Sunday, March 2

Non-inspirational blogging


Blogland is so full of inspirational sites and sights, isn't it? Stunning pictures of beautiful homes, beautiful people and beautiful lives. Truly inspirational living. And that's great, I love it. I just can't always live up to it.


So today, I give you an un-inspirational post. Think of it as a gift from me, a Mother's Day gift, if you like. A gift - in collage form - that will make you feel better about your home, and possibly your life.


Mess



Mmm, bad isn't it? I must confess that after snapping the above "artwork" I made a concerted effort to tidy up .... oooooh .... one of those areas.

And while I'm on a roll, in other un-inspirational blogging news, I'm afraid I haven't yet clawed my way out of the depths of Monkee Fatigue Syndrome, so no new monkees made of knit will be appearing any time soon.

I did make this yesterday though ......




For a blogging friend who did me a favour recently. Ok, so it's not knitted but it is still a monkey. That's got to count, right?


On Friday, RGH and I had the day off, and we went here .....





for a new one of these .....





While we were there I stumbled upon this in the Bargain Basement section ......




..... obviously I had to have it .....







RGH wasn't pleased. Basically because (a) he hates it and (b) it meant he had to drive home like this .....






Funny. And yet probably dangerous. So not funny at all then really.




..... but he's a good egg and soon got over it.




Busy.



Finally for today, when I got up this morning, this brilliant picture was outside my door, along with a two sided heart-rending letter from RBD1 explaining some of the teenage angst she (and therefore we) have been struggling with recently. It's the best Mother's Day present I could have hoped for and shall be put away safely to be re-read frequently.




..... a new family crest? Or a little prompt to get my mojo back, maybe.



Next time ..... I think my Postie secretly fancies me as he keeps bringing me lovely stuff ....


44 comments:

mushroommeadows said...

hehehe The picture of your husband driving your awesome bookshelf is funny...though it's only funny because apparently you guys made it home safely. :D

I love your daughter's art piece; artistic talents must run in the family!

oh yeah, the monkee is cute. :D

Mrs Moog said...

For a scary moment there I thought you'd broken into Moog Towers armed with your camera!!!

Groovy bookshelf MM!! May have been an issue with the traffic police had they seen it though! Slightly dangerous? Just a bit, yeh!!

I love your Monkee picture and what a lovely girl you have to a feel she wants to explain her angst to her Mum - at least now you know it's not all your fault ;)

Happy Mother's Day :)

xxx

Jodie said...

I soo wanted to get those bookcases for my teenage angsters room but she decided on the plain black and yes that does look slightly dangerous...in a snapping off of the neck kinda way . Glad you got home safe!

Linda said...

I have never been to Ikea, must go! Love the sock(?) monkey. Love your house, its normal!

Leanne said...

Your house could be my house - What a good fellow your hubby is had you upped his life insurance before taking that trip. Lovely art work from your DD teenage years can be quite painful for both child and parent.

Kitty said...

My house! :-O On your blog! :-O How did you manage that???

Good looking sock monkey - can we see all of him though? Pretty please?

And fabulous card from your daughter - she has inherited your 'talented gene' I see.

Have a lovely Mother's Day. x

Di said...

Happy mother's day!! Perhaps you can train the monkees to tidy the house - now that would be a great monkee!!

Love the new shelf unit! I saw them in a magazine recently! So your home could be in the next Living Etc!!

Can't wait for the next post - I have been giggling just thinking about it already!!

Kittypinkstars said...

That sock monkey is FAB!! Yes wanna see more!!

Anonymous said...

I too felt that you climbed into my dining room/studio last night and snapped some photos!

Talk about Monkee Business...

Now if you and RGH could just bring another IKEA shelf unit over to OUR place in the middle of the night, that would be great!

Don't forget to fold all the fabric, arrange the knitted gang on the top shelf and collect the empty dishes and coffee cups, oh and feel free to take some "after pics " too!

Shawn Mary

the vicious chicken said...

Hmmm. You see, you go and say you have MFS, and then you just whip up a sock monkey in the blink of an eye. Wish I had your skills (and speed) :o(

I really like the new bookshelves (and had a good laugh at the picture of it being transported home - sorry RGH), but I feel they may make my head spin if I looked at that pattern for too long...

And I love that picture from RBD1, and I'm glad that you got such a nice present from her today. Have a lovely rest-of-Mother's Day,
VCxx

trash said...

