This is it!

First an image that makes me feel good. An Utz chip display! It makes me feel good not because I'm a chip vacuum,but because Utz was part of a story line in Mad Men!
I took it in the Christmas tree shop in South Portland, Me. I tell you, I could really work there! All those things to look at....and the deals! I found some really nice curtains for the living/dining rooms....turns out they were 6.98 each panel, I had to buy 11. It was much cheaper than the ones I had seen back home (29.99 a panel). They sold themselves!

Ok now the more serious subject. As you might know by now....I'm jobless and have been for a little while now. Well I'm going to a job fair today! I'm kinda excited yet anxious, like at Xmas.
Anyways I see it as a learning experience...Keep you posted! :)

Ormstown and Huntingdon

On friday September 18th (Dan was still on vacation), we figured out it was time for our annual Ormstown excursion/frech fry tasting. Off we went with our little cooler full of water and snacks (nuts,fruits just healthy stuff). We were going to have some of the world's best fries after all!

And we took the scenic route: Valleyfield, Ste-Barbe...the beautiful fields..So we arrive in Ormstown and no Patate Leblanc! OMG! Where is it?



Guess what? We're in the wrong town! And it's not the first time we make that mistake! Patate Leblanc is in Huntingdon! So we go to Huntingdon and we find Patate Leblanc....YUM! BIG YUMMO!!!

In the box we have: 2 toastés moutarde chou et une patate a 2.25.

Translation: 2 toasted hotdogs with slaw and mustard and a 2.25$ fry. No frozen crap here! All fresh all the time. You can hear the guy behind the counter cutting the potatoes with his special guizmo...French fry heaven! And the restaurant is always full, and a good portion of the clientele is American! Huntingdon is not to far from the border with N.Y state. You can tell they find it quite exotic, with the cardboard box. After that satisfying lunch we went back to Ormstown and it's charming boutiques.

I found the Delphite (Pyrex) veggie bowl in a small antiques shop and I wasn't sure if I would buy it...So Dan said, what are you waiting for? You don't find Delphite for that price anywhere (15$) and besides I don't want you whinning because you regret not buying it! Well that was to the point!

Turns out that for that price was also included a Delphite creamer! I say! An even better deal!

You can admire the bowl in the first pic with the apples in...Delphite...just like buttah!
I'm glad we took that outing, Ormstown was even better than I remembered! Huntingdon was worse than I remembered, but was saved by the delicious fries!

Fall

Summer weather has been crappy at best and it's a miracle we got veggies at all!

Since it rained so much there weren't enough berries in the woods to feed the bears and in some rural villages they are roaming in the streets (imagine that!) looking for food...Yikes!

The tomatoes were a real disaster I got 4 that rippened on the vine...I'm bringing the rest in green, because the nights are getting cold! Flannel PJ's here I come!

I didn't to swim enough in the pool....I'll try to get one last dip this afternoon, coz' I'll be closing it early next week...sigh

My neighborhood farm stand will be closing for the season in couple of weeks. I will surely miss all thos delicious veggies. I bought the best carrots yesterday...and those red potatoes that taste like they have butter built in!

These are my harvested squash so far. 2 acorns and 3 butternut, certainly less butternuts than last year, but the acorns are my first! 2 summers ago I sowed some and the squirrels ate them all...Those little %$/"!!?&*( ! LOL

Last pic is what I harvested yesterday. I still have tons of cukes...I don't know what the mini butternut look a like is....and the big round zucchini? pumpkin? Remember all my markers were whiped clean by the rain? Good times! I can't wait to try them!

Tv watching is real hard this season because the networks all programmed my fave shows at the same times! Last night at 9 was Fringe,Supernatural and CSI, what is a girl to do? PVRs are still too expensive to my taste....So the temporary fix is....I watch Fringe at 9, CSI at 8, Bones that is normally at 8 I'll watch wednesday at 8 instead of watching the results of DWTS and Supernatural I'll watch on Space on another day or on the web....Wow I'm all mixed up! LOL

Maybe I should stop watching TV all togheter!

