snippets of...

ah yes, 'tis been a while for sure. but today we have 'snippets of...' but just like always, before the snippets, there must be a ramble. of course you could just scroll on down and skip the ramble, quite understandable and i will forgive if you do. for those that are not skipping, then here's the blurb...

(the word 'skipping' is a most spiffy word i think)

yesterday i practiced the 'fine art of avoidance', some days i think i could get a degree in this form of fine art.

there i was sitting staring at a 'pressing' blank word document, Colin the Computer was so kindly holding up for me, when the little voice inside my head piped up

"do not put off till tomorrow, what you can do today"

wise words indeed i thought as i stared blankly at my screen. then another little voice butted in reminding me of the little spiffy can of paint my magical paint man had mixed for me. the most perfectly perfect greeny aqua colour, the exact match of our kitchen chair.

the first little voice pointed out this was not what it meant, the second little voice said, surely these wise words apply to anything, including a little pot of paint and a laundry room cupboard waiting patiently.

i then proceeded to ponder how it is, i see my laundry room as a luxury space. is it because i am a Brit and until moving stateside always had my w. machine in the kitchen? i think perhaps it is, and so therefore i love my little laundry space with quite a passion. however i do not love dirty laundry with any passion, but as this is part and parcel of the life i lead then how spiffy to have a small space to do it in. when we first moved in, the little space was filled with old Formica cupboards, i removed some doors and painted others.

as i was practicing the fine art of avoidance, it seemed only fitting i listened to little voice number two and switched off little voice number one. whereupon i spent a happy half hour freshening up the laundry room cupboard. upon which i noted afterwards, it needed a new curtain, so i took some of the fabby nylon tablecloth i found in the thrift store a few weeks back and made one. after which i noted my little laundry space needed a clean, so i did. and then after all that, i felt such a love for my little laundry room i invited 'frankly frank' in to record my afternoon efforts.

so today i have

snippets of... a laundry room

thrilling stuff!

and the besty best snippet of all

Bingo Bee...

she now finds herself one day later staring at a blank word doc, kindly held up by Colin the Computer, more pressing than the day before and this time she has no choice but to listen to voice number one ~ Tif

snippets of... randomness

yes indeedy, 'tis been quite the while since i did a 'snippets of...'

i thought "why not Tif, after all it is already thursday",

and quite honestly it has got to that time of year,

'the time' that happens every year,

the roller coaster ride.

from halloween

(which i tend to bypass)

onto thanksgiving

(which i love greatly)

finishing up at the gleeful season

(oh, i do love myself a bit of glee).

next week will be thee week,

my empty glass jars found lurking within my fridge and on the shelves of despair,

get their moment to shine.

i know it all seems tres early

but it does give any dearies who also wish to 'glee up' a few empty jars

a chance to get cracking in plenty of time.

but for today it is all about snippets and those snippets would be

'snippets of.... randomness around mossy shed'

brilliant eh!

there is no rhyme nor reason to these snippets,

other than they make me smile

and i am thinking that is as good a reason as any...

she has noted her little cogs have slowed this week, perhaps due to over brainstorming with little olive and used dog ~ Tif

snippets of...

it is raining today and tres gloomy,

the rain and gloominess matches the mood within the shed.

alas school starts tomorrow and with it

comes the horrible feeling of summer ending

and 'back to reality' has enveloped us somewhat.

but even in the most gloomiest of settings,

small miracles can occur.

i am most partial to a small miracle or two,

what i like best of all,

is when they appear when one is not looking.

yes indeedy, i was resigned to Carlos my camera going to his resting place,

i spent over three hours researching cameras and reading feedback.

after three hours i must say i was none the wiser...

i read all the blurb and all the wisdom written by knowledgeable folk.

and every time a camera came up trumps,

with all it's capability for simple camera users such as myself,

it always let me down by either being so hefty i needed to add 'pumping iron' to my latest keep fit regime,

or it was so petite i was having trouble actually finding it on the screen i was reading.

that was friday night,

on saturday morning the light in the shed was most pleasing.

the clan were missing and i was itching.

not itching in an unsociable way that random passer-bys may not wish to see

but itching to continue my 'perfectly peachy finds in retrospect' series.

showcasing all the lovely forsaken souls who have come my way over the past year,

letting them know how much i care for them.

how despite being discarded by others,

they make me happy in all their peachy second hand goodness

which in it's self is rather nice of them.

and that, dearest readers is when a small miracle happened inside the shed,

i do not believe this time a chorus of angels gathered outside the front door

nor do i recall a bright light of glory shining down upon the shed's roof.

just the sound of little olive and Used Dog's tippity tapping paws on the wood floor,

'the ping' of a tired camera coming back to life

and a lone voice, quite off key

and belonging to a woman living in suburbia singing "hallelujah hallelujah"

the rest of the day past in a blur of wonderful moments,

Carlos was on tippity top form, indeed better than his younger years

and my forsaken little souls positively beamed with all the attention they received.

i have quite the way to go with recording their pretty selves

and indeed all the fabrics i have stashed away in cupboards all over the shed.

but for now, whilst Our Carlos has decided to delay his retirement,

we shall continue our new found friendship.

i promise from this day forth to treat him with care and respect

and if ever he appears to become a little 'iffy',

just sit him down in front of my computer screen

and pull up the browser for new cameras.

she is aware of a pesky little mousey living under the stairs ~ Tif

snippets of...

