battiness is just around the corner...

the little voice within my head will not be quiet, the cogs refuse to slow down and for the past few days my mind is 'a whirring' with words that need to be penned.

i now have pieces of paper all over the shed with scribbled hasty notes, things i need to record that moment, less two minutes later they fall into the black hole within my head...

i can now see why so many writers hole up in a place where no one can find them, they are not foolish enough to sit at a computer in the center of their nest, grabbing a few hours here and there, whilst all around continue to talk, play music, woof and require feeding and clean undies. no sirree, they have the right idea... just them, their little computer and their booky thoughts.

but that is not an option for me (although i did ponder it briefly this morning as i awoke to my little voice babbling on). so i have now taken to carrying around paper and pencil, i am penning my book the old fashioned way, before the keyboard and the typewriter but after the quill and ink. then i shall transfer penciled words to 'Word' not having to worry about distractions and noisy clan at foot.

my man has suggested i "tell my book" to a little recording device and i thought this might be worthy of some pondering. i saw myself 'Barbara Cartland' style upon the couch (except i would have flannel pyjamas and a woolly sweater on, a little less eyeliner too i am thinking), Little Olive resting by my side and Used Dog offering to be in charge of note making and button pressing. Used Dog is a little iffy these days and so when i suggested this idea to her, she got in quite the tizzy about the responsibilities that come with pressing buttons and note taking, said her little toe pads just do not work the way they used to. then Little Olive pointed out it would be completely and utterly impossible for her to rest by my side because being on the couch is a 'no no' and getting a opportunity like this would be too terribly thrilling she would be overcome by peskiness, jumping all over me and trying to clean out my ears. (dogs are odd like that)

in the meantime, whilst i ponder walking around for the next few weeks with recording device in hand, be it at home, in the car or at the grocery store, i am working on whatever section leaps into my brain. "ah ha" i say to my little brain and hastily search for a pencil with lead and sharp point (quite rare in these parts i have noted) to record my brains "ah ha" moment.

and so dearest readers, this is where you come in today, yes that is correct, i see you sitting up a little straighter, adjusting what ever needs to be adjusted and now perhaps a little fearful of what i am going to ask of you. well it is quite simple really, my recall skills are letting me down, i have come to see i am the kind of person that can ramble away about any old thing, i see this to be true, as taking a look at my blog dashboard it tells me i have rambled no less 530 times!!! this is quite a number of rambles, and within those rambles is quite a lot of nonsense along with a hidden gem or two. so i am thinking as and when the need may arise, i may have to ask for you assistance. (this may not be the case, but i am putting it out there now, giving you time to think about the possiblity, if it arises)

some of you may say

"no, you are on your own there Tif"

and quite rightly so,

"way too many other things to be doing Tif"

and i do not blame you.

but others may say

"actually i think you are looking for this Tif"

or indeed

"you know what i liked best was the time Tif, you..."

and that would be most peachy indeed

so ears back, sit up straight and let us have a little go, a little warm up, nothing super duper tricky nor overwhelmingly time consuming. i am trying to recall all the dottie angelisms from over the past few years... the everyday words that have crept into this blog, the ones that when i press spell check, Mr Spell Check mocks me.

if you can recall any that may have stuck in your mind, ones perhaps that have become part of your daily vocab, i would love for you to tell me so i may make an important note of it, in my 'important note' pile of papers once destined for the recycle bin and now enjoying a few more rosy moments being scrawled upon by me and my pencil.

to get the cogs moving here's an example (and a fine one may i be so bold as to add)

'crappity crap'

surely Darren Dictionary should have this in his vocabulary!

do not fret, nor worry if another has already said the dottie angelism you have a fondness for, just tell me anyway, would be fun to know.

she is quite happy to hand out gold sticky stars all day long, in between the laundry, vacuuming and manic note making moments ~ Tif

footynote: cause its the weekend, hurrah hooray! and i am feeling quite giddy with all this 'cog turning', i have extra gold sticky stars for those that "i spy... a little 'lucky' bunny" :)

be gone scowling ways...

i must confess my 'smile' has slipped a little, being so soon into the new shiny year this has caused some fretting about my resolutions and if i have it in me to keep them up.

my new year smile started slipping on sunday and quite honestly by this morning i noted a terrible scowl had taken its place.

