Yay… my sisters and their husbands have arrived and we have only just talked but it is SO nice to have them here. Tomorrow the real fun will begin. I’m sure there will be shopping at TJ MAXX, thrifting, eating…probably at Panera, laughing, storytelling, lots of catch-up, planning, new recipes to share, pictures to look at, and much, much more.
Cindy and Deb both liked my bird picture in the kitchen! I like the way it makes my kitchen feel. Maybe I like the way it makes ME feel in my kitchen. :o)
I didn’t get much done today except spiffing up my house and looking out the windows hoping I’d see them drive up…they eventually did!
Remember Jule? The puppet Tom and Cindy’s son, Dylan, carved and is making?
Here is a link to the post I wrote about her the first time…
(I don’t know all his steps, but somehow he turned his carving into a resin-like mold.) Well, I haven’t been able to show anything about it on here because I wanted to surprise Cindy and Tom when they came back, but they’ve seen it now, so you can too.
Dylan wanted Jule to have flesh colored fabric on her arms and legs, so I bought some fabric used to make baby dolls and wrapped the PVC pieces with a thin layer of batting, then stitched the flesh on top. Cindy sent Dylan some pics to see what he thought. I’m still trying to figure out how to fill in her neck area with the flesh fabric. It’s kind of a hard area to get to. Here are some pictures of Jule with some “skin” on!
She’s on a pole and will have wires that go to her arms and legs to help them move…
Jule is a lady that works with Dylan in my construction business…and Dylan wanted to make his puppet look like her. Tom says it really does! :o)
I may end up taking the batting out and just using the flesh fabric so there is a bit more “floppiness” to her movements.
Dylan wanted her to have pink shorts and a beige tee shirt. I’ll be making her some tennis shoes I think too… It won’t be a pair of full fledged shoes… they just have to cover the flesh that goes down on her foot. You’ll see… I’m hoping to get this all finished before they go back home.
The PVC pipe goes right up the middle of her, so I had to put one leg and the pipe in one leg hole and the other leg is like normal.
Well, hopefully I’ll have some adventures to share tomorrow…
JOY… I can’t believe the insurance in CA has increased that much! YIKES!! That’s insane! I guess I’m thankful for a $1000 increase after all!
Blessings, Jeanne
So glad your company arrived safe and sound!!
Yes, I remember Jule when you first posted about her. She’s coming along nicely. If she is going to be a puppet, then, yes, probably remove the batting in her arms so she’ll be more movable.
have fun with your sissies. What fun. I have one sister and I see her far too often, She just talks about all of her problems.
My oldest sister is in Heaven for 20 years already. I miss her.
I know you will have a great time doing fun things, shopping, …. Go try on the most ugliest dresses you can find in the dress shops and take group photos.
Panera is great. I hope you take a box of cinnamon rolls home for a tea party.
Enjoy your time together. Sister love is a gift.
OH! and the puppet is so cute and fun. Oh my. How great it would be to have a lot of fun puppets and make puppet shows like the silly ones we saw on tv so many years ago
Well, I sure hope the “real” Jules is okay with the puppet. It’s very realistic I think.
Glad Jeanne’s sisters and husbands are visiting. Any estate sales cropping up nearby? If so, look for vintage christening dresses because they can make fabulous doll dresses. They can be pretty pricy though. And don’t feel bad about them being repurposed. At some point no one in a family wants them, but when remade, they have a new wonderful life.
Yesterday, I finally finished my week 2 outfit for the Sew Along. Yay. Now, it’s on to week 3. I think I might use old eyelet dress fabric for this one. Not vintage. 🙂
Fog rolled in so coolish and pleasant this morning.
As to the puppet, Jules, I’m wondering if that pvc piece could be cut off about waist level with an opening put in the back for a hand hold? Then the legs would just hang and flop nicely. Just a thought, not a puppet expert here. 🙂
Who could forget Jule? It has been a while though. I think the pvc pole going through a “buttonhole” in the inseam would look much better. If you’re going to cover the shoulders you could extend the neck fabric up to the chin ( sorta like a stand up collar ) and hand stitch it closed either in the back or on a shoulder seam, if you sandwich the front and back upper torso pieces. If you can make sense of my suggestions.
So glad your sisters arrived safe and sound, Jeanne! How fun to get together again. The last time my three sisters and I got together was in March, and that was for my brother-in-law’s funeral. Not a fun time, for sure, but a fact of life at our age.
I was wondering why not a skirt for Jule? The shorts could almost pass for a skirt, and that pole looks kind of awkward. But if that’s what was asked for, I guess you have to go along with it. Personally, I gave up shorts long ago! Capri pants work just as well, and look a bit more dignified!
I’m sure the three of you will find lots to do, and have fun doing it!
I laughed when I read the part about giving up shorts in favor of capris. I totally get that. I have a couple skorts I’ve kept but mostly my summer wardrobe is capris and pretty pointelle Henley tops from Blair. They appeal to my fabriholic nature. Solid capri pants and lots of lovely tops to go with them.
I do remember Jule. She is a marionette. When I was in sixth grade we made marionettes for our art project. I never could get the face painted right. We didn’t have the option that Dylan has used. We did the heads with balloons and paper mâchĂ©. The Dylan-Jeanne collaborative project is coming along nicely.
Can’t wait to hear all the fun details of the current sister time. Neither of my two living sisters are close by at all. My sister Beverly lives in West Virginia and doesn’t travel much except back to Wilmington, DE, where her husband’s family lives (mine is gone from there). Beth and her hubby are truly retired. They winter in Florida and summer in southern Delaware. Their idea of travel is anyplace overseas and cruising, and they do plenty of both. I’m such a homebody by nature that except for our usual trek to Colorado over the years and Tennessee a couple years ago we stay home. And with the property development project about to take off I don’t imagine we will be thinking about traveling for at least two or three years. Then we’ll probably have to find trips that accommodate “old folks”. Which reminds me, my cousin who lives in Oregon is on dialysis and he and his wife were able to take an Alaskan cruise because dialysis was available on the ship. I was so happy for them since he has a lot of health problems, and it was good for them to get away for a while.
I think I’m taking Skyy and Jaiden to the Stephen F. Austin historical museum this afternoon but I haven’t seen them so far. I don’t know if something has come up and they couldn’t make it or if Sean had to run an errand on the way out this morning. But I’m flexible. If we don’t do it today we’ll do it next week. The historical site has been enlarged and improved over the years and since it’s only ten minutes away no pre-planning is needed. It always seems to me that what is right in your own backyard often gets overlooked for things to do in favor of somewhere else for vacation. I lived near Valley Forge and Gettysburg while I was growing up and never went either place until I was grown. My kids who were raised in Texas have been to them both, and Boston, and many caves and caverns (which they actually preferred to historical sites). Texas children learn Texas history but not so much those of us who were raised in one of the 13 colonies. For us it was more the founding of our country which sadly too many children in Texas don’t get much of. I’m looking forward to visiting the museum myself.
I hope you can take some pics at the museum whenever you visit. I’d love to see some.
The museum is amazing. So much to see and absorb. And the set-up is wonderful. Very interactive. We will be going back when it cools down though and I’ll take some pictures then. The historical town no longer exists because when the occupants were fleeing the Mexican troops they burned the town to the ground to keep them from using the stores and the building materials. But they have set up walkways and information at the sites of some of the more important buildings but it was too hot to spend much time outside so we will do the outside stuff in the fall. I need to go back over the indoor exhibits too. A whole lot of info to take in but worth every minute.
Dear Jeanne, I am so happy that your sisters are there with you now! I am looking forward to hearing about the fun you will be having. Happy June!