Auction Girl Vintage

Blue Monday ~ Mexican Sunset

 
January sunset near San Juan del Cabo, Mexico.

 

Blue Monday is hosted by Smiling Sally.  Click here for a list of this week's participants.

Click here for more Blue Monday posts by Auction Girl Vintage.

30 Day of Junkin' ~ Day 9 * Teapots & Tea Rooms

First things first ... I'd like to thank Kim at Forever Wherever for being the first person to share a junking post and grab a button.  She posted about a really nifty yard sale teapot on Wednesday morning.  Since I post so late in the day, her link went on Tuesday's Day 7 post.  I'm  adding her link to today's Mr. Linky, so ya'll can pay her a visit.

Kim inspired me to do my own post on teapots, which are very popular with hundreds of thousands of collectors around the world.  I'm sharing this post on Vintage Thingie Thursday, so please c'mon over to check out the great vintage items shared by this week's participants.

 

 

Teapots, tea cups, tea leaves, and tea rooms all have a devoted following -- with their own customs and culture -- and there's something for everyone, whether you're a casual collector or a dedicated devotee.

A quick search of eBay shows 13,579 active listings for teapots, plus 22,822 completed listings (a combination of sold items and auctions that ended without a buyer).  eBay displays 21 days of completed listings.

The most expensive teapot sold on eBay during the past three weeks was this ceramic apple pattern teapot made by Watt Pottery, produced from 1952 to 1965.  The seller described it as being in non-mint condition, with "overall age crazing and 2 very small chips under the spout."  Sales price?  $3,495.00.  Uh huh ... makes you wanna get up earlier on Saturday mornings, doesn't it?

The least expensive completed teapot sale on eBay during the same three weeks was this 1950s 25th Anniversary white bone china teapot with handpainted silver details, in mint condition, made by Lefton China in Japan.  Sales price?  $2.00.

 

 

Last month, I purchased a small collection of teapots at a local garage sale, for $1.00 each.

Here are two that have sold so far:  this sweet Alice in Wonderland teapot sold for $9.99, and the vintage Treasure Craft chalkware watering can (c. 1940s - 1950s) sold for $13.49.

 

Miniature teapots are also very popular, like these two that were part of the collection I purchased.  Both are less than 2" tall.  The one on top is a vintage cloisonne teapot decorated with fluffy yellow chicks, and the one on the bottom is part of the ME Mary Emmerling Cherries Collection.

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Although I don't collect teapots myself, I do enjoy the pomp and circumstance often associated with formal occasions for drinking tea.  My Uncle Clare -- the namesake of my middle name -- married my Aunt Yaeko in 1960, while he was serving in Japan.  On her first visits to the U.S., Yaeko treated us to the elegance of the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, and presented me with my first set of Japanese teacups.

Some of my fondest childhood memories involve drinking tea in the 1894 Tea House in Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden, and climbing over the 180 degree Moon Bridge (quite a challenge for a 5 year old girl wearing a dress).  The Moon (or Drum) Bridge, the Japanese Tea House, and the pond in front of the Tea House are all part of the original Japanese Village constructed for the California Mid-Winter Exhibition held in Golden Gate Park from January to December, 1894 (yes, that's eighteen ninety four, 13 years before the infamous San Francisco fire was started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow).

In my travels, I've visited many memorable tea rooms.  I recall the elegance of my first high tea, enjoyed in the gorgeous Palm Court in the lobby of NYC's Plaza Hotel, way back in 1979.  I've had tea several times at the Fairmont Empress Hotel, overlooking the beautiful Victoria B.C. Inner Harbor on Vancouver Island.  Their afternoon tea is legendary, with lengthy lines to match to match it's popularity ... when we're in Victoria, we prefer the more casual tea-and-curry luncheon or dinner buffet available in the Empress's fabulous Bengal Pub.

If you love tea and love to travel, you'll definitely want to visit Tea Travels, where the subject is tea rooms.  The site is chock full of scrumptious recipes and fabulous photos of elegant afternoon teas.

Want more info on the wonderful world of tea?  Check out these sites:

• Calendar of Tea Events -- a directory of events from A to Z, throughout the US and Canada

• Tea Guide Worldwide Tea Room Directory 

• Great Tearooms of America -- searchable by zip code

If you'd like to learn more about teapots, check out these terrific sites:

• Teapots Teapots Teapots
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• The Trenton NJ Teapot Collection
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• The Teapot Collector's Club -- Show Us Your Teapots photo gallery (awesome!)

 

If you'd like to share a post about junking, just follow the directions below. I've created a button to place on your blog, so please grab a copy, tell your friends, and jump right in.

 

 

 

How to Particpate in 30 Days of Junkin' ...

