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Monday 28 November 2011

Maintain Your Sense of Humour.......

It would have been even better if it had been a warm summer
evening here on Vancouver Island but it was a cold clear winterish
night when it happened......


Yup, I was out in the shed, in the backyard with my
faithful pooch Marcie by my side searching (in vain)
for a vacuum cleaner that seems to be missing in the
piles of boxes in the house......

Yup, in the dark.....when we heard it....the hissing sound
of obviously confused underground sprinklers coming on!
And, we were trapped!!  Why on earth they decided to come
on full blast...who knows?  But I do know one thing - tomorrow
morning the main shut-off valve will be...er, well...shut off!

In the meantime, my sweet Marcie could not figure out
how to skirt the edge of the sprinkler so she ran
straight through and got soaked!  I danced around
the edge and only got one side of me soaked! 

Brrrrrrr......and still didn't find the vacuum!

Hope you had a warmer, drier evening than me!

Hugs & Blessings,





Sunday 27 November 2011

A little bloggy love....

It's clear from the way my header appears at this
moment that I need help with my blog.  I have decided
to take the plunge and hire someone to help me design
a better blog layout.  At six months in I know I am
in it for the long haul - I love blogging!

Wanna know what I love best about blogging?
It's sort of a painless motivator!  I get things done
that I might otherwise just contemplate and, if I do
a good job of representing what I have done - I get
feedback!  There's nothing better than hearing an
"atta girl" now and again.

I also like the way I get to share some of my
thoughts, what I find inspiring (hopefully you do too!)
and share creativity.  I cannot tell you how much
I have learned from each of you - I visit your blogs
pretty much daily with a cup of tea or a cup of
coffee and a pen and pad.....with a healthy dose
of "I can do it"!

Thank you for your inspiration and if you have
any suggestions about blog design, layout, what
you've found works or doesn't work...what you like
or don't like when you look at a
 blog - I am all ears....


Hugs & blessings,

Saturday 26 November 2011

You Light Up My Life....

You give me hope....to carry on.....
You light up my days and fill
my nights.....ok, enough already!

Wanna see what I did to some old
lamps?  I found these lamps at our
local recycle depot.  Another gal there was
rummaging in a box and pointed to the
lamps and commented to me
"Nate Berkus would love these lamps"! 


I said - "yup, I am sure you are right - are
you going to buy them?"  She said no - she
didn't know how to fix them up
.....well then move on over Buttercup
because I have an idea or 2!! 


They were tacky mostly worn off gold
with some missing crystals and filthy
dirty but you can see their potential and
the best part - they were only $5!!


I removed all the crystals, cleaned the bases,
taped off the cord and the socket and broke
out the ORB (oil rubbed bronze).  Taking
advantage of the one dry day
 we've had in a while.....


My pics are not "staged" very well but you
get the idea.  These babies (there are two) will
be moving into my new bedroom.  Stay tuned
for a reveal once I have finished fluffing and
puffing it up!  I will share what I did with
the shades as well.....



I picked up a whole garland of crystals at
Fabricland with 50% off.....not bad!  I thought
these more diminuitive crystals were more
appropriate (don't want my lamps screaming
bordello!).....so what do you think?

I'd love to hear from you!



Thursday 24 November 2011

Thank You! Happy Thanksgiving!

To my followers South of the Border.....
I am thankful for your readership!



And to all my Canadian friends....
Thank you as well for following me!

Blessings,

Monday 21 November 2011

Virtual Hugs (aka Blog Awards!)

I was given a Liebster Award....how lovely!
From 'Simply Beautiful Now' who's blog I
love for the beautiful images and messages.
I am reposting her words as they convey exactly
how I feel about blog awards and the spirit of
helping one another! 


This past summer, as they watched a few beautiful swans
swimming along the shoreline, the kids learned about how
in nature, animals naturally support each other. One of the
swans was hurt, so an on-looker tried to help pull it out of the
water. In an instant, the other swans came to fend off, what
they thought was a perpetrator. 
The hurt swan was whisked away.

In German, the word "liebster" is derived from "liebe"
which means love, friend or dearest. I was recently
awarded the Liebster award, which spotlights
up-and-coming blogs who are still in their early stages
(less than 200 followers), ready to blossom
into beautiful swans. (reposted from Simply Beautiful Now)

Thank you for the lovely image of the swans
and for your thoughtful honour!

I also want to write briefly about what
I find to be the only (so far anyway) difficult or
uncomfortable part of blogging:
Awards
  either you love them or you don't.  (I 
love them because it affirms someone
is reading what I am posting and thinks
it's worthy!) So what I would ask of anyone
who I pay it forward to and "award" is
that you accept it in the
spirit it is intended - read: 
 "I think you and your blog are special!" 
There is not one ioda (is that a word?) of
expectation from me that you will do
anything with it - unless you want to!
It's just me (and others) giving you a shout-out that
"hey, we think you're pretty cool......"
and who wouldn't like that.....?
Some of the bloggers I have sent an
award along to might not even know how
much I enjoy reading their blogs (sometimes
we do forget to comment!) 
Sort of a virtual Hug!!!
So consider yourself "hugged"! 

