The Thrill of the Hunt

There are certain things that I've always wanted simply because they are so old-school, just so cool; like a library card catalog cabinet or a sewing bobbin drawer or...an old type set drawer (I guess I like things with lots of compartments!)  I found this type set drawer in Stillwater last week.  I eyed it at an antique mall, way back in the corner, and rushed over casually so that noone else would notice my interest and get there before me.  Nevermind that there were barely any other shoppers there and that two of them were my Mom and my Aunt.  It was a great price and I grabbed it, carried it around for awhile, and started thinking...ugh...can you imagine the dust in these little pockets.  I am not a clean freak (not even on the same planet) but the dust, I can just imagine the task.  And, really, I thought, what would I do with it?  I'm not a knick knack person so I have nothing to display in it.  It could just hang on the wall as kind-of-architectural-art.  But, again, is the dust worth it.  So, I put it back.  Then my Mom had a GREAT idea and I ran back and scooped it up again, paid for it, and took it out to the car.  You, however, will have to wait until I have the idea fulfilled - I will show you then.  Oooooh, the suspense.
When Mark and I visit garage sales or antique shops with the kids, we've always made a game of it.  Before anyone can get out of the car, they have to name one item that they're looking for at this sale.  Whoever finds their item, wins a point.  We don't actually buy the items...it's just the thrill of the hunt.  So, while we were shopping in Stillwater last week, my aunt kept feeling the bottoms of coffee cups.  And then my mom was.  So, I asked them, why are you doing that, what are you looking for?  Flat Bottoms.  They're looking for flat bottomed coffee cups that won't collect water in the dishwasher.  I cracked up.  That was our joke for the rest of the day - looking for flat bottoms - ha!  By the way, they are very difficult to find.

Have I mentioned that John loves trains?  He got an awesome electric train set from Santa a few years ago but it needs a very large table to be set on.  So, I bought two identical folding banquet tables which work wonderfully.  They have to be the same height because, as with real life trains, the engine can only handle an extremely slight inclination.  The tables are identical so...perfect.  Until.  My family, my extended family, spends every Christmas Eve together.  This means somewhere between 35-45 people and we share a sit down meal so we need to bring extra folding tables and chairs.  Last Christmas Eve, we brought our banquet tables...without our names on them.  Yep.  At the end of the festivities,we brought home two different tables.  And it has taken us until this past week to figure out who we need to trade with to get our identical heights back.  So, what do you think John wanted to do this weekend?  Uh-huh.  But one of his favorite boxcars had a coupler (I think that's the right term) that needed to be replaced.  Mark was deer hunting so it fell on my to fix the train.  We got it taken apart and I got everything back in place.  Until we turned it rightside up and everything fell off.  (This was, unfortunately, after I did my little victory dance and reminded John, see, Mom can do everything Dad can do - apparently not)  So, off to the hobby store to find out that the threads inside the train are worn and...wah, wah, wah, wah (the Charlie Brown voice).  I'll have Mark fix it.  But...

on the way home from the hobby store, we stopped at a consignment store.  I've never collected these Christmas village sets but John found this train station and wants to create a village to set inside the tracks.  I agree...that would be cool.  I know it may sound boring to just flip a lever and watch the train go round and round the track but...try it...it becomes fascinating and you want to slow it down when you come to the curve.  And, of course, you want to stop when the train pulls up in front of the station.  It is...fun!

And so, I'll end with a book recommendation - train related.  If you haven't ever read Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, you really should.  (1) Because it is Agatha Christie AND the Orient Express = perfect combo, (2) it's entirely unique in it's adherence to the "mystery formula", and (3) it is Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, for goodness sake!

If you like mysteries, are interested in writing a mystery or would enjoy hearing an author speak, I recommend, if you're in the Minneapolis area, going to hear Ellen Hart and RD Zimmerman talk "mystery" on Thursday, November 29 at 7:00 at the Elmer L. Anderson Library on the University of MN campus.  I attended a mystery writing course led by Ellen Hart (that's her pen name, can't remember her real name) years ago.  She is a wonderful teacher and great speaker.  I don't know RD Zimmerman, but I bet he's great also.

