'Dumpter Diving'

So my phone rings this morning and my mother is on the other end of the line, totally out of breath. My first reaction is to ask her what's wrong. Yeah I know I tend to expect bad things to happen more often than necessary.

Relief, nothing's wrong but she's phoning to tell me that she just found 2 awesome picture frames for me.

Out on her daily walk when she found them lying on a heap outside of someone's house. (in Belgium, about 4 times a year, you can throw out the things you no longer want but which are too big for your bin and the town council will pick it up and dispose of it for you, for free). The one is rather big which is why she was out of breath after carrying them home.

I've been looking for old picture frames which I want to sand down and re-paint. Only the one's I've been able to find have been really expensive, even when being sold at the local brocants. A brocant is the local version of a flea-market / antique market.

She tells me that she also so a lovely antique mirror in a frame lying there but couldn't carry all of it. Thrilled at the idea of getting not only 2 picture frames for free but a mirror as well I say that it would be great if she could go get the mirror for me as well. I did remember to tell her to take her little shopping trolley so she wouldn't have to carry the mirror all the way home.

'Good idea' she says 'I'll just first change my shirt so they don't realize it's the same lady who's come back for the mirror.'

Not my mother

2 hours later ....

I just rang her to hear if she managed to get the mirror.

Only just in time. By the time she got back they were just loading the last of the stuff onto the truck, the mirror was already on it. Not about to turn back empty handed she asked the workers if she could have the mirror.

One of the guys was clearly annoyed but another gladly obliged and told some of the workers to take it down. He even asked where she lived because if it wasn't too far away he could drop it off at home for her. Alas, since she lived about 3 km away it was too far. Never mind she had taken her little trolley and a piece of rope (good thing too cause it's quite big) and managed to get it home.

I'm dying to see it! I said she should take a photo of it and email it to me but she says that doing that is much harder than actually finding it and taking it home.