Sounds great! I love old painted finishes. I was eyeing up a stool at a flea market yesterday that had about 6 layers of paint on it. The result was a marbling effect in green and robin's egg blue with a little rust for good measure. Call me crazy but I thought it was a work of art. lol! If I had felt like carrying it back to the car (which was a few blocks away) I would have bought it. But free is even better! Glad you had some success this weekend!

What an awesome find - you lucky gal you!!! Definitely a base for a BB or gazing ball. If you decide to paint it, get the new Krylon outdoor spray paints. They're great! I think it would be great with a fern on top too, but how would you attach a base for it to sit on. Is there an opening in the bottom where you could pound a long metal stake in the ground, like a piece of rebar or old pole from a camping tent and put the light base over it to protect it from falling over in the winds, etc.? Can't wait to see what you do with it, it's going to be so lovely in your gardens. Sal

I recently read the following, posted on another website: "Out here we have a pack of sub-humans that drive around the night before garbage day and pick through your stuff. Anytime you drag anything out to the curb it will be gone before the trash truck gets here." I can't for the life of me understand why some people get uptight about dumpster diving or scavenging trash off the kerb, as long as the scavengers don't leave a mess behind. Recycling trash will make the landfill last longer and might even keep taxes a little lower. At our local landfill, some jerk went to all the trouble to locate the boss and file a complaint because the guy who works there was observed pulling discarded lawnmowers out of the dumpsters after closing hours (and on his own time), taking them home, fixing them up and selling them. One of the latest arguments against rubbish picking is identity theft. I don't have much sympathy for folks who have allowed their personal data to get stolen by throwing it into the rubbish intact. To me, that's about as smart as giving confidential information over wireless phones,or sending financial data over the internet using non-secure websites. I think that's a bogus argument against allowing people to pick through discarded trash. Paper shredders are very cheap security, plus they generate good packing material. At our landfill, it's supposed to be forbidden to pick stuff out of the dumpsters, but I do it anyway if I see something that looks of value to me. I think they are afraid someone might cut themselves or otherwise get an injury and then sue the county for damages. Only once, did the elderly guy who works there ever yell at me. I reminded him that we are all charged a $5.00 monthly fee, added to our electric bill, to finance the eventual replacement of the landfill when it gets full. I told him that as long as I have to pay that fee, I'll pull anything out of the dumpster that I want, and that if he doesn't like it, he was welcome to call the sheriff and file a theft complaint against me (I'm totally positive the 911 dispatcher would send out a squad of deputies right away to investigate). I also reminded him that many times I have picked trash up off the ground that other people have left behind, and tossed it in the dumpster while I was throwing my own stuff away. He just mumbled something and walked away. We don't have trash pickup in this county unless you wish to hire a private trash collector to do the job. I just haul my own stuff to the dump. But it wouldn't bother me the least to see the rubbish man pulling out some of my stuff before putting the rest in the truck, as long as he didn't leave a mess behind. I doubt that would ever happen. I suppose my parents and grandparents who lived through the great depression had too much influence on me. By the time I toss something in the trash, it IS pure rubbish, and very unlikely that anyone else would have any conceivable use for it. One exception might be a few old magazines. I would recommend if you see something of value discarded on trash pickup day, grab it, but don't leave a mess behind. If it happens to be one of those places where, for some perverted reason it is "illegal," just do it carefully. There is too much bona fide theft going on for the cops to be putting a lot of effort into harassing dumpster divers.

There is a DIFFERENCE between advertising and giving something away to a person, and saying you will set it out to the curb for them to pick up, and the curbside 'dumpster divers' the roam the neighborhoods looking for treasures. The CL people have the owner's permission to take the stuff. With Craigslist permission is being given for arranged or open pickup. Big difference. One of the things CL has done is made givaways easy. Just advertise. Set a time for the item to be picked up with the person who is to receive it. Set it out to the curb. No need to meet them. What a lot of people who curbside shop DO NOT REALIZE is that sometimes the items that they see are set out for a specific person to come and get them. A friend. A Craiglst respondent. A charity drive. I've had this happen to me. I set out items ON MY PORCH and ON MY PERSONAL SIDEWALK going up to the porch - NOT the city sidewalk. A charity had an appointment to pick them up at a certain time. I caught a bunch of scruffy looking guys loading the stuff into their beat up pickup truck and I went and yelled at them. Remember, this stuff was IN MY YARD on MY sidewalk. The guy tells me that "The person who lives there gave them permission to take everything away." You should have seen the look on their faces when I informed them that they were talking to the person who lived there, and it was ME. While I yelled that they were stealing from the charity who had an appointment to pick the stuff up, they jumped in their truck and sped away. I think they were illegals and did not want any 'trouble'. I hate it when I put out stuff for charities to pick up and find that someone stole it all, or picked out all the good stuff for themselves. It happens all the time. I've caught neighbors red handed doing this. Bags ripped open in the middle of the night with clothing strewn around. Pottery smashed on the sidewalk. Electronics now soaked with rain. And then when the huge truck from the charity arrives there is hardly enough stuff left to have made the trip all the way out. The good stuff is gone and th stuff left is broken, ruined, or was not that good to begin with.