Hi everyone,
Well, I see some of you saw the Saturday post about getting Mae’s white and blue dress set listed on Ebay… if you missed it, you can see it by clicking the picture of her on the right side bar… or you can click HERE.
Also, I mentioned it was Anne’s birthday. Thanks to all of you who sent long distance birthday wishes to New Zealand. She commented she’d had a wonderful birthday! YAY!
Also, I still haven’t heard from Dorothy in PA… now I’m officially concerned. I do have her phone number and I think I might have to give her a call and see about what’s going on.
On Saturday, I was standing at my kitchen window doing dishes and this happened… (well, now I’M the one getting the black screen with just the sound. But I can get it on my phone, so I’ll leave it up and see if maybe there are those of you who can get it or want to use your phone to see it. Oh well…)
It wasn’t storming, but it had been raining and all of a sudden I heard it hitting on the dining room windows. I looked out and it was really pelting the grass and driveway. I went back to the kitchen, grabbed my phone, stepped outside and took a short 8 second video. The hail was about pea size… not anything like what Deb had.
I saw Sarah this morning at church and she asked if things had gotten better with the “inappropriate” emails coming my way. I told her it had all stopped… and she was as thrilled as I was. She also mentioned doing one other thing that she might try. She said there is a way to make it so my readers don’t have to sign in with their email addresses. I told her you all would be thrilled over that… so hang tight and we’ll see what she can do.
Now, something new for me. I took a leap of faith and bought a beach themed background cloth to use for my dolls who are modeling board shorts or swimsuits. I found this seller on Etsy who had all kinds of different scenes and I narrowed it down to this one. I just received it a few days ago and hadn’t had a chance to steam it and remove the folds from when it was sent. The seller is Fieldsfabrics and here is a link to their Etsy shop. I added some shells and think the boys look really handsome standing next to the beach.
So I had to show you how big it is and how the boys looked using it… I think it was 24″ x 44″. She has a search engine to help you search for different backgrounds you might be interested in. I was typing in Beach Background. I’ve also seen some background that are digital so you can have the clouds moving, the palm leaves waving in the wind, or even pages flipping on a book sitting on the beach towel. I’m not that techy to want to try that… so I just stuck with the plain background you have to hang up.
Here is what the boys looked like from a distance… I added some shells to the “sand” and think it’s really cute. To get the background looking right, with the beach being so far forward, I had to stand my dolls out toward the front edge of the table… It made me a little nervous… I guess I need a longer table…
Here they are with my picture cropped…
Here are the boys standing in the water… I think it could work…
I also managed to get a few new swimsuits for the RRFF girls started and even drafted a pattern for the Little Darlings. I cut one of them out but haven’t sewn it yet.
This one is super sparkly!
Well, that was my weekend… packed from Friday till Sunday evening!
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Your video worked just fine for me, Jeanne.
My goodness, there are a lot of backgrounds available for photographs!! I really like the one you chose, and think it will add a lot to your “summer” pictures.
I’m sure the boys enjoyed splashing in the water!
Those new swimsuits will be nice.I especially like the sparkly pink one!
I finished my second crib quilt UFO last night! This one a “stack and whack”, I will try to get some pictures in the near future.
Good for you, Charlotte, on finishing another UFO. Looking forward to the pics.
Well done you. Does it have a home yet?
Not yet. I often “make ahead”, though, so I have something ready for gifting when the occasion arises!
So glad to hear that your nuisance emails are gone, Jeanne! What a mess for you, and us too, but mainly you! I would be thrilled to be able to comment without typing in my email and name every time, especially when it is just a short comment! My hopes are up for that!
You had hail Saturday?? I don’t recall anything like that here, except that it was a chilly day for May! i got the video perfectly.
Those scenes are really nice, especially for the Ruby Red dolls. A lot of them seem kind of busy, and I think you picked the best one for showing off your dolls. After all, it’s the clothes on the dolls that you are selling! And yes, it is tricky sometimes to get the dolls to stand without a stand! My Sara is hard to stand for any length of time because of the extra joints on her, but I always have her in a stand, unless it is for a picture. When you have five or six dolls in a scene, just one doll tumbling can mean ALL of them falling together!