Did I buy sheets?

Did I buy sheets on vacation? You bet your sweet bipi! I feel in love with the color back in July, but decided against buying some....The voice of reason was heard in my head, well next to my head comig out of Dan's mouth.... We have enough sheets! So I said, if I still want them in September and Target has some, then i'll buy them! Which I did, I couldn't pass on 12.99$ sheets. Ok,ok they're not made of 100% cotton, but I found the bedding industry has made a lot of progress in poly/cotton sheet comfort.

In the early 90's, when I fell in love with the Martha Stewart line of sheets, the poly/cotton blend was soooo stiff you had to wash them multiple times to get them soft.Today with just one wash they were very soft and the color! How can I not fall in love with the color??? Tell me!

I needed a short and light topic today because I'm sick as a dog! All congested and coughing and I believe my brain is melting...I can barely form a sentence!

DWTS was quite entertaining last night. I felt the judges were too tough on the ladies. They are sexists. Len needs an enema...Yes I said it!

Macy Greay was not as bad as I thought, but not great either. I can't wait to see who gets the boot...Later readers

The garbage pile

So this is what the result of the decluter fest 2009 looked like! Actually there was more stuff but a couple of scrap metal guys came by.... Add to that the 2 car loads we brought to the Salvation Army. I can definitely say it was a satisfying declutter.

On saturday morning we went in the basement and cleaned out all the old paint,chemicals,garden products that were suspiciously old...There was a lot! I found some products I don't remember buying...Scary!!!
We filled the car again and brought everything to the municipal garage. It was their annual hazardous household waste collection. t was about time we went! 14 years of old toxic crap in the car...OUT OF THE WAY PEOPLE!!!! LET US THROUGH!

I swear the basement has never been soooo big! And the garden shed too! I was able to fit both bicycles! Cool!

On to another subject! Due to the success of the franchise, the producers of So You Think You Can Dance have really been cramming it down our throats. I watched the summer season, I even tried to follow the canadian version, I know the american version just started a new season, but please stop it I can't deal with it anymore! It's a great show but I need a break!

So I stopped watching the canadian version (I can't handle Jean-Marc Genereux anymore) and didn't even start to watch the american one! How come men's hair dye always looks SUPER fake? And please Jean-Marc lay off the botox! It shows!

Last night was the premiere of Dancing With The Stars (I had taken a break from that as well) and I found it entertaining. Only the men danced. I enjoyed the performances of Aaron Carter,Donny Osmond and Marc Dacascos (the host of Iron Chef America). I felt the judges were too strict with them but that's just me.

Some were painfull to watch...especialy UFC champion Chuck Liddell, it was like Frankenstein dancing....Poor guy

However I didn't get to see their second dance because I had a fever and went to bed, maybe it went better for everybody!

Tonight it's the ladies turn and I can't wait to see Macy Grey dancing. I'm not expecting much because the poor thing doesn't move well, she even had trouble getting down the stairs last night!

The way home part 3

I can't believe I almost forgot to write about the little church in Oxford ,Maine !

I just was too excited to
write about the Pick 'n' Paw!!! I discovered the little church in 2007. I bought one of my first Pyrex bowl there. I was trying to complete the Primary colors set (I only had the green one from my mom). I still didn't know about the colors, so I bought a minty blue 402.....When it should've been a red 402 (oh well). It took me quite a while to figure out that the bowl belonged to the Horizons set!

You could visit the 2 floors before and it was full of really interesting things. Everyday vintage things that nobody really kept, but were so full of charm today! Glassware,metal boxes,egg cartons....I remember falling in love with a refrigerator water bottle...I thought it was too expensive...and it hunted me until last fall when I found a really affordable one!

Anyways, now the church has a new owner and he decided to sell everything at rock bottom prices!
You picked out the stuff you wanted and he gave you a price. I found some great stuff that I don't need (what else is new!) but will share in the shop. A pink planter, a salmon peanut dish

and a tea set (a small tablecloth and napkins) super cute.

