Grief

 Today we had to send Boubou over the rainbow bridge. What a sad day. I was scheduled to work but I called in sick because I could not bear to send Mrs. Stink Eye alone in this and I wanted to be there for Boubou. When we took Boubou in, this is what we signed 8n for….to make him live his best life until the very end. His last years were not that easy….he was diagnosed with a mega colon…and that means he needs help to do what nature intended you to do. I am happy with this phrase it is very PC. So we had to give home pills twice a day and hydrating liquid 3 times a day and sometimes even give him subcutaneous fluids…. But this last week we could see that nothing happened, and that he was super tired. So we decided it was time to go.

We were very lucky to be able to see our favorite vet, who’s very caring and knows how’s we care for our fur babies. 

2021 is over?

 Oh well, another year has gone by! 

My thrift finds we’re few because I did not really venture out because of Covid.

I got this little guy at a convent that a an every thing must go sale

My wreath on my front door….I bought decorations from the dollar store because I refused to pay full price on a wreath

I my neighborhood we had an enchanted alley, where you could come and pose for pictures 

On of my favorite 2021 finds us this sweet blowmold. 

My favorite thing that happened in 2021 is the addiction of this sweet and crazy girl to our family! 

Chipits came in our lives on October 28th. She was found in an industrial parking.

2 last pictures are from the same convent sale. So I got my Xmas jollies for 1.50$ 

I was thinking of new year resolutions, but the kind I know can stick. So for 2022, I plan to help my local food banks, community outreach as much as I can. I my neighborhood food insecurity is high and the Saint Vinny is there to help, and I know another non profit helps but they did not answer my email… so I need to keep on keeping on and just reach out more and give! 

Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite! 

Mother

 

When I open my Mother’s cook book, I smell L’Air du Temps, stale cigarette smoke and regrets.

When my Father left, it destroyed her.

She drank to forget and drank some more to forget

She was drinking. 

I asked help from her family and they told me to be a good Christian 

And forgive. 

Therapy helped me realize that I should let it go. 

I did such a good job of this that I don’t exactly remember 

What year she passed. I know it was December...the 15th? 2011 or 2012? 

When I think about this I smell L’Air du Temps, stale cigarette smoke and regrets.

The time Pyrex saved me

  I might as well share

 when I heard that I lost my job...I was alone in the house...and I started to hyperventilate....and God knows what else....I was super scared I was going to have a heart attack...but I managed to calm down...by pacing in my house and opening  the front door...and then openeing the back door and taking DEEP breaths....

And I needed to find a happy place....

And I did! I had to look at my Pyrex hoard.....and I had to dig out some Turquoise Snowflake pieces and make a quick display. 

And that made me feel so much better. 

Have a great evening

Thursday February 4th 2021

 Normal start of the day...wake up at 6:30 am...drink coffee...have pleasant chitchat with my inner circle....

Go down to the basement at 7:30 am ....start doing the morning reports....8:30 am I get a call from my boss...and I get fired! 

Wham bam fuck you mam! By 10:30 am I did not exist anymore at big company .....

I knew I was on the fence for a while...because my new boss informed me in late November 2020...that I was on Quality review because I had not met quality goals for the last 2 years...and that was the first time I heard about it. 

When big company bought medium company in 2015...they ignored medium company for about 2 years...then they had the idea to offer packages and 80% of medium cie employees left. 

That was when I changed boss...she was nice but basically ignored me. Not to far after that I got a new leader...and she worked extra hard to ignore me. Even after I flagged that I was alone doing 8 people’s jobs...and not very well! 

In 2020 I got my present ex-leader in June....and she never said anything until late November. i did my very best...but obviously I failed.

Now I say good riddance to an awful stressful job....my work stress is now their work stress. Big company now deal with all your gaps and failures! 

I will be on vacation...plotting my comeback ! 

Off to a good start

 Continuing on the positive sides of 2020. 

I tried a lot of recipes in 2020.

Some my family did not like at all...like Hawaiian chicken, the breakfast crescent bake all of Youtube is raving about...not here I tell you! Hahahahaha

Yes that is the one! Ew !!!

Others were winners...like the breakfast burritos...super easy and you can freeze them. And the cowboy lasagna. Of course I had to tweak it...remove the corn add green and red peppers....and a lot less cheese. 

Today I bought a 13 pound brisket at the grocery store, portioned it wrapped and froze it. I plan to make a cola brisket and a corned brisket....I have no idea what that will end up as...because this is a super rare occurrence in Quebec super markets! I am thinking that since so many restaurants are closed, bulk distributors need to get rid of some specialty items. 

Cowboy Lasagna, 

Hoppin’ John to bring luck to 2021! 

Okay sweet folks, have a great evening, say warm and stay safe! 

