Excitement at the river's edge

It's a bit of a distance for my camera to capture good quality video but this was too exciting not to capture. There were several (at least five) juvenile eagles and three or more adults. I couldn't see past my neighbour's and since I was in my PJs, standing on the porch, I was a bit limited but I know there were more. Suddenly, something caused them to scatter... I'm not sure what. And then it was over. If you have your sound up, you can hear them (and then you can hear Colby who didn't like that I was on the porch while he was stuck inside). 


I was glad to be privy to this magnificent event, let alone getting it on video. What a treat! Today, I watched two of the juvenile eagles jostling with each other in flight. No time to get my camera, though. Burn!

Bleh!

It's been a while since I posted. I mean to keep my blog alive because I find it's a good exercise for me. It's a healthy thing to do (well.. for me, it is). 


My life is in the midst of transition. It feels like hell.. lots of turmoil and as I look forward, I see nothing but a blank wall. It's a season of change. One day I'm up and then I'm down. I have plans that excite me and then fear sets in. Some aliens came and stole some of my brain matter. They hail from the planet Hormone. I've been left in a fog but I understand it's not permanent. Yup.


All kidding aside, though.... I quit my work-from-home dream job that became a living nightmare. My prospects of future work given the demographics of where I live are not good. I live in the country. I live in a French village and the province I live in is bilingual. I have a skilled trade that I worked hard at for over 20 years and when I came to this place (that I still love) I went to 'ZERO' as far as employment goes. I'll never work at the level I once did and I'm eyeing early retirement. That just sounds so surreal.


I have no regrets quitting my job. I was torture and I'll not go on about it. Let's just say that it was a no brainer proving just cause for quitting and I was accepted to receive employment insurance. I hate it so much but grateful for it. 


Recently, our beloved dog Mikey and best friend in the world got very sick and we tried to save him but we couldn't. It's a huge loss. My hubs is devastated as they were so close. Our blind guy, Colby really misses him, too. We're trying to keep him busy with play time but the weather's been miserable so it's a challenge. We're making sure to give him lots of love and cuddles. Time will help to ease the pain. It's only been one week.

So, that's it. I know this is just a season. Better things are in store and I'm still so very thankful for so many things. I'm thankful I'm not in that abusive work relationship. It was horrible. I'm thankful that I have EI (really thankful). I'm thankful that I have my hubs and my Colby, and CeCe, my cat, too. I can tell she misses Mikey cause she's not being bad to the bone at all. I mean, she hasn't even scratched my favorite vintage red chair since Mikey 'went away'. 

Slow Death of my Bedside Clock

A few years back, I found the cutest vintage alarm clock on eBay. I was smitten but when it arrived, it looked rather dirty, the kind that cleaning won't remove. I had really wanted a rhinestone alarm clock but they sell for more than I'm willing to pay. So, I settled for something that was cute and affordable.


Hubs said he could give it a fresh coat of paint in an off-white and it turned out much better than I could have hoped for. Then I got to thinking... I could still have my vintage rhinestone clock so I set about fitting and glueing a strand of glittery rhinestones around the bezel. Perfection!

The clock that I love.

Well, all good things must come to an end. The power had been shut off several times during our mudroom reno and resetting the time more times than normal proved to be too much for my clock that I love. I had noticed for some time that the inner workings were getting tired. The 'teeth' around the ten after mark have worn down and the minute hand just stays in the same position... minute after minute after minute. I'm so sad. It was perfect beside my bed, the clock that I love. 

I looked online at some vintage clocks but my needs take huge priority over my wants right now so I just went to a 'big box' store and bought a Baby Ben wind up clock... no batteries, no electricity. I just have to remember to wind it everyday. It's a boring little thing with a smoky acrylic crystal. 

And then I got to thinking... I have this sweet vintage clear rhinestone choker with some pretty blue stones and it might spruce up my boring Baby Ben, plus I'm still using a vintage embellishment. After a bit of a struggle applying glue, which I had to do in stages, it's OK. Darn cute, really but it's not fitting with my color/decor theme and it's not the clock that I love which is now retired to my mantle, just for the sake of looking pretty. My 'new' clock with the vintage bling will grow on me, I'm sure, over time but it's not about form over function. It serves a purpose. I just want it prettied up.

