But once in a while......

I am quite disillusioned  with the human race nowadays...

So much hate, negativity, violence.....aaaaarrrggghhh!

It is everywhere: social media, tv,newspapers, near the water cooler, in the bus, the subway

Sometimes I can't take it anymore! It stresses me out and I am sure I am not the only one!!!

But once in a while...I see something that gives me hope that all is not lost...

That there is still some love and understanding....

 I saw this on a lamp post. It says:

If you're cold take one

the ziplock was full of winter gloves....

 Then the next lamp post was this....

Same thing: If you're cold take one.

In this bag you could find woolen caps (toques)

That made me feel warm allover!

Some people still care.

Thank you!!!

This afternoon on my way home I found this darling Ikea

turquoise cart.

WOW and the beat price EVER! FREE!!!  

It needs a good scrubbing but overall it is in great shape!

WOOHOO!

I had a great day, I laughed and laughed and it felt good!

I hope you laughed today

High Hopes

Early this morning we headed west to Ontario for a wee roadtrip.

We needed a change of scenery.

We were heading to Cornwall, Ontario for some thrifting, sightseeing and lunch.

And I had a big bag of clothes and bed sheets to donate.

Our first stop was Value Village...

 I saw this lonely and sad 441 Pyrex bowl.

I could not see if it had a pattern!

 This Pyrex look a like casserole was in fact a Corning Ware casserole.

Seeing a huge throw made out of Phentex really brought me back to the 70's.

What a strange fiber. It was rough, heavy yet warm and melted really well in the oven!

How do I know?

When I was 5 or 6, the building next to our apartment was demolished,

leaving a thinner wall and the wind would freeze it right up.

My Mom would turn on the oven and leave the door open and we would sit

in front of it. She would put her feet up in her Phentex slippers and she melted quite a few pairs....

Blast from the past!

Do you have Phentex anecdotes?

Still Frozen

The weather has been frigid, so much so that I wear or carry thermal long-johns pretty much everyday.

Frozen pipes are epidemic. It seems we haven't had this cold a winter in 20 years....


So I wake up, go to work, come home, fix supper, watch tv and go to bed...And start all over again the next day.

I don't feel like packing things or fixing things because Dan is in full plastering and sanding mode!

 The snow is starting to really pile up...We don't see the pingouins anymore!

 This is the pile of boxes of stuff to keep (so far)....

                                          Bob thinks a nap is the way to go....

                                         And so does Bandito!
                                          But who doesn't love a warm sleepy kitty when the weather is frightful?
         
                                          I can't wait to do some HEAVY thrifting!

Cold medicine

Now if you're still in the midst of cold season.....like I am....

You might need these 2 go to recipes to help you go through a cold.

1st one: Onion Juice.

Now we call it onion juice but it is more onion broth. You take 2 onions, cut them in half and place them in a medium casserole, cover them with water , bring to a boil and simmer gently about 30 min.

Now I don't even bother to put this in the fridge. The onion halves will continue to steep in it and in a maximun of 2 days you will have drunk it all. It is great if you feel you have chest or sinus congestion. It will clean you out too.

Now for the second one: Onion and garlic syrup

                                         You take a Mason jar and you fill it with chopped onion and garlic. I took a 2 cups (500ml ) jar for this. After you drizzle honey in it; it will take at least one cup to have everything covered. Let it steep on the counter overnight. In the morning, strain and keep in a jar in the fridge. You need to take one to two tablespoons in the morning and at night.

We've tested these recipes and they work well.

My Dad just had a baaaaad cold and I was worried because he has COPD. I told him about the onion broth and now he raves about it! Cleared most of the congestion in 48 hours.

Now about the last post....


I don't think I mentionned that everything was thrifted!

                                             The turquoise pitcher 75 cents in Brockville, Ont.
                                              The large seasshell was a gift, the smaller one I got as
                                              a twofer at Value Village for $1.99. The Yankee Candle was $1, new -                                              unused at a garage sale, the big ashtray was a gift as well
                                   and the needlepoint frame was a big ol'quarter at the church basement .
                                   Now just how sweet is that???

I've got to go, SNL is on!

Be well my thrifty friends

 

        

Puuurrrr

This will be a quick post because it is almost time for the ice pack application....lol

My back is better, thanks for your good wishes. My chiro visit went well, but I need to ice, ice baby!

