a big day...

hurrah hooray! i cannot believe we are already at the official book launch day... it has been a whole year since Janine, Glen and little Finley came to stay at Mossy Shed and now they are back in Seattle for our book launch.

in a matter of hours i will be catching the bus to the big city, where upon i will meet up with Janine and her little clan, and the lovely Lola Nova, my most fine and dandy buddy from Portland. she is in my 'nice folks' section of the book because quite frankly she is very nice to know.

then together we will sally forth to The Assemble Gallery and have a spiffy old time of things this evening. 

i think today would be a most fitting time for me to say perhaps the biggest "thanking your kindly" i have ever needed to say...

from the lovely peachy comments here, to the incredible amount of fabby mails in my inbox, to the twittering words tweeted, to the kind facebook messages, i have truly been overwhelmed by the response to the book. i feel most humbled to know so many folks have found the book to be inspiring, unique and totally dottie angel.

these past weeks for my family across the pond, well, it has been a crappity crap few weeks filled with emotions and sadness, and there are many more to come. so late last night into the wee early hours my man and i sat, and we talked and we talked with heavy hearts and heavy heads. he then told me, "no matter what Tif, tomorrow is your day, it is your moment and nothing will overshadow this, you have waited patiently for half a lifetime to have a little moment to shine and you deserve it."

and so dearest readers, i shall do just as he says, i will take 'my day', i will wear my cloggy sandals with pride as i step on the bus, 'little lucky bunny' safely tucked in my bag and head to meet my friends and my lovely blog readers to share this moment with them...

and i wish to share with you also, for those that cannot be here, be it my family across the pond, my lovely girls so far away and you, my dearest readers. thank you kindly for making me feel like i have inspired you to be a little crafty, to look at your stash piles of yarny fabric goodness and to feel itching to get stitching, for if that is one thing i am proud of, is knowing others too have become as addicted to crafting as me due to my little book and this here little blog i like to call home...

yes, today more than any other day, she is truly thanking you kindly, each and every one of you...

Tif 

big things and little strings...

last week all became a little tricky dicky 

and so on friday i went to spend quality time with

my adopted auntie

at her little gray cottage by a babbling brook

where we spent many happy moments

stringing little strings of happy

whilst Miss Mina looked on 

i think it quite true to say,

one of the besty best things to have happened to me of late is adopting my auntie.

i would highly recommend it...

she is delighted to say, the mountain has become a mole hill and she is nearly at the top ~ Tif 

signs...

there are signs all over the shed that Our #1 has been back living here for a few weeks. funny how you get use to someone not being around and then within moments of them being back you realize it is the silly things you have missed the most...

tomorrow Our #2 moves to the East Coast and next tuesday Our #1 heads back across the pond to old blighty. the weeks have rushed on by and now i find myself feeling just like i did this time last year. a little lost, a little piece of me missing (two pieces this time) and just like last year, i will count my blessings and i know it will be okay.

she is messing around with jars from her fridge again ~ Tif

planes, trains, automobiles and pom poms...

it is always a toss up between yarn and undies, this year just like every year the dilemma of what i require for a month on the road 'attire wise' and what i require for 'sanity wise' is a little tricky with one bag allowance. and just like every other year, the yarn will win out, for this time i have pom poms on my crafty mind.

ever since i saw the picture of Erica and Lauren's pom pom garlands in the first issue of Mollie Makes i have been smitten by thoughts of pom poms. however it was not until last week when the peachy Allie Jane and i were in convo it dawned on me they would be the perfect traveling craft. how easy peasy to carry around on trains, planes and automobiles. this dawning has now resulted in my crafty snug upstairs being strewn with yarn and pom poms. for myself and Our #4 had no self control and we foolishly thought, maybe we could just make one, you know, just to see how it all works and then pack it away and save it for our hols.

