Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving...a time for family and a time to count our blessings...and a time to celebrate the turkey! So many people skip Thanksgiving decorating and start their Christmas decorating early. Not us!!!

This honeycomb turkey is about 2 feet tall and hangs in our living room...giving us the stink eye with every turn! 

We found spots between our normal wall hangings for cardboard turkeys

An Indian, a clown and a turkey. Okay, the clown is there all year round.

A large die-cut turkey, We have several of these hanging around the house including one on the inside of the front door to greet all visitors.

More turkeys where we could find space.

Ceramic turkeys line the entertainment / bar unit. A popcorn turkey can be seen behind the blinds.

Some honeycomb turkeys sit atop the fake fireplace. They will be taken down tomorrow as we start decorating for Christmas.

For Thanksgiving, we decided to make a pie...from scratch. Neither of us had ever attempted to bake a pie in our lives but, together, we knew we could do it!

We gathered all necessary ingredients and had this handy dandy apple parer, corer and slicer at our disposal! 

The apples, freshly pared, cored and sliced!

The dough for the crust was made and refrigerated.

The dough being flattened to create the pie crust

A mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and flour were added to the apples and they were ready to be added to the pie.

The pie, ready to be placed in the oven

Thirty minutes later...the pie was done and ready to be brought to Monica's sister's house where we would spend Thanksgiving.

Our nephew and niece...wearing traditional pilgrim headwear. 

Monica's dad and brother also wore pilgrim hats!

Monica's sister prepared a fantastic feast! 

Monica's brother-in-law clowning around while performing a critical duty...carving the turkey!

Ahhhhh...the cranberry sauce. Delivered to the table as it grows naturally in the wild...can-shaped! 

We all enjoyed the feast. Monica's mom did not make the picture. She went inside to see how the kids were doing. The food was great and we got rave reviews on our apple pie! 

It was a great day filled with smiles, laughter, great food and great company. We are thankful for so many things...most of all, each other. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Cold Pre-Turkey

The weekend before Thanksgiving and the first real cold spell was upon us. It was not too bad when we woke up Saturday morning but the temperature was going to plummet all day. The high temperature on Sunday was supposed to be 34 degrees, about 16 degrees cooler than the normal temperature for this time of year. Heavier coats were assembled. Gloves, scarves and, of course, our list of potential stops were gathered. Off we went! 

Our first stop was an estate sale being run by relatives of the recently departed and seemed to point towards having some older items. The garage was the first thing we combed through and we found the bottom pole for an old outdoor patio umbrella. Well, there were two tops and one bottom. We already have two great old patio umbrellas (one is blue and the other is turquoise) but we only have one bottom pole. We asked if the pieces were sold separately and at $1, our first purchase was made. After looking through the house, we found a knee hugger elf, a couple of decks of cards, a hula girl Tiki mug (Orchids of Hawaii and made in Japan) and a record. It was a great start!

Our second stop was another estate sale run by relatives. 

It was an old house with several rooms and a great pink bathroom! The attic was off limits but the people were nice enough to show it to us. It was huge!!!! When the dust cleared (well, maybe not dust because the house was very clean), we found two beautiful vintage dresses for Monica, a Mr. peanut pin from the 1939 World's Fair and several old holiday cake picks. 

After a stop for breakfast, we arrived at stop #3, a MONSTER estate sale. This is the name of a Tag Sale Company that have seen listed but have yet to visit one of their sales. 

The house had a mounted pencil sharpener but not much else. The people running the sale were nice so we will not hesitate to look for them again. Unfortunately, there was not much to see here. We did pick up a couple of records to bring home. 

Our next stop was a church sale which is an annual event and we have gone several times before.

If there were going to be older items, they would be found in the basement. We were not the only ones having a look.

Monica was holding onto some our finds while continuing to look for some more.

The nuns in charge were happy that the sale was running smoothly. Yes, these nuns still wear the traditional garb. It's probably hard to get out of the habit. By the time we left, we had an old plastic Halloween pumpkin, a vintage cocktail shaker and a vintage tissue box.

Stop #5 was a bust. The sale was described as having "records" and "vintage items" and they did but it was an outdoor garage sale run by dealers who overpriced everything. We were at one of their sales last year and we had the exact same experience. We made note of the address and will exclude it from our list. We left with nothing. 

Stop #6 was also an outdoor sale (very brave considering the temperatures were dropping). Monica was happy that we had more sales to go and, while we only found a deck of Pan Am playing cards here, we were excited that it was still early enough to go to more sales! 

Stop #7 was another church sale and we knew there were white elephants. It said so right on the sign! Although church sales nowadays are hit or miss, we found a real good one this time. Several cool Christmas items, an old unopened roll of shelfing paper (with scalloped edge) and a Wienie Wheel! A Wienie Wheel! It is pictured a little later.

Our next planned stop was 3 minutes away but when we got there, there were no signs and no one was home. It was advertised as having "50 years of accumulation". I guess they reconsidered having the sale. On a good note, we saw another estate sale sign a few blocks away and followed the signs.

It was a older house in an older neighborhood. There were not too many rooms to hunt through but it was a great stop because we found a great vintage bustier apron with a starburst pattern for Monica for $2. We also took home a record and one cookbook.