Wear your mask! 

I just lost a filing and other 2020 fun happenings

 So this is Wednesday night...December 30th 2020 (the super year of fun! ) ....and I just realized...I lost a filling! 

Just how fun is that? It is never fun...but in 2020 it is super frightening and death defying! 

Right now it is 10:15 pm and way to late to call any dentist...so stay tuned for more fun! Weeeeeeee

Let’s focus on the positive!

I will not mince my words.... 2020 was a total shit show.

But through it all I learned a lot of things. I watched some (a lot) of Youtube. i watched a lot of ladies cook, bake, clean and rock some fancy kitchen gadgets! 

With their virtual help, I built a 3 month pantry, started meal planning and tried multiple recipes....

Some were fails , some winners.....

And early next year, I will learn how to use the instant pot! I am stocked about that one! 

So I want to give many thanks to the following channels for keeping me entertained, teaching me valuable 

Tricks and tips and letting me visit in your homes! 

Moss Family TV

A Country Life

Large Family table

Large Family Love

Amy Maryon

Flo Lum

Frugal Fit Mom

Mandy in the making

SomersInAlaska

Seeyou in 2021

What I have been up to

 Well as you know...confinement is what it is...we enjoyed a couple of months of freedom and then the second wave hit. 

I miss the freedom...Going to the office, in the big city all by myself....ordering a bagel for breakfast...

Walking in the underground city..a maze of malls, tunnels, shops and restaurants. I miss the delicious ramen at Marusan with black garlic oil. 

My eyes miss seeing the buildings and colors of downtown Montreal. The office tower is closed. I could go in and work all alone...but my better half doesn’t like it...because I suffer from asthma. 

I used to work 3 days a week at the office, which means 9 meals out (bad girl) . But it kept me sane. 

Covid has forced me to cook a lot more and at the same time gave me the opportunity to make more time

Consuming recipes like perogies from scratch....these are so good! 

And who doesn’t love a good upside down pineapple cake? 

I haven’t made one of these in more than 5 years! 

Very good! 

And of course I am overloading in YouTube videos...lots of great recipe ideas...lots of different lifestyles...and I love learning things! 

Old family recipe stuffed peppers from Jehanne Benoit a Quebec classic.

This is a new one ...Swedish meatball..headed for the freezer

I I bought a spelt cranberry apple bread and it was so full of holes I decide to make french toast...delicious and I froze extras for other breakfasts.

Last but not least...this is zucchini, cheddar beer bread..

Smelled great but way less tasty than I expected!

So in a nutshell..I watch a lot of youtube ...homemaking videos with lots of recipes...which I try when they sound good.

I am definitely very lucky. I can work from home, can pay my bills and feel oh so very blessed. 

Do you feel blessed? If so please share! 

Stocking up

So I  am not calling this prepping...because I have seen some crazy stuff on you tube....

I was pretty freaked out in March on my grocery trips so I just want to avoid this repeating.....

We have been pretty good eating from the freezer and the pantry...but once in a while I need some oysters!

But when I read that Melbourne was going back in lockdown...well it just might be a question of weeks before we are forced into lockdown again....

Because it will come back ..even if we all hate it!

So better be prepared before everyone starts freaking out about toilet paper again!

At least you have cute kitties to look at! This is the first time that Meghan (white and black) has touched Boubou....

In the meantime...stay safe and wear your mask!

So How you doing???

Here is it in a nutshell...on December 26th 2019, we both got sick....really sick. 

I even had to sleep sitting up because I could not catch my breath...we tried to see our physician or any physician and everything was booked solid. We had to share my inhalers...I know it is not recommended...but you have to do, what you have to do. 

We stopped feeling like death warmed over around January 9th 2020. 

I am so grateful I was able to work from home......

Do I think we caught Covid-19 early? Hell yeah! 

If China acknowledged it in late January it means it had been roaming for awhile....

It is my opinion and I am sticking with it. 

2020 so far has been the year of disappointments...multiple vacation plans cancelled, confinement....

Again I am so thankful to be able to work from home....the crazy grocery trips....

I remember the second week of confinement...going to a grocery store and no potatoes, no onions or carrots...just the weird vegetables that I love...like rapini or fennel....

No fresh meat...I got the last ripped box of frozen ribs.....

No milk, no eggs, no canned good, no flour, no sugar...no toilet paper

That really freaked me out. When got home I was soooo tired I had to take a nap.

I was really happy to be confined with Dan and the cats because we were always happy and grateful.

And that is really important in these crazy times....

This is a picture of deserted downtown Montreal...I have never seen that before! 

So that is it for today, stay well, stay safe and wear your mask!!!

A nice month

I know that August has just begun...but I am feeling good.

feeling good in my new space, feeling good in my head...I finally feel like I belong.