yes well, with the pants weather this weekend, it was rainy day recess at the shed and why waste our indoor hours on packing undies, cleaning a shed, writing lists for clan members left behind, when pom poms were calling our names. i am mighty impressed with Our #4's brilliant pom pom making skills. i confess i was doubting he was up to the task, which is really quite rotten of me. however by the second pom pom, he had over taken me in pom pom making abilities and it was full steam ahead. at the end of our pom pom fest we counted over 40 lovely bejeweled yarny balls of fluff. we have many, many more to make and i am delighted to report my pom pom making companion is up to the task. despite the mocking from his older siblings about being seen in public aged 13 with his mother, pom pom making together. he is willing to ride above it all, for he is addicted, truly addicted. as we sat at dinner last night in the Indian Restaurant, our final family dinner for a while altogether. he turned to me and said "i wish i had brought the pom pom maker with me". my crafty mother's heart quickened to hear such words.

whilst travelling this summer i will not only be pom pom making but also proof reading my book, this is tres extreme exciting for me. i mean, how often does one have a chance to do such a thing. i have a visual of sitting in the train carriage, pencil poised for action and my book pages laid out in front of me. i think i would like a packet of Walkers crisps to help me along and obviously a seat with a table in-front of it and in one of the less noisy carriages, yes that would be grand and whilst the little scenario plays out in my head, the little voice is saying "blimey Tif, it will be a surreal moment indeed"

after our travels of a small island we finish up this year's homeward bound trip in Amsterdam, i am pretty giddy about this, not only to show my boys a really wonderful city but also meeting up with my long time cyber buddies Ingrid and Jane where upon we will spend a day and a night together. to think after years of cyber friendship we will actually be sitting together in person chatting about this and that, gosh it is quite a thought indeed.

yes this summer is looking good, getting to spend time with Our #1 and even better still, she will be coming home for a few weeks in August, so she can see her sister. i am thinking a road trip to Portland will be in order, actually i am thinking we may aim bigger and further a field, i may suggest the three of us drive to San Francisco. yes, that just shows how keen i am on this summer... willing to throw away my fear of freeway and city driving.

for a few weeks i will have my girls back together again before Our #1 returns to her studies in England and Our#2 flies the nest to study on the East Coast of US.

so there we have it. tomorrow, me, my yarn and a few pairs of undies will be heading home, but before i shut up shop i must just say how kind you all have been to me. once again, just like every summer i am left marveling at how generous and kind folks are. you take time out of your days to come visit, you leave me lovely comments, always are most nice about my crafty moments, spend your well earned monies in my little store and send me wonderful emails sharing your lives with me. truly you are beyond kindness... truth be told it's been a little busy around these parts, things i cannot always share until the right moment, however i hope you all realize you brighten my days, day after day and without you doing so, i would not be sitting on a train, proof reading a book or making pom pom garlands to decorate a book launch. no sirree, i owe it all to you...

she is truly thanking you most kindly and wishing you all a spiffily and 'tufty squirrel safe' summer ~ Tif

rebellion in the shed...

its a little nutso at the shed, more so than usual. on Monday the green carpet of 30 years living upstairs, is being replaced by a beige carpet of 10 years with interesting self patterning courtesy of my lovely friend Maggi

on Wednesday evening, my man and i started the job of emptying three bedrooms worth of stuff and hauling it into the bonus room. Our #4 (newly aged 13) sat amongst his dwindling possessions, whilst nursing his broken toe acquired less than four hours before.

"why is everything we own look like it belonged to a granny, even the carpet we are getting is old and granny like?" he had a point, it does have a 'granny like' quality about it now i have inspected it closer, which of course i am delighted about.

he continued "every room we have is filled with old stuff, why don't we ever have gleaming new modern things?"

i looked around his room and noted he has an ikea bookcase and desk in white. the only thing remotely vintage in my mind within his four walls at that moment, was me, my man and an old pine chest of drawers loitering with intent to hold his clothes, however they have never made it that far.

i always saw ikea furniture as modern and new and i was now seeing a 'doubter' in my son.

gosh, he was my one who loved a thrifty hunt amongst the shelves of despair, finding great enjoyment with the crappity crap that lay before him. i chose to put it down to his broken toe, turning 13 and the black cloud above him talking. a rare thing indeed, for black clouds do not hangout over his head, in fact this maybe the first black cloud i have ever seen venture to do such a thing.

yesterday evening i voiced a need to go thrifting (two times in one day!), i am on a mission for materials and as is always the way, you can never find what you are looking for, only what you did not know you needed, like a cheap print of flowers in an iffy frame.

still i was going to give it a go.