"oh hurrah, it's friday and friday can only mean one thing!!

it's our favorite day of the week, when Tif brings us snippets of..."

i hear you chorus around the globe

yes indeedy my dearest readers i have been tres excited for today's snippets,

which i might add, are not just any old 'snippets of...'

"oh Tif, how simply, thrillingly, exciting to hear" you chorus yet again

"isn't it just peachy!" i respond

let me tell you, they are snippets of lovelies i have found upon return to my 'thrifting ways'.

"brilliant Tif! thrifting ways is our kind of universal language" i hear yet more choruses

"i knew it! i knew it! joined across the seas and lands by a mutual lust for thrifty goodness, that's us dearest readers!"

now we must come down from our 'hysteria' induced frenzy of excitement and continue with 'snippets of...' before i get so worked up into thrifty lust i have to leave you right here, right now and go 'a thrifting'

so as i was saying before my heart started to quicken and my 'itching to go a thrifting' ways came across me...

i have now been on several occasions treasure hunting and thus i have started to build up my allergy resistance (hallelujah) and unleashed the thrifting addict that i had subdued over the gleeful season.

i have to tell you as well, i left many a forsaken soul upon the shelves of despair knowing i would never be able to sneak them past my man...

so without 'further a do' i bring you

'snippets of thrifty goodness'

a biscuit tin any granny would be proud to own, filling it with toffees.

i am quite certain this is the type of tin a granny would fight for

three paper lanterns now hung above our kitchen KNOOK

with crocheted ties and doily tails

a lovely 'how could you not have been picked already' jug,

looking perfectly perfect with kitschy plastic flowers my mother gave me last summer

a little yellow dansk saucepan and fabby orange table mats, still with 1969 stickers on the bottom and singing 'spring time' at the top of their little voices

a Mary and Jesus 1980's plastic 'thingy me jig'.

i painted them and then a crack appeared.

this told me "thou shalt not dorb Jesus in paint".

i apologized and it's all peachy now

a few balls of yarn,

destined to be crocheted into something glorious when i have an epiphany

and last but by no means least,

a set of retro saucepans,

one of which was a little shy even after i cleaned her up,

she would not agree to be photographed.

carlos and myself respected her integrity

she is hoping you all have a peachy perfect weekend ~ Tif

footynote: a tres grande 'thanking you kindly' to all that browsed my shelves within my little store yesterday, making my shop update and donation to the Haiti relief funds such a success :)

snippets of...

before we delve into 'snippets of...', you will have to curtail your excitement for a few moments more whilst i mention a couple of things.

firstly. many many 'thanking you kindlies' for such words of encouragement you have given regarding my exploits with Mr Hook. i plan next week to bring you more adventures with him and dare i tell you... for i may send you into a giddiness that you haven't felt since first laying eyes on Colin Firth. perhaps i shan't tell you, perhaps i will keep the 'unveiling' of my crocheting 'helper' until next week... yes that's what i shall do, there will be no 'dare i tell you today'

(nothing like a cliff hanger)

secondly. it would appear a good deal of newcomers have taken up the challenge, and i fear there are others lost in the depths of my inbox that fills up daily. administration duties are not my forte, along with cooking, cleaning and generally anything else that doesn't involve yarn, thread, thrifting, fabric or doilies. so forgive me if you've been neglected and do give me another nudge. in the meantime for those that appear to be wondering 'what is the challenge?', i shall do an update next week on what it is and why i did it... a refresher course if you like.

thirdly. i go back to work on monday

"ha Tif! is that what you call it... messing around with Miss Ethel and some forsaken stuff that comes your way" i hear you cry.

well yes you do have a point but if i don't call it work then i don't really have a leg to stand on when my man comes home and asks what i've been up to. this week i've pushed it to the limits by being a layabout in pyjamas with yarn and hook in hand. i have several projects that have been looming on the horizon that are tres thrilling for moi and i am also hoping to get some new wares made for the little shop. i've had a couple of crafting epiphanies that got my heart quickening and i need to get my arse into gear and stop procrastinating.

now that's over and done with, we can move on to 'snippets of...'

for today's snippets i thought i would look back over 2009, a rather good year for dottie angel i feel. i have turned a few pages of my flickr album and put together a selection of images that i am actually rather pleased with... now this once again may appear that i have my 'boasting hat' on, but it really isn't.

it is me saying, sometimes i marvel at how Carlos my camera, achieves what he does. he's a basic little model and despite his name, does not appear exotic in any way. i have never read his manual and i have never twiddled with his bits. i just turn him on and point... (okay so that bit was a tad dodgy). of course i cannot take full credit for all my shots as the ones that have my body in them are in fact taken by Our #3, who also does not twiddle with Carlos's bits either, just does as i direct.

so that being said i give you

'snippets of 2009'

as my man remarked not so long ago... "just imagine what you could achieve if you actually read the manual Tif" and i am thinking he has a point... who knows, as 2010 is all about risk taking then perhaps i will.

she is wishing you a weekend of crafty endeavors, in pyjamas... she thinks that last bit goes without saying ~ Tif