationship as she was, but he didn't seem to be as invested. I guess he really wasn't, because it looks like he may have chucked the last of her stuff and any reminders of her from his place.
Inside I found: 3 pairs of silk boxers, a dress shirt, a pair of women's jeans, 2 leather belts (one with the playboy bunny on the links), various hair accessories, a Rock Band wireless video game adapter, an X-acto knife, stylus pen, toothbrush still in the package, a wall hook, a giant kinder surprise egg with an intact/unused puzzle game inside, 3 baggies of shoe laces, toiletries (including sexual lubes which I threw out using my 10 foot pole), a flat hair iron, a set of 3 butterfly candles, a cell phone case, a pen, a key chain tape measure, and some kind of strong magnetic glass votive candle holder.
Also inside was this Hipstreet portable speaker dock and Coby MP4 video player. Whaaaattt? There was an empty Apple Nano Pod package in the bag as well, so I guess that when you get something new, the old stuff automatically becomes garbage, right? When my son saw it he said "Is that a speaker like in the 'I want that' commercial?" Not quite, but close enough LOL
Along the last road before heading back home, I saw a bunch of furniture sitting at the curb. A dresser was in pretty bad shape, but there was a cute cabinet missing 2 back legs that I'm kicking myself for not taking. I did manage to grab two boxes which looked to have some interesting stuff inside.
Inside were a bunch a brass plate and glass photo frames, some gift bags, and unused Christmas cards.
The other box contained some piano instruction books, a Roy Orbison Song Book, Glenn Miller Albums, and a little religious book from the 1950's in great condition.
I'm not religious at all, but I do love the look of old religious art, so I really enjoyed flipping through this little book and checking out all the beautiful coloured pages.
I also grabbed 2 sewing machine cases without looking inside first. I figured I'd just deal with it at home later as usual. The first machine had a pretty grungy looking case, but the machine inside was pristine and gorgeous. The brand name is White, and all I managed to find online was that this one is probably from the 1950's. Other than that, I couldn't find anymore info about it.
The second machine is a Singer 327J which was made in 1961. It has a nice wooden carry box and the picture doesn't do the beautiful robin's egg blue colour of it justice.
I really wish I had the room to display these, but in reality, they will
just sit there and collect dust, so I have listed them for sale on a
local site.
Here is another haul I was able to drop off at the second hand store...
Now to get all the stuff above packed up and ready for the next drop off!
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