I wish I could've gone through more boxes there, but a lot of things were underwater....and covered with muck. I just don't want to get dirty sometimes! I guess I was getting tired as well, this was after the Pick 'n' Paw!

The owner wants to live in the church....so byebye cool antiques shop!

If you go soon you probably can still find some cool stuff!

Pick 'N' Paw

This is the second part of the way home.

I mentionned this place earlier in the blog...The Pick 'n' Paw! Mysterious place...It certainly looks like a flea market....A demented flea market! Huge piles of stuff all over the ground....An Old barn. It was closed when we passed in front on Aug 29th but one week later on the Sept 5th it was opened, and we almost missed it! We went back. There was piles of stuff as far as the eye could see, huge piles. Rotten cardboard boxes full of dishes, of rusted metal boxes,of old phonebooks....Whatever you wish for they probably have it but you need to dig! And it's filthy! EEEEWWWWWW!!!!

Well that certainly didn't stop me! After all we have wet ones in the car (the thrifter's best friend!). After going through a couple of boxes I found a 503 lid (Pyrex). It's the lid that goes on the biggest refrigerator dish. Great !I needed one, especially for 50 cents!

Did I mention that this place is in the middle of nowhere? In a field? I can't see anybody! I only hear crickets....We walk around the grounds and obviously they don't get a lot of traffic, the grass is waist high. At the far end a bunch of chickens are running around, scratching and pecking .

The building is missing windows and planks. Near the entrance are 2 clean and nice looking teenagers. I peer inside and it's looks really dark and creepy. And there's stuff all over the place, from floor to ceiling. It's a cross between Children of the Corn and Supernatural!

I'm pretty skittish and we hesitate. But curiosity and the prospect of treasures (Pink Pyrex) win us over.


I found those 2 Pyrex cups in an unknown pattern for 50 cents each too. No Pink Pyrex,or bowls. Is it necessary to mention that they don't give you a bag? LOL

This place definitely scared the bejesus out of me, I had goose bumps for at least an hour after!

But stopping at the Pick 'n' Paw was on my dream list and I will bring Dad next time we're in the neighborhood!

The way home

Flashback to September 5th.....

We left the condo at 9 AM. Byebye Old Orchard! See you soon! From Grey, Maine we took road 26. It seemed that the entire state of Maine had exploded in yard,garage and lawn sales!!!

Signs everywhere! We couldn't stop at each and everyone, we would still be in Maine! LOL!

This little table is now known as the 4$ table. There was plenty of amazing stuff at that sale, but room was lacking at home! We hit a couple more and I got some interesting stuff for the store.

We decided to skip the Undercover flea market (we hab been there a week ago). Not too far from there was Dave's antiques....WOW! Another nice spot for antiquing!

See what I found? The Pyrex glass chimney, this one is the Xmas one. I had seen quite a lot in Flickr and was wanting one real bad....I found a Snidely Whiplash glass for Dan (quite a hit too!)

Unfortunatly today I'm pressed for time...We have a roadtrip ahead....Maybe apple picking or antiquing, one thing is for sure....We will stop at Leblanc Patate for a snack!

The end of the way home will have to wait until tomorrow! Have a super nice day, dear readers!

TGIF!!!

El Bulli taste alike

El Bulli. This restaurant in Spain is considered the best in the world. Imagine trying to get a reservation! I was lucky enough to score a table at a cooking school for their menu based on the recipes created by internationnaly reputed chef Ferran Adria from El Bulli.
His speciality? Molecular gastronomy! When watching the food network Canada if I see chefs doing weird things with food (mainely foaming stuff) I always feel that it's snobism and superfluous....But when was I going to Spain? And besides I was curious!
The meal started with a Beetroot and Yoghurt ice lollipop. This was fun to eat but not beety enough for my taste! A plate of puffed saffron rice,Quinoa,fried wild rice and crackers came with it. All of those were amazing and fun to eat! I could not fit the pics in this post because of the space and didn't feel like writing a 2 part post. Next came the watermelon,tomato and grapefruit kabob. Tomatoes go really well with watermelon! That's quite a surprise! The green sauce is basil oil, it was nice to drag the fruit in...YUM

