The Knives Come Out & Cabinet of Curiosities

There were numerous yard sales in my town yesterday. The weather was perfect too. Duncan and I motored around on our bikes on the prowl for thriftacular treasures.

  The only thing I found that we could use were these Wiltshire "Stay Sharp" knives. My dad gave me a single version of the large size a few years ago and we're always wishing we had more. I no longer need any sharp knives. 

Vintage apothecary bottle from The Cabinet of Curiosities - $3

 After politely scouring a few more garage sales, we stumbled upon Cabinet of Curiosities' sale. This a way cool antiques/oddities store I've been wanting to check out ever since we moved to Dundas. It was everything I wanted it to be - and more. They have everything from antique household items, to a display case full of animal skulls, wicker caskets and so much more. I felt like I was with "my people" when I met the proprietors. Amazingly enough, the man who sold me the items I'm showing here has the same name as me - Erin (yes, Irish female spelling). His teenager son is a budding archeologist/biologist who trolls the woodlands in the surrounding area for bones, bottles and antlers. 
Check out their website and blog and if you live in Southern Ontario, do make the trek if you like antiques and oddities. 

Above and below: The shoe form I purchased at Cabinet of Curiosities for $5. I think it's got a beautiful shape to it. 

Above: Kiko inspects a vintage Auto Drome race set (circa 1960s?) purchased at Cabinet of Curiosities for a lousy finsky. 

Here's a perfect song and video to go with the day.

The Best Things in Life...

When out for a bike ride with my son, we stumbled upon this mysterious ephemeral tipi some creative person built. The world is full of wonder and mystery if you just get off the treadmill and look around.  

 I had every intention to go to a rummage sale Saturday morning, but I was seriously tired - so tired that my husband and son let me be until I roused out of my temporary coma at 11:30! I don't think I've slept in that late since the golden days of my lazy teen years. I went to a Mom to Mom sale the weekend before (they seem to do a lot of these in the Hamilton area), where I managed to find a few books (nothing worth blogging about) amongst the baby clothes. Since we've moved to our new home, we've been hit with seriously big property tax and insurance bills that have all come due at the same time. Fortunately, we're not mall people and the fact that we're momentarily broke hasn't caused any big problems. I thought I'd share some of the beauty we've been soaking in for free. 

 We live in a town surrounded by trees and creeks. It's only a matter of walking about three blocks from our house until we find a babbling brook. 

 We're trying to do as much home seeding for our flower garden this year. I'm so excited to be growing four o'clocks again. 

 Here's Desjardins Canal, which used to be used for shipping and paddleboat travel to Toronto back in the 1800s. It's been closed off for over 100 years and is now the home to assorted flora and fauna. 

 Today, we hiked along the Rail Trail. I love that Hamilton does such a fantastic job of preserving and creating green space. This trail once had a busy train line along it (TH&B). Now people can cycle, walk, or just hang out and look at all the beauty of Hamilton that so many people don't know it has. 

We saw this big wild rabbit in someone's backyard. 

In addition, we've been taking advantage of the public library not just for books, but films and CDs. We've borrowed a ton of great movies as well as the third season of Breaking Bad. We're currently working our way through the first season of In Treatment (heavy, but very good), and I borrowed Sufjan Steven's Come on Feel the Illinoise, Neil Young's Le Noise, Television's Marquee Moon, Junior Boy's It's All True, and an album by Whitehorse. The latter two bands happen to reside in Hamilton. 

Life is great!
I promise thrifting soon.
Erin