HI everyone,
It’s 10:45 Sunday evening and I’m just now sitting down at my computer… Oh dear… I have nothing exciting to share with you. I intended to go out early this morning and take pictures of my hibiscus, but alas…I forgot. I’ll try tomorrow. The flowers close up in the late afternoon and aren’t nearly as pretty as they are first thing each morning.
I’ll try to get a picture of the baby Old German Owls while I’m outside… don’t be expecting “cuteness” because they aren’t… only a momma could love them! (I think someone said that in the comments!)
Charlotte, you and several others asked about my mom selling her house. She was actually on board with selling it and has asked us quite a few times to get on with it. It wasn’t the selling it we were concerned with, it was “keeping” all the stuff that was left at her house. We helped her take what she really wanted to the senior apartment she is in now, but it just isn’t big enough to take everything. However, I did find her and my dad’s yearbooks from high school and I think I’ll take those to her…she’ll find lots of enjoyment from looking at them.
The house might go on the market tomorrow… I hope it sells quickly. I’m not relishing the idea of raking leaves and gumballs in the fall! :o)
Dorothy, my sister, Deb, is coming home on Wednesday and I can’t wait! She’ll be my “fun something” this week1 She just downsized to a smaller house and it’s been a while since I’ve seen her!
Joy, I’m so sorry you are having plumbing issues at your house. And, yes, if we lived closer to California I’m sure my hubby would be glad to come and give you a hand and help you out. He likes doing plumbing! He’s got to figure out something with the septic drain pipe tomorrow at my mom’s house…
Susette, Christal and Carolyn, I am like you…ready to get rid of all the stuff that is taking up space in my house that’s not needed anymore. I was looking on Pinterest and I read a lady’s blog post about how it took her 9 long months to clean out everything, but she loved it now. She asked herself with everything she picked up, “Do I LOVE this and do I USE this?” Those were her only 2 questions… oh dear… I think I might be in big trouble!
Laura, if you ever get a picture of your grandmother’s dinner plate dahalia’s, please share them… you know how we all love seeing each others flowers!
Charlotte, we’re drinking plenty of water these days… it’s too hot to drink anything else! Water quinches our thirst the best!
Marilyn, I had to smile at your descriptions of the heat… especially the one of New Jersey, where the humidity was so thick, when you stepped outside, you felt like you needed a machete to cut through it. That’s exactly the way it’s been here. When I go out now, and it hits me, I’ll think of my eyelashes shriveling up! :o) OH…and congratulations on your new Marie-Grace doll…AND Cecile too! I remember buying 2 dolls at the same time too… on a couple of different occasions… EEP! Still congratulations…and I’ll really consider that request for a dress suitable for them! :o)
Thank you too, Connie, for your very kind comments from Saturday’s post. I have read it more than a few times… I’m glad you said what you did because it made me realize it’s not just about dolls. Life is real and it happens sometimes when we least expect it. I appreciate your thoughts. I even shared them with my hubby and he said, “that’s really nice!”
I did receive some pictures from Linda and I’ll share them. Her “girls” go to Camp Gowonagin every Summer and they certainly don’t look like they’ve been “roughing” it to me. They look like the weather hasn’t been as hot and humid as it has been around here either. Their hair would be all frizzy and they would have the bare minimum of clothes on if they were outside for any length of time. Everything is just so sticky right now.
Linda said her “40’s” girls go to camp every summer. (It’s probably the only time she gets a break from dressing them!) :o) Thanks for sharing them Linda.
It’s still July and Susette sent a couple of pictures of Molly…the first one in a hat that was her first try…It’s very sweet…
…and the second picture is one of Molly in the Women’s Army Air Corp Uniform from World War 2..
This hasn’t been a super interesting post, but I just wanted to let you know I’m still around and thinking of you all… You have blessed me so much with your kind comments the last week and more. I just can’t get over how sweet you are! One of these days I’ll get back to my kitchen and bake that aqua cake and we’ll all have a slice! Won’t that be fun! In the meantime, sip your tea and coffee from your couch (Dorothy!) and I’ll be back as soon as I can!
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne, looks like I might be first with a comment tonight–depending on how long I dawdle over it!!