Autumn Nesting

At the river, we use plates and bowls that I've collected from antique shops, thrift stores and garage sales.  They are not all matching but all follow this amber-tone, made in USA theme.  Hull is a brand I've come to look for and I found these soup crocks a few weeks ago, right when the weather started turning colder.  The little lids are not completely necessary but they sure are fun.  I made clam chowder last week so we could try them out before packing for the next trip to the river.

And I'm back into the swing of packing lunches every morning but am amazed at how fast our cookie supply is depleted.  Hmmm.  Maybe you already do this cool trick but I was impressed when my friend, Joanne, showed me how, when she makes a batch of cookies, she bakes a pan or two and then uses a scoop to plop the rest of the raw dough on wax paper lined pans; sticks them in the freezer.  When they are frozen, they can be dumped into a plastic container or ziplock for easier freezer storage.  So when I take 12 out in the morning and bake them while I'm packing lunches, everyone thinks I got up extra early to whip up a batch of cookies and am baking them already.  (Actually they're on to my trick but still...great idea.)



What-re You Looking At?

Someday in the future, we hope to replace our old hollow core doors with nice solid "real" doors.  But the one in this pic is starting to feel like it lives here.  This is the face we've discovered in the grain of our bathroom door - fortunately it faces the hallway and does not gaze into the bathroom.

A little further down the hallway, we have this to look at:

An overcrowded jumble of "little-girl-about-to-become-teenager" mess!  We've been talking and compromising on some redecorating ideas for some time now and are determined to start (and finish) during the fall months when we can open the windows to crisp clean air for purging and painting.  We have had our eye on a little sofa at the local consignment shop and whe I received a Labor Day sale email this morning, we raced up there, hoping it hadn't yet sold.  It hadn't.  We bought it!  (plus a deer picture that John wanted for at the river)

So, stay tuned for updates in our mother vs. teenage daughter redecorating project as well as a blow-by-blow on the logistics of buying a sofa to add to an overcrowded room!  It'll work - I just know it will.

July's Beer and Cool Finds

Oops - I'm a little late with the announcement of July's Minnesota Beer of the Month selections. 
July's selections were (1) Ring Neck Braun Ale from Brau Brothers BrewingCompany in Lucan, MN and (2) One-Eyed Pike from Brainerd Lakes Beer in Brainerd, MN. 

This morning, while John was at camp, Kate and I shopped for school supplies - blahgh!  As a reprieve, we also stopped at the thrift store and found some great stuff.  I have been looking for this kind of cheese grater for a long time - seriously!  I know it just looks like your basic old cheese grater and I guess it is but you cannot find these in stores anymore - good find!  And the plates match a set my mom has started collecting as cabin dishes - can't wait to surprise her with them.  The painting - Kate and I both fell in love with.  It will go on a bedroom wall up at The River.  I don't know who Bill Rasley is but I like his painting - it's like an illustration from a book - love it.

Birthday Lights

The lamp on the left used to belong to my Auntie Jeanne, a long time ago.  My Mom bought it from her at a garage sale, a long time ago.  It now resides in the guest room of my parents lake cabin.  It's hard to see in this scratchy photo but the globe is gold plastic (lucite, officially) with green and orange geometric shapes melted into it - very funky.  Mark has always admired it and said, "If you ever run across a light like that, buy it for me."  Never gonna happen, right?

W-hell...looky what I found at a consignment store - photo on the right - a few months ago and have been hiding in the back of my closet for his birthday!  Still searching on Ebay for that awesome lucite globe, though. 

Ever watch That 70's Show?  The lamp on the right belong's in Eric's house but the lamp on the left would've been in Donna's house - way more hip.  Although the light on the right provides much better reading light.  Yeah, like I said - nerd on the right, cool on the left.