 

1.  Write a post about junking on your blog, or link to a post you've already written.  We want to hear about the hunt and the rewards ... where you shop, how you do it, and what you do with your goodies.  This is a celebration of All Things Junk, so please share your treasures as well as your tips.

 

2.  Place the 30 Days of Junkin' button at the top of your post.
 

3.  Add your permalink using Mr. Linky.  Please do not link until your post is up.
 

 

I encourage everyone to share at least one post celebrating junkin' during April, any day you wish.  Once your post is up and linked, you can grab a copy of this badge for your sidebar.  Please link it back to my main blog addy ... http://auctiongirlvintage.typepad.com

Blue Canadian Foods ... Commercial Drive in Vancouver, B.C.

 

Blue Monday is hosted by Smiling Sally.  Click here for a list of this week's participants.

Click here for more Blue Monday posts by Auction Girl Vintage.

The subtitle of my blog -- right up there in the header -- is a girl, her thoughts, a camera, and a keyboard.  That's pretty much what you get any time you drop by to see what's new in my world.  I'm not here to make money, push an agenda, count visitors, or become Queen Of The Internet ... that's what my other website is for :o)

My blog is where I come to relax and reflect on my personal world, listen to my thoughts, share my passions, and meet some really great people who somehow wander in.  It's where I take the time to sort through all the things that are going on in my life -- past, present, and future -- and choose something worth shining up enough to share.  Today I'm sharing some lovely blue foods from a recent trip to one of my favorite cities, Vancouver, B.C.

My husband Ray and I love to travel:  whether it's across town or halfway around the world, there's always something new to explore.  We love to shop, we love to cook, and we love discovering new foods in new places.  Entire vacations are often planned around what foods are going to be in season in a certain region, or when we can take a class from a favorite chef.

Wherever we go, my camera is a constant companion, letting me dabble in another favorite hobby ... photography.  It's fun taking pictures of food, even though I rarely know what -- if anything -- I'll do with the pictures that multiply like rabbits.

We spent 10 days or so in Vancouver in December, doing foodie things and shopping for antiques.  On a particularly cold Saturday morning, we took a 3 hour culinary walking tour of Commercial Drive, Vancouver's Italian (and a lot more!) district.  Since it was the "off season" -- a week or so before Christmas -- there were only 4 people on the tour ... Ray and I, the tour guide (a local chef), and a recent vegetarian newcomer to Vancouver.

We mingled with a happy crowd of early morning shoppers, while nibbling our way through more than a mile's worth of stores and restaurants.  Commercial Drive has dozens of restaurants, fruit and vegetable stalls, bakeries and butchers, Italian coffee bars, small ethnic grocery stores, and numerous specialty shops, all of which were piled to the ceiling with imported foods and holiday treats.  The old-fashioned displays were wonderful, and I had a blast taking fun food photos that morning ... more than 200 pictures! 

The colors of the packaging were as delightful as the food itself.  Here are some blue pics from our culinary walking tour of Commercial Drive.  All can be enlarged by clicking on the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 
Mural on the side of the ravioli store

 

 
Mural on the side of the ravioli store

 

Culinary walking tours are hosted by Edible British Columbia.  Click here for info on the Commercial Drive tour.  They also offer tours of the wonderful Granville Island Public Market and Vancouver's Chinatown.

 

Blue Monday is hosted by Smiling Sally. 

Click here for a list of this week's participants.

Click here for more Blue Monday posts by Auction Girl Vintage.

Trash to Treasure ~ Estate Sale Booty

It's Trash to Treasure Tuesday again ... how did the past week go by so quickly?  I've been home almost all day, every day, getting started on my kitchen reno, and the time is flying by.  I haven't been to a yard sale, thrift store, or antique mall in more than a month, so today I'm sharing some photos from my December junking trip to Vancouver, BC.

We flew in on a Saturday afternoon, and I brought a pre-made list of antique malls, quilting stores, flea markets, and even garage and estate sales (found through Craig's List).  After settling in to our apartment on Saturday, I was ready to go junking bright and early on Sunday morning.

 

My best stop of the day was at an estate sale in this unassuming home.  Sunday was the fourth-and-final day of the sale, and everything was half off from 12 noon until closing.  I arrived around 11:30 and spent 2 very enjoyable hours going through 2 floors of very cluttered rooms -- plus a basement -- filled with a liftetime of treasures.  Although many of the nicer items had been sorted and tagged, there were dozens of boxes to dig through in every room, plus the kitchen drawers and cabinets, the bedroom closets, several china cabinets, and all of the closets and dressers.  Definitely my kind of sale :o)

I especially enjoyed getting to look through all the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen, and the dresser drawers in the bedrooms.  I found two beautiful meat-carving sets that appear to have never been used:  one is a four-piece set with Bakelite handles, and the other set has the requisite three pieces plus six steak knives and six forks, with wooden-looking Bakelite or plastic handles.  Both were in their original boxes, and are headed for eBay.


