Thrifty is Nifty

Don’t you just love a good great bargain?

We do too – look at the ones we found on the weekend – 2 DVD movies and 2 colorful coffee cups (not from you-know-where) for – are you ready – $8.97 and NO sales tax here in NH.

These DVD films were $3.99 each. 

Does life get any better than this?
Yes, it does – check out these coffee mugs at 99 cents for 2 !

OK, you can find a coffee mug for $1 apiece at a discount store, but this pair of red beauties originally sold at Pier 1, a national up-scale retailer. Both were brand new and “Made in Spain” which beats “Made in China” any day for us. Check out those great handles too – perfect for when Grenville brings me coffee in the a.m. (Yes he’s a sweetie to do that.)

Where did we get these great deals?

Thanks for asking – we bought them at a Savers in Nashua, NH. Regular readers of this blog know that we usually always brake for stops at IHOP, IKEA, Panera Bread – and thrift stores.

Savers, Inc. headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, is a privately-held chain of over 200 for-profit thrift stores operating in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Yes, Savers is in business to make money. It’s been operating this way since 1954 and is considered a leader in the retail thrift industry.

Compared to nonprofit thrift stores, Savers is a competitor with a unique business model and connects with non-profit charities nationwide to collect items for sale in its stores.  Savers, pays them for the items at a bulk rate regardless of whether they ever make it to the sales floor. It also accepts donations directly from consumers at its retail locations. The company claims to have paid over $1 billion to nonprofits in its 57-year history supporting
local community programs.

We’re watching The Proposal tonight.

The red mugs were tried out this week using this pumpkin spice coffee. It was delicious served with cinnamon flavored coffee creamer.

Sorry, we only have 2 red cups. If you find more, come join us for a fresh cuppa coffee.

Culinary Creation????

Celestial forces have collided and caused a C-day. Tonight’s dinner was a culinary combination of Chicken, Chinese spice, and Campbell’s soup. Curious combination you say????? Why certainly, but curiosities are a common coincidence with us. If you are considering this concoction and hoping to ‘C’ a collection of components, you will certainly be crestfallen.

We cincerly (sic) apologize for the lack of pics of the completed compilation.







We consumed it with considerable care, but forgot to capture it digitally. Only crumbs were left.

Continue on to the next crafty commentary for a clever compilation of some of our more common chores.

Crenville

Coming Clean & Coffee

Curious about the title? It will be explained soon, or I could certify that a crazed alliteration critter captured me? Or, credit fellow blogger, Daisy, for the creative concept in a  “what’s new” blog post (click, if curious).

Our road trips can contain curious or confused commentary. Often, we visit places not considered  commonplace like this cleaning center conveniently cloistered in our NH accommodations.

We collect a couple of copious loads to clean, then celebrate completion ! (“c” below)






After the weekend Maine excursion to visit fellow blogger Grammie G, Grenville’s Cherokee was covered in-credible crud, after we cruised through a recent snowfall. It clamored for cleanup. What? You don’t consider this credible?


My Canon camera captured these car wash capers.

So how does coffee connect with coming clean?


Curiously, it can’t, but this couple needed cups of caffeine to celebrate completing clothes and car cleanups.
Better conclude this commentary.

Ciao !

“C” you later.

Politicians BANNED!!!!!

I just read this from here in New Hampshire and had to share it with you...

Days Before Primary, N.H. Restaurant Bans Presidential Candidates

It is priceless.... maybe the ban should include Washington D.C.    Maybe we could get back on a good financial footing..... At least there would be seats for lunch.... and a quiet lunch at that...

Grenville

Drop back 5 and punt!!!!!!

Is that allowed???? It’s Sunday. The Giants just tromped the Falcons. Playoffs are in the air…. So the above question seems appropriate.

