Fantabulous Thrifting Road Trip!

Ok,ok fantabulous is a tacky word and I'm guilty of over using it! So Saturday we left the house at 8am heading to the St-Zotique Annual Church Bazaar...and we were too late!

Too late for these beauties!

Yep the pair was bought just 5 minutes before we arrived! They sold for 10$ a piece! Omg! I kicked myself but just for a  minute...afterall if I did not get them means that I was not meant to have them!

But I got to see this in the parking

A beautiful Dodge Valiant 1964! Look at that Aqua!

And to tell you the truth I'd never seen seen such an amazing Bazaar. I was running around like a chicken without a head and so was Dan. So many dishes, so much glass, so MUCH STUFF!

So we brought these home. And I bought a second bowling glass but it's already in use!

A close-up of the Pyrex beverage server and the Yum cup....

And these gorgeous creatures....But really...

Fondue forks in their original boxes! The mid-century Danish like are like a dream...I jumped on them like misery on poor people (this sounds better in french: Comme la misere sur le pauvre monde). They look unused or barely used. They will be available in my Etsy shop. The others I will keep for myself becasue I haven't had a good fondue in AGES and I gave ALL my fondue forks away a couple of years ago. How crazy is that? 

Wednesday I will continue this wonderful tale of thrift and Douce France if I were you I wouldn't miss this for the world.... 

It Made It to the Front Page!

Yesterday I had an AMAZING day! Really!

First my triplets pic made it to the front page of Explore on Flickr! That sure was exciting, all the comments, the favorites!

And I was sooooo at ease at work! It was my first day alone with my boss and it went GREAT!

And I sold more in one day in my Etsy store than in whole months! And 2 people wanted the same bowl lol. You know how  that works: The early bird catches the bowl!

So I have a lot of packing to do later this evening! Right now I'm guzzling some coffee and getting ready for a big church basement sale and some Ontario thrifting later!

(since I sucked all the Pyrex from the eastern seaboard...I might as well try to do the same in Ontario! Althought my friend Erin @ Toronto Yard Sale Snoop is doing a pretty good job so far...)

Oh and before I forget...Welcome Olga! Thanks for following! I'm so excited...my 58th follower! Go check out her blog  Olga's Home & Garden Blog for some super thrifty way to grow lettuce! It's true! Try it out, I know I will!

Fertilizer Friday: Lupins Gone Wild

Oh I've been a very lazy girl this week, it's only my second post....Bad Miss V!

I'm hooking up with Tootsie Time for some garden fun and Fertilizer Friday ! Last Friday just as I was packing my bag for my weekend at the shore...I was complaining that I didn't have any lupins in bloom yet; well mother nature sure did surprise me!

With all the heat we've been having, by tuesday morning all the lupins were in bloom and all over the place! I got back real late on monday and was unaware of all this gorgeous display!

 My love of lupins began innocently enough...In 1988 I vacationned in St-Thomas New Brunswick near Bouctouche and lupins were growing wild all over. When I bought my house in 1995, I was a beginner gardener and all I had was grass, lots of unmowed grass. I got the shovel out and dug borders. I was on a tight budget and bought only 6 perrenials including a yellow lupin.

Every few years I would buy a new color. I wanted to have the whole rainbow. However I find lupins are fickle and even if they are real hardy in the Maritimes and New England, they often die over the winter (I live in zone 5). So I never really got my rainbow....

But I got white! I never bought white....so funny the way nature works!

And I got blue and pink and funky mélanges of blue and red. By the way the yellow one is still with me but did not bloom this year. Oh well! I'm not complaining; I will just enjoy this beautiful gift of blooms while it lasts because one never knows...Will they grow back next year? Only Mother Nature knows!

I just got my 57th follower! Welcome Heidi, I hope you enjoy your visits!

Pyrex Finds

What a fun weekend that was! On the way down we hit 3 boring garage sales and 2 fleas. Needless to say the little green un-marked graduated Pyrex bowl was gone...oh well! You snooze,you loose!

I did find 2 things but I haven't cleaned them yet....I was too busy installing the air conditionner and washing these....

 

I found those at Cliff's flea market in Scarborough, Maine on Sunday. I was a bit down because I didn't find any Pyrex on the way down (except some Early American, tons of it! Early American lovers rejoice!)

Dan assured me I was going to find something GOOD that day! Boy oh Boy that sure was a statement!

