little olive and a colorful moment...

i woke with a great long 'to do' list this morning.
all quite nice things as i failed to write the 'horribly dull' stuff on the list, thus making my list look rather 'arty and crafty', rather than 'maidy and cooky'...


i have not succeeded in any of the things as two other things not listed, have got in the way.

thing number 1: my blog...
the layout is doing my head in, having added an extra sidebar, courtesy of my man... i was left with an 'all so busy look' to bother my waking thoughts.
i have to say i don't usually give my blog layout much thought but this has been 'nagging at me' since sunday night... anyhow after a lot of 'toing and froing' from my photo folder to my blog, i have achieved a layout that 'pleases me' enough to move on, thank goodness.

and

thing number 2: miss pesky olive...
who is driving me to distraction today. i have decided she is an attention seeker, which is to be expected of a little puppy... when the shed is full of 'comings and goings' she is happy as a lamb and as sweet as can be.
when it's just dull old me and used dog, she starts to play the squirrel nutkin thing to a 'tee'.
this morning i applied my new birthday moisturizer kindly gifted to me by my girls... "ooo, lovely" i said as i applied it and breathed in the vanilla fragrance.
i then went about my day feeling quite special, as nice moisturizer is not something i usually buy for myself. (nor, can i from now on...)
"how thoughtful" i said to myself, thinking it most lovely my family had taken on board my challenge and given me 'useful and thoughtful' gifts for the coming year. (and yes, i did get woolly socks)

after several minutes of being downstairs, little olive made a bee line for my legs... for the past hour i have been continuously 'bathed' by her little licky tongue. i fear i will never beable to use my birthday 'oh so special' moisturizer again and more to the point, i am this close to running out the door and just hosing my legs down in the yard. as much as i love a 'little lick' every now and then, i draw the line at having dried puppy saliva all over my lower legs...
oh and here she comes again... and voila! as i am tippity tapping on the keys she sits below 'washing me'... i shall have to practise the art of 'ignoring' for me to get through this...

and so my plan today was not to talk 'dog saliva' to you but 'color', dearest readers.
i noted yesterday as i 'guest posted' for emma's lovely weekly feature 'colour your monday happy', just how much color has filtered into my life.
i do believe i am getting past my color phobia ways and along with my challenge i am embracing a new colorful me.
as i look around my shed, little vignettes of color are 'popping up' in a rather uplifting way...
i plan to bring you some pictures of such things later in the week. but for now i need to leave, and leave very quickly as i'm going to have a 'wobbly' in a mo...


i love little olive deeply, after all i am crocheting her a matching blanket like my own little blankie, but i cannot deal with the 'bathing' and now as i look down i do believe a rash is appearing...
could that be the lotion or the olive licks?

she is trying to get to Miss Ethel, as another crafting epiphany has appeared, but alas little olive is not 'on board' ~ Tif
footynote: i have to just say how wonderful it is to have so many of you on board with the challenge and also the fact that alot of you feel inspired to make changes, however small with the way you 'shop' even without taking the challenge... it's most fabulous, really it is.