our gladys, you are the bees knees...

one fine day three years ago, Gladys came to live at the bottom of our yard. she had no inners, holes in her roof and sides, a coat of dodgy brown paint inside her shell and a floor of forest green plywood. she came with many things i wish she did not, but one thing she came with was potential, and that was all i needed to know one day she would have a little moment to shine.

Gladys has patiently sat waiting for that moment, through rain, hail, snow and sun, she has bided her time. slowly growing a coat of green on her silvery good looks and sinking gradually into the moss below... never complaining, just looking back at me every day as i look at her through my kitchen back door. i knew things had reached an all time low for Gladys when my man took to storing the chicken straw in her inners.

then one fine and dandy day this summer a miracle happened. Our #3 said "when are we going to do up Gladys? i would help you know" and then Our #4 piped in with a "yes, we can put a telly in her" and that was all i needed to be stirred into action. i replied with a "if you help me then you can claim her inner space as your own"

and so began many hours filled with sheets of metal, piles of rivets, pots of duck egg blue paint and a pile of faux flooring tiles. i must tell you it was rather nice 'me and my lads of three' spending quality time together until the moment we stepped back late this past monday evening and saw Our Gladys beginning to shine.

of course it was at that moment i was overcome with a need to claim Gladys back for myself, for now she was so peachy looking. i could not help myself... so as my boys placed the couch one end of her, to see if telly watching in Gladys would be grand, i asked in a little 'pretty please' voice, if i may claim a little corner for myself. they sighed, knowing it would be impossible to keep me out. of course my lads could have said "no, on your bike mother" but i am delighted to report they did no such thing. for perhaps a little voice inside their heads mentioned the clean undies and the hot orange meals which miraculously appear everyday.

 they gave me one end, the perfect end with a handy dandy shelf above the clock for forsaken thrifted souls to spend quality time. i have many dreams for my little end such as pasting a few pictures and papers on the wall and perhaps a rug for underfoot.

yes indeed, i wish to 'twiddle' with Gladys like i have never wished to twiddle with anything before, but it must wait, for i need to turn my attention to something more pressing over the coming days. but in between said pressing moments i can be found with a nice cuppa tea, in Our Gladys, looking back at Mossy Shed and yes, why not, counting my chickens because that is what i have become. an obsessive mother hen who counts her chickens every ten minutes and as always, her blessings.

she is stitching for The Creative Connection and doing more counting, this time counting out her clean undies ~ Tif

Gladys and the cold...

it's been a bit 'brass monkeys' around here...not a lot of snow to show for it yet, but i've been informed by my lovely 'dears' that more is forecast and this time it's gonna be big.

they are keeping fingers and toes crossed there will be no school...what they haven't fully comprehended, is their mother has not done the best part of her christmas shopping, therefore requiring the few remaining days of school to complete her task. without those days, it isn't looking good...

but let that not distract from Gladys looking a treat at the weekend...

however something was missing...

as i don't do well in cold climates and must remain indoors at all times swathed in knitted attire and crocheted blankets, it became apparent there was only one person for the job...

the mistake i made was not to supervise the job, by the time i looked it was too late...i desperately wanted to correct the non evenness (why didn't i just put unevenness? what is with the 'non' business) of the lights but alas my

'snow and cold' allergy did not allow me the comfort...

shouting from a window

"but it's just not quite how i imagined" did not go down too well.

i quickly retreated so as not to catch the barrage of abuse that was hurled in my direction.

i have decided that it is good for me to 'suffer' this way, after all i have had full control over mantelpiece decorating (i caved at 10 trees and just shifted the whole display along) and must allow my man his 'uneven' lighting of Gladys...

she's out and about tomorrow, snow willing ~ Tif

FOOTNOTE: having just taken a second look, i see now that my man was only 'mimicking' my uneven garland hanging... thinking that's how i like it...sigh

me, my slip and Gladys...

i realized early this morning that it would only be proper and fitting if i dressed for the occasion, i put on my slip over my jeans, perfect i felt until the static cling took over (a trial of mine in winter time) and so the slip was slung and a little linen number from good old target took it's place...

then i waited and waited...my man said he could wait no longer and went to work. so used dog waited and then waited some more alongside me...i realized that she would be my only companion to witness this historic moment in my life...just used dog and me.

after what seemed an eternity of waiting Gladys appeared climbing the hill to Mossy Shed

she majestically entered the drive way, pulled round the side of the shed and ended her journey at the bottom of the yard, positioned on top of an acre moss...i have been checking on her most of the morning to make sure she isn't actually sinking into the ground. i fear with all our moss and soaky ground that she could be swallowed whole and never be seen again...

