Seeking treasures and lunch with a chicken...

Sometimes you just get a hankering to go poking around in thrift shops.

Monday was that day for myself and my pal The Fishing Ballerina.

We've walked many miles together with our dogs and since

Griffins been gone, her dog Rosie comes to take me on walk therapy about once a week.

Anyway...a thrifting we went!

About an hours drive from here is the little town of Sidney by the Sea...

(photos of Sidney from Cheryl Young via Google)

Known for its stunning location on Vancouver Island, it's Pier...

...and it's bookstores. Apparently it has the most bookstores per-capita in Canada!
One of my favourite ones is The Haunted Bookshop. I've never asked if it's really haunted but
I think the name comes from the fact that they specialize in very old and rare books...

I could spend hours in here looking at old book covers, maps,
 postcards and just taking in the aroma of old paper!
We found this funky little car outside too...

Selfie in the wheel cover!

The other great thing about Sidney is a few choice thrift shops.
One of the charity shops always has great linens and dishes
 and it seems I never go home empty handed from that one!
So here's a few of my treasures...
Love the scene and the shape of this old plate...

This little 6" basket is conjuring up a needle felting project somewhere in my future...

 This cute vintage apron told me to bring it home and make some martinis...

No significance with this South Seas t-towel except I loved the colour and it was such soft linen...

 My friend Norene collects needlepoint things, so for $4 I couldn't resist getting this for her...

When I was a kid, we had a whole set of these! Time to make cookies!...

I think this is my favourite find of the day. It's only about 3" high and made in Poland I believe...

 I have a bright yellow pot by the same company and this one will be perfect for melting
butter for popcorn!

Oh, and everything is sitting on top of a pretty little square tablecloth,
just right for picnics on the beach...

After all that shopping, it was time to head to The Roost on Central Saanich road...

Awesome little bistro with the chicken maitre d...

On patrol...

making sure the riff raff stays out...

...looks like she means business!

If the bistro is full (which it quite often is!) you can get a table in the overflow school bus!

So there you go...a great way to spend a day!