Thrift Store Finds

Hello and welcome! I've been to the thrift store (Value Village) and here is what I got ...

The bulk of my finds came from the textile racks, where I was quite excited to find that someone had thinned out their collection of vintage tea-towels. There were three great ones, two of which had never even been washed before and one that had but was still looking fresh and clean.

Having been interested in vintage tea-towels for a while, I know that the find of the day was the one with kittens on it. It is probably from the 50s or 60s and tea-towels from back then, with images of cute animals on them are treasured by collectors, so that one has been stored away in a cabinet until I decide what to do with it, while the other two are in rotation in our kitchen.

Out For Macaroni and Cheese at Thompson Diner

“The Best Mac and Cheese in Toronto” ... that is what my FB feed announced. So I clicked right over to this article on blogTO to see where I could get that.

Then I got a craving that stayed with me.So, when Nick mentioned getting take-out for dinner on Sunday evening, I suggested that we go to one of the places on that “Top 12” list instead. We went to Thompson Diner.Their version of the dish took care of that craving quite nicely, indeed.It was very good and so generously portioned that I had extra to share with Nick and to bring home for my lunch the next day. I ended up eating lunch at 11 am because, well, it's hard to wait when you know there is something like that sitting in the fridge.

A Little Macrame Project

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/diy-macrame-gate-latch-fob-02.jpg" alt="diy-macrame-gate-latch-fob-02" width="640" height="640" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24929 blk-brdr">Necessity was the mother of invention where the making this Gate-Latch Fob was concerned, after I went out to the side-yard to empty the trash, wearing only my pyjamas and slippers. Suddenly a gust of wind caught the gate, slamming it shut and locking me out in public, on the wrong side of the tall fence.Thank goodness Nick was home, although he was fast asleep when it happened, so it took a lot of doorbell ringing at the front door, in full view of passers-by, before I was let inside again. Things could have been worse and he could have already left for work, leaving me stranded outside in pjs, without a phone or a coin to put in a payphone, all day long. Even if I had had some money for the payphone, I would have had to walk to a very busy corner in inappropriate clothes and fluffy blue slippers.So that very afternoon, I hung a hook, leftover from a stretched-out and ruined bungee cord, on that gate-latch and we've been using it ever since to ensure the same scenario never plays out again. It actually does double duty in that aside from allowing us to keep the latch open when we're out beyond the gate, it also allows us to add a little more security to our deck area by locking the latch shut when we're inside. Of course, being a hook it doesn't completely lock the latch as would a padlock, but it would be very difficult for any prowler to get past it.

Photo Series : From a Hole in the Ground to a House in 12 Months

I came upon this building lot last year I became curious to see what was going to happen with the space behind the plywood barrier. So I snapped a photo every month or so, to document the progress.

Here is how it went ...

Plenty of Potted Flowers

Back in June, I wrote about having found a great new shop to buy seedlings, specifically flowers to brighten up our deck area. (That original story is here.) After feeling somewhat colour deprived last summer, I decided to get into planting more annuals (those are plants that only bloom one summer, at least here in Toronto) in pots, that I could move around to change things up depending on what was looking good at any given time.

I might have gotten a little over-excited after seeing the very wide selection of plants they had on offer and ended up getting 15 different types of flowers. Each was only about $1 to $2 a pop so my floral extravaganza didn't break the bank and they certainly have offered their fare share of pleasure.

I wanted to give the plants a bit of time to take root and grow before writing about the varieties I chose, and that is what I'm here to do today.

Of course, it is too late to start these plants this late into the summer, but this might give you an idea of what you might plant in pots in your outdoor space next year.

There was a three way prize for the 'Best Surprise' based on the fact that the original seedling didn't give much of a hint as to what was to come.

CALIBRACHOA - Calimor Violet Blue

I actually thought this one was going to be a dud, as it did very little for the first month after I put it in a pot. Then, as if overnight, it filled with buds and the next day was covered in a whole bunch of very pretty light purple flowers. They lasted about 2 weeks and faded away. Now it is flowering again but with fewer blooms. It's still very pretty though.