a few book notes...

i hope you do not mind, but the flow of postcards landing on your door mats must be interrupted with some book notes i feel worth noting...

note one:

last week on UPPERCASE was 'dottie angel week', which as i mentioned before is terribly thrilling after all i have never had such a thing happen to me. seeing all the photos Janine shared on the book's progress and some behind the scene things made me most smiley. if you missed book week over at Janine's lovely place, then you can catch up here, just keep on scrolling down the page to see all her posts and pictures

note two:

for anyone wondering where UPPERCASE magazine and books are stocked, you can find out details here and also i am rather delighted to be told the lovely store Ray Stitch will be opening soon and will stock my book. i can only imagine just how lovely their store is going to be.

note three:

worthy of brewing a cup of tea and having a few minutes sit down to enjoy, a little video showing the printer proofs by Janine,

dottie angel book proof from UPPERCASE gallery on Vimeo.

thank you kindly to all those who have pre-ordered our book, Janine and myself are beyond delighted by the response. also gold sticky stars (hurrah, hooray! i love a gold sticky star, especially on mondays, 'cause mondays can be a little dull) to those who helped out in making the extras which come with the book, look as peachy as they do.

she will be scribbling another postcard tomorrow ~ Tif

A Consuming Fire

Yesterday we held our annual bonfire and barbeque. The weather wasn’t too good, but we were still happy to be able to welcome many of Stronsay’s residents who didn’t mind braving the wind and rain, as well as some who came out from Kirkwall for the occasion.



This year it was Br. Seelos's father who stepped up to the mark and lit the fire.



Due to the wind which was slowly picking up, it took two attempts to get the fire going, but the flames finally took hold!



Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R. blesses the fire



Oremus

Domine Deus, Pater omnipotens, lumen indeficiens, qui es conditor omnium luminum:

novum hunc ignem sanctifica + , et praesta: ut ad te, qui es lumen indeficiens,

puris mentibus post hujus saeculi caliginem pervenire valeamus.

Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.



Let us pray.

Lord God, almighty Father, the Light that never fails and the source of all light,

sanctify + this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life

we may come unsullied to Thee Who art light eternal;

through Christ our Lord. Amen





The brothers prepare the barbeque. These were homemade burgers from our own beef.



Luckily we are able to use the end of this shed when the weather is not so pleasant.



With the fire having died down to a bearable size, folk can't resist going to stand about it despite the wet!



As the evening wore on, Br. Seelos set himself to entertaining everyone, and it was very well done.

Where the Magic Happens

One of the items on my "I Will" list this year is finally getting around to furnishing and decorating our master bedroom. I say finally because it is the only room in the house (five years later) that's relatively untouched. In fact, we still have Joe's childhood furniture as our bedroom set. It's not cute furniture either. My mother-in-law is many wonderful things, but decorator she is not and this set proves it.



Given that this isn't our forever house, I'm reluctant to spend too much fixing up this room. We already made our own headboard, and I have curtains and an area rug that we're going to work with. I just ordered another set of bamboo shades from Overstock which should be in tomorrow and will hopefully go up tomorrow night.



Now it's finally time to replace our furniture. I mocked up the pieces that I want to see what the room will look like and I'm mostly happy with how it will look.

The wing chair is a piece we already had that I moved to our bedroom, the rug, headboard and bedding we already have. The side tables are going to be a replica of this Ikea rast hack, except the fronts of ours will be painted BM's Nantucket Grey (since I have a can of it from painting our basement and it matches the colors in our rug so well) and I ordered pewter pulls, since Joe hates the brass. Our main dresser will be the one investment piece in the room since it's a dresser we've had our eyes on for a while and I know we'll be able to reuse it in a future house.



That leaves the need for one tall dresser. I'm thinking of buying the Ikea Hemnes 6 drawer chest, painting it Nantucket Gray and adding some new hardware to it.

Painting Ikea furniture is certainly not a novel concept, in fact I've been saving this House Beautiful article in my bedroom inspiration file for a while now.

I wonder if this is one of those projects that sounds so much better in theory than it actually comes out? Like am I going to spend two hours (I don't have) painting a dresser, only to want to cry when I'm done? I think the flat finish lends itself to a coat of paint, but who knows...



Then all that's left is actually decorating the walls. Now let me be the first to admit that I suck at accessorizing. It's why my bookshelves in the living room are still bare 3 years later and why I only wear my wedding rings and a pair of earrings. Accessories are not my friend.



Add to that some conflicting form versus function ideas between me and the husband and I'm stumped. Starburst mirror over the bed - I love, him not so much. Pictures of the kids in the room - some say that's a romance no, no. And the great TV in the bedroom debate. The husband is a big YAY vote for the TV in the bedroom. I will admit sometimes it's nice to head upstairs and finish watching a show in bed, but I hate the look of a TV in the bedroom. I found this not-so-shabby TV in the bedroom idea on Pinterest

Source: lonnymag.com via nikinikinine on Pinterest

My problem is this would end up being the third gallery wall in our not so big house (the first being in our living room and the second being in our stairwell). Like galleries much? Sureeee do. My second issue is I'm not sure we should even have a TV in the bedroom. Between the kids and the dog who are already on rotation in and out of the room, I'm not sure we need any more distractions in there if you catch my drift.



So that is that. My goal (in August) is to have this all done by Christmas. Seriously. I'm giving myself five months to finish this very simple project, and that's possibly not even long enough :)



Where do you stand on TV's in the bedroom? Do you have one in there, does it distract you from the magic? Ha.

random postcard #5...

dearest reader,

oh happy day! i dropped 3 clan members and a boyfriend off at the amusement park and with a hop and skip drove over to my friend Hesta's abode. i love Hesta for many reasons, she is super quirky and her home is filled with handcrafted, thrifted goodness. i could stay all day just looking at her collections and piles of goodness. however today i could not, for today i had just a few hours spare and Hesta was taking me on 'a jolly'!

she invited me on 'a jolly' which she told me no other friend would quite get. the 'jolly' first took us to her allotment. upon arriving at Hesta's lovely bit of allotment she got busy getting out her scissors, ribbon and nails. i stood by, taking in this most wonderful moment in my life. i did not think it would ever get better than this. to be asked by a crafty friend to cut the ribbon of her shed is truly beyond anything i have ever been asked before. Hesta explained as the ribbon was cut and the doors opened to reveal the peachy inners, the dreams and hopes she had for her little shed. the extension and the porch she was planning to add on, alongside other little bits and bobs. as i hung up my little itty bitty 'high hope' flags to mark this momentous occasion in my life, i marveled at my friend's passion, her hard work and the dreams i have no doubt she will fulfill one day.

after which we got back in Hesta's car and bumbled along the windy roads of Devon, whilst putting the worlds to right. soon i found myself transported to recycling heaven. so many forsaken souls hoping for a last chance. having only a suitcase on my travels i was having to keep my blinkers on. i found a nice roll of retro wallpaper and a little cross stitched rose picture complete with spiffy old frame. 1 pound, 25 p later they were mine to keep.

we stopped for a lovely cup of tea on the way home, and as i said my goodbyes to Hesta for another year, i headed off to collect my clan with a smile on my face, a roll of wallpaper under my arm, a little framed cross stitch in my bag and a head filled with a memory i will remember forever and a day

hope this postcard finds you in tippity top condition and you are staying tufty squirrel safe this summer

Tif x