Hi everyone,
I’ve missed chatting with you, but have been really, really busy. We decided it was time to sell my mom’s house and this past week my hubby and I really put in some long AND HOT hours over at her house, sorting, repairing and cleaning things there. Yesterday the heat index was 110-115 degrees! We were sticky and hot and dirty and it felt so good to come home and take a shower…
We met with the realtor today and he was going to take pictures and get it listed ASAP! (I thought I would add this in here after reading the first few comments. We DID have my mom with us at the signing…she is okay with selling the house. I think she’s come to terms with living at Liberty now.) Pretty soon that part of my life will be finished and maybe I’ll find some sewing time. As I look at the right side bar on my blog, and see Emmie in that pink and blue dress set, I can’t believe it was the last dress I made… seriously, it was sold on March 20th? That’s over 3 months ago! Yikes…someone needs to get back in heir sewing room!
I received a text from a friend tonight who said she had caught up on my life by reading my blogs for the month of June and so far what’s been posted in July. She commented and said, “You sure have an amazing tightly-bonded following of lady friends – how precious! A cyber reality world of real friends!” When I read that I once again was overwhelmed at the readers I have who follow this little blog I work on (when I can lately!) and just wanted to say thank you again for being there for me, for each other and for everyone else. I’ve had ladies who email me with questions from something they saw in someone’s comment they took time to post. I’m sorry things have been so busy for me, but one of these days things will settle down and I’ll be back to sewing and sharing on a regular basis. I even picked up a new subscriber today… and I asked my hubby, “why in the world would someone subscribe to my blog today… I haven’t written anything worthy of talking about for a long time?” But then I realized, maybe she read the comments and thought, this is a group of ladies I’d like to fellowship with! So thank you for hanging around with each other even when I’ve been absent.
When I first started this blog back in August of 2014, I wanted it to be a place of encouragement, a way to help learn new sewing tips, a place where we could share kindnesses with each other, and a place of sharing and learning from each other. Well, let me give you an example of sharing and learning… all the way from down in New Zealand… Jane shared an email with me that had a link to a problem we were having. Now I know this is a sewing and dolly blog (for the most part) but it’s always fun to be able to share something you didn’t know before and pass it on to someone else. There just might be someone else who needs this information and I decided I’d share it with you.
Remember the other day when I was telling you about us trying to figure out something for my hubby to use in the shower to keep his Ostomy bag dry? Well, Jane shared this link about this rubbery like apron and it was almost like the one I had made for my hubby to try. (except mine was pink with red strawberries on it) This man shares how he uses it and how it works pretty well…
I was on the right track, and I think I’ll still work on mine as this one is $32 -$40… and it said it was only guaranteed for about 6 months. I’m going to see how I can improve on the one I started and I’ll let you know…
…probably not the most exciting thing for the majority of you, but hey, you might know someone who needs one.
In other news, my dinner plate hibiscus is blooming, but it was too late for me to take pictures of it by the time we got home this evening. It’s as beautiful as ever… I’ll add a picture of it from last year but this weekend I’ll get a new picture of the bush. It is covered with flowers, and they REALLY are as big as dinner plates.
In bird news… we have six tiny baby Old German Owls…They aren’t super cute right now, but I might get out there and take a few pictures to show you. The parents sure do seem to like them! :o)
Well, I guess that’s going to be my post for today… I hope you have a wonderful Saturday. First thing I’m doing is my sink full of dishes… second I’m cleaning off my dining room table…it’s loaded with cleaning supplies from my mom’s house, stuff we brought home and stuff we need to take over there. I hope my hubby lets me sleep in till 9:00 in the morning. I sure could use some extra ZZZZ’s!
I’ll see you when I can,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne, so good to see a post from you once again! Yes, you certainly have had a busy life lately!!
Have you told your mom yet about selling her home? If not, may I suggest that you take at least one of your sisters with you, and go over ahead of time the way you want to tell her, etc. It may be she will take the news better than you think. (And you know we will pray about the situation for/with you!)
Once she knows, she may bring up certain things she wants, on her own; if not, you can ask her if there is anything in particular she would especially like in her apartment that she doesn’t already have. You could, for instance, ask her to list 3 or 4 things she misses having near her (to help keep her from trying to get everything moved into her apartment!).
You know, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if your new subscriber thought just that–that you have a close-knit group of friends/subscribers and that it was worthwhile joining your blog just for that reason!
What a wonderful invention that ostomy shower guard is!! I wish we’d had something like that when my husband had his colostomy (for 6 months), but I’m very thankful he doesn’t need it any more; I know not every colostomy can be reversed.
