Hi everyone,
It’s turned winter around here and it may have where you live too! I’m NOT ready for below freezing temps, but I just saw on my phone that not too far from here, they had slow flurries blowing like crazy this afternoon. They can stay away a little while longer for me and I’ll be much happier. My sister, Cindy and her hubby are coming this weekend, but it’s supposed to warm up again. YAY!! I have lots to do to welcome them and that’s why today’s post is kind of short…
(A quick update: I was back at the computer and noticed it was pretty quiet in the living room where my hubby and Reuben were. I went in there and Reuben was curled up in his bed, but my hubby was gone. I looked through the window blinds and saw this… the light shining from his shed and a big blue tarp being drug to the courtyard.
It is 32 degrees outside with a windchill making it feel like it’s 23! He was out there covering up the Morning Glories, trying to keep them from the frost that’s coming tonight! I hope it works!)
Okay, back to today’s post.
BUT… it’s filled with such SWEET pictures! I think I am slowly getting the hang of this new phone’s camera. I took the wig that was seen in the picture when I bought Natasha, and changed it up a bit. Here it was in the picture that stole my heart.
If you click on the pictures they will enlarge… MORE CUTENESS in a bigger size! :o)
I think Rosemary K, the seller, had just combed the wig forward but there were short little bangs hiding underneath if you brushed the wig to the sides.
This is the above wig… only I combed it differently, but it was still lacking something…
I also used my photo editing software, Picasa and eliminated the rub marks on her nose and cheek… You can see them in these before pictures.
Now, with her face all cleaned up, (no spots) you’ll get to see how I styled that same wig for Natasha. Joy suggested taking that wig and braiding it. It was a bit tedious to do, because I tried to use those shorter pieces that had been combed forward and french braid them starting up as high as I could. This was as good as I could get them. I actually showed her to my hubby and he just said, “Oh wow, she looks really cute in that wig.” YAY! It’s always nice to get a second affirmative opinion. Mine was the first!
Natasha wants to know if YOU like it???
The sides were pulled forward in the braids, so the back isn’t that pretty, but I sure do like the front!
Well, I’m sorry, but that’s all I have for today… a new wig styled for Natasha! Go back and look at how cute she is again…then you can start your day!
***** Tomorrow I’m going to show Dorothy’s girls and Charlotte’s pictures with her great grandson and give an update about Susette’s Celebration of Life service.
Stay warm and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Blessings, Jeanne
Gosh…should I tell you that out here in Seattle it was 63° outside?! And we’ve had three days now with NO RAIN!! Yippee!! (I do Not like the rain, as out here it can rain for weeks without stopping. I know, I live in the wrong state for that….)
Natasha’s hair looks so cute braided up that way. Yes, the back leaves something to be desired, but you rarely show the back of a doll’s head unless you are showing a hat, so I think this works just fine! It’s a good thing that You have her and are doing the braiding. I am all thumbs when it comes to hair. When I’d had my AG Molly for quite a while and her braids were getting messy, it took me three tries to get them to look even halfway even/the same! I always say, the good Lord knew what He was doing when He gave us a boy, because any little girl we got would just have been out of luck if she’d wanted anything special done with her hair! With Daniel, a trip to the barber (his grandpa) every couple of weeks took care of his hair.
Glad to hear the good news about your toe and that you are doing the right things.
I was totally left out when the hair styling gene was handed out. I don’t think there is anyone in my family who has it, so my chances were nil from the git-go. But I do have a daughter, and I was fortunate to have a stepdaughter who was great at French braiding and she loved fixing Andrea’s hair. When Marca went away to college and Andrea was in dance competition I took her to the hair salon to have her hair French braided. Andrea’s hair is very thick and not being good at working with hair in the first place, I never worked to get better. And I can’t do dolls either, especially the ones wearing wigs. I must confess I like when the hair is attached to the head like my Hearts for Hearts dolls. They have beautiful hair and it doesn’t fall off when you comb it.
Dear Charlotte, I am standing beside you when it comes to fixing a child’s hair. My poor daughter had the worse braids in her elementary school. I just had no idea what I was doing with her hair. I don’t know who was happier when she learned how to do her own hair, her or me (laugh).
I meant to add, further x-rays of my foot show no other broken bones, just that one toe. But my foot is quite bruised all over, and the top of my foot seems to be the sorest right now. I did add a comment to Friday’s blog, at the very bottom, and Dorothy and I commented back and forth a bit, particularly about her Charlotte Noelle. If you want a giggle, you might want to go and read our conversation!! Thanks, Dorothy!
