Jumat, 07 Juni 2013

nifty & nice... #4

type='html'>
in my 'make kitchen ship shape, tippity top' again mode, i thought it rather grand to add some display storage due to all cupboards having doors. as we saw earlier in 'nifty & nice... #2' this was achieved under the island. i also achieved it opposite the island in the bit that is supposed to be a kitchen knook and house a table but our table is around the corner, thus leaving a wall free for a medley of free standing kitchen storage. (and now also little olive and her suitcase)

so i heaved and i hoed a very battered shelf from Gladys into our kitchen and plonked it 'a top' an old sideboard which has seen all four clan members through as babies and now resides as handy dandy storage for waifs and strays of china bits and bobs. i was tres delighted with the results. spent a happy few hours arranging my pyrex collection (other treasures) on view, after years of being kept in the dark. 

do note: little olive in her new little space, perfectly situated for surveying all that goes on at mossy shed
do not note: little olive's rolly polly pudding look, left over from winter...

the next day a little thought came to mind. "well yes it all looks most lovely but in a few more days it will be caked in a layer of dust and floating dog hair no doubt". i banished the little voice. several days later it piped up again. "gosh, doesn't that big old jumbly bumbly lot of clutter on those shelves do your minimalist head in". hush, be gone i cried....

3 days later i needed several pyrex bowls for dinner... darn, drat and double drat. that pesky voice was right, a layer of dust and other floaty around bits that happen to have past on by and plonked themselves in my bowls were laughing at me. now i had to clean the bowls before i could put the food in them. then again i could not, but i knew what i had seen and in all conscience could not do such a thing... the little voice could be heard loud and clear. "dust and jumbly bumbly clutter will be your undoing. it will send you to the funny farm within a month". this time i listened

so i pondered as it required rather a lot of pondering i felt. not able to return everything back to behind doors having shuffled other stuff into the 'behind doors' space, i was having to come up with some nifty thinking, yes this called for a cunning plan if ever a cunning plan was called for. and there it was, just as it always seems to be. something prompts something else and before you know it, you arrive at a tippity top solution you wish you had thought of in the first place, thus avoiding dust and jumbly bumbly things to have happened in the first place.

yes i needed some kind of doors (irony of it as it was the doors in the first place which prompted me to wish for an open shelving space) but i did not have any random doors lying around my shed. its just not a thing i collect... so fabric would have to do. 
after a little bit more thought, a bit of dabbling with Miss Ethel, some pinking shears, a piece of old curtain fabric and 2 springer rods later, i had myself 2 fabric doors.



 i did not hem the sides, i did not fret nor lie awake at night worrying one fabric door was wider than the other. no i did not. all i cared to see was the jumbly bumbly piles which had at first looked so delightful and in turn, became dust catchers and a dizzing array of clutter, had been 'abracadabra-ed' away by some rather natty looking fabric doors which i do believe any granny worth her granny chic salt would be proud to have in her kitchen.


gosh, not only nifty but extremely granny chic nice...

what's that little voice? "don't those curtains make it a little tricky dicky to remove bowls when you need them?" 
i'm not listening, not listening, fingers in ears, can't hear you....



View the Original article

nifty & nice... #5

type='html'>
Mr Spring is quite the tease these days.
flashing bits of himself here and there,
then disappearing again...
i imagine he's off, 
flashing someone else


however, i know
there will come a time
when he stops his flashing ways
and just gives us a bit of full exposure


i need to be ready,
i need to be ready indeedy!
being ready can be involve all manner of things,
for all manner of folks


i wish it involved having clean windows
inside and out
but alas after 5 years
and a gazillion fir trees
i do not have those.
my man did do his besty best last year
(i dared not voice it out loud)
but he was fighting a losing battle
from the beginning


however when Mr Spring comes around
for an extended stay 
i will not note the crappy film of dirt 
across the windows,
nor the need for fresh paint upon
the 'less than white' walls
after 5 years...
no sirree!
for i have a plan,
a plan where
i will distract myself
and any others that may happen
to be in the vicinity,
by pointing and saying
in quite a knowledgeable tone
(secret to folks thinking
you many know what you are talking about
and hence pay attention.
my clan are wise to it,
after all these years
but i'm hopeful
random passing strangers
will not be so)

"oh goodness, 
how marvelous and magnificent,
to see Mr Spring
and gosh, what a coincidence,
i just happened to be ready
with 2 very spiffy springy 
new cushion covers
upon the settee"

and of course
i have no doubt
those passing bods will exclaim.
"oh hurrah hooray, 
how extraordinarily nifty,
and may we be so bold
as to add,
quite simply, perfectly nice.
yes, Tif
without a doubt
nifty and nice!"


i might blush,
i might look at the ground
and not catch
any passing bods eyes
but inside 
i will feel a little happy,
just a tad
to know i was ready
for Mr Spring and his
full on exposure 

if perhaps you wish to be ready too,
if you live with high hopes
that Mr Spring will one day soon
expose himself in your direction
and need some springified cushions
in your springified nest
 you can find 
all you need to know
to make similar
'patched and pieced'
cushions


or
your could be just like
little olive
forget the business of patching and piecing
and just find the nearest
handy dandy blanket 
and be
ready and waiting
to welcome 
Mr Spring
into your home
the best way you know how




