TurnKey Auto Call: 319-683-2850 Text: 319-331-8796
  • Home
  • Inventory
  • Recently Sold
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Angie's Blog/Recipes

Christmas Elfins and Merry Wishes

12/23/2011

 
Picture
Schnikeys!

It's been a while since I posted last!

  I'll bet you're all organized and have everything checked off your To-Do list, yes?



I don't.
I don't have much shopping done at all and I finally threw up some stuff.
Well I didn't throw up that way.
I threw up some Christmas stuff.
That doesn't sound right either although both kids will tell you the house usually looks like someone threw up Christmas this time of year.

I was restrained this year however. 
Humour me a bit while I show you some craptastic pictures of this year's decor.



  So this vignette is in the dining room.
I LOOOOVVEE that tree that displays hanging vintage bulbs.
Picture
Don't even get me started talking about my vintage bulbs. Unless you want to, then I'm happy to share. Interested in furthering discussion with me? No?
And see that black wrought iron wheel thing up above?
I think it's supposed to hold little flower pots.


Picture
Hello. Do we look scary? Do we? What? Don't turn your back on us. Just kidding hehehe.
But I put little vintage elfs and elfins in the holders because it looks like a ferris wheel to me.

A ferris wheel for elves.

Tim gets creeped out by elfs. I love them.
Guess who wins out every time?

Picture


And look at these two cool vintage Christmas and winter pictures on the wall.

I painted my dining room purple and tan a couple weeks ago and then I found these sweet vintage prints with purple backgrounds at a Mt. Vernon antique shop a week later.

Now seriously, how often do you see Christmas and winter prints with purple backgrounds?

I love these!

Picture




Also crammed into my little dining room is a white tree chocked full of vintage ornaments, from the 1920's through the 60's...

Does it look like someone threw up Christmas yet? 

Well, it will.
Let's keep moving. We're still in the dining room.
Picture



Aaaaand this is the hutch that changed color when the room was repainted.

Again.



The hutch turned yellow.

Picture

And it holds my collection of jewelry tree pictures.

I think I have a couple more of these but time ran out to dig through more boxes.

For once i would like to completely paint a piece. I see the top of this hutch is not painted, nor is the back and the whole left side is unpainted as well. *sigh*


Below are figurine thingies I found laying on top of a Christmas box and quickly threw up on my cupboard.

Normally I would thoroughly  remove everything from this hutch and have it be a full-on Christmas Display-o-rama but again, ran out of time.

Plus, if I don't pick up all those dishes and glasses to move them, I won't feel compelled to wash the greasy grime off them.
Bonus!


And this is the baby tree by the yellow cupboard...for Little Boy Blue's enjoyment.
Picture
I love Gram and Gramps house, they're keepers.



Have I mentioned how sweet
Little Boy Blue is?



He is our most favorite-ist Christmas present
ever.


Okay, that's it for the

dining room.


Let's see if Christmas threw

up in the rest of the house....
Picture
Holyfield, get out of the picture. I will feed you in a minute!




This is all I

got going on

the kitchen

this year.



Simple. Simple.

Picture



The tops of the cupboards still haven't been touched and look like crap.


They need a little  of that Spirit o' Christmas
thrown up there.

And things are scaled down in the bathroom...I usually put up a 1950's aluminum tree with vintage shiny brite bulbs.

But this year, I was lazy and grabbed a vintage hanging light from the garage when I was getting folding chairs and threw it on the bathroom counter.

It is very dusty and dirty and I still haven't cleaned it. I did however throw a strand of lights on it. Because I am classy like that.

 Also, that picture is titled "Winter In Paris". It is beautiful.
And the entry is totally scaled down this year.

For years, I had my Grandparent's Hoosier cabinet in that tiny space chocked full of vintage Santas, and Mrs. Santas and red boots and sweet vintage sleighs and reindeer.
Picture
Wouldn't it be nice to get new flooring in the entry instead of that dated vinyl?



But this year is just this simple little setting.





