Thriftin' and Bitchin'

First the bitchin'!

Well imagine my surprise when I received a collection letter from HBC last week. HBC is the oldest store in Canada. I was so sure I'd paid my bill in time. I don't get collection notices very often so it gets me flustered every single time!

So I logged in my bank's web site to check this out and yes it turns out I'd forgotten to pay them (!"/$%?&*)

Then I read the letter again, turns out I forgot to pay 5$; only five dollars, FIVE BUCKS AND THEY HAVE THE GALL TO SEND ME A COLLECTION LETTER????? And to think I've been a customer of theirs for ever!

Heck it costs more to print and send the letter! I'm gonna give them  a pievce of my mind! (I was going to call them today but I didn't the 16 digits of my credit card.....)

Yesterday I got a plaque with my name on it at the office! I was speechless and a little teary....But nobody saw...

Now for the thrifting!

At Renaissance (the only thrift shop I have regular access) the pickings are usually slim, the staff is different (I suspect they hire quote special people unquote, know what I mean?) and the customers are REALLY obnoxious, horrible, stinky, lost, desperate. This is Verdun afterall. Even with some gentrification Verdun is still sometimes sad, dirty and there's a lot of people with mental illness living there because a big mental hospital nearby.

But last week my heart stopped, then went pitter pater, beding bedang and I had to grab at a shelf to steady my self....

Behold

Vintage snail dishes from the 60's by Le Creuset!

I got 4; 2 orange 2 jade green.

Here Yoda is checking out the interior.

I believe they have never been used, SWEET!

So no Pyrex but Le Creuset is delicious too.

If I have a burglar in my house I can get rid of him with a quick flick of the wrist and one of these dishes! They weigh a ton!

Well that is it for little old me, i'm  off to dream land

Sweet dreams my friends :) 

So Soon?

Yep I'm back so soon after the last post. Sometimes I read my posts only the day after and they crack me up. I'm behind the Hoarders bit 100%.

Let's face it we are all a heartbeat away from mental illness. Yes we are. It might be genetic, stress related or situational. It's lurking.

My mother had it BIG TIME and never did anything about it (except LOADS of  twist off wine). My dad had bout of it and dealt with it accordingly. When it was my turn I seeked professionnal help. And it did the trick.

Some of us might have to be medicated all their lives ( a biggie to accept) to just lead kinda normal lives. When I say normal lives, I mean being at ease with oneself and being able to interact with others normally.

That being said we all have our quirks and should cherish them but if you feel life is heavy do yourself a favor and seek help.

Ok on the lighter side of things!

I was looking for some pictures for the blog and this is what I came up with:

 This is my dessert table on Xmas eve complete with ice molds, Pyrex and vintage tablecloth.

 Baklavah, caramel corn, ginger bread cookies, cherry sandies, pfeffernusse

So on this sweet and scrumptious note have a delicious night!

Yikes! Already 7 days!

Yes it's already 7 days since I blogged!  I found a couple of things in thrifty land, but I have no pictures as the sun sets real early.

Thank god for little joys and now the days are a bit longer. I have no Pyrex news.

I've been testing the camera in my IPhone and I must admit I'm having better results. Here's the latest batch of pictures...

The All Purpose label totally makes me laugh. All Purpose for what?

The color is not appetizing....

 Luncheon meat

Meat of what? That is scary....Canned meat and China; you do the math!

A selection of mystery meats....

What were they thinking???? Those are particuliar looking S &P shakers!

Who designed those? Who bought them? They seem to belong in a night table drawer!

You know which ones! I know you've been around the block a couple of times....

This is the other stray that comes for a meal, a bath and a place to crash.

He's real cute and not shy!

Dan wants to call him Bambino. Well I think it's a bit early to find him a name...

We need to take our time and we've already established than our hearts are big, but the wallets not

so much, and caring for pets needs $$$

I don't want to be featured in Hoarders with a house full of Pyrex (true), walls made of newspaper (not true), crap all over the floor (not all over sometimes a kitty has a little accident that is always dealt with swiftly), trash all over (false),expired food since 1976 in the fridge (I can't believe people do that) , bugs everywhere (EEEEEEWWWWW!!!) and worst of all DEAD CATS DRIED UP UNDER THE FURNITURE!

