unplugging...

i have so many things i wish to say.

but alas time has beaten me to it...

i leave for old blighty on tuesday,

Our #1 and my man staying behind to hold the fort.

i am tres excited to be going home,

but also a little nervous this time around.

for this time around i cross the pond as

a 'challenger of the utmost' kind!

and if ever there is a time when Mr Temptation will sit upon my shoulder

whispering 'tempting thoughts' in my ear

then this will be it.

but before i unplug, i wished to let you know,

without you, my dearest readers,

my little blog and my crafting would not be what it is.

once again i find myself thinking how fortunate i have been

to have your encouragment in all that i do.

you make me whole in a way i cannot explain

and for that i am thanking you kindly.

on my return in mid August,

i have an amazing adventure waiting for me and dottie angel

and i hope with all my heart,

you will come along with me on the journey

but for now

i have a happy cluster to share with you,

just to tide us over until we meet again...

i found several paper lanterns at the thrift store a few weeks back,

similar to these ones, the colors of mine were tres bright.

i hung them outside for a week or so, undercover so as not to get wet.

when faded to a perfectly perfect vintagey color

i bought them in, and pinned them into the ceiling,

next i spent a happy half hour adding little kite tales using my 'sprightly spring' scraps.

and voila! a lovely cluster of happy vintage looking lanterns,

simple but pretty,

with the ability to

make a corner of one's home feel most happy and summery indeed...

my happy lanterns are hanging above Miss Ethel,

i placed them there so she may feel loved whilst i am away.

knowing that i am thinking about her on my travels

and looking forward to spending quality time with her again soon.

she is wishing you all a peachy and perhaps a little silly month and will be back rambling on monday August 23rd ~ Tif x

silly in the city...

i was distracted this morning by a moth

whilst choosing my appropriate attire for our 'two thirds of a family trip' into Seattle.

i am quite sure i am not the only one to feel faint at the sight of a moth fluttering out of one's summer frocks.

i know he has a brother, a sister and several cousins enjoying the party too.

at the time of the sighting

i was unable to delve deeper into my closet to break the party up,

therefore i chose a frock

and pretended the whole unnerving event never happened.

i told myself better to be in denial,

for a moth is not a welcome house guest to a crafter...

all of this unnerving took time away from me looking in the mirror,

if i had done so, i may well have been aware that my knees were showing.

my knees rarely see the light of day,

but today my silly knees did and as it turns out my knees fitted the occasion pefectly.

for indeed we spent four hours in Seattle being rather silly

and on our return we remarked on just how lovely it is to sometimes take timeout to be

a little silly in the city...

she is wishing you a lovely weekend full of silliness ~ Tif

time to let go...

Our #1 arrives back at the shed late tonight,

she cut her vacation short so we could have a few extra peachy days together.

i am tres excited to know i have been given five extra days of us living together at mossy shed.

on friday she is taking me out to see 'her seattle',

from taking the bus into the city,

to the places she likes to visit

i will see it through her eyes.

before she left for the east coast over a week ago

we thrift store frequented like never before.

going to all our favorite ones,

reminiscing about our besty best finds

and both agreeing that thrifting will never be quite the same

without our thrifty buddy by our sides.

as i am tippity tapping this, she has just called from the airport,

waiting for her flight to say

"i have had such good luck mum and i had to call and tell you.

first i found $3 on the ground,

then everyone was really stressed out at the airport desk,

so i told the man not to worry i would come back with my question later.

but he said go ahead, so i asked him if i could change my middle seat out

and he said yes, as i asked so nicely.

then just now i was sitting on the floor reading

and a nice lady comes up and offers me her coupon for a free salad

as she was not going to use it!

so you see, i had to call and tell you mum,

because you are right after all,

i do have good luck, i just have to look for it every now and then.

anyhow got to go, catching my flight soon, i love you"

and i know it will be the same,

when she lives on one continent and i on another.

she will still be wanting to share things with me,

tell me regular everyday stuff.

it may take a little bit of creativity due to time differences

and her college life

but it will be okay in the end...

and the silver lining that keeps the clouds away,

ten years on from leaving old blighty and my family,

i am sending back a piece of me in the way of Our #1

she is thinking as any mother would, it is a wonderful gift to give ~ Tif

sorted...

"look on the bright side mum"

Our #4 said upon leaving the doctors office this morning after what appeared to be the longest wait in all my waiting history to date.