Let’s hope you get some news from Dorothy, and that it is good news! We head to the doctor today because Michael is still hobbling around. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of this!
Glad t hear that Michael has come around and will see a doctor. Maybe an x-ray or scan will help too. Hope that it can be a quick fix.
Really glad Michael is going to the doctor. I hope it gets sorted quickly
Bonjour.J’ai,moi aussi,des problèmes pour me connecter,pouvez vous faire quelque chose ? Merci. Je voulais souhaiter un bon anniversaire à Anne,mais je n’ai pas pu ! Belle journée.
Hello. I too am having problems connecting, can you do something? Thank you. I wanted to wish Anne a happy birthday, but I couldn’t! Have a nice day.
Bonjour Georgina,
Je te souhaite un bon lundi. J’espère que tu profites de belles journées chaudes.
I wish you a good Monday. I hope you are enjoying beautiful warm days.
Thank you for the thought Georgina.
Ah,il semble que tout est arrangé..!
Ah, it seems that everything is arranged..!
Jeanne, I LOVE the back ground! I wish I had had one like that when I was showing my Kish dolls at the beach. What fun it is. I know the girls will enjoy it too!
Great that the emails are fixed and no busses or cars to fool with.
I hope the hail didn’t hurt anything in the yard.
We had LOTS of rain for a 2 1/2 days. We really needed it! It stopped raining Saturday and Sunday was cold but no rain. After church we went to visit our dear bed ridden friend then got a good pizza on the way home. Then I found that some one wanted my Meadow doll (not Mae) I had on FB and after that was handled I had to get on my yard pants, and sprayed for ticks. After all the rain I had to spray the “Deer Out” again to save my plants. They are all starting to bloom.
We are heading our for the Y and then the grocery store. I have a lot of work to do this week because my older son is coming for Mothers day and the upstairs is covered in dolls and doll clothes I am selling. Busy, busy.
I do hope we can hear some good news about Dorothy and Michael.
Good morning dear ones! I am up a half hour early 😂… Hubbs is going to the old place (5 miles away) as a fence is going to be dismantled today and a new one installed. I am not sure how much of that will be accomplished today because the big problem is Virginia Utilities has not marked the old property! They were supposed to do that, so perhaps the only thing that will be accomplished will be the dismantling of the old fence, which could ALMOST be accomplished by a group of a dozen people sneezing at it! 😂
God Bless Dorothy, I hope she is okay.
Jeanne, that is the kind of hail we get in Northern Virginia, the pea size, for the most part.
this has been a very moody Spring!
I love the back ground fabric for the boys! Timeless Treasures Fabrics has a lot of great fabrics like this. It is very realistic. Jeanne, your boys look perfect in this setting!
As far as back grounds go, I love your property and the photos you take. You have many very beautiful back grounds right where you are.
Do the chickens run inside when it rains? or even hails? They must be confused about the weather sometimes.
It has been very unseasonably chilly here in Northern Virginia. We are wearing jackets outside again.
I am looking forward to more finished quilts Charlotte.
Linda, I bet Michael has some fluid on his knee. I hope the doctor can give him a thorough check and ease that tissue damage. …. just horrible, so sorry for Michael
I hope all of you have a good day. I have to tidy up the place because we have the home warranty 11 month walk through – just to look at problems we have. I have a list of 25 things. I am not sure how many they will actually correct. Our new house at present is very stuffed and cluttered in areas. I need to hide that stuff, so the inspector does not think we are crazy people
Among other things, and probably some sewing too of course… creating more “UFOs” to be sure! I promise I will send off some photos and links of the “Vera Bradley Bag project”.
I did find two links to written tutorials that are very explanatory. I did make the gather clutch many years ago for the brides maids for Christina’s wedding https://blog.noodle-head.com/2010/04/gathered-clutch-tutorial.html The other pattern seems to be nearly the perfect match. I did not use this tutorial because I did not find it…. it is in pdf form. however you can find it on SewCanShe website. Just go to the website and search for Tiny bag pattern.
You do not have to buy it. I have it, so you can email me and I will send it to you because I can not put a pdf link on Jeanne’s blog. No worries. Just let me know if you want the pdf and I will email it to you directly.
rosemarybolton at icloud dot com.