I first came across the Atlas jar with a milk glass insert (In case you didn't know I also have a thing for vintage Mason jars...It's called Jarosis) and just had to have it. Then I saw that cute Pastel Stripes bowl that I've been looking for for nearly a year now; I kept seeing it in Ebay and Etsy for around 15$ to 20$ plus shipping....So I was real happy to shell out 7.50$! A couple of booths farther I was attacked by thie adorable Flamingo Party Pan for 2.75$, I just had to bring it home....

Here's a closeup of the milk glass insert. The Atlas jars were in fact made by Hazel Atlas.

 

Also at Cliff's I found the smaller Gooseberry casserole....On Monday we decided to go to York Beach and drove by the BoMar flea in Wells. There I found the pink Gosseberry casserole. It was 12$ and I decided to skip it. Dan asked me if I was sure I wasn't gonna take it and if I was gonna moan and whine about it back home....LOL! somebody knows me soooo well! So I went back to pick it up and lo and behold everything was 50% off! Cool! With lid! And minty too!

Look how cute the triplets look!

Gotta go! This is pool girl's time of the year too! Must remove leaves this morning!

I want to welcome my 56th follower, Leah@StoryBookRanch. Thank you for joining!

I will be joining Suzanne from Colorado Lady for some good ol' clean VTT fun! So hop on over and let the Thursday social begin!

Lélélé It's FRIDAY!

Well I survived my first night shift at the postal counter! 1 to 9 . Yiiiiipppppeeee! Just one more before the ROADTRIP!

I'm already planing what places I'll be visiting and yes Dad, I'm also thinking of what I'll be eating! Fisherman's plater anyone?

I'll be stoping at the pie shack in the mountain. I blogged about it HERE (way back when about 3 people read me) and HERE.

 I'm looking forward to breakfast in Colebrook, NH at Howard's and the Undercover Flea Market in Oxford Maine. I found some great Pyrex there over the years....The last 2 years I spotted a small primary green 401 bowl that is graduated inside like a measuring cup....It's un-marked but definitely the Pyrex shape....I passed it up because of the price....Will I bring it home to play with the rest of the 401s????

I'm also hoping for some lawn,yard and garage sales on the way down.... Actually I'm opened to ALL thrifting opportunities! Since I started peddling stamps, I haven't been to the Salvation Army...so I'm like a junkie...I NEED A FIX! (Will A&E make a new tv show, a cross between Intervention & Hoarders?)

I was hoping to see some lupines in the mountains but it's way too early. Mine are just starting thinking about flowering, which means I'll be able to enjoy them in about a week. I couldn't find pics to share with you..so instead I give you

Echinacea! One of my favorite perennials They are usually very sturdy, but i find that the new fancier variety are more susceptible to die during the winter. So far I've lost 3 Sunrise (pale yellow) and 2 Sunset (orangey red) echinaceas, and those puppies don't come cheap! The sturdiest of the fancy pants varities are PC brand (yes my canadian friends President Choice!) and less expensive as well!

.

 

That pic was taken about 2 years ago in July. In the background you can see Pink delphinium, next to it is some dark Pink lupines (at right) and left of the delphinium you can see penstemon and in front some brown eyed susans.

A close up of the pink delphiniums.

Those dark blue (purple) delphinium are my favorite! I started them from seed about  12 years ago and they are still going strong! They are more beautiful every year! So I'm really looking forward to those!

Today I'll be joining Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time .Hop on there for some beautiful blooms!

VTT: Pyrex Refrigerator Dishes

Happy VTT everyone! I'm working extra hard this week and was not planning on joining the VTT fun. However in order to make it easier on me, I decided to go through my Pyrex pic file...and found these beauties....

 This is the first refrigerator set produced by Pyrex in the 40s. You got 2 small red one, a larger blue one and a big yellow one. I didn't find this set as is; each piece I found individualy over a period of 2 years.

This is the Butterprint pattern. It is one of the most sought after pattern. I was really lucky on that one. I found it almost complete (missing one small) in Maine for 7.50$. SCORE!

Those were a gift from Dad! You know I love aqua. Pyrex calls this color Turquoise.

Beautiful mid-century set!

Sigh! Lovely canadian Delphite. Thank you Pyrex for making this heavenly blue and only here in Canada!

The blue lids were only made for a small period of time because they were not as practical as clear ones. The one with the lid on the table I got at the Lachute flea market for 1$ and the vendor actually look releaved I was taking this god awful thing off his hands!