I’m glad to hear your mom is on board with selling her house–that’s a relief! Good idea to save any really personal things, like those yearbooks, though; some day when it’s a really blah time for her, you can bring them over and have fun looking at them together! Maybe you’ll hear some stories about their h.s. days! Be sure to either write them down or record them if you can. I have my mother’s yearbook, the one where she was inducted into the National Honor Society (senior year, I think was when they did it back then, after what I suppose was a trial period, to make sure they kept their grades up and fulfilled other requirements). I wish now I’d asked her about that before her memory got so bad, but at that time we were dealing with a “problem teenager”, etc., and I didn’t have time nor, really, interest in anything like that. (I had lots of time, right?!)
I really enjoyed Linda’s and Susettes’ pictures. My Molly would like to come to camp, too, but she doesn’t have the uniform!!! However, my Molly does have the pilot outfit–and the book with the story about Molly’s Aunt Eleanor, who joined the WASPs (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots). Love it!! I think I also have a 48-star US flag, too, just for Molly (the flag only had 48 stars back then).
Yesterday some ladies from my church and I went up to Attic Secrets, a tea room and cafe’ in Marysville, WA. It was delightful! In addition to a delicious lunch (and every variety of tea you could imagine to choose from) we looked in their gift shop. They had several different dolly-sized tea sets–if any of your readers live in Snohomish County and are needing something like that! I hope you’ll soon get to do something fun like that, Jeanne!
Wish we had an Attic Secrets around here Charlotte. Sounds like a very fun place.
It is, Joy!
Hoping the house is put on the market soon. Around here, it hits the hot sheet that goes to all of the brokers right away and they start appearing to see the property. The more lookers the better. They had another open house yesterday at the house we have for sale. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot temperature wise, as the home sits in the redwoods so it was shady. Lots of viewers, now we just need one buyer. 🙂
Linda’s camp photos are wonderful. Love all of the neat accessories like the duffel bag. And they allow dogs at camp? How fun. 🙂 I wonder if she has a tent and cots? Would love those.
Susette’s patriotic girls are displayed so nicely. Great glimpse of her garden houses too.
Ahhh. Don’t get me started on getting rid of stuff. I don’t think we could even do it in nine months especially after acquiring half of a second household. We are trying though. Pricing and sorting is the first step. This isn’t stuff you would just throw away, but antiques and interesting history items. Then sales. Lots of them.
Back to the plumbing issue around here today. More fun.
Glad your sis is expected this week. That sounds like real fun. Looking forward to seeing those awkward birdie pictures too.
I had some email problems, Jeanne, so this is a bit late. It was so nice of you to respond to everyone, and makes it sound like we are all sitting around the dining room table, have tea and eating cake! I love the chit chat we all have with you!
Like I have mentioned before, we had to clean out two houses of our parents, and all the memories that we held there! I too, found my parents year books from high school, like you and Charlotte did. My parents went to the same high school, although were in different grades, and it was fun to see them that young and what they all did in school, and what others wrote in the yearbooks. Both of them were active in sports, both played on the basketball teams (so why am I so uncoordinated?). both were in music clubs, musicals, etc. Not sure where that talent went either!
Joy, I don’t have tents for Molly and her friends, just where would I put that? What you see is where they get positioned, which is on top of my sewing cabinet, that never gets opened up!! If you look closely in the first picture, Ruthie is holding a bed roll, that comes with Molly’s camping things. Since I never “play” with the dolls, it never really gets used. But it’s cute and something I could afford. The tent was too expensive and besides, no place to put it.
I certainly would love to go to a place like Attic Secrets too, but I am going to the AG store in Kansas City tomorrow!!! Since our store in St. Louis closed up, we haven’t been to the store to see things in person, so tomorrow we will do that!! My hubby is wonderful to drive 4 hours away to see a doll store, don’t you think?
Good luck with getting the house ready to sell. It’s hot and sticky again now, do you notice? I’m sure you do, especially if there is no air conditioning in the house! That will be fun to have your sister Deb in town to visit and to catch up with. Maybe she can help with cleaning out the house. And to think she downsized? Good for her!
Have a good day, Jeanne, and a big “Hello” to George!
