Prior to a month ago, I had never been to our local dump.  I had never (other than as a passenger in the vehicle once or twice) taken anything to the dump.  Taking the garbage to the dump was just not my thing.  Now a days, I visit the dump daily.  I know the dump schedule off by heart and I can even tell you how the man at the gate takes his coffee. Having said all that – I still have never taken anything to the dump. I have, however, taken plenty from the dump.  Are you cringing? It’s okay. I get it. It sounds gross… But  I’m not climbing through mountains of trash and picking through bags. I just take the stuff that’s sitting there, easy to grab.  There’s a whole section of Building Materials! And Scrap Metal!

This car (other than the plate) was made from materials I found at the dump.

This ladder was from the dump. I dug up the ground and placed it in, threw some dirt overtop and it’s perfect for climbing!

And at many dumps they have a small section where people drop off items that they don’t want but aren’t meant to be, or shouldn’t be, thrown out.  Like this stuff I picked up yesterday…

The bird house is now painted and added to our ‘Bird Viewing Station’. The Welcome sign will be used as a stencil and then eventually painted and hung and the headboard (?) is going to be used to build a garden.

I found this Chiminea last week. I nearly had to fight a big burley man for it… He was hoping it would be too heavy for me to lift. He actually said ‘You’ll never be able to lift that into your van’. And if you know me, you know that at that point, there was no way that Chiminea wasn’t coming home with me.

This mirror was from the dump.

And I’m currently working on a wall of old frames – all found at the dump.  And a mural, made from recycled materials, for the side of the playhouse.

So if you see me at the dump, say ‘hello’ and don’t toss the good stuff too far into the pile!

P.S. Conversation with my teenage daughter…

Me-“I’m going to call my post ‘The Art of Dumping’ ” *laughs at myself.

T.D. *eyeroll *snort *groan.

Me- “And start referring to myself as ‘Lady Dumper’… Like, maybe get it printed on a sash that I can wear!? “ *laughs at myself.

T.D “that’s not funny…” *eyeroll.

Me “And paint ‘The Dump-mobile’ on the side of our van!”

(We compromised. I went with the title of the post and only quietly call myself ‘Lady Dumper’) 😉