 

The rest of my purchases were "smalls," as I had to fit everything into our suitcases and didn't want to pay for excess weight or luggage.  I discovered a four drawer tallboy dresser in one of the bedrooms, completely filled with handmade doilies, sewing notions, buttons, table runners, and many other vintage items.  I left the sale with two large boxes, having spent a total of $24 CAD (about $17.50 USD).  This is a picture of the items from one of the boxes, spread out on the table back at our apartment.



I ended up with lots of vintage greeting cards, hotel silver, storage tins, two manicure sets, several perfume bottles (one shaped like the Eiffel Tower), beautiful handkerchiefs, souvenir shotglasses, cocktail forks, a man's razor, silver-plated candleholders, embroidered pillowcases and tea towels, barkcloth slipcovers for a 3 seat sofa, assorted vintage buttons, several children's bow ties, a full set of very old checkers in their original box,  and some other things that aren't pictured and which I can't recall.

 

Most of these treasures are now at my office, waiting to be cleaned, photographed, and listed on eBay.  I'm planning to keep a few things for myself, including this little silver dish filled with brass buttons and shirt studs, some of the linens, and all three items shown in the photo below.

 

I love this blue-and-white storage tin, though I'm not certain what it once held.  The sweet Eiffel Tower perfume bottle can be glimpsed on the righthand side of the photo.  Like the pink atomizer, it needed a serious cleaning.  I have a photo of the clean-and-sparkly atomizer below, but it doesn't show the actual color correctly ... it's a lovely pale pink, close to the color of the tassel in the photo on the right.  I have a hunch that both of these perfume bottles are Avon, but both are charming and would look great on almost any dressing table.

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty In Pink

My 50 cent atomizer

 

 

 

 

 

Do you collect any of these items?  What would you keep if these were your's?

 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a terrific Trash to Treasure week! 

 

 

 

To see more terrific treasures, please visit Diane at A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words.

Blue Monday ~ Vintage Blue & White Dinnerware

A brand new year brings changes, optimism, and the desire to begin something new.  One of the items on my personal Something New List is Blue Monday, hosted by Smiling Sally.

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Blue and white are my favorite colors, and I have lots of things to share in the coming weeks, including decorating ideas, crafts, and collectibles.  Like most collectors, I enjoy visiting antique malls, flea markets, yard sales, and thrift stores.  I travel a lot, which means I see far too many things I'd love to own but just don't have room for at home ... or in my studio, or even in my suitcase.

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I love seeing how various dealers, collectors, merchants, and friends display their treasures, whatever the setting.  And I always have a camera in my pocket or purse, for all those Kodak moments.  The photos below were taken at the Village Antiques Mall in Fort Langley, B.C., on my December trip to Vancouver.

 

These pretty blue-and-white cups and plates remind me of the dinnerware I use at my studio, and would perfect to mix and match with my other favorites.

Isn't this a lovely pattern?  These dinner plates were being sold in a set of three ... if there had been one more, I would have taken them home.

 

This is a charming vignette ... the blue transferware platter looks terrific with the dark blue water goblets, the Depression Glass juice tumblers, and the deep purple aubergine salt and pepper shakers.
 

I love reading your comments, and greatly appreciate it when you leave a note to let me know you stopped by.  If you are participating in Blue Monday, I'll be visiting your site sometime this week ... I'm looking forward to seeing all the wonderful Blue Monday photos and getting a little peek inside your world.

2008 ~ A Year In Review

 

It's time to celebrate the end of another wonderful year!

 

Here are a few of my favorite photos from this year's travels and projects.  I've taken thousands of photos this year, and hope to share more of them in the near future.  Keep an eye out for my favorite foodie photos and travel pics from our 2008 adventures, both of which are coming soon.

Have a warm, safe, and blessed New Year!

xoxo

 

 

Many thanks to Cindy at My Romatic Home for hosting this end-of-the-year party.  The official date was Monday 12/29, but quite a few of us seem to have needed a little more time ... or perhaps we were just waiting for the very last day of the year :o)  Click here for a list of all participants, and be sure to leave everyone a quick note to let them know you stopped by!

 

 

 

Pink Saturday ~ Pink Poodle Boutique

Happy Pink Saturday!  These pics were taken in Fort Langley, B.C. , earlier this month.  Fort Langley is a charming village on the south bank of the Fraser River, accessible from the north side of the river via the historic Albion Ferry.  We parked in front of the Fort Dog Spa & Pink Poodle Boutique, whose whimsical windows and pink window trim really caught my eye.

 

 

 

Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.  Be sure to stop by for a full list of this week's participants, and to find out how to join the fun. 

