Curb Appeal and Curbside Treasures

R has been kicking it lately in the curbside treasure department. It's the time of year where people are setting stuff to the curb rather than storing them through the winter.  Here are a few of the things he has brought home.

This is a covered platform bird feeder.  It will be perfect once I make a few repairs and modifications.  I have something like this on my 'to do' list so it was perfect timing.

We have an assortment of chainsaws and R's favortite brand is Stihl.  I bought him one for Christmas about 10 years ago.  He also has his father's very very old Stihl chainsaw (he doesn't use it).  He found this one and it is smaller than the one he has so that is good.  He hasn't had time to look into it mechanically but he does know it has compression which means that the piston, ring, and valves are still good and nothing inside is seized up.  The chain (blade) is frozen in place on the bar so it may just need a new bar, chain, and a tune up.  A new Stihl chainsaw in this size will cost Around $200.00.  So it is well worth fixing.

He also found this very cool chimera.  Needs a little welding work but nothing that we cannot do.  It will look great on the back patio when we finally get it poured.  Both of us were drawn to the legs of the chimera.  You usually don't see such large cast iron legs.

And finally he found the bottom stand part of a fire pit that you would put on a deck.  I would like to make some sort of concrete bowl to sit in it and then plant it with red geraniums but I first have to come up with a method to do that.

And finally we tidied up the curb in front of the house by edging the lawn along the edge of the curb.  We do this once a year because if we didn't the grass and weeds would eventually grow right over the curb.  This also gives us a chance to sweep up any debris along the curb, too.

Our ground is so hard due to the fact that it is clay and we have had very little rain in the last month or so.  They have predicted rain but it usually just sprinkles and that's it.  So the first day I was able to completely finished the side where the mailbox is located.

Then I started the other side and completed about 1/3 of that when the bottom of my foot started screaming at me to stop.  The dirt was very hard on that side and it was too hot to put on shoes with a thick sole.  So we sweep up the curb and called it quits.  

The next day was cooler and my foot felt much better.  I was able to edge another 1/3 before it started to rain.  We had a real gully washer and that took care of any remaining dirt that we had left behind in our haste to get inside and out of the rain.

The next day we finished up and because of the rain the edging along the curb was much easier.

You can see in the photos how awful the lawn looks due to the lack of rain.  The only vegetation that is growing is the weeds.

We will start the game room roof as soon as we catch up on a few small projects.  Tomorrow is a mowing day for R.  He has one client who is selling her home so even if the lawn hasn't grown much she still wants it mowed.  His other client is on vacation and wants his lawn mowed, too.  Then he has 3 offices that need to be mowed.  So Fridays are a busy day for him.

I mowed our lawn 3 days ago so I am going to work on painting the platform bird feeder.  I have already taken it half apart.  I plan on replacing the plywood floor with hardware cloth so that any moisture can drain away.

I will paint it to match the house and it will set atop of a 6X6 post.  I have a few ideas for customizing it and can't wait to see how it turns out.

Also for all of you that scrap your metal...R dropped off just a handful of items all classified as mixed metal and walked away with 39 bucks so scrap prices are going up.

And for those of you who have Japanese beetle problems.  I am lucky enough to know a Master Gardener who volunteers at the Applewood Estate.  She told me that Michigan State has developed a method for dealing with the Japanese beetles.  Their hope is that this will completely eradicate the beetles.  I will write more about this later and post photos of what to do. 

I also plan to write a post about the history of Applewood and Charles Stewart Mott.  I was able to get some photos when I was recently there but it started to rain and the high humidity was making my phone camera not to work very well.  We will be going back there soon to take the inside tour.

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Curbside Treasures

R hit it big in the 'Curbside Treasure' department this week.

He found yet another cast iron umbrella stand.  This is the 4th cast iron base that he has found.  They all just need a fresh coat of satin black paint.  Less than 5 bucks will make this look like new.

He also found a large piece of Plexiglas.  We seem to use a lot of Plexiglas around The Gear.  The last time we needed Plexiglas was this summer when we made the shelves for the plant stand.  We have also used Plexiglas as shims when we raised up the floor in the corner of the dining room using a bottle jack.  So far all is well and the floor is still right where we raised it.  

I don't care for snow but he found a K2 snowboard, Vans boots size 13, and bindings.  We will sell those.

And finally the best find so far this summer.....a popcorn cart.  It appears that it was only used once or twice and rather than clean it, they put it out to the street.  R said he drove by it 3 times and finally thought what the heck.  It was covered in a black plastic trash bag and was laying on it's side so he only saw the red metal legs and could not see what it was but he knew it was metal.

Perfect for movie night and parties.  We will keep this. It is about 4 feet tall and will look great in the game room. It needs a good cleaning because it is covered in popcorn oil.  R put it in the barn until we have a sunny day to take it apart and scrub it clean. 

I've been craving popcorn all evening.

Have you scored anything good this summer?

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