And that's okay too.

Picture

Hey, I love this lamp that hangs on the wall in the entry. We purchased this light just like this from our favorite junk shop ever in Cedarburg Wisconsin named Don's Resale.
We went there for years. One day three years ago, we went there and Don, a crusty old, hard-living 76 year-old was not there. He had passed away a couple weeks prior and his children were left cleaning out his lifetime of junk collecting. I remembered seeing this lamp many times on his old check-out counter (an old general store display piece) and asked if I could buy it. His son said okay. Lucky me but I think the son should have kept it. This light is weird and quirky, just like Don.

Picture
Hi Mindy Peaches. Hey, could you vacuum the dog hair up off the couch after you get up?




And finally we come into the living room.

Remember this picture from last week where I talked about selling FOR FREE my two huge honking Christmas trees on Craigslist and I was left with these two sorry looking trees?


Picture


Well,
I did put the trees side by side, placing the gaping holes to the wall and began to put lights on these humongous Redwoods.

And then I said enough is enough and just went out and bought a real tree and had it delivered and set up.
For reals and for cheap.
Not free, but it was cheap!
Picture
And you can see, I haven't got to decorating the tree yet but with a couple ornaments.

If I wasn't running out of time, this tree would be dripping with 700-800 ornaments at least...gorgeous ones, tacky ones, handmade ones, treasures from the kids like macaroni pictures and anything that glitter and pipe cleaners can be glued on, ribbons and twirly things off packages, Christmas cards from the past, photographs, vintage ornaments, popcorn strung on dental floss, sometimes strung cranberries and homemade gingerbread men and the kitchen sink.

But this year is different. Ran out of time. That's okay. Kind of.
Oh, and the stair railing? Usually has a beautiful garland cascading down. This year I plopped the first wreath I saw up there.
Very sylish.

But it's all good...just leaves me time for what's really important in life.





Welcome back to the

farmhouse

Little Boy Blue!!!

We've missed you!!
Picture


The pets missed you tooooo.........
Picture
I'm figuring out quickly my Grandma likes to take blurry pictures.




Little Boy Blue and his super cool,
super hip,
very young Grandma Angie and his cool GrandpaTim wishes you and yours a very Happy Christmas filled all the wonders this season brings!

Warm

Christmas Blessings


To All!!!

Cars And Dinosaurs

12/11/2011

 

Tim works with a dinosaur every day.




NO, NOT ME! Sheez.




This dinosaur...

Picture
This is a vintage Sinclair gas sign that hangs in the Turnkey Auto shop.
I picked it up at auction years ago. It's huge and it's cool.

This the best picture I could take of the sign yesterday; a customer's vehicle was on the lift.
In order to get this picture, I had to perch myself
under the hood of the customer's truck. See?
I'm classy like that, what can I say?

I tried taking the picture from a better angle to no avail mostly because I am short and too lazy to get the ladder out though.
Picture
Short people are just screwed in life!

It is never beneficial to be 5'2".

Except I do make a lot of tall friends at the grocery store asking them to reach that one lone box of bagel chips waaaay in back that only a 5'10" person and taller person can reach.

But enough about me :)

This customer truck is in the shop for brake work I think.

Did you know Turnkey Auto does brake work?
Picture



Yup, it says so right on the building...

Brakes, Batteries

and Suspension.

Picture

Let's get a closer look.

Yup.

Brakes, Batteries and Suspension.

Picture




And you thought we just did sales, huh?

Picture
We do it all...sales and service.

Turnkey Auto is the largest volume mover of quality, affordable vehicles in Frytown Iowa :)

And we do this out of our World Headquarters

you know.

The Turnkey Auto service shop is located 1/2 mile west of Frytown but the car lot is located right in Frytown at this building...
Picture

CRAP
Q: Who forgot to take a picture of the car lot and building in Frytown yesterday?

A: Dinosaur Angie

ARRRRGHHH!!
I will take a picture later this morning after the frost is off the vehicles and will post it then.
Q: Who has crap for their dinosaur brains?
A: We all know the answer to that.

