scuppered by a snow storm...

yes indeedy, 

we have been scuppered by a snow storm

 but the grand news is, 

we have power and heat again, 

hurrah hooray!

here's just a smidgen of pics 

showing the wintery views from Mossy Shed

these past few days...

i will be back on monday, all thawed out and ready to go 

(not that i'm going anywhere in particular, but as in a 'hey ho lets go' sort of way) 

wishing you a spiffy and warm weekend

(unless you are in exotic climes such as Australia, then perhaps it is a little too warm and you maybe wishing for a cooler weekend, if so, then i do wish you a spiffy and cooler weekend)

Tif

a good man...

at christmas our clan lost a good man.

he was my man's father and my children's grandfather and he passed away from cancer. the past few months, it had been unbearable for him and so there was somewhat a relief to know his pain and suffering was over. but that initial feeling is quickly replaced by the realization that a constant in your life is gone forever. a feeling that doesn't ever really go away.

he was an ordinary man who did many extra ordinary things. he loved the outdoors more than any other person i have ever met. this week my clan celebrated the many moments we have shared in this wonderful world with him and said our final goodbyes to a good man whom we knew quite simply as 'Papa'.

one little bird studio and giving thanks...

i do like Leanda, i like her a whole lot.

and as i thought perhaps we are getting to that time of year when you may be making wish lists, or thinking of another to gift to, it would be a perfectly perfect time to introduce you to Leanda.

one little bird studio has the most peachiest of prints and one little bird studio belongs to Leanda. 

i marvel at her wonderful work, how time after time she comes up with images i would happily hang on my shed's wall in a heart beat. yes i marvel at how gifted Leanda is with her designs.

recently she has produced some prints which made my granny retro heart skip a beat. especially this spiffy number. so much so, it is now hanging on our shed's wall. the most beautiful midnight blue background truly makes me happy alongside of the wonderful pops of bright colours.

whilst i was waiting for my 'home sweet home' print to wing its way to my door step (which may i add, it did so very safely in the sturdiest of cardboard mailers i have ever come across, my kitchen scissors were no match for its sturdiness, thats how sturdy it was!)... well as i was waiting, Leanda only went and popped her 2012 calendars into her shop.

gosh, see, take a look at this one in all its mustardy glory

now does that not make your granny retro heart skip a beat all over again. 

surely if ever there was a person who does not do calendars, and they happened upon Leanda's 2012 calendar print, i am without doubt they would be converted into being a calendar loving folk. how do i know such a thing? what proof do i have? well i don't really, but none the less, i'm a believer and i stick by what i say, and that is, the 2012 calendar from one little bird studio, is quite the most peachiest calendar i have laid eyes on.

i do think showing you the wonderful printed world of Leanda, is a lovely note to end on, for tomorrow it is Thanksgiving, my favourite American holiday, and so i will be taking a week off until December 1st when i will return for the joyful gleeful season!

hip hip hooray!

so for now, i will leave you with saying "thank you" for the kindness you have shown me and my constant canine companions this week, for all the offers of fingers, paws and fins crossing over the coming few weeks. and indeed for all your wonderfulness over the past year, from the incredible embracing of my book, to your continuing wish to visit me here on my shiny place and being most generous with your comments on my crafting, time and time again. 

you have truly filled my heart with such a brilliant feeling of warmth, 

and are such an important part of my world.

so once again, i can only say it the best way i know how.

"thank you kindly dearest readers, you are the bees knees to me"

she is wishing you a wonderful happy thanksgiving in the USA and is wishing everyone else an happy week too ~ Tif

update on Used Dog...

it has been many years since i wrote a christmas wish list 

but this year i have one, 

it is quite simple and i am only asking for one thing:

1. a clean bill of health for my constant canine companion

i have high hopes it will not be too much to ask for.

last night, Used Dog came home. 

she made it through the operation which turned out to be a tricky dicky one, 

leaving her with several layers of stitches and 30 plus staples in her side. 

but still her little eyes shined brightly 

and her tail wagged when she knew she was home.

