...when passions meet in April SUNSHINE

 This is what I'm talking about...

The sun has been shining in CNY, and the days are warming a bit.  EVERYONE wants to be outside!  Garage/Yard Sales are still sparse, I spend my 'down' time snooping through dumpsters and Gardening! 

 This past week I had a MAJOR 'Dive' SCORE of SIX (6!) pots of Easter Mini-Daffodils.  While they are past their 'BEST BY:' for this year, the bulbs planted in our garden will flourish in the future!!

Since I had been 'bit' by the Spring Gardening Bug, I gathered up a batch of seed packets (flower, herb & veggie!) that I had rescued from a discarded display last Fall (2020).  I am still trying to decide what to do with the stack of New Gathering Buckets I recently dove.  Tall, Skinny, WaterTight...  Any Ideas?? 

I then ventured to our basement & garage to gather an array of 'Potting Vessels', which will later be divested around our gardens!  While doing this I came across a 20# bag of potting soil that I had forgotten about (or should I say a Large grey tote, holding the contents of a 20# bag of potting soil)...  Isn't it silly that a Bag of Dirt 'has' to be tossed if it gets a little slit in the bag??! 

~FOUR pots of Canna Lily bulbs.  As a general rule, I plant NO bulbs that require attention EVERY change of season (gladiolus, dahlias, etc...)!  However, every rule has it's exceptions!  My Father had an affinity for Canna Lilies.  He left a LARGE legacy of Canna Lily bulbs!  Several members of our family are now trying to learn the art of growing these fickle plants.  We've potted them - it's up to you now Dad!

~ My 'growing plants from seeds' ability isn't exactly stellar, but in the Spring it always 'Sparks JOY' (lol!!).  So, amongst the pots are 'CILANTRO', 'BASIL', 'ROSEMARY', 'CHILI PEPPERS" and 'PANSIES"

~AND~

The Easter Daffodils are all tucked in their new homes, trying to give us a little love by opening a fresh new blossom or two before they call it quits for 2021!

enJOY

& 

be well!

...'G' is for GARBAGE and GUMDROP Trees

'ONE PERSONS "GARBAGE" IS ANOTHER PERSON'S TREASURE"... (or something like that!)

"G" Is for...

GARBAGE!

DISCLAIMER: Retail names have been edited to protect my sourcing!!

'DUMPSTER DIVING MERIT BADGE' by SPOOFBADGES

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/683632418415209160/

  Okay, dear svelteSTUFF readers (all two of you - LOL)... this may not be 'news' to you, but by putting it out into BlogLand- it's kind of like 'coming out of the closet'...  I have become an addicted Dumpster Diver! (MUCH to J's chagrin...)  Yes.  ANOTHER 'aquatic activity' joins my regiment- first 'saleing', now 'diving'.

  DON'T shudder and get skeeved out!  It's REALLY not like that!!  I don't 'NEED' to do this for financial reasons!  It all started 'harmless' enough - searching out economical (FREE!) packing supplies in clothing/homegoods retailers dumpsters (nothing spoiled or smelly in there!!).  I don't actually 'go in' the dumpsters!   At 6'-0", with my trusty 'grabber' in hand, I can pretty much reach anything of interest.  Yes. I do wear gloves.

Mug by REAL PEOPLE GOODS

https://www.etsy.com/listing/658996185/dumpster-diving-travel-mug-funny

  My eyes were soon opened to Just.How.MUCH. good~useable 'stuff' is sent to our landfills!  Quite sad actually.  I won't get my 'soapbox' out and start lecturing about Corporate America's Policies!  I am going to show you a few examples though...

  

**MY size - worn all winter and kept my feet warm and DRY!!

THANKS 'TreeLumber-Land'

USEABLE!

Quality, very slightly imperfect items.  Jeans, Clothings, Purses...  Yes, Retailers spend their time trying to prevent 're-use' by destroying discards (ie: Cutting to shreds or SHARPIE scribbles all over leather).  Wouldn't this time be better spent donating to a shelter or Not-For-Profit Organization??
Thanks to the wonder of the Web, I have learned that High SPF, aerosol sunscreen cleans leather Beautifully.

Neighbor's cat 'GUMBALL' snuggling in her 'new' bed!