 

Pink Saturday ~ Vintage Christmas Ornaments

 

Happy Pink Saturday!  I have a feeling that this week's participants will be posting LOTS of Pink Christmas items, and I decided I might as well follow the crowd.  The photos below were taken last week, at the Fort Langley Village Antiques Mall in Fort Langley, B.C., Canada, about an hour southeast of Vancouver.

 

 

  

 

Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.  Be sure to stop by for a full list of this week's participants, and to find out how to join the fun.

Vancouver Sunrise

 Sunrise, December 13, 2008 ~ Vancouver, B.C. ~ 7:50 a.m.

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Pink Saturday ~ British Columbia Is Pretty In Pink

 Happy Pink Saturday!  This is a bit late in the day for you early risers and East coast types, but it's far better than missing out altogether like I did last weekend, when we spent Saturday on an airplane and I was too tired to write a pink post when we arrived in Canada.

This week's Pink Saturday contains some shots taken since we arrived in Vancouver, a week ago today.  Immediately after clearing customs and picking up a rental car, we drove straight  to Best Buy in Richmond (not far from the airport) to pick up my new camera, which I had ordered online right before we left home.  You may recall that I forgot my camera in Los Angeles a few days before Thanksgiving, and that I was mildly nuts until I got it back.  Several days later, I laid the camera on the console in my truck, and when I stopped to make a lefthand turn, it slid right into an uncovered glass of iced tea ... damn!  It was pretty funny, but it ruined the camera and I had to buy a new one.

I did a little price-checking online, and learned that the latest upgrade to my sweet silver Canon now comes in pink ... uh huh, darling adorable metallic pink.  I was feeling too lazy to fight the Christmas shopping crowds before leaving town, so I checked the Canadian Best Buy website and discovered a special package deal that included a FREE pink leather carrying case that's not even available in the States.  With the current great exchange rate, I bought the camera and case for less than the camera alone would have cost at home.  I took a picture of the box, because I can't take a picture of the camera with the camera, if you know what I mean.  The free case is sitting on top of the box.

It's a great camera and I'm loving it so far.  In less than a week, I've taken more than 500 photos.  I have some cool pink ones to share today, to give you an idea of what I've been up to lately.

Last Sunday, while Ray was catching up on sleep, I went out junking.  My first stop was an awesome estate sale, where I saw this retro plastic lamp:

 

It was the final day of the sale, and everything was 50% off.  I could have gotten the lamp for less than $5.00 USD (U.S. Dollars), but it wouldn't fit into my suitcase and wasn't worth the cost and bother of shipping it home.  Even so, it would have been fun to sell on eBay, along with the ceramic cats.

I'm going to write a separate post on the estate sale, since I got a lot of great stuff.  Until then, here's a pic of some of the pink things I bought:

1960's greeting cards and lovely handmade doilies

After the estate sale, I went to the Retro Design & Antiques Fair.  I bought some 1950's barkcloth that had been made into slipcovers for sofa seat cushions and throw pillows ... they'll be in my eBay store when it reopens after Christmas.  There were a couple other things I would have bought if I didn't have to fly home, including a gorgeous pink hobnail lamp and a mid-century pink metal toy truck.

 
Another great lamp, and I love the swan vases, too.  Prices are Canadian ... USD price is approximately 75% of the tag price.  Super bargains at first glance, but not when adding on the cost of shipping or paying for an extra suitcase (and worrying about breakage).

 
Isn't this the sweetest truck?  This one is large, about 6" tall and more than 12" long.  Although toy trucks were mainly made for boys, pastel ones were produced for springtime, when they were filled with Easter candy and wrapped in cellophane for display and sale.

It's been overcast and rainy here almost every day, and there was snow on Friday (yesterday) that didn't stick.  Thursday, however, had bright blue skies and lots of sunshine, so we headed out beyond the 'burbs to visit some antique malls in smaller towns in the Fraser River Valley, including Maple Ridge and Fort Langley, both of which are about 40 km outside Vancouver.  I'll post about both of these later, but have a few special pink pics from the Fort Langley Antiques Mall for today:

 

I really liked this metal rack for displaying cups and saucers, and had never seen one like it.  The saucer stands up in a plate holder/shelf, and the cup hangs in front of it from a matching hook.  Very sweet and shabby, and designed for four cup-and-saucer sets.  The pegboard it's displayed on is a soft creamy yellow, but didn't come out that way in the pictures.   

Another booth in the same mall had a lot of painted lamps and candlesticks, with and without crystal trim.  The shabby chic white ones would look great in my house:

  
Look at the sweet baby angel in the plastic shell ...

 
Another cute cherub for a guest room or bath.

  
Check out the the classic molding on the pink ceramic lamp.  I thought the two pastel pink lamps were a matched set until I edited the photo.