Little bit of Everything

Last night was a marathon night with evening activities.  So, I made the pheasant pasties in the afternoon and they were ready to grab and go - and turned out to be very good!  I can imagine how tasty they would have been as a lunch out on the fishing boat or down in the mines.  Although I love the concept, I didn't do the traditional dessert in one end and dinner in the other end - sounds yummy though, huh?  These also look like they're tipped on their sides - 'cause they are.  Just trying something different.

Kate was the MC (Mistress of Ceremonies) at her school's 2012 Variety Show last night and did a wonderful job.  I cannot imagine being able to get up on stage and speak into a microphone.  There were even a few changes that she rolled with in the blink of an eye.  I am constantly amazed by my children!

Mark and I both took the morning off today, had coffee, stopped a few garage sales, and then had lunch before heading back to work.  It was a good morning.  Here are a few "finds":



A cassette player/radio jukebox for Kate's room - and the kicker?  A Buddy Holly cassette - her absolute favorite right now (if you know my family, you'll understand - Buddy Holly is a really big deal!).  Finding these cassettes feels kinda like when I was younger and my Dad would find a cool 8-track tape of a group that was hot before they even had 8-track tapes.

John's birthday is coming soon and he has "tackle box" on his wish list so we found some great tackle to start filling it.  This was one of those guy garage sales where I stood in the driveway for ten minutes waiting while Mark contemplated which lures to buy - it's definitely fun when we both find sales with "good stuff"!

Scheduling Toward Freedom

With baseball and softball practice/game schedules released, we are in bad need of posted daily calendars.  I dug out these old black frames today and hung them in the kitchen entry.  With dry erase markers, we can write in our daily schedules. 
But I'm dreaming of summer freedom. 
While running a few errands this morning, I found myself across the street from the thrift store and decided on a quick look.  Here are my treasures that I'm putting away until summer vacation:

Badminton and ice cream - what could be better?!
*** I've realized that the "comments" aren't working on this blog so I apologize if you've left a comment that I haven't acknowledged.  I'll work on fixing it and let you know.

A Good Book I Can't Read

When I showed up, recently, at a family function, my brother said, "Hey, Ms. Poppins - got a light?"  My brothers have sarcastic and quick senses of humor and I don't always "get it".  I didn't get it so he had to explain.  Apparently, my new purse looked (to him) like the one from which Mary Poppins (Ms. Poppins) pulls a lamp (light).  Aha.  Ha.  Ha.
I decided not to provide him with more material by telling him about my story association upon first seeing the purse in the store.  I agreed with him on the carpet bag image but, for me, I thought right away of Huck and Jim on their raft down the river when they meet two carpetbaggers.
(And I still bought the purse!)
At the thrift store today, I found this red covered copy of Tom Sawyer by Samuel Clemens:

How cool is that?!  It has no publication date in it so I'll have to research and find out more.  The two blue covered copies I've had for years. 

My Dad used to travel a lot for work and would sometimes bring home gifts for us.  These Twain hardcovers were my gift from a trip to Chicago.  Here's the really cool part (well, in my mind anyway):

When the book was printed, it was multiple pages on big sheets of paper that were folded and then the edges cut.  Only this book didn't get all it's bottom edges cut.  Of course, I could seperate them easily with my finger.  But I never would. 
Twain said, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
I can read this book but I won't because I can't open the pages!

Rainy Day Nesting

Cold and wet today.  When I stopped this morning to help set up a garage sale, I couldn't resist doing a little pre-sale shopping.  These are two of my favorite finds - both coming from my Grandma's kitchen.  The lovebird spoonrest was always sitting on her stove, above the oven, which held wonderful smells coming from a roaster.  Can't wait to use them both!

After spending too much time at the garage sale, I spent time at home catching up on my cooking & baking day.  I bought 7 dozen eggs last week at the warehouse store, thinking how nice it would be to have eggbakes in the freezer, ready to pop in the oven on a Saturday morning.  So, I made four pans today and still have 3 dozen eggs left.  Perfect amount to hardboil and dye for Easter.

Also, you'll notice our last Cara Cara orange - a whole bag gone in a day, they were so delicious.  Will visit the market tomorrow ad hope they have more!