I don't need a huge space, I don't need a trendy neighborhood....Turns out I needed a smallish duplex, in a quiet neighborhood and a wooden fence.

When we bought the house, there was no fence in the back and I felt uncomfortable sitting outside like an over easy egg...

but it all changed with this...

 How can part of a fence make so much difference?

I don't know and it is between my 2 ears for sure!

But it makes a world of difference!

We have been hanging out in the yard nearly every day!

 I can hear my babbling mini Niagara (really loud)

 And tend to my mostly herb garden.

 Today I felt so good and inspired by all the local produce that I am making a lasagna with lotsa vegs

inside....for the freezer and probably a Mexican lasagna for the freezer as well.

I have strong squirrel genes and I like to make reserves....

in case you are wondering...we are still not totally unpacked and that is quite

alright alright alright...

I will explain in the next post!

Be well and stay thrifty

Now what?

Now we are all looking in front towards the future and doing the bast we can.

 Of course it looks like a storm blew in and dumped shit all over the place...

I can vouch that on this date it looks much better !

and as 2 people suffering from different mental illnesses and one of them is just retired

and the other one is working full time...

we just do what we can everyday. 

slowly but surely

 And since I took these pictures , I sold a bunch of stuff to my life saver...

I cannot tell you enough how I am grateful I found this great quirky lady!

 in love with it

 More of the mess downstairs...

everyday it gets better, everyday I feel more at home!

We call this lamp...the pineapple lamp.

I have seen it all my life and for some reason Dan fell

in love with it....I officially gave it to her...

so folks that is our progress so far. 

red living room 90% done

Bedroom 80% done

Dining room 60% done

Kitchen 70% done

Basement 40% done since this is where the bulk of the mess is...

So it is truly one day at a time...and we need to 

relax and have fun...

so being optimistic in 2 weeks everything should be done...

LOL

I will keep you posted on that!

Thank you Dad

Dad I hope that somewhere in Heaven you can read this.....

I want to thank you for that beautiful house, I really am grateful for this gift. However keeping it was not feasible even if we really liked the neighborhood.

The cost of living in this beauty was too much for us and our peace of mind.

at one point in your life we need to realize what we can and can't afford and that is how the cookie crumbles.

Your friends were not shy in voicing their opinions....they were sad I was selling the house. That house was full of beautiful memories for them...but now I realize full of stress and sorrow for me.

 Getting rid of the books was as difficult as one of Hercules 

challenge! WORD

 Carport after 1-800 you know...

thank you guys, you were lifesavers!

 Last pic of the kitchen...I will miss those curtains...

 dining room and whatever space all empty now

the white living room before my friend Denise came

to pick up goodies....

I have endured my Dad's friends opinions and judgement for the last 3 1/2 years...

so here it is...

I am artistic, but not an artist. 

I do not have the same set of values you have.

and that is okay. 

doesn't mean that I am inferior to you....

yes I got a lot of that vibe

so I sold my Dad's house so I could provide for my girlfriend, 

my daughter and myself.

so on that note...

have a great evening 

and stay thrifty!

OMG

The house SOLD, the house SOLD, the house SOLD!!!!!!

What? What? What?

And it sold in less than 2 months...which is freaking amazing considering the price point.

All the stress fell and we caught this freak cold...If a cold and the flu had a love child!

That really kicked our butts...all the while trying to pack boxes, boxes and more boxes and trying to deal with the balance of my dad's stuff.

and working full time....so it was good times all around!

This is also a very emotional time as I am purging, cleaning and finding this I was not aware of.

 My Dad was as shy as he was exuberant...Yes it happens

When he told me he had been nominated for an Emmy award for Cirque du Soleil's Dralion

he also told me he would not go and pick it up in L.A.

This is when he received it at his workshop.

 I took this picture from the TV.

I was watching the documentary that was released 

the year after his death. It was like visiting with him.

 This picture is from Google. He was in his early 20's.

His teachers had him pegged as a fashion designer

but he loved the theater.

So selling his house and moving is a huge thing but

it was a necessary thing.

I do not see our life as scrimping and scraping trying to get by 

, to pay insurance and those crazy municipal taxes....

So of my Dad's friends do not approve...

And to those people I say fiddledee!

And to this fuzzy bellied cat I say hello gorgeous!

Yoda loves to sleep on her back! 

When we move in my Dad's house we only bought

a sofa and a staked washer and dryer for small places.

this move we needed a kitchen table and we wanted a Tulip table

but after seeing the prices we opted for a lookalike not really Tulip table

 and those will be our dining room chairs. we decided to

refurbish our old chairs for the kitchen.

And after trying 50 plus sofas we decided to keep the 60's black vinyl

3 seater and put foam and new vinyl on it.

