Hi everyone,
My hubby is still in the hospital, but his kidney numbers are slowly improving. He has 2 tubes going into his back and his kidneys draining the fluids… They are astounded at the amount of swelling in his kidneys… here is what was drained from them… 7 liters Friday night and 8 liters Saturday night. I can’t even fathom that.
Okay… since I’m not able to work on Felicity’s dress right now, Linda sent the cutest pictures of her girls camping…
Here are the 40ās girls, Ruthie, Molly and Susan at camp. I finally got all of Mollyās camp gear plus a few extras.. It was fun setting up this scene!
Sara is a visitor at camp, and is having g fun roasting marshmallows. I had the campfire, and it really lights up, plus it has campfire songs on it. She is using a sit upon, while the bigger girls have their tied around the waists, which is hard if not impossible to see.
Here is my new camp stove that I found on EBay. The burners light up but we donāt yet have the right batteries. I thought it looked more authentic than the aqua one that AG had out. It is the perfect size for the dolls!
Here are the modern girls having a Memorial Day picnic!
Thank you Linda!! Super grateful to have some pictures to show everyone.
Now I wonder if anyone has any fun camping stories?
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, it is good to hear that George is improving! Baby steps! I know you are extra busy now, taking care of the chickens and everything else that George would be doing, so I thought it would be a good idea to send the camping pictures in to you. I wish they would have been brighter, but we havenāt had much sun lately. I had fun putting the camp scene together, and it reminded me of my own camp adventures!
I went to Girl Scout camp a couple of summers, and had a wonderful time, since I went along with my two best friends, both of them in my troop. While we didnāt play Capture the Flag, like Molly did, we did learn to cook on a cook stove, and our hikes were a lot of fun, especially when we got to a certain point in the woods, and roasted marshmallows! It was always a fun time during the summer months, and I donāt remember it being hot or humid or even buggy! Kids donāt worry or think about that! Those three reasons are why I donāt care for camping now!
I just enlarged the pictures and saw the doggie sunglasses. Too funny. And the patriotic gnome. I love it. Oh, and I have a firepit like yours plus another one that came with a set of Adirondack chairs. I really need to get to doing some more photo shoots.
I was thinking about the AG tent. I think there were pics of the one that I made in the style of the AG one, but the one here is a little larger. Maybe you could make one too. I just used pics of the AG one and went from there. I did see one on Ebay for 245. I think. I have the AG tent trailer too. Kind of hard to store those items though.
Good morning dear loved ones.
Jeanne, our prayers continue for George. Oh my, George, we are “hoping you are coping” in the hospital. It is not a great place to be unless you have sweet wonderful angels for nurses. I hope that he is surrounded by the best of care and encouragement.
Jeanne, this is really overwhelming for you as well. I offer prayers and hugs to you.
Linda, thank you for sharing your camping scene with the girls! Oh you have the cutest scenes.
I went to church camp a few years. That was great fun. My very first time camping, I cried when my parents said good bye and left me there…. and two weeks later, cried when I had to say good bye to my dear camping friends. Well, I was a cry baby.
Over the years, I did like it very much. I did not grow up in a very rustic family, camping wise. I did not freak out at spiders or about the adorable little mouse family living in the wall of the cabin. All of us got a peek with our flash lights.
What fun day. I remember our camp was called Happy Valley Camp and I think it was located in Maryland. We lived in Maryland for only a few years and then moved back to Europe.
Linda, I love these troop outfits.Red shorts!!!
Your dolls are beautiful! Cute Sarah, enjoying herself too.
The modern girls are fantastic! Sweetly arranged and pups too. Super adorable.
Jeanne, I hope this week is a smooth one. Please give our best wishes to George for a good recover and to “get out of that place” I know you are pacing yourself, Jeanne,
Just do what you can, and do not wear yourself out. Perhaps there are some neighborhood teen boys… or girls (I know my preteen Sarah loves mowing) can help with the lawn.
Both of you are in my prayers
Oh, and camping. I do not like camping.
I do not like spiders and little critters hopping around me.
Mosquitoes think I am a triple layer cake anyway, so … no.
I like soft beds and air conditioning.
Funny story, My little brother loved camping and once thought about (when he was a teen) taking my mom and dad camping. He had a stove and other camp things, and they were going to sleep outside in a shed of sorts.
My mother HATED it and did not sleep the whole night. I do not recall the whole story now, but poor mom.
Do you ladies miss your mom and dad. I miss mine terribly.
Today I am gonna water the lawn and gardens here, and sew all day. š
Just now saw this , Rosemary, and unlike you, I loved nature, and collecting bus and such. I was afraid of nothing and just loved finding frogs, snails, and any kind of caterpillar or turtle!
