Tuesday, November 30, 2010
OF LUCKY PENNIES AND NEW BLOGS!!!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
OF LANYARDS , BEACHES , BOATS AND BEER!!!
Our special table on the boat. Many meals,beers, cups of tea, Uno and Yahtzee games were enjoyed here! Plus we had beautiful lanyards.
Of course we golfed with our lanyards!! I am still the queen of mini-golf. I have no idea why I'm so good at it. Even at 50 go figure.
Sampled the local "Caybrew" beer in Grand Cayman with of course our lanyards!
We even got swallowed by a shark in Mexico. We tickled his belly with our lanyards and he spit us out!!! We were saved by the Lanyard Lady's lanyards!!!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
MAMA MIA !!!! SHES AT IT AGAIN!!!!!
It is definitely tomato season here!!!! Last year I planted 3 tomato plants and got a grand total of 5 tomatoes. This year I moved their spot and planted about 7 plants. I love tomatoes . I have tomatoes. Hundreds of tomatoes. All at once!!! I am not much of a cannier and have gotten food poisoning from tomato sauce so the thought of putting them up is not too enticing. I got a wild hair and decided to make homemade Marinara . I definitely needed a small break from work and it sounded fun!
I started out with the ingredients of this tote plus a small eggplant I picked yesterday. I am proud of my garden this year. Lots of yummy vegetables. Bag on desk I hopped on the computer to find a Marinara recipe. What a joke!!! Most of the fresh tomato homemade recipes included a can of tomato paste. Now why would I need that ? You must know that until I was 30 years old all I knew about cooking was making broiled chicken and Minute Rice. I was a career girl. I printed out what I could find and went inside to consult the ladies.
Yes these ladies. Betty Crocker and Julia Childs. This is the sum total of my cookbooks. I have had the Betty Crocker book for 30 years .My Mom gave it to me when I got my first place. Betty has been my cooking mentor for years. I did not clean her up for the picture. The loose pages and filthy cover is what makes her my old friend. You should see my Mothers. Julia I got in a box of books at an auction. I kept her in hopes I might make gourmet food some day . I haven't.
Imagine my surprise when I could not find a Marinara recipe in either one!!!! My stress level began to build. I decided to tackle the one project I knew needed to be done . Peeling the tomatoes. The thought of peeling tomatoes did overwhelm me. Yes I have peeled Green Chiles, but tomatoes ? I dove right in. I was amazed. Tomato peeling proved to be extremely easy and lots of fun. I do need to get a life. I missed you Erin you would have loved peeling tomatoes too.
Then came time to deseed the tomatoes. Can we say Ragu? At this point I was having a grand old time but an understanding of why people buy Ragu started to grow. I was beginning to make peace with my lack of perfect Marinara recipe. Maybe it was so simple you kind of needed to wing it. Wing it I did.
As I was chopping my wonderful bounty I began to fantasize about being self sustaining. The process of making my way in a modern world on my little 1/2 acre was enticing. I could Blog about all that I had learned and endured. My husband loves End of the world Sci Fi fantasy books . Maybe he could join in and we could do this life changing process together. I fantasize alot. I guess that's why I like to blog. Sometimes the thoughts just need to leave my head. It gets crowded in there. Anyways back to my Marinara.
So I stuck it all in a pot together and just let it simmer, and simmer, and simmer. Cant you just smell it thru the computer? I can. My house had the most delicious smell .
Friday, August 13, 2010
ROCK_O_BILIAS LATEST BUYING VENTURE!!!
Went on a great record buying expedition last weekend. We purchase our records many different ways. Perusing $1 record store bins is our most expensive way but is always a great family outing. Yes most families go to theme parks , ballgames or play board games. Not us. We drag Erin to dusty dirty record stores in search of vinyl gold. I don't think she minds it though. It was "HER" idea to start this store at the ripe old age of 15. Now shes off to college at San Francisco State leaving "ME" to run the wretched business. Honestly I have a love/hate relationship with Rock_o_Bilia. I do love working with the records but sometimes between my other store Dageland_curios and Rock_o_bilia I get overwhelmed. Its times like these however I realize I could still be working for the Man. This is much better.
