Who knew?

When I was in New Hampshire I went to the Salvation Army.

Of course I was expecting oodles and oodles of Pyrex....What can I say? I am a dreamer!

I saw this...

                               The infamous Bake a Round! I really wanted to get it but passed because I don't think I will be baking bread any time soon! But I figured that if I see one in the next couple of years...
I will get it.

And I could not resist getting this super cute Dunkin' Donuts for .99 cents

Imagine my surprise my I checked it out on Ebay and it was selling for $22.98!!!

That is an expensive mug!

 

Meanwhile in my little corner of the world, the trees are changing

and the days are getting shorter

                                                  The balcony is freshly stained.

                               And the mums are gorgeous.

                               We also startted applying fresh caulk around the doors and windows...
                                That is HARD work!

                                As you can see we are still takng care of business...

                                I hear the call of the flannel sheet! good night and sleep tight!

Things I've made

Well it's one of those days, where I want to post but don't really know what about. I had a post all ready about eBay sellers and shipping...quite abrasive I must say.

In short : eBay and Etsy sellers, when a buyer (me) asks for FIRST CLASS SHIPPING  we mean First Class shipping. And I'm no idiot, I know what a Pyrex bowl weighs and I know that Canada is in group 1 and I can understand the USPS web site quite well! So don't quote me 30.00$ shipping for a 16 oz bowl ok??? Even if you wrap it with rocks, it will be around 10.00!!!
I know I sell stuff on eBay and on Etsy, don't try to fool me!!!

WOW! that feels good! So next I want to welcome my newest follower: Missouri Michael from Cul-De-Sac Shack . A delightful retro blog, Michael. Thanks for stopping by.

Next I feel I must also thank Sandy (AKA Doris he Great) from Aging Disgracefully for blogging about these sweet,sweet solar LAMPS. Today I took the bus and bought 6; if I like the effect at night I will go and buy some more 2morrow. They are adorable and for 2.49$ each quite a steal (and you can buy them in CANADA!!!)

Ok now things I've made:

Tofu: That was a lot of work for nothing....but it tasted quite good! All that boiling and steeping and mashing when you can buy a brick of tofu anywhere for 1.99$

Sausage: I love these and even if they are time consuming; I know what's in them....No cow poo or listeria...You've seen the insides of my water bottles....I'm still freaking out about this!
I make a mean Italian sausage and a meaner breakfast patty.

Beer: I loved my homemade beer except that the fart factor was humongous. This was time consuming but worth it as well. I stopped making beer because I couldn't control the temperature in my old drafty under insulated house.

Assorted cordials and liquors: I love making these, but nobody ever drinks them...except once in a blue moon....The Limoncello was horrible you could remove paint from old furniture with this....

Jewelry: I went cuckoo for jewelry a couple of years ago and took some courses. I probably don't have any talent because I can't sell most of my creations. But I still make some necklaces and earring for myself and my friends.

Bread: This is fun, but I never quite obtained the results I want....I tried the no knead variety but I had to warm my oven so high I thought my house would burn down....

The quilt: well I've been working on this one for....5 years??? I work on it a couple hours then I forget about it for months! When I lost my job it was on my to do list....2 years ago. So this is still a work in progress! 

Home Canning: It took me quite a while to master, but now I can make some blackberry jam (from my garden) without spazzing out! I discovered canning in 1997; I lost my job then too and I discovered that I suffered from an advanced case of squirrelitis ( must build humomgous stocks of food). The joke was that if the cats didn't move I would try to can them.....

Well that's it for now...I didn't really have pick from my projects (the were lost in the big computer burnout of 2009) so I inserted cat pics. The small grey one in the tent (my avatar) is Yoda she's all grown now (she was named by my SD who is a Star Wars nut) and the beautiful boy in the hostas is Boubou.

Have a great weekend! I hope I get to thrift...I'm definitely an addict! I itch all over.....

VTT: Vintage is the way to go!

What is this? What could that be??? Interesting box, vintage,colorful... Could it be? Pyrex? Be still, my beating heart!

Yes it's the Vintage casserole with cradle by Pyrex. It is a promotional casserole. Nothing is known about the year of production, my guess is late 60's early 70's. I got it through eBay in my NIB (new in box ) phase. even if the seller described the box as mint, it arrived all taped up and even had wrapping paper stuck on the box! When I complained about it, I was told it was my imagination, I was exaggerating! I left a real bad feedback!

But I must say the casserole is adorable....With it's little green cradle.

And it came with use and care instructions! Happy VTT to all! Be sure to visit Suzanne at www.coloradolady.blogspot.com for more VTT fun!

Wednesday Thrifting

I had to go downtown yesterday (oh no!) for my annual lung doctor appointment.

But I had some free time…free time you say? Why don’t I go to the Salvation Army?

Thrifting is not always about what you find but also what you see…Like this little guy…the kitty cat napkin ring for exemple…I could swear it came from my house! I had a pair and tried to sell them on ebay, didn’t happen…I was sick of looking at them and I gave them to a charity, not the Salvation Army. I think the other charity dumped some stuff to the SA!

