General

How is it July Already?

July 13, 2012

It's July already? Oh No! Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes - image source: jpegy
Here we are in July already - can you believe it? I'm having trouble. It seems like only a few weeks ago it was Christmas, and then New Years, and now it's summer with all that it brings - trips to the cottage or beach, sweltering weather, eating an ice cream cone while sitting on a park bench, visiting relatives, going to camp, and epic road trips. It also brings kids snowsuits for sale at Costco, and Christmas decorations for sale at Michael's, but that's another story.

With the year being more than half over (it's scary when I put it like that isn't it?) I though it was time for a check-up on the my list of to-dos that I posted back at the start of 2012.

Stuff to finish

  1. Repair (or have repaired) the ceiling in the dining room. (I got a quote on this - it was $1000 - ouch)
  2. Paint the walls in the dining room (this will happen after I get the walls repaired - see #1)
  3. Spruce up the kitchen (so far I've only replaced my door handles)
  4. Get some additional storage for the dining room
  5. Come up with a better furniture layout for the living room (yup, this was done, although I still have to choose between the six)
  6. Finish my dresser project (This is complete, with wonderful (in my opinion) results)
  7. Paint the living room a colour other than white.
  8. Get actual window coverings for the bedroom, living room and dining room
  9. Get or make some art for the walls (My collection is growing)
  10. Actually hang the art on the walls!
  11. Get a rug for the foyer that can fit under the door when it opens.
  12. Get bedside tables that are not two different sizes.
  13. Get a prettier TV console (it's purchased, and being worked on)
  14. Add some more storage to living room
  15. Purge my bookcase
  16. Paint my bedroom
  17. Get a rug for my bedroom.
  18. Refinish those chairs I bought last spring . . . (yeah, no. Sigh)
  19. Install my dining room light
  20. Remove doors into dining room and living room.
  21. Get more lighting for the living room
I'm also going to share some goals I'd like to reach when it comes to this blog:
  1. Consider a move from wordpress.com to wordpress.org (Done)
  2. Learn to take better photographs (I bought a better camera - does that count?)
  3. Increase average posts a week from 1 to 2.
  4. Reach 100,000 views (On January 2nd I had 22,000. It's just over 50,000 now)
Okay, maybe I'll toss in some personal ones too.
  1. Start taking my lunch to work EVERY DAY (okay, 4 out of 5 days)
  2. Get back into running, and do at least one 10K race in 2012
  3. Buy myself flowers every so often 'just-because' (I switched this to buying myself monthly flowers - I've actually done this every month, although admittedly most months the flowers are purchased on the last day - you can see them here: February, March, April, May, June)
Alright then. Not a very successful start to the year (at least when it comes to getting some of these completed). Looks like I'm going to have a very busy second half of 2012.

What about you? Did you make a resolution/to-do list for 2012? How are you making out?

General

Aberfoyle Antique Fair

July 05, 2012

This past Sunday (which happened to be Canada Day) D and I did something a little different - we went to an antique market. While it's true we did go to the Christie Antique show last year, antiquing is by no means something we do on a regular basis - this was only our second such adventure, and this time we went to the Aberfoyle antique market.

The Aberfoyle antique market takes place every Sunday from the end of April, to the end of October and the vendors all seem to have regular booths. I have to say that it was a lot bigger than I expected, so we were there for several hours. Once we arrived we went our separate ways - D went off to take great pictures of all the neat things, and I went off to shop. One of us was successful  - it wasn't me :( Oh - there were piles of things I wanted to take home with me, but I live in a one bedroom condo with minimal storage - the things I bring into my home have to be useful now - I can't put them away in a garage or basement for that day when 'I'll find the perfect spot' for it. If I had a basement there would have been a few things coming home with me.