I am so glad that there are no further discoveries. Toe fractures are frustrating. I amsorry you are suffering (nurses are the most whiny awful patients — and empathetic too 🥰)
I sure did get a giggle out of Dorothy’s story! Those dolls have a mind of their own, for sure! A bowl of ice cream never hurt anything, except if you are lactose intolerant, like my hubby! Only lactose free dairy here for him, so I get the “good” stuff!
Glad to hear no other broken bones, Charlotte!
Dear Linda, thanks for liking my story. These little tales just pop into my head.
Dear Charlotte, I miss our old ning platform where we could post stories and photos of our dolls. I am glad you liked this little tale of your namesake, little miss Charlotte Noelle.
I miss it, too, Dorothy. We sure did have fun there, for a while. I’m so glad Jeanne started this blog so we can still have a little of that fun between us now and then!!
Well, winter is here for sure, and I hope not for long! As I write this at 3:45 in the morning, it is 28 degrees, but feels like 3!!!! I am not going outside to see if it really feels like that because the wind is howling. The high today will be 38 later in the afternoon! Brrr! The leaves were just beautiful Saturday in the sun, but overnight with the wind blowing, more than half of them are on the ground now. Boy, that was quick!
Your fix for the wig is really cute, although I wouls have preferred longer bangs or maybe the wig pushed forward a bit more, but overall, it is really cute! Most little girls don’t have really long, full, luxurious hair, so you can only do so much with it. Those braids give her an impish quality, and I think she is going to be a cute little model for you!
Good luck with George saving the Morning Glories!
We are supposed to get in the twenties tonight here. My back porch is full of my pots of plants and flowers!! I have brought in 2 succulents that are special since they were sent to me by my older son when he still lived in CA. The rest will be covered up tonight. I hope that is enough, also Jeanne’s morning glories. I always bring those plants in for the winter but that is usually in December here. Supposedly this is just a one night stand and it will go back to normal after tonight.
Jeanne, the wig is adorable on Nat, I love the bangs, but can you make the braids so they don’t stick out on the sides? Maybe that is just me but since I grew up with braids It bothers me. Mine always hung down straight.
You are blessed to have family visit so often. I will have some coming next week so I know what you mean by having to get ready. Speaking of which I have to go get ready to head for the Y with my Peyton. Y’all have a good day.
Happy Monday Jeanne and friends, what a week-end.
I hope everyone survived and remained status quo.
Jeanne, thank you for looking into Susette’s celebration service.
The cutie braids look adorable on Natasha. She looks spunky!!!
I favor the short wigs with her sweet pixie face, but this one is super fun.
I made a lot of sewing progress on my quilt top, but also got side tracked with making even more leaves (about 7) with left overs to hang in my front windows.
Today we are meeting (finally) with a moving company to clear out the furniture we want at this house, for example the china cabinet and our dressers. We have been putting socks and undies in plastic totes, and my mother in laws gorgeous solid walnut table and many other things.
I hope all of you have the best Monday ever!!
Love, Rosemary
Dorothy and Charlotte, I REALLY enjoyed this discussion over the week-end.
Dorothy, your Charlotte Noel is a very sharp smarty pants! I have a few portions of Turkey Hill Cherry vanilla ice cream in my freezer I would love to share with her!
Dear Rosemary, I am glad that you liked my Charlotte Noelle tale. She is quite a character. She loves to be “center stage” and she is always right, according to her (laugh).
Dorothy, I went back and saw you Charlotte Noelle tale. I love it, thanks for the smile!
Dear Sissy, thanks for your nice words. I like writing my Charlotte Noelle stories. She never stops amazing me with what she thinks (smile).
Oh, I like Natasha’s little braids. I know that wig problem in the back. They make so many of them like that when one would prefer the same length hair all around. I’m with Linda, that I would like to see the wig pushed a speck more forward. I think little Nat looks adorable. Such a sweetie. Now, what is she going to model?