Thank you, Rosemary! Like you, my family did not go camping, and although my two children loved it, they always went to scout camps. Our church choir had camp adventures every summer, and both kids went with them, plus my husband, but I just stayed home and enjoyed the quiet!š
All weekend, I kept thinking about George, and Jeanne. I am glad to hear that the numbers are starting to come down. Maybe today they will be even better. I’m glad that George, is in good hands at the hospital. I hope that Jeanne has friends/relatives with her and some help at home too.
I absolutely love Linda’s great scenes from camp. The perfect uniforms and their camp emergency whistles intact. I’ve always admired all of Molly’s camp items and how Linda, has everything arranged so perfectly. And little visitor Sara looks so comfortable by the fire. Fun. Those metal camp dishes/pan bring memories too. I think they were army collapsible dishes? The Memorial Day picnic looks like a wonderful way to celebrate. The girls look so cute.
As a child, we never went camping. I do remember that we rented a trailer and drove to Lake Tahoe once with my aunt and cousin from Maryland when they were out visiting. My father did not like towing a trailer on the steep narrow roads back then. I was three at the time, and that was my only camping adventure although, shortly after that, we bought a cabin which we used all seasons. I also never went to overnight camp. Sessions were expensive back then. But, I did go to several day camps which were loads of fun. š It was also very enjoyable taking my classes to the preserve for docent led adventures with nature. The kids loved getting outside and seeing nature close up. Fond memories.
I had my own adventure right in the backyard yesterday. I was way out on the upper area trying to get some weeds in the gravel that popped up after the recent rains when Callie Cat disappeared. I continued with my work between sneezes. Allergy time. Then, I heard a thump and saw that Callie Cat was back from the neighbors and up on the fence. She had something in her mouth. Oh no, I hope it isn’t a bird. It kind of had a blue tinge though. Then, she jumped down with whatever it was still in her mouth. She ended up just a few feet away from me. I was sitting on my rolling stool by my weeding bucket. Surprise! Whatever it was, was released from her mouth, I guess that it was a gift, and came running looking for brush cover. Do you know what it was? Definitely not a bird, but a western blue bellied lizard! Scared me half to death. I jumped up screaming and ended up several feet away which was good because it went right under my rolling stool to hide. Callie Cat was right on it though and went round and around trying to paw under the stool and get it back. So sad, but I couldn’t do anything. Callie, would have probably clawed me had I tried to move her or even touch her while in a hunting mode. Two seconds later, she had the lizard out from under the stool and it was deceased. I wasn’t happy about it, but at least it wasn’t a bird. So much for my outdoor adventure. I gave up on weeding and left Callie with the lizard.
Thank you, Joy for the compliments! Oh yes, they all have to have their uniforms and whistles! So glad I got all that before the prices went up big time! That little bag that Molly is holding is for those tin pots and pans. They all fit together and go into that bag. Ruthie is holding onto her green sleeping bag, another one of Mollyās camp accessories. Not that anybody is counting, but the flag that Susan is holding is a 48 star flag, which was also from her camping set.
So you had an encounter with a dead lizard. I had one with a live snake the other day! I thought it was a stick on the patio and started to pick it up, ut it slithered away! It was just a black s Afe and they are beneficial, but it sure scared me!
Had it been a snake, I would probably not be here now. No snakes around here fortunately.
It seems to me that scouts used to have those metal mess kits too. Maybe they came with a canteen?
Lucky for you about the snake thing. Jason and Stephanie found a small Copperhead in their bathroom a couple weeks ago. They are not that far away from us but are really rural so we don’t have the problem with snakes they do although we have to be careful. But they have scorpions and we don’t which surprised me since it is still pretty humid there.
Yikes, a copperhead? Way too dangerous for me. I sure hope that it didn’t come in through the toilet as I’ve heard that snakes do that.
Copperheads are not good to have around, but those garden variety black snakes are. They eat moles, voles, mice and other small rodents. I do notice that we donāt seem to have moles this year, and that might be why.
Snakes and spiders, just NO
My one aunt hated snakes. She was going to race around the house one day against one of her brothers. Everyone was sure he would beat her but then someone yelled, “Jackie, there’s a snake!”. They said she was around the house before her brother even got started.
I am sorry to hear that George is in the hospital, Jeanne. You are both in my prayers. That’s great that his kidney numbers are improving.
Thank you for sharing your doll pictures, Linda. It’s great to see them. When I was a kid, I went to a Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary camp. I loved it. Also, we had fun looking for toads on my grandparents’ farm. There were hundreds of them.
Thank you, Karen! How fun that you were able to go to camp! During my teen years,, we lived on a farm and had all kinds of animals, big and small to play with, not to mention all the wildlife living on our farm, like toads, rabbits, etc. Catching lightning bugs was a favorite thing for us to do in summer!
I am enjoying reading you thoughts but am just too sick to write. Praying for George and Jeanne
Sissy, I’m sorry to hear you aren’t well. Please take care of yourself and get better soon.