('cos that's what doggies do best, even on bad days)

we lay side by side in the lounge all night long. 

just me and my secondhand dog. 

now some may call me insane, but i think not. 

for my dog has been by my side through good and bad for over 11 years, 

so at a time in her life when perhaps she is not feeling the bees knees,

 i think it perfectly sane for me to lay next to her, 

so she need not be afraid.

the next few weeks her side will slowly mend, 

the staples will be removed 

and the long wait will be over. 

we will know if our Used Dog, 

despite the doctor's concerns, 

has a clean bill of health 

and a few more happy doggie years left on this earth

so i must take a moment to thank you all so kindly,

for all the fingers and paws crossing you have been doing

on behalf of our Used Dog

and may i be so bold and ask if perhaps

you may care to continue to do a bit more 'crossing'

until we know she has a clean bill of health.

i know it may be tres tricky to go about your daily lives

with crossed fingers and paws,

but even just a little 'quick crossing'

 every now and then would be spiffy.

and tonight, 

when Used Dog comes home to the shed again,

after another day at hospital

and we lay in the dark,

just her, me and my florence nightingale cap.

i will be sure to tell her of your kindness 

whilst i administer half hourly doses of ear stroking.

she will be back tomorrow with the peachy 'one little bird' to share ~ Tif

a long day at mossy shed...

today Used Dog is in hospital for an operation.

we have told her to be brave

we have told her "we love you Used Dog"

and now all we can do is keep our fingers and paws crossed

(a little tricky for a little critter with limbs on the short side)

and wait patiently for Used Dog to come back home to mossy shed so we can feel whole again

~ Tif and Little Olive

a bit of bobbing...

willing victims hanging around the back yard

i awoke on halloween with a interesting question churning in my little cogs...

"do chickie peas like to play bobbing apples"

autumnal mushrooms making nice little resting spots for passing pesky gnomes

and it would appear, 

like most things i find with my fine feathered friends,

they do indeed enjoy a party game or two

"i think i see one"

"me first, no me first"

"i spy with my little eye"

and there is always one who tries to cheat...

she is wishing you a bit of spook and a lot of chocolate ~ Tif

the demise of Mr Shark...

warning: this post contains photos not for the fainthearted

on tuesday, there i was, me, my flannel fabric and Mr Shark (my trusty iron) in the lounge, this is beginning to sound like something out of Cluedo... i appear to have spread all around our shed now and not one room is spared from 'my beavering'. by our side on the rug, Used Dog and Little Olive in mid morning slumber. yes, a typical day in the shed until Mr Shark did a 'putt', then a 'splutter', followed by a little letting off of 'steam' and then it was all over. i gasped, how could this be... i twiddled with his bits, i fiddled with his cord but alas and alack, his little light had gone out. 

so tragic, so young

i spent the rest of the day in a shocked daze, i worried if my wish for flannel and nubbly curtains, and a joyful shop update, had all been too much. then i wondered if his history of steroid taking which had led to his hunky silver weighty good looks had been the cause of his early demise. every now and then i returned to the scene of the tragedy, more twiddling and fiddling to no avail.

later that evening when the surgeon had returned from his desk job and coaching soccer he performed surgery. i fretted too many hours had past for a miracle to happen. eventually i could take it no more and had to look away, seeing Mr Shark, a good and faithful friend, an important tool of my trade having a brutal surgery procedure carried out on my kitchen counter was all a little too much. 

early on in the surgery, when i still had high hopes

after what seemed an age and one where i began to doubt the surgeons qualifications, after all i do not recall when seeing medical procedures being performed on telly, the surgeon stopping every now and then to take a mouthful of orange dinner. the surgeon put down his utensils and tools, his dinner finished and Mr Shark looking the worse for wear and he announced there was no hope. he then proceeded to start opening up another part of Mr Shark.

i pointed out was this necessary as obviously he was 'dearly departed' from my life. apparently i was told, yes it was because how interesting to see how it all works...

i turned away

and so my beavering ground to a halt leaving me with no alternative but to find a new friend, despite my grieving heart. 

last night i went to the store where i found Miss Winnie, not to be mistaken for Miss Winer. for she does not wine about things, no sirree, she is the sort who pulls up her knees socks and gets on with things.

having inspected all the box had to say in the store, it would appear with this iron i now have in my life a winner! 