 

It's hard looking at so many pretty -- and affordable -- things and not being able to bring any of them home.  But, as Ray always says, you can admire a Picasso without having to own one ...

Cheers from chilly Vancouver!

Victoria :o)

 

Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.  Be sure to stop by for a full list of this week's participants, and to find out how to join the fun.

My Husband Rocks ~ Indian Cooking Class Vancouver BC

 

One of our favorite travel activities is taking cooking classes, and our absolute favorite place to take them is Cookshop in Vancouver.  On Tuesday night, we took a wonderful hands-on class and made a fabulous East Indian dinner. 

Ray and I love Indian food, but we don't have many opportunities to eat it, since Bakersfield has only 2 or 3 Indian restaurants, and a very small Indian population.  We were very excited about a full evening of Indian cooking, and were very pleased with the results. 

Here's the class description:

This evening Chef Gurpreet has designed a new menu featuring flavorful dishes from one of the world's most varied cuisines. Learn about traditional East Indian spices and how to combine a variety of typical ingredients to make flavourful sauces for great results. Enjoy as you prepare:

Fish Amritsari - Spicy fried fish with mint chutney
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Chicken Korma - Chicken cooked with coconut, cashews and onions
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Lamb Roganjosh - Traditional lamb curry
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Bharta - Roasted eggplant cooked with tomatoes and spices
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Parantha - pan-fried Indian bread
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Kheer- Indian rice pudding

Our Tuesday night class with Chef Gurpreet combined demonstration with hands-on practice, and the ten students -- divided into two groups -- did all of the prep and cooking for all six dishes.  We had a great time, and the food was delicious.  There was a liquor store right next door to Cookshop, and when it was time to eat, several people -- including Ray -- went next door and bought some icy cold beer to complement the spicy food.

Here are pictures of what we cooked, along with the final presentation.  There's no picture of the fried fish, as we cooked it first and ate it as an appetizer while cooking the rest of the food.

Chicken Korma ... our favorite

 
Lamb Roganjosh ... rich and spicy, but not too hot

 
Baingan Ka Bharta ... roasted eggplant with tomatoes and onions, delicious!

 
The men, hand rolling Parantha roti

 
Parantha ... the chef said none of us would be good Indian wives, as our roti were strangely shaped and of many different sizes and thicknesses

 
Traditional non-vegetarian Indian meal, clockwise from top:
Parantha, Lamb Roganjosh, Chicken Korma, and Bharta.  Served
with a cold beer, this was heavenly!

 
Kheer ... rice pudding flavored with cardomon, almonds, & raisins

Now that we've had a little practice, plus a lot of inspiration, I'm sure that Ray will be adding one or two Indian dinners each month to his ever-growing repetoire.  He definitely rocks!








my husband rocks!

is hosted every Friday by KatyLin at
The Great Adventure

 

Pink Saturday ~ Cabs For & By Women

 

I'm out of town this weekend for a funeral, so I didn't have anything specific to post for Pink Saturday.  Rather than dig through my photo files, I googled "pink" and came across an interesting service in the UK, as shown below.

According to their website, as of March 2006, "In London alone, 10 women are attacked each month after getting into an unlicensed mini-cab. No wonder that many women feel safer taking a taxi driven by a woman."

I've been to London twice ... in 2005 and 2006, both times with my husband ... and I've never seen a pink cab.  But, as a woman who often travels alone for business and pleasure, I certainly understand the safety concerns that women sometimes have about cab drivers, especially those who take previously unknown "shortcuts" through deserted industrial areas late at night. 

Again, according to their website: 

"Pink Ladies spotted a business opportunity, and created the UK's first women-only private car hire franchise. The Pink Ladies drive Renault Kangoos that are pink inside and out, making them highly visible. Passengers sign up as members, and fares are either pre-paid, paid by credit card or with a 'pink account', which is both convenient for members and safe for drivers.

Booking is done over the phone, and a text message is sent to the customer to let her know the vehicle is approaching, which means she doesn't have to wait outside. Drivers are trained in self-defense and will wait outside a customer's home after a drop-off to ensure she gets in safely."

This seems to be a great idea that could catch on in many cities around the globe.  The only problem I see is that, for the time being, Pink Ladies requires a membership, which means their services are not available to travelers and tourists.

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For a full list of this week's Pink Saturday participants,
please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

My Husband Rocks ... But He Can't Measure

 

 

File this one under stupid but true ... 

This is a picture of Ray during our road trip last summer.  He's standing on top of the dam at Shasta Lake, in northern California.  And the person who can't measure -- or figure out the LARGE & OBVIOUS things in life --  is me, not Ray.

I thought Ray was being a smart ass by standing so close to a humongous sign that clearly states Keep Back 1000 Feet.  And that's why I took the picture.