Adding bling to boring.

Yard Sale!

It's high time I got this online yard sale going. I don't know what's stopping me. I have this fear of the unknown... jumping in head first and then realizing I forgot to test the waters. It's foolish of me... I can't explain it. How hard can it be to list items with clear photos and honest details on each item? I get tripped up on the shipping costs, the payment transaction (I have a seller's status eBay account AND paypal). So, what's my problem? I don't know! I wanted to blog for a year before I started one. 

So anyway, everything shown on this blog and over here is up for grabs (you will need to visit the archive pages which should be simple enough since there aren't many). I've included a "contact me" button on both blogs so if there's interest in any item, please message me, be sure to include your contact info and I'll be happy to answer any questions. 

Over the course of the next few (or several) days, I'll be listing things on eBay so once I've managed to work my way into it, and past the learning curve, then I'll happily supply my 'sellers name' or whatever it is one searches for when looking for a particular seller's items. I'm not new to eBay, really. I've been a buyer over the years. The selling part, though, is quite a different matter.


Meanwhile... here's a few more things added to my purge list.

Sweetest vintage angel candle huggers in mint condition

I recently acquired two Tom Kuhn vintage yoyos (circa 1998). Now, I don't 'yo yo' and I don't (or didn't) know much about them. I just saw these beautiful hardwood yoyos (in their original boxes) and snapped them up. I was delighted to find they are quality made and retail in the $50 range (each). I have the Sleep Machine and the Roller Woody. Perhaps they'll find their way under someone's Christmas tree this year and for a great price, too!

Hardwood (maple) and just a beautifully crafted yoyo

'Yet another pair eye-grabbing chunky 80's earrings... there more in here or my other blog. Pretty sure I double posted some pics, too. It's confusing when you mix two blogs with the same content. Oh well... my blog, my rules. 

Now, this is chunky! Clip-ons if you're wondering.

Maybe I should wear these for part of a day
and see how they feel. Do they appear to be staring at you?

Here's some tamer vintage earrings by Raynor Inc. Not too much found online about this company but the pearl earrings have genuine pearls and 14k gold filled which a step up from gold plate. The twisted 'loop' earrings have GF stamped backings but the posts read 14k gold so it's possible these are more than gold filled but I can't say for sure.

Pretty and delicate.

14k gold stamped posts. Can't say for certain if earrings
are gold or gold filled but they are lovely.

What's YOUR vintage flavour?

I'm understanding that 80's jewelry is making the rounds in the vintage arena. Really, now... the 80s were not THAT long ago. OK, not to me. Time flies so much faster after 30ish. Yeah, that must be it.

Late 80s earrings.
I think I'm upset that anything I bought new is
now considered to be a collectible item.

I must confess that even though I frequently wore costume jewelry, looking back makes me shudder at the tackiness of the 80s style. Most jewelry back in that era was oversized and chunky. Well, naturally, big hair and big shoulder pads need big jewelry!

Mid 80s necklace and earrings. Is this considered vintage?
Really?

Now, these earrings below are more along the lines that make me look twice. The thing for me is I have no occasion to wear them (they were whispering my name). I live in a tiny village and typical outings involve going to one of two very small towns to do my grocery shopping. My other activities involve treasure hunting at local thrift shops (all three of them) and yard sales or playing with the dogs in the yard. Glittery earrings don't quite work in these settings any more than dressy shoes with three inch heels. But still... they're pretty and nice to look at.

My kind of eye candy!

Too much stuff...

I'm not a hoarder. I just have lots of stuff. I love stuff... mostly old stuff - vintage stuff. And I have lots of it. I can't stop my love of finding stuff and I can't keep all my stuff because I'm running out of places to put some of it and the little stuff just gets put into a jewelery box or something and forgotten.


I'm going to get rid of some of my stuff and have me a yard sale but not in my yard. Several items of what I'm showing here is stuff that was sold as junk jewellry. How delightful to learn I acquired silver and gold sold as costume jewelly. My kind of junk. 