"can i come?" he pipes up, which immediately made me suspect he had homework to do.

"how will you manage with your toe?" i ask

"i'll hobble around"

so i went 'a thrifting' this time with my pins of paleness and a companion hobbling. i found a forsaken little soul and he found a brilliant red Adidas jacket with LONDON appliquéd on the back and the skyline (including Big Ben) across the chest. it was in 'top notch' nick and a bobby bargain to boot. he was delighted and so was i.

ah yes, for second hand gods had intervened and his doubting ways were gone. just because something is second hand does not mean it has to be old or granny like. perfectly new looking goodness can be found too, he just needed a little reminder

someone who does not need reminding is Little Olive, who after a day of play yesterday, spent the evening wisely 'swaddled' in her home of secondhand goodness

she is most happy with the transformation of her secondhand, 'slightly kitsch' picture find of yesterday ~ Tif

a 'stumble of the utmost kind'...

isn't that just the dandiest thing about thrifting,

you just never ever know what might find you.

truth be told it was total crappity crap at the thrift store last night.

shelf after shelf

rack after rack

and

rail after rail

filled to the brim with crappity crap.

however as is often the way,

just when you think your chances of finding 'a find worth finding' are done for,

a little face peeks out from amongst

the forsaken and the forgotten

not just any ordinary face but quite an extraordinary face,

actually i might just go as far as to call this face 'exotic'.

yes i will.

for as i exclaimed to my mother last night, upon discovery of this little face,

and today also to you, dearest readers

"well in all my born days i have never seen such a extraordinary forsaken soul!"

she is in terribly good nick considering she has had several children

and an itty bitty baby

but best of all

she is also most handy dandy

surely, surely i am not alone in exclaiming at her exotic writing abilities.

and that is why i like the thrift store,

why indeed i am an addict,

for until yesterday i had never ever seen such a peachy nesting doll

and even more so,

until yesterday i had never ever realized

i was in need of a peachy nesting doll with handy dandy built-in blue pencil

(obviously designed for special occasion writing)

but now i do!

and that for me,

is the wonder of a 'stumble of the utmost kind'...

a 'thrifty stumble'

she is giddy with the lovely 'shout out' from Victoria and is wishing you all perhaps a nice bit of stumbling of your own this weekend, most definitely not a traumatic stumbling, no sirree! for we do not like those kinds ~ TIF

18...

gosh and just like that another clan member reaches the grand age of 18. the sun decided to shine all day and it was a lovely day to stop and take time out to spend quality family time together and let Our #2 feel most special for her big day. my folks flew from across the pond to join in with our celebrations and i am quite pleased with myself for i only did one silly thing and that silly thing was whilst drifting off last night. yes dearest readers, i dared to count the days before she too cuts the apron strings and moves to pastures new on the East Coast.

how can it be it feels only like yesterday she was born and yet here we are 18 years on with only 13 weeks left of her in our nest?

she is thinking it is only 10 days until she becomes a mother of 4 teenagers ~ Tif

vintage fabric heaven and Caravan...

i must confess to being distracted over the past few days by my little office space.

no longer Our #1's bedroom,

no longer a catch-all for my crappity crap

no longer with mauve walls to do my head in.

things are coming along a peachy treat and as i tippity type this little post in the corner of my new office space (gosh that does sound terribly businessy busy like doesn't it!) i am looking at freshly painted walls, old frames spiffied up, a nicely made bed in one corner for when Our #1 visits and in t'other corner, a place to house all my collection of lovely things to do with dottie angel stuff.