Next was a fresh pea soup in a shooter glass...hot on top and cold on the bottom! " totally different tastes and textures. You could taste the mint! Sooo good!

oops! I was too excited about this dish to wait! I had a taste before taking the pic...It was Belly of tuna with blackcurrant and eucalyptus. I never had tuna cooked that way (raw in the middle), it was delicious! The brown sauce is the eucalytus gravy, that was a real surprise and oh so delicious! I could've skipped the blackcurrant, in my opinion it didn't add anything to the dish (I'm no chef of course!)

Then came the breast of duckling with seaweed salt and vegetable scallops. It totally skipped my mind to take a pic of that. The duck was pinkish and I noticed that some of the dinners were kind of scared of that! I knew that was the way to cook it, but never had it that way. It was reminiscent of steak. The veggies were in fact seaweeds of various kinds. Thank god I love the stuff! Some of our neighors were skittish about that as well! We went there to try new stuff and we did!

Another course I forgot to take a pic of was the pre-dessert...rats (I was told that I'm a bad blogger) It was sweet vanilla potato puree! That was lovely yet weird! The mashed potatoes had specks of vanilla and were topped with sweet vanilla milk foam. Very interesting!

Now the dessert! Warm saffron tart with lemon ice cream. More foam! Inside the flaky crust...saffron egg yolk foam. delicious as well, especially when you mixed all the flavours!

AAAaaaaahhhhh! Chocolate surprise! The large ribbon had wasabi in it, the white dome had a black olive and in the small wooden cup sunflower seeds covered in dark chocolate! Need I say more? DELICIOUS!

What a great experience! And for a mini price too! 20$. I don't have the habit of hiding my dining spots,but this time I will. It is so very hard to get a table there, when the schedule comes out, it is usualy totally booked in less than 24hrs....Sorry! :)

It's Guy Fieri's fault! Again....

Ok flashback to my beach vacation! So it's the last night, it's nearly supper time, I don't want to cook....We don't want to eat seafood....I'm watching the food network while reading a book,while savouring a cold one....And I see the commercial for Famous Dave's BBQ And of course I think of Guy Fieri and triple D....The commercial is so tacky that we decide to go and sample some of Dave's fare!

Man oh Man that is a big restaurant! I like the bbq shack decor, I spy a horizon 442 (but I forget to take a pic). The menu is not too big and the prices are reasonnable.

I get the brisket and Dan the chicken. The brisket was DELICIOUS (is it real BBQ? I don't know? But since Guy Fieri won't return my calls-kidding!). Dan's chicken was way udercooked, I flagged our waitress and presto changeo a new chicken appears perfectly cooked, with profuse appologies!

Of course it was way too much food for us! we really liked our experience. Great service, great food, we already know what we'll be eating next time we go!

We took a walk in the nearby mall and ended up at Haven's candies (of course!) Yes ,we bought some, but I forget what because we ate them all!

Later that night while surfing the web, I found out that Famous Dave's is a HUGE chain with more than 120 restaurants! I had never heard about that chain (???), of course I can't know everything....rats!

Fall Declutter Fest 2009

No pic today. I just finished lunch and I don't feel like cleaning and throwing out things today!



Yesterday I spent the afternoon in the garden shed with garbage bags and the shopvac. I ask you: how many plastic pots (for plants) does a girl need???



Really! I think I put around 100 in the recycling bin, I kidd you not! Oh the mess! I confess! I can be pretty lazy and I open the door and throw things in! So by the end of summer, you can barely go in the shed!

There were seeds (of unknown orgin) all over the floors and I also found some mouse poop in the corners.MOUSE POOP!!!! EEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!

