oh she of little time...

time is not on my side today, it could have something to do with the fact that i have decided i can no longer live with the 'yellow' walls in the hallway and kitchen. i have nothing against the color 'yellow' but when it is a 'cold' insipid yellow coupled with dark brown kitchen cabinets and dark mottled blacky sludge granite worktops enough is enough...

so i shall just jump right in and give you today's post...if you have a 'blah' teacosy hanging around and have been telling yourself for a while that it is really letting the side down when you have unexpected visitors drop by for a spot of tea, then pay special attention.

my little teacosy was purchased last summer in the UK from the fabulous woolworths, at the time i felt the polka dots were perfect, but on my return i have since decided otherwise...i believe it not the 'dots' that bother me but the pale wishy washy pink, that's what you get for purchasing a cheap 'knock off' version of our Cath...so two days ago, i put one hour, yes dear readers just one hour aside and decided to fix my 'tea cosy' issue...

so here it is in pictures

take one 'blah' tea cosy of your choice and a piece of your favorite fabric or maybe a small remanant of your absolute 'all time' besty 'vintage find' that you can't bear the thought of not seeing everyday (i think i am getting a little carried away, it could be the five hours of paint fumes getting to me)

using 'blah' cosy as a template cut out a front and back allowing for seams

add some decoration with odds and ends of lace etc

put right sides together and machine stitch across the top (i know this is obvious but i'll say it anyway, don't stitch up the bottom where the teapot goes in)

turn 'cosy' right sides out and press with iron, then slip in 'old blah' teacosy snuggly into it's 'new lovely' cover

to secure the cover to your teacosy you must turn under the raw edge and pin some bias binding to hide the fraying edges and keep everything 'in place'...this was my chance to use my 'japanese craft book' bias binding that i made way back when , yipee...

once all pinned you must sit down with a cup of tea and start handstitching...go on, it's good not to use the machine every now and then...

and there you have it, no longer do you need to hide behind your curtains when the door bell rings for fear of having to produce a pot of tea warmed by a 'blah' tea cosy...

on the other hand if this all seems a little too much effort and you just wish to own a fabulous tea cosy without any of the 'blood' (hand sewing don't forget), 'sweat' (drinking tea always makes me heat up a bit) and 'tears' (having to look at 'blah' tea cosy too closely) then take a look over here...probably the best teacosy i have managed to track down in a long time...

she's apologizing for the 'madness' of the post but it was done in under 20 minutes which is an all time record, plus the use of 'flash' photography (sssh, i didn't really say that)...see you monday, as tomorrow she is away thrifting...oh happy days ~ Tif

there's a whole lot of rambling going on...

whilst out and about with used dog and admiring the view i realized there were lots of 'little things' that i wished to tell you...i can't promise they are particularly useful or even interesting but i just need to 'share', so if you are sitting comfortably then i shall begin...

random fact #1: miss josephina lola has been bought in from the cold...after nearly five months of living in a garage and the ordeal of surviving a 'flesh wound' she seems very happy to be 'loved again'...

random fact #2: a poem from Joe, one of Janet's boys, to mark the occasion of "Tif moving to mossy shed". i feel it only fitting that i show my appreciation that a young child who has never met me, should have a 'creative moment' and feel the need to write a poem (or at least dictate it to his mother) about a 'chapter in my life', so here is Joe's poem...i'll pause after you've read it to give you time for 'applauses' before we go onto the next random fact

There once was an owl

Flying through the sky

He saw Mossy Shed

And went to bed.

random fact #3: Miss T Dryer is giving me the cold shoulder, all i ask for is a little warmth when i place load after load of cold wet clothes into her...but alas i believe she is all out of love, ever since i mentioned the words "can't wait to have a washing line again after seven years" she has been acting strange...

random fact #4: samuel whiskers and anna marie have been vacationing in my attic, they seem to have decided it is so nice they are going to "stay on for a bit"...i believe i have other plans then to allow them to extend their vacation time at mossy shed for fear they invite their family to join them...

random fact #5: tea cosies fashioned to resemble the bottom half of a 'knitted toilet roll doll cosy thingy' will come back into fashion, mark my words ("that's a load of rubbish" i hear you say and i say "when a girl has stayed up half the night to crochet a tea cosy to realize at the end it looks not dissimilar to the 'doll cosies of old' she has to tell herself something to make it seem better")...

random fact #6: barefoot no knickers is up and running in blogland...she of the 'throwing it all away for a life on the river' lady, oh happy days...

random fact #7: squirrels like bird feeders, everyone knows this but why oh why do all the squirrel proof bird feeders in my hardware store look just plain 'ugly'...my man insisted that we must get 'a squirrel proof' one, he told me quite plainly "i don't often have an opinion about things but this time i do" well that's fair enough...so off he goes to the store, a little while later the phone goes "so which one was the feeder you liked"..."oooh" says i "the pretty one with the little metal twigs at the side for the wee birdies to sit and rest a while before eating"..."just as i thought" he says..."the one that every squirrel from miles around will laugh out loud at"

so the tale of this story is 'yes' Tif has a 'pretty bird feeder' ('cause her man is a softie) and 'yes' within the space of hours word got around the 'squirrel' community and now 'dinner is on me', (look really close at the bottom of the tree) but it does look pretty...