Your dinner-plate hibiscus is impressive, and I am just as awed by the pictures this year as I was last year! I’m such a terrible gardener, I just enjoy the pictures of what other people can grow!
Take care, Jeanne, and don’t forget to rest now and then; clearing out your parents’ home is not easy, and it’s emotionally and physically draining (as I’m sure you’ve found out)!
Prayers continue….
I meant to add, about taking at least one of your sisters to tell your mom, it’s important to show a united front on this issue, and it’s important that all of you girls are on the same page, so to speak, as to what/how you tell your mom.
It’s so wonderfully nice to hear from you again, Jeanne! We all know you are busy, but it certainly warms my heart to know you are even thinking about us!!
Oh my, yes, the heat! How anyone can stand living with no air conditioning in this heat is way beyond me, and to be working in it must not be a fun thing!
Yes, as Charlotte mentioned, you should have one of your sisters, or your brother with you when you tell your mother about selling the house. I know they don’t live in town, but maybe you could cook something up.
Your blog is a wonderful way to bring friends together who would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet in person. It’s what keeps us returning, namely, to converse, share experiences and be with friends. I have met some wonderful ladies with whom I keep in touch with almost daily.
I must say that those dinner-plate hibiscus are just beautiful! I wish I had a place for them, but, for now, I will just admire yours! My lilies are doing wonderfully this year, and hopefully I will send some pictures soon. We usually go to the Mo. Botanical Gardens around this time to see their lilies, and still hope to, but the heat is keeping us indoors more than we would like. It’s almost like we are living in Arizona in the summer!
Meanwhile, I am having fun dressing Scarlett and getting my dolls ready for summer camp. At least I can stay inside and cool while doing that! This weekend should be cooler, so we had better enjoy it while we can!
I bet you’re having fun with Scarlett, Linda. A new doll always gets all the attention when they arrive.
I love to hear about your ever rotating doll scenes.. You could share pictures of dolls at summer camp. That would entertain us all and give Jeanne something to show while she’s so very busy.
So happy to hear that your mother is on board with the house issue. It is refreshing to hear about your cleaning/sorting/moving stuff since we have just recently done the same. Bad me. It was just so much work. Since ours is on the market too, hoping yours attracts lots of qualified buyers quickly. Out here in CA, we’ve had home inspection and pest reports done prior to listing. Makes for a quicker sale and necessary since we’re selling as is. Open house tomorrow, so heading over there soon to tidy and mow the lawn. Water too as we’re going to be in the 90’s today. Will be so nice when we have one less house to maintain.
And so fun, we’re having plumbing issues at our own house. Wish we had George out here for advice. Of course, for us to work on the shower, we have to turn off the water to the whole house. Valve is frozen so we have been trying to get it loose without breaking it which is not easy. In between our efforts, we put it back together and let it drip so that we can use the other bathroom and kitchen etc. If we can’t get the valve out, we may have to have a plumber cut the fiberglass and put in another whole unit. I guess there is some plate with which they can cover the giant hole. It is either that or cutting a hole in our redwood siding which is not an option to me. So, the fun continues.
Very interesting about the ostomy apron. You’re just a genius, and I’m sure yours will last much longer than six months.
Really hoping to see Linda’s kids all ready for camp. Love her scenes. Hard to believe, but it is already back to school time. With schools starting now in August, it really is only weeks away. Maybe your next dress can be a 50’s cutie complete with saddle shoes. Love those.
Need a picture of the baby birds please. Would so love to see them.
Hope you have time for some lemonade and relaxing. What is that relaxing anyway? 🙂 Looking forward to your next post.
Thanks, Joy, for the suggestion about having the house inspection done before listing a house for sale so there are no surprises. I knew to have the termite inspection done well in advance when listing a home That’s one of the good reason to follow Jeanne’s blog: The ideas from other readers who share their knowledge on such a variety of subjects.
I’m going to go through everything in my house and lay hands on it and decide so my children will have a head start when I “croak.” I have too much of just about everything after all these years and living in other countries. Too tempting, table settings being my downfall. Thanks again for including us in your day.
So glad George is doing so well that he can help with Momma’s house clean-out. Maybe she will forget about it after the initial shock. Surely she can’t be too surprised (I don’t really believe that). It sounds like she is doing very well. You have taken such good care of her.
Dear Jeanne, you are doing all of the right things for your mother and your husband. It must be incredibly challenging but you have the strength to move forward. As you know, that’s called Grace.
I hope you will be able to plan one fun thing to do for yourself in the next few days.
In the meantime, we are all still here, sitting on the sofa and drinking our tea. Who wants more Chai?