I hate mouse poop, it makes my skin crawl (probably why I don't want to go clean today!). A couple of years ago I had some fruitcake wrapped in foil on a shelf in the entryway closet. Some mice got in and ate a small hole in the foil then proceeded to eat the whole thing! That fruit cake was so laced with booze...Happy drunken mice pooping all over!
It took me quite a while to find the mess. I called the exterminator STAT!

Now every speck of food is in a Tupperware, a metal box or a Mason jar! We never know. The mice might come back this winter. I live accross the river and it's not really the suburbs anymore...

I have to go now...I must be ready for the big Garbage day on Friday

I met Lenny!!!

Not too far from Cliff's is where Lenny the chocolate Moose lives.

Yes you read right, a chocolate moose. He lives in the Len Libby store, which sell candies,chocolates and ice cream.

Believe it or not (but I swear it's true!) I was all sugared out and even the sight of fudge made me feel queasy....So I didn't buy anything.
But I was sure glad to meet Lenny. Yes it is made of real chocolate, all 1700 pounds of it! I was quite surprised because he looked much better than in the pictures i'd seen on flickr (he looked all white, like old chocolate).

The pond he was standing in was a bit dusty....Un-Yum!

Here's a close up of one of Lenny's pals a cute bear cub,also made of chocolate. But why the pink cap?

I'm glad I saw this. I think it's a once in a lifetime thing. It was weird and funny at the same time.

Today we started country line dance courses. That was a hoot! We learned 2 dances: the canadian stroll and the electric slide. I can't wait for next week! And to think that I don't even listen to country music! LOL

Cliff's Antiques

Sometimes I find that I'm lacking inspiration...It's not that I have nothing to write....but I doubt the interestingness of it all.

I would like to thank some of my blogger friends CSM (Crazy Suburban Mom) http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/ and Erin at http://torontoyardsaler.blogspot.com/ for mentionning my blog. It's always nice to realize that actual people read what I write! There's always the hit counter but....Speaking of the hit counter, it freaked out this week and went from 4000 something to more than 11,000!!! What the???

Ok now for the real reason for this post: Cliff's antiques! Situated on rte 1 in Scarborough Maine, my father refers to it as the dirty flea market. Dirtier than the one in Oxford (the Undercover flea market). So this year it was really funny 'coz Dad kept saying: You know, it is much cleaner than I remember!

2 Yeard ago I scored some of my first Pyrex. The big yellow 404 from the Primary set 6$, my Butterprint frigie set (minus one small one) only 10$ and a Blue Snowflake casserole with decorated lid 7$. Last year Dad got me the very now famous Mad Men casserole (space saver) green with the gold wheat. So of course I had HIGH expectations from this place....

I find that since I now have quite the collection, the missing pieces are harder to find! And this year it felt like someone sucked all the good Pyrex from Maine!

So I was quite sick of seeing all that Verde and Old Orchard! LOL

So I found the Old Town creamer 1$ and hiding inside another bowl, the Square Flower Green 402 1$. I was really happy to find these so cheap. Dad got me the Early American fridgie. The cat on the side looks just like Bob (my big hunter).

Dan got the bourbon glass for a cool 1$

This morning we painted the front porch and it looks so much better! This afternoon more basement cleaning!

Better pic!

Ok still booblike but a better pic, no?

I look at them and I can't help myself! I just crack up!

Arundel Flea Market

Situated on a street corner the Arundel Flea Market has tons to offer.

It has clean bathrooms (that is definitely a plus!) inside and a restaurant outside. Lots of stuff to see outside too!

I always start the adventure outside then move inside.

This place was really full of treasures! I found this Kitchen Glassware book (4$)that was a hit with both Dan and Dad. We looked at it for hours on end...Who knew that some lemon reamers could sell for 2000$

? Well not us...

I found this super cute nut chopper. Made by Hazel Atlas. It is in great condition without chips or cracks. I'm still on the fence about keeping it!

