There was plenty to do today, but the pictures weren’t too glamorous, so I thought I better show something else to keep you hanging around.
But first, a few “room” pictures… I did the simple things like touching up the paint in a few places and cleaning up the messes my hubby made as he was doing electrical work on the outlets. Oh… and I had a date with Mr. Spackle again… on the door frame…
Before…
During….
…and the “After” is still slightly pink so I better wait to show it another time…
We did get the closet doors hung, but one of sides needs new rollers at the top, before that job will be totally complete. We did get the guides placed on the floor so they doors stay in place instead of swinging back and forth, banging, like they always have…
Rebecca is now the proud owner of FIVE new white electrical outlets! Here are a few samples of how it changed…
During…
Reuben was his “apprentice” today…
…and After… aren’t they pretty? I’m glad I married an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a closet door fixer, a problem solver and a host of many other things… I think I’ll keep him!!
Rebecca has a few things in mind for the colors in her room and I snapped this shot of this bull picture. This has the colors she’d like to use in her room… dark oranges, turquoises and gray…
Okay, time to move on for now…until Rebecca gets some things in her room. I’m so happy you all were tagging along with us on this makeover! It truly looks like it doesn’t belong in our house…it’s been green for so long and now it’s so pretty! :o)
Sarah, my webmaster, got back with me on how to upload your pictures, and while I loved the old way I did it the best, she found a way for me to do it… so I went back to some pictures Julia shared of some fillet laces she has. I think this was back when my hubby and I went to St. Louis and to an antique shop… Anyway, here are some LONG overdue pictures. I looked to see if I had shown them and I couldn’t find them, so here they are… Thank you for sharing them Julia!
Dorothy sent a couple links to a few things you might like to check out… Unfortunately one was for a Virtual Doll Convention, but I can’t get that link to open… I’m guessing it was just for a few days.
However, she sent me a link to Martha Boer’s Antique Lilac website. She makes absolutely exquisite doll costumes and you might like to check out her pictures. She is a fabulous photographer and I’ve been following her for years. Her attention to details is incredible… just take a look at the first picture and see if I’m kidding!
Our favorite Jane, down in New Zealand, sent me a few pictures of some dolls she is working on. I’m not entirely sure of the details but maybe Jane will chime in today and fill us in. What I think is, Jane is repainting these dolls, and if anyone is interested in them, they will be up for sale? Is that right Jane?
I had to laugh at her email to me… She said New Zealand is pretty much shut down… if you aren’t an essential worker, or if you aren’t going to the doctor, getting gas, or getting groceries, forget it. She said there was almost no ability to shop online either, but then she added, “fortunately I have enough craft materials to last 100 years!” That made me laugh…and made me think of myself! :o)
So Jane, if you can fill us in on what you are doing and what who you have available…that would be great!
Back on March 30th, Joy sent me a few pictures of a project she and her girls were working on…they made a cabin from only recyclable materials, except for some old craft paint. Stella May made a fire pit from rocks, and Ardyn worked on the furniture. It’s a good thing to teach your dolls to be crafty and thrifty! :o) Thanks Joy!
Well, I’m going to stop there… I’ll catch up on my other emails and pictures tomorrow… I’m heading to bed!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne’s people,
This post will show as middle of the night, but it is actually 1930 hrs Thursday here. 7.30 pm.
The unfinished doll pics I sent to Jeanne was in the hope I would get some ‘cheering on’ to finish them. They are porcelain, made from scratch. I don’t sell them, just like making them. Now Jeanne has put the photos up I had etter get busy. The repaint thing was going to be another hobby, I had bought a Paola reina doll, (wrong doll sent, but from England so I didn’t post back) Also a Paola Reina mini, but she is held up at the airport. I have bought a fearsome respirator mask,
For solvents, but can’t get the required soft pastels yet.
Rebecca’s room is perfect. The ‘southwest’ colours in the longhorn painting are my favourites.
HI Jane,
Oh, I see… you just needed some encouragement to get your girls finished! Well, here’s mine… come on Jane, let’s see what these little beauties can become… they look adorable already, so just a little more time and you’ll have some real treasures! What great work you have already done… you’re very talented!
Keep us posted on what you get done…and send me pictures anytime of any updates…
I’m glad you enjoyed Rebecca’s room coming to life!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a lot of interesting parts to this post, Jeanne!!
First of all, the new outlets look spiffy, and yes, isn’t it nice to be married to someone who can do things like that?! My husband is (or was–he’s 87 and getting quite frail now) very handy at plumbing, electric and natural gas stuff–particularly the natural gas stuff, as he was a customer service person for the natural gas company for about 40 years before he retired. He kept our furnace running for many years–installed in 1968, and replaced (by our choice, in our own timing, not due to necessity) about 5 years ago! Our dryer was also installed in 1968 (the year the house was built), and is STILL running!!