Hi everyone… I only have 1 minute, but Dorothy just got back to me… she is okay… I’ll comment when I get back!!
Best news on the planet today!!
Great news Jeanne, I was getting really concerned. I am glad she is OK, looking forward to finding out why she has been neglecting us, especially on May Day lol
Super.
We just got back from the doctor, and the doctor said no break or fracture, just sore and a small amount of fluid buildup which should dissipate over time. He is supposed to wear a wrap on it to accelerate that, but my husband who has no doctor degree says he won’t have to do that! Talk about stubborn! We do have wraps here that I am hoping he will have the sense to use.
Thank you all for your concern, and we have news from Dorothy! Yay!
So glad to hear the good news about your husband’s knee. I’ll bet that he was happy to hear that. Maybe he’ll wear the wrap at night? Just a thought. 🙂
rest ice compression elevation
You can use heat and ice alternately.
Linda, now is a time to be a bit bossy (conjure up your inner olden nurse Rosemary) and wait on him when you can. you can put the compression bandage on top of his long pants if necessary. Only need that for 1/2 hour leg raised intervals. I know… men… put on youtube tv to the cat tv birds 11 hour parks of amazing forest critters and birds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEyEs8AE1ss.
Ha, ha, Rosemary! He likes to watch The Weather Channel all day! Talk about boring, but not when we have such crazy weather! I think he will wrap it with the wraps we already have, doesn’t want to go out and buy new stuff. But at least we know it is not at all serious, just inconvenient, and you know how men are when sick or injured! Hard to live with!😊
More good news, Linda. Glad he is OK and it was nothing serious.
yes. mine is the same: grumpy at times
Wonderful news about Dorothy.
The video of the hail worked perfectly for me as have the others, on my desktop.
I like the new background choice. Perfect for any beach activities. I’ve looked at them in the past, but I know some have had problems with the fold wrinkles. Looks like Jeanne’s steaming worked well. I’ve never seen any choices that would work for my scenes because most of them are much wider. I’ve always had to stick with fabric for the background and foreground. I wonder if they make wider choices on the site? I only took a quick look before falling down the rabbit hole, so I’ll look again later. 🙂
I loved seeing the new swimsuits in progress laid out on the beach. I had no idea that was how the pattern works. Perhaps Jeanne, needs a beach vacation somewhere warm? Maybe all of us do? 🙂
Yesterday, other person got out some tools and worked on the brush/blackberry growing under the edge and near the deck. Yay! Of course, I was left with a big mess. He managed to smash most of my Shasta daisies, but nothing much can totally kill them. And then weed seeds went flying everywhere. Here, I have been carefully pulling the offending stalks and putting them in my can to avoid them reseeding. So, there I was trying to gather up seeds from the ground, but finally, I gave up and pulled the stalks and other mess from a small area. Lots more clean up to do there, but it will have to wait as we have some rain expected. With a somewhat clear path, I started in yanking more blackberry from the hillside area. We managed to completely pack our yard can and filled two other cans that we will take to the other house and put in the can there today. My back was killing me, so I finally had to quit. I work best sitting on my rolling stool which does not work at all on the sloped area. Visualize rolling down the incline and off of the retaining wall and landing down in the rose bushes below. Not a pretty picture. So, now I have more work to do. Sometimes, I would like to hide the tools other person likes to use. But at least he crawled under the deck with the spiders and whatever else to cut back the blackberry. I did uncover a kind of burrow that was dug out under the overgrowth on the bank. Not sure what it was that was staying there. Maybe a possum or racoon? Don’t know. But, at least it isn’t there any more. 🙂
Okay I’m still rolling on the floor at the vision of what it would be like if you used your rolling stool on an incline. I was laughing as soon as you mentioned “rolling stool” and “incline”. Then I read further and you were saying what I was envisioning. Didn’t know about the roses though. Ouch! And your description of Other Person’s efforts to help is also hilarious. Your stories would make a great TV sitcom. Funnier than “Lucy”. I replied to your comment from Friday about my x-ray and PT so you will need to go back and read that. Hope your back is feeling better.
That’s great news about not having surgery and that the PH office is close by. Sure hope that you can get back to feeling well again.
