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Wednesday, September 23

the devil goes down to 'thrifting'...

tonight i should be going to puppy training classes, i have been going for five weeks...
but i alas i cannot go, for i have to play truant.
i may pay for my 'skipping class' ways, but i am beside myself with needing to get a thrifty fix, i have 'the shakes' and 'the sweats' and it isn't pretty.

i find it extraordinary that my puppy trainer chooses to run her class on the very same evening, at the very same time, as was my regular 'thrifting time'.
for five weeks i have driven past the thrift store and headed straight to class like a good girl. removed little olive from the car and taken her into the 'lions den' full of big, big puppies that all wish little olive to be 'theirs'.
for five weeks i have watched her look at me with those eyes that say "why? please tell me, what have i ever done to you?" ( i could list a few words like couch, carpet, chicken poo, but it seems unfair when in the lions den)
i was all set to go tonight, i felt strongwilled enough to put my thrifting evening once again to the sidelines and then it happened.

i blame my mother.
("ooooh, Tif... that's just wicked that is!" i hear you exclaim)
quite right you are dear readers, a very wicked thing to say, especially as my mother is a lovely caring soul who goes about her busy day in old blighty, traipsing the charity stores and vintage stalls on my behalf. apart from the lovely linens and lace she finds, she also sends me magazines from across the pond so i may enjoy a read with my cup of tea.

and that is precisely what caused me to fall from the straight and narrow, allowing me to lose my 'puppy training' driven ways and to start hearing
"just think Tif, could be something just peachy perfect waiting for you tonight" in my little ear... oh yes, the thrifty devil is back on my shoulder making me say such wicked words about my mother.

let me enlighten you...
yesterday, it was an ordinary evening in the life of moi, as i 'hopped, skipped and jumped' to the mail box (actually it was more like stumble, due to lack of daylight and street lighting) however it really doesn't matter how i got there, but i did... and within the piles of 'dullness' was an envelope from my mother containing


i love reading this magazine, i feel it gives me hope that one day, in years to come i may just have digested a piece of valuable 'country living' advice and put it into practise. thus far in my life, i tend to just gaze at the pictures of lovely back yards, prized veggie patches and fabulous cooking advice, daydreaming and a wishing.
as i flipped quickly through, whilst looking like i was clearing the kitchen, picking up used socks, shouting instructions to death ears around the shed, my eyes alighted
upon page 97.


and that is where i fell by the wayside.


the most loveliest of lovely fashion pages...


perfect in every way
showing me what i already know to be true


floral and knits are a match made in heaven...
and then i started to 'twitch'.
i 'twitched' several times further
and
by the time i reached page 102,


the 'thrifty devil' had appeared upon my shoulder.
"so what you going to do Tif, you can't buy new... but just think, a cardie of similar 'lust appeal' could be waiting for you on the thrifty racks as we stand here"
(gulp!)
"but i have no time this week dearest devil, my evenings are taken up in a perpetual round of dance, gym, soccer, school events and puppy classes" i fought back...
"you light weight, call yourself a 'handcrafted thrifty' mama, since when did you ever let family life get in the way of a 'thrifty kill'... you're going soft in your old age" and he continued to taunt me, even at bedtime as he made himself comfy upon my pillow.
as i fell into a slumber i recall myself making a 'pact with the thrifty devil' and his charming ways.

and so here i am this morning, already thinking of a 'fibbing excuse' for missing class and another 'fibbing excuse' to the kids as to why we can't go.
is it enough to say
"well your mama needs to go thrifting for a cardigan"?
no it is not
i need to get canny, i need to get good at deceit
i need to ask the advice from my new friend 'mr thifty devil' on my shoulder...

she shall return tomorrow, with news of whether the 'thrifty kill' was worth the 'fibs' and if not, she is thinking perhaps fashioning something from the underneath of her couch which has appeared upon her floor, courtesy of little olive ~ Tif
footynote: all images courtesy of the fabby 'country living' magazine that appeared in my mail box

29 comments:

  1. Hello. I know what it is like to get the thrifting shakes. It is a regular part of my life. I joined your challenge. I wrote about it on my blog www.abigailspocatello.blogspot.com
    I started the same day as you, (also my mother's birthday). So far, so good.
    Maybe next year a challenge about limiting thrift shopping also, my stockpile is getting large (despite my retail shop and etsy shop) and my man is geting angry.
    xoxo Melissa

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  2. tell em you're having a birthday week off!

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  3. Hi Tif, I loved that article, but will never look like that (short, round and cute, not tall, slim and interesting) so none of the clothes would have suited me. Saved by a fluke a nature!

    However, I have been seriously influenced by the autumn displays in the garden article, and have spent chunks of today running round house and garden clutching branches of berries. That magazine is answerable for a lot of crazes.

    I'm just about to post my 'take up' of your challenge.

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  4. Can't wait to hear the outcome:) I hear ya, I cannot wait to see this weeks estate sale listings. Feeling the thrifting urge too. Good luck!
    Kari

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  5. I have just found a wonderful charity shop cardi....John Rocha - brown with little frills....£4.99
    I am so delighted as it is perfect for this time of year.
    Sending you good cardi vibes.

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  6. Ooh, wish I could get my hands on those magazines...on second thought it's probably for the best that I can't.

    As for the challenge, I had no sooner posted my acceptance and was off to pick up the wee lass from school when...I spied a heap on the side of the road. I had barely a minute to pull aside and scan the pile. I threw some things in the back of 'Old Bessie' and sped off. I have yet to give it close inspection but, I suspect some serious potential in my loot. Including some vintage kitchen gadgets which I have rather a soft spot for.