View the Original article

nifty & nice... #6 {wordless wednesday}

type='html'>





View the Original article

nifty & nice... #7

type='html'>
today's thrilling episode of 'nifty & nice' comes from Our #1 who does have a name. oh yes she does. i did not give birth 21 years ago and look down at the battered and bruised little miraculous being in my arms and declare " i love you more than life its self and if i never do anything ever again, other than this, this will be enough and we will call you 'Our #1' ". 
no, no i did not. i said all of the above minus the 'Our #1' and instead said 'Our Meggie-May' which in turn, as she grew wiser and older, turned into 'Our Meg'...

and so it comes to be, Our Meg now lives across the pond, many miles away in the heart of London, working for the most delightfully 'nifty & nice' Lisa Levis (nee Stickley) and in her spare moments she is doing quite a few spiffy things. one of those spiffy things is feathering a nest. on tres limited funds this is happening via secondhand and handcrafted goodness which of course, has delighted moi no end. (although truth be told i would so very muchly like to be near so we could pottle and create together, her first nest)

the other day (actually the other week but its taken me this long to tippity tap about it) Meg showed on the world wide web her nifty & nice crafty jars. immediately i wished to find a little glass jar victim of my own and then i thought, perhaps i am not alone, perhaps you too may care to do the same. so for today, here is a most nifty & nice way to treat your glass jars via Our Meg, 
(be them saved from the brink of recycling or indeed as Our Meg did, found for a quid).

yippee! take it away, Meg's photos....

take your glass jar, tape off the area you wish to keep clear, pop it on its head and with spray paint suitable for glass, give it a nice even coat. might need more than 1, best to have 2 lightweight coats then 1 drippy hippy one. patiently wait for the paint to dry. if you are not the patient sort, distract yourself by learning the alphabet backwards, making a daisy chain or indeed, playing 'catch a leafy' if its autumn in your neck of the globe
when dry, add nick~nacks and paddy whacks if need be. consider it a perfect place to store crafty supplies, or perhaps tea bags and sugar in the kitchen. or if you are keen on baths, how about bath salts? i would not know as i do not have bath salts, but i could keep my cotton wool pads in them instead i am thinking

but wait, there is more... glass bottles no longer required for condiments, may indeed be perfectly suited to the same treatment, resulting in a rather peachy flower vase for your rather kitschy fake flowers (be sure to remove all labels, sticky stuff and left over inners before commencing with the tape and spray paint)
oh yes, i think you will agree, well on the nifty side of things and rather nice to boot.
thank you kindly Our Meg for letting me 'show and tell' your crafty nest moment and also, just so folks know, these are Meg's photos, so if perchance you are a 'pinner' please credit her. thank you muchly

'over and out'



View the Original article

wordless wednesday... Mister Muchly

type='html'>



View the Original article

dear Mister Muchly...

type='html'>
  welcome to mossy shed! goodness, how marvelous to think, on monday i did not know you, but now, by thursday, just a few days later, i know you very muchly. i must confess Mister Muchly when we bought you home in a little cardboard box around 8:32pm on tuesday night i was a little terrified. for you see Mister Muchly, its quite a responsibility to bring home a little critter and say 'i do' for the rest of that little critter's little life. Our #4 assured me though, that you were the one and in a way, i did like the fact 'a nearly 15 in a few days' lad who is hitting 6ft 2" felt a little piggie would make a good friend.
                     
Oh Mister Muchly, how i tossed and turned that night, thoughts of keeping you well and thoughts of keeping you alive ran through my little cogs...  could i, would i, could he, would he (more to the point) be up to the job. you seemed so little and so terribly afraid. your tiny beady eyes staring so intently at your new surroundings, and your teeny ears listening to all the strange sounds. the journey you had been on, i could only begin to imagine... the next morning, to my relief, you appeared a little more settled, your timothy hay was going down a treat, i told myself this was a jolly good sign and also, 'tis early days, these thing take time. and so i popped upon my facebook wall 

"welcome Mister Muchly to mossy shed... may all your squeaks be joyful ones, may your carefree days be most plentiful and may you enjoy bonding over game animating, homework, yard games and telly watching with Our #4"

   and right there and then, i promptly left mossy shed to run errands, only to return to find Our #4 and you, the besty best of buddies. oh joy of joys Mister Muchly! it would appear, you are all i hoped you would be and so much more and most of all, you are all he hoped you would be and so much more.

you proved to be most brilliant at observing and critiquing game animating


you were extremely talented at staying close by at all times


     you showed a marvelous aptitude for spanish spelling testing (and far more alert i might add than Our #4!)


you have an appreciation of staying warm and cozy whilst telly watching


    Mister Muchly, i could go on and on, however, to spare your blushes, can i just finish up by saying the thing i love most about you is, not only have you given Our #4 all that he wished for from a little critter and i am quite sure will continue to do so, and he in turn will give you all you could wish for from a carer and will continue to do so, but you so kindly are happy to be a 'he' even though you are 'she'. a sign of true friendship between a lad and his critter... 

and for that reason and 'oh so many more', i do love you muchly, Mister Muchly

   yours ever gratefully
Tif x

                       


View the Original article

a born again gardener...

type='html'>


















proving miracles do indeedy happen...
hallelujah!


View the Original article