Surprise Thrifting

On Saturday there wasn't any plans for thrifting. We just went to Dan's daughther's place to measure windows and figure out what we needed to repair a wall and paint.

But I had to stop at Renaissance! Just so you know the weirdos from Thrusday night were all there on Saturday afternoon.

The employees are in the weirdo category as well...There's the lady that runs after you in the store to leave your bag at the cash (Heck the person that steels a $2 dollar shirt really needs it) and the cashiers that don't understand the cash register and the manager from France who knows everything and won't hesitate to correct your french. LOVELY!

                               I found the Butterfly Gold butterdish at Renaissance.
                               the Oxo mug I found somewhere else....

On our way back, Dan saw a giant sign advertizing a garage sale. This sale was amazing! It is the once a year unbelievable sale. It was in a hardware store that closed in the 80's judging by the merchandise.

                               Dead stock Androck utensils made in Canada.

                                

A dead stock orange Thermos

and 2 lovely Federal bowls with green flowers.

 

 And a tackylicious Mushroom trivet

 

I still don't know what will stay and what will go in the Etsy store

Of course I still think about stuff I left behind...

There was so much! I could've gone every day for a week and buy stuff everyday.

But it was late in the day and the place is far from home so I got stuff that grabbed me.

 

Be well and keep thrifting friends! 

New Pyrex & some thrifting

Last week when I went to visit my Dad he surprised me with this....

                                A 401 Homestead bowl in Navy ( it exists in Brown)
                                a gift from a Pyrex soldier.
                               And what about that brick wrapped in waxed paper?

A brick of maple sugar! YUM ! Such a cool gift!

 

We took Friday off for our annual creamer capper to Massena NY.

 

Why creamer capper? Well, I suffer from ( among other things) a liquid Coffee Mate addiction and December is a great time to go across the border and look for it!

 

I didn't find the Coffee Mate I was yearning for but decided to try some International Delight creamer instead...Still unopened in the fridge....

 

I did find 2 new thrift shops, one with mostly clothes and the other was kind of an antique mall with booths, but not really.

Very clean, bright and warm.

 

I got the measuring cup

 

  

                               I also got a kitty kat beatnik Xmas tree ornement (no pic yet) for $1.

                                  The Butterfly Gold casserole came from Value Village in Cornwal, and I also got other cool stuff from there, but I didn't think of capturing those finds for posterity
                                  It was a beautiful  day full of finds and laughter and we both and a ball.
                                  We were asleep in the living room by 9:30 pm...

                                   Good times!

I just noticed I have a couple of new followers! WELCOME!  I hope you will enjoy your visits

Must go beddy bye because the morning comes really fast!

Guess What?

Guess what?


The lamp is going back!!! We took it out of the box, I held it up; I had time for a picture…..and it went back in the box!

Back to the drawing board!

Here’s a pic of said lamp

Bye Bye Lamp!

Now a couple weeks ago we bought a rattan shade that id mid-centuryish for a big fat 3$....Now I’ll be looking for a kit to hang it up.

There were discussions to spray paint it but i was afraid we would regret it....If we don't like that lamp over the dining room table, it will go in a corner of the living room.


Now this is really funny Dan keeps saying we need touches of color! Yeah, yeah I know but in this case it ‘s definitely a case of Rome wasn’t built in a day! Still tired but not as stressed out....

I’m praying to get the ok for a week of unpaid R&R. That would be heavenly!

In the mean time here are some pics of Pyrex in action

Caprese salad lunch

Leftovers! I love leftovers! From left to right:

Smashed new potatoes with green onions in Spring Blossom Green, tzaziki sauce in the small fridgie and cevapcicis in the Butterfly Gold. It was delicious!

Right now I'm off to watch Masterchef and then off to bed.

Sweet dreams faithful readers :)

Sweet Sweet Oleander

In my parents house we always had a big oleander plant. My Dad would drag it out in late Spring and drag it back in in Fall.. When it would bloom, the air was filled with the sweetest scent, a scent that always made me feel like everything was going to be alright.

When we went to vacation to Italy in the 70's, I was soooo surprised to see and smell oleanders everywhere, litterally!

I was also happily surprised to see one in front of a designer boutique near my workplace.