Most of you know we are in New Hampshire this week. A true hot bed of political pontification. Having never been this close to the National primaries, some questions have festered up in my mind. Fester being the best description I can think of due to the political poor sportsmanship that we are seeing. Luckily our Internet connection is good so we are spared the most of the mind numbing political ads. What a waste of good television advertising time. I heard that some of these political postings have even preempted the hawking of fat saturated imitation meat, instant weight loss plans, and of all things, high fructose ladened by-products. I ask you, how will we maintain our national obesity standards if the general public is not continuously inundated, indoctrinated, and hogwashed. BUT I digress!!!!

There are so many election signs along the roadside, you can hardly see the real signs. Its hard to spot the ‘Golden Arches’ to avoid them. I figure the local folks are use to this every fourth year onslaught of roadside electioneering but I find it a little ridiculous. I used to think that counting the number of candidate signs in an area would give you a fair idea of their electability. I have altered that thought. Now, the more signs, the less likely I will vote for that person. BUT that’s just me. Obviously they think we are so stupid that we may forget their name unless it is placed in front of us continuously.

Last night the candidate wanna-bes were in Manchester (up the road and out of sight for the moment) to debate. They really didn’t debate in the truest sense of the word. For the most part they slandered each other as much as possible. Now what really amazes me is no matter who eventually becomes the candidate, they seem to think that the voters will completely forget what has been said here, both by and about the them.

And then there are the pundits…… they are all over the place. TV, radio, internet, newspapers (remember those relics?????). All predicting winners, losers, who’s more conservative. AND each one different depending who is pontificating at the moment. Spinning their ‘political web of mental fog’ for who ever is putting silver in their pockets. Could that be considered ‘political prostitution’?????

SOOOOO the question that is oozzzing out of me tonight….

Is it proper to punt a political pundit????? AND how is it scored??????

Maybe I should give James Carville a call?????

Grenville

Snow in Lisbon

NO, we are not travelling abroad.

YES, we are still in New England.

A post earlier this week showed the snowfall we saw since arriving in NH.

It was quite a different scene driving along Rte. 95 today.

Our destination was Lisbon, Maine to meet fellow blogger Grammie G. (Grace) of Grammie’s Ramblings. We had a wonderful afternoon of conversation and enjoyed some delicious homemade chicken soup and dumplings + freshly made gingersnap cookies. THANKS, Grace!

And, we also saw MORE snow . . .

This was our second face-to-face meeting with a fellow blogger in recent months. While on our NH road trip last Oct we met Elaine of Artic View and her husband, Marty. Coincidentally, both get-togethers  happened while we were travelling in NH – hmmm, maybe we’ll meet other bloggers on our next New England road trip ?

End of Day Tapestry

Driving along a NH highway this afternoon, we watched this beautiful scene. The sky colors intensified as the sun sank further below the horizon creating  a colorful sky of many colors.

Using the “vivid” setting on my Canon PowerShot SX130 IS digital camera produced these results.

Selecting several shots and selecting multiple exposure collage in Picasa produced the result below.

For those of you not familiar with Picasa, it’s a FREE digital image organizer and image viewer that includes an integrated photo-sharing website. The program was created by Idealab in 2002 and acquired by Google in 2004. “Picasa” is a blend of the name of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, the phrase mi casa (“my house”) and “pic” for pictures (personalized art) – from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

“A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” Eudora Welty

SnoW Kidding . . .

We saw some fluffy white stuff in NH this a.m.

         It nearly covered  . . .the windshield wipers!

Grenville was SO excited, but disappointed he could not make a snowman . . .YET !

Deere One

We just returned from a 2-day visit with the grandkids. They have grown since our October 2011 visit, especially our granddaughter who will be 6 months old later this month. Taking after Grandpa Grenville, she was sporting John Deere wear.

Trainman & Chef

Our Grandson turned 5 in early December. He likes trains and got some new ones at Christmas. He showed them during our post-holiday visit this week and let Grandpa play with them.

He's good at making pancakes; his specialty made for us with help from Grandpa was a batch of white chocolate chip pancakes.

Grenville (not seen here) was next to him while the pancakes were being mixed and while cooking on the griddle.

The best part about making pancakes is eating them !