glorious gladys popping open...

!! hurrah hooray !!

it will be a most marvelous two days

filled with

knick knacks

(paddy whacks)

(are we allowed paddy whacks anymore?!)

forsaken souls

(looking for forever homes)

linens galore

(and more)

handmade goodness

(dottie angel style)

granny chic furniture

(perfectly suited for grannies and granny chic likers very muchlies)

china and collectibles

(sets, and odds and ends)

and of course

Our Gladys

(looking for the next adventure in her airstream life)

if you know of folks near and far

who might be interested in

Glorious Gladys popping open.

please do share freely!

alas and alack

my city will not allow

 Gladys' sandwich boards

on the main road

at the bottom of our hill.

within moments of spotting them,

they whisk them away

back to their city lair.

thus no passing traffic 

will ever know

she has popped open her doors

and the treasures

which can be found within

so this time around,

i must rely on 

myself and others

shouting loud

and shouting proud

for 

Glorious Gladys

and her 

popping up days!!

thanking you muchly

Tif :)

gloriously gleaming gladys...

on sunday, we tackled Gladys outers, when i say 'we' i should really say 'he', for it was my man who tackled Gladys' outers whilst i made him a cup of tea and shouted ever so helpful words of wisdom on how to tackle the job, above the din of the power washer. upon finishing, Glorious Gladys was gleaming, i was beaming and my man, well he was realming. how marvelous was that last bit! gosh the old dusty rusty blogging cogs have still got a few miles left in them. some may say, "hang on a wee mo, Tif. there is no such word as realming" and yes they may be quite correcto and yes, they may have Darren Dictionary on their side to prove it. however from where i could see him, balanced upon the top of our Gladys, he was most definitely realming, whilst i was positively beaming and she was gloriously gleaming.

on monday, i set myself the task of tackling Gladys' inners. i was full of 'gun-ho' when i started, an hour later i was full of procrastination and overwhelming-ness. having snozzled up the dust and odd cobweb, shifted some forsaken souls from one end to the other, removed the christmas tree (oh shame of shames) i had mislaid my 'gun-ho' attitude somewhere amongst the piles. i looked for at least all of 4 mins and 23 seconds before concluding monday was not the day to tackle all of Gladys' inners, but instead to pace myself, carefully throughout the week. a brilliant cunning plan i thought to myself, closing up her door and heading back indoors. upon where i wished to reach for the kettle and make myself a cup of yorkshire tea with milk and sugar, alongside of two lovely chocolate half sided biscuits. but no, no that was not allowed, instead having not tasted a cup of tea for over 3 months i reached for a glass of coconut water. instead of digesting the most delicious choccie biccies in the world i reached for the tub of almonds floating around in some water in our fridge. as i stood there, glazed over, pondering and plotting my next moves, alternating a sip of coconut water with an inflated, water logged almond i struggled to keep thoughts of tea and chocolate at bay with thoughts of Gladys and her next journey in life.

i needed her ship shape and ready for her end of summer sale, a grand sale of vintage and handmade goodness, i needed to stay on track for this, thoughts of tea and chocolate were clouding my vision, whispering in my ear, tempting me with their deliciously warming goodness. no be strong Tif, for one weak wonderful choccy dairy filled moment will cause you many moments of crappity crap regret. 

yes ship shape and ready not only for an end of summer sale but to be ship shape for her next adventure. it is hard to believe after 5 years of looking at her beautiful curvaceous-ness every single day, she is now looking for a new home. as i tippity tap this, there's a lump in my throat, is it because i am saying goodbye to a dream, is it because i am letting an old friend go, or is it because the same old suburban setting has stifled me yet again. sometimes, you have to let go of one dream to make space for another, sometimes you don't even know if that dream you are trying to make space for, will ever come true but in the old words of an old song from my teenage years 

"you've got to have a dream, 

cause if you don't have a dream, 

how you gonna have a dream come true" 

i have to keep on dreaming and i have to keep on believing, if i am ever going to keep on surviving these years misplaced in suburbia...

monday moments...

planning ahead for winter...

many many moons ago

i made a grande market sack

many many moons on,

my grande market sack

has seen many pottles out and about

and is starting to look

a little bedraggled

so yesterday,

i had an itching to start stitching,

my cogs being a little rusty

and Miss Ethel

being a little dusty,

we decided upon

the thrilling task 

of making a new grande market sack.

and as the nights will be drawing in soon,

we also decided upon

making it suitable for winter togs.

i went about

patching and piecing 

old linens 

and my precious woven ribbons 

to a tapestry floral piece,

i cut from a pillow cover

i had made earlier in the year

as i was in winter frame of mind,

i threw caution to the wind

and snippity snipped into my last remaining 

barkcloth curtain, 

for the back and the handles.

now the handles i am most happy with.