Our first stop was Amoeba Records. This is a wonderful chain of 3 stores in California. They are in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley California. We have been to them all and each has their own eclectic flavor. The Los Angeles store is HUGE!!!! there are always a mix of hipsters, pre- post punkers, hip-hop etc etc etc. Great place for people watching and they have it all!!!! Vinyl, CDs, cassettes ( yes Melissa they have cassettes!), posters ,Dvds you name it. The San Francisco store is in the Haite -Ashbury area. Lots of street kids outside and a much more laid back crowd. The store is much smaller but does have great deals. Berkeley is much smaller and decidedly more collegy (is that a word?) . All of them also have guest appearances on a regular basis. Elija Woods was guest DJ last Sunday. Who knew he did that?
Very impressed with the Los Angeles Amoeba store last weekend. We purchased over 200 $1 albums and in the mess of checking our order they forgot to include Erin's $13.00 "Jawbreaker" album in our boxes. They not only shipped out the album in 2 days ,as we are an hours drive away, they also included 3 shirts and a bag!!! SCORE!!!! Talk about great customer service.
The next record store was Counterpoint Records in a tony part of Hollywood across from a Gelsons Grocery store. More interesting people watching. This store , also a used book store, was a wonderful shopping experience. Not alot of records but all of them were very clean and the store has a great ambiance. Something about shopping in a store packed with old books and records listening to Jazz made it the perfect wind down after the frenetic exuberance of the Amoeba Records. Their $1 section was quite small but it did not disappoint. We bought approximately 50 records in the best shape ever!!! Most were near mint. Not an experience found in most $1 record store bins.
I have saved the best for last. The Dages absolutely loved Record Surplus in a seedier part of L.A. The day we were there a homeless man was asleep on the sidewalk. It was one of those situations where you want to go up and poke him to see if he was alive but were afraid. I did see him move however so that made me feel better. Don't be surprised though if you see us on one of those hidden camera shows ignoring the poor homeless man.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
GREEN CHILE ROASTING TIME!!!!
Its green Chile roasting time!!! I do believe that no one ,with the exception of my daughter Erin , loves green Chile's more than I do. My father in law lives in Las Cruces New Mexico. It was there that I truly learned Green Chili appreciation. Growing up in California I have learned to appreciate good Mexican food. It is abundant here. The Green Chili however is not a big part of the cuisine. Sure we have Chili Rellenos and Green Chili sauce but they tend to be bland and somewhat slimy.
Not in New Mexico though. They put Green Chili's in or on everything. Eggs, hamburgers , hot dogs ,you name it Green Chili's go on it. Once you have eaten a freshly roasted Green Chili your hooked!!!! I started out buying Big bags of Green Chili's when we would visit New Mexico . I would bring them home and roast them. They freeze quite well.
I always shop at the Mexican Grocery store for my vegetables. Great prices and they are fresh, fresh, fresh. One day I noticed they carry Green Chili's. Honestly I'm not sure if the regular Grocery store carries them or not but I do buy them regularly and roast them .
This year while shopping for plants for my vegetable garden I got quite the wild hair. Not only did I purchase Eggplant and Artichokes, stories in their own right, I purchased peppers ,peppers and more peppers. All kinds of Peppers. Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Yellow Peppers, and of course the Anaheim Green Chili. To my amazement the Green Chili's took off. All of them have taken off.
Following is a tutorial on how to roast Green Chili's for my niece Melissa the self proclaimed foodie. But you can roast Green Chili's too !!! Its fun and self satisfying. Great thing to do with kids. My daughter Erin enjoyed helping me and shes 18!!
First you start out with firm fresh Green Chili's . Get your propane or gas barbecue nice and hot. Put your chili's on the grate and shut the top. In about 3 to five minutes you will hear a sissing and some pops . This is the Chili's starting to pop. Once the skin browns on one side and you can easily stick a fork in it turn the Green Chili's on their other side and let that side brown. Don't be afraid of burnt skin. This is a sign they are done .
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
EVY LOU AND MILDREDS ADVENTURE!!!
As most everyone who reads this blog knows I am a Purveyor of Junque. I auction quite regularly . Believe it or not I really dont have much in the way of possessions. Seeing what people leave behind and what it is ultimately worth has cured me of the Possession Mania.I will admit I have a deep appreciation of the smashed penny and old letters. Both are not very space consuming and not really important to the general public. They are mystery's to me. Relics that give great insight to those who possessed them.