"no one likes a scowler Tif!" i hear you cry

"quite right you are, i am ashamed of my scowling ways" i say

fortunately for moi, a lovely nice young man (lordy, when did i get to the point of saying "oh yes he seems like a nice young man", i appear to be trilingual, i can talk english, american and now it would appear i talk 'granny')

the nice young man stopped by and twiddled with things that needed twiddling with, things that were causing my smile to slip. after a little bit of twiddling he declared my problemo sorted and he left with a smile on his face.

hurrah hooray, Mr Internet is ship shape again, no longer hit or miss, according to the nice young man, he will be 'a-okay' from now on out. of course the little voice inside my head pointed out this was the same thing the nice, slightly older man said just a few weeks back when he came to twiddle with things... but i told my little voice i did not have much choice but to trust those that know how to fiddle with such things

so whilst my smile was slipping over the past few days, i did things to make it cling on.

i stitched (almost obsessively i might add), patching lace and old linens together, i appear to be quite smitten once again with creams and whites, whilst listening to Radio 2.

i found one small ray of daylight in the shed to get some photos done for the book. i felt i was quite capable of doing this by myself (aided by Carlos my camera), but little olive felt otherwise.

i pondered my written word, for Janine tells me there can be no more procrastinating, i need to pull my knee socks up and get cracking with my tippity typing. i told her i would do my utmost best and so today i sat down to start!!!! i conquered my fear of the 'word document' and its automatic layout thingy.

actually that is a complete fib, i did not. instead i sat down, then immediately stood up. upon which i did 'a rant and a rave' in a very loud voice, about how 'Word' drives me to distraction, assuming all sorts of things i wish to do, that i do not, for i do not wish to double space, nor do i wish to suddenly be put into 'bullet point' mode. nor do i wish to have to tell 'word' this every single blimen' time i sit down to tippity type...

dearest readers, it all came out, every single thing that bugs the hell out of me on my computer (things my man felt it wise to install but on installation regretted due to his wife's meltdown, i do not like change, have i mentioned that before, technical change is not good for a dinosaur such as myself) my words continued to pour out, accompanied by flowery words and so my man with a sigh and no doubt a heavy heart (for he has heard it all before) put down his 'laptop bag', closed the front door and asked

"Tif, what exactly is it you wish to do with the word document?"

30 minutes later i am the proud owner of a blank, perfectly spaced, no bullet points, and other such nonsense popping up when and as it feels, fangle dangled word document. my smile was the biggest it had been all week, i reached for my cotton hankie, blew my nose (Mr Lurgy is hovering close by) and felt a sense of peace come over my little computer.

actually i might just blame Mr Lurgy for the slipped smile and terribly awful melt down, infact upon looking back at the evidence, this looks like his kind of doings.

in celebration of my new found love for my computer i have named him Colin. his namesake being my father, my father is quite the intelligent person and continues to be so after many years. so i felt it apt as computers are supposed to be super clever that i call him 'Colin the Computer'. i am hoping my father upon reading this will be most flattered just as i was when a friend many years ago named her guinea pig after me :)

my man left for work (never have i seen him so keen to get to his desk job), i did a token 'pottling and procrastinating' turn around the shed and then sat down to my new fresh 'saved format' word document and tippity typed my first words...

"many moons ago, i was born at home in 1968"

she is thanking you most kindly for the lovely comments from this past week ~ Tif

the happiest of happies....

hurrah hooray!!! nothing quite like a new shiny year!

when i was younger (oh so younger than today) i did not care for a new year,

i could not see what all the fuss was about.

but as i have aged,

(like a cheese, although i hope i smell better than a mature cheese. perhaps then a wine, no i do not drink wine so how about aged like a thrift store forsaken soul. not the sort that have dings and several limbs and an ear missing, but the kind that are a little ragged around the edges, perhaps the odd flea bite but none the less they still retain a certain charm that is appealing to others. yes that is it!)

i have noted that there is something perfectly peachy about starting a new one.