i will be sure to show you more but first shall we carry on with the thrilling adventures of Tif, Debbie, Lou Dearie and Our #1 in the big smoke? after all it is a day which will be forever etched on my little brain...

after our pottle around Spitalfields Market, Lou Dearie took us to 'vintage fabric heaven'.

now perhaps i need to tell a little tale within this tale for you to truly appreciate this moment. when the lovely Lou turned up in Seattle last September, she bought with her a suitcase full of vintage and retro fabric goodness, the likes of which i have never set eyes upon before. when she opened the lid to her case i can only liken it to the moment a lid is lifted off hidden buried treasure and a glorious light shines from within and angels chorus all around. well that was Lou's suitcase and as she lifted out the most wonderful bark cloth curtain with perfectly peachy rose clusters upon it, 13 dearies and myself gasped 'thee gasp'. after which Lou told me of a place, a place so splendid in it's retro vintage glory fabric goodness that she just knew i would think it was the closest thing to fabric heaven this side of the pearly gates.

roll on several months and here i was in London with my lovely day trip companions and embarking on what was to become one of my top ten all time besty best days ever. first Spitalfields Market and now a trip to vintage fabric heaven.

i have no idea where vintage fabric heaven is, Debbie and I dutifully followed Lou Dearie as she weaved through the side streets of London, Our #1 choosing to catch up with us later as she wished to check out the vintage stores along the way.

what can i say dearest readers, Lou did not disappoint. vintage fabric heaven was in a little side street, in a little shop crammed to the ceiling with piles of secondhand fabrics. all clean and folded and treated as they should be. sorted into piles of 'likeness'...

drawers overspilling with doilies and lace, granny blankets in a rainbow of colors, retro curtains and bark cloth yardage, all of which brought tears to my eyes.

we left vintage heaven with my purse a lot lighter and our hands a lot fuller...

feeling a little faint from two peachy ports of call and knowing we still had one port left to go, we found a lovely cafe to recharge our batteries and for me to yabber on and on about what we had seen and done whilst everyone else ate their lunch.

after which Lou had to leave, so we said our 'fare thee wells' and the three of us continued on our journey. our final port of call being the world of Emily Chalmers, Caravan. stepping off the street into Emily's shop was like stepping into a little imaginary world, Emily's lovely world. if you ever get a chance to visit then do so, for it is beautiful and interesting and quirky, just like Emily herself.

Emily was waiting for us, looking perfectly peachy whilst we looked windswept and bedraggled from our day out in blustery London, but such details did not matter, no sirree, what mattered was the wonderful couple of hours spent sitting and nattering over a cup of tea in Emily's room above the shop, marvelling over my vintage fabric haul, 'ooohing and ahhhing' over Emily's lovely collections and spending quality time together.

before we left the wonderful world of Caravan, Emily and myself had our photo taken by Leonard and he did a pretty good job considering the awe of the moment he needed to record. you will be able to see the results of the photo in my 'dottie angel' book alongside of Emily's lovely foreword she so kindly wrote for me.

and then we were on our way, off to catch a late train home to the suburbs. as we sat amongst other train travellers eating our M&S sandwiches and munching our crisps, i could but only marvel at how fortunate i was to be able to share this incredible day in my life with my soul sister and my eldest daughter.

knowing when i am old and grey, with perhaps a few marbles missing, i will be sure to tell the tale of this day to any passing random strangers who happen to pass by my granny chair in my old folks home. recalling the day i got to visit SpitalFields Market, Vintage Fabric Heaven and Emily Chalmer's peachy Caravan World many many moons ago. and when those passerbys doubt my 'tale' i will merely nod in the direction of the granny chair next to me and say

"if you do not believe me, then ask my soul sister, for she was there too..."

and we will smile the knowing smile that only soul sisters can smile who share a lifetime of memories

she is happily playing with her little forsaken souls and hopes to have results of said playing in the shop soon ~ Tif

footynote: upon my return to the shed i have noted gremlins are playing around with my shiny place, hence the lovely wide spacing between the sentences and other such mischief :)

homeward bound...