"top rated by leading independent publication" 

are the very words printed on her box, i did question who is the leading independent publication and thought it a little odd they were not willing to have the actual name of their publication printed on the box, but i chose to ignore this and only saw "top rated" which in turn meant "winner" and so Miss Winnie it is.

paying respect to a trusty weighty iron with hunky silvery good looks

 having not actually taken my new iron out of her box with respect for Mr Shark laid out on the dining room table, i am keeping my fingers and toes crossed later today (when a fitting amount of time has passed since Mr Shark's demise), i will find out if she lives up to the box she came in, and is indeed worthy of the name Miss Winnie

there appears to be a lot of hand-stitched 'joy' going on in the shed, despite feeling unjoyful about Mr Shark ~ Tif

the three C's... day two

crafting: (the Blue Peter way)

last week nesting took over, i had been in denial due to a non existent Spring and a three week Summer. funny how it never goes along the lines of Autumn not existing and a three week Winter. always the other way round. 

it was leaving me restless, my denialing ways...

so after a good old talking to myself, i pulled up my nesting knee socks and got to grips with making the shed more cozy in the hope of putting my restlessness to rest. (that's quite a spiffy last few words, i have practiced saying it very quickly over and over and it is quite the tongue twister)

once my 'dumpties' had made an appearance in our little loungey corner it was inevitable a table of sorts would be required for important things like crochet and cups of tea. i knew this would be coming and therefore over the past few weeks have been keeping my beady eye out in the thrift store, wishing to stumble across a granny coffee table with fab curvy legs. a coat of glossy paint and Voila, the perfect coffee table.

however my beady eye spied many contenders, but none matching up to what my little mind envisaged.

back in the shed this Saturday i huffed and puffed our old IKEA table from out in the garage to inside. i am quite sure now i have said that, and what with the poor cupboard lurking in my garage you may be thinking my garage is a treasure trove of lost souls! our IKEA coffee table came with us in our move to Mossy Shed, and she has done a spiffy job for many a year, but like most things IKEA, the years and the dings become all a little too much. why is it an old piece of furniture only looks better with age and more dings, but an IKEA piece just starts to kind of look sad and a bit pants. (you don't have to answer that, i think i know why).

as this sad table sat there looking at moi and i looking at it, a 'Blue Peter' light bulb moment happened within my cogs. after a few moments of rustling around, i found what i was looking for...

several weeks back whilst loitering in the hardware store in all those aisles which appear to have stood still in time, i came across stickyback plastic in faux wood. well my little heart raced at such a find, i promptly paid for two rolls and rushed home to find a willing victim, but alas there was none to be found... until Saturday that is.

my childhood memories came flooding back, oh why oh why did my mother not have sticky back plastic hanging around our home? oh why oh why had i not saved up all the lids and packaging so i could craft a dolls house 'Blue Peter' style. i sat week after week watching as the presenters would show what they did and then lift out the finished article with a flourish and a "here's one i made earlier" voila moment. 

roll on many moons and i have at last dabbled with stickyback plastic and cannot believe i have waited so long, for it is perhaps the most spiffiest easy peasy fix i have ever done. yes it took a little bit of concentration, the sort where one's tongue sticks out a little to aid the fine art of concentrating and yes indeed, some may even say, calling this post 'crafting' is a bit dubious. for layering two lengths of sticky back plastic on an IKEA table and calling it crafting is pushing it, but i do not care, no i do not, such is my love for my newly fauxed coffee table in our nesty corner.

next up, to make our fauxed table feel most loved, an old round tea tray i am thinking, given an easy peasy new coat. yes that is well worth thinking about...

