WINTER RETURNS!!

Well it would appear that winter is not done with us yet! After that one weekend of almost two days of dry and sunny weather we are now back to rain and bitter cold!!

Since we are knocking on the door of MAY! It's very hard to take! We were/ are hoping to get the small extra base of concrete laid this weekend... today Sunday is supposed to be the better drier day! But sitting here at just after 9 am ,wrapped in a blanket ,it seems like a distant dream!

9.15 am , cold and damp!

Bags of Ballast , waiting to be made into concrete!

Well it's now nearly 1.15 pm and it's drier but still freezing, so we'll be trying to get the base down this afternoon.

I took a very quick trip outside to take a couple of photos of Christy in her new Petrana dress.

I felt really bad because it is so cold and she's not got anything warm on!"

Looks she's hunching her shoulders against the chill! Poor girl!

Oh for some warm weather!

So Paul's about to mix up the concrete while I rearrange my existing Sasha studio to take more boxes.
For the next couple of weeks all my Sasha and doll stuff needs to get stacked away until the cabin's up and ready to be used.
I'm due to go off to the SCW and my daughter's having a few friends over, so my things need a place to wait while everything is going on.

We did manage to get in a trip to the recycling centre with all the old wood and shrub cuttings on Friday, so at least that mess is gone.

There are plants to go in, edging to be replaced, a folly to finish, paving to lay and a log cabin to build ! So I think the stories rattling round my head will have to wait until the log cabins up and I can bring a few things back inside. Mind you that's not to say there won't be any stories because if the weather improves and I can use the garden , I'm sure there are Sashas and Gregors here who'll be helping out with everything!

So I'm off to start moving things around to make some space to then fill up!  I'll be back in the  week if only with a few photos plus remember it's almost May, so doll shelf photos for the fifth would be lovely.

Have a great week, I wish you all warm and dry weather and some for us too!

Dee

NB    16.46 pm

Paul's meets the challenge and triumphs !

WE'RE BUSY

We're busy doing something
working the whole way through
trying to reduce the list we have to do

We're busy going everywhere
isn't it just a crime
We'd love to hire some people
BUT we just don't have the time....

la la lalala la laa

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With apology for rewriting the song from the film  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court !

Thought I'd give you a Sunday off from my ramblings.

SUNNY WEATHER AT LAST

So Magda and I took a trip round the garden for a photo shoot!

Magda got to change into a new dress set by Petrana that arrived in the post today.

standing on the bricks outside the workshop.

 a closer look.

Then we moved on to the folly where she wanted to stand on top of the wall!

Not afraid of heights our Magda

balancing..

Magda

This photo shows the true green of the dress, I love this combination of the lime green with the purple flowers.

a close up

an even closer up!

 This one and the  next couple were taken a little later as the sun was lowering, giving that nice glow of light to her left side.

x

x

x

x

Glowing in the lowering sun.

SUNNY? SUNDAY

Sunny Sunday , sort of! The sun is out there somewhere under a mass of cloud but it does mean it is brighter than it's been for a good while and it's dry at present!

Alas due to having to work Saturday and Paul not being well, we've not done any more on the garden! Just done a little pottering about the house.

When we cleared out the gazebo, one of the things I found was an American Girl bike, I'd totally forgotten I owned !

Saffron offered to see if it still worked!

She had to stick to the patio as the puppy proof gates ( some old trellis) were in place to stop Casper digging up the garden.

Casper came to check out what this strange contraption was and did he need one?

I finally found Colette's new APFS dungarees and t shirt, which I'd put somewhere safe so I could put her in them and then forgotten where I'd put them ! This was a good few weeks back!

Now if I could just find those other things I put somewhere safe I'd be so happy!

I did manage to go and clear off all the rubbish that was left on the old gazebo base and bag it up and

 dug up a holly, which had grown over at an angle, further along the fence, ready to move a lovely large bush we had at the side of the gazebo ,which I would really like to keep, into the space we've now made.
So that's a job for later in the week.

Casper received his Emma Bridgewater bowl which is enormous !  So at the moment he's using it as a water bowl.

Because I was ordering Casper's bowl I decided to do a little forward planning ....

and ordered this little matching mug, to the one the girls got me for mother day. So when Clara's bigger she can enjoy a mug of hot chocolate with Grandee when she visits.

And talking of growing ...

here's a photo of Clara from when I visited on Friday. She had her first set of injections, three, poor thing but here she is later , happily playing with Grandee and the aunts.

Now at nearly five pm and  despite the nice bright sky , it is now pouring  with rain! and turning chilly!

So since I cannot get outside to do anything I'll get on with some indoor jobs. Hopefully I'll be back again before next  Sunday, so have a great week.

Dee

IT'S UNBELIEVABLE !

The sun arrived and stayed all day!

Do we think Springs finally sprung? We are keeping our cards close to our chest... it could all be just a blip in the weather...