so dear readers it would seem fitting would it not that one whole year since i started my little blog and put the wheels in motion to make changes in my life, that Gladys comes to live with us...

i am inside quietly amazed that i have managed to blog for a year... about what? half the time i can not recall but some how i have notched up a fair amount of ramblings.

i know without a single doubt my little blog would have gone by the way side if it wasn't for the comments, support and just all round loveliness that you send my way.

even a year on i still find it extraordinary that kind people like yourselves take time out of your busy lives to care about someone else in the world that just happens to post up a few words and pictures of her life...

forgive me for sounding a wee bit mushy but to heck with it, i haven't felt a day of emotion like this since my babies came into the world...

she's off to gaze out the kitchen window once more, marvelling at the giant tin can at the bottom of her yard ~ Tif

one day to go...

dear readers, it would be true to say that you find me today, quite frankly good for nothing...how can i be when tomorrow Gladys arrives. after a few of you mentioned this lovely place, i spent what should have been 'dinner making time' just looking at all the lovely trailers one can spend a few blissful days in...

then i started to get that "i'm so excited, i think i going to be sick" feeling and had to pull myself away from the web and muster up something edible...i do have high hopes that owning an airstream (wait, let us just focus on that...i will be an airstream owner, gosh what a responsibility) back to what i was saying...i do feel that somehow owning 'Gladys' will help me become a better cook. i have no idea how this will occur but it just stands to reason that if such a beauty is viewed from one's kitchen window the chances are heightened that the meal you are cooking will be more creative and possibly more edible...

in between my 'i can't quite believe it's happening' moments i completed the kitchen table. it is very white, very shiny and very new looking. i took myself down to the d.i.y. center late last night to hunt down the perfect set of casters. i do believe dear readers that my 'caster' plan is going to be a very short lived one...don't get me wrong there were casters of all sizes under the sun but did any of them have 'little brakes' on them...nope.

now even me and my sometimes 'not so practical' ideas realized it would not do to have casters on the bottom of a table on a wood floor without little locks on. i am quite sure in the hey day of "changing rooms" (that good old show from the great bbc) they would have dismissed that little detail but i could not.

later when 'the shed' was sleeping i mentioned to my man that i had no luck in my 'casters search'...this of course was the first i had spoken of my plan, i had hoped to just 'do the deed' and deal with the consequences afterwards but as i was frustrated by my 'lack of findings' i needed to share.

"and why do we need to have wheels on the bottom of our table?" he asked, to which i explained my need to push our little table outside and eat 'el fresco' (i hope that's right) at any given moment.

he then pointed out a very obvious thing (a habit men have sometimes) "don't we already have a garden table to eat at, already conveniently outside the back door"...i explained quite patiently i felt that this was not the point, he had completely gone off topic...the topic being 'that casters with little brakes were not easy to find' and that the topic was not 'do we require a rolling table or not'...i shall spend some time tracking down the casters now just prove how lovely it is to wheel a little white table outside on a sunny evening even if we have a perfectly good one already outside...

and so i must away to get on with 'dithering' around the place, pretending to put laundry away, 'sorting' things and preparing ahead for tonight's meal (ha!)...while all the time thinking how nice it would be for Gladys to have a flower bed or two outside her door...

she's thanking you kindly for your lovely words on Gladys..and Lynn this one's for you ~ Tif

meet Gladys...

here she is, just as we found her at ten o'clock Saturday morning in a small town north of us, waiting outside the old school house...

as we rounded the corner and she came into sight i knew we had found 'our trailer'...her outside is in pretty good nick compared to last week's model and her inside has already been gutted out(doesn't that sound harsh when talking about her)...she has a new floor laid and is waiting for a coat of paint, new electrics and some 'fabric' and 'furnishings' to warm her up...

the guy who sold her to us lives in the old school house that is full of reclaimed pieces of architecture and furniture...everything about the place felt right...he even made the 'coffee stop' by the gas station where we had our celebratory 'hot chocolate' on the way home...it seemed perfect that we found 'Our Gladys' living in such a wonderful place.

dear readers, i am shaking at the very thought of it...Gladys arrives at Mossy Shed on wednesday morning...

i worked Sunday to finish up 'mossy's sign' for her arrival...i used an old piece of our fence, a bit of paint and then my friend Beth suggested using some bits of broken terracotta pots...we have the perfect tree just by our driveway, a huge old maple with gnarly roots. just fitting i feel...