I vote for new family crest.

Charlie P said...

That bookshelf is amaaaaaaazing! I haven't been to IKEA for absolutely ages, maybe it's time for a trip.
The mothers' day monkey is a really sweet idea, too. Awww.

Jacqui said...

Thank you for making me feel 'normal'. I confess, this place is a mess!

Penny said...

I think untidy pictures are far more inspirational ten beautifully decorated 'minimilist' homes.

The bookcase is fab.

Anonymous said...

What a brilliant card from your daughter! Definitely a new family crest there! And to repeat other comments - how did you get in my house?????

Lucy Locket on my mum's snazzy laptop!

Mama said...

Who let you in MY house to take those pics? It was my sisters trying to shame me into cleaning, wasn't it?


ps: LOVE the bookcase!

mncrafters said...

love those photo's, it's not mess, it's art ; )

love the new bookcase too, looks fab, driving home with a crick in your neck is a small price to pay for something so worthy!

hope you've had a happy mothers day!

quinn said...

Wow! That graphic is fantastic! maybe a logo? lends itself to big and small. Well done, daughter!

Kaz said...

I have ikea envy, for you actually being there are getting such a fab bookcase (I laughed at the pic of RGH - he sure must love you)!

My flat looks like your house and there's only one of me (I move things to take pictures).

Kaz xx

p.s. yes I too find the hairy wool a pain to knit with and even worse to sew up - I hate sewing up - I have black threads everywhere from this new wool, but my bestest mate deserves his own hairy one so I'm soldiering on (I also have a kinda perverse enjoyment of the challenge) x

Rosie said...

crikey, you've sneaked into my house, where all the mess is mine and mine alone (DH and DSD are ultra neat types_.

and I love the monkee maker coat of arms: you clearly have talented offspring!

Gina said...

It's amazing but it's just like my house too - there are so many of us! The truth is that creative people don't have time to tidy up!

What a lovely card from your daughter.

Gina x

. said...

I think I'm in love with that bookcase!

I have to confess that for once my house doesn't look like that, but only because we had friends visit last night and their house is always immaculate (how do that do that with 2 kids??) so I always spend the entire day before they visit in a cleaning frenzy so as not to be (totally) mortified by the inherent pig-styness of my home!

Maybe I should ask them to visit more often?? Or not...

HAPPY MOTHER's DAY :)

xMx

mrspao said...

Thank goodness you have a normal house :) (says she who spent a frantic half hour shoving things in cupboards in preparation for some visitors..)

Michaela said...

I wish my house looked like that - I'm sure my husband has some sort of ocd. Obviously due to his SAS training, he thinks baddies lurk behind all the piles of rubbish which I painstakingly accumulate. He spends his life tidying up after me and moving all my stuff - and it drives me nuts! I can never find anything! Oh to have a house like that. In my dreams Monkee Maker.

As to angst-ridden daughters, I have a son with much the same problem. Maybe they should meet up some time for some serious angst time!? We could leave them at a suitable half-way point (Oxford?) and then run away?

Anonymous said...

MM, you fool!

RGH's neck could have been saved if you had only experienced the joy of dismantling Ikea Bargain Corner furniture with all and sundry watching and wishing for it to fall on your head! ;o)

I have done it many times, with VC in an supervisory and passing tools capacity. There is almost more cut price furniture in mine and VC's place than full price items - and a worryingly large proportion of it is from Ikea (or Pie-kea... If you like that, there are episodes 2 and 3 aswell!)

Anyways, enough tomfoolery, I have to go in search of pie!

NBM xx

Anonymous said...

LOVE that bookcase, and thank you for the advice on the monkee, couldn't remember if I thanked you, as my computer had to go the menders, I have now stuffed and sewn him, minus his ears and he does look better, x

Denise said...

Happy Mother's day to you there in the UK. We don't get our special day here until MAY!!!
Love your mess (thank goodness it's not mine):-) makes for very artistic collages if nothing else.

mc said...

I really feel at home here..I have a fridge magnet that sums us up though ....Dull women have immaculate houses.. My children have left home but everthing else is still here.
c*
word verif. skrib - (tee hee)

Anonymous said...

Quite big bags of stick-on animal eyes, (VERY similar to your monkey eyes) are available in Early Learning reduced to 80pence...have you seen them? Fran

Suzie Sews At DOTTY RED said...

