Linda got a new dolly! Linda got a new dolly! She sent me pictures and I just couldn’t resist showing her to everyone… Let me introduce you to Scarlet Rose O’Malley! Linda bought her slightly used and it’s her FIRST blue eyed doll! She’s quite enamored with her and it looks like she’s going to be great friends with Ivy. She’s going to be Linda’s modern girl (along with Ivy) and it looks like Scarlet is in for a great time of “wardrobe changes” at Linda’s house… just you wait and see… :o) Thanks Linda! She is very sweet looking and I’m sure you are enjoying her!
Oh…and a picture of some of Linda’s other girls dressed for the 4th!
I can’t believe the 4th of July is Wednesday… Wasn’t it just May? I think I’ve been too busy to even know what day of the week it was, let alone what month we are in! *sigh* I’ve been slightly busy with caring for my hubby since his surgery, and there is still lots he can’t do, and that has fallen to me… He is getting better, and stronger and he even put his pants and his socks on today by himself… but he still can’t bend over enough to tie his shoes… One of these days we’ll celebrate the “putting on your own shoes” milestone! YAY!
Things are going well with us; there are still new things to learn and we do spend time almost every day learning something we didn’t know before. Right now I’m in the process of trying to figure out how to make a shower cover for the bag he wears on his side… His pouch is held on with a very sticky adhesive, and is generally hard to get off… I mean “REALLY” hard to get off…. except when it gets wet, it can start to peel away at the edges slightly easier. If you stay in the house and don’t get sweaty you can take a “sponge bath” on those days, but if you do the slightest thing out in this Southern Illinois Humidity with the heat index dancing between 100 and 110 degrees, and have the sweat dripping off you; you HAVE to take a shower… but if you just happened to have put a new pouch on the day before, *sigh* you really don’t want to have to get it wet and change to a new one…(it’s too expensive to change a pouch and skin barrier and too hard on the skin underneath)… so I told him I’d try to come up with something he could wrap around his abdomen and keep his pouch at least semi dry while he showered. I came up with a waterproof apron kind of a thingy… I had some waterproof fabric… (pink with strawberries, mind you!) and I added some ties at the side… He can tie it fairly tight and let it dangle over his pouch and see if it keeps things dry. I just came up with the idea and we haven’t tried it yet, but I think it might work… if not, I’ll keep tweaking it and come up with something like it or very similar… I’ll keep you posted! :o) (I’m wondering if I “really” needed to share that…)
Okay… we better get onto those 4th of July doll dresses… :o)
This is supposed to be an inspiration post for you to maybe make your doll(s) a new 4th of July dress, or even just wrap some red, white and blue fabric around them, and give them a flag to hold, so your girls can look all patriotic! :o)
I looked through my archived pictures (sorry no time for any new Patriotic dresses from me this year!) and came up with some red, white and blue dresses I hope will make you smile… If you’ve been around for any length of time reading my blog, I’m sure you’ve seen all of them, but then again, I have lots of ladies who seem to see new things all the time. I might have to do this in a couple of different posts. Let’s see who likes what dress best… I might even tell you my favorite at the end… :o)
I hope you’ll come back tomorrow and see some more…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What fun to see the pictures of Linda’s dolls! Congratulations to her on her new dolly!!
I’m not familiar with the type of ostomy George has, but I do remember the colostomy Ron had, so I asked him about showering. He doesn’t remember having that kind of problem in the shower with his. I’m wondering if there might be a different brand of product that George could use, that might work better. (Sorry, I don’t recall the brand Ron had.) You could ask the ostomy nurse, anyway, and see what she suggests.
I just had a thought, though–and this may seem totally off the wall, but you never know, it could work: How about using a piece of press and seal over the bag/opening/seal? Would it stick to his skin okay during his shower and peel off okay afterwards? Would it peel off the ostomy bag okay, or might you need to cover it lightly with a tissue or something, and just let the press and seal do its job without actually sticking to the bag, just the area of skin around it? It’s the only other solution I could come up with, off the top of my hat.
Now, as to the 4th of July inspiration pictures…..You know, every time I see them, I think the “twin” dresses you made–where one skirt print is predominately red and the other, blue–is one of my favorites of all time. They just look so fresh and summery, and I do love the “twinsy” look so much!
I also love Kirsten’s outfit with the white apron over it, and Molly’s suspender skirt/white blouse immediately below it. Of course, I’m always attracted to anything Little Darling, but Riley’s outfit is awfully cute, too!!
