Thank you to the Neighbors

My neighborhood is very generous with what it gets rid of.  Someone in my building rescued a gorgeous solid wood fireplace mantle and I have gotten a few wood chairs in need of a very little bit of TLC.  I always feel so conspicuous when I pull things from the curb.  I've lost out on some key pieces because someone on the street might "See Me" taking from the trash.  I know I'm not the only one on the street that feels this way.  I've seen so many of my neighbors circling items that were left on the curb and quickly looking up and down the street to see who was watching before they nabbed their treasure. 

I always seem to be on my way to work - weighing the pros and cons of being late in order to haul something back to my house.  I've literally done the dance where I've walked back to the piece and then walked away only to walk towards the item again and finally run from the item towards the bus stop while agonizing over my decision.  If this golden treasure just happens to be there on my return trip home (which it never is - let's be real people) I gleefully haul it back with me. 

So imagine my pure and utter joy when I discovered one half of an old wooden ladder.  I had no idea what I was going to do with this and thought maybe it would be something fun to hang on the wall.  It turned into the best paperback bookshelf imaginable - taking up minimum space while holding quite of few of my favourite books.  If you ask my sister - I have this weird habit of rereading certain books over and over again like I watching certain movies over and over again.  This is weird to her but just another one of my quirky tendencies but I digress - I found the perfect piece to store my hoard of much loved books.

I will probably add another piece of wood for additional shelving at some point but as you can see - a simple white wash over the old wood brought what was thought of as garbage to become a new and useful addition to my home.  So thank you neighbor that ditched the old ladder on your front lawn.  I am grateful!