fingers and hands

it is all about perspective

Liking these pictures

and wishing I was a tad more creative

when I take pictures

value? village

I do like shopping at Value Village.
Tidier than most thrift stores.
But I would rather support a more noble cause.
Most of the money raised goes to making some dude rich.
Some goes, of course, to charities but
I think that it is not as much as we think.

And the pricing is dubious at times.

I once bought a top at value village.
It was a nice top. black and shiny sparkly material.
Tried it on there. Fit good and I was going out that night.
So pleased that I had found something nice to wear.

Out later that evening, wearing the new (to me) top
I showed it off to my mother.
She said, "I used to have a top just like that but I donated it
because it had a little pulled thread on the left shoulder."
I looked down at my top.
And with not a little chagrin -
I pulled at the little thread that sat
a-perched my left shoulder.

Yes I had bought my own mothers top
from Value Village for $3.99 plus tax.

I am the Queen of Value Village.

the eyes have it

still setting the table

a long time ago in a shed far away

OK not THAT long ago.
I was about eight.

Don't know how accurate this story will be ... mostly because it is the stuff of family legend and some in our family exaggerate. But here goes...

My grandparents were going to be visiting from The Netherlands. My Dad had picked them up from the airport and was bringing them to our house in Caistor Center. 

Instead of taking them straight to the house he drove up to the old abandoned house on the neighbours property. It looked haunted even back then. 

When he pulled up to the completely dark shell of a house he said to my totally stunned grandparents, "Oh, it looks like Carol forgot to pay the hydro bill."

Needless to say they were shocked to be shown that our family lived in what was, basically, a shed.

The best part about the story was that my grandfathers brother and sister-in-law were both in the car. And there was apparently a fair amount of 'my children are more successful than your children' going on between the two brothers. 

I was told that my grandfather was bordering on speechless (a rarity among Eleveld's of any time or place).

Don't know how long Dad kept up the façade
but we still laugh about that one all these years later.

The google earth picture shows how overgrown it is now 

but it hasn't changed much.

go set the table

I should put 

a little more thought 

into setting the table.

a smart princess

walk blog 12

So I have been walking for well over a year now.

I am trying to walk on every street 

on the Hamilton Mountain. 

I am hoping that I will have 

completed that goal by September.

When I walk 

I try to go out on the recycling day 

of each particular neighbourhood. 

The reason is so that I can discreetly pilfer through

the recycling bins and find really good containers 

to be handed out a workshop that I host 

called 'The Soap Kitchen'.

I look for particular types of containers 

that will be suitable for handing out 

large amounts of the laundry soap 

that we make at the workshops.

Bigger containers - clear, wide mouth, sturdy plastic, good lid,

easy to clean and with a handle are the best ones.

But even smaller containers can be used 

for the sample sizes that I give to

Neighbour to Neighbour to hand out to their clients

with a tag on it to promote the next workshop.

Yesterday I was out on the West Mountain 

by Garth and the Linc 

and walking past a recycling bin 

I spotted this container.

One of my promotional samples was used and then

the empty container was put in the recycling bin.

This made my day.

To think that something I randomly gave 

made its way back to me 

seems fascinating.

I retrieved it and will be using it again.

Talk about being the 'queen of recycling'

I am at least a princess.

tree-rific

and more

taking sidewalk chalk to a whole new level

more optical art

sitting in a waiting room

I am trying to blog on my cell phone. I have not had much success in the past but thought I would try.
This week started out pretty empty on the calendar at the end of March. It turns to April and all of a sudden there are all kinds of things to fill up those days. Lots of stuff on the 'to do list' and a bunch on the 'ahhhhh better get to this soon list'.
Will see what kind of week it will be.

gratitude week 18

The weather.
Sure I am grateful for weather.
Sure I like nice mild weather better than
bitterly cold or sweltering hot.

Looking forward to spring and walking alot outside.
Heard thunder last night for the first time in a long time.

Whether or not you like it,
that will have to be enough about weather.