"well that's that then"

i announced to my man in early january as he arrived home late from work to survey the leftovers on the table from our chinese takeout.

"what's what Tif?" he asked with a little trepidation in his voice

(gosh isn't that a spiffy word, Darren dictionary is aiming a little higher these days)

i held in my little mitts a tiny piece of paper,

"it would appear the fortune cookie gods have spoken" upon which i read their wisdom to him as he helped himself to the remains of supper

"you will soon vacation in a place of cool climate"

i gave him credit, he did not bat an eye, just calmly pointed out as he always does when i claim every fortune that comes out of a cookie to be spookily accurate, that it is possible to read anything and everything into them.

i allowed him to digest his meal before i pointed out 'Old Blighty' is a place of cool climate, this time i noted his eyes rolled heavenwards. he agreed indeed it was and how fortunate i was going back there this summer so i was able to once again claim my cookie fortunes have a canny knack of coming true.

"ah ha!" i chimed in, "my fortune says 'soon', therefore it must be talking about sometime closer than July." i waited... nothing.

and so i bided my time, waiting and watching for the moment to strike and like all canny plans one sits upon, the time eventually comes. my time came in mid February and with it a cheap flight back to Old Blighty for a few days to spend quality time with Our #1 and recharge my british batteries.

tomorrow, me, my three pairs of clean undies, along with three frocks, three pairs of woolly tights (which still need darning) and one pair of clogs will be winging our way back over the pond for a whistle stop tour of a small island. Our #1 and myself will be doing a whole lot of travelling but it will be grand for we have so much to catch up on since we last met in December. we will be meeting and greeting peachy folks where ever we go. those peachy folks include (and not in any particular order)

my mother and father

my brother Ben

my soul sister Debbie

Joanna, lovely editor of soon to be released Mollie Makes

(will be sure to talk about that on my return)

Louise Dearie from my dottie angel camp last september

(she will be kindly taking us on a trip around Spitalfield market and brick lane)

the peachy Emily Chalmers (eeeek!)

and lastly, the day before i head back to my shed

the SELVEDGE spring fair,

where upon i will meet

my friend Gloria,

my buddy Fran

and plenty of other lovely dearies who will be at the fair

as you can see there will be lots of miles to cover inbetween the happy meet ups. this is grand for it will give me time to sit and natter with Our #1 whilst i do a bit of crocheting. along with the undies and frocks i will be packing some yarn and a special hook, her name is Grandmother Hook and she belonged to my grandmother Jane. there is real age to this hook of mine and it shows when looking at the lines upon her.

together we will be working on some 'itty bitty' garlands like the one you see in the pictures today, upon my return i will be finishing off the appliques and then popping them into my little shop window. all profits from the little garlands will go to relief funds aiding Japan.

i have noted everytime i crochet or stitch something for another, i spend all the time i am stitching thinking of them... these little itty bitty garlands will be no different.

Carlos my trusty camera, will alas be staying behind for he is unreliable as a travelling companion these days, so instead i will be taking a new fellow. he is called Leonard and he has a trusty lens and appears to have a liking for dim and dingy corners...

i have twiddled with all his bits and despite extensive studying of his manual (causing me to break my 'no reading manuals' rule) i cannot find his soul. however i have told myself Leonard has a lot to live up to and therefore i need to give him more of a chance, so together we will be taking pictures of our travels and with a bit of high hopes, will have a nice lot of snap shots to show on our return. i have put him in a fine and dandy floral travel pouch to make him feel worthy and therefore heighten the chances of him showing me his soul and thus, me and him getting along nicely.

righty ho, i am away to gather up my undies, frocks, tights and clogs. leave penciled scribbled notes all over the shed for remaining clan members to heed and as i see Mr Sunshine has come out to play, i may well take a few moments to stand on an acre of moss with my chickie peas and enjoy his rays. just for a moment though, for tights need 'a darning' for i do not think i can possibly get away with 'stirruped' tights in clog sandals...