This is a mixed up set. It is made of some Town & Country (small orangey tan), Verde (small greenish yellow), the medium one and the largest are (but I'm not sure) part of the Daisy set. Some were gifts, some found. I like all their sunshiny hues!

I remember posting this pic in Flickr and got some comments i had too many red ones....Well none of your beeswax! But during the big 2009 de-clutter fest, I started closely looking at the HUGE amount of Pyrex in the house and had a bloggy giveaway and sent 2 of these cuties to some of my readers.

That's it for today. Do visit Suzanne @ Colorado Lady for some nice Thursday social and more VTT!

A few of my favorite places...and Pyrex!

I'm working 31 hours this week and for someone who hasn't worked in 2 years; thta is a lot! What keeps me going is the thought of going to the shore....

So here are a couple of my favorite places!

                                                              Old Orchard Beach
When I was small my parents brought me to Ogunquit and OOB was considered amazingly tacky, french canadian and a big nono!
I started going to OOB because I found a great motel that's really affordable and great restaurants that just serve good affordable food (no nouvelle cuisine big chichi). I fell in love with the place. I don't go on the boardwalk (eeewww) and I don't go to the bars.

The famous Pier.

I remember that at one point there was an aquarium at the end. It's long gone. there also was a big dance hall where big bands would play, gone. Today you have bars,fast food places and games.

I still love to look at it from afar...

The Scarborough salt marsh

A great place to take walks or ride your bike. It is the largest salt marsh in North America.

Al's Seafood

Ok I admit this one is not in OOB, Maine. This is on rte 1, between Porthsmouth and Hampton Beach. They have the best lobster roll (and largest), best lobster stew and the fried food is to die for! Fried oysters anyone? Half is a restaurant and half is a lobster pound. The seafood is soooo fresh! YUM!

 Here's a recently found small 401 Americana bowl hanging out with the rabbit in my shade garden.

 

This is a small Colonial Mist  401 bowl. I have been hunting for one for around 6 months. Oh I found some but the price was too high or the shipping was crazy! I got it for .99cents and the shipping was less than 10.00$! Good for me!

Now one of my bloggyland friends; Linda @ A La Carte is having some giveaways to celecrate her upcoming birthday and guess what? She loves Pyrex too!

Last but not least I'd like to welcome my 55th follower, a fellow canadian Lydia from Koby's Cache. She has lovely depression glass! Welcome Lydia!

Retro Tuesday: More Retro Ads

Turns out the magazines I picked up a couple of months ago @ Mrs Silverstone's lovely shop are an endless source of cool and weird ads!

Today's crop comes from LHJ March 1956. Here goes!

Ok EEEEEWWWW! Meat from a can! I'm always thinking those things are full of unmentionable mystery meat parts...You get the picture? No? How about nose and eyeballs and bits of bones and genitals?

Ok sorry about that but I felt like grossing you out lol!

So in this ad they want me to put the can in the fridge so the fat congeals and then cut it in rounds (or filets mignon pieces) and wrap them in bacon...Even if it's a known fact that bacon makes EVERYTHING yummy, I would need at least a pound around each thing to make it palatable....At least! Just saying!

Sorry about the scan quality on that ad. When LHJ was published, nobody figured out that one day in the future, far,far away (not Star Wars far away) people would scan their ads and that the mag was too big for the scan!

 As a young lady (about 18) I had a girlfriend who was (in my eyes) sooooo sophisticated (she had her own apt) and she always had Cashemere Bouquet soap in the bathroom. OOH LALA!

The years past and I came to associate Cashmere Bouquet as cheap motel soap. Every motel I went to had it and it made my hands feel dry and icky!

So I found it funny and ironic that the ad touts it as a beauty soap to make your skin glow. Dry, flaky skin is so unattractive ladies!

Last but not least...DRUMROLL please!

Franciscan Ware in the Oasis pattern! Ok, ok it's not the starburst pattern but this is still amazingly nice! Notice how the husband doesn't give a hoot in what he drinks his coffee! Could be served in a coconut cup...as long as the misses is available for some afternoon delight! Must be the Cashmere Bouquet!

Be sure to visit my sparkly toed friend Tracy of  Crazy Suburban Mom fame right HERE for some more retro goodies!

And welcome to my 54th follower Svelte Stuff ! Thank you for following!

I'm off outside to spray paint a new (to me) wicker hamper for my bath room.

Later my retro friends!