That color scheme should look really nice with the wall color–actually, she could go almost any direction as to color with the neutral walls! Good choice.
Now as to the laces, the first two pictures are fillet crochet, done with either half-double or double crochet and chain stitches. The second two pictures are, I’m pretty sure, of hardanger (Norwegian pulled thread embroidery). I recently had a chance to try some when one of our smocking guild taught us how to do it. Of course, mine isn’t nearly as nicely done as the piece in those pictures–that piece was undoubtedly done by someone with a lot of skill and experience!
I can’t tell you what technique was used in the last two pictures–I hope someone will know what that is. It’s really beautiful and interesting!
My goodness, those photos and costumes on the Antique Lilac blog are fantastic!!
Well, Jane, I probably have enough fabric to last 100 years! LOL Can’t wait to see how you finish and dress your dolls!!
Joy, I”m glad to see your girls are keeping busy while they can’t be in school! I used to love to do things like that when I was a little girl, too!!
Hi Charlotte,
Yes, it IS great to be married to my hubby! He’s definitely a keeper. I’ve given him haircuts for FREE for 39 years and he, in return, has done my “honey-do” list to my satisfaction! :o)
My hubby went to Coleman Furnace School in Kansas City for 3 days when we were first married… he wanted to know more than he already did… :o)
I told my hubby I’d like to paint our bedroom that same color because it is so easy to put any color with it. He gave me “that look!” I guess it was too soon!
Well, it looks like between Jane, you and me, we have enough fabric to last 300 years… :o)
Happy sewing to all of us!
Blessings, Jeanne
Good morning everyone and Jeanne! This is the kind of post that I love, with so many different things going on, like a merry-go-round turning! So much to look at and so much to ooh and aah over!
First, oh yes, love the “matching” outlets, and how cute to see Rueben “contributing”! Those colors on the bull painting are beautiful, and so grown up looking! No little girl stuff there! I’m sure Rebecca is happy about that!
Julia’s laces are just beautiful! I too, have a lot of old laces that I seem to have inherited from both sides of the family, and while they don’t get much use now, I do use them occasionally at Christmas and holidays. Right now I have a long oval piece of linen with a delicate crocheted edging on my hutch, decorated for Easter with bunnies.
OMG, that Antique Lilac blog!! Fantastic! I cannot imagine the hours and hours of work and materials that go into those costumes! The doll clothes that are for sale are reasonable, since they are on sale, but I have no dolls that they would fit, doggone it!
Jane, here’s hoping that you finally get the energy to finish what you have started! lovely dolls, and I think that would fun to do!
Joy, your “kids” have done it again! So cute and so talented!!! I love the little spool chairs around the table, among other things. Sweet!
Hi Linda,
I told Reuben he was a “star” on my blog today… he looked at me and blushed! :o)
Rebecca’s room is a disaster right now…she has all her stuff in there and is trying to decide what to put where and what to discard… she’s got a full day ahead of her just organizing things.
I told you Martha does amazing work. Aren’t her costumes little pieces of artwork? I love looking at her work and how she stages things. Her pictures are divine!
Well, I have to run… lots to get back in order around here and if I don’t do it now, something will come up and it will get pushed back. I’m a little less sore today than I was yesterday… I can actually bend over to pick up something and not groan! :o)
Thanks Linda…
Blessings, Jeanne
I was looking at first photo and noticed how great the room looks with the sun coming in through the new blinds. So nice and light.
Hope they still make those rollers for the closet. I think we have the same on the old closet doors we have. 🙂
And question? Why are there two electrical outlets practically on top of each other but at different heights? There must be a reason. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. Different circuits? Not that having a lot of outlets isn’t good. We could definitely use more around the bed for all of the things like lights, clocks, electric blanket, etc.
As to the lace from Jane, I can spot the crochet in the first two. And Charlotte mentioned Hardanger for the second photos. Thanks for the photos Jeanne and Jane.
Great dolls Jane. So nicely done.
Thanks Charlotte and Linda. My recycling project “cabin” is definitely amateurish, but fun to see what can be made from two little Ebay boxes and some Elmer’s glue. 🙂
Daughter sent pics of the highlight of their day. A honey bee swarm in a tree out in front. They had a neighborhood bee keeper come and get the hive. She said it kept the kids entertained most of the day. Such are the times. 🙂
HI Joy,
Rebecca’s new room certainly is brighter than it was before… I love it when the sun streams through.