I love these Snake Head Fritillary. They do not like to be disturbed once planted but then you'll get a beautiful ever increasing display each spring.

Hattie was more than happy to show us these sweet flowers.


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SUNDAY AGAIN!

Well I wish I could say I have loads of Sasha photos and stories ready and waiting.... but it would not be true! Because at present I am sitting in the midst of chaos !

Who would have believed that removing a structure that was about eleven foot by eleven foot square would cause such mayhem! Mind you, probably was not the best time to add a puppy to the mix, but there you go that's how we seem to work round here! Why do one job when you can have half a dozen others on the go !

Casper is growing and starting to get some of the longer fur that shows he's a retriever. He still believes that if the cats can sit on sofa and the people , then so can he! He 's finished his socialization class and is waiting for his puppy training class to start later this month. He has his moments when he does exactly as you ask and then his moments when he takes no notice what so ever.. just like a child really!

Well Saturday was dry and warmish! So while I was at work Paul got rid of some rubbish to the recycling centre and we did another trip once I was back home in the afternoon. Which helped reduce the mess in the garden slightly.
Today after a grey wet start, it stopped for about an hour and is now raining again and does not appear to be stopping any time soon.

So even when the rain started Paul carried on until he'd got the last of the decking up, so we now have another pile to get rid of but the space is now clear.

We just need a couple of dry afternoon / evenings, so we can clean off all the old muck from old base, move the shrubs on the right hand side to make way for the 3 ft increase in base and stain that back fence to match the new ones.
Then a dry weekend or at least one of the days so we can lay the extra piece of base.

Now you'd think that  my doll bank balance would be looking good... alas no! as there's always a little something, one sees , that can come in handy for the dolls! Plus there are far too many seamstresses out there making wonderful clothes, in fabulous fabrics! and lets not forget the talented photographers who are putting on beautiful photos that tempt us even more!

Lucas has decided he wants to help with saving the Schoenhut Pygmy Elephants and when he saw this set on Auntie Ginny's website, he just nagged and nagged until I gave in and sent for it. ( I loved it the minute I saw it and ordered it straight away without telling young master L ! ) he even put his clothes away when I asked him to, mind you they were pushed in like rags.. no folding! But then he is still young.

I have a heavy week ahead, due to staff holidays and no cover, so although I hope to share a few more photos this week I may just be dozing in a chair!! Or if it stops raining out in garden trying to get things done.

So wishing you all a great week ahead with hopefully some good weather attached.

Dee

A NEW DOLL BUT

NOT A SASHA..

I thought I'd share a couple of photo's of  a new, to me, doll I received today.

This is a BJD , A Ball Jointed Doll, I just love the way you are able to pose these dolls.

When she arrived she decided her name was Phoebe ! I tried a few others but Phoebe was the one she liked best!

It was quite breezy out but she wanted to see the folly!

She's a little worried about meeting everyone as there are so many dolls in this village!

I told her everyone's very friendly but best check with someone else if Lucas tells her anything!

Well Phoebe, I think we'd best go in before you get a chill , don't want you falling ill !

I hope you enjoyed meeting this non Sasha.



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IT'S THE FIFTH SO IT'S DOLL SHELF DAY

Well it looks like this year is going by in a rush! It's already April and doll shelf day!

From Gregoropolis we hare two g... Sasha's? Two Maybe Holly Bell as a friend over for the day. But you are looking lovely girls amid those beautiful flowers.

Holly Bell is complaining about all the snow that keeps falling down their way!

Daisy says she's just happy to have made it through the snow to Gregoropolis

From Ursula we have Cody and Marty , the wannabe twins meeting their new sister Quirina , whose had a good hair wash and found a lovely green dress to keep her warm until the sunshine arrives.

From Karin we have Darcy standing by a model of Tower Bridge in London, do you think she made it herself? If she did she'd have taken a long time putting all those bricks in place!

Did you make the model of Tower Bridge Darcy? ...your not telling ! I don't blame you let us wonder and our Sasha kids too, they'll then try to make one and peace and quiet will reign... well for five minutes!

In the village doll shelf, Wren's stopped by to chat to Elfine and Faith. Elfine's not happy that Wren and Faith have new dresses while she , an Elf Princess, is left in rags! Elfine you are wearing a very lovely dress not a rag! Mmm she's not listening ! These Elf Princess can be so  so royal!

Over in Canada Carol's girls are still waiting for their dresses to go with their pants and new knitted socks and scarves!

Carols sweet Inuit girl is enjoying the cold weather being nice and snug in her coat with her Puppy in her backpack.

Carol's Sasha girls are not impressed that these dolls are dressed for the Arctic while they stand about freezing watching their dresses cut and just waiting for a trip under the sewing machine!

It's all the talk in Carol's tea rooms on the other shelf, they are lovely and snug sipping tea and eating cake!



Thank you to everyone sending in their photos. Still time for any later comers to be added. Just send them in.


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