Tks on my possible escapade of the downhill rolling event. 🙂
That is a lot of work. I also do not enjoy cleaning up under neath decks.
Yes, hubbs and I are fanatics about weed seeds hahahahaaa
Please do not roll into the rosebushes, Joy. That would be a bad day!
At our old house, we have a family of chip munks living under the front stoop.
I cover up their front entry holes, but they have two entries on the sides covered by bushes. They are really cute!
Oh, I would much rather have chipmunks than a possum or racoon. We only have chipmunks at higher elevations here like in the Sierras. We do have a lot of squirrels though. 🙂
The girl bathing suits are so cute. The beach scene fabric is so realistic, they look like they will float away!!
Tiny-Bag-Pattern-Optimized-for-Printing-kufilg.pdf
Can anyone open this pdf link? If no, just email me and I will send it to you.
This bag finishes at 5×8 so clearly larger than the VB bag which is 3.5 x 4… or something.
I will send some pictures to Jeanne.
Love the beach scene panel as a background for the 14 in. dolls! And thank you for sharing the Etsy panel site. It is not easy finding scenes that will work for the dolls in terms of scale, environment, and the use of “happy” colors! I keep thinking I will paint a couple of background scenes to use when taking photos of dolls in their outfits but I haven’t had the time just yet.
Still finishing the wardrobe to go with the Siblie doll, and then I have the materials now to do two baby quilts using sweet printed panels (!) that were on sale from Fabric Shack online a few months ago. Just had to purchase the backing and binding fabrics, and a few plain colors for any additional blocking on the quilt fronts, and the quilt batting for baby quilts. I have two great Grand babies due this year, so hopefully can make the quilts with time to spare.
Elizabeth you totally amaze me at how much you accomplish. I love hearing all of it and hopefully it will inspire me to spend some time in my sewing room. It has always been my happy place until the past few months so I really want to get back to that again. Hope you take pictures of all you are doing. Your projects are so much fun to see.
I agree with Barbara, Elizabeth you are amazing.
Looking forward to seeing pics of that wardrobe. And the quilts too when they are completed.
I’m over the moon hearing that Dorothy is okay. I hope she has been doing something fun.
I think the beach background is wonderful. I love backgrounds and have a lot of them, both ones that go with dolls and a lot of fabric backgrounds. The only backgrounds I’ve had trouble with are some that are for AG dolls. They were folded and over time it seems they wear out where they are creased. I need to do more picture taking so I can use a lot of the backgrounds I have. I do tend to pick the same ones often. I have some of the most amazing backgrounds for 16″ dolls like Ellowyne. They are some kind of fabric and you can get the “floor” extended if you need to. They are from China. I get them on eBay. I just need to make her the outfits to go with them and take pictures.
Believe it or not I Think it’s wonderful that so many have UFOs. I have none because I have a terrible time starting a project if I think I won’t be able to finish it right away. My biggest problem is I buy the supplies and then don’t get around to the project. Actually a bigger problem is I can’t let loose of any of it because either I think I will eventually get around to using them or perhaps my grandkids will need them for something. So far not so much but I’m still hanging on to them just in case. I’ve become a real little craft supply hoarder.
Speaking of hoarding, I love looking at homes for sale in the Bethlehem, PA, area since I recognize so many of them from when I was growing up. I think I had friends in nearly every style home in the area I lived in (1950s subdivisions) and I enjoy revisiting. I found that the home my parents paid $13,000 for in 1954 (3 bedroom, 1 bath with full basement) goes for around $350,000 these days, some still with the original kitchen. Sure wish I still owned that home. The other day I was looking at one of the homes for sale and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. No effort had been made to stage the house at all and it honestly looked like a hoarder lived there. Actually a family of hoarders.
Well I’m on my own again. David and the boys left for the job this morning and won’t be back till Friday. The early part of the week the weather is supposed to be good but starting Wednesday night it gets dicey. Another front is coming through and that usually mean rain along the frontal boundary so that catches everyone as it comes through. Hopefully he will accomplish what they need to this week and not have to leave earlier than expected. That just prolongs the job.
I don’t have to type my email address, etc., every time I comment. I just click on the space and a list comes up so I pick the email/name I want and the computer fills it in.
Interesting Barbara, we are so lucky to have internets to lurk at real estate.
