Life goes on

Saturday we brought back the wheelchair as it is no longer needed.

that feels so good! We can move one from there, a new chapter begins.....

That took a big old five minute from my life!

i gently coaxed Veronica (my stepdaughter) to stop at a thrift store nearby...

And I am so glad I did!

By chance I found 3 things I love......

 A car throw...100% wool and in great condition!

I very rarely turn down good condition blankets and throws.

They are always handy when you live in an old house in a cold climate!

 If you've been following 

the blog for a while you might remember that I had an Etsy

shop and that I sold quite a few Le creuset snail dishes...

I have regretted this for a llllllooooooooonnnnnngggg time!

So I was super excited to find one for a dollar....I am sure I will find 3 other fairly soon.

so since I have being jonesing for snails with garlic butter I bought 4 

stainless steel dishes for a dollar

It even says Le Creuset!

Last but not least as seen in the first picture, a Old Orchard Beach souvenir glass!

It is so tackylicious and I had to get it a total no brainer...

I got no flack from the boo because they are small items and Barware is always a go...

I am not the only one jonesing for some snails.....

On a more somber note....

yesterday January 28th marked the second anniversary of my Dad's death.

I had a long talk with him.

I miss him everyday and talk to him most everyday. The big heavy duty sadness is mostly gone, but I had an episode in late December.

What I do now is whatever thing I am doing that my Dad would enjoy...I think about him, or I chat with him.

So this is the beginning of my first year as a homeowner in Montreal.

I got my first municipal tax invoice today. Made calculations so we can pay them on time.

as much as I did not want to be a homeowner again....God decided otherwise and I will do my very best to honor him.

I am very excited as we made plans to paint and renovate (cheaply) one room at a time!

My faithful readers, take time to enjoy each day

and hang out with your loved one

Still TCB

Choosing 2015's word was a no brainer. TCB (taking care of business) worked so well in 2014, that I decided to choose it AGAIN.

So as our first TCB actions of 2015 today : we will install our vision board, clean the pots and pans cupboard....You know what I mean...Yes you do!

The recipe is simple: 1 part keep, 1 part store, 1 part donate. Easy peasy!

And finish caulking around the kitchen sink.

The organizing experts have got it wrong...Even when you are reading to give some stuff up, doesn't mean you can do it all in 1 hour!

On December 26th we cleaned out the first shelf of the pots and pan cupboard but after I had a headache and was exhausted, so I asked Dan if we could finish this another time.

2015 will be a year of change and of many trips to the thrift to donate! I might even pick up some new treasure along the way!

 If you remember, I will put my Etsy store on hiatus on January 13 th. I already have gone through my inventory with what I will kept for myself, what to offer to my stepdaughter and what to donate.

We also have decided to put our house on the market; I.E all the purging nd organizing. We can't stand the commute anymore and let's face it our little town has been invaded by loads of stressed out citydwellers leaching their stress all over, driving like a-holes etc...

So if all goes according to plans, we should have Xmas 2015 in the city. Everything is still up in the air, but I have faith that all will be for the best and all parties involved will be hunkydory.

 I end this post with pictures of our trip to Maine in February 2011. They had a big ass
snowstorm and for us it has been one of the most memorable road trip to date. We hope to go back soon and bring Dad.

 Dad loves Maine and the ocean and would love seeing them in winter too.

 The first 3 pictures are of York Beach Maine. The first of is of the Goldenrod , makers of the best
salt water kisses EVER!

 Last 2 pictures are from the beach in OOB.

   of course we had to stop there. This place is so dear to our hearts.

So that's it for today. I will finish with capuccino (yum) and attck the caulk!

Be well!!!

Quite a week

Thank you to all who sent us condolences.

For us loosing a cat is just as bad as loosing a family member. I know it sounds crazy to some but it is the way it is.

I am so grateful that we were on vacation while we were going throught all those emotions.

And people at my work wouldn't understand. People who don't have pets and don't like pets just don't know.

At my work place if you don't have kids you're weird, and if you don't go to church every Sunday you might as well be Satan.

We decided that since Pinotte (Peanut) love dthe yard and flowers so much we would dig a hole and bury her in the yard.

It was probably the grief thinking on our behalf....It took us most of the week to dig the hole because the ground is full of rocks and clay.

Finally we put Pinotte in the ground yesterday and we have been able to resume life slowly.

                                   Waves crashing in OOB

                                Sun setting on highway 30 on our way back from OOB
       

                   Be well

                   and sleep tight. Take the opportunity to hug your spouse/kids/pets

                    :)

Why a condo is not for me...