FOUR-LEGGED PAMPERING!

~POUNDS and POUNDS of bags of dry food!

~CASES of canned food

~Pet Beds 

~TREATS, Greenies, Toys and MORE!!

  Local Animal Shelter, Friends and strays have all been reaping the benefits!  Only sealed food is taken.  Recalls were checked.  This 'waste' resulted in 'BestBy:' dates within the month, or a dent to one can in a case, or a 'mark' on the fabric.  Animals REALLY don't mind dented cans, and we even discovered our NE wild birds will eat 'Tropical Bird Seed' in the middle of Winter (LOL!).  Now, if only this Chain Store would stop 'slashing' bags to deter use, a LOT more animals could benefit...  Luckily they manage to miss some! 

Card Store rotating rack which held Last Season's "Very Best", but this chain care enough to send this 'outdated' display to the dumpster.

DISPLAYS!

~ HANGERS!!!

~CLOTHING RACKS of all shapes and styles!!

  You know what I'm talking about here - those Heavy-duty, commercial quality, wheeled and swivel Beauties that we all dream of and drool over...  Stores change layouts, replacements are made, the 'old' are discarded to the dumpster out back.

Extended life of rotating card rack, as a JEWELRY DISPLAY for TREMORS CREATIONS!

  We have actually acquired SO MANY of these that I have been passing them onto neighbors and friends!!

MANNEQUINS!

~ Need I say more?

just go to my post for 'D'.

UPDATES:

'Miss Crane' (R) now has a head, and is grooving into Summer with Sesame Shimmer (L)

~AND~

 Her twin 'Miss Tommi' has moved out of town and taken on a new identity as 'Lorraine', in charge of Marketing!

TREATS!

~ HOLIDAY CANDIES!

~CHIPS, COOKIES & CANDIES!

~HEALTH & BEAUTY AIDS!

  Before you go into the 'EEEWWW' mode, ALL items were CLEAN, DRY, Factory SEALED and in a clean, dry bag without 'garbage' items!  Directly pulled from shelves for coming close to 'BestBy:' date.

  Many, Many boxes of Cereal, Pasta, Crackers, Chips and candy have been donated to FREE Food Shelves at local thrifts.

*Of course the SUNSCREEN & STARBUCKS coffee are staying with us!!

THANKS Sea Vee Es!!

So, maybe I'm not making a huge dent in the big scheme of things, but Every little bit helps - right?  

...and the smiles that I have received from the beneficiaries of some of these 'treasures' is enough to fuel my passion!

Just in case 'GARBAGE PICKINGS' aren't a 'true' collection, I will recap one of our other 'G's"

"G" Is for...

GUMDROP TREES!

An 'oldie, but Goodie', that never gets 'OLD' in our house.  Check out past posts:
~https://ssveltestuff.blogspot.com/2014/02/they-are-magically-valentine.html
~https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2611406560113541885#editor/target=post;postID=4725827149284258834;onPublishedMenu=template;onClosedMenu=template;postNum=1;src=postname

BE WELL

and

en JOY!

...an easy SMILE!

This time of the year in the NE United States, when temps are generally hovering in the teens, 'saling' tends to dry-up!  An occasional Estate Sale or trip to a Thrift Store are about the only ways to get a Good.STUFF.Fix.!!

Yet,

I have noticed lately (as has J), that I rarely come home without an extra box or bag (or 2) of 'STUFF'!

Upon pondering this, I realized that I have gained quite the posse of suppliers to 'feed my habits'!!!

PACKING/SHIPPING SUPPLIES

~Our local Marshalls (namebrand discount homegood/clothing stores ) calls when they have a boxful ready to pick up

~Our hometown RX always has a bag of packing misc. ready for me when I pick up our monthly prescriptions.

~My Mom's hairdresser sends her homes with boxes full of 'peanuts' every 6wks (for us!!)

WE KNOW A LOT OF WINOS!!

When you love to craft & create with CORKS, like I do, this is a GOOD THING (It would be SERIOUS TROUBLE if I had to empty all these bottle by myself!!)

~Sweet next door neighbor waitresses evenings at a high-end Restaurant, and has convinced the bartender to save corks for her!!

