yard sale-ing

Went out yard sale-ing with Laurie this morning. Both of us were mostly brain-dead from lack of sleep (unfortunately due to insomnia in both cases, not anything more exciting). We knew of some neighbourhood sales in Old South and Woodfield, and Laurie said there was a rummage sale at St. Peter's, too, so I let her set the agenda and basically just worked as a loot mule and chauffeur. (I'm teasing, Laurie.)

I didn't intend to buy anything because I'm experiencing a temporary dearth of monies in my bank account, but I couldn't resist these shoes at our first stop - on Elmwood Ave. in Old South. I'm not a shoe nut, but it's so rare for me to find yard sale shoes (never worn, either!) in my size that I couldn't resist. Plus they only cost a dollar. Enough said.

Not quite sure where I'm going to wear these "f*ck me" wedges that add at least five inches to my height, but anyhow...



At another house on Wortley Road I found a card box full of stamps. I need more stamps like I need a hole in the head, but anyhow...



After making the rounds of Old South (where I'm pretty sure Laurie bought stuff too, but I don't remember what), we headed to St. Peter's. The St. Pete's sale was pretty dismal - both in content and attendance - but I did find this gorgeous blue mug for 25 cents. Enough said.



They were also selling baked goods at St. Peter's, and I couldn't resist one of these cupcakes-in-a-cone. I'm not even PMS'ing, so don't ask. Anyhow, it looked pretty in my hand for the 30 seconds or so it took me to eat it.



Walking back to my car I glanced over at Laurie and decided to take a picture of her. Which I don't think I've ever done before, ever. Anyhow, she looked beautiful in the sunshine and I knew it would make a good picture, plus she wants pics of herself for some kind of nefarious purpose that I don't really feel entitled to discuss, so just enjoy this pic of my beautiful BFF.

(I just noticed there's a kind of white mark below her nose that kind of resembles a drip of snot... if she complains, I guess I'll PhotoShop the pic for her. Sorry, Laure.)



The neighbourhood yard sales in Woodfield were the best of the day. Early on I found two baskets (above and below) for $5 and $2. I need more baskets like I need a hole in the head, too, but anyhow...





Yeah, I have absolutely no idea what this thing is. It's some kind of carved wooden foot that's been fastened to this kind of stand, and there are these dowel-y things at the top... my mind hurts just looking at it. I asked the woman whose home it was sitting in front of what it was, and she said, "Honey, if I knew what it was it wouldn't be sitting there."

(If you think you know what it is, please let me know. I'm afraid I won't sleep well until this is settled. Shyeah right, I know - I probably won't sleep well after you tell me, either. Nevermind.)



Awesome house in Woodfield (which is full of awesome houses). I loved this window - it seems very European. There was a tiny little al fresco cafe set up in front of this house, and Laure and I might have stopped to rest if I hadn't bought an awesome table for my kitchen, and wanted to go pick it up and get home for a nap. Which didn't happen (the nap), but anyhow...



Found four palm fans at another house in Woodfield. These could come in handy in church sometime this summer. Except I'll probably forget to bring one with me to church. Sigh.



Picking up the table I bought for $5 from a friend of Laurie's who lives in Woodfield. The table wasn't even for sale, but I asked if she was interested in selling it, because I coveted it for my kitchen. Laurie and Margot were suitably amazed at my organizing skills when packing everything in my hatchback. Just saying.



The table in its new home - with my kitty preparedness items (cat basket and food bowls) underneath. I bought the basket in Woodfield for $1, BTW. I wish I could take a good picture of the top of the table, because it's been painted with this gorgeous sponged-blue effect. Anyhow. I love this table. The legs kind of smelled like cat pee when I wiped them off at home, so I'm hoping either 1. it's not really pee, or 2. my new kittens have no sense of smell.

food prep

Took these pics a few days ago when I was making my lunch in the morning before work. Mom gave me some oranges when I was there Monday night, and I love the way they look, all cut up in my blue flowered bowl.



This is one-half of my daily allotment of work snacks. Not that I am dieting or anything. But I only have so much space to carry stuff (since I walk to work), and cut up apples in glass jars can be really heavy. These apples look totally brown by snack time, but I eat them anyway.

Come to think of it, these wedges look like a little apple army. If I played with my food, I would totally wage apple battles every day during break.

more flowers from laurie's front yard

Took some photos of Laurie's flowers when I dropped her off after our visit to the farmer's market. Above is a really ugly photo, because there's something totally wrong with one of those petals, and there was a really gross brownish thing to the left of the blossom. Oh well.