While D was off taking pretty arty pictures I was shopping. I took some pictures so you could see what's available should you wish to go to the market, but they are nowhere near as nice as his (Note to self - work on photo composition)

If you're looking for an old mirror, this may be the place for you - this was just at the back of one stall.
a large collection of antique mirrors
Old mine carts are rather popular - this vendor had several so you can pick the one that will make the best coffee table in your space.
a selection of old mine carts re-purposed as coffee tables
I'm not a collector, but I know lots of people love to collect Jadite. I was tempted by the mixing bowls, but I know I wouldn't use them (I'd be scared of breaking it) so it stayed on the table for someone else to take home.
a large and varies collection of Jadeite
I was actually a little bit excited when I spotted the following as I recognised them. My Mom's Irish, so we had these Waterford crystal glasses when I was growing up (for special occasions only - when I was little I drank Welch's grape juice out of them, and pretended I was grown up and drinking wine). The pattern is called 'Colleen', and they were $40 each.
Waterford crystal goblets in the 'Colleen' Pattern
I recognised the next characters as well from my childhood, but they were on TV. I wonder where Wilma and Barney are?
BETTY RUBBLE AND FRED FLINTSTONE CHILDREN’S LAMPS
Do you need any Antique door hardware? There are lots to be had
ANTIQUE KNOBS, DOOR HANDLES AND HARDWARE
There are also lots of wood letterpress type letters.
ANTIQUE WOOD TYPE LETTER BLOCK
I know brass animals are a little popular right now - these two tempted me - especially after I realised both were hinged and you could hide things inside. I believe the turtle was $20 and the crab was $18.
brass turtle and crag figurines
Have an extra $650 burning a hole in your pocket? I have just the thing for you. This fiberglass shark can be mounted on a wall, and come complete with real shark teeth.
FIBERGLASS SHARK WITH REAL SHARK TEETH
Old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were plentiful, and made me regret even more selling my collection of Nancy Drew books in a garage sale when I was about 12.
a bookcase full of vintage Nancy drew books
Street signs were everywhere, but I'm curious where they came from. Do towns replace street signs, and sell off the old ones, or were these lifted off sign posts somewhere causing some poor traveler to become hopelessly lost?
old green street signs leaning on a red barn
There was all sorts of things I didn't take pictures off - furniture, glassware, vintage clothing, lovely old mason jars, old coins, toys and cameras, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Have you ever been to Aberfoyle? Did you bring anything home with you?

Blogging

Alt Channel – Classes for Bloggers

July 02, 2012

I first head about Altitude Design Summit last January. Alt is a conference for bloggers that takes place yearly in Salt Lake City. When I heard about it I was so jealous of all the bloggers that got to go and learn all sorts of wonderful things about how to be a better and more successful blogger.

I was more than a little excited a few months later when I heard that Alt was bringing their classes to everyone throughout the year – not just in January to those lucky enough to attend the conference. Enter Alt Channel – a source for online classes about blogging. The classes are live, and hour long, and cost just $15.

So far I’ve taken two courses: ‘Understanding Analytics’ by Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely (and the amazing speaker at BlogPodium), and last Thursday I took The Organised Blogger: Tips and Tricks for Blogging Success’ by Victoria Hudgins of A Subtle Revelry. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around all the things I learned in my latest class, and I’m really hoping I’ll be able to implement some of the neat things she shared.
THE ORGANIZED BLOGGER BY VICTORIA HUDGINS
The Organized Blogger by Victoria Hudgins
In the next little while I’m hoping to take advantage of some of the other classes they offer: Growing your Readership, Graphic Design for Bloggers, DSLR 101, Pinterest 101, and Photoshop for Bloggers. The courses they offer are generally repeated every month or so, so if you can’t make one scheduled class don’t worry – it’s bound to be offered again.

Have you taken any classes? Do you want to? Right now Alt (in partnership with Bing) is giving bloggers the opportunity to attend up to 4 ALT classes for FREE in the month of July. Yup – Free. If you’d like more info on how to attend click here.

So, what classes will you going to sign up for?

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