Glad to catch your writing on the day intended! Sounds like you certainly are busy but are getting things done too. Be careful in this heat. Take breaks and drink lots of water.
Good luck on Mom’s house.
Well, I didn’t have much time, but I wanted to drop by and say hi.
Hope you have a great day!
Take care —
So nice to hear from you, Jeanne. Life has be a bit hectic around here, too.
I hope your mom takes the idea of selling her house alright. She probably has some idea that you were going to. After all, unless you wanted to keep paying property tax and upkeep on it, rent it out, or have a relative move in, what else can you do? As long as she has the things most precious to her with her or stored at one of her children’s homes. it should be okay.
Your hibiscus is just lovely. My grandmother raised dinner plate dahlias. Huge flowers like that are amazing.
So nice that you picked up a new subscriber. Yes, we al have fun here. I hope that she jumps right in and joins us.
Hi Jeanne, we miss you too, but of course it is totally understandable that some things have to take priority. It’s not easy getting a house ready to sell, especially one that has been occupied by the same person for so long. I’m sure you still have plenty of work ahead of you until it sells. I’m in the same boat as Susette, with too much stuff I don’t want the kids to have to deal with. I did pretty well on getting some miscellaneous things out of here, but somewhere along the line I pretty much stalled out. There are things here that have some family history, and I plan to take pictures of them, and put the pictures in a binder with an explanation of what the significance is and who the item belonged to. That will most likely be a retirement project for me.
I would love to see pictures of the baby birds. I don’t know what a German Owl is, but I will google it before I close the iPad!
Glad to hear things are progressing with your mom’s house. We have 2 daughters who live in Alaska and Washington state. I am hoping to start clearing out more of our accumulated junk this year, and organizing the rest. I don’t want them to have to deal with it and I can’t imagine they’d want to move into our place. PS I probably said so last year, I have those same Corelle plates and love the depth tof them. Too bad the newer ones are so shallow.
I’ll bet the shower was the nicest physical feeling of the day. The huge mental relief of having the house ready to market must have been wonderful, and having your mother ready for this was a great huge gigantic blessing. Congratulations on everything.
A friend in California says she’s never experienced a heat wave like the current one. The air just stands there, unmoving and hot. I lived for a year in Phoenix, where the air is very dry, and going outside was like opening an oven door when you are too close — you can feel your eyelashes shrivel. It’s been getting hotter there since I moved. Fruit trees are no longer as fruitful. I’ve also lived in NJ, where the air may be more like yours in summer — so humid and heavy that I wanted something like a machete to cut my way through it. I could imagine moving it in big blocks.
You are making so much progress. Being done with your mother’s house is a triumph that many of us understand. Having it sold will be another. If the kitchen has to wait, it has changed so much and is so beautiful that it’s possible to enjoy it at this stage while you visualize the last projects.
I had baby robins on my back porch one year. Such a cute idea. Such remarkably ugly, hungry things that only a parent could love. Like Joy, I’d love to see the baby birds as they grow. They do reach a cute stage relatively soon.
On the doll front, I’ve been looking at Marie-Grace dolls, never my favorite, on AGPT, where one young woman asked if anyone had tried curling her hair. Several people responded with pictures of alternate hair styles, and she looks much more versatile than I had imagined. Then I found one in good shape and at a reasonable price, and now she’s mine. The problem is that I found Cecile in good shape and a reasonable price at the same time. I spent an hour and a half sorting out her curls and re-combing some of them. You can guess my answer to your question, “What era dress would you like to see next?’ for the next year.
Do your best to stay cool, and keep congratulating yourselves on all your recent accomplishments.
I’m not surprised you received a new subscriber! It’s probably because your blog is honest. You don’t come off as having the perfect life like so many do. You tell us exactly how it is and then you give God the glory for helping you through it. We don’t just read your blog because of the incredible dresses you make although I love that, too. I like to hear about your life because you are so open and willing to share. I hope you got to sleep late!
I love Connie’s comments. I keep wishing for international subscribers so they’d have a better idea of American life — we don’t all live in California or NYC and we do spend a lot of time working and helping each other.
My great-niece Anna was in Colorado yesterday. She’s two, and we all went to see her. They do live in California, near Disneyland, and, unlike most of us, they go there fairly often. Anna has formed an attachment to Minne Mouse, so I found her a Minnie Mouse doll about 12″ tall. Her grandmother says she thinks it’s Anna’s biggest Minne Mouse toy, and Anna spent the day explaining the world to Minnie. Anna was the only child there and she was happy to have a companion closer to her size, though she appears to have trained her grandparents to sing several of her favorite songs.