 

 

I gave no thought to the fact that the top of the dam is maybe 30 to 50 feet wide, at the most.  It's a two-lane road.  I really thought he wasn't supposed to be standing there.  That huge sign is painted on the far side of one of the two towers in the photo below. 

 

 

 

Humbling, isn't it?

And the worst part?  I figured it out less than 2 weeks ago, when we were looking through these photos together and I realized that the sign is intended for boats on the lake, which are required to remain at least 50 feet away from the dam and the spillway.

 

 

 

As always, Ray rocks ... proven by the fact that he didn't point this out to me, but waited patiently for almost 3 months, until the little light came on in my head all by itself.  He's one hell of a guy, and he'll assure you it's been great to have been married for 49 years ... that's 24 and a half years each.

 

Have a great weekend, y'all!

 

 

 

my husband rocks!

is hosted every Friday by KatyLin at
The Great Adventure

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my husband rocks ~ A Taste Of Autumn Cooking Class

I'm having computer problems with this post, so will add the recipes and links Friday evening or Saturday afternoon.

Ray is an incredible cook ...

He bakes, he broasts, he stews, and he smokes.  He putters and seasons, tastes, and tastes again.  He does the shopping, the cooking, and most of the cleanup, 24/7/365.  He started watching cooking shows long before the invention of cable TV and The Food Network, and he began baking bread on Saturday mornings shortly after we were married, 24 years ago.

 
Chef Romy & Ray 

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We're definitely foodies, and it's reflected in the choices we make when we travel.  In October 2007, during a trip to Vancouver, B.C. -- one of our favorite foodie cities -- we started a new tradition of taking cooking classes when we travel.  I signed us up for a class called A Taste Of Autumn, at Vancouver's wonderful Cookshop.  The class was taught by executive chef Romy Presad, co-owner of Savory Coast Cucina Mediterranea, located on Robson Street in Vancouver.

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Here's what we cooked during the evening:

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Wild & Cultivated Mushroom Soup Made with Cream & Brandy - amazingly simple and delicious!  Makes a great starter for your Thanksgiving dinner, or a light lunch or dinner when served with crusty bread and a salad.

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Braised Lamb Shanks with Lemon, White Wine, & Olives, over Pappardelle Pasta - a delicious starter in small portions, or a perfectly seasoned lunch or dinner dish, made for chilly weather.

 

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Goat Cheese & Roasted Vegetable Timbale with a Balsamic Reduction & Fresh Basil Garnish - fabulous fall colors, beautifully presented, and can accompany any autumn meal.

Garnishing the timbale with balsamic reduction, right after baking.  The baking pan is sitting on top of the de-boned Lamb Shanks, simmering in a skillet.

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Plated Timbale, with Roasted Fall Vegetables.

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Plated - Timbale garnished with fresh basil.

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Plated, final presentation - Dijon Crusted Chicken served with Roasted Fall Veggies & Vegetable Timbale With Goat Cheese.

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Pan Roasted Dijon Crusted Chicken with Roasted Fall Vegetables - Panko bread crumbs add a lovely crust to this savory main course:  quick, easy, and terrific for entertaining.

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Tahitian Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee - Creme Brulee ... need I say more?

 

 

my husband rocks!

is hosted every Friday by KatyLin at
The Great Adventure

Vintage Clocks

Photo taken at BarnHouse sale, August 2008.

 

November Sky ~ Kensington Palace, London

 

 

Reflecting Pool at Kensington Palace, seen through gate at Kensington Gardens (Hyde Park).  Photo taken during London trip, November 2006.

My Husband Rocks! Stonehenge

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rock (verb) ... you rock, I rock,
he rocks, she rocks, they rock ...
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we rock together!

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my husband rocks ... it's genetic.  Ray's mom and dad were both geologists:  they met in the geology lab at the University of Texas when my mother-in-law was 18 and my father-in-law was 25.  My FIL -- Rex -- was an oil and mineral geologist with Exxon, and he spent many long months on the Alaskan North Slope, waiting to discover oil at Prudhoe Bay.  My MIL -- Nez -- has had several careers, including geologist, psychologist/marriage & family counselor, teacher, Church lay leader, scout organizer, and dozens of other volunteer positions.  Before, during, and after their careers -- at home together or thousands of miles apart -- they have been 100% devoted to one another.  Rex has been retired for nearly 30 years now, and he and Nez are both still talking about rocks :o)

 

here's a little secret ... Santa Claus is a geologist, too.  Santa loves rocks almost as much as Ray and Rex and Nez.  Santa loves them so much that he always put a couple of nice shiny polished ones in the bottom of Ray and his sister's Christmas stockings each year, a tradition that we carried on with on own children for many years.  Rex supplied the rocks for our kids' stockings out of his seemingly endless supply of fancy agates, geodes, arrowheads, and crystals.

