counting the days...

with just days to go until Christmas things are ticking along nicely...

Our #1 is back in the shed,

she arrived with an english accent and a bag full of Chocolate.

little olive has reached her peak of fitness

and i am actually really rather proud.

for some time ago she confessed to a fear of heights,

which as you can imagine is tres tricky if you wish to guide Santa's sleigh.

so for the past few days she has bravely practiced looking down...

this year her antlers are bigger than last years set,

indeed they are quite on the loose side of things.

however little olive has taken to wearing them day and night,

and i have high hopes come Christmas Eve,

she will have mastered them perfectly

and so my dearest readers, as hard as it is to believe,

yet another year has whizzed on by

and i am left again marveling at all the things that have past.

i know for some the holiday season can be a little lonely,

or indeed a little sad,

loved ones no longer with us and family far away.

for many this year, in old blighty and europe,

the snows have caused plans to be changed.

so where ever you are,

whatever you celebrate this time of year

and with whom (two or four legged friends a like).

i am thanking you for the kindness you continue to show me

and may your season be filled with

a little joy,

a little peace

and

a little crafting...

she is wishing you a 'peachiest of peachy' new year ~ Tif

i do believe...

this morning upon pulling our bedroom curtains open, i noted a package of green and red placed quite neatly at the base of our fence next to our driveway...

i hoppity skipped down the stairs and out into the cold

and that is when dearest readers a warm glow filled my heart, the glow of glee. for upon my driveway was a bag of red bows, upon my fence three of them already happily doing their gleeful thing.

now if you may recall, our #4 had noted upon his father installing greenery along the fence, that indeed it looked as though the tree branches had fallen from above and we had yet to clear up the debris. however not any longer, no sirree! through another's kindness, a small gleeful miracle has happened at Mossy Shed.

our fence is now 'a glow' with it's branches, lights and red bows and once again i find myself marvelling at the kindness of others...

she does believe in small miracles and she is wishing you one of your own, this gleeful season ~ Tif

'tis the season...

my folks are safely back in their nest in snowy old blighty, after we had the most loveliest of fortnights spent doing exactly what i said we would do, knitting, crocheting, reading, eating and plenty of pottling around the area.

Mossy Shed is in full on gleeful mode, lights are hanging outside along with some fabby clusters of greenery upon the fence. my man kindly 'gathered and placed' them as per my instructions in cold temps on Thanksgiving afternoon.

Our #4 then commented the next day

"you know those branchy things dad put up apparently for decoration? you do know it just looks like a ton of branches have fallen off the tree and landed on the fence and we haven't bothered to clear it up"

i am thinking someone needs to find a pair of rose colored spectacles in his stocking this year.

this is the year i am totally embracing a more traditional look for our Christmas, i think it something to do with Our #1 coming home for the holidays. i dared to start counting after Thanksgiving and now i am down to 13 days to go before i will be standing at the airport gate waiting. by the time i see her it will have been 122 days since we last hugged, i am pretty chuffed at how well i have survived, allowing myself only one breakdown where i rushed from the kitchen to the computer and scrawled on her Face Book wall something along the lines of "just cutting up carrots for dinner and suddenly i can hardly breath from being overcome by how much i miss you". i think one public breakdown is allowable in four months.

the mantle piece is all decked out and for the first time ever, since first visiting Mossy Shed, i think i like it. i find our fire surround on the 'way over sized' side of things and therefore never quite know what to do with it, painting it all white and filling it with logs from the yard has helped.

this year i am looking for a little joy and a little peace (plus quiet) so when i found some knitted letters in Anthropologie whilst pottling with my folks it all came together. one long string of lace and with some bakers twine i spent a merry hour or so hanging gleeful bits and bobs along its length. the twigs in the large lacey jar (once home to pickled artichokes i found lurking in the fridge) was inspired by Country Living's (uk edition) December issue, my mother bought with her. i could practically smell the mulled wine coming off the pages as i flicked through page after page of gleeful goodness.