I am so impressed with your hubby. A day of and you go to Ikea...this would have been grounds for divorse with my childrens Dad!!! Worth it though to get that book shelf...

Unknown said...

Ah so you're clearly as much as a tramp as I am housework wise.

Besides Im waiting for the Borrowers to come clean mine, the book says they do exist so I'll wait for them to arrive.

Love the sock monkey although obviously not as much as mine which has now been renamed spider pig by the kidlies.

Nice that you got such a lovely mothers day card. I too had home made ones, my present however I discovered in a folded envelope on the floor with no name on. I opened it thinking it was something of mine anyway and that turned out to be vouchers. Would have been a tad nicer had they been presented to me instead of being lobbed on the floor but I spose you cant have everything.

Munkeh said...

Your daughters artwork on your card would be fab on the side of a project bag - doncha think?

I really need to tidy at my house but then I won't know where anything is.

joanne wardle said...

we had a similar experience with an ikea sofa. we took two cars. I took the kids and most of the shopping home, and left hubby to collect sofa from round the back and bring it home. It took him an age to get home and all he could say when he got in was "let's never speak of that journey again!"

love your daughter's picture, and the letter is the most precious fift you could ever have.

and call that mess?? pah! you amateur!

toothfairy said...

So nice to visit a site that makes me feel "normal". I love all the lovely pics but feel overwhelmed sometimes by the "neatness" of it all. I think your monkees are so very cute!!! I will visit often. I also love IKEA. It's a fun place to visit with great storage pieces like the ones you bought! Jan@daylilylane

My Paper World said...

WOWEE!!!!! I totally dig your groovy bookshelf!!!! faberoonie!!
I must get me one of those!
oh! and I just had one of those DELICIOUS GU puds!! Yummy! ( my first time! LOL! )
Nicola xx

Leigh said...

I am with you on inspiration! I am pretty sure I have not ever inspired anyone!

Love your hubby's photo. I am going to show mine when he gets home, that way he will know that he is not alone in the world!

Your postie would be a fool not to fancy you! You are the monkee maker! BTW, several years ago, my little one announced to daddy that a 7 foot tall cowboy came to the house today. Yes, the mailman with a cowboy hat, but a little explaining was needed.

Thank you for making me laugh!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, FINALLY a picture post on a blog that doesn't make me feel like everyone else in the world is living in perfect, beautiful houses full of hand-crafted loveliness. I still can't manage to take photos in focus though, so you're still making me feel inadequate there.

Nice bookcase! And quelle talented daughter!

Anonymous said...

hehe, I have a few of those corners too at my house...therefore I have been very very busy knitting. I finally made my son his knitted monkee. It doesn't look so well as you monkees, and I don't know what my 7year old boy will say, because it's hidden in his suitcase while he left on a schooltrip, boohoo...

Jennie said...

Can you ask your postie to pop by my house please! Mine only brings me junk mail and bills! :(
The picture is brilliant and should indeed become the family crest!
Your house looks like mine!
And love the bookcase!

Unknown said...

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha - poor rgh. Yes, very dangerous, so we shouldn't laugh, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. (struggles to put on the serious face used when telling small children off)

What a lovely picture! (the monkee one - not the collage of mess, get tidying, you disgrace!)

lauren bergold said...

so basically, if i'm understanding this post correctly, what you're saying is:

all i have to do is publicly post pictures of my household messes (which trust me, i SOOOOO can do!) and i will have earned a trip to IKEA, a pink sock monkee, and a fabulous custom-designed monkee coat-of-arms?

*COOL*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ps: i b'lieve RBD1 must be known henceforth as RB&T! (rather beautiful AND talented!)

PSS: happee mother's day, oh angst-coping one!!!!!!!!!

julie said...

Glad your mother's day was a goodie - that's such a special card you got there - I can understand why it will be treasured. I'm not looking forward to the teenage years much and we're hurtling towards them with alarming speed! Thanks for sharing your mess - makes me feel a bit better about my piles of washing that are lying draped all over the place! Those Ikea shelves are a great find - lucky you for having such a tolerant hubby!

maz said...

Hehe I've had such a laugh reading your blog! It rings so many bells!Was wondering what happened to Kerry a la HSMS?? Don' be a stranger now....

Suzie Sews At DOTTY RED said...

Just a quick note to see that you did receive the cheque last week???
I have posted this on an old post I hope thats OK with you...
SUzie