Getting By On Trash

6 Febuary 07
Women can change their minds !
The Lionclaw Table
It was a dark drizzling night , driving home from graveyard shift . It was trash night in this town ( suburbs ) . All of a sudden I noticed a large round table at the curb . Usualy I would leave it alone because the rain ruined any venere out in it . My gut said ," what can you loose but get wet ", so I stoped . The table appeared not to be venere but solid wood . It had many coats of paint with much peeling , cigar , and ciggerett burns .

The table came from a glorious old Victorian house . It appeared to have come from a basement ( judging from the other trash ) where guys must have used it for a card table . I had to take it appart to get it into my little truck with a cap . I got it home , struggled to get in the door , put it in the livingroom on a tarp , and went to bed .

The next morning at coffee my wife was upset . In so many words she said " Get That Junk out of My House " . So I hid it in the basement when she went to work . Around Thanksgiving when I had 3 days off I stripped all 6 coats of paint off , cleaned it up , oiled it , and put 3 coats of Marine Spar Varnish on it .

The table was an 1880's oak lions claw round dining table . Boy did it look terrific ! On a Saturday morning I was on my way to the Flea Market and decided I could make some extra cash . My wife caught me bringing part of the table out of the basement . She said " You're not taking That table ! " . Well , I didn't and don't regret it . One of the reasons being I just love that table . The others , you can guess . When she's right , she's right .

Since then the table has seen alot of service and probably will see more with our children and childrens children . And to think someone set that table out in the rain to be crushed and put in a land fill ! Lucky me ! Last year I washed it , sanded it , cleaned it , oiled it , and varnished it again . Reckon It will be another 20 some years before it needs any work but daily cleaning .

Timothy T

Getting by on trash

5 January 07
The Piano

Many years ago I was trashpicking in one of my old neighborhoods . It was Sunday night and trash was out for Monday morning . There was tons of what I called moving out trash at the curb . As I was checking out the trash a Lady was on the porch ( of a house I had previously owned ) trying to push a piano off the porch . Needless to say , I stopped her .

The lady was moving to a smaller apt and there wasn't the room , or the money to move it anyhow . She said she really loved the piano and had spent a consideral amount of money keeping it up . The sound was beautifull .

Now ; my wife had been begging me for years to bring home a piano but I kept finding organs .

I made arrangements with the landlord to pick it up later , and I did . That is , a piano mover moved it . It still played well . We thought it was a 1913 Cunningham upright , but it turned out to be 1924 . Next , I removed all wood parts that would come off and stripped 6 layers of paint and a few layers of varnish . It turned out to have a soft cherry color .

So now we have the old beauty in the front room . It needs a good tuning ( a little dusting and oiling ) and some minor work . I'm sure we will come up with the money someday . Meanwhile we have given her a good home and she's not ready for the trash heap yet . Wherever would we put the old kerosene lamps , without her ?

Above the piano there is a shelf that holds more lamps . The shelf is made from parts of an older Player piano . Beautifull tiger oak with carved wooden trim and designs . These piano parts came from a friends house after the house nearly burnt down .

I've made a few tables around the house with old sewing treadels with a nice wide ( actualy the front ) board off of a piano , attached .

That's all on piano's for now . Timothy T