Not to fear, my hubby found some closet rollers in his stash. I just knew he’d find some if he looked hard enough. We haven’t changed them yet, but he tested one on the slider bar and it seems to roll nicely.
Okay…the reason there are 2 outlets on that wall, is because the top one was the original one to the house. It was wired wrong and not a ground, so she couldn’t plug in a heater in her room. But it’s on the same circuit as the one of the north wall and the west wall. He didn’t want to just put a cover over it so he just put a cover on it and she can use it as a regular outlet.
The one on the bottom is positioned where it is because it is in the same place as the one on the wall directly outside her wall, in our sitting room. My hubby, obviously didn’t want to rip off the paneling, but he could get to it through the wall on the other side. This is the outlet she can use to plug in a heater.
It was always the highlight of Kristoffer’s day when we did an art project like this. It didn’t matter what it was, as long as it involved scissors and glue, he was happiest! He still likes to do projects… only on a grander scale! :o)
We once had to knock down a swarm of bees in a hive up in a tree.. not the best plan to do it with a baseball bat and a can of Raid, but George and Rebecca did it. There was lots of nervous laughter and a bit of stress involved. I am allergic to bee stings so I stayed away, but I don’t remember if I took any pictures or not. I’ll have to look. Fun times, huh?
Thanks, Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, wow, you are almost done. I know that is a great feeling. I love that the supervisor, Mr. Reuben, was on the job to be sure that everything was done to code (laugh).
I loved seeing Joy’s dolls and Jane’s dolls. And Julia’s laces are beautiful.
Thanks for posting Martha’s link. Her dolls are exquisite. She was a clothing designer and you can see it in her dolly clothing.
If anyone is interested, she can still log onto the Virtual Doll Convention site and sign up for the March convention: Beyond All Limits. Just do a Google search to find the link. The programs have been archived and can be watched on Facebook or YouTube. The convention is free.
Rachel is planning a convention for January, which I think will cost $25 to “attend.” You will see it advertised if you go on the site.
TCM did a Ginger Rogers – Fred Astaire marathon yesterday. I had fun watching them dance. My favorite dance number is “Never Gonna Dance,” from Swingtime.
HI Dorothy,
Yes, Reuben was the supervisor! Ha!
Thanks for letting us know about the next Doll Convention…
I love watching Ginger and Fred dance… they are definitely in a class all by themselves! Nobody does it better than they do!
I hope you are dancing in your kitchen right now! It’s one day closer to May! :o)
Thanks Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Blessings, Jeanne
What a busy post☺️ The room looks so pretty…all clean lines and soft colors and the windows look great! Ruben is such a helper…such cute pics of him helping.
The Hardanger pic shows what a talented needle worker can do. My friend can do it but it is so intricate…my thread would be a knotted mess! I’ve seen some on eBay…seems like it should sell for quite an amount but is very reasonable.
The Martha link is amazing. The detail and the posing of her dolls and the costumes are brilliant.
Love seeing what has been keeping us busy. I am starting on my grandsons quilt…never mind he graduated last year!….or did I post that already ?🤪 Better get busy!
HI Kathie,
I’m glad you like Rebecca’s new room. She’s as busy as a beaver in there today, finding places for things and weeding out, I hope! :o)
I know what’s going to keep me busy for a while… my house getting back to some semblance of order!
I hope you make some progress on your grandson’s quilt. What pattern is it going to be?
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
My pictures do go back to the St Louis trip and a picture Jeanne took of an antique tablecloth. I knew it was filet but not crochet so what was it? I did some research and discovered it’s a type of embroidery done on pre-made mesh. My first two pictures are a filet crochet piece done by my hubs grandmother. The middle two are a piece of hardanger done by my mom. The last is the filet embroidery. It was acquired from an antique store many years ago along with some other handwork. I didn’t even realize I had an example until I went through my archives!
Helper Reuben is the cutest photo! The longhorn picture and color scheme suggests a western theme. Probably not the way I’m thinking about with rope lassoes, branding irons, horse shoes and cowboy hats. Or maybe it is!
HI Julia,
I’m sorry it took me so long to get your pictures up… I’m behind on everything it seems. :o(
You have some pretty pieces and I too, have a bag of things I inherited from my MIL. It’s fun to see and use the old stuff when you can.
Reuben is blushing again because you mentioned him. He certainly LOVES his daddy!
I read what you said about Rebecca’s room to her. She said, “Mom, there will be no decorating…it’s just called living! Everything I own and need has to be in my room, so there’s no room for “décor.” But I’m not giving up that easily… I think it can be made pretty even if it has to be practical! :o)
Thanks Julia,
Blessings, Jeanne