Okay…is there anyone who needs some rain? We’d be more than happy to send you some of ours! We have a lovely drip, drip, drip into a bucket in our dining room right now from a leak on our roof. My hubby is going to try and fix it with some of that “Flex Seal” that we’ve been seeing advertised on TV. We sure hope it works!
I looked outside this morning and our “courtyard” was flooded with water. It’s only done this 2 other times and one of those times was yesterday. Yep, it filled up 2 days in a row. It used to be an in-ground swimming pool, so the concrete is all around it, but it was filled in with dirt and we normally have grass on it. I just showed you pictures of it the other day because my hubby decided to plant his tomatoes in one corner of it…
…and this morning… (if you click on the picture, it will enlarge)
A friend from church gave me something this morning and said to open it when I got home. She said it was her mother’s but she didn’t know anything about it. So I was a good girl and waited to share it with you… Let’s see what it is…
..it feels hard like a skinny book…
Well, it is sort of a book… a book of silks…the cover is a cloth fabric and is hand painted…
Inside there are sort of pockets that unfold and are holding silk embroidery flosses…
Thank you Beth, how special… I’ll let you know when I use some on a dress!
Now…back to Kirsten. I hem-hawed around trying to figure out what I wanted to do for Kirsten from the neck up! I unbraided her hair and thought I was going to leave it down, but then I braided it loosely, having my braids come a little forward this time. I decided she needed a bonnet after all and set out to make her a pink linen one, but it was too “fluffy.” I didn’t care for it, so I started over. I had a soft pink cotton in mind, but it didn’t look right. I wasn’t sure I wanted the bonnet to necessarily be a “matchy-matchy” bonnet, but in the end, I decided I would go ahead. I’m not finished with it yet, but the main part is constructed… there will be ties and some kind of decoration on it.
She also will have a pair of white cotton embroidered pantalettes to wear with her new dress.
Bit by bit, this set is getting finished…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
No Jeanne, we don’t need any rain either!! Boy, wasn’t that some weekend? It sure is a mess around here too, and there are so many road closures. I hope we get to go to Branson next week, but I hear they were flooded too! You know, your courtyard looks just lovely with water in it! It looks like something you would see at the Mo. Botanical Gardens, a shallow pool with flowers all around it!
What a nice gift from your friend Beth! She found the right person to give it to! It’s always nice to see a glimpse of the things people had long ago. It could go in a museum too probably!
Kirsten is going to be mighty lucky to have this adorable outfit! The hat is just perfect for the dress! I was just thinking, if you ever see any little wooden shoes on Ebay, you should get some for her. But then again, she is Swedish and the wooden shoes are Dutch? Well, I think it would be cute to have her model them with a lot of the dresses you make for her.
Happy May! Let’s hope the April showers are gone and May flowers are on the way!
Hi Linda,
It’s pretty soggy around here still. I am ready to see Mr. Sun for a few days! I think I have forgotten what he looked like.
Kirsten is happy that I finished her dress. Me too. I’m not 100% sure who us next but I have an idea… I’m ready for one of these dresses.
Stay dry Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
We have plenty of rain of our own, thank you though. I’m sorry to hear about your roof. I hope it is an easy fix.
The floss was certainly a thoughtful gift. They look like beautiful colors.
I very much like Kirsten’s bonnet and pantalettes. The lace trims make them extra special.
I hope you have a good day.
Take care.
Hi Charlotte,
If you don’t new any rain, I guess we’ll keep it!
My hubby wasn’t quite up to fixing up the roof, so it will have to wait…hopefully a dry day will be ahead.
I finished Kirsten’s dress set thus afternoon! Yay!!
Now to figure out who’s next!
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
Your rain is impressive. I’m worrying about basements in your area and Linda’s. We had an official 4.3″ of snow — a little more here, I think. It melted like magic yesterday — there’s only small patches in odd corners now. I don’t think there was a lot of plant damage among the older plants. I’ll probably have to replace some of the new ones.
The one thing about rain — the lawns are going to be lovely when the sun comes out.
The silk book — isn’t it nice when someone thinks, “Who deserves this? Jeanne sews, I’ll bet she could use this.” It’s an entirely different nice thing than someone wondering if you could alter something. I think Addy and Rebecca need embroidered clothes, what do you think?
Kirsten is doing very well. That’s a beautiful bonnet. There’s lace inside too — perfect for church or a church picnic. You have an accessory to pick or make. That will be fun. You do find the prettiest white fabrics.
That was a lovely post. By tomorrow we may be able to see everything together. This seems like a perfect slow cooker day.
Hi Marilyn,
First of all, thank you for the very sweet May Day card. I saw it on my phone before I even got out of bed…what a nice way to start the morning!
George said we’d probably have 2 feet of water in our basement if we didn’t have our sump pump. It has been running every 2-3 minutes. We do still have water, but it’s not in puddles down there.
I’ll have to see who gets the embroidery on their dress first!
Kirsten’s dress is done and she is loving it…she got a sweet little puppy to go with it…
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Sorry about the roof leakage. George sounds like a great handyman from all you’ve told us in the past so let’s trust with the “flex” and his flexed muscles the job will get well done.
Kirsten is lovely with her bonnet. It’s very sweet on her. And the silks…well, it will be fun to see later what uses you put them to.
We have more rain coming today…do you?
Blessings.