 

my inlaws rock ... they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary this summer, and they're as smitten with one another now as they were when they met.  We've learned so much from them, and they're wonderfully inspirational role models for us in our lives and our marriage.  They raised their children with strong values and beliefs, old-fashioned Southern manners, respect for others and for the environment, inquisitive minds, a love of learning, a strong work ethic, and a desire to see the world. 

 

we visited Stonehenge  in November 2005, and were awed ... not so much by the size of the rocks (which are huge), but by their age and the fact that they're there, such a very long way from where they originated.

 

I have a feeling Ray is trying to sell these rocks to the kind person who took our picture

 

it's a very spiritual place, and it was humbling to stand in a spot where hundreds or thousands of people once lived, loved, hunted, raised children, and worshipped, more than 5000 years ago.  Archaeologists and scientists have shown that the rocks have been in place since circa 3500 years BC, and they believe the site itself was in use 8000 years before Jesus was born.

 

 

 

A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

 

 

I do not know how the third world war will be fought,
but I can tell you what they will use in the fourth ... rocks.

~ Albert Einstein

 

EDITED 11-01-08, 7:10 p.m. -- God works in mysterious ways.  I wrote and posted the original message (above) yesterday, Friday morning, shortly before 9 a.m.  Ray talked to his mom around 7 p.m., to say Happy Halloween.  She called back about an hour later to tell us Rex went to bed right after dinner, and passed away a few minutes later.  He lived a long and wonderful life, and died at home surrounded by loved ones.  Ray and I drove to Los Angeles this morning, to say goodbye to Rex, then spent the day with Ray's mother and his oldest sister.  The world is a better place because of the many things Rex did during his lifetime, and the many lives he touched.  I am blessed to have known him for the past 27 years, and to have been a part of his family and his life.

 

 

 

my husband rocks!

is hosted every Friday by KatyLin at
The Great Adventure

Fall Photos, Old & New

We don't get a lot of Autumn here in Bakersfield.  At 7:30 on a sunny Saturday morning, it's 62 degrees outside, with a predicted high of 86.  The leaves on our trees are stubbornly green, and will stay that way for another month or longer.

If we want to see fall colors, we have to search them out.  And since travel is one of my favorite things, I have some fabulous fall pics to share from previous journies.

This one is me, at Avila Barn in San Luis Obispo, CA.  You can tell it's an old picture ... I'm young, I'm thin, I have a tan, and I have shoulder length red hair.  It's been at least 6 or 8 years since any of those terms described me.

 

In 2002, I spoke at a literacy conference in Trumbull County, Ohio, and I stayed in a lovely country inn in Amish country.  The scenery was stunning everywhere I looked, but all of the local people kept telling me I had missed the best leaves and colors.

This tree is in front of my hotel, the Red Maple Inn, in Burton, OH.  It's located in Geauga County, the fourth largest Amish community in the world.

My friend Cheryl was kind enough to drive me around to see the sites and to visit the villages and small towns, including Middlefield and Mesopotamia.  The Amish farmland was beautiful and I was suprised to see that many of the fenceposts along the pastures were topped with pumpkins.  

More surprising, still, was the fact that many non-Amish families still had their carved Jack O' Lanterns on their front porches, nearly a month after Halloween.  Cheryl explained to me that the cold autumn air kept them fresh, and that most homes kept them on display until they froze.  Here in my warm part of California, Jack O' Lanterns begin to mold within 2 to 3 days of being carved, so they have to be thrown out right away. 

 

This is the End Of The Commons General Store, in Mesopotamia, OH, established in 1840.  It serves the local Amish community, as well as the non-Amish and many tourists.  I bought a lot of local goodies here.

 

This is the back lawn at the hotel, and the buildings are an Amish home.  My view faced east, and the sunrises were spectacular through the morning mist.  This is the view from my balcony.

  

 

Right next door to the hotel is the Century Village Museum, one of those parks filled with historic buildings and artifacts.  The cabin, below, was inside the park, right over the fence from the "front yard" of the hotel.

 

   

Pink Saturday ~ Travel Photos

I've been looking forward to Pink Saturday all week, especially since it's my first ... and then I scheduled the post for PM instead of AM, and just now discovered it didn't show up.  So here I am, more than 12 hours later than planned.  I'm obviously still learning my way around the software :o)

I decided to share some pink travel photos taken over the past couple years, because I never get to do much with travel pics.  All bets were off when I got my first digital camera, 10 or 12 years ago.  It was a big ol' thang that weighed more than my 1970s Canon SLR, and it used 3.25" floppy disks.  Memory cards were called memory "sticks" back then, and my digital camera didn't even have a slot for one.  I have more than a thousand floppy disks from my early digital years, which makes me especially grateful for today's itty-bitty memory cards that transfer photos directly to the computer.

Enjoy my fun pink pictures from around and about ...