~A dear friend works at a local winery doing tastings...

~Our Favorite Happy Hour Bar has a bag waiting for me weekly!

(*One night at Happy Hr., I was surveying the contents of the 'weekly bag'.  One of the 'Hierarchy' of the Company J works for was out with us - he looked at me, shook his head and laughed "Oh Susan, I wish something that simple could put a Smile like that on MY face!")

BIRDS of A FEATHER...

~The Best Man from our wedding has become an avid Hunter/Fisherman in his retirement.  He is more than happy to supply me with FEATHERS to feed yet another of my recent 'crafting inflictions'!

JUNK MAIL

~My 'trendy' friends are more than happy to keep me supplied with catalogs!!  This probably seems REALLY BIZARRE to most, but when you don't do much retail shopping, you tend to get NO CATALOGS!!  I LOVE thumbing through high-end clothing & home goods catalogs to catch up on the latest trends, and get Creative inspiration - like my recent soldering attempt!!

As WONDERFUL as all of this stuff is...

it was fun to get a 'Different Fix' this past Friday, and come home with the Subaru FILLED!!

To sum it all up...

I had my First. Real. DUMPSTER DIVE!!

BOSE Outlet STORE CLOSING!

I missed all of the BIG store display pieces over-flowing from the top and sides of the Dumpster, that first caught my eye when I pulled into the mall from the side entrance... but I had 'real' stuff to do that I didn't want to look/smell like I had been 'rummaging around a dumpster' for.

When I came back through 45min. later, it looked like the dumpster was empty, but upon closer inspection - NOT!

More tangles of wires, cables, remotes, speakers, headphones and other non-sense than you can imagine - but luckily there were TWO Large Plastic totes (with Covers!!) in the dumpster, just waiting for me to fill.  It means NOTHING to me, but it put a SMILE on J's face!  I can Honestly say this is the first time I have ever garbage picked that he has actually APPROVED!

(and Today, 1/29 is his birthday - so I'm glad I brought him home some Fun Stuff!!)

After I had loaded every.last.electronic.bit into the car, I went back for ALL of the unopened boxes of office supplies!(?)...case of scotch tape ...boxful of white board markers in red ...boxful of white board markers in black ...another in green  ...another in brown...  carton (6 boxes of 5,000) of staples ...roll of Bubble wrap ...white board erasers ...tape dispenser ...3hole punch ...boxful of Sharpies in black ...in red ...boxful of highlighters ...pens ...white out ... folders ...wood yardstick ...magnetic displays ... even a Disco Ball light NIB!!   OH MY!!

Yes, we have had TWO DAYS of fun sorting through all of the STUFF!

I can remember my Dad on occasion making comments about People regarding their smiles... "She wouldn't be nearly as Grumpy, if she smiled" ... "She wouldn't be half bad, if she would smile" or "I like her, she has a good smile"

Despite a lack of SALING, I have had an abundance of SMILES in my life lately!

...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY J!

 I love You!! ((BIG Smile!))

...warm fuzzy for a COLD Thursday!

Some days it's just all about THE JOURNEY!

A couple of weeks ago I went to my Parents' for a visit.

They had a couple of trash bags sitting inside their entrance, waiting to be put out for the morning garbage pick-up.  Next to the pile was THIS box for disposal...

The Parents are starting to clean some 'junk' out of the basement.  This reel-to-reel had been my Grandfather's, purchased in the late 60's, and I don't think it has seen the light-of-day since shortly after purchase! (My parents now reside in my Grandparent's home!)

I'm NOT an electronics person, but I threw it in the Subaru to take home for J to inspect...

A couple of days later we pulled it out for inspection...

 EVERYTHING was pristine, albeit musty with a stash of Corroded batteries, that LUCKILY had been stored outside of the machine!

 Plugged it in.

It ran.

Though we could make it produce no sound.

 Even with the aide of the original instructions...

no luck.

J said 'toss it'!

I just couldn't do that, so we photographed it,

 and listed it 'FOR PARTS' on Ebay.

IT SOLD!

We included a note to the New Owner, that if he found anything legible on the tape, we would be VERY interested in paying him for a CD copy of it!

 After all fees, we netted less than $5 on this transaction.  BUT, it is one less thing in a LandFill and after receiving this note today, it was SO WORTHWHILE!!

