the one without a title...(it's the potpourri going to my head)

the inspiration for the lamp appliques on my tea towels came to me last saturday night. i was waiting on the sofa at around 11:30 pm sending out a mental 'wish' that our #1 would hurry up and get home so i could go to bed...and while i was doing that i was 'multi tasking' my brain and thinking of ideas for tea towels. i knew when i had made my table cloth a few weeks back that tea towels would be something i would like to try. i am not so good at drying up with tea towels but i am good at hanging them on the rail of my cooker to add a bit of color to the kitchen...

so as i was gazing into space, it suddenly dawned on me, i was staring at the very object that would look just lovely on a tea towel...

now this lamp is one of my most favorite thrift store finds, it is also one of my most cheapest finds. it cost me $3...i love the color, that perfect shade of sludgy green, i love the flowers on the base and the shade didn't need to be changed out, what more could one ask for from a thrift store find...it was made in 1977 by someone who obviously liked to take pottery lessons and i think was actually quite good at it...

so there it was, the answer to my tea towel applique dilemena...retro/vintage lamps. the perfect excuse to go thrift shopping and to buy all those lamps one sees but can't justify buying because i already own a lot of thrift store lamps...

i have cranked out a few more tea towels on the old workhorse 'Miss Ethel' and plan to put them in the shop along with a few 'lamp' inspired cushions...this will hopefully happen mid week next week, except i am beginning to wonder if i have forgotten how to list on Etsy, so with that said i will probably start trying to list on Wednesday and chances are something may appear by Thursday!

one last thing that i thought of as i was working on number nine tea towel, just a small detail i told myself, i haven't actually test driven my tea towels, they have gone through Mrs W. Machine and Mr T, but i haven't actually used them to dry up yet. this doesn't surprise me one bit really, such a simple thought but so easily forgotten.

so tonight i will find my willing victim...i am thinking of saying to my man when he walks through the door "i need you now" which will get his attention and then throw him the tea towel and point to a large pile of wet dishes...

she is over come from the fumes of the potpourri bowl staged in her home ~ Tif

the one about Mossy Shed...

i have been to see the gray house today, or as our #2 fondly refers to it, 'the shed' (remember she is fourteen so therefore has been possessed)...it has been over three weeks since i have been there and it felt good to have a look around and confirm all my thoughts of "this could go there" and "wouldn't that be a great wall for vintage wallpaper".

this morning eating breakfast with our #3 and #4, we were discussing 'the shed' and the fact that it may look like it is a field of grass out the back but actually it is mainly moss. and so our #4 decided that we should name the house 'Mossy Shed'...and after he had decided that he also decided that we would paint a sign "just like mabear has on her house" (mabear is my mum, just in case you were wondering). so that is settled i feel, if and when we ever do get to live in the gray house it will be named Mossy Shed.

the thing i like about the neighborhood around Mossy Shed is the eclecticness (is there such a word) of the place...it is a whole mix of different houses and families, i really do think we will feel far more at home there than we do here. after all we will be allowed to keep chickens and have an airstream parked out front, and we all know where i am living now that is a big "NO NO"...

the first time we found Mossy Shed we toured the neighborhood to get a feel of the place and i knew we would feel right at home when our #4 exclaimed as he looked out the window "look, do you see that, well i have never seen anything like it in all my born days (i just love it when they come out with phases like that) it's a car completely covered in ivy" and then he turned to me and asked "do you think they will let me play in it if i live near by?"

so we must continue to keep our fingers and toes crossed that a buyer for our house will soon turn up on the doorstep and that at some point in the future i can make Mossy Shed our home...in the meantime i have plans to have the shop open again next week, just for a little while, as we sit and wait for 'our buyer'...

she's fallen in love with 'Miss Ethel' ~ Tif

todays list...

1. vacuum. check
2. clean toilets and sinks. check
3. disguise gray roots with an interesting parting. check
4. cut out paper patterns for tea towels. check
5. cut out linen for tea towels. check
6. stop pesky cat from destroying paper patterns. check
7. put 'Miss Ethel' to work. check
8. place 'healthy snack' near by in case of emergency. check
9. make 'fake washing line' for photo taking. check
10. feel good about getting some 'sewing' therapy in before kids get home. check

she nearly forgot...

11. put something in the crock pot for dinner. check ~ Tif