Guess I wasn’t thinking about the size/space limitations with the big girls. I have a tent, but more for my 10/11 inch size kids. I really would like a big tent though. It might be able to fit my A Girl For All Times 16″ and a few of the smaller girls too. Like a counselor for the younger girls. I looked one time, and they were pretty expensive. Although, I understand that you can make one for much less. And your display space is perfect. I don’t have any spot for that. Anything I set up to photograph has to come back down as I use our only dining table or a bench outside. 🙁
Good to hear your mom is okay with the house selling. I think the personal items are more important than the house.
I love the pictures of your girls, Linda. So glad you shared them, The evergreen tree is wonderful. Wherever did you find that? I need one because I could use it often and it would double as a Christmas tree. Your girls must have a great time each year. It looks like Linda’s (Ruthie) dog is trying to steal a marshmallow. Too cute!!
Susette, you Molly looks wonderful in her patriotic dress. Really cute with all the ruffles and you did a great job on her hat. The aviator outfit looks nice as well.
Laura, that evergreen tree is something I picked up somewhere, I’m thinking Hobby Lobby, during the Christmas season. That’s exactly what I so with it, use it for scenes, and then at Christmas time with ornaments on it. I do have a lot of Dept. 56 scenes in our family room in the basement, and it goes well with that too. We have an outdoorsy, mountain theme there, so that fits right in! I actually keep all the Dept. 56 things out all year, so I can enjoy them!
Thank you for the compliments!
Wow, those camp uniforms are cute! Love those little props like the skillet of bacon and eggs and the marshmallows.
Susette, I made a dress for my dolls from that same patriotic fabric. Unfortunately, I’m not sure where it is right now. It’s probably packed away in one of the little trunks I keep the doll dresses in. Molly is the perfect model for the dress.
It’s very hot and humid here too, but we’ve had some much needed rain through the last week. That doesn’t help with the humidity (or the mosquitos) but it does provide some respite from the high temps.
We’ve finally joined you in the heat wave. 97 today. I got the lawn cut early and then came in to see what I could do with Marie-Grace’s hair. Lot of great pictures on AGPT. I’m not there yet, but I’ve made a start.
I loved Connie’s comments yesterday.
I’m very fond of Linda’s camping scenes, and admire especially the marshmallows, which I nearly missed. I’m so glad all three girls have matching outfits. I have Molly’s WASP outfit — my father wore one of those jackets. He had no use for the non-useful, so I didn’t make a point of showing off my dolls, but I did toss him the bomber jacket and he liked it!
I’m ready for Attic Secrets to move in here too. I don’t know whether I’d buy from them or try to sell to them.
I love any of Susette’s pictures that show the fairly houses, and all the others besides, but I do love the fairy houses and gardens.
I’m look forward to more dinnerplate hibiscus. This was a lovely blog entry. I’ll be glad for Deb to arrive and to hear more about her visit. I hope the house sells while she’s here. What a nice victory dinner you’ll have.
Dear Jeanne, we know you are always here in spirit. I am so happy that you will get to spend some time with your sister.
Here is a bit of interesting news for those who collect American Girl dolls. An AG outlet is coming to Hershey, PA! The local collectors are excited and one of the TV stations already made a report about it.
Surprisingly my last AG eBay purchase was Molly’s Camp outfit and accessories (without a duffle bag, whistle, or any of the Catch the Flag accessories). The camp display was inspiring. I love seeing the tree similar to the one I use for Christmas for the camp fire area. I have 2 tents right now, bought for the grand girls to use before we went camping during the last big eclipse along with some Sophia’s and other camping gear. They loved the campfire, smores, and little cooler and lemonade. I’d recommend the Sunset sleepover tent I got over the other new style Great Outdoors one (which I’m probably going to sell along with the trail bike & pet cart the girls love but the dolls don’t ride very well). The Sunset tent was the one they played with the most, plus it was easy to put up and take down and stores well. I think that style would also be easy to make more of. I’m probably not going to get Molly or Kaya’s tents because I think I’d like to make them myself as well. I have some suede and canvas left over from another couple of projects that I think will work well. Your posts continue to inspire me (with or without flowers).
Hello!
I seemed to get this a day late again (I try to remember to check each day but I must have forgotten yesterday. Just wanted to let you know that I was still here too.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Take care —