Here, no frost yet. In fact, over the weekend we hit 80. I had to switch out my long sleeves for short as I got so hot raking leaves. When we went to Costco and Best Buy, everyone was walking around in shorts. It was that hot. Speaking of which, we spent some time in Best Buy checking out new appliances. I opened so many refrigerators, my hand was getting tired. And those freezer drawers too. We have a great refrigerator now, but the ice maker was toast years ago. Our dishwasher leaks slightly too, and the microwave above the stove is for decoration only as it too went out some time ago. We have one on the counter. The only thing still fully functioning is the stove, which I love. But, if you want appliances to match, you need all new. So, we’re still checking them out and reading reviews, some horror stories. Lots of capacitor problems. And then there are the installation fees, new power cords required, new waterlines, removal fees, you name it. All I want is them brought into the house and we can slide them in and connect, but then the warranty may not be good. It’s crazy. Oh, and then you only have 24 hours to report a problem. Can you believe? Anyone else bought new appliances lately? And I forgot. We need new flooring too. 🙂
I probably shouldn’t be laughing at your appliance dilemma but the way you describe the problem insists on it. I haven’t bought anything new for a few years but I can tell you that some of the brand names that were so dependable in the past are not now. Sean and Dionne have a Samsung agitator-less washing machine that goes off balance all the time to the point that granddaughter Jaiden went ballistic the other day because it kept doing it. She was in tears. They got rid of their Samsung fridge a while ago.
I have a Samsung fridge that has some issue with the ice maker where it stops making it available in the door so you have to go to the tray in the freezer. David finally came to the conclusion that since we use the ice from the door the most, the ice in the tray in the freezer builds up telling the ice maker everything is full. Since it forces me to use the ice from the freezer, eventually it lowers the level and the ice maker starts working again. Nowhere in the instruction book does it say anything about this.
My washer and dryer are Insignia. The lid has to latch before it will start so you can’t fill it while putting in the clothes. You have to do the soap and clothes, close the lid and push the cycle you want then if you’re smart you’ll push the button for additional water because if you don’t it barely covers the clothes and they don’t get washed properly. The dryer has no light – never had a dryer without a light – and you have to run the cycle twice to get the clothes dry because everything is timed and there is apparently no sensor cycle. All this is supposed to save water and electricity. It doesn’t.
In comparison we bought a Whirpool side-by-side back in 1998. We moved that to the laundry room as an extra when we got the new French door. We had one repair in the whole time we’ve had it and that was a new thermostat a year ago. My mother had a Norge washer and dryer she bought in 1965. When she moved to an apartment she loaned it to my cousin for her new house. When my mother bought a house in 1976 my cousin gave it back to her and she used it for years until she was in her 70s and moved in with my sister. Times have definitely changed when it comes to appliances.
Yes Whirlpool used to be great. But, don’t know about now. We do not want Samsung for anything as their ratings are well, poor. Even Best Buy guys do not recommend. I was looking at a range by them until I read reviews about capacitors exploding. So, at the moment we’re looking at LG for the kitchen although, we don’t much like the dishwasher as it has a tray at the top that we would not use. So, we’d have to remove that and then take the top off of the removable rack below for utensils. Unless, we keep the one from our current model. Kind of crazy for a new dishwasher. Home Depot has a huge sale going on with a big sale on buying all of the appliances. Much better deal than Best Buy. Of course, both places charge extra for install etc. We’re thinking that we’ll have them delivered and only have the dishwasher installed maybe. It is a very difficult installation, and when I think about it, probably not something one of their installers could even do. So, we’re still digesting information. All I can say is don’t buy Electrolux as one by one the appliances have developed problems. Of course, probably not any more than some of the others after reading reviews. Not fun. Ugh
Joy, we bought a new washer, dryer and stove two years ago, and had an interesting take to tell. First, we bought a washer and dryer from Home Depot, by LG, and will never do that again. For one thing, HD outsources their deliveries, and neither seems to work in tandem. One does not know what the other is doing and when. We needed our washer immediately, since ours had broken, but we kept getting delay after delay in getting the washer and dryer scheduled for delivery. Of course, HD kept billing us for the washer and dryer that we didn’t receive, After waiting for three weeks for them to be delivered, we cancelled and went with a well known local appliance dealer and had our washer and dryer in two days, same brand, and even better pricing. We continued to get billed for the ones we never received from HD. Finally after 3 weeks HD delivered our washer and dryer, but by that time we already had the one from our local dealer. HD never emailed or called or anything to let us know they would be coming. That was funny to see their faces when I told them we already had our appliances three weeks ago from somebody else, after they had the washer and dryer out of the truck and were at front door! Always go local, not those big box stores!
