an inspector calls...

i woke up this morning with a skip in my step, after all i had several 'crafty' things to think about, first my latest copy of Selvedge had turned up in the mail and secondly i had managed to visit the yarn shop yesterday. that could only mean that today was going to be a lovely day of kids in school and me with my reading material and knitting supplies, sigh...

but it soon turned out to be not such a lovely morning and i am not quite as excited anymore...in fact i am at the point of renaming my blog to something along the lines of "a few easy steps to living the life of a mad woman" or maybe "how to mess up every time when you aren't even trying" or perhaps "overwhelmed and under qualified"...of course i have broken one of my blogger rules just be typing this little section. my blogger rule book in my head clearly states "#1. do not post on your blog under any circumstances if you are on the verge of a breakdown." very sensible advice i think... well i have blown that one sky high....so please i ask who ever it is that looked down on me this morning and thought this would be amusing, i have news for you...it isn't.

so it would appear i have made a big blunder (that is putting it mildly)...allow me to explain dear readers, a few weeks back i decided to put all my flickr pictures to private. for sometime now i have been contacted by lots of lovely crafters out there wanting to be 'buddies' and that's just fine by me...however i really didn't want to be 'buddies' with men that get their kicks from wearing slips and other things. i'm sorry if i offend anyone but i just don't want to be dealing with looking at profiles and photos through half squinted eyes case i see something i don't want to, let alone my kids coming across it all..."no problem" i said to myself, i will just spend hours putting everything to private. oh the fool that i am, i have been so caught up in vacations, kids, house buying and everything else that i didn't check my little basic website...

for the past few weeks or even longer my little website (which really is rather sad) hasn't had any pictures on it, just nice lovely big rectangles saying "this photo is currently unavailable"...oooh how professional looking. then to add to this situation i am alerted to the 'problem' by readers of a newspaper that ran the Etsy article from way back when, TODAY!!...am i a twit or what, it never occurred to me that these articles appear all over the place and now lovely people on the east coast are frustrated as hell with me and i can see why...no decent website, etsy shop closed...it really is a rubbish kind of day. "Tif" you say "quickly go change your photos to public and it will all be sorted out", oh if only it were that easy. i did that and it still doesn't show up on my website because the URL changes...and while we are at it i have managed to mess up all my archives on my little blog....oh and did i mention the inspector did his thing on the yellow house and let's just say he took my "rose colored" spectacles right off dropped them on the ground and crushed them under his boot...

i have resorted to 'fines' if i find any piles in our current house as it is an uphill struggle to keep this house in a marketable state...so far 'used dog' owes me two dollars for spilling her bowl of dried food...

oh yes, she's screwing up left, right and center... and oh no, she won't be knitting today ~ Tif

see, even the frigging 'spacers' and 'lines' are against me...

and the winner is...

i am back and i have to tell you that i have experienced a miracle. (or i am living the life of a soap character) but i am going with the former...after living for several days in the deepest corner of my 'pit of despair' ( thanking you kindly for all your support) i have been thrown a life line, along with it a large band-aid to patch up my broken heart.

someone or something (i like to think my guardian angel had a small part to play) made the seller of the empty sad yellow house see the light and realize that it is my destiny to live in it. yes dear readers, you are learning just like me that miracles can happen. the seller came back to us, on our terms and it is full steam ahead...i feel like i am living on a roller coaster of emotions these days, and quite frankly i am looking forward to getting off soon, and i am sure you are too!

the next loop on the ride is "the inspection" which will be carried out in a day or two, (shall aim to get some pics for you) and then if we don't fall off it is on to the "putting my house on the market" slow climb beginning of next week and if that all goes according to plan and we get to the top of the hill it is just one long whizz to the finish, where we can all get off, feeling sick but smugly pleased with ourselves for making it through...

