One Woman's Trash

One of our favorite finds!

I'm not a New Hampshire native.  In fact, thirty seconds into a conversation with me and I can almost guarantee you'll be remarking on my "standing on line to get cawfee at the mawl."  Yup, I'm a Jersey girl, which made moving to NH a challenge to say the least!  I survived my first summer with a four month old terrified that the "coyotes would get my baby."  I survived my first winter by ricocheting off the snow banks as I slid down the icy mountain road.  I survived my first mud season by hiking up and down the mountain in my wellies carrying a ten-month old and my groceries, proclaiming to the universe (and anyone that would listen) "I DON'T DO MUD!"  Well, apparently in NH we do mud and then black flies.  UGH!!

I have come to love my adoptive state, it is beautiful.  I was meant to be here.  It is the place I healed.  I have a fabulous community, wonderful friends, and I am happy.  Naturally, there are things I miss about NJ; my family, bagels, pizza, taylor ham, restaurants, movie theaters,  garbage.  I'm serious; garbage!  NJ has some of the best garbage picking ever.  It's amazing what folks will toss!  One woman's trash is another woman's treasure as they say.   As a little girl my neighbors pitched their Barbies.  What?  With the clothes!!!  I still have them 46 years later and my daughter has had many happy hours playing with them.  We have a beautiful cast iron sink with a drainboard found on the side of the road in Montclair (that bad boy was heavy), a claw foot tub found in Hawthorne, a butcher block and 6 ladder-back rushed kitchen chairs found in Ridgewood. Yup, we schlepped them all to NH.  We haven't found treasures like that since making the move to NH, people are more thrifty, using things and repairing them when necessary or selling them. The unofficial NH motto is: "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without." Good for them, but not so good for us.

This was a cast off from school!

We do, however, have the dump.  Once Jim found a tricycle that he brought home.  It had a bum wheel; unrideable. When our friends saw it they laughed; they had taken it to the dump!  My friend's father had given it to them, you guessed it, after finding it at the dump in MA.  Yes, we returned it to the dump!  I guess, no one decided to see if it actually worked before grabbing it.

I suppose we'll just have to be content perusing the thrift shops for an occasional gem.  We don't really have many thrift shops and unfortunately the prices can be high.  I have found some great books and  a few games this summer.  I'm not discouraged though, like any diehard picker, I persevere!!  Of course, that's what makes it fun, knowing eventually I'll hit pay-dirt.  So if you haven't gotten out there scanned the sides of the road during your commute, I encourage you to keep your eyes wide open.  You never know what treasures you'll find, or at least a conversation piece.  "So what was I thinking I could do with this?"

I had been on the search fro elefun for a while.  Yippee!