on my summer market sack

they came about by accident,

(see way way up above in second picture)

i had made tres wide straps

thinking them most suited to my shoulder.

however upon 'trying them out'

i discovered they were not at all

what my shoulders required

and because the whole bag was already complete,

and there was no way

no how

 i was unpicking things.

i folded them in half and stitched them down.

making for a narrower, thicker strap

and a pleasing flat area 

where they joined the bag

this time around,

i choose to do the same

and i noted upon doing so,

the thickness of the barkcloth

made for a most pleasing handle

with extra cushioning

for my shoulders

should i aim

to fill my bag to the brim

my winter grande market sack

is lined with the reverse side

of a black floral quilting fabric, 

(as i like it muchly better than the front)

and although the patchwork

is a little squiffy

i am most delighted with the results

it is a tres grande sack for sure

measuring in at a whooping

19" x 22" 

(handles not included)

so i have no doubt,

when the nights draw in

and the temps start to drop

and winter wardrobe mode begins,

this little sweetie

who really is a big sweetie indeedy

will become my besty best friend

dabbling some days, others not...

after what has been forever and a day, i have started a new crochet project. hip hip, hooray! armed with my most delightful bunch of yarny goodness from here, i set forth around about a week ago and a little bit with creating a blanket. as per my usual way of crocheting, i favour squares and rectangles and easy peasy. i pondered many different options for my blanket and in the end, i came full circle and revisited my 'ordinarily extraordinary' blanket from yonks ago.

you know, i rarely have interest in things such as how many folks are reading this, or who visits my little ramblings etc. its just not something which is me. however even i would have to have been living under a rock for years not to have noticed the one page on my blog which is visited the most and when i say most, i say a whole lot of mostly, and that little mostly page, would be my 'ordinarily extraordinary' blanket page. how marvelous to think a simple patchwork blanket with a natty join, could make so many happy in their crocheting adventures.

well i do not mind admitting in the least, i am a little rusty with the whole 'natty' join bit which produces a rather pleasing eyelet design and more to the point, a rather pleasing, no tails to thread in afterwards thingy-me-bob design. which is why i did it in the first place.

so armed with my new yarn balls of brilliant colours i not only will be joining the sides with the eyelet spiffy natty joining thing (that's if i can understand my own instructions due to rusty cogs on how its done) but i have decided to throw caution to the crocheting wind and when i change from colour to colour, not join at the end of the square but join mid square due to not wishing to bother with weaving in those tails either. gasp, shock and a little bit of horror. i know! a rebel in the making

i learnt this way via a very nice dearie on YouTube, i believe it is called a 'russian join' and you just have to put in something like "how to join yarn together without a knot in crochet" and up she will pop. you will know it is her for you will have to watch it several times because to start with, you watch it once and then realize you didn't pay any attention to how to join your yarns together because you were so fascinated in watching her long nails and marveling at how she can do anything with such nails, let alone join two pieces of yarn together without a knot! 

my basket of yarn and growing crochet has me most happy, such is my enjoyment, i take it up to bed with me and place it where i can see it as i drift off at night. only to awaken the next morning, fresh as a daisy (i so wish that were true) and pick up my bundle of crocheting goodness and carry it back downstairs for another thrilling day in mossy shed. some days we do not get to dabble but others, dabble we do

of course there is a nagging voice, always always a nagging voice. questioning my colours, the placement of them, the odd looking join mid row with the clever russian knot loopy thingy and making me doubt this 'ordinarily extraordinary' blanket will ever end up on our settee this winter and more than likely end up on the racks of despair for some thrifty fellow to pick up, take a look-see and then replace, tutting and shaking their head...

"begone little naggy voice, begone i say", reaching for my rose coloured specs

waiting patiently...

when i had the good fortune 

to meet this little forsaken soul

i noted 

he looked a little sad

and somewhat bewildered

i said 

"little forsaken soul, 

do not be sad,

nor bewildered, 

tell me your woes, 

for a woe shared 

is a woe halved"

after which 

we had a cup of tea.

me, fruity herbal,

him, earl gray 

(with a dash of something stronger)

then we spent a 

happy half hour

in my studio,

rustling and bustling around

until we found just the thing

i noted

upon admiring his 

new natty little outfit.

"surely no bear

out there,

could possible resist

a handsome fellow

such as yourself

in a doily string vest

and paper corsage"

to which

my fine fellow of a forsaken soul,

smiled

feeling quietly confident

his 'forever and a day' love

will be found

some day soon.

and bewilderment
and sadness

will be a thing of the past...

till then,

he will patiently wait

in his string vest,

for true love

to come a calling

magical baja

just a smidgen of our many moments altogether again in magical baja, 

for 10 peachy whole days ...

celebrating my man's birthday, 23 years of saying 'i do' and being a clan again