a challenge...

it never occured to me that a new year would bring new challengers but then when does anything obvious occur to me.

my head is in a dream world most of the time...

and so it would seem we have lots of new lovely 'challengers of the utmost kind' added to my sidebar. now i am quite sure there are a few of you lovelies out there going

"but i can't see my name... hey Tif, what's that all about, i've been doing this for a while and i even wrote and told you"

and yes you probably did,

but i hold my hand up and say, please forgive me and my 'inbox skills'.

for i know on occassion a few challengers have perhaps slipped through the net. i can only apologize, tell you i lie awake at night worrying about it and mumble something about having a word with 'little olive' and 'used dog' who are now my admin help. if i have neglected to add you then i ask, please to rewrite me, making sure you give me a link to your blog, that way i can find you easily.

and so i must welcome one and all, because that's the other rather crappy thing i've not done of late, replying to everyone individually, welcoming them on board and all that jazz. quite honestly it's not that i don't care, because i do... i just hope you can understand that time is quite short around mossy shed at the moment.

for those of you that perhaps found me and my challenge through another challenger and have questions of your own, then i hope i have the answers here and here as to why i started my challenge.

i think it most important that anyone interested in joining, understands it is a personal challenge which you can take to what lengths you wish. there are many brave souls amongst my sidebar whose spouses and children have joined in. there are many who have been doing this for years and have liked the idea of being amongst friends and there are many i hope that are having fun doing it... whatever the reasons it may be, i'm thinking them very admirable and i am delighted that so many have been inspired by moi and my nostril hair of the worst kind.

for me the handcrafted secondhand months are rolling by... three and half months into the challenge and i have suffered some moments of "inspirational breakdown".

just starting to get to the point of looking in my closet and sighing...

not really knowing what to put on.

i have dug deeper and found a few 'oldies' that i've donned and felt quite cheered by wearing an old aquaintance for the day.

an example would be the dress i have on in the above picture (taken for bench monday). 'twas a dress my aunt bought me many years back for my birthday when we had been shopping together.

a lovely cotton wrap dress.

it felt nice to find it and to visit that moment in time again.

this past weekend our #3 broke off the kitchen tap sprinkler head. he claims he happened to be the unfortunate victim that touched the tap at just the wrong time... it could have been anyone of us according to him.

i pointed out this could be quite true or in fact it could be, that hitting the top of a sprinkle headed tap with great gusto over and over again, because you are trying to change it from shower to stream is perhaps not the way to do things. needless to say there was a lot of water and a lot of cursing for the next few hours by my man. but instead of seeing it as an opportunity to change out the ugly thing, rushing out to find the kitchen faucet of my dreams. we searched around online, found the replacement piece and did what was best, made do and mended it.

when consulted by my man, whether 10 business days was okay for delivery, i delivered the look that said 2nd day air was probably the best option.

the kitchen fiasco happened on the first night i have been to our local thrifty store since dec 12th. please note dearest readers how i know the exact date i last stepped inside of the store, as though i have counted the minutes of my absence from within it's four walls.

i was most fortunate with my little haul.

a granny knicker pink plastic colander. i like to use these to hold all my tiny scraps for sewing. one contains lace scraps, the other bits of fabric. nothing goes to waste that way and i can also see what i have to hand.

a lovely sludgy greeny pyrex bowl, perfect for holding fruit, along with a mat... there was actually a whole set of these mats available but i couldn't think for the life of me why i would need 8 of them. so i bought one, imagining it as a center piece mat

and last but by no means least, the most 'catch your breath' quilted retro bedspread.

the possibilities for this beauty is endless. over a couch, a picnic blanket, over our bed... i'm really rather dizzy with the thought of where it will go. at the moment it sits in my studio awaiting it's moment to shine...

so there we have it, a little round up of the challenge... a few thrifty thoughts and with that i am away to Miss Ethel, whom i'm pleased to report, has done a sterling job this morning.

i have much to tell you over the coming few days. such gripping, ney thrilling subjects as crochet, laundry, sewing, making over a cupboard and other tremendously exciting world changing topics.

she is thinking does it get any better than that ~ Tif