she will be back tomorrow with a final 'ta ra' ~ Tif

wrestling with hiccups, pennings and a blankie...

a few hiccups in the proceedings this week. not the sort of hiccups which cause you to be driven insane and drink lots (water that is) but nice hiccups involving lovely folks and my book pennings.

one of my hiccups involved a pottle around Goodwill in the big city with Marjan. upon pottling i came across a lovely peachy blanket for the even lovelier sum of $3. i exclaimed to Marjan this blanket had 'little olive' written all over it. arriving home to my shed i washed said peachy blanket and laid it on the couch.

as soon as i had done so, i was overcome with little blanket lust, i wished to keep my newly found blanket to myself and not share it with Little Olive. such was my wanting for the blanket, i hid it from Little Olive less she see its yarny beauty and become attached. this morning however i have given myself a stern talking to about Little Olive's need being greater than mine (how i came to that conclusion is beyond me as we all know, the little doggie has more crocheted blankets than any other doggie i know) but still i did.

my pennings are all starting to come together and tomorrow my man is taking me to work with him. it is not 'take your woman to work' day, rather because he had a bright idea as i sat in bed this morning in the early hours explaining my inability to visualize what i had written in a book form.

(i said this in a 'nutshell' to you, but to him it was very long winded and fretfully worded, and i note his head was under a pillow for most of my long winded fretting)

so he suggested i come to his work place and print off all my pennings and then read them as if they were a book, therefore i would have a better idea of whether indeed i had repeated myself on several occasions, where gapping big holes of important pennings were missing and perhaps as he also suggested, i may actually say to myself, "blimey Tif, despite your doubting ways, you hold a book in your hand"

this is terribly thrilling, for i have never been and sat in his office at work, due to allergies bought on by corporate work spaces but it will be fine and dandy for i shall be sure to take my allergy medicine an hour before i arrive.

i am wondering if it would be nice of me to bring a sack lunch for us, a marmalade sandwich for him and chocolate spread on ryvita for me. i think i failed to mention this little detail before, but i have given up white toast this new year and in its place i now have ryvita. it is not far off cardboard but when butter and Cadbury's chocolate spread is a top, it becomes edible. i would have to sandwich two ryvitas together to avoid chocolate spread getting all over his marmalade sandwich but it would be quite a nice moment of sharing.

on second thoughts, perhaps i should keep his marmalade sandwich hidden until the point where he is driven nutso by my

"i can't find my documents on this little usb thingy, oh my lord, i have lost my book! it is gone, GONE forever... this is a tragedy, one of epic proportions. where for art thou my book"

all the time my voice rising in panic levels, drawing attention from the other folks in their little offices across the way, four walls and artificial lighting. then when i get to the point where he is ready to say

"look why don't you go home to the shed and i'll sort it"

with an exasperated look upon his face accompanied by another grey hair.

i will rustle around in my large bag, unearthing crochet, car keys, purse, my lost sanity and volia! a marmalade sandwich :)

suddenly all will be forgiven, in that instant he will forget my disabilities with computers, my inabilities to stay calm and focused and transport himself back to 25 years ago when we first met and he fell for my... well actually i do not know what he fell for, but he must have fallen for something to have stayed around so long.

yes, that is what i shall do, i will use the marmalade sandwich as a peace offering within what is bound to be a fiasco of me trying to locate and print off folder after folder of random pennings and piece them into a book where upon i will sit in his spare swivelly chair and insist i read it all out loud, where upon my man in his swivelly chair will quietly place his head upon his desk, marmalade sandwich slightly out of reach and silently weep

she is now quite giddy about tomorrow and wondering if she should change out her large bag for a very 'important businessy looking' corporate brief case ~ Tif

counting the days...

with just days to go until Christmas things are ticking along nicely...