"it could have been a whole lot worse, it could have been my leg, now imagine getting on an airplane with a broken leg?" he smiled

after which he proceeded to sing 'always look on the bright side of life' from monty python all the way home.

and indeed, on thinking about his bright side of things, i see we are most fortunate to be heading to old blighty with only his right hand in a cast.

she thinks it quite obvious why she rarely asks to take her child's photo ~ Tif

thwarted by a thumb...

i had grand plans today to spend a little quality time with Miss Ethel

and then to pop on over here so i may tell about my lovely saturday morning.

but alas as per usual, my plans have been thwarted.

yes indeedy,

Thwarted with a capital 'T'

i am without doubt, you just sucked in your breath and let it go slowly,

your clans within your own nests turning to enquire as to what could have caused such a sharp intake of breath.

to which you reply

"must be big, must be something going down in mossy shed, for Tif has not only used the word thwarted but she has capitalized it!"

yes indeed dearest readers, a sharp intake of breath

and slight faintness at my capital 'T' did not go amiss in mossy shed.

let me enlighten you to the fact

i have been thwarted in my plans to stitch up a storm with Miss Ethel,

by a broken right thumb...

before you perhaps become too distraught on my behalf,

i must tell you, the thumb in question does not belong to moi.

the thumb that has thwarted my studio time

belongs to none other than Our #4.

the terrible mishap to befall his thumb happened late last night,

in the dark,

playing soccer in the back yard,

as boys are apt to do on long summer evenings.

earlier today he mentioned that perhaps his thumb was not behaving as it should.

on close inspection i felt a little queasy and i must confess a little guilty.

a trip to the doctors confirmed his thumb will be out of action for quite some time

i have rustled around in the kitchen drawer for my florence nightingale hat,

which is quite good really as i have had no chance to wash my hair

and voila! i now have the perfect disguise for my lanky locks.

i think right there, we can see every cloud does indeed have a silver lining.

and as if that silver lining were not enough to make me get over my thwarted 'fling' with Miss Ethel, i have another to think about...

all the waiting in various waiting rooms

which will continue tomorrow when we see the specialist

and not to mention

the sitting by his side in my florence hat making well meaning conversation,

fetching and carrying when needed

means i get to spend quality time with Mr Hook.

of course, as i tippity tap all my positive silver linings to what is quite a crappity crap turn of events for Our #4

a thought has suddenly dawned on me.

how on earth in the coming weeks, will he be able to keep his toenails squeaky clean with his newly found bookmark cleaning skills when his 'doing hand' is out of action?

she is off to study the small print in her florence nightingale contract ~ Tif

be careful Tif...

yes indeedy dearest readers,

all day yesterday the wise words of someone from long ago were going round and round my little head...

"be careful what you wish for Tif"

now i am quite sure when that wise person made up their wise saying,

they did not actually add the 'Tif' bit at the end.

but the little voice inside my head that would not switch off,

felt it most necessary to add the 'Tif' bit.

i am quite sure you are all wishing to know why i am being subjected to such wisdom from my inner voice?

if you are not, do you mind pretending you are, because then i will feel so much better about continuing to ramble on with my thrilling tale of 'be careful Tif'

over the past few weeks, ney months, i think it would be true to say

i have been a bit of 'whinger' about the lack of sunlight over mossy shed.

i think i contained my growing unrest with Mr Spring and Mr Summer quite well upon my shiny place...

but around the shed and in my head

(oh! i do like that little line, around the shed and in my head. i think such a line has great potential)

so around the shed and in my head

i was voicing some wicked thoughts in the direction of 'lacking Mr Spring' and 'missing in action Mr Summer'.

i went to bed nightly and along with my 'repeat after me' high hopes plan

i also sent out a silent little wish for summer to begin,

to lift the cloud of dull and dreary that was now the norm around the shed.

this week, on wednesday my wish was finally granted.

Mr Summer in all his glory shone around,

blue skies up above, not a cloud in view

there was a warmth in my shed and my head

(a line with potential to be used again and again is a line worth knowing)

however by thursday,

two days into Mr Summer shining down on moi,

the little voice from within was nagging,

ney mocking,

my perspiring body,

my lanky, dripping hair,

swollen ankles

and thumping head.

