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Alright, the big firsts of the month are finally done. 2 were put off a week because of the Easter holidays, so it was quite spread out this month, which was nice because usually with back to back firsts, I have sooo much stuff in the house that I'm sorting through, that it's sometimes hard to even move without tripping over something. This time I was able to to be a little more organized, but it will be the first and last time, as all pick-up schedules will go back to normal for the summer months.

So, go grab yourself a coffee or tea, and get comfy while we go through all the stuff I picked up, because I'm pretty sure there are close to 100 pics for this posting...

The first thing I did was do a small cruise around my usual weekly neighbourhood, as it had it's regular garbage day the same day as the first neighbourhoods large item pick up. I only saw 2 interesting piles, one being the spot which has produced for me a bunch of vintage finds over the last few months which they've thrown out while renovating. This time they threw out this awesome vintage Rival counter top manual chopper/slicer with various attachments.

The other spot threw out a bunch of toys which I boxed up for the second hand store before my kids could see them (they have so much crap already and I knew they would want to keep everything) but I did keep for them this singing lobster :) They have 2 of those singing fish which they think are hilarious (it's been 2 years now and they still haven't gotten tired of them!) so I knew they would love this guy.

However, when I turned it on to try it out (at 12:30 am because I couldn't sleep), it let out a huge fog horn honk, practically gave me a heart attack, and blew my ears off. I'm surprised I didn't wake up the whole house. The shot of adrenaline didn't help my insomnia situation either! It was seriously the loudest thing I have ever heard which is probably why it was thrown out. 

The next morning I opened it up and padded the speaker with a thick layer of folded paper towel wrapped in duct tape. It is now at a reasonable sound level and my kids are having a ball cracking up at it.

On to the first large pick up town, I saw this boxed Christmas tree sitting on top of of some bins. I took a peek inside, and sure enough, there was a tree in there. I threw it in the back of the car and hoped that when I got it home it would work...

Yup! It looks great and should be an easy sell in the fall.

I stopped at the next pile because I saw this humidifier box at the curb with an old suitcase.

The humidifier is in there with all the instructions, someone took good care of it because it looks barely used. This will go in my garage sale pile :)

The suitcase in the pile was nothing special, but I decided to peek into their bins anyways to see if they were throwing away anything else interesting. I lifted the lid and spent about 20 minutes pulling stuff out of there...

Right on top was this box which I could see was full of decorations

Inside I pulled out all of this festive stuff

Why would you throw all of this cute stuff out? 

Going through the rest of the bin I also pulled out...

A coyboy hat, a pair of glasses, a pair of sunglasses, a nice hair clip, headphones, a back support for heavy lifting, A unicorn statue still wrapped in the box, a bear statue wrapped in plastic, a ceramic bell, a package of glue, a package of faux bricks for Christmas, and some working Santa lights.

Inside the hat is marked "Authentic Western Trails"

More household stuff such as...a working sander, an iron, a work light, a desk lamp, a foam paint applicator, various rolls of still packaged twine, brackets, wire, mosquito coils, lighters, furniture wheels, an extension cord, some pricing guns, a recessed light still in the packaging, and a scraper

Who? Who? I ask you, would want to throw out these adorable ceramic owls?

This Toastmaster blender is in excellent working condition and comes with a little chopping attachment. The container is made of glass and very heavy.

At another spot, I stopped because there were a bunch of bags at the curb, a few pieces of crappy furniture, and a real estate sign with a big SOLD! marked on it.

From the bags and bins I pulled out various house hold stuff like... 

 A book called "The Gallows and the Gaol: Crimes from the Perth and Waterloo county jails" stainless steel salt and pepper shakers, a glass partylite candle lamp, a foot pump, aerobic weights, a ballon pump, a window shade still in the package, glow in the dark star topped pathway markers still in the package, a dry erase marker and the dry eraser still in the package, and a house number plaque. Not sure why they would throw their house number out, but since some of the houses in my neighbourhood use that number, I plan on dropping it in someone's mailbox anonymously.

There was also this wooden thing on the pile, I'm not sure what it is...I'm thinking maybe a wine rack/holder? I brought it home because it's really nice rich wood, so I'll recycle it and turn it into something else eventually.

Inside their garbage bin I pulled out a bunch of like new footwear...

Kamik boots

 Gino Nicci leather anklet boots

 Suede boots with faux fur

Suede house slippers which I gave to my dad, who exclaimed "These feel like they were made for me, wow, they're great!"

a pair of leather Steve Madden dress shoes

and all the products I could ever need to take care of all that leather and suede...