Ok flash back to the second week of the Maine vacation.... You know that beautiful house with the terrible beds? It was a condo. Condo rules kill me. Maybe some condo boards have less rules but these were a mood killer!
Here are some of them: You can't hang your clothes outside. You can't hang your beach towel or bathing suit on the railings for them to dry.

You can't have a lighted candle or a lighted lantern on your patio (even if you're there)

 You can only have one plant and a welcome mat on your porch (some units weren't aloud that and their no were printed for all to see)

You were granted a planting permit so you could plant in between the plants in the borders, but if you didn't properly take care of the plants your permit would be revoked and they would pull out the offending plants. 

You could not walk on the grass, you couldn't leave beach chairs on your porch, you couldn't make noise after 10 because people had to get up early and go to work. How about the people on vacation that the leaf blower woke up several times a week at 7:30 am???

And if you didn't obide by the rules you could get penalties! Man oh man that is seriously not fun!

And the last ones....mind you these rules came from the realtor and not the condo board.

You must bring your linens, dish soap, GARBAGE BAGS AND TOILET PAPER!!! I fell off my chair when I read that. So we went to Maine with a 16 roll pack of TP and some garbage bags....The owner of the house we kind enough to have left some tp, but the garbage bags I brought didn't fit. So I had to buy some, now they are under my sink because they don't fit my kitchen garbage pail, but no way in hell was I gonna leave them there! Nay Nay!

And the realtor wanted us to leave the place clean...totally understandable. But there wasn't any cleaning products! HELLO PEOPLE! WAKE UP! Don't tell we I had to bring these too?

 I learned to do a lot of things with Wet Ones! LOL

Well let's just say this was a learning experience on a lot of different levels....And that's why I won't buy a condo and I don't think I'll use that realtor again.

Oh a quick one! A couple of years ago I asked a fellow blogger from Maine if she could provide some realtor names because I wanted to rent a house. She never answered. When,after 6 months, I was really pissed and I wrote her telling her she was RUDE! She answered she was sorry but she didn't answer me because she didn't know any realtors. COME ON! That part of Maine has a population of less than 10,000 people year round so don't go telling me you don't know any realtors lady!

Needless to say I don't follow her blog anymore (she never followed mine it was too pedestrian for her).

That felt goood! A good rant once in a while does the body good!

First pic is from Poland Spring, Maine. The restaurant next to this pic has the most expensive clam chowder EVER!

Second one is from Cape Elizabeth, so fresh and charming. Thrid is from Saco Bay, there was a big storm that day and last but not least is the beach in OOB.

Have a great day!

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!

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!

I scanned, I scanned!!!

Last night, on my to do list I wrote: Find postcards and put in frames.

In 2007 I had a vision for the bathroom..Why not a beach theme? Pale blue (aqua) walls, a lot of white, a chandelier, sea glass, shells...(see previous post...we are now just finishing the bathroom...LOL) We went to the Lachute flea market and I found these wonderful vintage postcards. I put them in a drawer for safe keeping and since we never started the bathroon redo, I forgot about them....and basically I lost them! What else is new? We got around to the bathroom in late August 2008 did the paint installed the chandelier, but still had some details to think of....I was still thinking about the postcards...but not finding them. On canadian Thanksgiving we went to OOB (Old Orchard Beach) and I got some frames at the Christmas tree shop for the postcards....And then I lost the frames...lol

I had a flash of genius this morning and I remembered where I stashed them and 15 min later I found the frames....Guess what? I need to trim them so they can fit....But I wanted to scan them first so I have an intact picture. I had to learn how to scan....install the software etc....But I' really proud of myself I did it!
Now to trim and frame!

New energy

Filled with new energy (or is it a sugar buzz???)

We decided to complete a couple of unfinished projects....First to clean and install the gorgoeus oval mirror. This is one of my favorite finds of 2008! One of my neighbor is selling his house and every Sunday night he takes out his trash....And me being a curious girl....I usually put my coat over my PJs and run over to see if there are any treasures....I found a coffee table base that is in the workshop waiting for a top. It will eventually go to Veronic (SD) for her living room-she's furniture challenged...lol

And I found this gorgeous mirror, full of snow and quite dirty, but I saw the potential....It was one of my proudest thrifting moments. It took nearly an hour to clean....all those nooks and crannies!

And we also installed the Old Orchard Beach frame I got more than a year ago at Cottage Decor (in OOB Maine). It fits perfectly with my beachy vision....The bathroom keeps looking better and better....We do move really slow when we fix something.....The bathroom is nearly finished and then on to the kitchen! It needs paint soooooo bad. We had painted the melamine cabinets and it chipped. So now even when I clean everything it looks dirty!!!