Oh Sissy, please take care of yourself, and write when you get better.
So sorry you aren’t feeling up to par. Do you think that maybe you have that Peyton had recently? Hope you get well soon. Be thinking of you.
I hope you feel better as the day goes on, Sissy.
I woke up with a mild headache, right in front. It won’t go away
I am taking it easy today.
Take good care dear ā¤ļø
So glad to hear George is improving. Will this be something they will be looking out for in the future? Sounds like it hasn’t happened before but since it has, I guess it would bear watching.
Linda, such adorable pictures. And a real Coleman cookstove. We’ve had a few real ones over the years. I love the outfits on the campers. It’s so nice they included Sara. Looks like real summer camp (which sadly I never experienced). The modern girls look like they are having a great picnic celebrating the country’s 250th.
Our family camped all the time the kids were growing up. It’s an inexpensive way to see a lot of places. We camped all the way from Texas to Nova Scotia and back. Sometimes we would stay in a motel for a night if we were a way from our planned goal but usually even then if we had a KOA nearby we would do that. We started out tent camping in wilderness areas and then bought a pop-up once sleeping on the ground got harder for us older folks. We had a couple backpacking tents (we never really backpacked much) and Andrea and Sean would use them, alternating who kept the dog each night. The pop-up was a good way to go because the set-up was fairly quick and it was plenty big for the four of us.
Funny camping story. The one time we backpacked when we got to the trailhead some people were coming out and saying they had seen evidence of bears. Great outdoor girl me (not) said maybe we should rethink this but David (who is an outdoor person and used to work for the CO forest service) said it was no big deal. So this one morning we sent Sean down to the steam to fill the canteens and unbeknownst to him down the hill came a brown bear for his morning drink. We started yelling for Sean but he didn’t hear us. But the bear did and he nearly turned himself inside out trying to get back up the hill. I guess he was more scared of us than we ever would have been of him.
happy funny ending, whew
Thank you, Barbara! We, as a couple, did camp once, just once, using a smelly old tent from the 50ās that belonged to my husband. He had some kind of love affair with that old thing, so I agreed to spend the night in the alongside a pretty river. This was back when we first married, so I wasnāt as smart as I am now.š¤£. The ground was so hard, with sleeping bags, and the smell, like moldy mildew, was enough for me to not sleep well. Needless to say he pitched it when we got home! While I love being put in nature, I do like a nice, clean, sweet smelling bed!
That tent would have been a horrible place to spend the night. One of the reasons I loved camping in Colorado was the air was so clean and fresh and being outdoors was a pleasure. Nighttime was like sleeping in air conditioning. For years we used nice air mattresses and good sleeping bags, but as we got older, that was still closer to the ground than was comfortable for us. These days I can’t even imagine having to get up and down from one, especially having to get up during the night.
Oh, I have a horrible time getting up and down. Most outdoor collapsible chairs are impossible to get out of, and I am smart enough not to sit in them!
So sorry George is still in the hospital, but good to know that his kidney values are improving. Prayers that he will be home soon.
What fun camping pictures, Linda. My daughter has a doll sized light-up campfire as well. It isn’t AG as it was bought at our garden store gift shop prior to the AGOT line debuting.
Everyone looks so cute . I like your little Coleman stove. Is that an AG piece?It is the perfect size.
We went camping a couple of times as Girl Scouts and then a big class camping trip at the end of eighth grade
Your modern girls look great as well. I love the doggie sunglassesš¶ š¶ļøā¼ļø
Forgot to comment how much I loved the hikes at camp and being out in nature. We got to identify wildflowers and see all kinds of animals.
I also do not freak out at bugs, bats, and certainly not at furry things. I’m not the least bit afraid of mice.
yes. I like the doggie sunglasses too.
too cute
Thank you, Laura! The Coleman camp stove is made by the Sophia brand doll clothes and accessories. Iām sure you have heard of that brand before. Yes, it is the perfect size and I like the color too, compared to the aqua one that AG has.
I just wish I had room for Mollyās tent, but I donāt and I will live k owing I will probably never get it, considering how rare and expensive it is now.
Glad you got to experience camping as a Girl Scout!
Jeanne….my thoughts and prayers are with you and for your Hubby’s quick recovery. I had a Paracentesis done once, years ago, to drain the fluid from the abdomen due to my liver disease having flared up. You are awake for the procedure and I, too, was amazed at the amount of fluid drained off….I had asked the doctor and technicians…How much fluid do you generally get, about a cup or so? We’ll show you, they said, when we are done. It was upwards of the 7-8 liters, and nearly filled three tall clear cylinders. My primary care doctor who sent me for the procedure had said…you will be able to breathe better within the first five minutes of draining fluid….so true. I was grateful that the doctors know what and how to do these procedures…I did not know then that the body could “house” built-up fluid like that. I lost some weight and changed my diet of foods and have never had another repeat procedure due to ascites.
