I haven’t found much recently. I don’t currently have use of the car so I’ve been stuck with nearby but less consistently productive routes such as Villeray, Park Ex, the Plateau, and Rosemont. These neighbourhoods certainly have their treasures but finding them is more needle in a haystack-y than in richer areas with larger houses. It doesn’t help that each of these places (other than some parts of Rosemont) have two trash pickup days a week, meaning I have to work twice as hard to see the same amount of garbage.
It feels a bit funny to say this because in the earlier days of this blog I went to these places religiously. I’ve evolved a bit since then I suppose, though I might just be less patient because of the availability of a car.
I can’t blame my dry week totally on the arrondissements, however: I also didn’t do much to help myself. I slept in before my Mount Royal route, losing the opportunity to check out a house that I really didn’t want to miss. I’m still kicking myself and fantasizing about what could have been saved. I’ll be there tomorrow, hopefully everyone waited a week before throwing out the good stuff!
This week has been a little better so far. I took a casual garbage walk with a friend in the Plateau and came across this great wood trunk. I inspected it and it looked clean – evidence in nearby trash showed that it was left behind from a move. We walked it back to her house around six blocks away, taking many stops to break and enjoy the weather. It’s a hand carved piece that I would guess was made in China in the 1970s. It needs a good dusting but I imagine it could be sold for at least 100$ on Craigslist, more if given extensive TLC.
Today I started a bit late and went to Park Ex. It’s a low-income neighbourhood but once in a blue moon I’ll find some really great stuff. There wasn’t a lot to see but I did enjoy finding this big old hand-painted landscape signed by someone by the last name of Santerre. I doubt it’s worth a lot but I’m a sucker for original art. If anyone knows where this place is let me know, it could increase the value but I’m also just curious. My guess is that it’s from somewhere in the Eastern Townships.
Outside of this I found a nearly complete Mastercraft drill bit set and two shopping bags full of funky bangles.
I found these antlers in Park Ex around a month ago. The woman throwing them out seemed happy to be rid of them – I’d guess they belonged to her husband! The antlers are really huge, I can’t imagine them being from a deer but I’m far from an expert. I have some research to do but I imagine they’re worth a bit as a decoration or an art material.
Last two weeks sales (July 7 – July 20)
-Gold and silver scrap: 550$. I wrote about this transaction a few posts ago.
-Vintage “Eau de Joy” perfume: on Ebay for 40$. I found this at a pre-estate sale purge in CDN. It’s the second scent I’ve sold on Ebay.
-Yard sales: 160$. It was great to hit the streets once again and I hope to do it again very soon.
-Old food pamphlets: 5$.
Total: 755$, 2070$ since May 18. This is an excellent total. However, without the scrap sale (which happens perhaps 2 or 3 times a year) the numbers would look much worse. Ebay sales have been slow despite my increased focus on listing. However, this is apparently normal in the summer months and just means I’ll make a killing around Christmas.