The Captive and Visiting the Grandkids

Another visit come and gone, 14 hours on the Greyhound Bus there and another 14 hours home.  It's a long trip, but worth every uncomfortable minute.

Whilst I was visiting the grandkids (and their mum and dad of course), I was invited to spend the evening with their day care provider, a delightful lady named Anna, and have dinner with her family.  After dinner we took in this movie, see what you think of it.

This is a Canadian thriller, directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Mireille Enos and Ryan Reynolds.  You may remember Mireille from "The Killing", a series of three distinct stories which revolved around a single murder.

The captive is essentially an abduction thriller, set over time span of eight years. Mireille Enos and Ryan Reynolds play the parents, whose daughter is kidnapped one day outside of coffee shop. The agonising search for leads on the identity of the kidnapper is set over a period of 8 years. Scott Speedman and Rosario Dawson provide strong support as the lead police officers assigned to the case. The audience is already aware of the identity of the kidnapper which allows us to empathise more with the parents and police officers involved.

There are frequent time shifts within the movie, centring around events just after the abduction, six years after the incident and finally eight years, leading to the film’s climax. Some reviewers have criticized this, as there was no indication, the audience is left to work out what has happened.

The main conflict which fleshes out the middle part of the movie are the themes of guilt, the distraught mother blames her husband for the abduction and in turn he blames him self.  I enjoyed this movie, they can't all be terrific but I think it was worth the price of entry.

As usual, I had a great time visiting and as usual, it went by way too fast.  Each time I try to stay a little longer.  Rhys is now in school full-time, in SK and seems to love it, Katherine still has a way to go before she starts JK.  Unfortunately both Niki and I came down with terrible colds (or was it flu) which put a little bit of a dampner on things, especially as my other son who lives in Toronto came to visit for a few days so I had to make an effort to at least go out with him a few times.  I'm still not over it two weeks later.

Just one little project to show you this time, gosh, I have been lazy, LOL  This is a rather unique shaped shelf.  Someone is going to love it for their knick-knacks.  I did it in grey and shabbied it.

It was another busy day at my little shop, The Church Street Boutique and this time I decided to give away one of my hand-crafted pendant necklaces with each purchase.  Everyone was delighted but some were reluctant to accept as they were already getting some great deals, but that's what we are all about, great deals and making people happy.

Not much to blog about this time taking into account my trip and my cold.

Here are a couple of photos of the darlings, they are always a joy to see.....

Rhys's first day at SK

Sweet Katherine

Rhys drying off

Katherine, finding Daddy amusing

And that's it for now my friends.  I hope you are all healthy and life is treating you well.  Until next time, take care....

Hugs, 

Church Street Boutique

Well, the last few days sure have been very busy for me.  We, that is myself and my two partners in crime, decided to split up the room we have rented and named "Church Street Boutique", into three equal spaces so that it would be fair for all of us.

To do this, I had to go out and purchase three unassembled shelf units and with the help of my eldest son, lugged them over to the boutique and there I spent hours assembling and arranging them, creating a nice warm area where, we hope, our clients and friends can come and shop, especially now that it is getting closer to Christmas.  Here are a few photos I took today.  I think I will probably leave it like this for a while, unless I find that I need another unit.  Trouble is, I have so much stuff and can't stop creating and/or shopping, LOL

So, this is my side of the room ........... looking good, I think ......

Today, before I went to the Boutique, I had an appointment with an eye specialist to check to see if the medication I was on for Lupus has damaged my sight.  I am very pleased to report that apart from some evidence of beginning cataracts, my sight has not been damaged permanently and as of last week, I have ceased taking it.  My blood work is holding it's own but the arthritis is no better, it's getting worse as I get older, and I really felt my age when I was kneeling on the hard floor following the confusing diagram - sometimes you just have to rely on common sense, LOL

Here are a few paintings I have acquired the last week or so, spruced them up a little and am now selling them in the Boutique for a few dollars (hopefully).



I picked up this gorgeous window style mirror at a local thrift store recently.  My son Dave has a few larger ones in his home and I have often admired them.  I wasn't very taken with the colour of the wood, so, me being me, I painted it, but wait for it, not cream but black - wow, the sky will surely fall now, LOL  Here is the before picture and then the after.  It wasn't very easy getting photos of it without getting myself in it too, so they really aren't the best, but you will get the idea.......

This is a Christmas wreath I made for my apartment entrance.  Cute little fellow on the top.

And to finish off, I leave you with photos of my sweet grandchildren.................

Super Rhys getting his boots on

and the beautiful Katherine

I can't believe that a week has gone by since I last blogged - where on earth does the time go?  It won't be long before the snow is here to stay and when that happens, believe me, I won't be trotting the the mall two or three times a day.  Being a non-driver makes a big difference to my mobility during the winter months.  Just have to grin and bear it and keep myself busy in other ways.  Talk again soon.  Hugs,



Sunny and Clear

It's beautiful here again today, 19 degrees celsius which is very strange because every year at this time it rains and rains and rains because the fair is in town for a week, so, surprise!!