random fact #8: gloss paint can look fab but let's leave that for another time...

she's off to do a wee bit of cleaning and then.....drum roll....check out the 'space bags' her man bought for 'sucking the life' out of 'little used things' for storing up to (and she quotes) "4x more in your closets". we shall see about that ~ Tif

footnote: i have told a fib, before i attempt any 'cleaning' and 'space bagging' i am going to indulge in a cadbury's chocolate bar, why does it feel so wrong to eat chocolate before lunch...i have no choice dear readers, for my last jar of 'chocolate spread' ran out two days ago and i just can't seem to start the day without a healthy dose of 'chocolate'...i believe 'guilt' has made me type this footnote...

word of the week...

doil - i - fy

1. to customize with doilies
2. to add doilies for decoration

-related forms
1. doil - i - fied

example: "oh Tif, like your new curtains" to which Tif replies "why thank you, i have doilified them"

2. doil - i - fy - ing

example: "so Tif, care to tell us what technique you are using?" to which Tif replies "as it happens, it's an ancient craft called doilifying...i am using this technique to enhance my 'on clearance' shop bought linen curtains"

3. doil - i - fi - er

example: "have you been up to much lately Tif?" to which Tif replies "well since you ask, i have been using a lot of doilies for customizing my 'linen lovelies' that hang at mossy shed. it would be true to say dear friends that one could call me a doilifier"

she's thinking it all sounds a bit dodgy ~ Tif

snowy day...

so much for me and my "well it doesn't snow very often" thoughts...we have had another flurry of snowflakes, resulting in 'no school' and me having to have 'terribly important business at 'mossy shed' so i can avoid the 'horror hill'...

used dog, our #2 and myself were all togged up and about to head out for a walk when someone must have heard my silent prayers because low and behold a snowplow was doing his thing on the hill...i had no plans to show you more snow pictures and i am sure this will become very 'old' before long but i just couldn't help but bring my camera along on our little 'wanderings'...be sure to look closely at picture number three...

now we are back, warm and cozy i have plans to finish off my new fabric cupboard courtesy of Ikea and a lot of 'mumbling' and 'cursing' from my man...last night i lifted the lid on 'the slips', well i have to tell you i haven't seen my stash of slips since i packed them away last august...it was quite a 'moving' moment for me, i hung a few downstairs in my studio...not sure how to explain my thoughts here, this is probably because i am surrounded by two boys, their lego building and continuous stream of verbal rubbish thus resulting in me having trouble gathering my thoughts...

she's planning to show you some 'crafty' things this week and no more snow ~ Tif

the studio...

so 'tomorrow' turned into 'the day after tomorrow' due to the fact i had forgotten about the dentist appointment scheduled four months ago...not to worry though, as i was being 'worked on' it gave me plenty of time to contemplate the question "to gloss or not to gloss".

i have been mulling this over in my little head for the past few days and it concerns a wood fireplace in our family room...my decision was decided in a heady blur of breathing in latex fumes from the hygienist's gloves, mixed with 'painkillers' taken earlier for my sensitive little gums...GLOSS was the way to go...i left no time for doubting and went straight from 'dentist' to 'hardware' store to get my can of 'gloss' and straight home to 'shiny up' the fireplace...i am not going to share the results today ("booo"..."i know, i know") but save it for next week, for today is 'STUDIO REVEAL' day and i must not digress anymore...

let me set the scene for you dear readers...when you enter mossy shed by the front door you are left with the choice of turning right to the family/dinning area, go down the corridor past the 'loo' to the kitchen/nook or you can turn left...if you choose to turn left then you are choosing to enter my 'space'...the studio has been made out of a living area that you can walk through and end up in the kitchen...now normally people would put a tv in here and a couple of couches and say "done" and i do believe my man had thought this, but not me.

when i first entered 'the shed' way back, i knew that this space would be an ideal 'studio'...at that time it had 'peach' colored walls and a red brick fireplace, but with my 'rose colored' spectacles' on i saw white walls, a white brick fireplace and some 'orla goodness' (thanks for that term, maggi)...

as every wall has a doorway, window, fireplace or opens to the kitchen, there really isn't much space for furniture, so i have ended up putting my 'stash' of fabrics etc in our bedroom...as i type, my man is in 'flat pack hell' with the glass fronted cupboard i spied in Ikea, that will "do just fine" for keeping it all in...

here's a bigger pic for you that i took from the kitchen, light isn't brilliant but i think it gives you the idea, plus used dog wouldn't stay still and look lovely but insisted on walking too and fro...the 'blue tape' at the window is trying to assist me with my decision making for 'window replacing'....

