A'thrifting I will go

This is what it looks like outside my apartment patio window this evening.  I couldn't even open the door to get a better photograph as the screen was frozen shut, but you get the idea of how much snow we have had in the last couple of days.  Thank goodness I don't have to shovel......

I'm also pleased to report that I don't seem to have that problem loading my photos to my blog that I had last time.

It's great being retired and being able to please myself in what I do, but there is a drawback and that is how fast the time is going by.  I remember looking forward to Fridays so much when I was working, but now every day is a Friday and sometimes I even have to stop and try to figure out what day it is, LOL  I seem to pace my weeks by the Saturdays I spend at our Boutique and no sooner do I leave there after putting in a whole day that lo and behold Saturday is back and I'm doing it all over again.  The days in between are usually spent shopping for supplies and treasures for our little piece of heaven on earth and I have to show you what I found at one of the thrift stores yesterday.  For me, it's not a simple matter of just putting an item in a car and driving home, no, I don't drive and my form of transportation is my little shopping buggy.  I'm sure that in our city I am known as "Downtown Chrissy" as I can frequently be seen traipsing the downtown area with my recent "finds".  Here's my latest find and considering all the snow we have recently had, it was no easy feat, believe me.

So, that's how I got it home and I'm sure that I had a few funny looks, but I don't care, at my age I sorta, kinda can get away with it, LOL  This is what it looks like now and I'm not sure what I will do to it, paint it or varnish it, but will post it when it is done.  It seems to be quite old, maybe from the 60's???

Now onto my creations for the week.....

These are 5" x 5" canvases which I purchased from Pat at the Queen's Cupboard.  They had a different picture on them which I completely covered and then did my "altered art" thing to them.  Not everyones taste, but I just love them (for now).  They could end up in my Boutique in a few months, who knows!!......

I finished off the coffee table, which kind of goes with the two end tables I did a couple of weeks ago.  The only difference really is that the end tables have mirror tops and the coffee table has a smokey glass top......

As you can see, if you look closely, it is shabby-chic'd to match with the end tables.

I painted a couple of wooden lighthouses.............

I didn't realize just how much I have done until I started putting them on the post, so I'll just feature one more selection and save the rest for another time.  These are some gorgeous glass containers filled with potpourri and small lights and topped with a beautiful lace doily and vintage flower.  I hope these sell and then I'll make some more..................

Have to finish up with a pic of each of my most precious grandkids.  It will be a couple of months until I see them again (when the snow goes and it's safer to travel), but they are in my heart and thoughts all the time...................

Mischievous Rhys

and "Butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth" Katherine

Well, that's all for now folks.  Have a wonderful weekend.   See you soon.  Hugs

Les Miserables

Went to the movies this evening with the lovely Library ladies, Helena, Janis (retired like me) and Kathy.  We all thoroughly enjoyed this one and having a few Kleenex handy was an asset.  I would recommend going to see this one.


In 1815, convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is released on parole by prison guard Javert (Russell Crowe) after serving a nineteen-year sentence. He is offered food and shelter by the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson), but steals his silver during the night. He is caught by the authorities, but the Bishop says that the silver was given as a gift, and secures Valjean's release. Touched by the Bishop's generosity, Valjean breaks his parole and vows to start an honest life under a new identity. Javert swears he will bring the escaped convict to justice.

Eight years later, Valjean has become a factory owner and mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Fantine (Anne Hathaway), one of his workers, is discovered to be sending money to her illegitimate daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen), who lives with the unscrupulous Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) and their daughter Éponine (Natalya Wallace), and is dismissed by the foreman (Michael Jibson). Left with no alternative, Fantine turns to prostitution. During an argument with an abusive customer, Javert, now a police inspector, arrests Fantine, but Valjean intercedes and takes her to a hospital.

Later, Valjean learns that a man believed to be him has been arrested. Unable to condemn an innocent man, Valjean reveals his identity to the court before departing for the hospital. There he promises a dying Fantine that he will look after her daughter. After escaping from Javert, Valjean finds Cosette and pays the Thénardiers to allow him to take her, and promises to be like a father to her.

Nine years later, Jean Maximilien Lamarque, the only government official sympathetic toward the poor, is nearing death. Students Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) and Enjolras (Aaron Tveit), together with street urchin Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone), discuss revolution. Marius later catches a glimpse of Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), now a young woman, and instantly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, despite Cosette's questioning, Valjean refuses to tell her about his past or her mother.

At a café, Enjolras organises a group of idealistic students as Lamarque's death is announced. Meanwhile, Éponine (Samantha Barks), now Marius's friend, leads him to Cosette, where the two profess their love for one another. Lamenting that her secret love for Marius will never be reciprocated, Éponine fatalistically decides to join the revolution. Later, an attempted robbery of Valjean's house makes him mistakenly believe that Javert has discovered him, and he flees with Cosette. As they leave, Enjolras rallies the Parisians to revolt, and Marius sends a farewell letter to Cosette.

The next day, the students interrupt Lamarque's funeral procession and begin their assault. Javert poses as a rebel in order to spy on them, but is quickly exposed by Gavroche and captured. During the ensuing gunfight, Éponine saves Marius at the cost of her own life, professing her love to him before she dies. Valjean, intercepting the letter from Marius to Cosette, goes to the barricade to protect Marius. After saving Enjolras from snipers, he is allowed to execute Javert. However, when the two are alone, Valjean frees Javert, telling him to run. Initially disbelieving, Javert wonders at Valjean's generosity.