I thought I would post some photos of my apartment, showing some of the changes I have made over the last little while.  It's so much fun when you can do that and not worry about anyone else's opinion or take into account their needs, just do what you want - so selfish?  Not really, just one of the little perks of being alone - it doesn't really make up for having someone special in your life but you make your own fun, so here goes....................


You've all seen this one, the piece I bought from Pat at The Queen's Cupboard recently.  Note all the turquoise knick-knacks.  I bought some myself and then people started giving me some, but now I have plenty, so no more tempting me, LOL

Another view

I put up a gorgeous curtain at the opening to the kitchen area, to hide any mess I might have when company comes.  I picked this lovely item up from The Queen's Cupboard and hung it on a rod supported by hooks that I shabby chic'd...........

I changed the rod since the photo and it's now a nicer looking black one.

I mentioned in my last post that I changed my shower head in the bathroom and this is the new one I installed.............. 

Going to the movies in a couple of hours, so I will finish this off later and let you know what we go and see.

My bedroom hasn't changed but I moved things around in the spare room.............

I've been working on a few artsy-fartsy things and will show them in another blog - not quite finished with them yet.

This one I can show you as it is finished.  I picked up one of those old apple boxes from Pat - she brought loads of them home from her trip down to Southern Ontario "picking".  I painted it, yes, cream and put it in my bathroom to hold extra toilet tissue.  Going to put some decals on it which I have purchased from the Polka Dot Closet.

No new photos of the grand-kiddies - hopefully something soon.  My kids must get fed up with me bugging them all the time, but hey, that's what grandmas do isn't it?

Okay, home from the movies with the library ladies, Janis, Helena and Nancy (who used to work there).  We saw "What to expect when you're expecting".  It turned out to be funnier than I thought it would be and it was good to laugh together.  This is it.............

"Over the moon about starting a family, TV fitness guru Jules and dance show star Evan find that their high-octane celebrity lives don't stand a chance against the surprise demands of pregnancy. Baby-crazy author and advocate Wendy gets a taste of her own militant mommy advice when pregnancy hormones ravage her body; while Wendy's husband, Gary, struggles not to be outdone by his competitive alpha-Dad, who's expecting twins with his much younger trophy wife, Skyler. Photographer Holly is prepared to travel the globe to adopt a child, but her husband Alex isn't so sure, and tries to quiet his panic by attending a "dudes" support group, where new fathers get to tell it like it really is. And rival food truck chefs Rosie and Marco's surprise hook-up results in an unexpected quandary: what to do when your first child comes before your first date?"

Go and see it, if you don't mind a little vulgarity and can get past the occasional swear word.  The chuckles just might be worth it.

To a caring and loving home!!

Yes, my friends, the curio cabinet (from "The Queen's Cupboard") has arrived, yesterday to be exact, but I had a few things to do to it before I could write about it.  You remember what it looked like in the store (check out previous posts).  This is what it looked like when it found it's new, loving home.............................

And this is what it is looking like now that I have started to fuss around with it.  Doesn't mean that I will leave it like this but I had to rustle up a few things to make it feel welcome.................

For some reason it has taken on a bird theme and, notice the cloches?   Yes, they each have a birdie inside them also.

I finally decided to paint a mirror that I have had for over 30 years.  It has followed us all around to every new home we have lived in and this is how I repay it for all it's loyal service, but I LOVE it, I'm just surprised that I haven't done it before now.........................

Here is some artwork I have just framed.  I took cheap Dollar Store frames and painted them cream and gave them an aged look.  I think they make the prints look so sharp.  The first four are my son's paintings and the last one is my dear friend Laurie's (from:  http://laurie-whentheboughbreaks.blogspot.com/  ). I'm not that good at taking photos and can't seem to get them completely straight, but you'll get the idea.  At least when they are up on the wall they will be straight, LOL

Well, that's about it for now - just had to let you all see the beautiful curio cabinet.  After it had arrived I had to do a little work on it.  Unfortunately the door wouldn't close, probably because the dampness of the paint made the old wood swell, so this afternoon I spent about 3 hours sanding the top and bottom of the door and now it closes like a dream.

Finishing off with a new photo of my darling grandson that my son sent me today, can't wait to see him and my new little grand-daughter (when she arrives - just two more months for the latter) .............................

Have a great weekend.  Talk to you again soon.  Oh, and I cancelled my Etsy Account.  It wasn't doing anything for me and I decided not to put more money into it.  I think there is a knack to it, but it escapes me.  So, it will be the Craft Shows again this year.