the J.O.Y letters i cut out from a red vintage thrift store dress and stitched them onto pages from an old book, (an angel in the corner by monica dickens, thinking it most suited to the season) i have no doubt, this would make for a lovely garland with all sorts of gleeful words strung together. a few forsaken little souls, including Joe from last year's nativity scene and Voila!

i think by now you can see i am on a total 'deck the halls' roll here in Mossy Shed. i fished out my lovely little wood & wool tree from last year made by the lovely peachy Ingrid. her little wooden green trees are truly delightful and if one doesn't have room for a tree then i do think they are the perfect solution. this year (after a terribly crappity crap effort last year) i am most delighted with my little tree's decoration, once my grandmother's pesky pom-pom squirrel hopped on top, the rest fell into place.

and lastly but by no means least, i ran up a little 'easy peasy' garland for the tree this year. all you will need is a woolly sweater in cream or any color you think will match your gleeful decor. boil your sweater, i did mine quite lightly, so basically shoved it in a hot cycle with other whites so it came out boiled but still quite thin. almost as though it had gone through the wash accidentally on the wrong cycle. i snipped it into pieces and laid it flat to dry. i am super impatient so i kept checking on it and the minute it was dryish, i pounced with my scissors and cut it into lots of little rectangles around 2" x 3" (5cm x 7.5cm) or a bit smaller. no precise measurements required, just snippity snip away.

i took a few of the rectangles and with the help of Miss Ethel zoomed back and forth to make star shapes in red stitching, the rest of the pieces i left blank. this would actually be quite nice if done by hand with embroidery thread in a color once again nicely suited to your gleeful decor.

after which i gathered my rectangles into piles of 15 and slowly attached them with Miss Ethel's help, once again you could easily do this with some hand running stitch and embroidery thread. afterwards i hung them up to admire, no passing strangers passed by to invite in so they too may admire, therefore i promptly put them away until our tree was up. (which it is now, but not then)

i must tell you since making my little 'easy peasy' recycled garland i have seen similar on ETSY, so if you do not have a little sweater that needs to be boiled, nor the time to make a garland such as this but wish to have one, then just take a look on ETSY under 'garlands' or 'holiday garlands' and you will be amazed at the beautiful strings of glee, wonderful crafty folks are making for the holidays.

so there we have it, i am way ahead of the game with decorating the shed, but way behind at filling up my shop shelves. i have been beavering away non stop over the past few days, going to bed hoping the elves will visit whilst i sleep, but alas it would appear they are not coming this year. i did write sometime ago to offer them accommodation for the season but all i received was a short reply via Twitter saying

"you must be joking, we are in Australia this year. warmer climes than your shed & no orange grub insight"

so it is just down to me and Miss Ethel, along with our high hopes, next week will see the shelves stocked with wall hangings, woolly jammy jars, bark cloth sling sacks, tea towels, mini turquoise wooden clog vignettes and other goodies... all a little late for some folks with the Christmas post what it is, but in my head i keep telling myself "better late than never Tif"

she is thanking you for the lovely notes here and in her inbox whilst she was gone and is hoping all is fine and dandy in your nests, 'cause fine and dandy is nice ~ Tif

a few gleeful re-runs...

with my folks staying at the shed for the next two weeks i am going to take a little time off. it will be lovely to spend quality time with them, doing what we do best, my mum knitting, my dad reading and moi, crocheting. actually i won't be doing a lot of that, for i have hand stitching that needs to be stitched for the book. whatever we will be doing you can be assured, we will be doing it together, pottling here and pottling there...