Good morning,
I've had my eye on this model for years and now that I've added it to my collection, it doesn't disappoint. Sorry to say I did not find any voice recordings that might be of family value. The tape was set up on side 2 and was blank with nothing recorded on it. What you reported as the sound being illegible was actually print through from side 1 overlapping into side 2 and playing very indistinctly, backwards. I played it from end to end, and then flipped the reels over to side 1, which is where Sue's grandfather had recordings of Chicago, The Rolling Stones and other rock music for about a half hour which I don't plan to erase -- it took me back to my high school days. The sound was deep and rich and right on pitch. The machine is in gorgeous, like new condition, and even the tape reels are the vintage ones Aiwa included as part of the original package -- I greatly admire their design. I grew up with reel to reel, and am a very passionate collector. As you can tell, I feel I hit the mother lode. Pardon my geeking out, and thank you again for the great transaction. 

                          SCORE one more for 'LastChance'!!

...S & J

GOOD MORNING!

The sun is FINALLY shining in Central NY!

Temps in the 60's (today)!

Life is GOOD!

I forgot to post Our favorite 'find' from the night Rummage Sale last week...   The first thing that J spotted ((and grabbed)) were Two 24" wood letters.  They ONLY had two of them - or else we would have taken them all, but isn't it Ironic - and FUN, that the two they had were an 'S' and a 'J'?!!

I'm trying something different (ie: 'playing around') with my blog photos and layout, so bare with me... 

The last couple of weeks have been a plethora of sales - Estate & Rummage!  We have had some FUN FINDS and some FUN ROADTRIPS in the process.  Here are some of the 'goods':

An old metal dust pan
...just waiting to be given a little TLC.
I've been wanting one of these for a while!

LOST ANGEL BOWL - $6.95
Pretty good 'chance' find!  Check this final sale price!

CUTCO Knife Block ($1)

AMETHYST GumDrop Tree!

S&P 'Tree' -
BUTTERFLIES!!!!

Retro-Resin MUSHROOM!

MacKenzie CHILDS mug ($1)

and J's favorite 'quarter' find, a
"Hawaiian
Village" GOOD LUCK tiki glass/mug!

NIP #60 Serta Sheep

We were recently the recipients of our FIRST FreeCycle item:

... a white Cheapo-but-functional 6't x 2'w 'book case'!

and, enroute to pick it up, I garbage picked a similar size in 'wood tone'!!

Now, shelving is a 'hot commodity' - always the FIRST thing scarfed up at any sale!!  To get TWO - free for the taking and TLC, was a shear stroke of LUCK!!

The 'wood-grain' one is getting some paint and a sprucing - then headed to our new 'booth'.  The white one will be getting some paint, then I have plans for it at our house!  I will show photos as this materializes!

Hey, it's almost Friday...  and you know what that means!!!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE

and

HAVE FUN!

..."every new beginning..."

 

 

 

"Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."

 

My feelings of Labor Day are oh-so-Bittersweet. I DO adore Fall, but when Summer seems to be at it's peak in the NE, it seems a shame to make it come to such an abrupt end.

One of our favorite 'Summer' activities is listening to bands OUTSIDE!!  It seems the past few weeks we have been on 'overload', knowing that this, too, shall be ending soon. J & I have quite varied taste in music... in the last 3 weeks we have been to see: Joey Belladonna/Chief Big Way; Theory of a Deadman; Peter Novelli Bayou Blues; Molly Hatchet; and J. Geils (all basically freebies at local venues!).  So, What's YOUR taste in music ~ who would YOU choose to go see out of that 'mixed bag'??!

 

The Holiday Weekend stuffing was 'minimal', but, shall we say 'high in quality' (yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!)

a Lovely walk on the seaglass beach... *NOTE* The Marble!!!

Sweater Clip 2012 #12 (NOT from the seaglass beach!)

I am getting my Autumn Groove on though...

and TRYING to make these
dried up messes
look slightly
more
desirable....
more like something,
somebody
would want to take home at 'closing time'.

 

(Isn't this basket MARVELOUS?!?!  I unashamedly garbage picked it from the curb the other day and haven't stopped admiring it since!)