Picture

The Turnkey Auto car lot in Frytown has hot vehicles like this
2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GT2 with 115k miles.

Sizzlin' is what this GT2 is.

Picture



The interior and body are like new. The mechanics are super excellent.

In fact,

ALL of our vehicles are in super excellent condition!





Picture
Attention: You will look very cool driving this car, just so ya know.
Like this

rockin'

red 2000

Grand

Prix GT

with 93k

miles.





Picture
And how about a super sharp, super nice riding/driving 
2004
Chevy Impala
with 122k miles?

Seriously nice Impala, who doesn't love an Impala?






I only have one word for this next car...
BIG, BAD, MEAN AND HOT all at the same time!!!

Well, that was like four words but still, look at this 2003 Pontiac Grand Am GT Ram Air with only 98k miles!
Picture
Picture

Yeah, kind of hot huh?

Kind of?

You bet it is!


And this GT
is METICULOUS!




Picture
Perhaps a white
2003 Grand Prix SE 
with 110k miles is more your style?
Perhaps Angie likey this car A LOT and wants to keep it. Perhaps Tim says Angie can't keep everything.
Whatev.


Picture
This super nice 1999 Grand Am SE with 139k miles, sunroof, all power options, alloy, spoiler, CD, 3400 V6 engine, yowza! was listed at $3585.
C'mon, what a steal! $3585!!
Was listed a couple days ago and sold yesterday. $3585? Really? AND this Grand Am SE was in SUPER EXCELLENT CONDITION like all our vehicles.



I hope everyone has a good day today on Sunday!
I'll leave you with a picture of these cute sheep in the field by the shop. I think they were trying to tell me they like that hot looking, black 2-door Ram Air Grand Am GT but they weren't so sure they could all fit in it.

See ya next time :)!
Picture





Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb Angie

12/9/2011

 

Hi Guys!!!

So, the cornerstone of my Christmas decor
was always this Christmas tree...
Picture

NO, not the cat!!  The Christmas tree!

This tree was just a 7 1/2 foot tree but it was super expensive (I'm too embarrassed to say how much),
had a thousand million gazillion (that's a true number, look it up) different tips and came in a box that was like 8 foot long
(no exaggeration)
and required two people to carry it in and out of the garage.

It doesn't look huge here, but it was humongous,
and round and full; it was a BEAST of a tree.
Everyone was wowed by it. I usually mounted it on a large metal pail thing which made it stand 9 foot tall.
Picture
I think that's a sleeping teenager over there on the couch.



Here is that same tree in the dining room another year...clearly you can see my photo skills have always lacked!!
Picture
Isn't it HUGE!!!!!



Well, the other anchor of my yearly decorating was the 9 footer tree,
typically decorated with 100% vintage ornaments...
Picture
Grand, stately and beautiful is what this 9 footer was.


Picture


So
pretty
from
a
distance too.

I think the table was set for a ladies luncheon I hosted with chicken salad on buttery croissants and a broccoli and spinach side dish. OH! I need to make that again and post it here :)




One more picture of that big, fat 7 1/2 foot beast from another year.
Clearly I had a red, white and blue love fest going on that year in the dining room.
Picture





And then two years ago,

I sold both trees on Craigslist.



For FREE!!!!

I KNOW!!!!
Am I crazy?
The answer is yes. Duh.
Picture








Our sweet kitty Jefferson
did not go with the trees though;
we kept him :)

Why did I give away,

FOR FREE,

both trees you ask?

Well, this is the best I can come up with
1. They were humongous and I tended to go a little overboard with the decorating and I thought it would help me scale down where I wouldn't be so obsessive.


2. The older I get, the less I am invested in hauling 35 trillion honking huge trees inside the house.

3. I thought maybe it would be nice to start getting real trees again.

4. I thought I should be concentrating on the real meaning of Christmas instead of focusing on material things; I kind of - sort of put up 13 trees every year.