I haven’t gotten my girls in their smocked dresses for pictures YET!!! Poor things have just been waiting and waiting….and Molly is still wearing her green corduroy coat outfit from earlier this spring!!! Of course, it was only about 60 today, so she was probably glad for the warmth!!
Happy Birthday, America!!
Thank you for sharing pictures of my newest dolly, the last piece of the puzzle I had, meaning blue eyes! I am in love with her, dressing her in different outfits that I already have. Such fun!
I love seeing all the red, white and blue outfits that you have made through the years! Oh yes, those sister dresses are the cutest, along with Molly’s little suspender dress, and I love the LD dolls in their red, white and blue!
I’m glad to hear that George is doing better and getting stronger every day. We take such simple things for granted, don’t we? A simple thing like being able to tie your own shoelaces can be a monumental task sometimes, and it takes losing the ability to do a simple thing to make us appreciate the everyday things we do without even thinking about them.
We don’t have any “grand” plans for the 4th, but hope we can just be able to sit outside, enjoy the yard and birds without getting drenched in this oppressive heat. Surely, we can have a reprieve, don’t you think? We will barbecue, and enjoy the fireworks that go on all around us, even though they are not supposed to do that!! It happens every year! 🙂
Charlotte, where is this “magical ” place that is only going up to 60 degrees today? Must be heaven!
I live just north of Seattle, Linda, and I’ve been FREEZING!! (Out here, we call it “Junuary”! LOL) Three blankets on my side of the bed (hubby sleeps warm), and wearing sweaters and/or jackets all the time. Brrrr! Of course, it’s not the 5th of July yet–that’s when our summer seems to start! LOL
Late this afternoon we finally did see the sun, and we’re Supposed to get into the low 70s for the rest of the week. It will be nice to be warm again!!
Linda, ehat a lovely new doll you have there. She has beautiful hair, and her eyes are so pretty.
Good luck with the waterproofing challenge. I know how creative you are so I am sure you will come up with a good silution.
Loved the red, white, and blue outfits. They are definitely inspirational.
Hope everyone in the grip of this heat takes care.
Have a good day!
Take care —
Seeing Linda’s girls all dressed and ready for the 4th was so fun. Love the display. And new Scarlet is such a cutie. She looks like she can wear any color too. Lovely.
I enjoyed all of your great dresses from the past. I really love all of the combos and cannot pick a favorite.
So glad George is making regular progress towards his old self. In retrospect, it has not been that long ago at all that he had the surgery so his advancements are great. Have no experience in this, but I’ve read that people can even swim wearing one. Apparently, there are many different brands and some work better than others with the sticking issue. If you haven’t already, I’ve heard you can email the various companies and request free samples to try. Also mentioned was not using wipes as they have lanolin in them. But, I’m sure you know all of that, just trying to be helpful. Love Charlotte’s idea of Press and Seal. You never know. 🙂
Know your free time is about zero right now, but let’s get on that kitchen cabinet painting. Like one drawer front a day? I know you can squeeze in a few minutes to do that. I’m excited to see how your color choice works.
Have a great 4th if we don’t hear from you before.
Linda, your Scarlett Rose is just gorgeous. The medium skin really makes her eyes stand out.
Love Julie’s outfit on her. Your 1940’s girls look sweet in there patriotic dresses. Your displays are such fun to look at.
Jeanne, there’s something called Tegaderm which is a waterproof dressing. Would it provide a seal? Charlotte’s idea sounds great, too. I’m sure you just have to try various options until one works.
All of your past July 4th outfits are lovely. I enjoyed seeing them again. Kirsten’s is especially cute with her little basket of apples. Doesn’t look like I will have time to dress dolls before the 4th, so seeing other’s is a nice substitute.
Take care everyone in the heat. We are already at 90 degrees.
My Samantha thinks the red Samantha dresses are prettiest. I think Janie’s outfit wins my second place vote, and the sisters’ outfits get first. My goddaughter Bella has Josefina and Isabelle, and I wanted to send her something special for July 4 and for Bastille Day, because she has Grace’s pastry cart — and suddenly I thought, “The Sisters’ outfits! If only they aren’t gone.” Jeanne sent them off to Bella, beautifully packed, complete with bracelets and American flags, and I found sandals a lot like the white ones. What a perfect present. The full skirts work well when they make pastry deliveries in Paris on their Vespas.
Scarlett is a blue eyed beauty. I think Julie’s peasant blouse outfit is one of her very best, and it’s perfect on Scarlett. I hope we get to see her in other outfits as well — I think she’ll be perfect in a lot of things.