People fascinate me. Not your ordinary run of the mill people but people who are somehow outside of the box. I have always been slightly outside of the box. I don't think I really appreciated the outside of the box until my 30th birthday.
History was never my strength in school. I never appreciated it. I love what I do because I am learning History through these possessions . Through the letters.
Recently I opened an Etsy store. 9 sales so far WOOHOO!!! I decided that i would look through my paper stash for items to sell to scrapbookers/ crafters. I found a prized possession I acquired in a box of goo some years ago. It is a letter I found in a box that contained an empty vodka bottle. This isn't any letter though. It is a letter written by a young girl to her Mother in 1928. It chronicles her trek through St George Utah in 1928. Remember cars were different then so were young ladies or were they?
Dear Mother,
July 17,1928
We are leaving St. George this morning at 6:30. We have stopped just out of St George to get the radiator cap repaired so water wont squirt in our face every time it takes a notion to. After we get to our destination I will write you a big long letter going more into detail but it seems as if I cant do very much writing going along the road.
July 18, 1928
We have had a couple of punctures , one right after we left Daggett and another one yesterday just around the corner from Scipios ( pronounce it if you can). Mildred and I are getting to be experts at changing tires and finding our way around.
We wore our knickers + jackets yesterday and both of us got sunburned from head to heels. by the way neither one of us had any waist or anything to wear under our jackets. Mildred wore her pajama jacket under hers and I pinned a handkerchief (one of those that Edith Carley gave me) under the front of mine with a couple of hair pins I found in the middle of our cabin floor in St George. How in the world those hairpins got there i don't know. We swept the floor twice that night and the next morning those two hairpins were laying side by side right in the middle of the floor.
After we fled from that flea-infested room at Salt lake City We came on into Ogden. Look on a map and see how far it is from St George to Ogden we made it in one day and stopped at an all night service station and slept the rest of the night sitting up in the car. Sure slept good too. We woke up at 4:30 and are now sitting in front of the Ogden PO office writing letters. After we finish these letters we are writing in our diaries.
When we got into St George we were a little bit tired and a man and woman staying in the cabin next to ours offered us a stimulant Whiskey!!! Said they had a pint and that they would be glad to let us have some if we wanted it. Later that evening we were talking to them and the man was about "half shot" then.
I wish you could have been with us when we came thru Arizona. We saw the most beautiful mountains and clefts. Most of them were straight up and down and a bright red color. They looked just like pictures you see of cliff dwellings . We came over one Mountain range that struck me right between the eyes and has stayed there ever since. The mountain was black and had gigantic rocks as black as coal on it. and the mountain was black too. The next thing we knew we dropped onto another mountain that was as red as blood with giant rocks of the same color.
At the gas station where we stayed last night there were two boys in a car talking to the one in the gas station when we went to get a drink. They asked us if we wanted something to wake us up. We said we were already awake enough. They were about half-drunk . A little later they showed us some whiskey and asked if we wanted a drink. We politely informed them that we did not care for any and that we did not drink. then turned on our heels walked over to the car and drove off.
Mildred is jumping around scratching her bites while she is trying to write some letters. People here in Utah are certainly shocked at us in our knicker suits and bare legs. Its to d.... hot to wear much of anything here. It is nice and cool in the morning and nice and cool in the evening but pretty HOT in the daytime.
Well I'm going to mail this and get some news to you. And also I gotta have some breakfast
Love
Evy Lou
AN ALL AMERICAN 4TH OF JULY!!!!!
Finally getting around to my 4Th of July post. As my husband works for Frito Lay he never gets to do the 4Th. This holiday happens to be the equivalent to Christmas in the chip business. I don't mind really he gets a double check sometimes triple. Money is good. Well as fate would have it the 4Th fell on his Sunday off.
He decided it was time. Time to finally go to a Baseball game. What could be more American than baseball on the 4Th of July ? With promises of Beer and all the carbohydrate ridden food I could eat. I readily accepted. We went on the website called stubhub.com and bought $60 tickets for the low low price of $20.Who would of figured my beer would have cost more than admission?
Growing up 5 minutes away from the Angel Stadium I never once went there for fireworks. I have watched the fireworks from there and Disneyland countless times on my parents roof. I will admit I was kind of excited at 50 years old to finally witness it in person. I do remember going to games there when I was a kid. Back in the day the California Angels stunk. There would be about 400 people watching the game. Seating was a free for all. Now its amazing. Their fan base is extremely strong.