I stop by it every morning and take a big whiff out of those adorable pink flowers.

                                          I can almost smell them right now! :)

Now on the Pyrex front I went to pick up a Butterfly Gold that I had purchased on Etsy. Much to my surprise when I grabbed the box I could hear the broken pieces rattling inside. UGH! So I came home and took some pics and wrote the seller.

It wasn't very well wrapped....I asked for a refund.....Stay tuned on that!

                                                                        See?

Have a great night! And keep on thrifting!
 

Yes we brought a shovel

Tuesday morning at the customs, the agent asked us to open the trunk. He leaned in and we just heard a big guffaw and is that a shovel? Yep we brought a shovel on vacation along with some traction aids, long johns and ski goggles.

We used the later on a walk we took yesterday and I took those pics...

The bowl I found in Oxford at a deep discount. I paid 5.88$ (tax included)

Now zoom out

I was able to take a pic of the sea

This small house litterally hangs on the cliff. Scary! I would never buy a house like that, I'm too much of a scaredy cat!

Wind and snow.

I had a nice surprise in the room. The kitchen cupboards were fully stocked with Butterfly Gold! Not just the gravy boat and the cream and sugar but full place settings and veggie bowls and service plates.

The nice big and very clean room, I still miss my own comfy bed and kitty cats!

We just might use the shovel today to dig the car our for we are going to the fleas!

The sun is shinning :)

Just for Tracy!

Ok so I toyed with the idea of posting something but I got side tracked by the day. You know just the day to day stuff: laundry,racking leaves,cooking. I did take pics this morning but quickly forgot about them.

And I took a HUGE nap, yes guilty as charged! Even if the house in Saco was wonderful, the mattresses left something to be desired....With Dan in the full bed I felt like I was falling; and as a matter of fact it was true! One side of the bed was crooked, so it was uncomfortable for 2. I can also add that the Danmeister had a bad cold and was moaning and coughing most of the night, so I moved in to another room which had 2 singles so I had to buy single sheets (I love you Target). The house was a bring your linens deal and bring your soap,garbage bags and TP!

So after dinner I checked my blog and saw that Tracy my dear pal from Crazy Suburban Mom had left me a really cute comment about being in withdrawal from my blog and heaven forbids that Tracy should have convulsions or puke on her doody rug!

So I'm not making this up I actually bought some Pyrex on my vacation.

I got those 2 little fridgies. The one on the left has a banged up lid :(

5 Butterfly Gold Compatibles napkin rings  

 And this cute Cinderella Spring Blossom Green 441 bowl

Each piece was less than 3$ and the napkin rings were 1.75$.

I can't wait to use the napkin rings.

In case you're wondering: NO I don't have ALL the Pyrex pieces made. It is a common misconception! And No I don't buy all the piece I see, even if I don't have them. I try to get the smaller missing pieces. Once in a while I will get a fixation on a pattern or a piece ad then try to get it no matter what.

There was the Pink dinnerware fiasco. I decided I NEEDED (a deep deep need) for a 4 place setting of Pink rimmed Pyrex dinnerware. So I started slowly...I got the cream and sugar....some cups ans saucers and then I spotted some bread plates and saucers on Etsy and I bought them. Unfortunately the seller hadn't taken the time to go to the post office and have the parcels properly weighed and priced so she freaked out at the real shipping price ( a life lesson she won't forget soon). I got 2 plates and then I waited and waited and the seller asked me to be patient and I was r-e-a-l patient.

Then one day after a shift at the PCOU (postal counter of unjoy) I saw a yellow sticker from UPS on my door. They had come a-knocking but I was a-shipping! And they wanted 22$ of my hard earned money. No way I was going to pay duty on vintage plates! So I wrote the seller informing her of the situation and my refusal to pay additional fees. Well UPS came a couple of times and I was never there so the plates went back, I guess...I got some of my money back after 4 months. I felt bad for that clueless seller, it ended up costing her more than she made on the sale.

So I'm off the Pink dinnerware (for now) lol!

Wow I really rambled on!

I really have a good find for tomorrow...I'll give you a clue...It's glassware but not Pyrex and it was a definitely a

START THE CAR  !!! START THE CAR!!!

moment

VTT: Pyrex Butter Dishes

Merry VTT to everybody!

