Hello!
The January heat continues ...
and I have finished reading Tish Jett's Forever Chic - very inspirational and French.
I liked the cover illustration ... and amused myself retrieving my red poppy dress of 2012 from the bag destined for the charity bin and turning it into a pencil skirt. Added a striped tee and red bag:
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and went off to the movies with my girlfriends.
We thought Judi Dench wonderful in Philomena, a brilliant funny/sad film.
It will be an Oscar stand-off between Judi and Our Cate..
A heart-warming moment between Judi and the real Philomena.
I give this movie 4 Stars ****
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Salmon crepes for lunch, followed by shopping at a nearby Boutique..
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Discovered I can now fit into size 10 jeans, which - surprise! - just happen to be pink .. mmmmm...
I blame the other girls entirely for the fact that I bought these two half-priced sale items..
Today we delivered a clutch of bags to the local St Vincent de Paul collection bin - all my old fat clothes which were beyond altering or had associations I no longer wish to confront. There is no going back now.
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I have been thinking of other years when we travelled somewhere cool to escape the New Year heat - In 2008, I was under grey skies in Paris and London.
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January 2009, snow in Essex..
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and a trip to the War Graves around Ypres, Belgium.
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January 2010 - in Ottawa..
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more snow
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outside our accommodation - even Mr C took a turn shovelling the snow on the steps -
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Quebec City was even colder ...
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In 2011, we went over to New Zealand's South Island, just before the big earthquake in Christchurch.
It was nice and cool too.
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A couple of weeks later, the Cathedral was largely destroyed..
We were lucky to have escaped being there for the disaster.
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The gentle River Avon was cool and sweet, winding through Christchurch.
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Dunedin was nice and cold too. We spent a night in Lanarch Castle.
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Saw snow on the way to Milford Sound..
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Before we flew home, we visited the Antarctic Centre near Christchurch airport
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and tried the artificial Storm.
It was not as cold as Quebec!
January 2012 saw us in Sydney - no snow, but nice cool weather..
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2013, we stayed in Brisbane, working on urgent business.
However, the summer was moderate, it rained a lot to cool things down, and we had a little flood at the bottom of our street:
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2014 has brought record-breaking heatwaves.
Mr C, if you are reading this, let's retreat to cooler climes in early 2015!
How has the January weather been at your place?
xxx
How cool is that - the exact outfit on the books cover - all your need is your own Eiffel Tower to complete the picture.
ReplyDeleteThe worlds weather is extraordinary, and has been brought even more to my attention since I have been blogging. Although we had storms over Christmas I have noticed that my snowdrops are already in flower, and the summer geraniums are still alive and flowering in their pots.
Looking wonderful in your pink jeans, it is great when you suddenly realise that you can fit into a smaller size - well done.
Doh! Why didn't I think of that? I have a little Eiffel Tower from Paris, right here - and could have popped it into the photo. Maybe I'll do that another time. Geraniums are a tough breed - you have them flowering mid-winter, and mine are managing to flower on during the heatwave while nearly everything else has died. Thank you re the jeans - I could not believe the size 10, and was happy to be with friends for the big moment.
DeleteIt is lovely to see your memories of your trips made over the years. Love the idea of turning your dress into a skirt - the outfit looks lovely!! Good on you for the new smaller jeans size. I haven't been following you for long, so not sure of what you have been up to with your size, but sounds as though you have been doing a lot of hard work! Congrats! xx
ReplyDeleteHi Amy and thank you. I really like the Poppy skirt, so it will have a few summer outings! Love my new jeans too :)
DeleteYou are so clever with your book cover outfit. Ideas like that delight me. I didn't know about the movie, will look for it. I'll watch anything with Judi Dench in it. Fun to see all the places you've traveled to. Yes, get those reso's made for 2015. As for our weather, unseasonably warm and very dry. Drought is on its way if not here already.
ReplyDeleteDarla
Thank you Darla. The skirt was easy - I just made an elastic waist, but it is fun to wear the new look. Judi Dench is always wonderful, isn't she? Your weather is interesting - knowing the East coast has been so very cold. It looks like we are going into another drought too.
