Thank you to all of you who wished me good luck on my race yesterday. I am so happy with how it turned out! I not only met my goal time, but beat it by a little over 2 minutes (which is a lot in runner time!)
Yep, I’m down there somewhere in the midst of those 5,000 people. I think my favorite part of the whole race happened right after I crossed the finish line. An older gentleman (probably 70 years +) came up, patted me on the back, and said, “I want to thank you young lady for pushing me through that last half mile! You were running so hard and I just kept tracking you and trying to keep up. Way to go!”
I and this older gentleman I’ve never met gave each other a high five and celebrated a great race finish together. So fun! I’m going to take a little break from training for a bit, just run some here and there for recreation. My husband would like a little time to exercise some himself! I’m shooting for maybe another long race in December.
Back to business . . . I wanted to show a few pictures of some treasures I found in a dumpster dive last week. There is a thrift store next to our church (we’re in a strip shopping center), and last Sunday I noticed some things peeking out of their dumpster as I walked to my car after the service.
My oldest son was riding with me, while my younger two were going to ride home with my husband. I took a quick detour to the dumpster and found a pile of empty picture frames and hand-painted canvases! My son was pretty irritated with me because we were in a race to beat the other half of our family home (welcome to boy-land, everything is a competition!), but I couldn’t pass up what I saw.
I grabbed four acrylic canvas paintings, all signed by Gwen Rose. I have no idea who Miss Gwen is, but I love amateur original art. I couldn’t bear to let these go to the dump!
This one is my favorite.
The empty frames were a score too. Empty frames fly out of my shop, I sold one a day after I took it up there. All profit!
Empty frames are a hot decorating trend. Just take a look on Pinterest and you will see tons of ideas. This is one of my favorites I saw.
interiors-designed.com
Not a huge score from the thrift store dumpster, but some great finds nonetheless.
I would love to hear about your best dumpster dive finds!
Great finds! I love all art and all frames, and well all dumpsters, too! I scored big about 13 years ago. Week after week I returned to this dumpster. I’d knock, no one would answer and I’d take home treasure after treasure. I finally met the family, who traveled 3 hours every Saturday to clean out this house (had been their mother’s). They saw no value in any of the stuff; I tried to explain and even give them phone numbers of people who could hold an estate sale for them. From that point on, they just offered me whatever they weren’t going to take themselves. It was crazy! They were lovely people. I’d help them clean and they’d send me home with more treasures. I learned a lot about antiques that had never crossed my path. Eventually, they let me give them some money, but no where near what it was all worth. It’s an oft told story in our house! PS I stopped by via We Call It Junkin’
That’s the stuff of dumpster dive legend Diana! I think it’s great that you were able to help the family see value in their late relative’s belongings. So many people are quick to just toss wonderful things, maybe you helped a little to make them better “recyclers”. Thanks for sharing!
I call this thrift tossing. Some of the thrift shops around here let you come and view what is going into the dumpster. I love the folk art quality of the paintings.
Yes Donna, I first learned that term from your site! I stopped back by a few days ago, but no luck 🙁 It’s a new avenue of junkin’ though that I’m going to start to pursue more regularly.
What a find, love the frames and the pictures!
Thanks Rondell, and thank you for stopping by!
I recognize one of your house paintings, the brick with gingerbread trim, as Longwood Plantation outside Natchez, Mississippi. It is a National Historic Landmark built in 1860-61 and not fully completed because the Civil War began.
You can find more on line about his beautiful home if you are interested.
You found treasure for sure!
Yes Connie, you’re right! Wouldn’t that has been sad to have that pretty canvas wind up in the dump? Thanks so much for stopping by.
Congratulations on your race! And on your amazing find, too, I can’t believe they were throwing those beautiful paintings away 🙁 So glad you rescued them. Thank you for sharing this at my History & Home link party, take care. Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com
Thank you Dawn. I agree, I’m no professional artist, but I definitely thought those paintings weren’t worthy of the junk yard!
Melanie, what keen eye you have to discover those paintings and frames. I’m so glad you rescued them. Congrats, too, on your race. Ann Marie @ Iris Abbey
What great finds!! Seriously! Thank you for sharing. You will be one of the features tomorrow at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on in tomorrow to check out your feature. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thank you Kathryn!
Congrats on your run time! I absolutely love those paintings and frames! What a fabulous haul! I’ve been teaching myself to paint, so I am really drawn to those paintings! I would have crawled in that dumpster, too! Beautiful!