They were playing Kansas City. Quite interesting as it is my Moms team .We beat them. Slayed them actually. Sorry Gloria Dee and all my other Kansas cousins. Of course as I am not a killer fan of Baseball, I did my fair share of people watching.It was fascinating actually.
These kids were about 13 to 15 years old.They were right in front of me. The boy was giving her hangdog looks and kept kissing on her. She seemed very indifferent. She did light up however when his brother on his other side talked to her. I wanted to slap them all for various reasons. This includes his mother who let this all happen without blinking an eye. Jerry Springer here we come!!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
DAGELAND CURIOS ..OUT OF THE CLOSET!!!
YES ITS TRUE!!! After 10 years of secretly selling items on Ebay I have officially come out of the closet. Well actually the garage. In all actuality I'm staying here in my "Woman Cave",my "Queendom", my sanctuary. I have decided to let people know who I am. When I first started Ebay the company wanted me to share myself with the customers. At that time I was not comfortable doing so. It worked too. I sold so many different items to so many different people I could be whoever they wanted me to be. It helped .I could be a fellow collector of gas paper or someone selling Grandmas fortunes. I will be totally honest in that I never actually "lied" to people. "They" made me who "they " wanted me to be. Who knows maybe I will retreat into my "secret" identity someday but for now I'm going to try and be "Me".
With the economy being slow last year I retreated into the world of Costume Jewelry. Keeping prices low I have done quite well and enjoy being around "My Jewels" . I feel more of a connection with those who buy from me. I'm not so sure we are "alike" as we have a deep appreciation for jewelry , buttons and Kitsch. I'm also fascinated with the powerful force of the Internet. I love "Guerrilla marketing". I always have. The advent of Face book , Twitter and of course blogging bring a whole new face to marketing. It is an exciting new frontier. I want to adopt the new frontier. Of curse I have no "HUGE" expectations of this. I'm sure my face book will grow very slowly and I will probably have no new blog followers but I'm not really one of those people who do things halfway.
No I'm not going to do a biography here. I have had this blog since January 1st. If you want to know more read them. Its not hard to get a glimpse of who I am and getting to know someone over a period of time with small bits of interaction is much more interesting. So here I am out of the closet. Like my husband said I'm reinventing "Dageland Curios" ,reinventing myself. I have also started an Etsy store. We shall see what happens. Hopefully I can link all the parts together. Etsy, Ebay, face book , blogging and well....me.
My first Etsy sale. It is so exciting. Unfortunately it was one of my favorite buttons. I hope she enjoys it as much as I have!!!
MY EMPIRE LINKS
Ebay Dageland_curios
Etsy DagelandCurios
Facebook Dageland Curios
Ebay Rock_o_bilia
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
OUR YEARLY GARAGE SALE
We finally had our yearly yard sale!!! Quite the haul too. 956.27 to be exact. Where the 2 cents came from I don't know. I basically had "Dollar Days" and sold most everything for a dollar. Quite fun to watch peoples eyes when you say everything is a dollar. A true study in human behaviour . I had items out there that are commonly in antique stores for much , much more. Yes that is Newt Gingrich up there. I put him on the road to draw people in. Interesting that this year almost nobody acknowledged his presence. I guess he has not been in the news lately.
This is Derry a neighborhood kid. It was nice to reconnect with the kids. Now that Erin is at college I don't see them at all. I have 14 new baby chicks. The kids chased chickens for hours. Finally they caught a baby. Trust me baby chickens are like rats. I have to give Erin credit for this picture. Shes getting very good.
A great woman who enjoys life to its full extent. Quite the character . She truly entertained us. She was on her way to the casino with $17 and a 100 dollar free play coupon to make her fortune. She spent $5 on various kitschy items even though her family has banned her from yard sales. Maybe we shall see her on a Hoarders episode. I gave her one of my smashed pennies for good luck. Yes I did. She got the one with the Lords Prayer as she seemed mildly religious. It felt good to share my hobby with her. I'm not sure why but I knew she would appreciate the penny.
More neighborhood kids. They bought Erins Beanie Baby collection 50 cents at a time all weekend long . Every 20 minutes. A neighborhood boy told me they were building a "Special Force" of Beanie Babies. Oh to be a kid again.
