Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Upcycled gate

I occasionally participate in a Yahoo! list called LAReUseIt, which is basically a Freecycle list.

If you want something for free, you post a query. If you want to give something away, you post a notice. If you see something you like, you have to be the first one to respond, and then go get it.

We had this sad and unkempt ficus tree that came with the house when we moved in. It looked a little better back then, but, ficus are finicky and anyway it turns out you have to really care for them and water them if you want them to live. Whatevs.

The pot was disintegrating and what better time to TKO the whole lot, than just before the painters need to clear the area to work?

So a guy with the handle RocketManLA claimed the tree and wrestled it into his minivan with profuse thanks (Thanks? Dude, we were going to throw it away, which would require hauling it to the curb. Thank you.) While he was here, he saw that we had an old gate lying around and asked for it. No worries, take our trash, man. It just helps us out.

He also took some jade plant clippings. It was a good free week for RocketManLA.

Well, he must really be into our trash, because earlier this week, he claimed a hardly-been used bottle of Aleve I offered (It turns out that I'm allergic. That was a fun weekend. Not.). He was reminded that he had photos of our gate—which now is an amazing entertainment center! Or a dresser. Coffee table? Something way more useful than a pile of termite bait in our front yard.

He says he wants more fence. You know. If we happen to have any. Maybe he wants a full set of furniture. And boy, is he in luck. Sometime soon we want to replace the whole fence, and it sure would save us some cash if we didn't have to rent a dumpster!! Needless to say we'll be keeping in touch with the RocketMan.

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