Summertime and the living is free

A tiny toy table sent in by lovely loyal reader S.O'C. ...

...this golden doorway to unlimited devotion was snapped by hall of famer Kim C ...

...hyper-fab reader Claire M. sent this in all the way from Minneapolis...

...sometime contributor Andrea M. snapped this in Fire Island...

...this one was found floating around the archives....

...winner of the best-looking reader contest, Daisy M. snapped this one in Woodstock...

...another one found floating around the archive...

...and one more sent in from Woodstock, N.Y.

A case of Badger All-Natura Unscented Face and Body Sunscreen SPF 30 goes out to all our esteemed summer contributors. Now I'm off to the beach for a free sunset.

More free!!

Not surprisingly, there are other people out there on cyberland who dig the same stuff I do. Here's a link to Sam Pratt's lovely collection of free signs: http://www.sampratt.com/sam/free/. Enjoy!

Fans

New fan of the free signs blog sends in swell snap of an old fan.

But the real story is the type on that sign. Sure they ran out of space, but check out those "e"s. Wow. And is that a little serif sneaking in at the bottom of the "r"? I think it is. Serifs are rare-ifs on homemade free signs.

Special thanks to A-grrr for sending it in. A case of cucumber pulp goes out to her as our little way of saying "thanks".

Ha! Just like I told'ja. Take the picture, leave the sign.

One more from the topic sentence collections. This one via Woodstock Patch from Ojai, CA. A case of 2007 William Selyem Pinot Noir goes out to Patch as our little way of saying "thanks" for thinking of us.

Beauty and the beast.

From a couple of my favorite peeps come a coupla totally different pics. A-Grrr sends in the sparkly Christmas Tweety confection above and A-Traum sends in the scorched earth snap below. A case of vintage port to A-Grrr and a tin of Copenhagen to A-Traum as our little way of saying "thanks" for contributing.

I wonder how much they made?

New contributor Rachel R. sends in this fab snap from a "Going to China sale." Thanks for sending and have a great time in the big country. A case of Beeman's goes out to her as our little way of saying "thanks."

Richard Serra

Twin massage tables bring to mind some of Richard Serra's less curvy work.

Norman Bates

I'm pretty sure this is the chair that Norman Bates' mother sat in in Psycho. Pretty sure. And now it's being given away for free down there on Tinker St. in Woodstock. Such a deal.

The cod

Long time supporter Peter O'C. sends in this pic from Dennisport in Cape Cod. It looks like they color-coordinated the sign to match the couch, reminding me of something my ma used to tell me when I was a wee young lad: "two uglies don't make a right." Ahhh, the wisdom of the years.

A 6 of Ommegang Witte and a big bag of spicy chips goes out to P O'C as our little way of saying "thanks for the pic."

More clarification and more grilling

Here's some clarification: "free with purchase" is not free. It's just not. No way, no how.

And here's another grill you don't have to buy anything to get. Because it's free. Actually free.

confusing and cordial

I have no idea what the sign above is all about and plenty of pleasure for the politeness of the sign below.

Green and not green

This study in green is an Ikea sofa bed that looked so pretty in the middle of the lawn and the not green below is a chair under wraps with a note saying that the paint might be lead based to be careful. You gotta love the care and consideration that went in to writing such a note.

The trick is getting them out of the ground

Reader Andrea M. sends in this riddle wrapped in an enigma shrouded in a mystery. Is it the trees that are free? Is all the free stuff gone? The first reader to write in with the best explanation wins a free trip to Jamaica.

And (below) just in time for barbecue season. A big bag of hickory chips goes out to loyal reader Andrea M. as our little way of saying thanks.

Sometimes one man's trash is not another man's treasure.

Sometimes one man's trash is simply another man's garbage. Loyal reader Jane "Make mine a Whopper" B.K. sends this in from sunny Baltimore and we're sending her a case of Leinenkugel's as our thanks.

3 free

Above: not always, but sometimes you can judge the quality of the stuff by the quality of the sign. Here, with the ugliest free sign yet, you can.

Above: I love blue but the nice sign belies mediocre stuff.

If this is the kinda crap you have in your house, you hardly need a home alarm system. Really.

Not a single yard sale

Somehow I made it through Memorial Day weekend without stopping at a single yard sale. I did stop at a couple the next day though. You know what they say: "yesterday's yard sale is today's free sign."

Down Stone Ridge way

Down Stone Ridge way, they have a whole colony of diminutive traveling salesmen, most of whom, in true Catskills tradition....

...are the life of the party.

A case of Penn ATP tennis balls with SMART OPTIC® felt goes out to reader Andrea M. for once again taking the time to send 'em in. Smooches!

It's late May.

So get up outta your chairs....

...mosey on down to Mosher Place...

... and get me a beer.

Thank you.

Piles of stuff for free down in the flats.

Found today in the Bearsville Flats:

Night and day

I guess we found this pile (above) late last night just before the insomniac cripple got there and well before day-owl reader Coll sent in his pic below. A case of Mort Subite goes out to loyal reader D.B. Coll for sending it in.

Maybe something about tax season....

Puts people in the mood to give stuff away. Maybe it's just spring cleaning.

"Free! Winter hardy Just pulled Ground cover"

Definitely spring cleaning here.

Marriage counselor recommends two twin sized beds instead.

Love this tableau from the dry cleaner.

A fab table that Greta's giving away.

Bad boy no more.

He once spent large fractions of each day sitting in the corner, supposedly ruminating on his transgressions. But now he's turned over a new leaf. He's better. Polite and considerate of both parents and siblings. And we don't need the chair anymore. Good luck with your unruly one.

Polite or desperate?

Or a little of both? Regardless, we like the "please take" addendum added to the classic free sign.

Putting a stake in the ground of free

It was standing up when I drove by and fell over by the time I got back.

If I could be deputized by the free police, I would write a ticket to these people for passing off garbage as stuff.

From sunny Rochester, NY

Is that a black and white tv on the right? I would love to have a black and white tv. I'd rather have sponge candy, for sure, but a black and white tv would be awesome.

Honest to god, when I started this project, the original thought was to steal the signs and not just steal their soul. iPhone soul theft being much easier to pull off than actual theft, it won the day. So this sign = special love.

A U-Haul book box of sponge candy and hand-carved tiny wooden pointy sculptures goes out to ever-inspiring Rochester reader e-Claire who snapped these fine pics in seemingly lovely Trumansburg, NY.

Anybody have a free washer?

Now that we've got this dryer in our virtual free house, we're really missing the washer.

Waiting for more free stuff?

Put your g&t down on the plastic ottoman and your butt down on one of these swell chairs. Enough for 4 adults and one tiny kid. (g&t not included)

This is where Chucky lived.

But we'll take it. We need a toy box for our virtual free stuff home.

The big apple

Okay, maybe it's a big Dell, but it was found in the big apple, snapped, and sent in by loyal reader Nikki T., transplant of everywhere, recently landed in Gotham. A big batch of oatmeal cookies go out to Ms. T. as our little way of saying "T'anks, yo." You like 'em with or without raisins?

It was sunny before, it's rainy now.

These lovely boxes were on the side of the road yesterday. Today, they'd be filled with rain water.

If the snow's that dirty, what about the couch?