When it comes to the vintage stuff, many here don't know or appreciate the value of old stuff. To them, it's just old stuff. To me, and perhaps you, it's a found treasure. It carries the feel of less complicated days... carefree and innocent. It has character, patina and was made with integrity. Does that sound odd? Made with integrity. Maybe I should say it was made to last, with quality in mind instead of mass produced and cheaply done.


Lots of my stuff is on my other blog... fabfindsgentlertimes.blogspot.com but there's so much more that I haven't taken photos of yet. Too much lovely stuff. 


Here's some lovely stuff but it's not necessarily old stuff. Just great stuff.

Snake chain and pendant, stamped .925 Italy

.925 silver ring with cubic zirconia
(not sure of the stone, actually)

Beautiful silverplated Monet choker.

Choker made of silver beads and
what I believe to be potato pearls

Ladies Zodiac Automatic 60's watch in 18kt gold

Pretty vintage clutch purse and earrings.
Wouldn't these be a lovely accessory with that little black dress?

Pretty little silver (.925) necklace, most likely for a child.

Silver (stamped .925) bracelet.
This is perfect for a small wrist. 

A whopping 120 grams of silver snake chain.
Stamped .925 Italy.

There are 21 stands of silver chain in this stunning necklace.

Blue turquoise and silver earrings.

About that reno...

Hubs to me... Why did you show that photo of the siding to your brother?


Me.... Which one?


Hubs... The one where the siding doesn't quite line up. 


Me.... Oh, Sweetie. It's not out that much. You're too fussy. He won't even notice. (umm... actually, he did notice)


Hubs... It looks bad. It makes me look bad.


Me... No, it doesn't look bad at all. Hey, did you know if you tilt your head all the way towards your left shoulder it looks perfectly lined up. It does. Try it.


Hubs...    


Me.... Hey! Where'd ya go? 


Seriously, though. A major undertaking, done solo by a perfectionist who is not a builder and who suffers immensely with 2 herniated discs, 2 compacted discs (and lots of spasms), a torn right rotator cuff that often causes a lack of feeling in his hand, a damaged sternum from a work injury, a damaged ankle from a break as well as severely torn ligaments (worse than the broken bone) that still causes him great pain after THREE years and there's even more that he suffers from but you get the picture, right? 


I don't ever look for perfection in the things done around our humble home. I love the little imperfections as they serve as reminders that we are just human, not perfect but doing our best. To me, those little things that aren't perfect are akin to the patina on a vintage treasure. They show character. Overall, the addition was well done; he does his homework and refuses to cut corners. It's a solid 2x6 construction with great attention paid to those things that will prevent issues down the road (like rodent prevention, for one)... ewww.

At present, (pics to come) the insulation and vapor barrier is completed inside. Hubs needs a break now and is chewing on how he's going to finish the interior. Wainscot on some walls, the style and size of closet, etc. The roof (to be re-shingled next year) and rafters are original and not to code. That is to say, not 16 on center and with materials being as 4 x 8, it's a lot of extra work with regards to drywall and such. It had been debated whether to completely replace the roof or keep it. We found the wood to be in excellent condition so he decided to keep it. 


I've probably caused Hubs much more 'labour' just by having him explain to me why this can't be done like 'such and such' because of the not-to-code rafters. I listen but I'm like a deer in headlights. I get it but I try to find ways to offer easy solutions for Hubs. I should just practice the fine art of shut-up instead. 


This is our inspiration pic for the east wall that faces the river. I can't wait. Just focus on the bench seating and vintage table. Our layout won't allow for all the other gorgeous elements in this gorgeous photo.

Inspiration pic for our nook.

Reno Update....

Things have come a long way since my last post with the mudroom reno. It's such a relief to have this near completion. We feared the attached garage wouldn't make it through another winter. During the course of the demo, it was discovered that the posts on the north wall that the structure sat on were just pounded into the ground without any cement footings. Any wonder it was sinking, rotting from the ground up and prone to some serious frost heaves! 

Stairs to the cellar... where I don't need to go!

Looking at the north wall

New shingle on mud room & back of house next year

Entrance on west side

Looking at the east wall. Skirting to come to keep rodents out.

