TMR

I’ve been busy. I had a lot of energy on Monday night and decided to check out the trash in Villeray (though I didn’t find jack all). On Tuesday morning I woke up early to go to Hochelaga but didn’t find much.

It was raining hard for much of Tuesday but I managed to avoid it on the most part. I came across these bags yesterday evening. They were in the same spot as the first things in my “Generations” post from the 10th. I took this picture after my scavenging so the bags look less full than they were before I got there.

This definitely looked to be the former possessions of an older woman. Inside the bags were mostly trinkets and fabrics. I love trinkets and brought all of the non-busted ones home.

My room-mate took this picture with most of the things together. There were lots of religious artefacts including a few bibles. Everything was very clean and clearly well cared for. I’ll give you some close-ups of some of the most notable items.

A pair of old “Made in Japan” salt and pepper shakers. I think they’re pretty cute.

A tea pot made to look like a conch. I like it a lot – it has a cool vintage look and is a great size for one person. I think I’ll keep it!

This little thing is made to put your pins and needles in and was designed to hang from the wall. It’s pretty adorable. It’s marked as being from Val-David, which is a small town in Quebec known (according to wiki) for it’s arts scene.

A Canadian Centennial Ashtray. There’s a bit of fading on the gold of the flag, but otherwise it’s in great shape.

A gold-toned necklace that will likely fetch me decent money on Etsy.

Some nice old brooches. The 2nd from the left is made by Trifari, a company which has a bit of collectors value.

A couple more salt and pepper shakers. The girls arm has broke off but they’re still beautiful vintage pieces.

A couple more brooches. These ones seem hand-made.

Two wooden carvings with “Jamaica” engraved in the top.

An ashtray bearing the symbols of the Knights of Columbus. The black stuff on the inside seems to clean off.

Finally, a kitschy planter marked as being made by Samson Imports Company in 1958. It’s in amazing condition for it’s age – not even a chip.

I’m happy with my haul of interesting stuff. I was a bit sad though to have to leave behind the fabrics. I’m not even sure what they were exactly but they were clearly saved for a reason. A lot of them had old patterns you just can’t find anymore. I took a couple of knitted blankets but didn’t have room for the rest, though I did stash a bag full of fabrics where I didn’t think it would be picked up. I’ll see when I have time if that worked out.

It’s a reminder that I should look into getting a bike trailer. Even one of those ones made for carrying small kids might do they trick.

I started a short temp job this morning which involved me picking up a rented van in Ville St-Laurent. I did some research last night and found out that Wednesday morning is trash collection day in the Town of Mount Royal (TMR). I’d never trash-picked there before so I decided to plan a route that would let me see some garbage.

There’s definitely some money in TMR but the population density is a lot lower than it is around my neighbourhood. The streets curve a lot more (around my area it’s more of a grid) meaning I can’t see good trash from as far away. A lot more people have trash bins as well. I’m sure there’s some good trash to be found here but it’s more work to find it.

I did manage to find a couple of nice lampshades, a hammer, a puck, a phone and a weird measuring stick thing in the pile above. Any ideas as to what that measuring stick is for? It’s not near me right now, but I think “skirt” is written on it somewhere in a descriptive sense.

I’m going to be busier these next two weeks with the job but I should still have time to get out and find some garbage!