yesterday i was greatly inspired at dinner time by the latest fabric love in my life,
found as a 'pair of curtains' in a wonderful retro granny chic store in Rye, (Kent) England.
the store was called 'new 2 you retro' and the inside, filled to the rafters with vintage and retro goodness.
everything reminded me of grannies in the most perfectly perfect way,
indeed Debbie, my soul sister and i would have quite happily moved in
i have just had to pause from my tale and switch the radio off,
i am listening as always to Radio 2,
at the moment it is a long programme about the history of the Bee Gees
and i cannot for the life of me tippity tap when i have 'Jive Talking' going on at full blast....
the funny thing about listening to Radio 2 Live is i am 8 hours behind,
so quite often i am listening to the night time shows or early morning programmes.
i know what the weather forecast will be for the majority,
i know who has got up to what in the news
and most importantly of all,
i know which roads to avoid due to roadworks and traffic hold ups.
all of which, some may think, are completely useless for moi living on this side of the pond...
however in a nice warm fuzzy way it keeps me connected to my home country, my family
and of course, now Our #1
which is where i was going with the old curtain story before the Bee Gees interrupted...
so my lovely 'faded around the edge' curtains came back on the plane with me
and after a few happy hours spent with Miss Ethel
(all in the name of sanity i might add, notching up 8 weeks or more of school holidays, one does need to find the odd bit of sanity that still remains)
i had myself two rather lovely 'going into fall' retro cushions for the lounge.
under the influence of my cushions i turned my crafty attention from Miss Ethel,
towards the kitchen and dinner.
i worked carefully with my usual palette of orange but added a little extra with brown and yellow,
thus showing my newly made cushions how much i loved their retro peachiness.
after a short while of pottering around
doing just fine and dandy,
the gravy was the brown,
the leftover turkey meat, a shade of something similar in tone,
and then the yorkshire puds adding a lovely sandy yellow to the mix.
i started on the orange ingredient
and that is where i came undone...
until that moment i had tucked my little bit of sadness away deep inside,
feeling most proud of my stiff upper lip and 'carrying on' resolve
but the blimen' carrots had to go and weaken my emotional brick wall,
and despite trying my terribly best,
the flood waters came rushing through for the first time since Our #1 left the shed behind
and headed off to the bright lights of old blighty to live.
how could a humble silly little carrot cause such distress i am thinking you are wondering,
it's a silly thing really, but it always is the silly things.
Our #1 eats carrots every day,
any given day i would find her in the kitchen peeling and chomping on raw carrots,
other days she would happily make a whole mountain of grated carrots to bake a carrot cake for tea.
and without fail,
whenever i made turkey in gravy she always chopped the carrots into lovely chunks to pop in the pot,
always with a tale to tell
and always with a smile on her face...
yesterday whilst chopping the carrots into chunks
i noted there was not a tale being told to me,
nor a smiling face looking back at me,
just an empty space
and the sound of my own sadness.
today as i tippity tap about my carrot moment
i am wondering, if a carrot can set off such a tidal wave of tears,
then how on earth will i be able to go thrifting again,
knowing my thrifty buddy is no longer by my side.
she is thinking carrots maybe off the menu for a while at mossy shed ~ Tif
32 comments:
Tif, I must send you a hug today. I know just how you feel, though my own beautiful #1 is only away at college a few hours away, she is still gone from our dinner table every night, too, and it is an awful hard thing.
While I am not sure how it happened, I find that I am old enough to be a granny, but I never found a nice bloke to marry or have a #1, let alone a #2 or #3 :~( I can only imagine how sad you must feel. Just remember that it's OK if that upper lip gets a little limp every so often. Sending Tif a BIG hug.
i understand about keeping the connectedness thing going. i still keep an eye on the weather in my hometown.
and i would definitely say carrots should be off the menu for a while. hopefully the adjustment time will not be too painful. (hugs)
awwww...poor you! not what you want to hear, but it is so hard to be parted from someone you love so far across the big water. thankfully, i am certain that there are carrots to be had in london and each time some are eaten, or chopped, or grated, your #1 will think of all the grating and chopping done in the mossy shed kitchen and such good vibes will be vibed, you will feel them regardless of where you are and where she is...is IS always the little things, but they are the things that make up our life....lots of little things...do thrift soon...there is so much stuff that needs adopting and so you must not think of thrifting alone as a sadness but rather as something you must do now for BOTH you and #1!
I always read dottie angel this and dottie angel that but until now i have never been to visit the much lauded dottie angel.
What a fool I've been. I now have a huge crush on you and will be foundlurking about in past posts.
jane
bloody carrots !
{feel better soon tif} xo
Aww I am tearing up. I think carrots are a perfectly sensible thing to cry over, seeing as of course we are not really crying about carrots at all but loved ones. I do hope banning carrots will help :)
Its so great that you are back, I so enjoy reading your blog.
I cried for three solid days when my eldest went off to uni and she only went 4.5 hours away but it felt like the other side of the world to me, so I do know how you feel. But what with the internet and phones they really are never far away now a days. When my second leaves home (on and off), she actually speaks to me more than when she is in the same house, but then she keeps coming back!!