in celebration of getting back on track i unearthed my knitting books and flicked through to find something suitable to make for the yellow house (once again counting my chickens before they hatch)...i found this page in my Sarah Dallas Book,

the whole room is just perfect for the yellow house, i showed it to our #3 who quietly marvelled at it and continued playing the game console (wise child), i then showed it to my man who's comment was "those chairs with the cushions look really uncomfortable" (foolish man)...i will not allow his words to cast a shadow on my new found happiness...and so i shall proceed to knit some cushions to occupy my thoughts and calm my nerves over the coming weeks..

in the meantime, i am way way over due on some seriously important "thank yous" and i plan to get through them a bit at a time, but i must announce the winner of the 'cushion give away'...this was so tricky and i wish i had said i would pick it out of a hat. everyone had a tale to tell that i think we could all relate to...but i ended up going with Lily because she made me spill my cup of tea i was laughing so much (obviously before my heart cracked). not so much the nightmare of moving but 'life after the move' ...drop me a line at my email Lily and this cushion will be winging it's way to you promptly!

trying to remember exactly where her knitting needles have been packed away and looking forward to a trip to the yarn shop, leaving you with Lily's 'moving' story ~ Tif

here's my story...

1. 5 years ago, we happily bought our first home. it was owned by an old lady with lots of cats.

2. we discovered cats under our house.

3. after about 6 months the orange one came back and died on our driveway, very sad..

4. whenever we have the lights on in the front living room her black cat comes back and sprays on our front door. this happens even if the lights are only on for 5 mins. the cat must be watching our home.

5. five years later this still happens. we had to move our living room into the dining room (which we only use for large gatherings) and not use the front room.last year thanksgiving dinner with family in dining room (front room). i was thinking, no the cat is not coming tonight...i was wrong, i was horrified when i smelled the combination of fish guts and urine in the dining room and everyone was saying "what's that smellll?

6. yes, five years later, i'm still a prisoner in my own home cuz of that black cat.

7. i've grown to like the cats now, cuz my little boy likes to put on his frog boots to go chase them in the yard and then he'll say "oh they'll be back".Lily

"i'll get over you, but it's going to take some time" courtesy of Gabrielle...

many years ago at the grand old age of seventeen i liked to dress in a very bohemian hippy style (some i am sure, would say i still do). when my meagre paycheck (life as a bar maid in a working man's pub) would allow me, i would head to the high street store Annoki (hope i got the spelling correct on that one). one such fine day while still living at home with my folks in the lovely city of Cambridge, i strode into Annoki with my doctor marten boots and thrift store postman's jacket on. waiting for me on the sale rail was a "stop me in my tracks" jacket with my name on it. it was perfect in every way except for the price tag. i still remember the mandarin collar, the color, the fit and best of all the wonderful embroidered pattern across the back. i didn't have a hope of affording it even on sale. i went home and later that night told my dad about it. he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and gave me the money telling me to go back in the morning and purchase it, if it was that special to me...i got up early and headed to the store only to find that it had been sold at closing time the day before. it was the only one, they would have no others.

i still get a pang in my heart whenever i think of that jacket knowing it would have served me well and probably still be hanging in my wardrobe today...sadly dear readers i fear i will have the same pang every time i think of the yellow house in years to come. it is not my destiny to live in it, i can't see that now but that must be what it is. if i lived in the olden days i would tell you "i am in a wretched state of despair" take myself to bed, have my servants care for me and dote on my every 'sigh' and 'whimper' but it is not the olden days and so i tell you "i am totally gutted" as i lie on my bed staring up at my ceiling fan wishing with all my heart that it had turned out a different story..

so in the words of Gabrielle (and please forgive me my sadness and my tears over a yellow house) i leave you with pictures of my packed away empty studio that looks and feels just like my heart...

"i know that it's over

but i can't believe it's through

they say that time's a healer

and i'm better without you

it's gonna take time i know

but i'll get over you

look at my life

look at my heart

i have seen them fall apart

now i'm ready to rise again" ~ Tif