From various other spots I picked up...

another nice rug in perfect condition

 

A baby sled

 Halloween decoration

a perfect little carry on suitcase

A vintage Fisher Price crib toy. I had this exact one when I was a baby and I remember loving it :)

a box full of mason jars 

 A canvas print of NYC

 

a mat that zips up into it's own carrying case

and this snowblower. 

Unfortunately, I can't get it started. I guess this is why it was thrown out, but I was willing to take the chance since our snowblower died last winter and we have been doing everything by hand this year. We are out in the country, so our driveway is twice as long as the average suburban driveway. This would have helped a lot, but after opening it up and taking a look inside, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. My husband also took a look and didn't know,. Since it is electrical, we aren't going to risk frying ourselves, so I'll put it up really cheap on Craigslist or kijiji for parts. I'm sure someone out there knows how to fix it. 

The next night day was another large pick up day in a town I first checked out last month. Last month wasn't great, but this month was better...

The first thing I picked up were these crutches which I used to prank my kids when they got home from school by telling them I slipped on the ice and broke my ankle. Heh heh heh :P 

I stopped at a move out pile with a bunch of crappy furniture and boxes full of paperwork. Amongst the boxes was a bag containing this clown costume

 This poor, severely neglected, plant was hanging out of someones bin. As you can see it was never properly supported so it's hanging down instead of straight up. 2 pieces broke off in my car which I planted in separate pots. I'm hoping they will root, because if they do, I'll be cutting down the rest of the plant near the leaves to start it from scratch with the proper support. If anyone knows what kind of plant this is, please post in the comments so I can read up on it!

I picked up this thing that I call " The Moo-mobile"  because it moos when you press a button on it. I've never seen anything like it before and it seems to come from Japan. My husband says it looks like it comes straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

 

This Cars chair is in perfect condition...

 Marvin, my garbage cat likes it, but my 3 year old has claimed it as his. Sorry Marv! Marvin is such a character, he's always laying around my garbage finds when I bring them home, and I'm usually shooing him away when I'm taking pictures of my finds. I think I'll add his picture to the right side of my blog and officially make him my mascot :)

In the pile with the Cars chair was a box full of these kids books, and a music game still wrapped up in the package.

and a small bag with some samples

On to town number 3!

Lots of clothing...

This all came from one pile, lots of unused gift bags, a pair of leather sandals still in the box, a glass storage canister, a wooden storage basket, a pair of glasses (to be recycled), a flowered material headband, an unused field guide to the birds colouring book, and hanging out of the wooden box is a hockey net.

 This clock was in there too, it's signed S. Lacasse between the 6 and 7 position.

 

My husband used this calculator that was in the pile to do our taxes last weekend :P

There was also a roll of self sticking stained glass window film

It does look rather nice with the light going through it :)

Another pile had: a few books from the Lemony Snicket series, a timer still in the package, a few kids card games, one of those waterproof containers that you bring to the beach and hang around your neck to carry your things, a small pistol/pocket knife keychain, a red faux leather purse, a wooden Tonka truck, the Intel spaceman mascot, a stone with an inlaid shell flower, a package of floating candles that look like peppermints, a small desktop Christmas tree, a cell hone car charger, a watch, a fridge thermometre, and 2 bird themed ornaments still in the package.

Here is a closer look at the keychain, stone, watch, and ornaments (all pictures are clickable to see them even larger) My neighbours are bird feeders, so every Christmas when we do a little gift exchange, I try to give them something bird related, these ornaments will be perfect for next Christmas :)

This huge ceramic bowl was also in the pile

At various other spots I also picked up...

This coat rack which I'll be painting and then selling

This Ikea Luns chalkboard which I'll also be painting

And this dining room light amongst some reno junk. It's an older light, but it isn't totally hideous or anything. Depending on how busy I am, I might decide to paint the brassy parts to give it a more updated look, or I might just get sick of it taking up space, and throw it into my second hand store pile.

Town #4!

We're almost done here, I promise! I did get to do one of my regular weekly runs in between here, but I'll save that for my next entry since this one is getting so long!

 A few hours before going out this night, it began to snow. Half way there and it started to snow really hard. If I had my brights on, I could barely see, it was like a wall of snow in front of me. I could hardly make out the twisty turning road in front of me, so I took it slow and easy. 

I saw a few piles but I kind of wasn't really into checking them out. I just wanted to get out of the house because earlier in the day, by beloved kitty had died :( He unfortunately had feline Aids, and despite all the care and meds I was giving him, his poor body could no longer go on. He was a stray that showed up here 4 years ago. He was the most gentle, well behaved, and classiest cat I had ever met. I mostly stayed in the car, drove around, and cried :(

I did check out one pile where I grabbed 2 bags filled with clothing, and not pictured: few throw pillows and a swiffer vacuum.