before i head off to do some pottling, i wished to share a few 're-runs' of some gleefulness i showed last year. some of you will recall them, and perhaps some of you are new to this neck of the woods and therefore cannot recall because you were in another part of the woods last year. either way, a little bit of repeated glee is okay with me

gleeful repeat #1: my fabby favorite all time cluster of glee. now technically this was a repeat last year, but i can't help myself, i love this little cluster even years after making it, so as long as i am 'a rambling' then i will be 'a repeating' this sweetie

gleeful repeat #2: a little easy peasy gleefully gleey garland easily changed out for felted sweater pieces or knitted pieces. whilst 'a mentioning' felted sweaters, may i be so bold as to say upon my return i will be sharing what i did with a few leftover bits of a cream woolly thrift store sweater. once again it is the easiest peasiest how-to, suited to children and folks like myself who like to squeeze in making gleeful decorations into small pockets of spare time. if that sounds of interest, do be on the lookout for a woolly cream sweater that is crying out to be boiled and then snippity snipped

gleeful repeat #3: a nice little tutorial on a 'whatnot' holiday garland. i was positively delighted with the whatnot garlands dearest readers made after this little how-to last year. it truly warmed my gleeful heart which was most perfect as the shed is known for it chilly ways in the winter months.

gleeful repeat #4: a 'whatnot gleeful' christmas tree... it was a little controversial in the shed last year, but all in all, the clan did admit it was a pretty spiffy tree. for those of you on your handcrafted, secondhand year i am guessing you are already thinking about the tree! Our #4 asked the question in september "are we having that painted dead twig in a bucket again this year?" his voice doing a crappity crap job at masking his concern

gleeful repeat #5: this one you must save until December 1st. for it is a tale of the miracle that came to pass last year at mossy shed. one that will warm your gleeful heart so it matches mine and then we will match with our warmed gleeful hearts which i think is quite nice and matchy and warm.

so there we have it dearest readers, for those that will be celebrating Thanksgiving next week, i wish you the peachiest of holidays. i will be in my shed with my folks and clan, finding myself another year on, once again being most thankful for many things including the life i have and the kindness that you continue to show me here on my shiny place

she is wishing you plenty of gleeful crafting time and will be back on dec 3rd with her felted sweater... counting down, not just to Christmas but to Our #1 returning home for the holidays ~ Tif

a cluster of gleeful jam jars... how-to

yes indeedy!

it is a time for gleefulness

and a time for handcraftedness

now before we begin i must tell you several things,

thing #1: this cluster of gleeful jams jars how-to, is perfectly suited to any random sized jar you have lurking around your nests. i found some in the back of my fridge, saved some as they became empty, others i decanted the contents so i could continue uninterrupted in my need to clothe little glass jars in warm jackets. indeed the more different sizes you have going on, the peachier it will look.

thing #2: this cluster would be most suited to a mantelpiece or perhaps the middle of a dining table. just be aware of where you place them if you are using 'night light' candles. i also think they would look quite peachy with red flowers dotted amongst them or red knitting needles. the odd pesky gnome wouldn't go a miss either. i have yet to get my gleeful box down from the attic so you will have to use your imaginations on this one, which of course i know you have by the bucketful :)

thing #3: the only material i used in this gleeful cluster that has not been used and loved before is the cream yarn.

thing #4: i believe the pictures pretty much speak for themselves in how the jackets are made, the crocheted little number i have given more instructions to. but as we go along you will see they are quite simple in their construction and also rather addictive.

so without further ado, here are three little jacket ideas for this gleeful season...

little cosy jacket #1:

ingredients

* a glass jar

* a thrift store sweater with cream sleeves

* red embroidery thread

* needle

* piece of paper

*scrap of lace

* typewriter (or you can hand write your words)

nitty gritty

using your glass jar as a guide,

(this one you may wish to use a large size jar for)

cut the sleeve and cuff off your sweater

leaving plenty for turning the top down.

place sweater sleeve over jar,

roll down sleeve a few times,

giving a nice 'roll neck' to your jacket.

hand stitch in place with red thread.

next type a little saying

(or hand write it)

stitch your little saying onto a scrap of lace

(i used Miss Ethel here,

but easy enough to hand stitch)

attach your little label to the jacket neck.

place your little sweater jacket upon your jar

and voila!

little cosy jacket #2:

ingredients

* pieces of old lace

* a glass jar

* red yarn

* dress making pins

* large eyed needle

nitty gritty

lay your jar on the lace

and wrap it up nicely,

making sure you pay attention to the neckline,

this way you can make for a pretty shape.

pin in place.

