Roadside Treasures

Last Friday, Dan came home with home a big present for me, my very own cement mixer. It is beautiful. An electric model, it was carefully maintained by its previous owner, and is in excellent condition.

Dan saw the mixer set out at then end of a driveway on his commute home from work. It hadn't been there in the morning. He pulled over, and talked to the owner, who said "I just set that out, no more'n an hour ago." Fortunately, it isn't that heavy, so the two of them were able to load it in Dan's truck.

This isn't the first treasure my sharp eyed husband has spied at the edge of the road. Last summer we saw a nice double-bowl cast iron sink sitting at the edge of someone's lawn with a free sign attached to it. We screeched to a stop, and the next weekend constructed a stand for the sink out in the garden to wash vegetables before they come in the house. Next summer, we'll run a dedicated water line right out to the sink.

One day last fall, Dan came home from school very excited with his latest find --the antique side windows from the front door of an old house under renovation. The windows are gorgeous, about a foot wide and 7 feet high. We've been talking about building a rustic china cupboard for the dining room fo some time -- these windows are perfect for that purpose --and did I mention these were also free?

Of course all these treatures add to the already endless list of projects we have in mind for someday (the china cupboard, a new front step, a new foundation for the garden shed, paved paths in the gardens, etc., etc.); fortunately, we have a big barn.

I do hope we can build the china cupboard and the new range hood cabinet over the winter. It would be good to get that done so that we can concentrate on our concrete projects next summer. I can hardly WAIT to get to work.