she has been distracted by grannies, a good distraction leading to new things ~ Tif

the three C's... day one

crafting: (a 'dumptie')

now some folks may think i have lost my tiny mind and i am 'a-okay' with that, for Mr Spell Checker has mocked me and Darren Dictionary has informed me in his very knowledgeable voice, that the word 'dumptie' does not exist.

but how can that be, for 'dumptie' is such a spiffy word, it surely should exist

'dumptie' (pronounced dump-tee)

ever since i stumbled upon a 'dumptie' last week i have wished to fill my shed with them, i have of course used great willpower and only crafted three so far. 

two in my studio which in turn is our winter lounge corner 

the first 'dumptie' i crafted last week, this unexpected happening had me positively giddy with thoughts of  further 'dumptie' making

not wishing my first 'dumptie' to be lonely, i made him a friend

and one in our family room, an elongated 'dumptie' if you please

a little 'lumpy bumpy' but some of the best things in life have a little lumpy bumpy-ness to them

this elongated 'dumptie' waiting for two bods who like each other to share, reminds me greatly of one i saw a while ago on sfgirlbybay, originally the bench came from Anthropologie. through some clever detective work (whilst wearing a deer stalker hat) i found the image pinned on Victoria's spiffy pin board. (not bad eh for a monday morning). 

mine was crafted from my long midcentury bench, i made a peachy fitted cover from a fabby sandersons fabric and then using two large cushion inners i made a long cushion cover from a thrift store fabric find and a piece of quilting fabric. i did debate going to the store and buying a piece of inner that would be the exact fit but then my little crafty cogs turned and i declared the two cushion inners in my cupboard upstairs would be equally, if not better than. yes perhaps they do look a little 'lumpy bumpy' but i quite like 'lumpy bumpy'. if you do not, and that is perfectly alright, perhaps wrapping the two cushion inners in wadding may help with said 'lumpy bumpy-ness'

i am thinking any lone stool and any lone cushion could easily no longer be lonely if we spent our days wisely in our own sheds, pairing them all up. it could be as easy as finding one little wooden stool and one little round cushion you already have and introducing themselves to each other (or square, i have nothing against squaries so do not leave them out). 

it could also be a case of, the need to add a 'dumptie' to you life, is the perfect excuse to go on a thrifty jolly. searching for a little stool or perhaps a small side table with legs looking like they could do with being chopped down. then bringing home your spiffy find, giving it a lick of paint and then spending a few happy hours stitching it a cushion top to make it feel loved.

after which i am quite sure, you will be having to check regularly on your 'dumptie' and its condition staying maximum 'dumptie-ness' for if my 'dumpties' are anything to go by, they will attract a lot of attention from clan members and their derrieres.

do check regularly upon the health and safety of your 'dumptie'

and so i think it only fitting, as the word 'dumptie' is of a greatness level with any other word i know like 'peachy' and 'spiffy' and 'crappity crap' that those who have a dottie angel book in their possession may wish to add a little note to the back pages in the fine and dandy section, 'a dottie angel dictionary'. i am thinking you may be able to pencil it in or scribbling it on another little piece of paper and sticking it in might be rather nice.

dumptie

a spiffy little seat made for pondering

in between pottlings around and about

your abode

she is still beavering away with Miss Ethel, whilst sweating in her thermal vest, due to much beavering ~ Tif

constant canine companions...

hurrah hooray, 'tis friday, 

once again it has whizzed on round. 

i have never lost that feeling of 'yippee its friday'! 

it goes way way on back to my school days...

next week is quite thrilling, 

for it is all about the three C's.

 crafting, crochet and clogs.

for now though,

it is all about my constant canine companions,

who have done a spiffy job of keeping me company

whilst my man is in old blighty.

yes i am thinking quite honestly

there cannot be anything better

then a constant canine companion or two

especially this week...

she is wishing you a peachy weekend filled with lots of C's ~ Tif
footynote: oooh! lets play spot the difference. after all it is friday...
what is the difference between photo #2 and photo #3, apart from the obvious shape of the picture.
gold sticky stars up for grabs :) 

crimes committed...