A shame Terry is no longer on the breakfast show...
Oh,Tif you poor girl,missing your girl.I feel your pain and really think you should stick to broccoli for the next few months until she's home again.Give my best regards to Carlos and I hope he is feeling stronger.love Anne x
Oh Tif, who would've thought that a humble little root vegetable could open the floodgates in such a way. But what wonderful memories of time spent together over such munndane, household chores.
I completely understand about the Bee Gees distracting you from typing. Yesterday I was gardening, listening to the radio and Leo Sayers' - You Make Me Feel Like Dancin' came on the radio, playing in my ear phones. I had to throw down the secateurs and gardening fork and 'dance like no one was watching' till I spied No 1 son peering at me from the shed window, shaking his head in disbelief.
Nice to see those curtains take on a new life as a lovely pair of cushions, very Fall appropriate.
ok, firstly i love the cushions. I have some similar material, though a bit courser, that was curtains at my great aunt's house.
secondly, my daughter the first is going to boarding school for the first time in less than a fortnight and i find myself thinking of all the things i'll miss about her. Big hugs. xx nicky xx
Aaawww, Tif, you are being very brave. I can't imagine how it must be having her so far away. My daughter will be moving out this weekend after being here all summer. Just to Amsterdam but I'll miss her (and all her things) so much! X Jane
Just found your blog and had to comment and say I love it, I love your style of writing and your photography is gorgeous, let alone what you create, I'll be popping by again soon x
O Lordy you made the tears well up a bit here too. I know changes are part of the whole being a mum deal, but I wish I could freeze time. Take care Tif and I hope it feels a bit easier for you.
X
But think of all the wonderful memories that are attached to them - life's not all sad.
Oh Tif, my eyes are filling up with reading your carrot story. Very hard to cope with letting go. Nxxx
Oh Tif - don't be too sad as #1 will be having the time of her life! And its so easy to keep in contact nowadays - she could just as easily be in the next county!
Wow, what a blog you have here!!
now im only waiting for the evening ti come so i can have time to go through every page!
Enjoyable weekend!
Oh Dottie, I am sending you mahoosive hugs from across the pond.
Much love x
I have missed you. Welcome back.
Oh Tif, sending you a great big hug. You must be missing her so much, which is unsurprising, you love her. She'll be back, she'll be missing you and the shed too, the time will just fly by, you see if it doesn't.
Love the retro cushions - is that a (new) robin I espy perched on its swing on your wall?
I'm a Radio 2 fan too, I do like a bit of Ken Bruce and Popmaster in the mornings.
Hello Tif, I'm a Brit living on the East Coast with my 3 children. I LOVE your blog. I get a bit homesick sometimes and your blog posts somehow make me feel like a bit of Blighty is here in the US with me.
I've been reading your blog for a little while, but my silly British reserve kept me from commenting up until now. This post almost has me in tears drinking my morning tea. I totally feel for you. My littles are really little (one is still in nappies) but I can't imagine ever having to let them go.
What I do think you should feel really happy about and take comfort in, is the fact that you have such an amazing relationship with your daughter and that you are such good friends. That is surely a testament to your good mothering.
Chin up my dear - you'll make it through!
Julia
oh my dearies, you are all so wise and i do feel like i have been hugged throughly by your kindness.
yesterday i busied myself by clearing out cupboards and drawers... nothing like a bit of 'dccluttering' to distract one.
to those that have come to visit my shiny place for the first time, thank you for your lovely words and it is wonderful to have you hear :)
Tif, how about this:
your #1 can shop the English
thrift for you and you can get
twice as much thrifting done.
(just offer to pay the shipping!)
Mummy! I think I'll have to start reading your blog more often now. I miss you much more than I can say. And Ma Bear just said 'I didn't know you lived off carrots; we will certainly have to get some tomorrow!' I hope the Shed's in one piece (:
Love you entirely. x
life just wouldn't be the same without radio 2. but i have to say that i miss tezzer in the morning and parky everso. does your tummy do a turn when you hear your home town mentioned on the traffic updates? hope you had a great time.
Sending you a hug from a Mom whose daughter just went to college! (albeit, much closer to home)
well now i am crying as well! ((hugs)) to you.
sweet birdy love! lordy how you made me smile, thankyou :)
and yes indeed, not the same without old Terry, gosh it was the end of an era, all my life he has been in the background with his silly tales and smooth voice... felt reassuring did it not, if Terry was on, then all was well :)
and annon! i hope you have carrots now, goodness i am amazed your body has not gone into withdrawal symtoms my sweetie x
thank you again my dearies for your kindness and in return i am thinking about all of you too, with empty places at the dinner table this fall...
Oh thanks Tif, nice to know my waffling, rambling ways are appreciated.
Have a good weekend.
SBL X
i remember that first big goodbye so well, it's not easy. Big hugs Penny xxx
Gosh, that post makes me sad a little... it's so touching :(...
Silly little things, they come sneaking around, and suddenly they get you!
Post a Comment