Smell of Spring

First off, I'd like to welcome my 53th follower ; Karryann @ Gracefully Vintage . Great blog! I wish I could re-upholster a chair like that! ENVY!

Not only everything outside looks bright and shiny in Spring but the smell is heavenly too. I couldn't help myself and I picked some lilac over the weekend.The house smells amazing!

I placed the branches in a Cut Flowers vase made by US Glass. This vase belonged to Dan's grandma, so it's quite old but I couldn't find more precise manufacturing dates.

The color is known as marigold and it reminds me of FireKing's peach lustre.

Here's a closer look at the vase

The flowers are wheeled cut while the rest of the details are formed by the mold.

It was thought to be a Jenkins at first but it has appeared in US Glass catalogs.

Now a couple of weeks ago while visiting my Dad, I spied the same vase but clear. He offered it to me and being the glassware lover that I am I could not turn it down....Dad told me he saw it in the Fry guidebook and that he would send me the page. I'll post about it upon reception.

So following the anticlutter rule: When you bring something in, something must come out. I gave one of my cheap modern vase to the church basement. The wheels of junk are turning....What's trash for me is a teasure for someone else....

By the way...I'll be leaving bright and early on saturday morning and heading to Maine for the weekend! OH JOY! OH BLISS! Mr Gallop (inventor of the GI diet) will be taking time off as well! Lobster,fried clams, Bill's pizza,fudge,caramel corn will all find their way in my greedy little hands...And I'll be working off the calories scouring all the fleas I encounter! My mission? Sucking out what's left of Pyrex on the eastern seaboard!!!

   

White on White

Aaaahhh! Saturday! Since I have to stay put and wait for the washer and dryer, I might as well put my energy to good use and work in the garden...What to do, what to do? So many weeds...so little time!

But first! I MUST pick a lovely lilly of the valley bouquet! Last year I started to pick all my lilly of the valley and then I realized my well meaning but moronic neighbor mowed all I had on the side of the house! Boy was I mad!

So this year I didn't take any chances...I put one of these white wire fence (from the dollar store) around it...Take that you mower maniac!

So this is what I picked

155 lilly of the valley sprigs to fit in this beautiful milkglass Westmoreland vase. I think it's in the Grapes pattern but I'm not sure. I picked it up last year at the Salvation Army for 2.99$. Of course this makes me think of Douce France @ Passion of Milkglass Collecting.

My parents really liked milkglass so that's where I started. I don't collect it per se, but if a piece strikes my fancy I will bring it home before you can say Shazbot!

Gotta go the washer and dryer will be here in 30min (they just called) and I have to cut some lilacs to bring inside....

Fertilizer Friday: What is blooming now

Today I wanted to show some of the plants in my garden that are in bloom right now so I'll be joining Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time .

I've been meaning to share some blooms for quite a while now but this being Quebec we've been having some crazy Spring weather!

Oops! I managed to take a pic of a dandelion! This is a rescued plant that didn't have a tag so I don't know what it is...I have 5 now. After the flowers die down, the plant is just green but still lovely!

 

I love creeping phlox and this pale lavender shade is just charming. I planted it  near the shabby stone wall so it would lazily cascade over...

I had a big bug infestation 2 years ago and the little !"/$%?& killed nearly all my irises. The ones I managed to save are starting to flower.

Here's some perrenial thlaspi, forget-me-not and a mystery flower in the back. I got the mystery one when I purchased some phlox through a catalogue. I had extra roots in the bag, which I naturally assumed were phlox too...Oh well!

I hope you all have a great day and that this weekend's weather will be nice enough so you can get dirty in your garden!

VTT: Alice in Wonderland

Today on VTT I'd like to share a book, a pretty old book. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

It was printed in 1937 by the Platt & Munk co. inc. New York. It seems this publisher specialized in children's books.

I couldn't find anything more about the publisher. This is the kind of thing that you've seen forever, yet you  don't know anything about it...I remember looking at the images as a child....

 

And I remember my Dad designing costumes for local Alice in Wonderland production. At that young age I found the story delightful....

 

As an adult well not so much....I fail to see the magic and all I see are crazy people and drugs! Much like the world today....And the movie....Well let's just say the Helena Bohnam Carter was born to play in it and looked both crazy and scary! 

Have a great VTT and visit Suzanne @ Colorado Lady for more VTT fun!

