Hi everyone,
My sisters, Cindy and Deb, and I had the best time shopping today… and it was the HOTTEST TIME SHOPPING TOO! The heat index was 106 and we were roasting, but the bargains were being found, so we trudged on. We started at TJ Maxx and then went to our Goodwill and then the old Thrift Shop here in town. While Cindy and Deb were finding wonderful things for this Fall and a few for the hot days we’re having, I found something that was pretty cool… Something that might have been used in the water. Who would have thought a Mermaid Tail would be waiting just for me to find it? Oh…and buy it! I did. It will make wonderful new swim suits as it’s a 4 way stretch fabric and so very colorful. It’s a child’s mermaid tail, so I laid it on my ironing board to give you the full effect of it.
Isn’t it colorful and pretty?
The tail part of it has snaps on the bottom edge.
I’m guessing what was so the little girl who would wear it could unsnap it and stick her feet through. I guess I should have looked up Kid’s mermaid tails and seen what was available… Well, curiosity got the best of me and I did!
Click the link below to see more… and MY what high prices many of them are! Glad mine was reasonable! :o)
I think this will make some really pretty swimsuits! I DO know how to make other things but making swimsuits during this HOT weather makes me feel cooler! Silly me! :o)
Now, for something completely different! We’re going from pretty mermaid tails to tall, tall trees!
I mentioned our Sweet Gum tree a few posts back and how it was getting a “haircut!” Well, it got a pretty big “haircut!” I wanted to show you the tree before it was trimmed. You can see how the one long branch with a few limbs coming off of it was hanging right over our remodeled kitchen, my sewing room (just to the left of that door and windows you see), and our sunburst porch! Limbs had been falling and we HAD to have “at least” the longest branches cut back. It was going to be WAY too expensive to cut the whole tree down and once the one side was trimmed away from over the room, the chance of a limb falling on the roof was drastically minimized.
Here is the before picture with the branch hanging over the roof…
This is after it was trimmed back…
It was so tall and massive they had to use a bucket truck to get up that high…
It looks a bit funny now, but we’ll get used to it! It really lets the light shine through now and will allow our big Magnolia tree beside it to flourish!
My hubby opted to clean up the mess on the ground… they just had to cut the limbs off and get them safely on the ground, which they did! But boy did we have a mess to clean up! This was just one little area of the limbs on the ground.
It’s been so hot my hubby said he didn’t care if it was October before he got it cleaned up. However, our neighbor, who has a tractor, and knows my hubby isn’t supposed to lift very heavy things, came over with his tractor two days later and he and my hubby worked hard for half a day and got the big chunks and branches hauled off. He lets us burn them on his property!
There is still stuff to rake up, but it’s not too bad now…
We also had a “leaning” pine tree that was very tall too, and they took off the one branch that seemed to be pulling the tree over…
When our heat wave settles down a bit, I’m sure my hubby will be out there in his yard getting all those leaves and limbs still on the ground cleaned up…
Well, that’s it for me today… Mermaid tails to trimming trees! Where else could you go to get such pertinent and useful information??? :o)
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
It was lovely seeing all the wonderful swimsuits you have been making, Jeanne. I do hope poor James isn’t too traumatised, wearing a wig and a girl’s swimsuit!
The mermaid tail will be great for more of the same. Love the different ideas. Have a lovely time with your sisters, Jan and I are planning a thrift shop trawl as well.
Haven’t much time this morning, I was really tired all day yesterday and slept in this morning. We are picking up my niece to go shopping in a relatively short while and I still have to have a shower. Thursday I will have to be up early as well as we are going to the NEC in Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts. At least Jan and Dave are dropping me off and they are going to do their thing which is gardens and they will pick me up about 5pm.
Talk to you tomorrow
Oh, Anne, what a lovely time you will have on Thursday at the Quilts! Please take lots of photos. So nice to have family and have a great time with your niece today.
It is so nice to hear from you, Anne, and your adventures
A quilt festival sounds great fun 🥰
Oh, the Quilt Festival sounds fantastic. Hope you can get some pics. 🙂
I’m glad to hear that you and your sisters are having a good time together.
