Antiquing event

Next week there is an antiquing event at Sherway gardens: one of a kind finds, vintage fashion, antiques and more. August 3-9. Go check it out!

Don't you love the photograph?

http://www.asinter.com/summer_antiques_sale.htm

Leo

My birthday is August 10 so I am a Leo, and so are several of my close friends and siblings. So I decided to look up some astrological stuff (can you tell that I am not a real believer anyway?) and had to grin as much of what I read did fit my personality. This is how it started. The Leo type is the most dominant, spontaneously creative and extrovert of all the zodiacal characters. Me, extroverted...?!! Someone once said I was off the chart for extroversion. hahaha!

Some stuff was sheer garbage. Oh well, made for good fun reading . Maybe I will let you decide..... :)

http://www.astrology-online.com/leo.htm

Amy Hanna

If you like Found Objects jewlery, check out Amy's site (see the link in the blogs that I follow on the right). Her new book "rejuvenated jewels" is great, with fun ideas and some cool stuff. Available at Amazon or in Amy's Etsy shop....

Obsession....

Last week at the Aberfoyle antique market I saw this beautiful cruet set for oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. It is silver and the bottles are just beautiful. It was on my mind all week. So, since it is my birthday soon, I decided to "help" John pick a present.... Here it is:

Telemarketing

We all know them and while they have a job to do, I wish they would not pick me... I have to say that I have no patience for them at all and usually hang up on them. Well, there is a guy in the US who decided to use humour to try and fix the problem. His name is Tom Mabe and he is pretty funny. Check out this link, scroll down and click on the one that says 37 - homicide phonecall. It is so funny! http://www.tommabe.com/videos.php

Before

Over the last month or so I have been acquiring some old jewelry that I will take apart to incorporate into some new pieces. Here are 2 pieces I got on Ebay. Some rhinestone items and an Art Deco item. So this is before...... Over the next few weeks I should have time to do something with it. Stay tuned!

Advice for Life

Today we went to a funeral of a friend from our cottage town. Alan Davenport was someone I personally didn't know very well but John's family has been connected with them for most of John's life. While I knew Alan, I didn't know him very well, I thought today that he was someone you would want to know and be associated with. From the many memories shared by people close to him it became evident to me that this was truly a remarkable and wonderful man. It also made me relive a little bit the pain of the loss of my mom and brother when I saw Alan's family grieving over the loss of such a great person. His daughter shared with everyone 4 lessons Alan had taught her and I want to share them with you.

1. Take risks in life and face it head-on. 2. Live with creativity and individualism. 3. Life in the moment and live today. Yesterday is past and tomorrow is the future, now is what matters. 4. Live with patience and live with grace.

These really resonated with me and I will let you muse over them. My brother said when he was dying that he didn't believe in a hereafter, but that people live on in the memory of those that remain. Once they are gone, you too are gone. I think this is a very good way to put it and with these 4 lessons and the memories we have of him Alan lives on. It is a very hard thing to realize that someone is truly gone and you will never see them again. I felt that, when my mom and Paul died, if only I could believe in heaven , it would help me because I would know I would see them again. At the time not being able to believe in that way filled me with anxiety and such profound sadness. Yet, 3-4 years later, I can honestly say that while I cannot see them or talk to them they are part of my every day life, an they do live on this way. It is a reassuring feeling and it my hope that Alan's family too will experience this and will find peace and comfort in that experience.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?n=alan-garnett-davenport&pid=130086405

Take it down?

I have a webstore and have to decide whether to keep it or not or whether an etsy store would do the job. I have not kept my website up to date to well and now that I blog (who would have ever thought!) I am just not sure whether it is worth keeping... What do you think?

Some old new tools

I have this thing for tools and particularly old tools that are in good shape. They are made so well and are so solid. At the Aberfoyle market there is a fellow who sells second hand tools. Some just old and rusty, others repolished and oiled and working like new. This is what I came home with. I have 2 new hammers, some metal punches, an awl, some files, a clay shaper and a fun watch tool. And I am happy :).