5. I got a hair up my wazoo one day while cleaning out the barn and put the free ad on Craiglist and those big honkin' boxes were out of my barn within 35 minutes (no kidding, someone read the ad and came out and hauled them both away all within 30 minutes of posting.)

6. Yeah, that about covers it.



So, do I regret giving away those trees?

A. Well last year I didn't.
It was refreshing not being chained to all those trees and decor and time and mess and untangling lights and stepping on bulbs and vacuuming up wires.

This year however, hmmmmm...
...
...
...
...

...
...





OF COURSE I REGRET IT!!!!

Crap!!!!!! What was I

thinking?!?!




Picture
So these are the two trees I am working with in the living room this year.

See that big, gaping hole in that tree, where you can see the dog on the couch?
*sigh*


Boy, these trees are so HUGE I don't know how I will ever have enough ornaments to decorate them. Gosh, it will take me YEARS to do these two ginormous monsters. I don't know if there's enough energy or time in the world to decorate these big California Redwood-like trees. Sheez.


But I can do it.

If Scarlett O'Hara can pull herself back up, by gosh I can too. Wish me luck.

Picture





I do have this nice,
sweet white tree going on in the dining room
this year though,
so that's kind of fun.

Picture
We snuggie, don't bother us mom.
And I do have the
Titans Of Terror
helping me out with the decorating too.

Uh must add, my mother-in-law June put up and decorated that white tree and two others already up at my house, I actually haven't done a tree yet. Oops.

WHAT??!!
She LIKES to put up trees!



Picture
I've been too busy,


you know,



listening to these old vinyl
Christmas albums...


On this...
Picture


And reading

these...



A gal's gotta have a little down time ya know :):):)



I'd love to see pictures of all ya'll's trees...

email me at salesturnkeyauto@aol.com

HOHOHO...MERRY CHRISTMAS SEASON!
See ya soon!





Two Cats For Sale...JUST KIDDING!!!! Geeez...

12/6/2011

 

Two Cats For Sale!

Picture
We don't find Mom's humor amusing.




JUST KIDDING. Geez.....










I'll pay you to take them!


Okay, so our two twin cats Vincenzo and Pepperoncini

aka Vinny and Pepper
aka The Twins
aka Frick and Frack
aka the Two Little (insert words of choice here)
aka The Ornery Devils
aka Two Cats For Sale

came to us two years ago in December 2009 at
3 months old.
Two sweet little rescue kitties.
Picture
Well, other than Pepper's constant hissing (left) for a week straight, they were total adorable!
Oh, they were adorable!

See the two of them under the tabletop tree the first day we got them?



Cute!


When I say cute, I mean 100%, no denying it, completely, utterly, truthfully adorably cute!

Look at them! Just look!! Don't ya just want to pet the sweet yittle kitties?!?!
They were fun and curious and played and wrestled and explored fun places together
all the time...


They found cozy spots to rest together....



And they tried to be big boys and hang out with their pet siblings...




Picture
We cute. We sweet. We gonna change though.



Can you say,

"So Cute You Just Want To Eat Them All Up!"

Picture
Christmas 2010, one-year-olds.





Well,

one day

they got

BIG.




And started destroying things...
Picture
What? What'd we do? We were just walking by the curtains and they just happened to fall down.
This picture was taken within seconds after the dining room drapes and rod had fallen down from an apparent
kitten curtain climbing contest.



Naughty kitties!!!





Picture
Just waiting for mom to put up all her Christmas crap so I have new things to play with.
And then last night in the middle of the night, we hear a big crash.  Yup, one of my new cool drinking glasses lay shattered on the kitchen floor with Vinny dazed in the middle of the broken glass.

And then this morning, I wake up to find Vinny laying on a towel on top of a basket.

Which is fine.




Except right under that towel is a delicate

TWENTY DOLLAR BIRD ORNAMENT!!!!!!!
Picture
TWENTY DOLLARS! Did I happen to mention I paid TWENTY DOLLARS for that bird ornament?