Our #1 is back in the shed,

she arrived with an english accent and a bag full of Chocolate.

little olive has reached her peak of fitness

and i am actually really rather proud.

for some time ago she confessed to a fear of heights,

which as you can imagine is tres tricky if you wish to guide Santa's sleigh.

so for the past few days she has bravely practiced looking down...

this year her antlers are bigger than last years set,

indeed they are quite on the loose side of things.

however little olive has taken to wearing them day and night,

and i have high hopes come Christmas Eve,

she will have mastered them perfectly

and so my dearest readers, as hard as it is to believe,

yet another year has whizzed on by

and i am left again marveling at all the things that have past.

i know for some the holiday season can be a little lonely,

or indeed a little sad,

loved ones no longer with us and family far away.

for many this year, in old blighty and europe,

the snows have caused plans to be changed.

so where ever you are,

whatever you celebrate this time of year

and with whom (two or four legged friends a like).

i am thanking you for the kindness you continue to show me

and may your season be filled with

a little joy,

a little peace

and

a little crafting...

she is wishing you a 'peachiest of peachy' new year ~ Tif

home for the holidays...

just a few hours to go and i will be leaving for the airport to pick up Our #1.

i spent my morning wisely pottling around and achieving very little for my pottling ways except a few stitches.

i also managed to write a sign saying "welcome home sweetie" which i promptly attached to a large Father Christmas balloon i bought at the grocery store, intent on taking to the airport with me.

i have no idea what came over me, i am not a grocery store balloon kind of person but the moment seized me as i bought the carrots, the oranges and the sunchips (all good stuff from the food group 'orange')... i noted mothers all around with little children in their carts, i was struck by the moment, that moment that hits you when you know life has moved on, that your days of stuffing kids into carts and bribing them around the grocery store are long gone. when your rose colored specs fall into place, those moments are always recalled with fondness.

as i bought the over sized Father Christmas balloon, i stood with glistening eyes, telling the lady who the balloon was for. can it really be 122 days have gone by and now the day has come when she will be back in our family nest for 11 whole peachy, festive, gleeful days and then she will be gone again. this time around it will be far longer than 122 days, more like 222.

but that is okay, for i will be busy preparing for Our #2 to fly the nest next summer, she too choosing to spread her wings to adventures far away. i am quite sure by the time Our #4 leaves i will be a dab hand at this apron string cutting lark

and so tomorrow i have quite the jam packed thrilling day planned for her, first we will go and look at bi-focal lenses for me and then we will head to the thrift store! she will go her way to the clothing, i will go mine to the knick knack department, we will meet half way and compare our finds and it will, dearest readers, i am quite positively sure, feel like old times, the very good sort of old times that keeps one going on the days when the distance seems unbearable.

she is thanking you so very kindly for the lovely words concerning her dottie angel fim and wishes you the peachiest of weekends ~ Tif

'tis the season...

my folks are safely back in their nest in snowy old blighty, after we had the most loveliest of fortnights spent doing exactly what i said we would do, knitting, crocheting, reading, eating and plenty of pottling around the area.

Mossy Shed is in full on gleeful mode, lights are hanging outside along with some fabby clusters of greenery upon the fence. my man kindly 'gathered and placed' them as per my instructions in cold temps on Thanksgiving afternoon.

Our #4 then commented the next day

"you know those branchy things dad put up apparently for decoration? you do know it just looks like a ton of branches have fallen off the tree and landed on the fence and we haven't bothered to clear it up"

i am thinking someone needs to find a pair of rose colored spectacles in his stocking this year.

this is the year i am totally embracing a more traditional look for our Christmas, i think it something to do with Our #1 coming home for the holidays. i dared to start counting after Thanksgiving and now i am down to 13 days to go before i will be standing at the airport gate waiting. by the time i see her it will have been 122 days since we last hugged, i am pretty chuffed at how well i have survived, allowing myself only one breakdown where i rushed from the kitchen to the computer and scrawled on her Face Book wall something along the lines of "just cutting up carrots for dinner and suddenly i can hardly breath from being overcome by how much i miss you". i think one public breakdown is allowable in four months.