DeleteWow, you are so clever to turn that old outfit into a skirt! Lovely. I ready Forever Chic as well, and enjoyed it; must reread to pick up some of the fine points. I like your pictorial of the places you visited at various seasons. And the film, Philomena -- it's definitely on my must see list. Did not know, however, it was based on a person in real life. Your pink jeans are quite nice and congratulations on attaining a size 10!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sanda, funny how inspiration comes from odd places. I need to reread bits of Forever Chic too - so many ideas to process in one go. Philomena is very touching and has a big American component. Over the titles at the end they add some real-life pictures.
DeleteI love your outfit that matches the book cover! I can't wait to see Philomena. I'm a big Judi Dench fan. You have been so many different places, and with the heat you have been experiencing it's no wonder you are dreaming of going somewhere cooler again. In our little corner of SW British Columbia we are experiencing very mild weather. It feels like spring!
ReplyDeleteJudi Dench is amazing, and I have followed her for years. She is about 80, looks great, and still working! Strange how the west coast is warm with the east being so very cold lately. The shortest route to get to my daughter in Ottawa is via Vancouver - hope I'll be passing through there some time (nothing planned yet).
DeleteOh how I love your re-vamped skirt it looks fabulous and looks good with the striped t and bag. To think you may have lost it forever to your local charity shop! I like your pink jeans too. I'm desperately trying to lose some weight at the moment but going nowhere fast! Its okay losing it but oh so difficult to maintain. You did well. We saw Philomena too and loved it, I even saw him indoors shed a tear or two on the quiet! Hope you manage to keep cool. Have a great weekend Patricia xx
ReplyDeleteI know, Patricia, the bags were all set to go when I had my flash of inspiration! Post-Christmas is a difficult diet time; I have certainly been working hard just to achieve maintenance lately. However, I did eat every last morsel of the chocolate I received for Christmas :) I'm glad you got him indoors to Philomena - I think Mr C would have liked it, but he was convinced it is a Chic Flick! When I came home I did a Philomena on him, and told him the whole story, he he. xxx
DeleteYour remade outfit is adorable! I love the material in that skirt. I want to see Philomena as well, it looks excellent.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jennifer, I have always loved the red poppy material too. I hope you enjoy Philomena, a very fine movie which I hope received an Oscar for something.
DeleteYour red poppy skirt and striped tee is oh so french - so glad you rescued it from the bag Pat!
ReplyDeleteI'm wanting to see Philomena hopefully this weekend.
Lovely photos of your travelling - when are you back in Auckland hopefully we can meet up!
It was a quick and fun outfit to make, Shane, and I can pretend to be French! No plans yet to go over to NZ, but hopefully later this year. A blog meetup would be nice. Working on our Euro trip in May/June :)
DeleteNo picture because this silly billy didn't think to do it when there was a photographer around. Can't do selfies. At least I had one taken in the shop. Yes, sooooo hot all round, and heating up here over the next 5 days. Quite giving me the vapours, it is.
ReplyDeletePhilomena is one of the films I'm waiting to see after so many recommendations. I bet you looked very chic in your outfit, Patricia - and size 10 jeans! I'm not jealous, honestly I'm not.... :-)
ReplyDeleteSorry the heat is so unbearable. Up here we go on holiday for sunshine and warmth in summer, but it makes perfect sense for you to holiday somewhere cooler and fresher.
I think you might enjoy Philomena, Perpetua. Judi Dench's performance is wonderful, just the right amount of comic levity within a tragic story. This summer has been breaking long-standing temperature records. Another intense heatwave this week, and 39/40 degrees expected tomorrow. My lymphatic system is not amused!!
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia, I must see the Philamena film. It sounds like an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy getting my dose of summer here at the Red Cardinal, such lovely photos with enlightening information ... including the snow photos this time around.
Congratulations on fitting into a smaller size of jeans! As you said, there's no going back! Loosing can be challenging, but maintaining a bit easier. I love your pink jeans and colorful summer top.
Wow, I'd say Ottawa is one extreme to another. DOn't think I've ever been so cold as in Ottawa in January. The ink froze in my biro! Mind you I think I would still prefer that to the kind of heatwaves we've been hearing about in your part of the world. Hope it cools down soon!
ReplyDeleteCanada in January is the coldest I've ever been too, Jenny. I can imagine the ink freezing. I remember the struggle to take a photo, quickly whipping off the glove, one click, and glove back on as fingers start to freeze. And wrapping one's face in a warm scarf, with only the eyes showing. That's serious cold!
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