'tis a nice way to start 'a fresh',

a clean slate,

a new page if you will.

i have no idea why i am so taken with this year

as opposed to any other new year that has come and gone

but i am, and i might add i have even felt a little giddy when looking towards it.

my giddiness led to making the coming year

(which is here now, but wasn't at the time)

a gift of sorts...

some thing to make the year know i was happy to see it.

on the 27th of Dec, the day before Our #1 flew back to old blighty,

i got 'a crafting' with papers, fabrics, thread, paint, glue, yarn and an old drawer...

the sort of crafting that results in pottling,

i think that might be my favorite kind of crafting,

for it takes my mind off matters of the heart,

things that might make me sad are pushed aside.

i find myself distracted by my 'crafty moment'

and i find a happy place

the result of my 'crafting whilst pottling' was a little diorama.

actually it is not little, it is quite big.

i found the drawer from an old desk my man was using to store seeds in outside.

he did inquire as to where i had found my drawer

but i pretended not to hear (a positive about age-ing)

however my big drawer, is full of little things.

things that i feel are befitting the new shiny year to come...

and what is more befitting a new year

then some new shiny resolutions!!!

i tippity typed mine on a piece of paper taken from my granny's exercise book.

i felt sure this would help in a higher success rate than the usual 3 days

before a resolution is broken.

i had so many i needed to add on...

resolutions

*smile often (makes one look younger)

* make a new friend (a furry or feathered friend counts)

* eat less chocolate (tres tricky, failure every year for over 40 years)

* stop counting wrinkles (getting bangs/fringe greatly helping obsessive counting)

* write a book (deadlines are looming)

*smile often (see above)

*do not nag (no one likes a nagger)

*if nagging completely necessary for safety of others, then a little is allowed (after all i live with teenagers, funny how dogs and cats don't need to be nagged, it is more the two legged members of my clan this applies to, chickens not included)

*eat fruit every day (new motto, an apple a day keeps Mr Lurgy away)

*learn a new craft (i have one in mind)

*turn 43 with grace (this i am bound to fail at)

*keep a plant alive (i am so excited about finding a little plant to love, perhaps this plant could count as my new friend! yes that is brilliant!)

*think high hopes when cooking (this is the most repeated resolution of my life since having a clan)

*be a good recycler (i.e. don't be lazy at 11pm when clearing away the kitchen crappity crap)

*carry a vintage cotton hankie every day (no more throw away tissues, unless Mr Lurgy is visiting and only then if it is really really necessary)

*most importantly, quite possibly thee important thing of all, feel a little crafty at least twice a day, which without doubt will lead to smiling often! (this is the one resolution i truly think i might have an advantage at not breaking)

resolutions cont'd (next page)

*stress less (i might have to take a class on this one)

*write more snail mail (so lovely to get a handwritten note)

*ponder every purchase, including thrift store ones (glup!)

*bake edible cakes (a small miracle required for this one, but one i think possible)

*wallpaper lounge wall despite protests from clan (protests needed to have been put in writing and postmarked by january 1st, i did make this quite clear... have received no letters in mail box addressing the situation so looks like the protesters weren't listen when i used my quiet voice)

*put plans in motion to move back across the pond (this may take years but it is good to plan ahead)

*oil Miss Ethel (sounds a little dodgy but we know what i mean)

*smile often but not the cheesy kind of smiling, but the genuine nice smiley smiling kind of smiling (i may need to take a class on this too)

so there we have it,

i had several more resolutions popping into my head since tippity typing this lot,

but now they have popped out again,

lost in the black hole in my bonce that most things fall through if i do not put pen to paper quickly.

when my little shiny new year box was complete

i popped it on the mantle piece...

along with the little china bunny who happened to find me on my thrifty trip with Our #1,

the first day after her return to the shed.

i have never ever found a little bunny of such splendor before...

to make him feel even more splendid i crocheted him a cape.

after me and my man had dropped Our #1 at the airport,

we returned somewhat with heavy hearts and sat upon the couch.

my man commented

"that is quite the thing you have going on there isn't it?"

directed at my new shiny year diorama.

"is it the year of the rabbit then?"

"i have no idea" i replied

"he found me and i thought him quite lovely".

after a little research my man announced

indeed 2011 is the year of the bunny rabbit

and more to the point the rabbit only comes around every 12 years.

upon knowing this bit of information,

i thought to myself how my thrifting trips are rare these days,

and how lovely to think,

the one time i go with my thrifting buddy back by my side,

just like the good old days,

a little bunny finds me

and in return i give him a little cape of crochet

and put him in my 'new shiny 2011 year' box.

i am without doubt thinking this is a sign,

a very lucky sign telling me, 2011 will be most shiny indeed.

and with that thought in mind,

may i just thank you kindly for the wonderful heart warming comments

you left for me over the holidays...

i cannot thank you enough for all the kindness you showed me in 2010,

and

i truly wish for you all

a happiest of happy,

shiniest of shiny,

new year!!

she is smiling despite noting the laundry looks like a mountain and not as she wished, a mole hill ~ Tif