so things are going a long at a great pace, this week i am keeping my fingers crossed the electrician makes an appearance...the loft hatch has gone in, so our #4 has moved back into his room.

i have given up the search for an old kitchen table, they are thin on the ground here and when i find one the price is always high or the legs are in the wrong place. in the end i bought an unfinished pine one from Ikea last week, (not quite the same i know) and am busy painting it glossy white (yes Lynn, that would be glossy and shiny). once there are enough coats on it to survive life in the kitchen i plan to add casters to the legs. this way on a sunny warm morning, i can just fling open the french doors (due to be installed Monday) and wheel out my little kitchen treasure and breakfast alfresco without requiring any one's help...

it was a good weekend...cooking shrimp on a little fire late at night, finding Gladys, officially naming mossy shed, trying to get Miss T. Dryer to work and love is in the air...

she still can't quite believe that come wednesday, looking out of the kitchen window she'll see her airstream trailer waiting for 'memories' to be made ~ Tif

gone tomorrow...

how perfectly lovely you have all been to me...i can not tell you how fast the past week or two has whizzed by. you still find me running around chasing my tail, but things are coming along nicely. the kitchen at mossy shed is undergoing some serious surgery...in fact it is not unlike one of those reality shows, at the end we will not be able to see anything left of the original kitchen even though it is lurking underneath. as i have mentioned before we were rather fortunate to have new cabinets, appliances and worktop, however it was so very dark (unless we kept on all the lights, there are more lights in my kitchen than the rest of the house put together for some reason). anyhow i soon named my kitchen "the cave"...not much longer though, with the help of my handy carpenter and trusty painter, various bits of wood and some cream and white paint, a new kitchen will emerge...

on other notes,

note 1: i have made some progress towards opening up the shop and making some new treats...i have several window panels ready to go and my plan for next week when it is a little less hectic in the shed will be to.....wait for it, maybe you should sit down dear readers....yes i plan to customize some slips and get them listed. ("about blimen' time" i hear you cry)

note 2: i am in love...his name is Vern, he is a pickup truck with some serious history...i know he has been around the block a bit, when i found him he was not looking pretty but his baby blue metallic finish, cracked windscreen and non existent exhaust pipe just spoke to me.

he's sixteen years old, tilts slightly to the side where he is requiring hip surgery and after having him checked out by my "trusty mechanic" also requires some heart and brain surgery...but nothing a bit of 'pimping out' can't disguise.

alas i have no picture as Vern is on the road today...he is a manual so it makes for some interesting driving moments. i haven't driven a manual in over seven years and when i did, the gear shift was not to my right. his interior is fetching denim blue without a single curved line, all boxy and solid. when i told our #3 to hop in after unlocking the door from the inside, (it doesn't appear to work on the outside)...he got in, buckled up and then tried to find the switch to put the window down. "you have to wind the handle to make the window move"...there are no cup holders so nothing for 'crap' to build up in, just about perfect i feel...

so far Vern has been decked out in some lovely bark cloth visor covers (with a secret doily that appears when the sun shines and one requires some shielding) and some floor mats...i plan to pimp him out in various bark cloth fabrics once he has undergone surgery and survived. until then every time i pull up to a stop light i send a silent prayer to who ever is listening..."please let me pull away without leaving a bit of Vern behind"

note 3: tomorrow the electrician calls...hurrah, we will have ceiling lights upstairs, and the day after they come to finish off the wall and fill in the hole in our #4's ceiling which has been covered by plastic sheeting so he is refusing to sleep in there...the roof happens in a couple of weeks...i now see this is a good thing as when the hail storm passed over the shed's head yesterday, i found it quite disconcerting (oooh fancy word) that i could hear hail on the plastic sheeting thus implying the roof has some rather nice holes in it...

note 4: spring has sprung early here, hence my attempt at spring flowers...i have dared to plant a few daffs outside and so far three mornings in a row they have still been there...it's only a matter of time till word gets out to the deer community that the 'fool in the shed' has put flowers in her yard...

note 5: we spent yesterday doing a spot of this...not a total wasted journey as we learnt a few things about what it takes to move such 'a beast'. we are after a trailer that requires gutting so we can use it as a 'summer place' in the back yard but when the smell inside makes your eyes well up and then after a bit of time you realize the smell is the combination of damp, chain smoking and quite possibly something deceased, you know this trailer is not the one...there's an airstream with my name on it out there it's just a matter of time...

note 6: kitchen stools are now completed with a lovely coat of soft gray satin, just waiting to take up their position at the island...

she will see you on Thursday after the electrician has done his thing ~ Tif