It is amazing some houses for sale.
About 9 years ago, I was looking at town houses for my youngest daughter.
She did get a good one and a great price back then. Anyway, there was one house…. it was not foreclosure… I do not think. …. but the photos of the inside of the house looks horrible. Every room was either full with trash, or clutter.
The kitchen was a disaster! I think it must have been drug dealers or something. I do not recall a whole lot about it. I wish I had saved it for laughs.
If the location is really perfect and the schools are perfect, you do not have to do much to sell the house, so many people just move out and sell as is.
Hubbs and I are meeting with a real estate agent… soon. We need to sell the house 4 miles away in a family neighborhood. Some people put a lot of fancy upgrades in their house. We have done nothing to our house – I mean no fancy upgrades. We have a few things we must do and we will do, fixing, painting
but really, most people would like to get into a house cheap and upgrade for themselves. Real estate is a pretty interesting thing, isn’t it!
I really think I’m a frustrated builder. I often save some of the houses I would like to duplicate with my home design program. Several of the houses I looked at lately actually have floor plan pictures. That makes it twice the fun when I don’t have to figure out the floorplan from the pictures.
Great news! Dorothy wrote back to me. She is fine, just very busy.
She sends May Day greetings to all of the Sofa Sisters!!!
That is great, being busy and not something dire! 🙂
So good to hear she is okay and living her life. But May would not be the same without her chiming in.
So glad you reached Dororthy, Jeanne. I hope to hear what has happened to stay out of the blog for so long.
Wow, the hail is a surprise. I could see the video fine. We have gotten hail in May before as well though.
What a great background! I really like the blue “mermaid” swimsuit.
Hope Michael’s knee improves and he will wrap it, Linda.
Hi everyone,
Dorothy sent me an email this morning and said she had just been very busy.
She said her grandson turned four and she had been out of town for a few days visiting with family. She was also trying to get some writing done and it was taking longer than she thought.
She apologized for not getting her Annual May poem out this year.
She sent good wished to the Sofa Sisters and asked us to save her seat!
I was so relieved to hear from her. I was going to call her today if I hadn’t heard from her by noon! I did…
Just wanted to let you all know!
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you, Jeanne. I hope she realizes how much we worried about her. Let’s all promise to drop a note if we are too busy to join in.
Once a Sofa Sister has a seat on the sofa it’s hers forever. That’s why we need such a huge sofa.
Good morning everyone.
It is starting to feel like winter here, even though it has another 3 weeks to go before it is officially winter. This morning (7am) it is only 8C. Yesterday the high was only 10C and it felt really cold all day.
Jeanne, I love your backdrop. It looks great and very realistic in the photos. I’m looking forward to seeing the girls modelling their new swimsuits against the lovely seascape.
I had a lovely birthday. Jono, Kai and Sam gave me the Sewing Bee book “Back to Basics” which comes with all the patterns. I have the first book somewhere too, Russell forgot to buy anything, he says he will get something for Mothers Day but he has given me one present, he hasn’t had a cigarette since Feb. The maternal side of my family have all died quite young from smoking and my eldest son would have died at 52 if his wife hadn’t called an ambulance from her work. I had hoped that when I found my birth family I would have some better genes but my birth father died at 66 and another half sister was about the same age when she died so no improvement! All smokers.
Darren gave me a ‘practical’ gift of $100 petrol voucher. At the beginning of the rise in gas prices I filled up my car but Sam also got her car (electric) back on the road so I will still be using his voucher by next birthday I think.
I finished all the blocks that my SIL bought for me. I managed to trim most of them to 8 inches square, a few were a bit skinny but I can make them work and I had to unpick and remake about 3 that the other person had made because they were very obviously skew-whiff. There weren’t many straight seams in the blocks that were already made and hardly any 1/4 inch seams. I have enough blocks (50) to make two quilts so thought I would make them for Gill’s (my SIL) two grandchildren. I think I have 3 blocks to finish on the Arkansas Crossroads quilt but it is very close since they are almost all prepared. Saturday is a UFO/ Stitching day with the Guild so I will try to have some of them prepared for quilting to do there. Then I will have to think about the next project for leaders and enders! Making two quilts at once sounds hard but actually it works out really well.