Hi Becky,
Well, my hubby was a little light headed today so he was smart enough to say no to doing the roof… I was relieved and if it rains begore he gets to it, we’ll just use the bucket again…
It didn’t actually rain, but it was a pretty gloomy day until late this afternoon!
Thanks Becky,
Blessings, Jeanne
I love your nice big yard. The pool looks great. My favorite feature is the trellis George made with the clematis climbing on it. I’ll take my little tree and orchids falling over in the wind over your leak any day, and I hope it is an easy fix.
I’m always impressed with your combinations of prints in your ensembles. The bonnet is perfect for this dress. I had to look closely to see the lace inside the bonnet that Marilyn pointed out. What a nice touch.
What a wonderful gift to give to just the right person! What intense and beautiful colors. Some of this would look perfect on some of the silk you found at the fabric store last weekend. The painted cover is lovely. Thanks for sharing some of your weekend with us.
Hi Susette,
I haven’t ventured out to the courtyard to see about the rose bush we planted alongside the Clematis. It was only about 5″ tall, so it’s been under water a lot of this week so I hope it doesn’t rot.
Actually the lace on the inside of the bonnet is just the wrap around part from the front.
I think I actually love the front of the sulks book as much as I love the silks themselves.
Blessings, Jeanne
You have gotten a lot of rain over there. We are getting rain too but maybe not as much as Illinois. Our yard is a beautiful lush green. The whole neighborhood looks beautiful around here.
The embroidery booklet is really neat. I wonder how old it is? What a unique item.
Kirsten’s outfit and bonnet are just precious. I love the material and the colors together are perfect. It’s bright and colorful and the perfect fit.
I keep losing my notes to your post. They just disappear while I write them. I don’t know why it does that and I’m surprised I’ve gotten this far without losing this one. Weird.
Hope the roof is an easy fix for George.
Hi Paula,
Someone emailed me this morning and told me the floss booklet was from the 1920’s. That makes it even more special…it’s almost 100 years old. Isn’t that incredible?
Kirsten’s dress just was listed on Ebay. It went together pretty quickly… now for the next one….
Thanks Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne
Love that silk holder. So thoughtful of your friend to give it to you.
Think you should dig out the pond. It is lovely. (Just kidding.)
Hope you are able to detect the roof leak source because they are not always easy to locate. Have you looked in the attic to see where it is coming in? We at one time had a permanent bucket in the attic. I can remember years ago being the one having to crawl up through the attic and yell through the roof when water came in. Other person had the hose outside trying to locate exact point of entry. Better him there on the 2nd story and me in the attic. Now going way back, my dad used to poke a broom straw through the garage roof where we could see light, then used a piece of thin tin and slipped it under the shingles to cover the spot. Wishing George luck.
Kirsten looks lovely in her rain bonnet. We are having very nice weather. Too nice infact as it is supposed to be 90 on Wednesday. Then snow in the Sierra on the weekend. Very strange weather.
Hi Joy,
The roof project was put off till another day. We didn’t get any rain so at least no bucket in the dining room.
I liked your bucket story in your attic!
The silk floss is from the 1920’s. Someone emailed me all about it.
90 on Wednesday? That’s pretty warm! We had pretty strong breezes today so rhe water standing in pools everywhere should dry up pretty quickly!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
We’ve had plenty of rain here. The ground is so soggy in places and the beds have little standing puddles.
What a beautiful gift from your friend, Beth. I’m a bit surprised that she would want to part with it. Those silk embroidery flosses are so pretty. It’s amazing that all things long ago were decorated so beautifully. I have an autograph book that was my maternal great aunt’s and the cover was hand-painted by her as well.
I’m sure we’ll see them showing upon some dresses in the future.
Kirsten’s new bonnet is very pretty with the bands of lace around it. The blue and rose set off her blue eyes and pink cheeks so well. The pantalettes are perfect underneath.
Happy May Day to everyone!!
Hi Laura,
Someone emailed me this morning about the floss. I think I’ll share the details of it tomorrow.
Things from long ago seem to have more pretty details than today. It’s like the packaging was just as important as the product.
Kirsten’s dress set is finally finished and now it’s time to decide who’s next!
Thanks Laura,
Happy May Day to you too!
Blessings, Jeanne
No, thanks, Jeanne, the Seattle area is already at record rainfall for this time in the year–we sure don’t need any more!! LOL
My Kirsten is a pink-and-blue girl, too–I made her a dress, pinafore and bonnet in those colors, and made a similar (but different fabrics) outfit for my friend Dee’s Kirsten, also. I wonder if her daughter got her Kirsten, or if it went to one of her twin granddaughters (her son’s children)? Dee died in 2014, of a variety of auto-immune disorders, shortly before our class’s 50th reunion.
Oh, my, what a treasure that book of silk flosses is!! I’d be really torn, whether to leave them as is, or maybe use some of the original flosses (but keep a good portion so future generations can enjoy it, also). What a thoughtful friend you have!!
Ten Ping is SO excited about her new outfit, which came today!! I had a busy day, so she was disappointed she had to wait until after I got home from smocking guild to open the box and try it on. She also loves her teddy bear. Now she thinks she needs pretty white shoes like Your Ten Ping has!! LOL Ten Ping says to tell Auntie Jeanne that pink is her favorite color, and thank you for making her such a pretty dress! (Now maybe one of these days her momma will make her something, too!)