The Camping setting for the dolls brings back childhood camping memories! I attended Camp Tannadoonah in Vidalia, Michigan as a child around 11 or 12 years old. It was affiliated with the Camp Fire Girls back then, but I noticed online that the camp is now called Camp T on Birch Lake, and it is also co-ed now but I think it was only for girls back when I was young. https://tannadoonah.org/
One of the most memorable things about this camp that I remember is the wooden stairs down to the waterfront…..I believe we counted 99 steps! I wanted to see any photos of the stairs now online but could not locate any on their site. The older cabins we stayed in look about the same on the outside but do look like they have been updated with newer wood floors and walls. Everyone wore white short-sleeved blouses with navy blue shorts back then! The dining room was a treat for me since we seldom ate meals gathered together around the table at home, and there were lots of activities besides swimming lessons, like crafts, archery, hikes, camp songs to learn, campfires where we roasted marshmallows, etc. I still have my navy blue felt vest with the colorful wooden beads sewn on the front….beads earned from various camp activities! Some repeat campers had vests that were covered front and back with beads!
My oldest daughter attended the same camp when she was around 10 or 11. And then we discovered the YMCA Camp Eberhart in Michigan that offered “Horse Camp”! A camper was assigned a horse to take care of and ride during their week long stay and my daughter was over the moon! (This is the grown daughter who just received the Siblie doll and the horse with a saddle!) I looked at the camp online and they still have Camp Equestrian Programs. https://campeberhart.ymcagm.org/
All three of my daughters had the camp experience, but only daughter Susan did the Horse camp. I still have some of the letters she wrote home to us back then, and one of them went on and on about how the camp sells the horses at the end of summer and “please, please, please, could we buy one”? Only she had the decimal point in the wrong place and the horse would only cost us $2.00! We had a big not-attached garage out back and a fenced yard and she thought we could keep the horse there. In the city!
Elizabeth, how wonderful that you have such wonderful memories of camp! Both of those places look like a lot of fun. I wonder how juch the cost has gone up since you were there! Our GS camp had lots of fun activities, but the thing I did not like was anything to do with water! I do not like swimming, ā¦well, I canāt swim! I took lessons there and never got to the second part! Never couod keep my head under the water.
That horse camp sounds wonderful! I donāt blame your dajghter for wanting to have a horse in the city! Ha, ha,ā¦ kids!
Well, another Camp Fire girl. I was also one after graduating from Blue Birds. Our group did lots of fun things over the years. And I too still have my Camp Fire vest with all of the wooden beads sewn on. š
Jeanne, I was so sorry to hear about George, will keep praying for him, and Sissy, sorry you are not well, hope whatever it is clears up soon.
Linda, I love your camp set up, everything looks really great. The girls all seem to be enjoying themselves.
I only went camping once, when I was in France. My friend and I with our boyfriends at the time belonged to the American Church in Paris and they organised a ‘pilgrimage’ down to Nimes in the south of France. I don’t remember much in the way of Pilgrim stuff but it was certainly a lovely trip. I don’t remember bugs or other critters but it was where I began my hatred of sleeping bags! I will never, voluntarily, sleep in one. I feel completely trapped. Years ago, when their children were small, my son (Darren) and his family had planned to go camping starting on Boxing Day (remember, this is the middle of summer for us), his wife wasn’t too enamoured but had agreed. Two days before Christmas he was playing indoor football (soccer) and snapped his Achilles tendon! There was no way he was going to be able to put up a tent and Deborah certainly wasn’t going to but they rang the camping ground and luckily they had a cabin free so the camping didn’t happen and never got resurrected.
Darren is heading for US next Monday. He and Jack (his son, my grandson) are going to watch NZ play in the World Cup. NZ’s first game is in LA then they go to Canada for the other two games. In the unlikely event that we will progress to the next round he will be watching from home though. I think they are away for three weeks.
Still no rain here, a small oasis in the middle of downpours!
I will see you all tomorrow
Houston has some of the soccer games here this time too. I’m glad I don’t live there right now because it’s going to be hectic. I have no reason to go that far into Houston at the moment for which I’m over the moon. It’s enough watching the preparations on the news.
How fun for your soccer fans. I’m sure they will have fun. Lots to see in LA besides the games and Canada as well. š
Thank you, Anne! I share your distaste for sleeping bags when camping too. I donāt really camp, but when we go on vacation, we sleep in a bed and breakfast or hotels. Much more comfortable and you sleep better too.
How exciting for Darren! We hear about Kansas City on the other side of the state, preparing for the World Cup and it sounds exciting. Darren is very fortunate to be able to go to see some of the matches. Hope he gets to see some of the sights while here.