Aberfoyle

Today I decided to go to Aberfoyle, the antique market close to Guelph. I hadn't been there yet this year and the weather was perfect for it. Funny how you can spend hours just wandering and wondering what some things are, what others can be used for, why people get rid of their beautiful old photographs or books. There was some stunning jewelry, some great furniture pieces and I found some great antique tools. I also saw this amazing oil and vinegar set and nearly bought it but decided not to. And then you end up thinking about it and thinking that you should have! Anyone recognize that?....... A fun day, and I enjoyed my self thoroughly.

Flickr badge

Ok, I need help. See the Flickr badge on the right? For some reason I cannot seem to get my photostream from Flickr to work. I have tries so many times to re-paste the html into the blogger widget thingy and it is not working.... Anyone have any suggestions?

Barcelona

While I was looking for a picture of one of my jewelery pieces on Flickr, I cam across this fantastic photograph of Park Guell by Antonio Gaudi, the famous architect, in Barcelona. Last year I turned 50 as did 5 other women I grew up with. They came from Holland, I came from Canada and we met in Barcelona. It is a wonderful city and I will definitely go back. Here is a link to the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits/sets/620757/with/389500025/

Arton Beads

I had to be downtown and decided to quickly step into Arton beads, to buy a few supplies I need. This is the bracelet someone ordered and I didn't have enough head pins. These little things I usually make myself, but for this bracelet I needed different ones. Why, oh why can we not go in, buy what we need and come out without spending. Why? Explain it to me. I cannot do it. Oh well, no sense dwelling on the past... :)

Allergies

Life is just full of surprises. On Sunday while I worked in the garden I pulled out some weeds and what do you know, there was a bees nest under the weeds. One of them stung me right through my gloves! Within an hour I could barely move my fingers and now, on Tuesday my hand has grown 3 seizes.... It is so itchy and I have to restrain myself to not scratch like mad. I am told it is a severe allergic reaction. Funny enough, treatable with steroids. These give you energy and appetite, two things which I don't need! I would be like the energizing bunny on steroids. Oh well, this too shall pass. I may ask my doctor for an epi pen though.

Vacation over...

Isn't it amazing how fast vacation goes by once it starts? It seems like yesterday when we left and I have to go back to work. Oh well. Here is one of the necklaces I made while sitting by the lake. So pretty in red coral, silver and pearls.

Vacation!

I am off to Hope Bay this afternoon. It is the little town on Georgian Bay where John's mom has her home. She is not well, so we will be there to vacation but also to help her. It is a beautiful place and hopefully we'll have a good time! One of my projects (other than jewellery) is to take my blog entires and put them in a journal. So yesterday I printed out what I have so far. Let's just say I am embarrased about the number of spelling errors I found!!!!!

I also just downloaded more audiobooks for the drive up. You should try it, it is great. This is a good site:

www.audible.com

Gadabout

Well, did I find the best store ever! Carmi mentioned Gadabout in Leslieville to me and since I am on vacation I thought I would go check it out. It is just great. So much stuff, and all organized and in drawers and boxes and cubbyholes. I found beautiful jewelry, beads, clothing ribbon, nick- nacks, books, flyers, photographs and so much more. It truly is worth the drive to Leslieville!

Canada Day

On my way home from a lovely evening with fun friends I was listening to the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart Maclean and he read a story about a new Canadian and his experience with feeling Canadian, or better stated lack thereof due to some redneck comment of some so-called "real" Canadian. It struck a chord with me, not just because of the nasty comment, but also because of my own experience. The Dutch government for the longest time would not allow dual citizenship. So to become a Canadian citizen I would have to give up my Dutch citizenship. This was a problem for me as being Dutch is part of who I am. This has now changed and after all this time I will pursue Canadian citizenship. Canada has been a good country for me, even though I really didn't like it when I came here and it was not easy to integrate even though I spoke English well and our cultures are not that different. Yet, I didn't feel I belonged and I was not always tolerated wholeheartedly. I had a similar experience to the gentleman in the Vinyl Cafe story and it really hurts when people say nasty things. You can try all you want but those sorts of comments do not create a welcome feeling. However, I have wonderful friends, my husband and daughter are Canadian, I have been able to accomplish a lot here and so maybe I wil spend part of my Canada day completing the forms. I will need all of you to cheer me on though in the swearing in ceremony! Happy Canada day