the mantle piece is all decked out and for the first time ever, since first visiting Mossy Shed, i think i like it. i find our fire surround on the 'way over sized' side of things and therefore never quite know what to do with it, painting it all white and filling it with logs from the yard has helped.

this year i am looking for a little joy and a little peace (plus quiet) so when i found some knitted letters in Anthropologie whilst pottling with my folks it all came together. one long string of lace and with some bakers twine i spent a merry hour or so hanging gleeful bits and bobs along its length. the twigs in the large lacey jar (once home to pickled artichokes i found lurking in the fridge) was inspired by Country Living's (uk edition) December issue, my mother bought with her. i could practically smell the mulled wine coming off the pages as i flicked through page after page of gleeful goodness.

the J.O.Y letters i cut out from a red vintage thrift store dress and stitched them onto pages from an old book, (an angel in the corner by monica dickens, thinking it most suited to the season) i have no doubt, this would make for a lovely garland with all sorts of gleeful words strung together. a few forsaken little souls, including Joe from last year's nativity scene and Voila!

i think by now you can see i am on a total 'deck the halls' roll here in Mossy Shed. i fished out my lovely little wood & wool tree from last year made by the lovely peachy Ingrid. her little wooden green trees are truly delightful and if one doesn't have room for a tree then i do think they are the perfect solution. this year (after a terribly crappity crap effort last year) i am most delighted with my little tree's decoration, once my grandmother's pesky pom-pom squirrel hopped on top, the rest fell into place.

and lastly but by no means least, i ran up a little 'easy peasy' garland for the tree this year. all you will need is a woolly sweater in cream or any color you think will match your gleeful decor. boil your sweater, i did mine quite lightly, so basically shoved it in a hot cycle with other whites so it came out boiled but still quite thin. almost as though it had gone through the wash accidentally on the wrong cycle. i snipped it into pieces and laid it flat to dry. i am super impatient so i kept checking on it and the minute it was dryish, i pounced with my scissors and cut it into lots of little rectangles around 2" x 3" (5cm x 7.5cm) or a bit smaller. no precise measurements required, just snippity snip away.

i took a few of the rectangles and with the help of Miss Ethel zoomed back and forth to make star shapes in red stitching, the rest of the pieces i left blank. this would actually be quite nice if done by hand with embroidery thread in a color once again nicely suited to your gleeful decor.

after which i gathered my rectangles into piles of 15 and slowly attached them with Miss Ethel's help, once again you could easily do this with some hand running stitch and embroidery thread. afterwards i hung them up to admire, no passing strangers passed by to invite in so they too may admire, therefore i promptly put them away until our tree was up. (which it is now, but not then)

i must tell you since making my little 'easy peasy' recycled garland i have seen similar on ETSY, so if you do not have a little sweater that needs to be boiled, nor the time to make a garland such as this but wish to have one, then just take a look on ETSY under 'garlands' or 'holiday garlands' and you will be amazed at the beautiful strings of glee, wonderful crafty folks are making for the holidays.

so there we have it, i am way ahead of the game with decorating the shed, but way behind at filling up my shop shelves. i have been beavering away non stop over the past few days, going to bed hoping the elves will visit whilst i sleep, but alas it would appear they are not coming this year. i did write sometime ago to offer them accommodation for the season but all i received was a short reply via Twitter saying

"you must be joking, we are in Australia this year. warmer climes than your shed & no orange grub insight"

so it is just down to me and Miss Ethel, along with our high hopes, next week will see the shelves stocked with wall hangings, woolly jammy jars, bark cloth sling sacks, tea towels, mini turquoise wooden clog vignettes and other goodies... all a little late for some folks with the Christmas post what it is, but in my head i keep telling myself "better late than never Tif"

she is thanking you for the lovely notes here and in her inbox whilst she was gone and is hoping all is fine and dandy in your nests, 'cause fine and dandy is nice ~ Tif