The goal of this award is to spotlight
up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers

The official rules for this award are:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog

2. Thank the giver and link back to the
blogger who gave it to you

3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them
know by leaving a comment on their blog

4. Hope that your followers will
spread the love to other bloggers

Thursday 17 November 2011

Don't Be Sad...Feel Blessed....

I am a true believer that there is much, as human
beings, we don't know.  I like to listen to and read
the thoughts and teachings of a great many
modern philosophers in the form of authors,
spiritual leaders, inspirational speakers, etc. 

Dr. Wayne Dyer is one of my favourites along
with the series of books by Mitch Albom.  There
are some great thoughts about the purpose of
life and of death to ponder.

I don't want this to be a sad post but I don't
want to let this week go by without
acknowledging (on the heels of Breast Cancer
Awareness month) the wonderful life of my
dear sister Jewel (1954-1998) 

There's seldom a day goes by without her
floating through my thoughts.  I feel blessed
to have had her in my life and for all the
lessons and love we shared.....


This was Jewel in about 1978ish.

And here we are together (as we usually
were) in about 1976.





“When someone is in your heart, they're
 never truly gone. They can come back to
you, even at unlikely times.”
Mitch Albom, For One More Day



Wednesday 16 November 2011

What's Up Wednesday.....

Okay - so if you have been reading my blog
the last few days - you know I am facing
the daunting task of purging things from
my over-full new abode.

It's not that I don't like to get rid of
things but there's this obstacle....called
Mr. Biff.... standing between me and the
truck on its way to Goodwill.

I want to apply my newly acquired lean
design skills and get rid of everything I
have not used in the last year or 18 months.

I mean EVERYTHING - clothes, books,
shoes, knick-knacks.....the list goes on
and on.  I want to be free to have some fun
with the things I do use and value.



This is not an endorsement for
1-800-Got-Junk but I think I'm gonna
call them! 

Hmmmm.....maybe I can send Mr. Biff on
a sunny vacation somewhere.....hey wait...
I wanna go to!



I guess it's back to the boxes for me.....



Hope your week is going well!


Tuesday 15 November 2011

Lean Design.....

I just finished day two of a three day workshop
on "Lean" design.  Many of you are probably familiar
with the concept (it's aligned with
"Six Sigma").  Lean design is based on
 the premise that there is waste
in every process or design and there
 are elemental ways to eliminate or reduce it.

What's particularly funny (at least in my brain!)
is that I am living in what some might call
a "hoarder's paradise" right at the moment!

In my last post "It's Complicated" I explained
how we are in the process of reducing the
excess in our merged households.  It's a
daunting process!

Too funny that I would be in this workshop
at this time when I am faced with an
undertaking that would be
absolutely enhanced by applying the
principles of Lean design......

Hmmmmm, the universe has a tendancy to give
you what you need, when you need it, if you
are only open to it!



If you would like more information on
some of the Lean design models and concepts
simply Google "lean design" and away you
go!!  Let me know if you are
successful at applying it to either your
business processes or your home processes!


Sunday 13 November 2011

"It's Complicated"....

How many times have you said that
to someone when you just couldn't explain?

Mr. Biff and I are selling off a whole bunch
of stuff because we just received the last shipment
of our goods from Toronto.  The complicated part
is we moved from Toronto three years ago!  Our
stuff has been in storage and slowly, being the
COCs (collectors of crap) that we are - we have
replaced almost everything. 
Translation:  BIG HUGE
sell-off. 



When people have come to see something
the want to purchase from one of our ads
 - I get the whoa....you gotta lotta
stuff look or comment.

Yup, trust me, it's complicated but....getting
less so and the vacation fund is getting bigger!



Win/Win!

Gotta love it!


Thursday 10 November 2011

Remembrance Day

I have been so lazy with my posting
(or lack of) lately!  Busy with work and
unpacking our stuff and purging the merging
of two households full of stuff (it's a long story!)



I wanted to take the time tho to do a little short
post on Remembrance Day.  It's an important day
to me, a chance for me to pay tribute to not only
those who are currently serving our country but to
all those who came before - including my Dad,
my Grandfather and Uncle. 



So for all those who gave so freely that we
may remain free.....I will remember.  11/11/11

Mr. Biff & I will be attending the Remembrance
Day ceremonies at our city's Cenotaph tomorrow
rain or shine.



Although no sculptured marble should
rise to their memory, nor engraved stone
bear record of their deeds, yet will their
remembrance be as lasting as the land
they honoured.  ~Daniel Webster





Wednesday 2 November 2011

There's a Guest in the House.....

I would like to introduce you to Alicia,
altho I haven't met her myself yet in person!!



Alicia is an extraordinary woman - not only is
she an amazing photographer, she takes "crafting"
to a new level of artistry.

Let me explain how I know her without
having met her.  She is engaged to my nephew
and lives on the other side of the country from me!
I am confident we will meet soon and
I can't wait!!  (I may get in trouble for sharing
a photo of my photo-shy nephew....but aren't
they cute?)



Here's a really amazing art project from Alicia.


You may have seen these aroung blogland - this
is the first time I have seen this.


According to Alicia you just glue the crayons
across the top of the canvas and, using your heat
gun, just heat until you are satisfied.


Looks like fun with stunning results!! 

I will try to talk Alicia into
writing her own "guest" post - telling us step
by step what she did and maybe convince
her to share some of her amazing photography
at the same time.


What do you say Alicia?


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