That mermaid tale will give you fabric for Lots of swimsuits for dolls, and because of the rainbow stripes, you’ll have lots of different sections to cut from, so your suits will all be quite different. Sounds like a winner to me!!
My goodness, what a difference in the tree trimming! I think it’s so interesting to watch a tree come down, when it’s done properly (although you just had branches down, but still…). We had our big fir tree taken down a number of years ago, and they work their way up the tree, cutting branches as they go. When they get to the top, they start cutting the trunk, one chunk at a time, and moving down the tree as the trunk gets shorter. (Our fir trees in the Seattle area are mostly like Christmas trees, but on steroids! A straight trunk with branches coming out almost horizontally at first, until they start to tip downwards.)
Nice to hear from Anne already; hope you are feeling much better again!
Dorothy, thanks for providing the link to the Facebook post about the UFDC convention!
Dear Charlotte, I am glad that the FB post worked for you. Folks began posting as soon as the convention began. I am sure that some folks posted on their club websites. I just checked my local club and there is nothing posted. There may be something on the local FB page but I can’t check. I will get some photos to Jeanne in a few days.
I had no idea you could buy mermaid tails, Jeanne, so I must really be out of the loop! What a colorful one you have and yes, what a lot of possibilities you have there for some really cute swimsuits! It sure gets your creative juices flowing just to think about it!
Oh my how big your tree was, and I can see the handwriting on the wall about it falling on your house someday! We have a huge oak tree in the front of our house that we planted there over 50 years ago, and who would have thought that little stick of a tree would grow so tall and almost cover our house? We have had it trimmed quite a few times now, for the very same reason you had hours trimmed. Our little $8.99 tree has costs us thousands by now just to have it trimmed, but it really does give us shade ,that can’t be a bad thing now!
Good to hear from you, Anne, and Dorothy, I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the UFDC convention. Hope you took some pictures, although I did see some on Facebook.
Linda, we are in the same oak tree surprise! We built the house in 2000, and my older brother gave us a live oak tree as a house gift. It was so lovely there in front of the left side of the house…..UNTIL….it started growing, and growing, and growing. It was like it was coming for the house! We have had to cut branches over the garage, and branches heading for the front porch. When Helena came for a visit she knocked down a HUGE branch which cost us quite a bit to have removed. We still love it though. Live oaks are like family members here in GA.
Dear Linda, I did take some photos. I will get them to Jeanne in a day or two. The Convention was so much fun! I ran through the salesroom, well, walked very quickly (smile). I did not want to be tempted. There were so many lovely dolls.
Happy Tuesday dear friends. It is so hot!!! Okay… not the hottest ever but still, annoying.
How many mosquito bites do you have? I think I have six, possibly more.
Jeanne, great to see you will have some added brightness to your house! That is a significant branch and it would be big damage, I am so glad you got that done…. in July. Yes, the clean up can wait. I am grateful for your helpful neighbor!
Okay, the Mermaid tail! I think I have seen these in stores years ago. If I were a little girl, I would not want one, it seems confining 😄
I love the colors of this one. So much potential for many many suits, and leggings!!
Enjoy this day. I have a zillion things to do….
Jeanne, the brightness of that tail would scare the water creatures!
Just kidding. In where I lived in FL the manatees swim in the beautiful springs. They look more like huge potatoes than mermaids, but long ago the sailors would see them coming up for air and for some reason they called them mermaids. Those guys must have been out on the water too long!
Lovely ladies in FL wear mermaid tails and have photos taken sent out on FB as they glide through the springs with the manatees. Also an attraction was built in FL where there is a HUGE spring and a lovely river. It’s name is Weeki Wachee Springs named after the Indian name of the spring. They put on shows where you can see the lovely “mermaids” swimming in the spring, putting on shows. Just go to Youtube and search for mermaids or Weeki Wachee and you will see a lot of them swimming!
Your lovely “tail” will make outfits that would make the mermaids jealous!
What an interesting thrift find. Can’t wait to see the swim suits Jeanne will make. Around here, it’s been a pretty cool summer so far Sorry folks for those of you in the heat. 54 this morning and climbing to a nice maybe low 80’s today. Very pleasant.