taking a long length of red yarn,

begin sewing your jacket up

leaving a nice tail at the end

(i am now thinking it not unlike a corset)

when you have got to the top,

start stitching your way back down.

with a bit of luck

you will have some lovely random cross stitching going on.

when you are back at the beginning,

tie off your yarn leaving nice long tails

and Voila!

little cosy jacket #3:

ingredients

* cream yarn

* crochet hook to match your size yarn

* a glass jar

nitty gritty

crochet a chain the prefect length

for wrapping around your glass jar.

not too loose, better to be a little stretched.

join your chain with a slip stitch,

being sure to keep it untwisted as you join.

chain one and continue around your circle

in half double crochet (usa)

or half treble crochet (uk)

after one row it might be worth

checking the fit of your little jacket

if the fit is perfectly perfect

continue crocheting your rows,

being careful to join at the end of each one

and chain up to start a new one.

just before you reach the neck of your jar,

you will need to decrease 4 times

evenly around your final

half double (usa) half treble (uk) row.

it might be wise to place pins

as a guide here.

then finish off with one row of

single crochet (usa) double crochet (uk).

place your little woolly jacket upon your jar

and Voila!

if perchance the little crocheted garland has caught your eye, no worries. next week, i will be doing a re-run of last year's 'week of glee'.

i am thinking if the BBC can run repeats, then so may i.

she is wishing you a weekend of getting crafty with a few glass jars ~ Tif

dear Santa...

my name is little olive, you may have heard of me. i live at mossy shed with used dog and Tif.

Tif has told me all about you and the glee you bring on Christmas Eve. she also told me how you sometimes need a little extra help. so dear Santa i thought perhaps it might be nice for you to know i have been in training at mossy shed for some time now.

Tif told me there was no harm in sending you a note to let you know i have my antlers already by my bed just in case.

you will know it is me in my bed as i have a little garland just above with my name on, to guide you. the other thing i wished to mention, just quickly as i imagine you are super duper busy this week. i have a friend called used dog, who i mentioned earlier. she is my best friend despite her gray goatie beard, which i haven't actually pointed out as Tif told me this isn't a good thing to do. she said that aging females do not wish to be told of such tragic things and wish to live in the dark about hairy issues of the worst kind.

but Santa, i have digressed just like my owner, for what i was trying to say was, my friend used dog has been terribly good this year. she has been very nice to me, allowing me to play with her toys upon arrival at the shed. sometimes i get carried away with loving her toys a little too much, so dear Santa if it's not too much trouble could used dog have a new sock monkey, one with ears and arms.

please forgive my iffy typing, my little paws keep getting trapped between the keys.

so that's it i think...

i will see you in a few days, don't forget i will be the little pesky doggie sleeping with her antlers on

and you will be the one in a red suit and beard.

one last thing i just thought about, if again it's not too much trouble, could you possibly put some 'extra patience' in Tif's stocking this year. she is doing rather well but some days i am so pesky even she struggles. oh and a ball of yarn wouldn't go a miss either...

love little olive x

she is wishing you and your clans a fabby gleeful time, thanking you most kindly for being so generous with your comments this year and will be back on Jan 4th ~ Tif

footynote: if you wish to have some reading material with the run up to the christmas, then a visit to Stephanie's place might be in order. she has done a lovely advent blog with artists from all over the globe... start back on 1st of December and work your way through the days. lovely to see how we put 'glee' into our festivities in our own special ways... she kindly invited me to participate, and you can find me and my melancholy ways here

tucked in...

the yarn balls are safely tucked in for the night,

my folks are safely tucked in for the night,

little olive and used dog are safely tucked in for the night,

and the chickens are safely tucked in for the night.

and me?

well i too, will be safely tucked in for the night,

but not before i look upon my yarn as it sleeps,

twinkling in the night thanks to my friend lola, who quite simply is the bestest of the best. for she sent mossy shed a little care package this week containing some fairy lights, along with other such lovelies as homemade jam.

for one wicked moment, i thought i might try to pass the jam off as my own when my folks arrived but two things stopped me...