With the Parisians not joining the revolution as the students expected, they resolve to fight to the death. Everyone is killed but Marius, who is saved when Valjean drags his unconscious body into the sewers. Thénardier, scavenging the dead bodies, steals Marius's ring. Valjean recovers and escapes the sewers carrying Marius, but is confronted at the exit by Javert. Javert threatens to shoot Valjean if he refuses to surrender, but Valjean ignores him. Unable to reconcile the conflict between his civil and moral duties, two things which he always considered the same, Javert commits suicide.

Later, Marius mourns for his friends but Cosette comforts him. Revealing his past to Marius, Valjean tells him he must leave because his presence endangers Cosette, and makes Marius promise never to tell her. Marius and Cosette marry; the Thénardiers crash the reception and testify that they saw Valjean carrying a murdered corpse through the sewers. Thénardier unwittingly shows Marius the ring that he stole from him as "proof." Recognising the ring, Marius realises that it was Valjean who saved his life. Being told Valjean's location by Thénardier, Marius and Cosette depart to find him.

As Valjean sits dying in a local convent, he perceives the spirit of Fantine appearing to take him to Heaven. Cosette and Marius rush in to bid farewell. Valjean hands Cosette his confession of his past life, and the spirits of Fantine, Éponine and the Bishop guide him to paradise, where he joins the spirits of Enjolras, Gavroche, and the other rebels at the barricade.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

No new crafts yet, still working on a few - one I was working on turned out to be a flop so that one won't get an airing, LOL  'Til next time.......

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR

"This added part is an update (Sunday, 6th Jan.): as you will see from my comments beneath, I had trouble posting my photos.  Imagine my horror when I found out that after all that hard work uploading them to Picasa they didn't even show up in my blog.  I have been spending the last two or more hours trying to figure out how to get them back on and thanks to a lovely lady named Rae Ann, I tried it her way, using HTML and it seems to have worked.  I hope that I don't have to do this every time I blog because it sure is a work out.  Sorry for any of the photos I couldn't retrieve - I don't save every photo I take.  Hugs, Chris"

For the first time, I have been having trouble in uploading photos from my computer onto my blog.  I have always been able to do it so easily but now I find that I have to go through a Google based programme called Picasa.  Is everyone else who uses Blogger in the same boat?  I'm sure that once I get used to it, it will be as easy as pie but to get started it means that I have to transfer all my photos into individual albums from which to draw the photos which I wish to use in my current blog.  Phew, I am so tired of doing this procedure this evening that I just might take a break and go and do something else until I get my breath back, LOL

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and are now looking forward to a peaceful and healthy New Year.  I know I am.  I had a very quiet Christmas, spent with my eldest son and we enjoyed a very nice repast, made by moi, took all day to cook and was polished off in about 30 minutes - doesn't that happen to everyone?  My three sons and family joined together and bought me a fabulous new TV.  I had been resisting getting a new one because the old one worked just like it did the day it was purchased, but with technology constantly changing, I couldn't have my DVD player and the Digital Box connected at the same time and plugging in and unplugging became a bit of a nuisance.  That gave the sons, DIL and grandchildren something really special to be able to get for me and I truly appreciate it.  Why I resisted for so long I just don't know.  Here's a picture of it - aren't I spoilt?



As usual, I have been busy creating and refinishing items for my Boutique.  It's not like I need to do this to fill empty spaces, no, on the contrary, I barely have room to move in there.  I guess you could say that I am addicted to being crafty.  These are a few things that I have been working on over the holidays......

I made some animal magnets.  I had leftover animals from a previous craft, bookends which you will see in my previous post, and decided to put them to good use.  I just hope that someone will take pity on me and buy a few.

A couple of crow pictures which I found on the net and painted

on canvas, giving them my own individual look.



I'm sure this little group reminds you of a famous singing group.  I made silhouette images and mod podged them onto a painted canvas and then framed them.  I was quite a fan of these young men in my heyday, and even received a beautiful smile from one of them when I saw them live.  I'm not kidding!!

I spent quite a bit of time painting and shabbying these beauties - if I didn't already have a nice set of glass end tables I would consider keeping them for myself and they certainly would go with my decor - they have a mirror insert......

I also did this small table and shabby-chiced it too.....

I painted a few chalkboards for the kiddies as well...........



Kellee and Kathy, two delightful ladies with whom I worked at the Library did this unusual Christmas tree for the Main Library just in front of the Circulation Desk for all to admire - what a neat idea...

My dear friend Laurie from   http://iloveacloudyday.blogspot.ca/

came around with a large slice of brownies which she had just made, in fact they were still warm.  They were peanut butter and chocolate chip, something I had never tasted before in a brownie, and they were delicious.  I would have posted a photo of them but they disappeared so fast - my son thought they were great, as did I.

Well, that's it for this post.  I am ending it with some photos of my most favourite people and then I'm going to give myself a headache and work on uploading more photos to Picasa.  Let me know what you think of this programme and if you find it easy to use.

Have a fabulous weekend.  I'm working at my Boutique in the morning so I had better get cracking and figure out this Picasa thing and get to bed.  'Til next time.  Hugs,