Hodge Podge

Today I have multiple things to write about so I decided to bundle them all together... 

 This picture was taken on Napoleon st. Near the top,you

can see Mount Royal and the cross. It lights up at night.

It was erected in 1643 by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (the city's founder)

 fulfilling his vow to the Virgin Mary in his prayers to end a disastrous flood.

The cross is made of steel and consists of 1,830 pieces joined by 6,000 rivets weighing 26 tons. It is 31.4 metres tall and its arms span 11 metres and it stands 252 metres above the St. Lawrence River. Following the latest renovation, it is lit by 158 18-LED bulbs.Next to the cross, a plaque marks the emplacement of a time capsule buried in 1992, during Montreal's 350th birthday celebration. It contains messages and drawings from 12,000 children, depicting their visions for the city in the year 2142, when it is scheduled to be opened.

It is one of my favorite things from Montreal and I would like to thank Wiki for 

that bit of history of our cross. I remember when I was a wee girl I saw the cross with red lights

during Holy week.

NEXT!!!

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for fennel italian sausage 

at the grocery store and could not find any....

I wrote the company and lo and behold they invited me to their company store!

 It was so clean and exotic!

Dad would've love that!

He was super curious and was always amazed

of how I would find out about good deals and special places!

 I got my special sausage at half price!

YAY for me! 

Next!

 What enchants me about Easter candy are the beautiful shiny colors.

Most of the time I am disappointed with said candy...

 Look at those beautiful eggs!

I want them all because they are so shiny, bright and colorful....

But I know I will be disappointed!

NEXT!!!

Since Spring is officially here...

This is officially the first Spring sprout.

Forget me not that I got in my Xmas stocking.

I think the tomatoes are sprouting too !

Until next time...

Take care and stay thrifty!

Seen Around

Last week we filled the car with boxes and bags to donate and headed west

to the nation's capital Ottawa.

This is called hitting 2 birds with one stone: we get a road trip and we visit a lovely Value Village

where they are not sick of us....

I love this picture.....

But I had to leave it at $9.99!

This is probably a frame destined for a child's bedroom...

REALLY???

The clothes look like they were made out of scraps to tissue paper 

and toilet paper....Pass!

I used to have coasters like that at my old house...

This jar would've been dyn-o-mite in my Etsy store...

BTW I reopened my Etsy store!

I have a soft spot for Scotties!

This piece of nail art, is as intricate as tacky.

That is a lot of work!

It was really popular in New Brunswick.

They would make fishermen and Sagouines

This fondue set really caught my eye...

But I was here to donate, after all.

These pieces were unmarked but I highly suspect they were BMP

Blue Mountain Pottery from Collingwood, Ontario.

Alo seen in the Byward Market

Sweet, sweet Easter cookies!

 The Byward Market is an outdoor market in Ottawa, Ontario.

It is surrounded by specialty food stores (cafés,fish mongers, charcuteries, cheese shops, butcher shops) and restaurants. We make a point to stop and shop every time we visit! 

We had a lovely time!

Until next time, Ottawa!

YYYYUUUUMMMM!!!!

This is Mac & Cheese week in Montreal, Quebec and Toronto!

Of course they want us to celebrate mac & cheese and to fork up $20 for a plate!

Me? I decided to cook some homemade mac with the addition of Portuguese smoked bacon....

In Pyrex of course!

This recipe is definitely a keeper (I have to write it down!) 

Mount-Royal

Located in Montreal, Mount-Royal is believed to be an ancient extinct volcano....

It is more a hill than a mountain. As per Wikipedia it is part of the Mounteregian hills. The Mount Royal park  was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who also designed Central Park.

It is known as the city's lung and a great place to enjoy the great outdoors without leaving the city!

 This is a view of Beaver Lake, a man made lake.

 We like to walk around it or snowshoe around it.

 The chalet was built in the 60's and is a great place to get hot chocolate.

There is an outdoor skating rink nearby too.

We like to go there to decompress after work. It is so peaceful .

It just hit me that when I was a wee girl, Dad and I would go for walks and to

pick wildflowers every Sunday in Spring and Summer.

Another sign Spring is just around the corner? Spring flowers are

out at the Dollarama!!!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!

Lemons....

When we vacationned in Maine with my Dad he complained about the price of lemons.

They were $1.29 a piece. He flipped out.

OMG the lemons are soooo expensive here, next time we come we will bring lemons from Montreal!

Right Dad! Like we would be able to smuggle a bunch of lemons at customs.....He just spent thousands of dollars for a week by the shore, car rental and meals...Yet those lemons were bugging him.

In the past months Dad stopped buying lemons because he felt they were too expensive...He was buying limes instead!

Today I was grocery shopping in my secret thrifty no frills grocery shop....and I saw this:

Lemons .39 cents each

Just for you Dad, just for you!

This will always crack me up!

Local Vintage Flea

Who knew there was a monthly vintage flea market in a church basement 20 minutes from my house?

I sure didn't! Well we went last Saturday and it was really nice!

I was also able to deliver a Pyrex bowl set to a lady who bought it on Facebook!

 Does anyone remember those candy canisters?

 A great booth always has great vignettes!

 Okay,okay I regret not buying this trivet!

I hope to get it next time!

 A romantic vignette for Valentines

We bought this sunburst wall clock at a really good price.

Last time we saw some they were $250 and up.

Meghan is adjusting just fine...better than we are....

Be well and keep thrifting.

I really appreciated your condolences. 

They made me feel better.

New Friend

A week after my Dad's passing, we are still hurting. It is better not much but better.

I am a happy person, I sing , I dance, I laugh....everyday. I find it so hard to be sad and unhappy.

Out of the sadness came a little bundle of fur!

World this is Meghan, Meghan this is the world.

She's really sweet and playful and Boubou played with her.

Tonight she will be meeting Bandito.

Yoda is spending the night at the Vet. She's been feeling blah since my Dad's passing....

It might be urinary.

Dad Loved Meghan very much. We had a health/poop updated every day

Well Dad you will be happy to know that Meaghan is pooping fine everyday.

Sorry about that, LOL

Sleep tight :)