first it really is very wrong to lie, especially where one's folks are concerned,

and secondly, they wouldn't have believed me anyway...

so tonight the shed is feeling most gleeful, for surely it's near on impossible to achieve a level of suitable gleeness without fairy lights and homemade jam.

obviously lola is quite wise...

i took some of lola's wisdom and wisely strung my new secondhand lights over kathleen's cupboard, safely away from little olive and her pesky 'moments'.

their little twinkling ways nicely illuminate my 'i love you more than life itself' yarn stash which so far has been untouched by moi and Mr Hook.

but dearest readers, we all know it's just a matter of time before i cave in, running for a yarn ball to save me... for when tomorrow comes so does the end of school for two whole weeks and a little bit.

she will see you on monday for a 'gleeful adieu' before the stockings are hung ~ Tif

yarn lust...

dearest readers, i am pleased to report that mossy shed now has yarn.

one cream yarn ball was found upon my doorstep courtesy of my lovely neighbor Trish and twenty seven yarn balls courtesy of my man

as i was lovingly putting them to bed last night, in our glass credenza so any passing strangers and my folks would be able to admire them, my man walked in

"what are you doing, you can't do that, the yarn is for christmas, i need to have that so i can wrap it" he announced, then continuing with

"how much yarn did you get Tif? seriously do you really need all of that, i had no idea you meant that much yarn, i think you've gone a little overboard."

i turned to face my benefactor and now it would appear my disputant.

(did you like those words, me too! i found them with the help of darren dictionary, he truly is quite the helpful little fellow at times such as these)

"listen carefully" i said, slowly and calmly, whilst stroking the mustard colored sweetie in my hand

"i have nine months to get through, nine WHOLE months, do you comprendre me? this is my one and only opportunity to go forth and buy acrylic yarn from the shelves of a new store. i think bearing that in mind, you may note, twenty seven balls is not, i repeat NOT very much to last a girl with a 'hook' addiction"

he started backing away from me and my ball of mustard delight...

"and as for putting away until Christmas" i carried on, with a 'protective mother' look in my eyes, "i refuse to give them up... i cannot possibly wait until the 25th to get my hands on these lovelies. so don't touch the yarn, do you hear me... DON'T touch it"

by this time he was somewhere else in the shed, knowing his deranged other half was slightly 'touched' with yarn lust and things could get ugly...

as i look upon my little yarn treasures this morning, admiring them, talking to them, trying to photograph them in all their glory, but failing miserably due to poor lighting and a limited amount of battery life found in a clock upstairs.

it occurred to me that i am none the better off.

for now i have a cabinet full of beautiful yarn in 'lusty' colors, so beautiful in fact that i don't want to use them, i want them to stay like this forever and ever.

she is thinking that perhaps she may be back to square one ~ Tif

footynote: due to my folks eminent arrival at the shed, i will see you on thursday... and did you notice little olive is still in training, quickity quick.

all she needs now is to practice with antlers on her head, i fear however the weight may slow her down

for the sake of his sanity...

i fear it is worse than i initially thought.

1. i cooked hard boiled eggs for tea yesterday, only to discover there were no eggs in the pan when i served them up.

2. i have no working batteries for my camera, none charged up and none in the shed lurking, thus i have dug into my flickr album... this does not appear to be the kind of thing an addicted blogger trying to appear quite professional, would allow to happen

3. i have produced grilled cheese sandwiches without any cheese (again)

4. instead of moving people out of bedrooms to accommodate my lovely folks, i have spent the morning painting the legs of a rocking chair. not just any rocking chair but an eames rocker.

(i've paused so you may recover dearest readers)

surely that right there is the sign of insanity,

that i am off my rocker (ha!)

who in their tiny right mind would take a paint brush to an eames rocking chair.

i am thinking that could quite honestly get me 'taken away'

i can see it now, in court, the gasps and the shock on the jury's face when they bring out the evidence.