TWENTY DOLLARS!!!
I've never spent more than a few bucks on an ornament but I spent TWENTY DOLLARS ON THAT ORNAMENT!!! Twenty dollars!!
AND HE WAS LAYING DIRECTLY ON TOP OF IT!


*sigh* Thank goodness it didn't break.


Picture
I should be paid for this hard job of keeping the house safe from mouses.
And then at that same moment I hear Pepper making weird noises under the dining room table.
I look under the table and see Pepper playing
WITH A REAL DEAD MOUSE!

You see that mouse over to the right of his face on the rug? See it?!?! Arrrgghhh!
*Cue to Angie's heebie jeebie dance, arms flailing, the whole enchilada*



Well, I suppose at least he was doing his job.

And these are just a couple examples of their naughtiness. They are naughty every day.
If they're not terrorizing the other pets literally, they are flying like squirrels onto your back, your bottom or your legs as you walk by their domain or they're shredding paperwork, paper towels, newspaper or each other.
Picture

And see those two gorgeous aqua Italy vases against the wall on the old console stereo?
I only paid $1 for those vases at auction but they are old and they are beautiful and full of texture.

Picture
Mr. Italy vase, you completed me.

Well,
one of those vases has a LOT MORE TEXTURE to it as of last week.



*Angie is now taking a moment to wipe the mist from her eyes*




Now do you see why we call these two

monsters Two Cats For Sale?

Okay, seriously, in the end, of course we really do love

our two little Titans Of Terror...



Because they are so darn cute and keep us company when we walk our blind doggie Mindy Peaches in the open field.
Picture
Yup, we picked the right home two years ago, didn't we bro?


And because they make us laugh by

STILL trying to fit their fat two-year-old bodies in the same napping spaces.
Picture
Best friends forever.




But you may want to check with me in about a week or so, when all the Christmas trees are up.

I have a feeling things might change.


JUST KIDDING!!!!! Geez...... Of COURSE I wouldn't sell my kitties. Duh! Crap, I'm not a mean old witch you know. Geeez...


Wait,
how much did you say you'd pay?


KIDDING!!!


Have a great Tuesday everyone!!!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta and Sweet Little Boy Blue

12/4/2011

 
Oh I've been busy all week.

With work of course.

ALWAYS, always lots of car work.

But also with Sweet


Little Boy Blue...
Picture
Hi Gramps, what's with all that facial hair?



Picture
Little Boy Blue had front row seat in the kitchen several nights this past week.

Wait, that's an empty seat. Where is Little Boy Blue?




He better not be under the haystack fast asleep again.




PictureBut I like laying here and getting all excited over that Christmas bulb Grandma taped up there.



Little Boy Blue!!! What are you doing hanging with Cookie Monster?

Come into the kitchen and help me cook, I promise you'll get lots of attention and lovin' on in the kitchen too.


PictureSomebody loves Little Guy.






See,

told

ya!!!

Lots of kisses for Little Boy Blue.

Picture



The kitchen is a good place to hang out,

cuz everyone who walks by wants to give Boy Baby hugs and kisses.

Picture
Little Boy Blue,
is 5 weeks too young to ask for your help in cleaning up the kitchen? 

I'll bet you'll pull that whole "Well I'm not even old enough to eat solids, why should I have to help clean up" excuse thing.

Little Boy Blue, you sound like your mother.
In fact, let's get started on cooking this Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta recipe for your Mama and Daddy.


So this Squash and Bacon casserole, as I would call it, is so exceptionally tasty; it's the perfect combination of sweetness with the sweet potatoes and savory with the spices and salty yumminess of the bacon.
I'm fairly certain I won't be winning any literary culinary-language awards with that last sentence, but bear with me please. 
You will not believe how tasty this dish is.
Warning, you'll want to make a batch and a half or double the recipe if there is more than four people in your family, it's that good.

