Blast from the Past

Well, today has been quite the day for retro items!

Started off, I went with my mom to a second-hand building materials store called Surrey New and Used. Just outside the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, in loverly Surrey,BC. We were searching for new bi-fold closet doors for the upstairs hallway, as ours no longer close properly.  Anyway, as a birthday gift for the woman who has everything, it seemed perfect; she gets new doors, my dog gets protected from his desire to orally test every substance known to floor, and I get a reprieve from the panic that is the birthday list given just 72 hours before the big day. UGH!

The store/yard actually impressed me. They had a HUGE selection of items, well organized into areas, and everything was neatly arrayed. Prices were pretty reasonable - I got two matching bi-folds for $15.00 each, $33 and change once the government got its share.
Cramming the nearly 80" long doors was a bit of a squish in the subcompact car she drives, but we managed to execute it reasonably well.

Back to main Surrey, for paint for the doors at Benjamin Moore where we found out the colour codes for the paint in the living room, hallway and dining room. Last bought in...1998. Yeeowch. I hear the "we're repainting this summer" mantra already beginning. Hmm. Maybe I can get a summer job out of town? :-) Paint was about $30.00, once we straightened out confusion over my need for primer for the doors. Yes, I need primer. No, I am not going to pay 20-some odd dollars for the privilege, when I can probably get a spray can for about 5$ at Voldemart.

In the same complex as BM, was two of my old haunts, Superior Grocer, and Natural Focus Foods. Neither of which had I been in in a dog's age -- literally. I asked the grocer about when they changed the set-up and found out I was probably last in either store there about mid-2002. Whoa. Tempus fugit, for certain sure. That co-incides with my changing back to near-total omnivorism at about that time. Being there was a trip, in a good way. They always had amazing produce, and their prices were usually competitive with the big stores. Being back there made me recall all the times when I would spend hours there each week, planning my meals and trying to live more healthfully than I do these days. It just plain felt good to be in there. Makes me think of going back there more often and maybe looking into re-visiting some old favourite dishes over the next few weeks.