We had to buy a stove the next month, and you know where we went for that! No waiting around and they were so nice coming in and showing us how to use it and setting it up for us. We got a GE electric stove and I couldn’t be happier with it.
Thanks so much for the info. I’ve been reading stories about HD, but also for Best Buy and even Costco. They all outsource their deliveries unfortunately. No choice in who you may get. So, how do you like your LG W/D? Any problems? or did you go with a different brand?
It is very difficult to find any brand now that doesn’t have some problems unfortunately. We’re looking at LG at the moment, but that can change.
TKs so much for the info.
I really enjoyed the thoughtful insights from Charlotte Noel! Her concern and practical wisdom made me smile, and I am so glad there are no further broken bones for Charlotte.
I may be the minority here but I’m not feeling the braids for Natasha. I like the original look and the strawberry blonde best. A ribbon tied like the original in the strawberry blonde I’m sure would be so cute.
Also what is the name of the small scale material shoppe?
Have a great day all.
Dear Dorothy L, yes,, Charlotte Noelle is full of wisdom, some of it a little mixed up though (laugh).
First off, the weather. While we are nowhere near freezing here, the high for today I think is 60. When I came in here to check the blog it was 11 a.m. and only 54. We’ll probably reach our high just as the sun is going down. I’m hoping to go for a walk this afternoon with my Rollator walker. I still have no endurance under my own power and it has a seat in case I need a rest (or just want to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather LOL). But I’ve been waiting for cooler temps to do this. I pinched one of my sciatic nerves yesterday while getting ready for church so a good walk will either make me or break me but after a summer of hibernation, I need to get out.
I love Natasha’s new hairdo. I think the nickname for Natasha is Nastia. There is a lovely Russian girl who is amazing on the Balalaika. She is on YouTube. I can’t remember her last name but her first is Natasha and they call her Nastia. I admire your ability to work with doll wigs. So many of my dolls have wigs but they’re on their own when it comes to styling. I’ll stick to the ones with hair that doesn’t fall off when I try to comb it.
I loved Dorothy’s Charlotte Noelle story – and I love her name. I have several “Charlotte Noelle” personalities. The latest story belongs to Brianna (mini Bella). She goes to a private school and, of course, wears a uniform – as does her two older sisters Bailey and Bella. Well I made Bailey’s uniform – skirt and blouse – and found a pattern for a similar set for Brianna. The skirt fabric is kind of a houndstooth of white, light blue and either navy or black (probably navy to go with the light blue but these days I have trouble telling black from navy unless I put them together). I made the white blouse and started working on the skirt. I didn’t notice when I cut out the waistband that the fabric was a little off so when I finished the skirt the dark strip of the weave was not straight. Phooey, but I wasn’t going to remake the skirt for that. Brianna put it on and stood in front of the mirror. She made a face, turned to me and frankly told me she was not going to be caught wearing that skirt because the waistband wasn’t straight. That I should take it back to the store and get another one. Honey, I said Mama made that skirt so I can’t take it back. At which point she took off the skirt, smiled and handed it to me – not saying another word. I got the point. She now has a skirt with a straight waistband not to mention a bit shorter because when I took the old waistband off the material frayed (even after fray check) so I measured up from the bottom about 2 1/2 inches and cut it there. Now her waistband is straight, and we both like the shorter length skirt. We hugged. The End.
Dear Barbara, I see that you have a very opinionated young lady in your house as well. I didn’t know that a waist band was such a focus for young people. Perhaps this generation is more “high fashion” than we were (smile). I am glad that in the end it all worked out and that you shared a hug.
Now about this private school… Was it by chance a boarding school and was it maybe in the Switzerland or somewhere far, far away? Hmmm, I will have to investigate (laugh).
Loved reading about Brianna and the skirt dilemma. Glad you were able to fix it. 🙂
Hi Jeanne,
Maybe you would post my comment as I had a historical thing to share that happened today 50 years ago. Thank you!
Congrats on your new doll, Jeanne. Natasha is very pretty. The braids are cute.
A bit of a history share for today.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald happened today, November 10, 1975. It has been 50 years! I was seven, but I remember it clearly on the radio and on the news. Then of course immortalized forever in Gordon Lightfoot’s song. I had already been on vacation to Lake Superior before this happened and would be there many other times. The water is icy cold even in August.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A
Who else remembers? 🙏
Laura