"surely your honour. this is a case of, lock her up and throw away the key"

5. instead of washing all the bed linens for nice fresh beds to be laid in, i have commandeered Mrs W. Machine for dye-ing duties. why i need to suddenly dye a load of linens is beyond me at this moment in time

it would appear, i am a lost cause.

as my man left for work today having i might add, scrubbed our little en suite sink to within an inch of it's life... thus causing the large area of rust to finally cave in, giving our sink the appearance of a sieve. this i feel will be most 'novel' for my folks, i plan to advise them upon their arrival, not to worry, the bucket underneath will catch the worst of it...

but i digress,

after my man had finished up cleaning and scrubbing so that i may continue to go around the shed 'batty as a fruitcake', useless as can be... not achieving anything that is of great importance and only things that are irrelevant.

he left with parting words

"for the sake of my sanity and those around us, please, please get yourself some cream yarn"

and then he continued to tell me how with only a few days to go, chances were running high that he may end up in Costco the night before, lurking amongst the kitchen appliances thinking i may indeed like a whisk or something similar.

at the mention of the word Costco, my 'deranged trance like' self, saw a little glimmer of hope at the end of a tunnel...

quick as a 'quickity quick' thing.

perhaps a mouse or a moth, both of which can be pretty quick.

and of course there's little olive, flashing through the shed these days.

her speeds are getting pretty 'quickity quick'.

i replied with

"i'm not just needing cream, i think i need quite a few other colors to make what i have in mind"

for here was a man, a desperate man, with a countdown to Christmas weighing heavily upon his shoulders.

and here was i, knowing i still had nearly nine months left of yarn lusting weighing on mine...

"whatever Tif, just get what you want and it can be your Christmas gift" he replied

right there i knew i had chosen well all those years ago...

so dearest readers, it would seem only right at a time of glee towards all pesky gnomes and forsaken souls, that i extend my kindness and reach out to save my man's sanity,

and quite possibly in doing so, will unearth my own.

as i sit before you with yarn dollars by my side, the fog beginning to clear.

i see now that a rather lovely desperate man, my man... with a pleading look in his eyes, knew the aisles of Costco would only bring misery.

and my 'yarn lusting' gave him a way out and the hope of a bright and gleeful Christmas.

she is thinking perhaps she will be out tonight, weeping with joy and hugging balls of yarn ~ Tif

the case of the 'missing sanity'...

i think i will be fine when i've located my sanity, it's somewhere around here...

it must of happened last tuesday as i did my 'shift around'.

things were looking rather peachy, i was most happy with the way the kitchen nook looked and of course, the lounging area in my studio.

and then things started to go 'iffy'...

Mary and Joe arrived and quite frankly after that i'm not sure what's going on around here.

in the 'shifting around', i shoved piles into cupboards and drawers, out of sight, out of mind.

perhaps my sanity went along with the piles...

i have achieved nothing but going around in circles, mumbling to myself "dear lordy, how many days to go" all the time knowing i need to get a grip, find a handle, do something or the miracle of Christmas isn't coming to the Shed this year.

in the space of four days the only acheivement i can note, is finding my secret santa gift. one lucky clan member will have something rather lovely to look forward to... ha! you should hear my lovely lot all exclaim the one person they hope not to be their secret santa is me.

knowing where i shop these days has caused them concerns of the worst kind this coming christmas...

but they don't know what i know,

("oh Tif, and what do you know, considering you are two shillings short of a pound this week?" i hear you enquire)

well i know, and actually a lot of you thrifty ones will know this too, just how far a dollar can be stretched when buying secondhand and handcrafted...

on Tuesday my folks arrive, my mum assured me on the phone this morning that she would help unearth my sanity if i haven't found it between now and their arrival.

i may take them to our local yarn shop on the first day. oh yes, i know how to show my folks a good time... i hoping they will be overcome by 'yarn lust' and insist on buying me a ball of cream yarn...

i will protest saying

"no, no you really shouldn't"

and then my mother will say

"i'm thinking we should, indeed i know we should, for a ball of cream yarn is perhaps where you may find your sanity this Christmas, my dearest child"

she is thinking... actually she knows, mothers are always right ~ Tif

and so it came to pass...

