Old treasures made new

Recently, I've squeezed a few bucks out of the budget to dress up our backyard. The space is starting to feel like home to us, and I'm glad we're finally putting it to use. It feels good to surf Craigslist and shoot hopeful emails to sellers again. We outfitted our entire house that way when we first married!

My mom has accompanied me on a few interesting adventures recently, and I've enjoyed the time with her. We hauled an old coffee table out of a house with chihuahuas nipping our heels. We also met a white-bearded man named Buddy who was awfully proud of the coffee stains on the white metal bistro table I purchased from him.

My favorite trip, however, was to get the chairs... the retro metal ones I've hunted for years now. I finally found some! I asked my mom to accompany me to the man's house after work. I knew it'd be late, but I didn't want to let the deal slip away. She met me at a Starbucks off the highway after I put the kids to bed, and it was nearly ten o'clock by the time we pulled into the seller's driveway.

Except it wasn't a driveway.
This is the first thing we saw:

We crept along the gravel drive until we reached this outhouse and electric gate. There was a metal box for us to type in a code. The gate shut behind us immediately, too. Not at all unlike a horror movie.

As the good Lord would have it, we made new friends that night. The seller and his wife own about eight acres, three dogs, one turkey, a herd of miniature donkeys (my new favorite thing), one cat, a few chickens, two vintage work trucks, a refurbished Corvette, and my chairs. He cut the price in half, loaded them into my van, and invited my kids to come tour the farm sometime. He was a dream.

I am now the proud owner of six of these babies!

They've since been scrubbed and tightened, and they're ready for paint!

Don't you just love Craigslist?