I decided to post earlier this week. Something about the early bird...You know!

So today it's about the Pyrex butterdishes. I was so sure I had 8 of them. I looked and looked and turns out I only have 7. They only made 7.

They all were manufactured in the late 60's- early 70's. The patterns are (from the first pic) clockwise left to right: Old Town Blue, Snowflake Blue, Spring Blossom Green, Woodland,
Autumn Harvest, Butterfly Gold, and the classic Butterprint.

Do you remember when I wrote that my interest in Pyrex keeps changing?

Well The butterdishes are the perfect example! I had no interest for them until I realised the bowls were taking over the house...So I needed to find smaller pieces...Hence the butterdishes!

I love having one on my kitchen counter filled with a stick of glorious butter goodness! YUM!

For more VTT fun please visit Suzanne at www.coloradolady.com

Undercover Flea Market

In the middle of nowhere (at least it feels that way to me!) is the Undercover Flea Market. Actually it's in Oxford Maine. Opened all year round from 9 to 5. You could litteraly get lost in there!

It's a good thing they sell coffee and snacks! It's HUGE! And most of the booths have sale signs.

It's not the cheapest place, and not the most expensive either. You could find basicaly anything : old books,new books,glassware,cut glass,crystal,pottery, a whole wall of S&P shakers and the list goes on and on!

The 2 Pyrex pieces in the picture were gifts from my Dad. I didn't have the Butterfly Gold loaf pan and I had never seen that deep orange 402 bowl anywhere! Cool!

Imagine that we still have half the road ahead of us! We passed in front of one really mysterious place called the Pick N Paw . It looks like a humongous pile of junk by the side of the road, and unfortunately it was closed! Rats! We have never stopped there....Maybe on the way back!

Roadtrip!

Saturday we went to Cornwall, Ont (again). We really like the vintage vibes of this place.



All the old buildings, the thrift shops, flea market, different food. Even the liquor store (LCBO) is cool!

Here in Quebec the liquor store (goverment run) seems to have problems to sell local products, but in Ontario it's a plethora of local stuff!!!



I had found a new thrift store while surfing the web, the Agape centre thrift store. It was one of our first stop. Very clean, lotsa stuff, and will be on our regular list of Cornwall must see. We also tried a new restaurant: The Gemini Cafe. We had a crab bisque (delicious) and a greek chicken sandwich (marinated chicken breast,tzatziki sauce with dill, ripe tomatoes, onions on a grilled pita) Super fresh and amazing! No room for dessert! :(



I found some intersting stuff at a thrift store: A Mirro dial a cookie cookie press, Spice of life S&P, vintage napkings and a cute cinderella butterfly gold bowl at Value Village. All will make an appearance in the Etsy shop as soon as I can post pictures again (translation: as soon as I get a new computer.....)

Speaking of Value Village the Big Brothers and Big Sisters were having a celebration to thank the community for their support and we got free cake (SCORE).

This was one of the best days EVER, we were in a cocoon of fun and synchronicity, nothing could pee on our parade!

On the way back we found a really quirky "garage/conveniance store/auto parts place/flea market" in the middle of nowhere. The owner was real nice, the stuff interesting (where else can you buy a pound of nails, 4 tires, a summer dress, a coffee make,a helmet and a teddy bear??? tell me!)

If we can find the place again we will go for sure! I think it's west of St-Zotique!

All in all a fabulous day!

Re-arranging

I do have a lot of Pyrex....but never too much! And I realized that I don't really use it in sets ( Even if I make the bowl set rotation in the kitchen...like a set du jour, or more a set du mois-I try to change the bowl set every month-not always working!!!)

I realized that I use my bowls in sizes: I cut ingredients for a recipe, I pull out a lot of small 501 bowls, bigger recipe bigger bowls (you get the picture? I'm sure you do!) So I decided to re-arrange my big armoire to feature all the 501s together, all the little casseroles....So far I have done only one shelf, but so far so good! Not working outside the house is pretty exhausting! LOL

And let's face it boys and girls I will have to start looking for work pretty soon :(

But I digress....