As for the shower problem, who knows whose idea may help with that. I’m thinking of the really obvious — elastic and flexible plastic, like grocery store bags, flattened and cut off even, with elastic that is fairly narrow and flexible enough to tie, sewn on at each end. Between all of us, we’ll think of something that works.
One of my sisters had the best luck with answers by asking questions of the manufacturers. My first thought was a nurse, which she found unfortunately useless because they don’t all have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. But the manufacturers do. Joy’s suggestion of requesting samples from various companies seems brilliant to me. And maybe they could also send along a list of helpful tips.
It’s a bit early for this, but if you and George composed a list of things that help, who knows which of us will have a friend or family member who will be grateful for it at some point. After my biopsy, I gave the doctor a list of things I needed to know before the biopsy — like not picking up anything as heavy as a baby and not driving myself home. It’s handy to be able to plan in advance.
Also, my skin responds better to some tape than others. Your pharmacist might have some suggestions, or someone who follows you might be a pharmacist or know of a tape that works better than others.
I can’t even begin to think about getting and outfit done for the 4th, bu I did enjoy seeing yours and Linda’s. Linda’s dolls look like they are getting ready to lead the parade, and her new doll looks so cute in The embroidered blouse and denim skirt.
Good luck with the ostomy bag—it is definitely a learning experience. It sounds like a different tape would be the best solution. I don’t have an ostomy bag but I do use an insulin pump and have a sensor inserted in my body that cannot get wet. The manufacturer provides a tape to cover it that protects it and doesn’t come off in water. My manufacturer has a product support group that can usually help me trouble shoot any issues when I call them. Good luck!
I have no plans for the holiday, but I do have a few days off from work, and I hope to spend a little time with my sewing machine. It’s way too hot to do anything outdoors.
Only thing I can add is if the tape is ‘very’ hard to get off when it’s time to change it, saturate the tape as much as possible with vegetable or canola oil and let it soak a while. Eventually, it will dissolve some or all of the adhesive and make any bandage come off easier, and avoid damage to the skin. It’s not harmful to the body, either, as it’s a food grade product.
Ali, that sounds very useful. Oil would help get tape residue off skin as well. A good thing to remember.
OK, Jeanne, which outfit is your favorite and why?
Hi Jeanne
How wonderful to see your dolls all decked out for the 4th. As always, it is so hard to pick a favorite but I guess I favor the Sisters.
Linda, your new Scarlet is certainly striking with her beautiful blue eyes and all your other dollys look so cute ready for the 4th!
I am so glad to hear George has made such great progress and hopefully some of the suggestions will be helpful to you.
Here in Michigan we have had a run of hot, sticky days in the 90’s – I can’t image 100 +. I think those would be good days to stay inside. Re: your painting the cabinets I would wonder about humidity affecting the paint and the ultimate durability of it. Even with a/c might be something to think about / look into.
Joy’s comment reminded me of one of our home projects (think I might have mentioned this before) where I had to strip old ugly orange varnish off solid wood paneling in a room. It was so daunting just to think about it that I couldn’t even start. But my sister suggested just committing to doing 1 – 2 boards a day and in my mind that made the expectations more manageable and I found that I could easily do 4 boards a day. Not to say you are having my problem of getting started – your’s is probably just finding time. I liked the reminder someone had recently about Nancy Zieman’s book 10-20-30 minutes to sew- which could apply to any project.
Keeping all in prayers and wishing everyone a Fantastic 4th
It was so exciting to see Linda’s new doll, Scarlett. She is beautiful. And she looks adorable in the outfits Linda dressed her in. She looks like she can wear any color too.
This heat has been unbearable and I long for the cooler “warm” days summer can give us at times. Hope the humidity gives us a break. I think I could easily tolerate living in Seattle!
Jeanne, it surely must be a challenge to find a way to keep the bag dry. Everyone gave such good advice and hopefully between what you’ve already tried, perhaps a manufacturer or one of the girls’ tips will help. I agree with Linda in how we sometimes take certain everyday things for granted until we hear of situations like what George is going through. Like him tying his shoes. I’m glad to hear he is getting better and one day soon, he’ll be able to do these tasks again.
How enjoyable to see all the wonderful 4th of July outfits you’ve made over the years and seeing Linda’s 4th of July pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Everyone, enjoy whatever plans you may have for celebrating this 4th of July. And for those in the humidity states, stay cool.
We got my husband some slip on Merrill shoes just before his surgery and they became his favorite house and yard shoe. Also, did you try an old fashioned shower cap with the elastic?