In the same pic, the 2 pink blobs (that look like, I just realized it, breasts! ) are actually S&P shakers. They are pink lemons...Get your mind out of the gutter people!LOL!
Still on the fence about those too! I'll try to post a better pic so you can see how cute they really are!

Also Dan has a vintage drinking glass addiction....so the Return of the Jedi glass was bought (2$)

This is where last year Dad wanted to buy me a pink fridgie set (complete,mint,no chips) and I refused, I felt it was too much money.

Well I still think about that set! I still think it was WAY too expensive. Needless to say no pink Pyrex was to be seen at that place!
Last but not least....Drumroll please! the Vintage Pink Carry-on Case with vintage stickers! Dan gave me some mad money for my B-Day so I took advantage of it!

As soon as I saw it, I grabbed it with my pudgy little hands and would not let go...at the risk of breaking everything in sight! I just cleaned it and can't wait to go away on a cool weekend and bring it with me!

Now in real life....we started to clean the basement...eurk! Dusty,spidery,generally eek inducing,humid..Anyways we threw out 3 garbage bags, 4 boxes, filled the cars to donate to the Salvation Army and recycled an old car battery....I'm tired now!

The Beach at last!

AAAaaaaahhhhh! the sea breeze...That invigoratig seaweed smell! The sun, the salt,the sea!

DELICIOUS! The room (condo) was amazing. Tons of space, 2 floors,2 living rooms (so Dad can watch his old black and white movies and I can watch the Food network) 2 bathrooms...And the deck! It was on the third floor just like a cherry on a sundae....Sunny,windy the perfect place to enjoy a drink before supper!

The water was cold,and the wind colder!!! Brrr! Where's my electric blanket???

No matter. We are here and we will ejoy no matter what!


Speaking of enjoying....How about a fishermen's platter? Fried food....at The Lobster Claw in Saco (just a short drive from OOB).

It was delicious! I split it with Dad, becasue there's no way I could eat that all my myself! Extra lemon please! The lemon makes it easier for the body to digest that mound of crispy joy!

No dessert for me....

Tomorrow...the Arundel Flea Market!

Undercover Flea Market

In the middle of nowhere (at least it feels that way to me!) is the Undercover Flea Market. Actually it's in Oxford Maine. Opened all year round from 9 to 5. You could litteraly get lost in there!

It's a good thing they sell coffee and snacks! It's HUGE! And most of the booths have sale signs.

It's not the cheapest place, and not the most expensive either. You could find basicaly anything : old books,new books,glassware,cut glass,crystal,pottery, a whole wall of S&P shakers and the list goes on and on!

The 2 Pyrex pieces in the picture were gifts from my Dad. I didn't have the Butterfly Gold loaf pan and I had never seen that deep orange 402 bowl anywhere! Cool!

Imagine that we still have half the road ahead of us! We passed in front of one really mysterious place called the Pick N Paw . It looks like a humongous pile of junk by the side of the road, and unfortunately it was closed! Rats! We have never stopped there....Maybe on the way back!

Where to begin????

I had so much fun on my vacation, I don't know where to start!

So last Saturday we went to pick up my Dad and off we went!

We always have the same jokes...Like the fact that we must eat all the fresh fruit before crossing the border, because we're not allowed to bring some to the States....

We stopped at Howard's restaurant in Colebrook N.H. I had found that place in the internet. It was right on the way and certainly the place to be! Breakfast was great! Simple food, done well at a fair price. You can't ask for anything more!

Over the toilet bowl, there was this sign (see first pic) It kept us entertained for a while....

Simple pleasures!

Route 26 through New Hampshire and Maine, must be my all time favorite road! There's tons to see, waterfalls, wild turkeys, little villages....flea markets....and the Puzzle Mountain bakery! I wrote about them las year. They have this little cupboard by the side of the road and you can buy pies,cookies,preserves and pickles. And you leave the money in a box nailed to the side of the tree! This year we bought blueberry pie (I figured since blueberries are the state fruit!), and it was delicious! Fingerlicking! More in another post....