Yes John and Hillary stopped by to help us sell records. They are a "Rocking duo" don't you know.
We "really" cleaned out closets this time. While cleaning up Erin spotted this skirt and stated "I don't know why but I'm drawn to this skirt" Quite a creepy moment as that was part of my "Ms Bohack" maternity clothing I wore to work. And I wore this one alot as it had plenty of belly room. Why I kept a 20 year old skirt who knows. She wore it to the movies on Fathers Day. Looked good on her too. Still kind of freaky though.
I'm proud of her. Lately I have been lazy after my yard sales and throw things away. The complacency of aging I guess. She made me pack up the clothes and records to donate to Salvation Army. I guess that expensive education is paying off. The first year of college is a great one. Shes really beginning to view the world as a whole. Forming her own opinions regardless of others. Yes I'm sure she will change them many times over the years but she is learning to think critically. Kudos to her!!!!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
OOPS HE DID IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!
For years , 10 to be exact, I have purchased items at auction to sell on Ebay. It has been an interesting and educating experience. Along the way we have acquired many items for the house. Not too many though as my house is a grand total of 1200 square foot. Being the woman of the house I have always been the purchaser. Yes I call myself a liberated woman but come on some things will always be in a woman's realm. Yes you can call me a hypocrite. I can take it.
Approximately 2 weeks ago my husband accompanied me to the Redland Auction house. This is the place where I acquired the "Tiara". My jewelry connection. I have auctioned with owner of this establishment for years. Both as a customer of his establishment and a competitor at other auctions. The auction process is similar to a game of poker. Knowing your competitor and or customer is tantamount to your success. Ron the auctioneer is among the best in the business and knows both of us like the back of his hand. That saying when my husband raised his hand to bid on "the couch" it threw him. He had the most incredulous look on his face ever! I have never seen this man thrown.
MY HUSBAND BOUGHT A VICTORIAN COUCH.
I WILL STATE THAT AGAIN... MY HUSBAND BOUGHT A VICTORIAN COUCH.
Trust me I was also shocked. As was my auction friend who always has the seat to my left. It is a beautiful couch , from the 1900s to be exact, and purchased for only $150 but ...MY HUSBAND BOUGHT A COUCH!!! His explanation was that he found it beautiful. How can you fight that. I find it beautiful too. Albeit a bit uncomfortable but the stray cay Kitty Kitty aka "Christine" loves her new cat bed. Were such suckers. New Years Eve I caught her digging through my trash. Now she has taken over my home and has a Victorian cat bed.
My story doesn't stop here. No it doesn't.Last weekend my husband again accompanied me to the Los Angeles Public Guardian auction. We are in the market for a truck and there was one to be had. No truck but once again he did the unthinkable. HE BOUGHT ART!!!! YES ART FOR THE WALL!!!!. Not just any art , he bought a Renoir. Yes a huge ass cigarette stained 10 dollar Renoir. Once again he found it beautiful . Needless to say I will now gladly go to auction alone.....
Friday, April 16, 2010
AN IMPROMPTU TRIP!!
We decided to drive there as flying to Oklahoma is very expensive. Why i don't know . I guess it costs more to go to places where people don't want to be. Took the 40 allllll the way there. Surprisingly the drive was very enjoyable. We have taken the 10 to New Mexico and Texas many many times. Loooooong drive with nothing. Actually near the Arizona border is a dead Indian mummy but that's it. Oh and the Ostrich farm. I do recommend that as a stop. The 40 however is filled with Route 66 Kitsch. Sure there is lots of nothing between the towns but at each small burgh there are original Route 66 Main drags. We did not see all of them as we were on a deadline but there definitely plans to redo the 40. If there's anything us Dages love its our 50's Kitsch.
This is for Erin. She loves taking pictures of water towers. This one is special!!!
More smashed pennies. There was a woman behind me who decided she too wanted to collect smashed pennies. Maybe i will start a penny cult. One convert at a time.................
The Big Texan in Texas. Eat a 72 oz steak with all the fixins and its free!!! ( 50 dollars if you throw it up!!!)
That's me!!!! No I had the brisket. Great brisket is only found in Texas and Oklahoma. I guess the rest of the world does not have 10 hours to cook meat.
Believe it or not I have never seen a bull head. Only in Texas.