It is coffee morning today. My friend is buying me coffee today.
I will have to go, my cat, Luna, has decided to sit on my lap which means I can’t reach the keyboard. I have to lean over her to reach the lap top keyboard. very awkward.
Have a lovely day everyone
Sounds like a great birthday, Anne. So glad! Sorry winter is coming for you. However it is still cold and windy here at the GA coast. The weather goes up and down. Really strange this year.
Glad to hear about Russell’s gift, which is great. My mother was a pack a day smoker. It was awful growing up sitting in the backseat of the car with that awful smoke blowing on me. As a teen, I joined the group against smokers pollution. I’m sure my mother was not happy. Anyway, I never smoked or even wanted to. My mother died of lung cancer at 79. Had she not smoked, she may have lived much longer, like her mother, who lived to 101.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you have done with the blocks. I have some embroidered blocks that my grandmother made, but haven’t figured out what to do with them. Has to be something easy though. 🙂
Excellent update Anne.
I hope you had a great day today as well.
I am looking forward to seeing any progress or finishes you ever want to share.
Anne, it is sad to know so many of your family died so young. Smoking is horrible. My father started smoking when he was picked up in a razzia in the Netherlands in April 1944. He smoked for about 18 years. One day he read in a magazine that smoking caused lung damage and cancer. He quit that day. The article also suggested that one should pick up a hobby as a diversion from smoking. My father decided to start playing tennis. He learned quickly and next thing he was winning all of the tennis matches, and competitions. He played tennis until he was about 85. He lived to be 100.
My oldest sister, Dorothy, (we called her Dolly) died at age 48. She smoked for many many years. Her husband was abusive and he smoked too. Her veins and arteries became brittle and she had an aneurysm and died a year later.
It was horrifying. I miss her. Now we can just think of what might have been.
I am happy you got a gas card from your Darren. Very nice gift!
Interesting, we have some family similarities. My dad played tennis too, until his late 80’s and couldn’t see the ball any more. He had macular like I do too. He died at 94. His sister was Dorothy. She died at age 99.
What a great gift. Someone you love giving up smoking. A true blessing. I came of “smoking age” at the time the U.S. Surgeon General came out with the warning of the dangers of smoking. I had started smoking after high school but stopped immediately when I saw that. David smoked but stopped cold turkey when that came out so he didn’t smoke long. My mother smoked all her life. I tried to get her to quit but she refused. Being a nurse she had to have a chest x-ray every year and her lungs were clear. I never understood how that was but she wasn’t a heavy smoker so maybe that’s how she avoided the worst. But I do think it made a difference when she had her stroke (at 83). They have a medication where if it is administered soon you can avoid the worst of a stroke. But it didn’t work for her and I feel certain it was her years of smoking.
My three sisters smoked and were alcoholics. We shared a mother but their dad was not mine so I seem to have avoided the plethora of addictive genes my sisters seemed to have inherited. Their dad was an alcoholic. My first and third sister got help for their drinking but continued to smoke. Thankfully my first sister gave that up years ago too as did her husband. My second sister succumbed to all her addictions and passed away at 52. She was seven years younger than me.
Thankfully neither of my children smoke or drink to excess, but my stepson does. Both smokes and drinks more than he should if it’s around and so does my DIL. But he and Stephanie spend a lot of time bicycle riding so maybe that neutralizes the other. We’ve tried to get him to quit but he’s never listened to anything else we’ve said so he’s sure not going to listen to that. I am allergic to cigarette smoke so no one is allowed to smoke around me, in my house or in my car. But I sit next to them in church and it can be a problem for me if it’s on their clothes. I was extremely thankful when restaurants started all being smoke free. The “no smoking” section wasn’t enough, especially if I had to walk through smoke to get to the restroom.
I keep forgetting to tell you I’ve been watching Into the Wild: New Zealand. Such a very interesting place. And I missed wishing you a Happy Birthday the other day. So glad you had a good one.
Anne is starting winter and WE are having SNOW. We’ve had almost none and could get 9″, more than any snowfall this winter. I just transplanted some tomatoes. I’ve covered them with big flowerpots, they may live. Pineapple tomatoes. Red and orange. They taste good too.