"be careful what you wish for Tif"

as i sat on the sidelines dripping whilst watching Our #4 play soccer

i thought how fortunate i was not to be the one having to run around kicking a ball,

indeed i am trying to think the last time i ran around and kicked a ball.

i have gasped a gasp!

have i ever run around and kicked a ball in my 41 years.

this is most bothersome,

most concerning i cannot recall ever kicking a ball.

if it were not so hot i would rectify the matter straight away.

leaving you pronto and heading into the yard,

donned in my thrift store cotton 'dress turned nightie' and clogs to kick a ball

so i can then put my hand up high and say proudly

"yes! i Tif, have run around and kicked a ball"

but alas it is not be,

for i am already past any kind of activity involving balls and running today.

but i have digressed,

and when i look at the above penned words

i see the sun has 'touched me' in more ways than one...

indeed my little head is a bit 'doolally' today.

what i have been trying to say is,

i have learnt my lesson when it coming to 'wishing'.

for it is most important when wishing

to mention the details.

i now see the 'small print' in a wish, is worth noting.

in failing to add the 'small print' to my wish

i am not enjoying a balmy 70 to 80 degrees as i had longed for,

instead i have been landed with 100 degrees or so.

on mentioning this to Mr Summer as i lay awake last night trying to breath surrounded by his sticky closeness,

he pointed out quite wisely, that i had failed to give enough detail in my wish

and therefore i had no claims on his return policy.

there is nothing for it but to

swan around the shed in my thrifted cotton nightie this morning

until the heat becomes beyond what my little british body can tolerate

then i shall lay upon the wood floor with used dog and little olive,

a piece of paper with scrawly writing laid across my chest saying

"out of action until further notice"

she is wishing you a peachy weekend of perfect temps ~ Tif

a couple of notes...

note number one:

i noted upon Our #4's return to the shed that a rather iffy 'whiff' returned with him.

this did not surprise me in anyway.

a boy of 12 at summer camp for a whole 8 days should indeed return home with a 'cloud of pigpen' following behind.

his 'whiff' told me he had the best time there was to have...

it also told me to tell him

"okay, much as i have missed you, i cannot talk nor look at you, until you have been in the bath"

a few minutes later he emerged, sparkling in some places and not so in others.

i noted his hair had not seen the shampoo

and when i glanced down, i visibly gasped at his toenails.

"never in all my born days have i seen so much yuck crammed under ten toenails, seriously could you not have sorted them in the bath?"

"nope" he replied, seeing nothing wrong with the thick brown line of crud under each of his ten toenails "we don't have a nail brush"

"not true" said i "it is somewhere lurking in the bathroom and i suggest buddy you find it pronto".

two days later,

Our #4 and myself are sitting in traffic on our way to soccer practice.

he turns to me, with 'thee' smile upon his face,

you know the smile that melts a mother's heart and

yet she knows what follows is not always what she wishes to hear.

"so i cleaned my toenails like you said" he beamed

"ahh, so you found the nail brush then?" i asked foolishly

"oh no, i used a bookmark i found, not my favorite one which is my green eggs and ham one. no i used the one ma and pa gave me for Christmas... it worked a treat" he beamed even more 'beamier' than before.

i left it there, for indeed he had made what was for me a tough day, melt away...

i was filled with warmt for my child, for all the little funny things he has done over the years.

reminding me once again, on a day when i had 'lost my rag' several times, why i am most fortunate to be a mother.

i did not wish to enquire where he was when he unearthed the goings on from under his toenails.

i decided somethings are much better left unknown

note number 2:

for reasons i cannot say at this momento,

i am working on getting a few action shots of moi in the shed...

this is not easy for me, for i am a cousin of flat stanley and cannot for the life of me pretend like the camera isn't there.

i become completely rigid and board like.

yesterday with the help of Carlos my camera and Our #3 we attempted some action shots within the shed...

i am not going to tell you how many photos we took, let me just say,

a digital camera is a marvelous thing.

in the end after the day was nearly done,

we had two action shots to show for our efforts.

Our #1 remarked whilst packing her case

"oh yes, this is a perfect 'vertigo' action shot, there you are one leg up and clutching your crochet to keep upright" with a twinkle in her eye.

then Debbie, my soul sister in old blighty pointed out that i may need to be a little less actiony for fear of someone seeing my leg and asking me to join the team GB and train for the next Olympics...

i am thinking this is why sometimes i prefer the company of ones that do not offer up advice even if i ask for it

she is delighted to report after a crappity crap start, Mr Summer is doing what he does best today ~ Tif