And thank you for asking I do feel better! lol

And I have finished season 2 of Angel...On to season 3!!!

I promise not to stuff myself with mindless tv. I will watch it in small doses (Only one or 2 episodes daily!!!)

Actually I have no idea if I'll be able to manage that....chukles...Is there a TV anonymous???? Or an internet anonymous???

Don't you just love the color of Pyrex? It still makes my heart sing!

But the collection takes a lot of place....Why, oh why didn't I fall in love with stamps.....coins???? something light and small???

Probably because I am so visual and the Pyrex colors and the patterns.... A true JOY for my color starved eyes.....Spring oh spring were art thou?

Ok my shakesperian spelling leaves something to be desired! Like all of you are so perfect!!!

LOL kidding,kidding of course you know I'm kidding....

Well folks, be good ,eat your veggies and above all be kind to your neighbors
(You never know they might have some Pyrex.....lol)

Hummmm Massena....

We should've known something was wrong when the U.S. customs officer said: Why you wanna go to Massena? LOL??? Euh....we are curious...we often go to Cornwall and we wanted to know what was on the other side of the bridge....

Well not very much it turns out! We saw a mall- you've seen a Walmart you've seen them all(and besides I was so NOT in the big box store mode!), I was in the quaint little village shop mode.....And the thrift mode....

I was all excited to find a St-Vincent de Paul store in the internet, so it was our first stop. It was as sad as the one in Verdun except that they give food to the needy (In Verdun you have to buy the stale bread and the expired cereal....). We parked the car after that, and nature called so we had to find a place for a pit stop. Road trip tip: I find that hotels have great restrooms and nobody looks at you funny!

Then I needed a coffee real bad and some food like biscotti or a piece of pie. I saw a delightful looking gift/coffee shop called Seasons. Great house, great gifts...They did have Green Mountain Coffee (Love the GMC!!!) but no food.....Disappointment! We had to avoid hypoglycemia at all costs!!! We had spotted a diner named Via Main so we popped by for some great chicken and rice soup. We didn't want to do the lunch thing right now and to tell you the truth Guy Fieri has spoiled me with Diners,Drive-ins and Dives because I have fantasies about these diners!!!

I tell you NO LIES ,there was nothing interesting on Main street even the Rite Aid pharmacy was just OK (I did find what I was looking for : Seabreeze facial astringent). So we got back to the car and on to the next stop (Another internet find) The Bargain Center!

Ok that was more like it! Like a ginormous garage sale....Tons of cool stuff at reasonnable prices! Dan got on of those wooden yellow yard rulers and I found a Corelle saucer for the kitties for a quarter. The down side of having a growing Pyrex collection is that most of what you find you already have it :( They was quite a bit of Pyrex : Verde casseroles( I have), Butterfly Gold bowls (I have), Butterprint bowls(I have), Snack server (it has been promised to me by my friend Celine).....The only one I didn't have was a promotional casserole Golden Pine 1961....3 dollars oh my!!! But deception....there was a big chip on the side so I left it. But the Bargain Center (545 S Main) is definitely a good spot for thrifting in Massena .

I just love that ying yang snack set with the rack! And what about that doll! How wonderfully tacky is it??? LOL

At 1 PM we had recrossed the bridge and at the Canadian custom the agent asked us where we had been....we went to Massena and she said "What for?" we were curious. "did you buy something?" Yes a giant ruler, a bottle of face toner and a saucer for the cats. She just laughed and wished us a nice day!!! We were glad to be back in Cornwall.....But that is for another post! LOL

My Pyrex!!!

One of my off-time project was to take pictures of the Pyrex! So I started today! First of you have the Crazy Daisy pattern (two versions).

Then you have the Butterfly Gold (again two versions).The 501 with the small design was in my cabinets...un-noticed for quite a while! This is one of my favorite patterns (but it had to grow on me!)

I love the Horizon pattern specially the color. That blue is soooooo gorgeous!

I really love the instant coffee carafe on the left, because the promotional sticker is still partially on it, and you have the french and english version proving that it was a promotional gift when you bought Maxwell House coffee. The other was a gift from my father.

That is it for today, but I will continue to post pictures of my Pyrex collection.