Farm friends

Once again I am so behind with my postings. I think I'm going to try to break up my latest finds into some smaller posts, because if I put everything into one post today, it will probably take you all day to read it. This way it should be a little easier for me too, and by doing it a bit at a time, it might not be as overwhelming. Sometimes I just look at all the pictures I have to post and think "Ug, I don't have time for it all right now, maybe tomorrow." But then I'll find a few more things, and the list of pictures and treasures to post gets even longer. It was easier in the winter when finds were fewer and further between, but it wasn't half as fun :P

So here is a look at some more of the things I picked up...

This little Curtis radio was at the curb because the plug for one of the speakers seemed to have been chewed off...maybe by a puppy or something. It still sounds great with one speaker working, and luckily, I have a handy husband who says he can splice another plug on it no problem.

This bear dressed like a hippy was cute. It has a brass button on it which I think was meant to emulate the collectible Steiff stuffed animals from Germany. Not really collectable or valuable, but it's in great shape and shouln't be in the garbage.

I came across a pile of boxes at one curb and this one caught my eye because it was marked as "Stained glass".

I thought I might find some finished stained glass suncatchers or something inside, but it was actually the raw stained glass material itself. Some of the panels were already cut and one or 2 were broken, but it's still very usable. Dusty, and in need of some cleaning, but still usable :)

About a year or 2 ago I met a very nice lady when she opened her Dutch specialty store in the town where I do my groceries. As we got to talking over time, I learned that she herself does stained glass work and had made most of the pieces in her shop. So I knew when I saw this box that it would have a new home with her :)

I grabbed this painting that is simply signed "Jack". It looks like it was painted on a piece of plywood. Don't worry Jack, your work is safe with me :)

At another pile I saved a bunch of kids clothing which I've already packed up and donated. However, I saved this like new American Eagle jacket for the Mom to Mom sale I attended. I seriously don't think it was ever worn, and yet, it was considered garbage. It really boggles the mind.

Closer to home I picked up the following...

A little jewellery box with 2 religious items. The smaller one is a Saint Benedict medal, and the larger one is from La Congregation Des Dames De Ste-Anne, or in english: The Congregation Of The Sisters Of Ste-Anne

A cute little frog fountain. The box had gotten wet during the night so I threw it in the recycling. The little "accessories" like the decorative rocks and the candle were missing, but I have plenty of those decorative rocks in my garden I can use, and instead of a candle, I put in its place a funky Chineese coin I also found.

I found a box of leftovers from a moving garage sale which included lots of cutlery, mugs, kitchen & bathroom items, and some linens which I donated to the second hand store, but I ended up keeping this awesome vintage Eiffle tower souvenir thermometer.

I also grabbed these 2 wooden bowls and a funky looking collectors plate at another pile. 

Also in the same bag with those was a bottle of old Ralph Lauren Chaps cologne. Thanks to Martin over at garbagefinds.com, I learned that there is actually a market for old perfumes and colognes. I guess when people run out of their favourite scents, and they find out they don't make them more, they'll turn to ebay. 

These 2 collector cameo frames were also in there. They feature Countes Grosvenor on the left, and Lady Hamilton on the right.

Cruising through another neighbourhood, I picked up...

A "Slender Shaper" All it does is shake on a few different speed levels. I'm pretty sure there is no way it will "shape" anyone at all. My kids thought it was hilarious to strap it onto their butts. I was going to donate it, but I do get bad backaches sometimes...I put it on my lower back to see if it would massage me when I had one of my episodes last week, and it actually did a pretty good job, so I'll probably keep this stored away in my bathroom for those achey back days.

A huge box full of big name clothing. I found a pair of maternity pants mixed in with everything so I'm thinking someone didn't get their body back after they had their baby and just decided to toss everything.

Some of the items still had their tags attached...

Including a pair of shoes that looked never worn with tags still on the bottom

This bike that looks like a dirtbike motor cycle. As you can see my son made off with it the second he saw it. Can you blame him? It looks pretty cool to an 11 year old :)

A working karaoke machine

and a bag full of Christmas stuff

I actually found this pig Piggy bank in a ditch when I took my kids fishing. 

I heard that a few places close by over the border in Ontario were doing large garbage pick ups, so I decided to go check it out. Sure enough there were piles everywhere. Here is what I managed to pick up over there...

A white ceramic Christmas tree lamp. These are quite collectible. This one is missing 4 of the little plastic "bulbs" but I looked online and you can easily buy replacements for a very cheap price.

This burlap print by Inuit artist Helen Kalvak

this cute bunny family Easter display

And a pair of nice mirrored trays

I then came across a huge pile of boxes at one house. I looked through them and it all seemed to be teaching materials. Most were nothing of note, but then I came across one box that had some awesome vintage stuff in it...

These french record books from the 80's that you could listen to and read along with.

This old farm themed visual teaching aid

Oops, I mixed up the cat and dog tags! I fail!  :P

A book of farm learning crafts and a cute duck story book

More vintage farm cut outs for posting around a classroom

And them my favourite find, this book full of farm themed prints

Look at how gorgeous these are. I freaking love them! Some of them have doubles, and there seems to be another set that was laminated on some red cardboard (no pics). The last 3 pictures seem to come from another type of set featuring pets. I went back to look for them the next day thinking that I may have missed some stuff, but they were nowhere to be found.

I also ended up doing a drop off at the second hand store later in the evening. Afterwards when I went through the town, all the stores were closed, so I actually got up the courage to try my first attempt at dumpster diving. I didn't find anything special, just a bunch of "page a day" calenders. I ended up  donating those as well hoping they would be passed out to the store customers.

Stay tuned for another post coming soon with more finds from over the border!