if you are sitting comfortably, perhaps with tipple in hand then i shall begin...

once upon a time in a cold, cold land lived Tif in her Mossy Shed with used dog and little olive.

trying to keep warm, Tif noted used dog and little olive had an advantage due to their warm coats of fur. Tif was a little bit at a disadvantage having lost her 'nostril hair of the worst kind' and thus feeling the extremities with her lack of fur.

whilst Tif kept herself warm by putting 'glee' all around the shed

the door bell rang,

"who can that be?" Tif asked her furry friends, her furry friends looked back at her with a quizzical look. for not many people ventured up to Mossy Shed's doorbell...

all three went to the door and as it was the season for pesky gnomes and other forsaken souls, it came as no surprise to find two such characters upon the doormat

"can i help you?" asked Tif gritting her teeth against the bitter cold.

"my name is Joe, this is my wife Mary" he pointed to a rather round colorful lady... "we were on our way to a special place but have lost our way. the cold is causing my wife untold trouble with her circulation. plus she is with child and told me not two minutes earlier, that she felt the time was close"

the two forsaken souls looked at Tif,

Tif looked at used dog,

used dog looked at little olive,

and little olive looked at the forsaken souls.

Joe continued with his tale of woe

"and so we are looking for a place to stay warm, out of the cold so my wife can rest a while and get her circulation going again"

Tif let them into the shed to thaw out...

a little while past and then Mary let out a scream

"oh Joe, the baby's coming!"

once again the two forsaken souls looked at Tif,

Tif found herself looking at used dog,

used dog found herself looking at little olive

and little olive found herself looking at the forsaken souls.

"okay" said Tif

"nobody panic, i've been through this a few times Mary and quite honestly i may not have a certificate to prove my capabilities but i do have a florence nightingale hat in the kitchen drawer. take some deep breaths and if there is one thing i learnt in my labouring moments. never ever call the unborn child, causing untold pain to the labouring mum, a cherub! for that mum in 'pain beyond all pain' does not see her unborn child as a cherub at that moment in time. by all means, afterwards call him or her a cherub but not when the mother-to-be is crying out, i'm going to die... for that is obviously not the time to refer to anything by the term 'cherub'... no Mary, i will not do that to you."

Tif quickly realized this was not the time for bitter recall and got busy finding her florence nightingale hat, which really was proving hard to locate under the debris in the drawer, all the time shouting out calming words of "breathe in, breathe out". when she turned back to face the little group, hat on head. she noted used dog, little olive, Joe and Mary were all breathing nicely, looking at her and waiting...

just then another knock at the door

"you go" Tif said to used dog, as she made Mary a little more comfortable

used dog found three pesky gnomes and their girlfriends on the doorstep along with a sheep and two chickens

"hey dog, is this the shed that beholds our chosen one" they asked, just as a baby cry came forth. "we are three pesky shepherds and have come to pay our respects"

used dog rolling her eyes heavenward, let them in

"it's a girl" Tif offered up, as the pesky shepherds and used dog entered the room.

no sooner had she done so then another knock at the door could be heard.

this time little olive went to answer...

"hello, i'm a wise owl, my brothers are at the pub down the road, thought i noticed a star shining brightly above your shed, unusual for daytime, made me think that something strange and glorious was going on... wondered if indeed 'the chosen one' had been born. i don't have a gift i'm afraid, 'cause i lost it playing poker, but i thought it might be nice to pop by and say hello anyway"

and so it came to pass that a trickle of visitors began to arrive at mossy shed that day, some remarking how 'the chosen one' resembled her mother and not her father. which Tif, used dog and little olive felt most unsuitable considering the enormity of the moment that had passed at mossy shed this christmas time

later that evening, before going to bed, Tif checked in on Mary and Joe, along with their little one. they seemed most happy with their new baby and dwellings.