Thanks Jeanne for sharing the tree trimming. That will be so much safer for your house. Here in northern CA, insurance companies would be cancelling your policy if there are any trees like that near the house. In fact, they want all shrubbery removed from the house five feet away. Only rock allowed closer. Looks pretty barren, but people are complying in the fire zones. I can remember years ago in the hills here where fir trees grow like weeds, that folks would actually pack up and leave for a hotel if high winds were expected. Those trees can be deadly. Now, most wouldn’t think of having one near their home. Too dangerous.
Yesterday, I had a delivery expected. Not a Ruby Red, but a doll I’ve wanted for years. It was around 10 and mail hadn’t been delivered, so we went for a walk. Ended up chatting with a friend for some time and finally headed home. I had completely forgotten about the box delivery. As I climbed the 13 steps, I spotted the box, wrapped in brown grocery bags to the right of the door below the mailbox. It was a large box that certainly could not have been anything else but a doll arriving. Other person was right behind me. So, with nothing to lose, I stood in front of the box and opened the mailbox. Pulled out the mail and as other person opened the door, I handed him the mail, and he walked inside. I followed and closed the door. I can’t believe that he did not see that huge box. But, somehow he didn’t. Crazy. Anyway, easiest delivery ever. Old eagle eye must be losing his touch, or maybe it has been dulled by Covid. Much later, after lunch, I managed to haul the box inside and deposit it in the secret location while other person played in the office. And I was even able to get the box open later as other person went to the store. She is a lovely Alice In Wonderland Tonner 18″ doll. Lucky me. Oh boy, or boy. 🙂
And after much searching yesterday, I also managed to locate one stick of chalk, in my sewing machine drawer of course. Now, other person will be out marking boards that he wants to replace on the upper deck. By the way, the holes we dug to reach that pipe are still there. Haven’t been able to locate the pipe joint. Another project to complete.
Your new Alice sounds lovely, Joy. Please share a photo of her when you have time. RR is certainly getting in with the Alice theme with those two little Dazzle Alices.
Dear Joy, wow, that was an easy caper. Other Person must have been distracted. Keep vigilant though (smile).
I got to say hello to the two gentlemen from Ruby Red who were at Convention. They attended Rachel Hoffman’s (Virtual Doll Convention) gathering.
Rachel also posted some photos about the wonderful Barry Art Museum’s doll collection on her website. Here is the link:
https://www.virtualdollconvention.com/vdc-event-schedule
Thanks for the link Dorothy. I will check it out. And how great to meet Derf, I think, and not sure, but maybe Tom. They are on FB’s Ruby Red Official page all of the time. Derf, aka Fred, Derf spelled backwards, is the son of the Ruby Red inventor. I believe that she was at the convention too. 🙂
All these wonderful swimsuits and more to come. I would have a hard time choosing which one to buy. I did like the silver one and the purple one with the skirt was nice but it would be a difficult choice. I’ve seen those mermaid tails for Halloween costumes or swimsuit cover ups. We bought Jaiden a snug sack once that was like a mermaid tail. She loved it.
We’ve had to have so many trees taken down around here and it is pretty pricey to have it done. Since the trees were close to buildings, we had to have it professionally done but we have one that needs to be removed for the house building that is out in the open so David is just going to knock it down with his bulldozer. He used to do a lot of clearing property for buildings so he has had experience doing this. Once the tree is down, the boys will cut it up and load it on a trailer and take it to a place in the city where they collect the remains of trees and then burn them. They used to grind them up for mulch but it always became infested with bugs so people stopped getting mulch from there so they just opted for burning it instead.
I got busy yesterday and missed Dorothy’s link to the UFDC so I’ll have to go back and check on that.
Great to hear from Anne and all the fun things she’s doing. And good to see that Jeanne and sisters are having their usual great time looking for bargains – and finding them which is even better.
Great to hear from you, Anne. The quilt show sounds like a lot of fun.
The mermaid tail is a fun find. I’ve seen those as well as the crocheted ones and the ones made from shiny fabric like lame.
You’ve been roasting and California may get a tsunami after a major earthquake off the Russian coast. We are all connected. It would be nice if we were connected by something pleasant instead of a disaster.
I guess we are — reread the letters — everyone is connecting to something someone else said.
Just to be different, I’ll go put together a bookcase.