    So, handcrafted, second hand and now to include - 'things found at the side of the road'!

    Cheers!

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  7. I love your challenge!! Because of you I am spending the next few days making gifts instead of buying them. I don't mind at all, but as one of them is for my ten year old's friend, I had to convince her first. So a lovely denim bag it will be. Thank you so much for your inspiration. I have been wondering though, will you allow yourself to buy new fabrics?

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  8. Country Living, British edition, never disappoint! Well, it's not always totally perfect, but almost always it is.

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  9. lola nova... i can't wait to see those wayside goodies. it just shows it was meant to be :)

    gigibird... that cardi sounds a treat. i am hoping the same 'miss cardie luck' that shined down on you, will shine down on me tonight :)

    melissa, welcome aboard, lovely to have you with us on this challenge of the utmost kind :)

    and sarah! bravo... it's the handcrafted thing for pre teens and teens where one has to really be canny in the thinking. i'm very impressed indeed :)

    and everyone else, thanks for making me smile whilst, drinking my cup of tea and flicking the pages of CL :)

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  10. I totally get the thrifting tickle. Like I just know I will find something fantastic. I even get it for specific stores...Happened today. Found two great baskets for the studio for 75 cents each.

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  11. I've always yearned after a little rowing boat but a nasty incident involving a pedalo on the Isle of Wight has left me with a suspicious dread of all vehicles lacking a motor. Still, I'd brave the oars for a cardi like that one, x

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  12. and sarah, i forgot to answer your question about the fabrics... which is a very good one i might add.
    i don't see myself having to buy new fabrics. the majority of my fabrics are secondhand, and the stash of new that i have in my cupboard is plenty to last me...
    i think and i hope ;)

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  13. oh dear, you are a very bad influence. i may just have to pick up that magazine for all the prettiness. that is, if i can find it ;)!

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  14. Dear Tif...
    Oh the cardi love is just gorgeous...
    Now I just need to get the hook out and start edging all mine...
    only I don't really have that many so a thrifting I must go...
    Thanks for the inspiration...

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  15. I didn't get as far as p.97 yet -I got stuck at p.23 and had to make myself a felted bag like the one the model had! Good luck with your challenge!

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  16. have fun thrifting, good look finding what you're dreaming of.
    as a fellow country living subscriber living in italy i fully understand how you feel! at least you have thrift shops there, not in italy. i have to dream of my next trip back to the uk each time my copy of the magazine arrives.
    have fun!
    nadia
    betweeneachblink.blogspot.com
    shadowsandclouds.blogspot.com

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  17. I found your blog via Little Jenny Wrens blog. I think your challenge is fantastic, just wondering if I could actually manage it?
    Did you turn 41 on September 20? It was my birthday on September 20 and I turned 41. Could we be twins...LOL??

    cheers Kate

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  18. Just wanted to say thank you for throwing down the challenge, and making me feel guilty enough to go public and put my money where my mouth is! I have always modelled my life and house on that Country Living ideal with its seductive warm glow pics - at least it doesn't look shiny and new so it must be compatible with the secondhand life!

    Pomona x

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  19. now
    let me tell you where i am in regards to your challenge....
    i would love to join your merry ranks and indeed have wished it to be so, but what with the need for a new roof,wall cladding, light fittings, bath etc, etc, i felt that i would just be letting the side down.....
    and then of course my eyes and heart have been captivated by the new cardi over at cath kidston.... i knew as soon as my heart missed a beat that my dreams of a thrifty year were in fact doomed....
    i will of course stand and cheer from the sidelines and wish you lots of luck x

    and as for the puppy classes?
    pah
    go thrifting my friend - in my experience - once a naughty pup - always a naughty pup.....
    i lasted two weeks with miss mabel moo and have never been to any with cricket.....
    enough said :)
    many hugs to you
    t x

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  20. Lovely lovely lovely! Is that the US version of CL, or UK?

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  21. Dear Dog School

    Little Olive cannot attend this week as she has moisturizer ingestion problems.

    Olive's Mum

    That should do it ....


    E

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  22. e, that's just the most perfect excuse... genius!!!

    yes it is the UK version, i have to say i find the US version quite different...

    and T, i can only picture you right this moment with your best 'barbara woodhouse' voice on and the doggies ignoring you and continuing to practice their dance moves on the floor ;)

    thanks for the lovely thrifty thoughts everyone :)

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  23. Country Living, British edition - I hold my breath each month for the new one to arrive here in our stores in Cape Town. I have bought every last one since I discovered them 5 years ago. I have not thrown one out, yet.

    What inspiration, what lovliness, what a pleasant afternoon, lazily paging through each and everypage - more than once!

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  24. Oh Country Living Magazine, the goddess of all things paper!
    I have just discovered your blog and have spent the last age pouring over it. It's lovely and looks so beautiful. I adore it!

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  25. I have joined the cause!! Should be interesting?!! I'm a born shopper...just a few habits to break!

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  26. Well impressed with the 365 day challenge. We tend to buy most of our items from boots and charity shops (with the occasional ebay bargain thrown in). So I decided to make it official and give it a go.... You will have a lot to answer too if the New Looks, John Lewis's and Ikeas shares drop over the next 12 months!! Just imagine what it could do to the economy if all the bloggers took on the challenge! I have started working on some items and will post them on my blog Keep up the good work.
    http://jayne-marie.blogspot.com

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