We had one more stop to go on the way home. It was close to our house and was scheduled to end at 5 pm and we suspected it was the house of the owner of a Tag Sale Company. We were right. He is a nice guy but he prices his items way too high. On the bright side, he caves in to the pressure of selling very, very easily and Rob plays the game as well as anyone and he always sells what we want to Rob at the price Rob is willing to pay. We picked up a great vintage mini lamp and some Christmas cake topper picks. 

Here are some of the things we brought home today:

Some Christmas records. This is the second week in a row we found a Kate Smith Christmas record! Both are different!

Some more records

Lots of old holiday cake topper picks. A couple have sticks that have fallen off but we have them and we will re-glue them

Playing cards, a vintage starburst tissue holder issued by a bank (it has a mirror inside and the tissue package is dated 1965), a Mr Peanut wooden pin from the 1939 World's Fair and a cookbook from Knox.

A vintage dress

Another vintage dress. When this is worn, the polka dots flare out on the skirt portion.

A vintage bustier apron with a starburst pattern

Some Christmas items: a smaller Santa blow mold, a mini Santa head mug made in Japan, a pixie, a knee hugger elf, a Santa Gurley candle, a plastic reindeer and a package of Christmas seals from the 1940's 

A vintage plastic pumpkin, a vintage cocktail shaker and a hula girl tiki mug marked "Orchids of Hawaii. Made in Japan"

A Wienie Wheel in box, an unopened package of Winnie Kay shelf lining and a vintage mini lamp. The lampshade on the left is sitting low because it is missing a bulb. We just have to replace it. We tried the existing bulb in both lamps and everything works great!

It was a cold day but a great day and a good start to the weekend before Thanksgiving. We suspect that sales opportunities will be slim next weekend and, who knows, there may be no worthwhile sales at all! If that is the case, we will accept it. After all, Christmas is coming and we start decorating the day after Thanksgiving and we have a lot of decorating to do so...

...we must get busy, busy, busy!!!!

From our home to yours, we wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!!!

The Remainder Of The Four Day Weekend

After a fun day of saling, it was late afternoon and we had most of the four day weekend ahead of us. Aside from 5 pm dentist appointments for the both of us on Monday (boo!), the weekend was ours. Our routine, after a long day of Saturday saling, is to go home, take a nap together and then prepare our dinner. We were both so hungry on the way home and when we passed one of our favorite places to eat, well...we did not pass it at all. 

All-American Drive-In. It has been around since 1963 and has not changed very much at all. It is always crowded year round! We both got burgers and fries. Monica got a root beer. Rob got a chocolate shake.

Sunday was spent doing some housework after a big breakfast at home (a Sunday morning tradition for us). We went out for an early birthday dinner for Rob at one of our favorite Chinese Restaurants, Imperial Orchid. We have posted pictures before. The inside of the restaurant is a throwback to the 1960's, the food is great and...

...they serve tropical drinks in Tiki mugs and pineapple mugs! 

Monday was Rob's birthday and Monica prepared the house.

A birthday banner on the wall of the kitchen...

...and a festive honeycomb decorative ball. Monica's mom always hung one just like this in her house whenever there was a birthday. We found this one within the last year and knew we had to have it! 

Monica filled one of our old decorative ashtrays with clown caketoppers. Rob loves clowns! 

A pin the nose on the clown game on one wall...

...a clown and a donkey on another wall! 

Monica made this card for Rob. He is a clown! 

Rob took Monica to lunch that day to The Sweet Shop. It is in Rob's hometown and has been around forever. Rob's grandmother used to take him here when he was a kid.

A great clock and sign on the wall

The booths. The place was updated a bit in the 1980's but it was not spoiled.

Great counters and counter stools! We both had lunch and ice cream sodas. The food was fantastic and we had a great time!

A cheesecake for Rob's birthday. Monica learned that writing on cheesecake is not easy but it does say "Happy B-day Rob" ! 

Pretty roses for pretty Monica on Tuesday! It was our anniversary. 

When we were kids, there were a lot of small amusement parks on Long Island. Nunley's was one of our favorites and we both have fond memories of childhood times spent there. It is long gone but they saved the carousel and it is now housed in a museum on Long Island. Rob wanted to surprise Monica with a trip there on Tuesday.

The banner in front of the museum. It opened in 1912.

The sign on the sidewalk

Here it is! 

The weather vane on the building is a horse! 

The carousel! 

A majestic horse! 

A wild horse! 

A lion!

There is an Indian on here...Rob's people! 

Rob hoping he is tall enough to ride on the carousel

We rode the carousel just like we did as kids! 

We had a great time! 

On Tuesday night, Rob took Monica out for an anniversary dinner. Our favorite sushi restaurant closed over the summer. It was in town and we loved to go there. The landlord did not renew their lease and we are hopeful that they will reopen elsewhere in town. We decided to try a sushi restaurant located a few minutes from our house. It was intimate enough so that we did not feel crowded and the food was good...

...and we had a great time together that night and all weekend. It went fast and it was tough going back to work but the weekend was great and time spent together is always great...there is always reason for our hearts to smile...together and amongst the ducks.