(If you can not see the recipe below, please use Mozilla instead of Internet Explorer.)
To see this Cooking Light Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta recipe, 
CLICK HERE!!
PictureI heart bacon.
And these are the fixins you will need to begin this fantastic dish.


See that bacon over there?


In the words of KC And The Sunshine Band..
That's the way aha, aha
I like it aha, aha
That's the way aha, aha
I like it aha, aha


Picture

So anyhoo, preheat oven to  425 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Also spray an 11x17 inch baking pan.

That's an exciting photo, a sprayed cookie sheet, isn't it?



Picture


In a small bowl, combine salt, rosemary and pepper.

Place squash cubes on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the spice mixture.







Bake 45 minutes until squash is tender and slightly browned.

Increase oven temp to 450 degrees.

HEY! Get your hands off the cooked squash, save some for the actual dish please.

Cook pasta according to directions; drain and return to pan to keep warm.

Picture

In a large non-stick pan, cook the bacon slices...I used that expensive thick cut Applewood Smoked bacon, verrrry expensive but verrrry goooood!

Like how I used all those extra letters?
No?
Annoying?
Yes?

Moving on,

cook bacon until crisp, remove from pan and reserve 1 1/2 teaspoons bacon drippings in pan.

Picture
Increase heat to medium high.
Add the shallots or onions (I used a mild yellow onion, shallots were too expensive for as much as this recipe calls for) and saute for approximately 8 minutes or until tender.

Mmmmm, you can smell that sweetness caramelizing.

Picture



Remove onions from heat and add squash mixture,
crumbled bacon and shallots or onions;

set aside.

In a large pan or pot, mix up the flour and salt.
Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk, bring to a boil and cook until slightly thick, approximately 1 minute.
Remove from heat and add the Parmesan.
Spoon pasta into prepared dish.
Top with the squash mixture.
Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
Picture






Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and just turns brown.

Remove from oven and serve.



Weeelll, if you INSIST!

Picture

This dish is seriously good eats! Little Boy Blue's mother ate four helpings of this.
She said she couldn't stop eating it because it was so sweet with the cooked squash and caramelized onions. She said it was very filling.

I imagine it was filling after FOUR servings!


I hope you try out this recipe! You won't be disappointed.
I'm certain I've steered you wrong on a couple things but I am 1000% positive you will love this dish :)



By the way, when I asked Sweet Little Boy Blue to help me clean up the kitchen afterwards,

he pulled this number on me...











Picture
Somebody is dreaming about Grandma and Grandpa and how much he loves them because they are so cool and young and hip and they'll make sure I have a cool car when I turn sixteen and Grandma will cook anything I want and Grandpa will ride go-carts and minibikes with me and they are way more funner and laid back than they were with my Mama and Auntie. Yeah, I think my Gram and Gramps are keepers.


That's okay, he was tuckered out.
Guess all that love and attention and kisses can tire a wee one out!

Have a good Sunday!
Will probably have another post up tomorrow too:)
After all, Christmastime is here!!! HoHoHo!



    Author

    Angie Madsen
    One half of a team that blends their work and personal life together
    in fun ways.





    Recipes
    Picture
    Click here to access recipes featured on this blog. 




    Categories

    All
    Appetizers
    Beef
    Bread
    Breakfast
    Caring
    Car Stories
    Casserole
    Chicken
    Christmas
    Cooking Misadventures
    Decor
    Desserts
    Fish
    Foosball Okay Football
    Fun Times
    Hot Cars
    I Am A Dork
    Kitchen Stuff
    Pasta
    Pets Pets Pets
    Pork
    Potatoes
    Seasonal
    Side Dish
    Soup
    Special Occasion
    Turkey
    Vegan Or Could Be Vegan
    Vegetables
    Vegetarian



    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011



Turnkey Auto - Twenty years of a friendly setting of quality vehicles, affordable prices and exceptional service.
Text: 319-331-8796
​Call: 319-683-2850


 1/2 mile west of Frytown on 500th St
1811 500th St SW, Kalona, Ia 52247