I guess that dates me!

I caught 2 of my guys naping the other day...

 

Bob on the right and Bandito on the left.

They're getting to be great pals, but Bandito finds Bob plays a little rough...

 

But is a great nap pal!

 

Be well

 

We need extra blankets here as it is almost minus 30 celsius and that is minus 22 farenheit.

 

YIKES!

 

Calling all cats upstairs for canoodling! PRONTO!  

Did you know?

While I was out of work I really explored my Pyrexia and was a total Flickr NUT! I'm even one of the moderator of Pyrex in Action

But since I started working ....not so much. I had times when I didn't even see the point.

In the last few weeks I've experienced a renewal and I go visit nearly every day.

Today I wanted to bask in the glory of Delphite and re-found this....

A beautiful galery in Flickr Mind Hive....sigh, all those pics make my heart all a flutter

Check it Out . And yes I will toot my own horn, a lot of those pics are mine!!!

                                                            Pyrex in the snow

It was quite an adventure! Hauling all the Delphite outside and to be careful not to make marks in the snow. Well it certainly made for beautiful pictures!

 A spot of tea?

 I've said it before and I'll say it again a thousand times : the color really gets to me. How come Corning never reproduced that same shade in the U.S? Well I guess we'll never know (seeing the non-existance of their archives...).

So take 5 and go explore Flickr you'll never know what you'll find!

Now I want to welcome my 2 new followers, 209 WOW! Now as I usually do if I can find who my followers are, I will visit. But The way Blogger is and the way the accounts are set up....some people don't have pictures, some people have the same names....well you get the picture.

Now I was very surprised to be followed by a person that has a 'private blog', you need to be invited to read this blog. Now tell me what kind of secrets do you share in there? Are you afraid of internet nuts, yes they are a plenty and they know who they are.
I'm curious, I want to know. It makes me feel awkward that you can read mine and you won't show me yours.
It's not like I want to see your privates!

Last year a blog I'd been following for ages (3 internet years is even longer than Hollywood years) went 'private' all of a sudden. That really saddened me. Heck that lady shared recipes, why go private?

Was somebody oogling your meatballs, stroking your crockpot? it's a mystery...

Why not just stop blogging at that URL and start another blog?

Well it's time to go beddybye, I wanted to squeeze something about Anthony Bourdain, but i'm afraid it won't make sense, so until next time Tony, I can't wait to hear off-color jokes in another country.

Cover up it will be cold tonight in my neck of the woods...Now where are my footsie pjs?

Cold as a witch's tit....

That means that it is real, REAL cold!!! And the wind! OMG

I love to walk and it was getting difficult with the cold and the wind from the river....So I got some ski goggles for Xmas from Dan. And I got to try them on today! It makes all the difference in the world....The cold wasn't the same at all. And these are specially designed to wear with glasses...Delicious!

Next I give you the Gravlax Chronicles! It has been a couple of years since I made any, but salmon was on sale and it is a nice change especially since it will be ready for New Year's day!

For those who don't know Gravlax is cured salmon as opposed to smoked salmon. It is cured with kosher salt, sugar, dill,pepper and sometimes some kind of vodka or other alcool . You need to cut your salmon filet in half and place a generous amount of curing mixture in the middle, underneath and over the salmon 'sandwich' wrap in plastic wrap put a pan on top of it (in this case Pyrex!) that you will weight with cans. You need to turn it every 12 hours and discard the liquid after 3 days it ready to be thinly sliced and devoured!

It is delicious with a fennel salad. I took my recipe from Martha Stewart's hors d'oeuvres handbook. See you soon! :)

Cold, sooooo COLD

Yesterday there were big waves on the Ottawa river and today presto-changeo ICE!!!

I never saw the river freeze so fast!

On the first picture the steam you see is the only spots were it's not frozen.

And the temperature dropped by time too with the wind chill factor it is minus 30 celsius (it's minus 22 F). My morning walk lasted only 10 minutes...LOL

Oh well I'm occupying myself by cooking....A vegeterian stew in the crockpot, a big borscht on the stove and I'm also working on tradional tourtieres (Quebec meat pies). No Xmas is complete (for me at least) without these delicious meat pies....Good eating!

And I'm also posting new things on Etsy. Business is picking up! How exciting!

Later!