Westin Los Cabos Hotel, outside Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  The upper level Pepto pink section is the open air hotel lobby, where guests are welcomed with complimentary margaritas.

 

 
A view of the condos/casitas section of the Westin.  To the left of the pink section you can see the umbrellas in one of their wonderfully romantic restaurants.

 

 
3 dimensional artwork on our hotel room wall ... it's an amazingly pink place :o)

 

 
A pink January sunset, from our Westin balcony.

 

A wall of pink roses - winetasing in Clayton, Oregon.

 

 
Night shot taken in garden of Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas.  The hotel room windows are surrounded by pink lights.  I've never stayed here ... I was my friend Jennifer the sights on the strip, and we went outside to see the penguins (the warm-weather kind).

 

 
Poolside/garden entrance to Flamingo Hotel.  I won 500 bucks on a dollar machine while we were cutting through the casino to get back to the street :o)  We celebrated by going to the Brighton store, where I bought us both new purses.  Jennifer chose pink ... she's the pinkest person I know.

 

 
A colored light art installation in the Gloucester Road tube station, London.  Love the rosy pink!

 

Want to see more of today's Pink Saturday photos?  Visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for links to all of this week's participants.

Barn House Flowers

Fresh hydragneas in a clear glass vase ... one of many charming vignettes at Joe & Jermonne's Barn Sale at Barn House, taken last month on our trip to Washington. 

I loved the look of the knife handles and hay nestled together in the white vase, so I bought them.  The handles are post-Bakelite plastic, with a tiny pinstripe or woodgrain.  They'll be making an appearance in my eBay store sometime soon.

The Little Red Schoolhouse

Isn't it beautiful?  The Little Red Schoolhouse, in the agricultural heart of Ventura County, is less than an hour from downtown Los Angeles.  It was built in 1896 and cost a whopping $2534.25, with no indoor plumbing.  The school is located just outside Santa Paula, a small town in the midst of citrus groves and scattered oil wells, 15 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. 

The 108-year-old building is still a public school, with 55 students and 3 teachers.  They added plumbing a long time ago, and have recently added a two portable classrooms.  My heart goes pitter-pat each time I drive past, on my way to the once-a-month Ventura Flea Market.

My mother always wanted to convert a barn into a home.  As a former teacher, I've dreamed of doing the same with an old schoolhouse, and have made mental lists about how I'd divide up the space to create a cozy place to live and work.

On vacation in Washington and Oregon last month, I saw some gorgeous old schools that are now homes or businesses.  Drving home through northern California, near Mt. Shasta, we stopped to see a combination campground-and-hotel where the rooms were restored train cars and cabins. 

Do you know anyone who lives or works in a converted schoolhouse?   Do you have any photos of schools converted to homes?

Sometime soon, I'll dig into my magazine stash and scan some pics of schoolhouse living spaces to share.  If you have any to share, I'd love to see them.

Loaner Fish

Auction Girl Travel ... I'm one of those people who doesn't mind traveling alone.  I travel a lot, with and without Mr. Vintage, who can only get away a few times a year. 

I have a particular fondness for small hotels with large beds and 800 count sheets.  I can recommend hotels in cities large and small, tell you which restaurants deliver at 2 a.m., and fill you in on where locals go to listen to the blues.   Although I live in small-town California, bartenders in Chicago, Portland, and Virginia Beach know my name.  Knowing bartenders a thousand miles from home is a good thing, and it makes Mr. Vintage smile.

Whenever I can, I stay at Kimpton hotels.  I love the Kimpton vibe ... they're young, they're hip, and they have 2 hours of free wine tasting every evening.  They name their rooms after vineyards and rock stars, and their hotel in Denver has a separate room service menu just for bubble baths with a martini on the side.

Kimpton goes above and beyond when it comes to the personal touch.  Their Hotel Monaco locations will even set you up with a goldfish, so you don't feel foolish for arriving alone.  Kimpton guests take "pet friendly" seriously:  they travel with the Big Dogs, not the little fluff-and-bows bowsers favored by Parisians and designer purse afficianados.  When I arrived sans-pet, the guy checking me in kept looking over my shoulder, as if my dog was certain to show up at any moment.  A few yards away, in front of a blazing fireplace surrounded by retro-sleek furnishings, hipsters and their dogs were draped on every surface.  This place was so cool that even the dogs wore sunglasses after dark. 

The fish bowl arrived while I was out to dinner:  day-glo gravel, plastic plants, and one fat fish.  He came with no instructions, no net for emergencies, no utensils, and no fish food, all of which attested to his impeccable manners and extremely low expectations for the night.  He swam to the far side of the bowl and averted his eyes while I undressed, then swam back and watched me eat the dark chocolates that were waiting on my pillow.  At least I didn't have to share them with a dog ...