The story of the glitter

Remember these from last month?  I’ve gone into chandelier production here and soon found myself short on the silver glitter.  Looking around the room, I can see twinkles everywhere which might explain why there wasn’t quite enough to cover the next chandelier – it was covering everything else!

It was lovely, fine glitter, though I really couldn’t expect such a small pot to go very far.

I hunted around and found another tube of silver in a cupboard, but this was pretty coarse stuff and the end result was a bit heavy handed

Anyway, it didn’t go far either.  Time to buy more.  Except that in Cirencester yesterday, there was not a single bit of silver glitter to be found anywhere (except on me, of course…I was twinkling with the best!)

The Pound Shop had this gold glitter glue but really, not only is a nasty colour, it’s more glue than glitter and wasn’t good at all.

So, today, in the Gloucester branch of Hobbycraft, I picked up a large pot of silver and a small one of white, for a little alternative if needed.  I left the empty pot there for size comparison – I don’t think I’m going to run out now, am I?

I also bought a couple of fine tipped squeezy bottles, to better control the glue and avoid that horrible lumpy look in the photo of the chandelier above.

That’s when I spotted the silver glitter paint.  Hmmm.  Might be a better option.  It was very cheap – less than a pound – so I dropped it in the basket as well.

If only I’d found this first.  Silver glitter in an aerosol spray: so easy, so quick!

Comes with the added benefits of solvent, too.  We are happy.  We have silver, glittery chandeliers.

Finally.

A beautiful world

It’s absolutely gorgeous here today, except for the fact that it’s well below freezing and the paths are treacherous outside the town centres.

Looking out of the window from a warm room, the light is magical.  There’s a pink rosy glow over the frosty trees and if I was of a mind to write poetry, then here’s the inspiration.

But I’m not, so I’ll sit here in the warmth and simply enjoy the scene of frost upon frost upon frost, for there must be at least three layers there and it’s not showing any sign of thaw yet.

To think that we’ve had it lucky so far, with only a small smattering of snow here and there when friends elsewhere in the country have been almost buried in the stuff.  But my goodness, it’s just as cold.

 

There was another lovely rosy glow in Cirencester this morning though, when I met a fellow blogger for a hot drink and a natter in Brewery Arts where the Fires and Feastings exhibition is showing.  Lovely things there!  We especially loved Clare Bassett’s “Escape Artist” series of prints and I’d be very happy indeed to discover a piece of Kerry O’Connor’s work in my stocking, too.  But there is as much pleasure to be had from small, thoughtful surprises too and following my recent penchant for Matrioska dolls, I was delighted with a little gift which will remind me of a lovely morning spent in like-minded company!

 

Cirencester’s Parish Church is wrapped up against the cold as it undergoes some considerable renovation.  I love the way these long-term wrappings are designed to add interest and this one is particularly fascinating (and difficult to photograph!)  It stands proudly over the rather splendid Christmas Market which is taking place in the Marketplace this year.  Feelings are a little mixed, for the resident traders are finding it tough going to compete with the Christmas stalls, especially with the traffic restrictions.  But it’s fun to see the town come alive and bustle with elegant, colourful sights, because this is a Very Smart Christmas Market indeed! 

Me?  I went on a silver glitter hunt and failed miserably, settling for a large bottle of gold from the Pound Shop (yes, not all of Cirencester’s shops are smart and elegant!) and then headed off to another exclusive emporium for one of these.

A full life

I was reading a blog the other day which discussed answers to the question “what do you do?”.  I recall experiencing this very dilemma myself when we first moved to Gloucestershire,  27 years ago this New Years Eve.  Still looking for a job in the area, I soon tired of people asking me what did I do?  If I answered (truthfully) “I’m a teacher”, then the question would immediately come “Oh, where?”  If I said (also truthfully) that I was unemployed, I would receive either a pitying look or be challenged about why I wasn’t spending every waking minute in the queue at the Job Centre.

Because, of course, I didn’t want to say that actually, fingers crossed, I was pregnant.

Some time later, a friend and I cooked up the perfect answer between us.  If anyone asked us what we did, we’d simply answer “Nothing”.  That usually wrong footed the enquirer who often responded  “But surely…”, offering a fine chance to clarify with details of being a full time mother, volunteer, creator of this and that and all round busy person.

But I must say, I rather like the answer “I lead a full life”.

I am also a creature of habit, so here we are, the first Sunday in December and my Hero is going off to his Sunday rehearsal prior to the choir’s concerts at the end of the week.  Tradition demands two dozen mince pies and finding that I’ve taken more or less the same shot of the mince pies for at least two years running, my photo of the day today shoes the casualties, the “cook’s perks”.  Very good they were, too. 

Did you spot the glitter?  The house is glitter-central this week, with twinkles in all kinds of surprising places.  That on the mince pies is the edible variety, which my friend Kelsie, of The Sugar Box assures me has been very on trend since Kirsty Allsopp sprinkled it on her mince pies last year.  Well, we can’t allow ourselves to allow these fancies to pass us by here in the sticks – and in today’s bright sunshine, it’s very effective, too.

Oh, and there are three Christmas cakes in the oven too.

We’re home…and it’s December already

Which means it’s time to begin my Christmas Journal.  I particularly love Shimelle’s Manifesto for 2010.

Our Christmas season got off to a grand start last night, in Cheltenham Town Hall where the Gloucestershire WI choir were in fine voice and Lee Mead was a charming and very talented special guest.  You can read more here.

I’ve written before about the pleasure I take in recording the days.  My photo of the day continues, I’ll love keeping a record of this Christmas nearly as much as looking through the books of Christmases past and of course, I write the occasional blog post about things I’d like to remember.  There are so many encouragements out there to do these things.  In addition to Shimelle’s Journal Your Christmas, there’s also Jessica Sprague’s Inspiration Everywhere, and Ali Edward’s December Daily. Helen emailed me about Blipfoto, thinking (correctly) that it’s right up my street, too, and yesterday I followed a link to reverb10, which could be another distraction! 

I know my limits though, so for now, I’ll try to simply keep up with what I’m already doing rather than take on more.  But who knows, perhaps it will soon be time for another challenge?