Coming along... lattice will go and hardy board skirting added

Temporary stairs. Wrap around deck next summer?

A deck will cover the ugly, old cement garage floor

Skirting being added to keep rodents out

Our new mudroom is built with 2 x 6 lumber, up off the ground on post techs that go about 8 ft into the ground. The floor is insulated and under that is fine wire mesh to keep the rodents out. We're almost there... needing some exterior finish work and then interior insulation, drywall and floors to do. Such a big improvement!

Summer's Bounty and Reno's....

The expression "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" have taken on new meaning for me this year. It's certainly been crazy. The hazy is how I could describe my thoughts as I try to process all I need or want to do, and the lazy is how I feel but can't afford the luxury of such for more than a few hours, even on weekends.


We have a reno underway and this is a huge undertaking for just one person - my hubs. Our attached garage is done. We fear it won't make it through another winter so hubs has torn it down, saving an 8 ft section of the roof which is where our new mudroom will be. It will be nice to have a proper place to store winter gear and also a place to put my treadmill and gym which will mean I am out of excuses for not using them.


Housework waits for no one and I have two floors to contend with along with two dogs and a long-haired cat who shed like crazy and track in reno refuse. Our gentle Mike has been coming home lately covered in something very stinky so everything stops while he gets yet another bath. And dealing with the financial end of our reno job with a bank on the other side of the country, plus the discovery that hub's Visa card has a damaged chip while he's some 40 km away purchasing things needed for the reno has had me on the phone for what feels like hours at a time. It's been stressful trying to sort these gliches out over the phone, being put on hold each time I have to call back. Perhaps time to move the bank account - but I don't want to. I like my Vancouver account a lot and despite the inconvenience at this time, they are wonderful to deal with.

Support beams for the outside wall.
Everything to the left is torn down.

These techno posts are 8 ft down.
B'bye frost heaves.

A sorry site of what is soon to be history.

Progress of the demolition.

The sad cement floor will be covered with a deck.

We've done good on our red currants this year and we were able to cash in on the wild blueberries in the back field. It was a good year for the blueberries and I make freezer jam in small jars to last till next season (and I like to give some away as well). 

We also used some of the red currants to make a liquor which will be ready the end of October. Since I had purchased a rather large bottle of vodka, we decided to use the small amount of black currants from our young bush to make a black currant liquor and when our blackberries are ready, I think we'll do up some liquor from those as I don't do much baking and they'll get forgotten in the freezer. These are not big batches of liquor so I think I'll find pretty jars to store them in and save for a cold winter day where they'll be used to warm cold toes and noses.

Just before our chive flowers were finished, hubs came across a blog showing chive flower infused vinegar. It's a pretty pink, although you can't really see that in this photo but it makes a great salad dressing. We enjoyed some on a salad with freshly picked sugar snap peas, cucumbers and dill from our garden. Despite the horrid summer weather, our garden has manage to reward us with a variety of lovely things. 

Vintage Ads from 1950

Quite some time ago, I dug out my 1950 Life Magazine and proceeded to take photos of several ads. I couldn't scan them as my scanner bed (and patience) was too small and tiling them was too much like work. Every so often, I'll remember I have these images so I think it's time they reside here. I do wish the pages had sat flat as I clicked away but, at the same time, I don't care to manhandle the pages more than necessary. You know, I was born halfway through this particular decade so the styles of this era are not so far from some of my earliest memories.

Those earrings! So trendy.

Whiskey and a squirrel with nuts?

14 kt. and just $71.50!
I'll take two.

Roy Rogers & the Indian Princess

I wouldn't change a thing on this.

When ads for 'undergarments' were modest

I loved Art Linkletter!

Good old Campbell's Soup.

When smoking was cool.

Well... that's a tiny waistline!

Aunt Jemima! I miss you.

Wouldn't you love to know the prices?

Price is roughly 10x more today?

Mmmm... salt on everything!

This is pure vintage!

Somehow, the brown shoes
aren't working.

Bob Hope as I remember him
when I was a young girl.

I'd love a fridge like this.