 Last week on a buy and trade Facebook site, I read

the message of a young woman who had recently separated and had 

2 kids and she was looking for this we could donate.

So I gave her these. She was so grateful and happy and I did not have to list them and deal with

weird classified buyers...

 I had to empty my freezer and look what I found...

pork chops from 2015! and they are not even freezer burned! 

WHAT???

I am my parents daughter and I will thaw them out and cook them.

My mother was a penny pincher and even if Dad loved to splurge he was really cheap on food!

 We also got through our first move.

Yes we will have 2 moves.

All my Dad's nativity is moved, 50 boxes, all the wood working tools

the freezer, the extra fridge and some furniture.

So that clears a lot of extra place for new boxes!

Seeing this makes me so happy, I feel tingly all over!

We have a red room right now and we love it, so this was 

a no brainer!

I just fined baking Dixie's Orange Cake from 

Pyrex prize recipe. This was a challenge from the Facebook group Pyrex and everything vintage!

NAILED IT!

That's it for tonight...Suddenly I am very, very tired

Take care faithful readers!

Sunday Night

Between inspections, visits, service people and working from home ...Whenever I have a moment, I purge and pack.

Funny how I moved here only 3 years ago and I am discovered things I had forgotten about...

The Boo keeps telling me that it is because we have too much stuff! LOL

Today while I was washing Pyrex, I was reminded how much I love Pyrex and how much it brings me joy and I was really happy enjoying that moment in my present hurricane of emotions....

I was also happy to be working from home tomorrow because the weather has been crappy...today we had rain, freezing rain, hail , snow, wet snow and then all of them again....

Of course I am nervous about the roof, because the house is old and you see tons of stories of roof caving in on the news.....

but a light at the end of the tunnel...I heard water in the roof drains, which means everything is hunky-dory!

Sigh! I can now take a deep breath and enjoy my Sunday night!

Did not watch the Oscars but I saw Billy Porter's dress on the internet and I swear this guy lit the internet ON FIRE!

and that was amazing! Thank you Billy for your HUGE balls and the flair to pull it off!


As usual my pictures did not download, but I figured the problem! I need to open the laptop everyday!

 Instead I am sharing some of my fave

vintage advertisements.

I have never eaten canned wieners and not with sauce!

Have you?

This ad is a winner because of the Charcoal Snowflake Pyrex

Open Baker! oooooh!

And I have never tasted Spam...Even if I bought a can

last year....It is still in my cupboard...

In this one .....The eyes really got me!

I will add sliced olive eyes to ALL my dishes!

Getting back to the Oscars...I saw that Shangela (of RuPaul's Drag race fame)

made a fabulous appearance on the red carpet!

You go girl!

And I started to watch RuPaul's Drag Race last week and I am 

having so much fun!

Stay tuned for more house developments!

Rollercoaster

it is in these times that I cannot deny I suffer from mental illness.

Friday I felt like a deer caught in the headlights of life and yesterday I had a panic attack and Dan had to talk me down.

In case you need an update....in October 2018 we visited a duplex in Verdun, fell in love, bought it , and that meant I needed to sell my huge house on Le Plateau mont Royal.
House is on the market, we accepted an offer, inspection is in 3 days and I am freaking out because I fear the buyers might change their minds and be stuck with 2 houses....

Since then we went on a road trip to Ottawa, Ontario, had a great meal, thrifted but I did not find anything...On the plus side my Pyrex eagle eye is as honed in as ever! I can spot a piece of Pyrex a hundred yards away!

 All the following pictures are random, no real theme here.

My cat Yoda is not a cuddle but suddenly there is cuddle action..

WHAT???

 Are there any old time SNL fans here? If so I am sure you will appreciate

these Ambiguously Gay Duo action figures I spotted in one of my neighbor's

window. I love their sense of humor and would sure like to meet them before

I go. 

 My Dad picked up those 2 Italian funeral ornements quite a long

time ago, I remember them from my childhood. They were in his office.

and now I have them. the beading work is amazing but this is a kind of craft not everybody

is confortable with....

 I have seen this Empire dresser most of my life. It is a thing of amazing beauty

and I was oh so very happy that my BFF Jean-Francois wanted to give it

a good home.

It is now living on the north shore of Montreal.

On a newer note, i spotted these Vintage inspired Pyrex pieces

at the dollar store. I know, I know the quality is iffy but I like the design...

Okay I got one!

And by the way...today I feel so much better, so in control. 

so Que Sera, Sera...what ever will be will be

the future's not ours to see Que Sera, Sera!

so my friends, my faithful readers...if you feel scared, anxious, panicky...

please reach out to someone.

There should not be any stigma about mental illness .

 Most of us suffer from it one way or another

stay safe, stay thrifty