It's all womens clothing in various sizes, and some items even fit me! Woo-hoo! I hate shopping because nothing ever fits me right, so I tend to give up easily because I get frustrated. With this stuff I was able to try things on in the comfort of my own home, and even if something didn't fit, I still tried on colours, patterns and styles I wouldn't have bothered to try at the store. It was kind of like having the shopping come to me, and it was so much nicer! I wish stores could offer a service like this where a personal attendant would bring you a selection of their clothing in your size to try on at home. Shopping would be so much better this way.

I think these jean brands are rather well known and quite expensive...

There were a few other things I was going to pick up, but when I went back, someone had already pilfered them! I had noticed some of the bags at the other pile already had rips in them as if someone had already peeked inside, and noticed the same thing at some of the stops in the previous town. Seems like I have some competition now. I've never really noticed any other garbage pickers before, just scrap metal guys, and the occasional person who will stop and jump out of their car to grab a bike or piece of small furniture...but not a regular like I am.

At town #5, the new mystery picker had struck again. I stopped at what looked like a move out pile and saw those familiar rips in the bags again. I did a peek as well and concluded that I saw enough interesting things to take a chance on all the bags. 

Inside them I found...

A bunch of hotel and sample sized shampoos, conditioners and lotions

A still boxed and unused upholstery/furniture  protection kit,a package of sealed 4x6 photo paper, Unopened package of Christmas light clips, 2 (1 new in bag) pet brushes, 2 cell phone earbuds and a charger, 2 stainless steel watch straps, a watch face which doesn't fit the straps, a combination lock that I managed to crack and get the combination for, 2 very delicate Christmas ornaments, a dashboard hula monkey (which went straight onto my dash, I love watching him wiggle!), a phone case to look like an old cassette tape, an MP3 player, a heart/valentines decorative hanging, caribiner clip, 2 small padlocks with the keys, 3 cell phone and/or digital camera batteries, 3 pairs of sunglasses (there were 4 more pairs but they were scratched) a regular pair of glasses, an apple logo sticker sheet, 2 suction cups, a Budweiser lanyard, a battery operated Tide stain brush, and a thingie you wrap around something you want to carry so you have an easy handle. I think it's mainly used for wires stuff like extension cords...

Do you think that MP3 player works?

Yup. Mostly Linkin Park songs on it...

Tonnes of crafty beads and ribbon, paints, a superball, a small sparkely trinket container, 2 keychains, a small fairy necklace charm, funky shoelaces, some junk jewellery (I think the little ring might be silver, but I don't see/can't find a mark), a little wooden bead doll/picture holder, a few kiddy card game sets, a little clip on tiara, silver purse, and a sports whistle

 This telephone tester thingie...

 

a nice magnetic locker organizer set

  

and this telephone

 I also found a few cordless hand helds and a chargers, but the phones didn't fit in the charger properly...I did some Googling and the black charger below goes with the phone above, but the matching cordless phone was missing, the 2 phones below go with a different corded phone and need a different charger...that set also comes with a special waterproof handheld that uses the yellow charger below. I'm betting that the mystery picker that ripped open the bags saw the other pieces at the top of the bags and grabbed them thinking they all went together, not knowing there were more pieces further down in the bags. Hey mystery picker, if you're by any chance reading my blog, email me and we'll do a swap :)

I stopped at the next pile because these 2 matching baskets with micro suede liners were by the bins.

A quick look in the bins revealed more inside...

a bamboo tray, a satchel purse, a wired posable felt flower, a beaded throw pillow, a fake but rather good looking plant, a small jewelled picture holding flower, and a candle holder.

Inside one of the zippered pockets in the purse, I found this little bracelet

These 3 decorative plates from Ikea

and this carved coconut and seashell wind chime

 To finish off the night (and this posting!) I also picked up...

A boxed up potted Christmas tree porch decoration. People on one of my selling sites are always looking for these closer to Christmas because despite how small they are, they are surprisingly expensive. They practically cost as much, and sometimes even more than a regular tree, so I hoped that when I got home it would work...

Yup!

This kiddy stool was randomly at some bins, my son has the matching table set in red. There is nothing wrong with the stool, why was it was tossed? Where is the table? Where are the other stools?? So many questions :P

Last but not least...

Doggy Steps!

The cover is removable for washing, so when it's nice and clean, I'll see what my poodle thinks of it :)

Ok, so there were only 77 pictures. Close enough. :)