The Recipe plus other stuff

For those of you who lusted after the granola bar recipe...Here it is

 Homemade Granola Bars


1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar substitute
2 tsp baking powder
¼ cup All-Bran or Bran Buds cereal
1 tsp each ground cinnamon and spice
½ tsp each ground ginger and salt
1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup finely chopped dried apricots
½ cup shelled sunflower seeds
¾ cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup apple juice (unsweetened)
3 omega-3 eggs
2 tsp vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a shallow 8 x 12 inch baking dish with parchment paper.

Mix the flour, sugar substitute, baking powder, cereal, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the oats, apricots and sunflower seeds.

Mix the applesauce, apple juice, eggs and oil, and add to the floor mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it out evenly.

Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool and cut into 16 bars.

The first batch I made I put in a tin box, however I had to throw out the last 2 because they were moldy. I suggest keeping them in the fridge or freezing part of them individually wrapped. They are usually served with a cold glass of skim milk.

 Lately I discovered a treasure in my backyard...a big old sorrel plant. I'd save it 4 or 5 years ago at the end of the season of a certain death. I planted it in my vegetable garden and just watched it grow and grow. I was scared to use it, I didn't know how to prepare it. Last year I ate sorrel soup at a french bistro in Montreal and it was real interesting. So finally this year I tried it at home and loved it. Pictured here is a big Pyrex Turquoise bowl full of freshly picked sorrel....It will become 'Creme d'oseille' sorrel cream.

I have to tip my hat to all women who work outside and inside the home, have kids and try to put nutritious food on the table. This week food has been a real struggle for me. I'm running all over the place.I need to follow the GI diet where everything is made from scratch and it's still new so I'm running out of ideas, I work everyday, take care of the lawn and garden, shopped for a washer and dryer and tonight it's the vet.

I'm so not used to that! I need to marry my 2 lives: Blogging , thrifting and web surfing Miss V. and working Miss V....

I know ,I know it will all settle down in a couple of weeks....I already feel more confortable at work and I laugh a lot with the customers. So that is good!  

 If you want the recipe for the soup, let me know!

Gotta go, gotta cook some steelcut oats and go to the church basement!

Retro Tuesday: Appliances...

Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Retro Tuesday! In light of my recent appliance woes, I decided to go back in time to see what the washers looked like back then....

But instead I found this: 

This one is courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens 1941.

I choose that pics because of the Pyrex (a subject close to my heart!). On the stove you have the iconic Flameware teapot. I love this teapot the design is fabulous and it is sturdy despite being made of glass, in true Pyrex tradition. It is perfect to brew some those tea blooms that are so fashionable right now. And next to it you have a realtively unknown but revered among true connaisseurs piece, that weird coffee pot. It seems it takes a master's degree to make good coffee in this, but it's supposed to make THE best coffee. These are quite expensive in good condition (around 100$).

 

No Pyrex here! I love these stoves and I have seen some people on Flickr who still uses them. How fab is that?

But still no washer...instead

This is gorgeous dispited being Pyrex-less! And the freezer is on the bottom like a lot of the fridges today.

I'm always fascinated by the fact that there was no plastic wrap on anything, hey it existed! That pic is from the LHJ 1962. About the freezer being on bottom...N-E-V-E-R-A-G-A-I-N! I thought I would find things easier, but no. And I think I saw some cat hair in there (EEEWWW and LOL at the same time). The only plus is that I have a light in the freezer....

And then I find this....

Can you see the color? Robin's egg blue! SWEET! And you can get the pair in pale green! This is from 1956. I'll take the blue ones please!

But this is ,in my eyes, the motherlode!

Besides the fridge (far left), the one piece stainless steel counter boasts 4 appliances! From left to right: A washer and dryer combo, a dishwasher and a stove! And Pyrex! I spy with my little eye a Primary green 403 bowl and a yellow Utility dish (lasagna size).

S'cuse me do you make this in Aqua or Pink? Yes? I'll take it!

I spent part of last evening with a measuring tape checking out washer and dryers at Sears. Call me oldfashioned but I like buying my appliances in stores like that.I learned some very interesting things about the new front loaders....First they take a lot of space, that I don't have. I live in an older house and would need to put a new addition to fit them in. Since I wash my comforters (cat hair) I can't have a washer with self regulating water level; the comforter acts like a sponge and the machine keeps filling up and filling up until the comforter is so heavy that the machine won't spin. And you can't find a dryer with a low Energy Star rating.

So the new ones will be here on Saturday!

Check out Tracy's Retro Tuesday HERE !