I can't believe they don't smell the putrid stench of decaying corpses under their sofa. And if hey love the cats howcome they don't notice the cats are missing? Just how strong is their meds?

I know they are sick and it's not funny but if you have pets you have to be responsable people!

Having a big heart is great and wanting to save strays is amazing but you definitely need $$$ to do that.

The line is always thin and it's the same as losing weight....you must always be on the edge and not turn your back on it.

If only I could apply this on the weight thing! At least  I do on the trash and money matters!

    

Well that is pretty much it! LOL! I've said my peace for tonite

Have a great evening and please throw away or donate something that you don't need anymore!

Snow and more snow

About the roof shovel.....Some of you didn't know it existed. Don't worry! I learned of its existence about 10 years ago.

In 1998 we had this HUMONGOUS ice storm that even touched Ontario and some northern states. It was brutal. It rained ice for a week, we lost power for days and in some cases weeks. I think the record was 32 days on the south shore of Montreal.

Trees broke and fell all over, we had to run from our house (we have no fireplace or generator), a lot of nasty people took the opportunity to steal.

Anyways a lot of roofs met their Waterloo because of the ice storm. So when ; in fall; we had to replace our roof, we had trouble  to find a roofing company....The one we found screwed us up....

We only found out about it 5 and a half years later. We couldn't sue them anymore and the company didn't exist anymore!

A sunday (5 years 1/2 later) we had a real heavy and wet snowfall. When we returned from our errands....it was raining in our kitchen! Not drops, gushing water! 

The roofing company didn't remove the old damaged shingles, but merely applied new shingles on top of the old ones! How charming.

To prevent more damage every time we had a big snowfall; one of us would get tied with a rope and we would shovel the roof.....

It took a couple of years to gather the funds  for a new roof....but we now have one. We don't go on the roof anymore, we would borrow the neighbor's roof shovel....But NOT ANYMORE!

We now have Dan's super thrifty roof shovel!

Right now we're having some freezing rain.....so I'm betting we'll use that shovel pretty soon!

Here's a picture of Yoda just hanging out over the weekend

 Is that cute or what?

Have a great evening!

Sweet dreams.

I will dream of kitties, Pyrex and blowmolds :)

What I left behind

Thank you all for visiting!  It warmed the cockles of my heart to read all your comments.

I think what Dan hates about the Goodwill is the smell of poverty: Not that clean, not spring fresh, with a lingering scent of grease and tobacco. What can I say? I'll brave pretty much everything for the lure of Pyrex and a good deal! LOL

If I'd win the lottery (6/49 for my canadians friends or the SuperBall for my american friends) I would not quit thrifting, naynay, no siree bob! I would buy a mini van and thrift FULL TIME!

And let's face it Dan loves a good deal too. We were in an antique mall in Brockville when I heard the sweet music of thrifting love and I heard: Just how much do they sell a new roof shovel for? This one is 20$. Next thing I knew the guy pocketed 15$ and the shovel was in the car with all its extentions.

Yep just like that In case you're wondering retail it's 50$ plus tax.

Ok now for the Pyrex that didn't make the cut!

Not my favorite pattern!

I got a casserole in Maine and that was enough.

Besides this was not in very good condition!

24$ each, I rest my case!

I'd like to introduce a new friend, not yet an official pet. We call him Piccolo Nero and he just hangs around the house and looks famished. Dam draged him inside yesterdat 'coz he was covered with freezing rain. We dried him off, fed him and he played and napped, finally he went back outside only when he passed Dan's dry test.

Well that's all folks! Have a great night and a sweet Monday :)

Oh my thrifty finds!

I took the day off and since Dan was on vacation we decided to go on the first thrifting road trip of 2012.

