good morning joyful friends!
delighted to be friday already? yay! i know i am. i am positive about having a great weekend. first, i have a new film on my {holga} & second i am heading, at the end of the day, to the most important beach in the world in these days, because all the most important surfers are there and i just can not wait to see them in action! i am not sure which one i prefer… mr kelly or mr owen… or even mr. mick.
so, today we have one of those interviews you all seem to love. why? because it is one of those sharing-real-stories-interviews! we had one of these just last week. we will have an edition of {at home… far away from home}.
who will be our peachy guest? the word peachy means anything to you? i would certainly give a strong & positive answer!
this lady will make the honours today.
{dottie angel}
Hello… How are you? Can you tell me something that describes who’s dottie angel :: Tif?
Hello Twiggs and lovely readers of Twiggs peachy blog. Quite simply put, dottie angel is my alter ego; she lives in a rundown cottage overlooking the sea. She has two airstream trailers in the yard, one is her studio and the other stores her vast collection of vintage notions. Her eight children are home schooled and spend the day outside running barefoot and their evenings sitting by the fireplace, learning ancient crafting techniques. They never talk back to their mother and always smile. She has several chickens, seven rescued greyhounds and a bearded dragon named STIG… dottie spends most days dressed in an old vintage slip that belonged to her grandmother which she customized. She thinks to herself, surely everyone dreams of living this life, or at least dressing like they do.
I am a Brit living abroad in suburbia. I live in a large box shaped nest called Mossy Shed surrounded by ‘used’ dog, little olive and various other creatures: some furry, a few with wings, and one with a shell. I also share my world with my man and four teenage children (who do talk back), although recently my daughter moved back across the pond to England, so the shed is feeling a little empty. I wear a customized slip some days, on other days I prefer to wrap myself in pretty pillowcases… I like to spend my time wisely with Miss Ethel my trusty sewing machine and on most days you will find me dreaming of living dottie angel’s life.
2. You were born in…
I am the youngest of four (having three older brothers) and was born at home in a small village called Pirton in Hertfordshire, England. I have only been back there once and it was many years ago. I have no recollection of the place. We moved shortly afterwards to a new home on a housing estate. I have a photo of my mother holding me as a baby in the new front yard; she was a young mother of four being only 26 at the time. On her feet is the peachiest pair of retro white patent boots. Years on my mother told me they could only turf the front yard at the time and had to leave the back, for they could not afford all the turf and the white patent boots. My mother and father are still happily married and knowing my dad saw my mother’s boots as a priority over laying the lawn in the back garden warms my heart. All of my memories of growing up are full of fondness; my folks truly were and still are parents of the utmost kind.
3. And now you are in… … for how many years?
I am now living just outside of Seattle in the US, we moved here in 2000 and appear over 10 years later to still be living here.
4. Do you remember what were you feeling/thinking in the day you decided to go abroad?
At the time I had 4 small children under the age of 7 so quite honestly, that part of my life is a bit of a blur. I look back now and marvel how it took all day just to get everyone clothed and up to the shops to buy milk to be back in time for dinner and bedtime! My man has always enjoyed travelling and I knew one day he would wish to work abroad, it was always in the cards from the day I met him. He offered up Spain or the US. At the time the thought of moving to another country with small children and not knowing the language kind of panicked me, so I picked the US! Silly me, little did I know at the time, we may speak the same language, does not mean we are talking about the same thing!
5. What do you like the most in your current place?
Apart from the kindness of folks that live around me, anyone that has visited the beautiful northwest will know, it is the mountains, the ocean, the skies and the trees that continue to take my breath away and why even after 10 years of feeling like a fish out of water we are still living here…
6. What do you miss the most from your country?
Without doubt, most of all I miss our family and our friends. Never a day goes by when I don’t feel that feeling of being a long way from home. In general I also miss the British sense of humor, the passion we have for handcrafted and eclecticness and the history of our country. But best of all, what I miss so much of Britain is the fact, it is okay to be a little batty; indeed you are positively embraced if you are a little nutty. The thing I noted shortly after leaving my home country is, I became hugely patriotic, I saw my country from an outsider’s point of view and just like a mother hen, become most protective of it. When I return in the summer I spend the whole time soaking up the sights and the sounds, marveling at the history and eccentricities so they may stay with me when I am feeling lonely and far from home. Carrying my homeland in my heart has enabled me to stay true to who I am and where I come from whilst allowing my family to enjoy the wonders of living in this part of the globe. After nearly eleven years of living stateside my children are indeed British/American and although the greatest part of their childhood has been spent in the US, they have a lovely balance of both countries within their hearts and their heads. As a parent this is something I am most proud of.
7. Let’s say that I’m going abroad for some reason… and I’m at the airport, on the departure side… your words for me would be…?
Well I guess I would tell you just like I told myself when I boarded that plane in July 2000 by myself with four young children, not quite knowing what our future held and feeling a little giddy with the big step I was taking…
“If you don’t try something, you will never know. You can always come home if it doesn’t work out. But if you never try, never take a chance, then for the rest of your life you will be wondering and thinking about what could have been”
and this was it for today!
i hope this has brought delight and {peachy} feelings to your day!
as i told sweet tif yesterday while i was reading her answers, i kept smiling in every word… like if it was a book.
i would like to thank lady tif because she was amazingly patient, as we had a little battle through these days, as our e-mail accounts seemed to have developped a quite a messy relationship and our words did have to strive several battles in order to cross the ocean! thank you!!! i loved your interview… and i am most honoured to be the one hosting you here. it was a real pleasure!
have a sweet friday, lovely readers & friends!
see you on monday with more delicious goodies!
Kim @ Starry Sky Ranch says
Fascinating! I have loved your images on Flickr and your story is even more delightful. I seem to be living a similar life if in reverse logistically, having left the American West for Europe with a tassle of children in tow. Small world, even if we are on opposite sides of it – yours in mine and I in yours. : )
Heather -Gathering Spriggs says
thank you for this fabulous interview!! i've always wanted to learn more about Tif. i love her sense of humor and am inspired to let my own shine more online.
tif, thanks for opening the doors of your heart and family with us. it was an honor seeing the woman behind the art. i love how you mix reality with fantasy~
dottie angel says
thank you kindly heather and kim!! so delighted you enjoyed the q & a's :)
and twiggs, so lovely of you to invite me to be a part of your peachy blog… thank you my dearie!
...a place for twiggs. says
Hello girls! Thank you so much for leaving these comments on Miss Dottie Angel's interview!! It was a real pleasure to read this in first hand!! She is adorable, an interesting woman and a very creative soul!! Thank you Tif! Thank you Heather & Kim! Twiggs