it would appear two crimes have been committed of late in the shed, one i am guilty of and the other not.

crime number one:

Colin the computer is feeling under the weather, i noted two days ago. thankfully despite my frustration, i fell short of tearing my hair out due to quite liking my hair at the moment and also being most happy my braids now reach over the top of my bonce and are almost touching my ears the 'tother side, which really is most spiffy. i cannot believe how in a few short months my wrappity wrap braidy hairdo is coming along a treat. but i digress, and this not 'a-okay' for we are talking crimes here and this is most serious.

i blame myself for Colin's sorry ways, i foolishly upon bringing 'Lappity' laptop into my life, felt it would be safe to allow Colin into the public domain of the shed. oh the fool that i am...

totally unrelated snapshots of a 'dumptie' made by placing a round cushion on top a stool

i charged Our #4 guilty of crimes committed against Colin, he protested his innocence but i think he looked shifty in the eyes when he pleaded 'not guilty'. in the meantime i was left with no alternative but to ask my man to clean up Colin's act and restore his spiffy ways back to their original spiffiness and with a bit of luck, all the crappity crap now clouding his vision will be gone...

crime number two:

i committed this crime last week with a can of custard yellow paint and a poor unsuspecting cupboard in my studio. after three coats on one side of poor unsuspecting cupboard it dawned on me it was not my destiny to own a glossy custard yellow cupboard. such is my restless ways at the moment i needed instant gratification with my painting ways and that was not happening. in a need to cover up my terrible crime, i rustled around my paint cupboard and found some glossy grey. i attempted to cover my tracks and when i stepped back i noted i had failed, for the poor unsuspecting cupboard looked pants in grey.

this in turn led to me dragging my victim out to the garage, covering it in a bedsheet in the hope of no one noticing. where upon i adopted an 'out of sight, out of mind' attitude whilst pondering what i would do without my trusty cupboard to hold all my spiffy 'bits and bobs' with which i craft with. i found my next victim upstairs, she has been a faithful little soul for the past 15 years since my folks passed her onto us, holding my granny undies and cotton hankies most trustfully.

after much huffing and puffing to get her downstairs, i pondered her fate. some pondering later i declared greeny turquoise would suit her lovely shape.

as it tippity type this little ramble today, i am most delighted with my newly painted cupboard and her glossy coat, however everytime i look at her i feel guilt, guilt for the poor unsuspecting cupboard now left out in the cold garage and recalling the crime i committed with a can of custard yellow paint in a moment of madness.

after a long period of separation (causing anxiety) she is reunited with Mr Hook ~ Tif

yesterday...

yesterday Little Olive sat in her suitcase staring at her twiddly bits attached to her blankie.

i sat at the kitchen knook table staring out the window at the arrival of Mr Autumn.

i noted to Little Olive that we were indeed a right old pair of old pants together.

for it was the 3rd of October and so far there was no sign of our dynamic keep fit regime starting.

we had prepped and planned for the first of the month and now 3 days into the month, nothing. 

not a single ounce of 'keep fitting' going on between us.

she quite rightly pointed out it was mainly my fault.

i quite rightly pointed out, indeed it was, however i had a fine and dandy excuse.

to which she looked at me with the look of

"oh yes, and what would that be Tif?"

to which i replied

"Little Olive, as much as i wish to keep fit with the passion of a marathon runner, alas and alack, i cannot.

for the colour yellow is weighing heavily on my mind, distracting me nicely from matters of the heart and such is its distracting ways, it also appears good at distracting me from keeping fit"

i then proceeded to jolly Little Olive up with a hearty lively debate of the colour yellow, does one think a cupboard in my studio would benefit from a lick of its lovely sunny self and what were her thoughts on it.

where upon Little Olive proceeded with her usual trick of "if i can't see her, surely she can't see me", in the high hopes i would fizzle off and talk to some other poor unsuspecting critter in the shed

she is thinking Little Olive may not be volunteering to come to the paint store this morning ~ Tif