"perhaps", Tif thought to herself, "this will be the year for peace on earth and goodwill toward all pesky forsaken souls around the globe"

and at that moment a chorus of sock monkey angels appeared and glory really did shine all around

the end

she is out and about tomorrow, unearthing thrifty treasures for her secret santa, oh the lucky soul ~ Tif

controversial maybe, handcrafted definitely...

our christmas tree is up in mossy shed

never has a christmas caused so much debate amongst my clan...

and the tree was no exception.

however, i am pleased to report,

despite the odd bemoaning about lack of greenery and lighting

(the latter due to little olive gnawing through the only string of lights i had),

it would appear that my 'lovely lot' have located their rose colored, handcrafted, thrifty specs...

so for this year

(and one year only, i am told by my nearest and dearest)

we have ourselves

a 'whatnot' gleeful tree to fit in with my handcrafted, secondhand year

she is hoping you can find your rose colored specs, if not pop next door and borrow your neighbors.... pleaseeeeee ~ Tif

a 'week of glee' ~ day three

there is nothing quite like the anticipation of giving a gift,

be it new, handcrafted or thrifted.

if the perfect gift is found in advance,

the anticpation can begin several months before the gift needs to be given.

or in the case of my man it can happen the day before, and even then it's not the perfect gift and even more importantly (perhaps men take note, across the land), do not leave the receipt lying around.

i can only imagine that when i met my man at the age of 16, he did not think he would still be with me as i turned 40, thus instead of taking 24 years to think ahead... he suddenly went "oh crap, Tif's 40 tomorrow, i know i'll go to Costco, buy her a panini maker and leave the receipt lying around so she knows how much it cost and the date i bought it")

"STOP TIF!!... enough, this is not good for a 'gleeful' post, this is bringing down the tone of 'glee' and also you promised 'closure' on the panini episode of 2008" i hear you exclaim, dearest readers

and quite right you are, thank goodness i have you to keep me on a 'gleeful' track and not drift off on a negative 'non-gleeful' note.

for today's dose of 'glee' i would like to bring you...

the gift of giving 'glee'.

i do believe that giving a gift of 'glee' is a terribly exciting thing to do and even more so if it's wrapped up 'gleefully'

i like to do this, just as i do my etsy orders, with thought and consideration

and a whole lot of lovely catalogues that come my way...

for Etsy i now use recycled tear outs from magazines that i have ferreted away,

inspiring images of lovely interiors,

but when the 'gleeful' season rolls around i produce my pile of 'specials'

i'm talking anthropologie

i'm talking toast

and

i'm talking noa noa

for their pictures are beautiful

and they really do make for wonderful recycled wrapping paper

for today's purpose of showing you how i wrap a box of 'glee' i have retrieved

one half used box of tissues

one box of chocolate pudding mix

one box of banana pudding mix

one dvd from our #2's collection

and

one something else,

that i cannot remember for the life of me what it is

(only wrapped it yesterday, for goodness sake)

and as it looks so lovely all wrapped up i'm not willing to undo it

if i'm giving a gift that isn't conveniently box shaped, then i find a box to fit it, even if i have to go looking in my food cupboard

and then i get to work,

tearing catalogues

sticking tape

and when my little bit of glee is covered

i wrap some cream thrifted yarn around it

and finish it off with a vintage button card

and that's it, quite simple and i am quite sure has been done a million times before but i thought i would share how i like to give glee

and as if that wasn't enough

another 'glee giving' idea is to customize your 'gleeful seasonal' cards

i was fortunate to stumble across a set of unused vintage ones at the thrift store a few weeks back and i was really rather happy with the little birdie on the front.

but i couldn't leave it alone,

i have added some frayed little rosettes to the branches

i do believe these little cards are now a 'gift in themselves'

and wait, there's more glee going around

the lovely Victoria has been sharing my little gleeful garland over at her place

and just before you are all 'gleed out'

the talented Ingrid has just unveiled her new 'gleeful' website, it's in english and best of all, you can order her beautiful crocheted wares direct from it.

i don't think it gets more 'gleeful' than that dearest readers...

but then again does it?

only tomorrow's 'day four' knows the answer to that

she is spreading 'gleefulness' wherever she goes and hoping you forgive her 'bah humbuggy' panini begining ~ Tif