My Snow Princess

A set for my granddaughter, Coleen, who is enjoying the snow while she is visiting for Christmas!

In My Heart ~~ I'm spending this weekend getting ready for my daughter and granddaughter to arrive for Christmas. It's going to be a full house with a two year old, four dogs, four birds, and four adults, but it promises to be a lot of fun too!

In My Heart by leegal57 featuring a metal sculpture

Adorning the Horse

Adorning the Horse by leegal57 on Polyvore

Cleo the Shelter Pup

I recently came across a website for Shelter Pups, where you can "adopt" a beautiful hand made stuffed toy dog and "rescue" it.  Or you can order one custom made, which I did for my son.  When you get the finished product, you have a code in the label on its collar which you can enter into the site and donate points ($) to an animal shelter of your choice.  When I registered, I had to input a US zip code, and since I don't have one being here in Canada, I used the zip code for the hotel my mother and I always stay at in Fort Lauderdale when we go on a cruise, the Marriott at Port Everglades.  Doing that provided me a choice of shelters in that area, and after checking out reviews, I chose the Broward County Animal Care shelter, which got wonderful reviews for the great care they take of the dogs in their shelter, and the efforts they go to to get them adopted.  Here are pictures of Cleo, and the Shelter Pup that was created.  They did a wonderful job!!

The Shelter Pups are made of merino wool, and the attention to detail is incredible!  She even has faint little spots on her belly, like the real Cleo!

Cleo was supposed to be a Christmas gift for Gareth, but when they emailed me the pictures of her, and her page on the website, I couldn't wait!! So she is now sitting on the top shelf of Gareth's hutch, well away from the reach of the real Cleo, who would like nothing more than to grab her and play with her!  I would like to get my other dogs turned into Shelter Pups too, but shortly after I ordered Cleo, the price for custom pups went up, so I will wait to see if it comes down after Christmas. 

You can check out the adoptable Shelter Pups at www.shelterpups.com

Dark and Dreary November ....

Things have slowed down noticeably on my blog! We had the time change last weekend and everyone is still adjusting to the dark drive home.  I miss the beautiful sunny days being stuck in the office, and it generally rains on the weekend in my little home corner of the world.  I do enjoy just getting all my chores done on the weekend and then relaxing with a book or some tv in the afternoon.  I WILL get back to posting here so that you can re-live some of my past journeys with me and see some of the sights.  So many things to do, never enough time!!

La Petite Parisienne ~ a set inspired by my granddaughter, Coleen

La Petite Parisienne by leegal57 featuring a hand knit cardigan

The Sounds of the New Royal Princess

http://www.youtube.com/v/KXiPS711Pq4?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&autohide=1&attribution_tag=yrVxIPA-u3e15v9NdR1LBQ&showinfo=1&autoplay=1

My mother and I are going on this ship in January.  She is the newest and biggest of the Princess Cruise Lines ships, and has this fun feature as shown in the video.  Can't wait to check her out, and I'll be posting pics here once I'm back!

My Acting Career

In 1988 I was living in Beeton, Ontario, a small little town, but a great place to raise my children.  A new television series called "War of the Worlds", based on the famous radio show and movie, filmed an episode there, and I signed up to be an extra, along with my good friend Trish.  We were cast as townspeople who had been taken over by the aliens, so we still had human form, but were just wandering around aimlessly until it came time for us to chase down the Jeep that the heroes were trying to escape in.  It took three days of filming, and by the time I finished, my feet were so sore from running in high heels for take after take after take, that I threw the shoes out!  The series starred Jared Martin, who played Dusty Farlow in the tv series "Dallas", and also Richard Chaves, who had just finished filming "Predator" with Arnold Schwarzenegger (he played Ironhorse in the movie).  Both really nice people, and I enjoyed a coffee with them during a break.  The series was not one of the best, and I think it only lasted two seasons, but I certainly had fun being an extra in it, and I made sure to videotape the episode, in which I appear a good half dozen times, including rocking and chasing the Jeep down the main street with  my fellow alien townspeople!

Jared Martin in the middle, me on his left, another extra on his right.
 Richard Chaves in the foregrround, and a Canadian actress,
Lynn Mason Green, who also starred in the series.

Halloween Fun

A friend posted this video on facebook today and I lost all my mascara laughing so hard!  It's Ellen Degeneres' Halloween tradition to send one of her production staff, Amy, into a haunted house and video her reaction.  This year they sent a camera man, Andy, along... the result is hilarious!!  Check it out...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=208728115975710&set=vb.100005155690229&type=2&theater

Autumn Apple Picking

Autumn Apple Picking by leegal57 featuring a vneck sweater

An outfit I put together on polyvore inspired by the lovely colours in the autumn apples.  All my favourite colours!  This would be such a comfortable and casual outfit to wear for a day picking apples. 

A set for a "Red, White and Denim" contest on polyvore

Denim in Paris by leegal57 featuring a blue cropped jacket

Day 7 ~ At Sea

The last day of the cruise, and our only day at sea.  The weather turned a little colder and rainy today, so it was a perfect day to enjoy the ship, the food, the different sitting areas, and to read and people watch. 

Bolero's Night Club, on Deck 4 just below the Royal Promenade. 
A nice quiet place to sit and read on a sea day.

The Captain at Coffee Chat with the Captain.  People were able to speak with him and ask any questions.  This captain was actually the most public captain I've seen.  He was eating lunch in the Windjammer at the table next to ours one day and was always strolling around the ship speaking with people.

 

Cupcake decorating lessons at the Cupcake Cupboard.  Later in the day we saw lots of people walking around with cupcakes which looked like mini hamburgers!

 

 

 

I enjoyed some more of my favourite ham and cheese croissant sandwiches from Café Promenade.

 

The bulldog statue outside of Café Promenade. 

He sometimes mysteriously moved around during the night.

 

Mom people watching from our window bench.

 

Enjoying a lager and lime at the Hoof and Claw Pub, killing time

before the Move It! Parade with the DreamWorks characters.

 

 

And it could be put off no longer.... the dreaded packing for the journey home. 

 

(Sorry the picture turned up twice... I have no idea how to delete it in this format - I've tried everything - and I don't want to start the post from scratch!!)

 

 

7:00 a.m. Sunday morning, leaving the port in Barcelona.... thank you for a great cruise, Liberty!

Sunday City Stroll

Sunday City Stroll by leegal57 featuring hobo handbags