The Beverly Hillbillies are Moving In

The original plan upon signing the papers and getting the keys to our house was that we were going to get in and clean, paint, and re-do all of the things that needed to be addressed immediately before actually moving in.  Welllllllllllllll...Brian was a little more than excited about our new adventure, and consequently ended up like this on the very first night:

 

Let me break this picture down for you.  That is a corduroy bean bag unfolded into a giant bed cushion with a jacket as a pillow and a c.d. player for noise, because sleeping alone in an empty house is scary even for the toughest of us.  

The story of the Bevery Hillbillies begins one evening when my parents were over at the house along with Brian's family, who were smart enough to bring their own chairs:

Yes, that's right folks.  I forewarned that the Beverly Hillbillies were moving in.  :)  

For some reason, on this particular evening, Brian and his parents were driving in separate cars back to our house, and they passed by a house on Summerlin with a moving truck out front and a whole pile of junk stuff out by the curb for the trash.  Both Brian and his parents simultaneously noticed this treasure at the curb and turned around back to the house so they could rescue it from the garbage.

Isn't she a beauty (said sarcastically)??  I can't imagine why anyone would get rid of such a priceless piece of art.  Her name is Fulga (what we thought was the artist's name which my sister later pointed out is actually "FulYa" but we still call it Fulga), and she currently resides in our living room to creep greet everyone who comes through our front door.  More on that later.

So to make this long story even longer, upon rescuing Fulga from the trash pile, Brian noticed a whole bunch of treasures that could be salvaged, and instead of just helping himself, he went to ask the homeowners if it was okay if they dig through their piles by the road.  The lady he spoke to was actually just a friend helping the homeowner move, who explained that the homeowner was 80-something years old and was moving up to North Carolina so her daughter could help care for her.  Her daughter didn't rent a big enough moving truck, and consequently, the poor lady was having to decide which of her belongings to take and which to leave behind.  They hadn't planned on this happening, and were leaving early the next morning to hit the road, so most of the "left behind" items were just being left at the curb.  Being the charmer that he is, the lady told Brian he could have any of the plants on the porch, all of the lawn furniture, and anything from the yard that he wanted, which, if anyone knows Brian, made him happier than a kid in a candy shop.  

Lucky for us, my dad and his 6-foot-long-truck-bed were back at the house, so we took a ride over there and piled the truck as high as we could.  Brian had to ride in the back and we literally looked like this while driving through downtown Thornton Park:

I'm sure our neighbors were shaking their heads or laughing at us, or both, but check out the loot we scored for ZERO dollars!!

A teak wood table and chairs for the front porch in almost mint condition, along with a teak bench that just needed a new cushion to be like-new again.

Several outdoor lanterns, an iron bird feeder, and an old iron fire bell.

 

I think my favorite free score of the night was all of these plants and ceramic pots.  Plants are ridiculously expensive from a nursery or home improvement store, and all of the plants and pots pictured here would probably cost around $350 if we were to purchase them. 

We also brought home this lovely outdoor settee, chair, and ottoman set, which fits perfectly on the back deck, and other than the cushions, is in perfect condition.  We stacked everything but the plants in the back of the truck and brought it all home in one trip.  Brian literally had to sit in the back on the way home to hold everything in so we didn't have any runaways along the way.  It was a good thing we didn't have far to go!

 

I eventually want to recover the cushions in something more cheerful and colorful, but they're in fine condition the way they are now.

On the other hand, the bench cushion was looking pretty raggedy, so I bought this fabric from JoAnn's along with a piece of foam cut to size so I could make my own.  I just sewed 4 box corners and closed up the stitch around the foam and I had a brand new cushion! Even someone with zero sewing skills could do this.

The chairs for the table didn't have any cushions at all, and they were a little uncomfortable without them, but I wasn't sure I wanted to buy the foam and fabric for all 4 chairs.  They were both pretty expensive and I used coupons when I bought them for the bench, but it would have been pricey even with discounts if I were to buy enough for the 4 chairs.  I lucked out, though, when I was shopping at Burlington Coat factory one day and stumbled across these yellow beauties for only $3 a piece!!  They fit perfectly and match our eventual yellow and blue color scheme for the exterior of the house.

Needless to say, we totally lucked out on our free finds and are extremely grateful for stumbling upon that lovely painting by the street one evening.  We actually went and bought a card and wrote a nice little note of thanks to the lady who was so generous to give us so many of her lovely belongings.  And, of course our house would never be the same without Fulga.

:) LoL