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Monday 9 December 2013

Dear Friend remembered, and more!!

Only a few months ago, my ex-colleagues and I lost a very good friend and co-worker to cancer.  She had struggled with this "devil" for over twenty years, always silently fighting and putting on a very brave face.  She had the most wonderful sense of humour and would have us in stitches, sometimes at the most inappropriate times, especially when the head honcho was close by and would almost catch us carrying on like silly teenagers.  Ah, those were the days.  I hope that she is now resting in the arms of her Creator and with those she loved.  The reason why I am mentioning her is because many years ago she gave me a beautiful angel as part of a Christmas present exchange, and every year since I have brought it out of its place of honour in my curio cabinet to top my tree.  This year, it felt so different as I placed it on top of my little Christmas tree, the memories and emotions came flooding back and I uttered a small prayer for the repose of her soul.  Rest in peace my friend.  Here are a couple of photos of the tree, graced with the angel.



Now on to other things.  As usual, I have been working on this and that and will be putting them in my Boutique in the hopes that someone will take pity on me and my hard work and buy them, LOL   I nearly always forget to take photos before I begin a project and this first one is no exception.  I found this in an almost abandoned shop a few weeks ago and got up the nerve to go inside and ask the owner if he was thinking of selling it.  The sweet young man gave it to me, so I dragged it home on my shopping cart and here it is..... oh, I did buy him an apple juice and muffin the next day from City Meat Market for his break.




Talking about City Meat Market, here is a wooden piece I did and they bought it to go along with a welcome sign that I sold them earlier in the year....



I just love those people, they are the kindest, sweetest people I know and all their produce is top quality.  There is nothing that they won't do to assist you in your shopping needs, even going out of their way to bring in special items for you.  In my case, they keep me stocked up in ice-cream, pralines and cream of course!!!!  Merry Christmas Rosina, John, Lori, Jamie, Christian and their families.

I found a really old, beaten up piano stool at one of my local thrift stores - it really was in a pitiful state, but not too far gone for me to attempt to revive it.  It still has a few more sonatas worth of life in it.  Here is the before picture, followed by the afters........




I even sawed about 1/2 inch off the legs so that I could fit them with little caps as the original feet had been removed.  I looked online for feet but the prices were just too high to justify me buying them as my prices in the Boutique are very reasonable.  Just have to give it a little more "protection" and it will be ready to sell.  Do you like it?  This is one of the things that I would love to hold on to but I can't keep everything I like - my apartment isn't small by any means, but enough is enough, LOL

Okay, the next two items are magazine racks.  I guess they don't have to be used as such.  I thought one of them would be ideal to use as a Library "holder".  Books and DVD's borrowed could be kept here, easy to see and easy to find when due.  Here they are......
From this....


To this.....


And, from this....


To this....


I made a dear friend a set of three cushion covers to go with a table runner that she had bought for her coffee table.  I wish I had taken a photo of a covered cushion to show just how pretty they looked.  This is the cover, freshly ironed.....


I painted two mirrors - they were white but I think they look so much more elegant painted black...


Re-finished a shelf, from this....


To this....
I chopped off the duck.


And my final projects for this month are wooden signs for that delightful man in your life who likes to have his own space.  Here I will show you the work in progress.....







Let's see if I can find a couple of photos of the little darlings (my grandkiddies, Katherine and Rhys) to end this post..............



Thanks to Anna their most loving day care provider for the photos.

If I don't get around to posting again before the New Year, I take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  May Christmas be everything you need it to be and the New Year bring you good health and happiness.

Hugs,  


Tuesday 19 November 2013

Mostly Renos

A few more medical appointments under my belt and both have positive outcomes, thank the Lord.  Last week I had a Cat Scan on my chest because the previous one showed something of concern and this one showed no change, so that was good news.  The other appointment was at the Eye Specialist to monitor my eyes as I have been on a medication for Lupus which could severely damage sight.  Also good news, even though my sight is not very good, due to age, etc. the testing showed that my eyes are healthy and haven't been damaged by the meds (which I now have stopped taking because they weren't good for long term use and really didn't help anyway).  The specialist told me that he could see the beginning of cataracts which I should monitor with a check-up in about a year, but not with him as he is retiring.

I made myself these slippers with wool that dear friend Laurie gave me, not bad for my first pair.....



plus two more scarves for my Boutique....



I just love turning something tossed away into something that can have an extended life after a little tender loving care.  I get so excited when I can find something in the thrift shops and paint it up and make it pretty again.  I found these little wooden blocks which looked the worse for wear and gave them an uplift.  Someone might like them for a mantle decoration for Christmas....



I found this delightful little telephone table which really wasn't in too bad shape, but boring.  This is what I turned it into, from plain to cute......







It turned out so cute that I wanted to keep it but don't have any room for it - too bad!!!

I did this little table too, but as usual, forgot to take a before picture....





Another item I forgot to take a before pic of......




Found this little box and after giving it a coat of paint came up with the idea of turning it into a camouflage box for a little boy or even a big boy who's into that kind of thing, LOL



Two more chalkboards....




And last but not least, a medium sized sewing box which needed some attention.  I didn't want to paint it, but treated it with the oil and vinegar technique and ... it turned out almost good as new....



As usual, I will say goodbye with a few photos of my darling grandkids.






That's it for today.  Be healthy and happy.

Hugs,