These are violets that Laurie transplanted last week. They look really pretty, although after seeing the photo I realized that some of the petals look pretty moth-eaten. Oh well.

apple fritter

Laurie and I went to the farmer's market at the fairgrounds again this week, and once again we got apple fritters from a Dutch bakery. I didn't take a picture of the apple fritters last week. Here's this week's fritter, half-eaten. I don't know how they make these, but basically they are sinful. That's all I know.

I nearly burned myself last week, the fritters were so fresh out of the deep-fryer. This week's fritters were pleasingly warm. We scarfed them in the parking lot before getting in my car. I somehow got sugar on the crotch of my pants, though. Not quite sure how that happened. I won't tell you the euphamism that Laurie came up with for that, either.

more kittens

I've been really bad about adding more kitten photos. My sister keeps sending pics to my BlackBerry, and since I had to replace my computer hard drive I haven't had the proper BBerry software to manage my device files or upload them to my computer. Whatever. I've taken these photos from my sister's Facebook profile. Very cute, eh?



Meghan and a kitten.



Kyle and a kitten.



Kyle kissing his kitten. I know - so cute.



Kyle's kitten, Zupur.

blessings in a salad

I took the above photo this morning when I went into my fridge to get some almond butter to eat with my Extra Strength Advil. I noticed that the pea shoots that I bought yesterday at the farmer's market were all backing away from the top of my fridge, as if repelled by the cold or something. Made me laugh. I know food that's stored right beneath the freezer tends to freeze, for sure.

This morning at church the guest preacher (a member of our congregation who is also a member of parliament) talked about a mission and service trip that some of the congregation took to a First Nations tribe in northern Ontario this past week. We had raised money to buy nets to allow the tribe to feed itself according to its traditional ways, and Glen's story of that visit was very moving and also heart-wrenching. Among other challenges, these First Nations people can't afford the healthier food that can be shipped into their community (a carton of eggs or a bag of potatoes can cost $20), and therefore their diets are often poor, and diabetes runs rampant through the community.



When I got home and started making my lunch, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the abundance of affordable, healthy food here in southwestern Ontario. The above salad (my lunch) is made with fresh organic spinach and pea pods from organic farms, as well as Ontario carrots and apples. The only thing that was shipped from somewhere else was the celery, and even then it was really inexpensive (although don't remind me how many pesticides were used to create it - I might lose my lunch).

Seriously, though - that is some miracle sitting in my bowl. Awesome.

Really quick, here's how I make homemade dressing for my salads: drizzle olive oil over everything (don't ask me how much), and then splash red wine vinegar on top of that, and sprinkle liberally with salt or Herbamare. I toss salads with my bare hands. True. I usually wash my hands first, if that helps. Besides, I'm usually the only one eating my salads. Anyhow - when everything's all tossed, I test the flavour by popping a leaf or two in my mouth. If the salad tastes like something you'd buy in a nice restaurant, you probably drizzled, splashed and sprinkled right. Otherwise - lather, rinse, repeat. Wait - that's for shampooing. Nevermind.

saturday morning farmer's market finds

So my friend Laurie wanted to go to the farmer's market at the fairgrounds this morning. I'd never been there (I usually go to Trail's End or Covent Garden), and wasn't expecting much. Was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, and the variety of the stalls. We each had an absolutely decadent Dutch apple fritter from one baker, and left with these sinful butter tarts from another, Canada Comfort Foods. The top tart is Ultimate Nut, the one on the left is Saskatoon Berry, and the one on the right is - wait for it - white chocolate. They have about half a dozen other flavours. Have already eaten the berry one. It was probably the best butter tart I have ever had in my life, apart from my mother's. True. And apparently I am PMS'ing or something, because I have totally chucked my no-wheat diet out the window.



An organic hydroponic place was selling these young pea plants. The greens are supposed to be sweet, and good in salads and sandwiches. I kept picking off little bits of them before I put them in the fridge - they really are yummy. Although I feel kind of weird eating live food - maybe how carnivores might feel if they were forced to bite chunks out of living cows, or something.



Another really cool stall was selling these body care products called From the Meadow. I had bought some of their soaps last summer when Mom, Dad and I took the kids to this bee place near Belmont. Sure enough, From the Meadow uses beeswax from the bee place in their products.

This particular cream is supposed to be a hormone-balancing one. I so need that. I've already rubbed it all over my ovaries, and the smell is wonderful - really subtle, with all-natural essential oils. I already feel calmer, like my Advil had been spiked with a Valium, or something.

Oh - and Laurie and I split a huge bag of Mutsu apples from a local orchard.



Here's my half, soaking in my kitchen sink. All these apples cost me $3. I seriously don't remember the last time I bought apples so cheaply. Yes, I know they are last year's apples. That's okay - so are the ones in the grocery store, that cost me $2/lb.