So we packed some snacks and a Tim Horton's gift card and headed west to Ontario. I must admit thrifting was not the first reason to make this day trip. The real reason was to reach Gananoque and scraf some BBQ brisket at the Pig Iron.

 It's soooo good and comforting, so homey and everything is homemade. The bread, the meat, the tangy cole slaw, the creamy potato salad, the lemonade, the sweet tea....Truly finger licking good. The owner ever remembered that we had come in September of last year. Oh I forgot the the horseradish sauce that tops the brisket....every time I eat this sandwhich I cry little tears of joy!

On the far right is the Pig Iron BBQ restaurant and on the left you have the Socialist Pig coffee shop. It is situated on King street in historical Gananoque just feet away from a plaque commemorating the Raid on Gananoque during the war of 1812. The American soldiers sure did try very hard to invade the northern shores of the St-Lawrence seaway! You can see plaques in every village bordering the great river.

After a deliciously satsfying lunch we made our way to Brockville, Ontario (I won't bother you with the plaques, the war of 1812 or assorted battles).

King street has amazing historical buildings but at a certain point it becomes more down and out, crusty and sad (read thrifty). There is this really sad Salvation Army store that Dan hates....but I always insist on going....never found anything until yesterday!

Actually the well trained by moi eye of Dan spotted this....

Hum dirty! And fuzzy lol

Dam perfomed some charm magic and the nice lady said the price was .50 cents.

No I don't need a bag. RUN RUN RUN before she realised she made a mistake!

I also found this in a curiosity/antique store still on King Street

   I always long for vintage cheap tins but I always

find them crazy expensive. So since the price was right I brought it home with me!

There are no Goodwills in Quebec so I'm always excited to visit one especially on 50% off day!

I found this cutie hiding behind an ugly baking dish....

It is dainty and small and a really cute example of  english Pyrex!

Next thing we knew the sun was setting and it was time to go home!

That was a wonderfully fantastic day and really therapeutic too.

I hope to do that again real soon, Dan is the BEST thrifting companion.

With luck i'll be back tomorow to show the Pyrex I left.....

Tata! 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I wish you all the best year ever! May all your dreams come true but mainely may you be healhty and happy.
May you realize that happiness lies in the most unexpected places and in everyday things.

Joy is coming home after a hard day's work, seeing little furry faces. Noticing a new bloom on a plant, clean flannel sheets, a warm meal, laughing with your sweetie, a drawer full of socks still warm from the dryer.

I know, I know I wrote that I was going to post yesterday but I was in couch potato mode BIG TIME!

I read, I ate, I watched tv, then Dexter....We need to watch season 4's last episode and Dan is a total wuss so your guess is as good as mine when we'll be watching it.

Today I cooked the turkey that was still frozen yesterday...I rubbed it all over with bacon grease, salt and pepper, it was delicious! We have plenty of leftovers and I'm thankfull for that.

I'm working tomorrow and I love to be prepared. Some cooked food in the fridg; I.E: cooked turkey, mushroom risotto and pumpkin soup. The wash is all done, my lunch is ready, my cereal is in a Tupperware with dried fruit, I have snack size baggies with pumpkin seeds, vitamins and jasmine tea bags. I just need to wake up, drink coffee and shower! SWEET!

We cleaned out the crap/tool/craft closet and it should be more organised....A work in progress!

The Danmeister is on vacation this week and I've heard promises of painting and door building.....We'll see lol!

I anted to participate in a 365 picture project, but I didn't take any today :(

Here's the one I took yesterday

I'm still trying to work out the Iphone pictures...but I'm not so crazy about them.

Dan thinks that I developped an unhealthy obsession with Anthony Bourdain...What can I say? I got 2 of his dvds for Xmas. We had a marathon on Travel channel and I can watch him on my Iphone for free when in the comfort of my own WIFI. Like I told Dan: I love traveling with that crazy guy with the dry wit and potty mouth.

I'm sure we could hang out all together if we would meet.

His episodes about Quebec and Montreal really cracked me up!

Well until next time.....

Thank you for all your good wishes! Hugs and kisses to all ;)