Mabel has a space by the fireplace (quick, put on your 'spectacles' and think 'stove' and not 'brass and brown' when looking at fireplace)...

my lovely prints from Fran have been treated to some shop bought frames and a lick of white paint...and Miss Ethel sits waiting by the window looking pretty for any passing strangers and squirrels to admire...what more could a girl ask for...

i have lots more to show, but all in good time...at the moment i am working on disguising the 'horrible horrors' called pendant lighting in the kitchen, but once again that must wait.

right, so there you have...the studio waiting patiently for me to 'begin again with dottie angel'...

she's off to brush up on 'andy warhol' for teaching art to a bunch of twelve year olds tomorrow, see you on monday ~ Tif

mossy shed ~ the begining

the camera cable has been located (hurrah)...funny how that happens, when i needed it, no one had seen it, when it is suddenly required by one of my kids, it is found within five minutes.

but first i must say a little "thank you" for all the lovely comments from my last post, once again i find myself marvelling at the kindness of others...

so i have been a busy bee and have tried very hard to remember to capture it on camera, but a lot of the 'befores' have not been recorded and i have to tell you, my 'afters' aren't the best...i am putting it down to 'the time of year' and 'poor lighting due to low ceilings' and nothing at all to do with the fact that i should read the camera manual...

so let me tell you dear readers, we are rather futunate with mossy shed, she came with the downstairs remodelled, we have lovely new wood flooring throughout apart from a carpeted area in the family room...the walls are freshly plastered, the electrics have been updated and probably the best thing of all, new kitchen cupboards (think back to the yellow house on this one)...so all it really requires is for me to wave my 'magic paintbrush'...the upstairs is a completely different story, nothing has been changed or updated in nearly thirty years...the outside requires a lot of attention, the shingle roof is on it's last legs, most of the windows have failed and of course we have the acre of moss...all this is the very thing that excited me about mossy shed, some has been done and some hasn't...

for today, i thought i would show you a little glimpse of outside in winter...last week we had a sprinkling of snow...after i took the pictures, we had a ton more but i was distracted with the "get over your fear of hills and driving in the snow and ice" issue that arose in my 'try not to panic' little mind, that i failed to record the 'big dump of snow'...

our road has got rather a steep hill, not a problem normally but when the 'treacherous' weather hits, i am totally crap...in the end my man had to drive everywhere, i didn't leave mossy shed for two days...luckily snow and ice are not common here so i figured when such times arise i will suddenly have very important business to attend to in my house therefore eliminating the need to drive the 'oh my god i'm going to die' hill...

my pictures show the very reason why i spend most of my time day dreaming out of the window or walking used dog...the 'wild haired woman from the shed' that walks 'main street' every day with her trusty dog by her side, 'til she reaches the spot where she can see the snow capped mountains to the east and the west...i shall take my camera on the next clear day for you to see...the only problem i am anticipating is dealing with used dog and my mittens and getting a good picture. "take your mittens off"...good advice but i fear i might get all tangled up with the dog leash, my mittens, used dog pulling, a wobbly camera, passing vehicles, raccoons and the odd chicken...

she's thinking tomorrow will be the 'unveiling of the studio'...but here's a sneak peak to keep you going ~ Tif

feels like heaven...

it has been nearly a month dear readers since our paths have crossed, in that time i have done christmas, two birthdays (hard to see your first born turn sixteen), and had my lovely parents to stay.

we then packed up and moved our belongings and pets, with the help of friends, passing strangers, a nearby mule and cart, (okay that last one wasn't technically the truth but it sounded good) and a 'U-Haul' van to Mossy Shed...since then i have been distracted from 'day to day' life by one thing and one thing only...

i am in love...

yes it is true to say i have started a love affair with my lovely mock tudor number...i see nothing but good things everywhere i turn. every morning i wake up (twelve mornings to be precise) and i say to my man "i can't quite believe i am actually living here" to which he replies under the depth of the duvet and several blankets (our bedroom is not the warmest place to be) "neither can i, neither can i"

so in a space of hours, ney make that minutes, of claiming mossy shed for ourselves, i set about 'nesting'...and in between feathering our little nest, used dog and i have been rambling along the roadside, her in her collar, me in my pink knitted hat (disguising wild unkempt hair) and 'old bag lady' coat...

so that brings us up todate...i have also made a big long list of priorities for mossy, but strangely the room that is being worked on first is my little studio space..."well fancy that" i hear you say...i shall post a few pics soon (by soon i mean when i have located the relevant cord for transporting my pics from camera to computer) then you can see the new headquarters of dottie angel.

in the meantime i must tell you, we only suffered one casualty in the move...deep breaths, dear readers...i must report that Miss Josphina Lola (my beautiful door) suffered a rather nasty gashy wound to her top front half. as i lent her against the garage wall to mourn the moment of discovery (remember her beautiful granny knicker color and that 'nobody loves you like i do' moment way back when i first set eyes on her)

my man says "don't be silly Tif, it's only a chip"...

"a chip," says i "only a chip...do you realize how fantastically fantastic Miss Josphina Lola's paint color is, i do not believe you have ever stopped to think about it before"

"nope, that is very true, i do not recall ever taking time to think about the color of that old door"

gasp..."i think i need to be by myself"...

she's wishing you all a belated happy new year ~ Tif