What about this one? The Atlantic City wooden salt shaker kitty! I would have bought it but it missed the other shaker.

I found a really cute McCoy planter, a FireKing milkglass fridgie (lid missing), a Better Homes and Garden Meat Cookbook, a Xmas finger tip towel and a small Pyrex carafe.

Speaking of the carafe, I didn’t notice right away but the SA employee who wrote the price on it, wrote it on the metal band and it DOESN’T COME OFF!!!
So I can’t sell it, I have to re-give it, probably to the church basement….

It was soooo hot in Montreal yesterday, I swear I saw a car melt! I hate it when I sweat from the knee caps!

You probably know by now that I do bid on Ebay occasionally…So this is my latest acquisition! The charcoal 043 minty fresh from Alberta…reasonable shipping too!

Also I am totally addicted to Mad Men….Those characters are out of this world! I absolutely love the sets, and costumes. Peggy is something else!

Naughty, naughty girl!!!

I have been a naughty girl! No thrifting expedition....no Salvation Army.....And I didn't take a lot of pictures...

Basically I have been busy with getting rid of precious artifacts....by selling things in Ebay and Etsy and listing things is long; mesuring the box and weighing everything....

And like forever ago (nice phrase structure there!) I decided to make a quilt, I saved fabric and cut some squares, but that's it...So I started working on it ( It was on my "to do" list while unemployed...) Since I will go back to work eventually (euuuuurk) I need to put my pedal to the metal and get a move on!

And it is soooo cold here! 15 degrees for my american friends and minus 8 or 10 for my canadian readers....No snow! If it's cold I need the snow!!!

I had to pour hot tap water on one of my borders (yes i'm talking about gardening here) to thaw the soil so I could plant my fall bulbs....Brutal

The picture in my post is my mother's xmas lights...wow they still work...brought back a lot of memories...I wonder if somebody will buy them. Ebay is like russian roulette.....you never know what will be a hit! But cleaning the house has been a life changing experience...No joke, I feel so liberated!

Later my friends!

Going, going, gone !!!

I decided to start my post by showing you a picture of part of my garden. At the back right you can see the Ottawa river, which is just across the street. If find that picture rather delightful. Now for another subject...

I am quite surprised at the Ebay activity for my Barbie stuff! I didn't know there would be so much interest.

And it is a wonderful learning experience, I learned about shipping(again), revising a listing and much more.

I am already starting to take pictures of new things and to write new descriptions. I like that part very much.

I won't be posting for a few days, coz I'll be going to the seaside: Hampton Beach NH!!! I can't wait to nibble on some steamers, fried clams, and boiled lobstah! I haven't been to Hampton in 4 years (that's long), I have been going to OOB (old orchard beach), which I love, but I have a soft spot for Hampton (go figure ! It is quite the tacky place). I'll bring back loads of pictures and some Pyrex (I hope).

So see you around!

V.

From the Pyrex archives!

Ok so now I'm just starting to photograph the Pyrex....here are a couple of pieces.

This one I got at Value Village in the West Island, it was 7.99. I remember quite vividly running around the store with it in my arms, so excited!

This one actually has a name! It is called the 10 cent casserole. It comes from Ontario (A great spot for Old Orchard pattern...). I got it from Ebay and nobody bidded on it , except yours truly. The shipping wasn't that outrageous (8 $ or something). So I don't feel guilty. I have mixed feelings for Old Orchard, because i find that pattern kinda ugly, but I love Old Orchard Beach (oob) so it brings back memories. Memories of fun, sand, water, lobster and PYREX!

When i started collecting Pyrex (last summer) it was innocent enough! I was looking for a red 402, a blue 401 and a yellow 404. I only had the green 403 given to me by my mother.

I bought my first piece in Paris, NH (I think). In a charming little antique shop right on the road. It was a blue 402 and i couldn't recall for the love of god that i was looking for a red one!

It was 7$ and turns out (I just recently found out...) That it is a Horizon Blue 402 bowl! Thank God for this wounderful site "The Pyrex Files".Well live and learn.

That's it for today. In a later post, I'll write about the rest of the Pyrex Beginning!

V.

National treasure

Good morning!

Last night i watched National treasure 2. So what's up with Nicolas Cage's hair and his face? I'm sure he had some work done but I can't put my finger on it. He looks kind of mummyfied!!!
It was exagerrated but entertaining at the same time.

I found a product that takes care of those pesky utensil marks on Pyrex. It is called Cameo anti-tarnish cleaner and is manufactured by Lavo (a Montreal company). As per the name, it is used for tarnish. It does an amazing job on pots and pans. If you use it on pyrex, you must scrub very carefully as not to remove the paint.

Also i received an Ebay purchase: An individual Pyrex flamingo casserole with lid. It is so pretty!

Have a nice one,

V.