THE LAST SUNDAY OF JUNE!

Well June's flown by probably pushed by this windy weather we are having, although we had plenty of still hot days too.
And hot it as been this week, my studio regristered 33.9 and that was with both the door and window wide open! This is the problem when you put in insulation to keep warmth in for the winter months it will also help keep it in for the summer ones too!
I've told Paul I need a couple of big trees to help shade my studio in the summer.. he's not agreeing! plus they would get in the way of the washing line... so I'll have to think of something else !

This weekend's been sunshine and showers with a lovely wind !, I love this type of weather, you are able to get on with lots of things, while still enjoying some sun. We have quite a bit to do in the garden, so this weather allows us to get quite a bit done between any showers which appear to be short and sweet.

The FB group is doing Sasha's in florals , so I took a few photos to put on, only taken me a week !
Wren, Claudia and Jenny have been standing on the dresser just waiting quietly chatting away.
But I have been busy this week.

My sales on ebay, which had slowed right down ,had a big boost and several dolls and some clothes sold. So I had to make an early morning trip to the post office on Saturday, so I was second in the social spaced queue for when it opened. I drove down to where I work so that my car that is spending weeks just sitting on the drive got a good run there and back.
I could park in my branch carpark and just walk round to the post office while the town was still waking up.

Paul's spent most of the weekend gardening as there is so much that needs doing.

One of the jobs he started , but will take ages to finish, was cutting back nextdoors hedge! Our neighbour, who we get on with wonderfully, used to have someone cut the hedge both sides, but once we'd put all our flower beds etc in, the gardener was not too careful on where the big piece of hedge triming dropped, so Paul said , not to worry he'd do it.
But then the hedge , which is the dreaded laylandii  got really big and our neighbour had it cut back. But his new gardener after a year or so stopped cutting the top over on our side, unfortunately we did not realise to start with and then another year or so has passed until !

You can see how high it now is which is supposedly just on our side as his 'gardener' manages to keep their side short!

So  I discovered Paul chopping away at it today as he'd been sorting out our big thriple compost bins and  the hedge was almost covering them in some places ( I'd cut a few branches off a couple of week ago but only lower ones )

x

We will over the winter months cut the hedge right back to the main trunks on our side and put a fence up, so that his gardenere will be a ble to reach the middle and we won't have to keep cutting back our side, it's too big and we'll be too old in a few years to be balancing on ladders cutting someone elses hedge!

This still needs doing probably about fifty foot long and there's another 25 to 30 in the other direction! It's also full of brambles!

I have also bought a couple of dolls as well as selling some, but they are no Sasha's. My need for a new Sasha is not as strong as in the early days, now a Sasha must appeal greatly and there will be a few out there but they've not appeared as yet!.

The dolls I bought are from the A Girl for All Time range. I already own four of their period dolls , these two are from their modern doll range. But I will dress them in period costume. I want to dress all my AGFAT dolls in Regency outfits. I bought the boy who is called Max because he's the only boy in that range adn I always like to have at least one boy if they are available.

I redressed the girl , Maya, into a Georgian outfit I had space. Another doll I bought is an older Kathe Kruse doll which is on it's way to me.
I loved the Kathe Kruse dolls before I even knew about Sasha's and have a few of the later ones but I am working on getting a few older dolls before retirement tightens the purse strings!

So later this week it will be July ! we'll be starting into the second half of the year ! let's hope it's a beter half than the first as been!

Wishing you all a great doll filled healthy week ahead.

Dee

SOMETIMES...

Sometime I receive an outfit that once put on a doll becomes theirs! And so it was with this lovely Dungaree set by Sarah of Vintage Sasha.

and so it was with this one. Martha had been wearing some soft yellow dunagrees by Sarah , so I decided she could change into these as the yellow are really Ashley's.

 Well they could have been made just for her, the colour is almost a perfect match for her eyes!

If you could see her in the 'flesh' so to speak, you'd see just how much these suit her.

 So like the soft yellow dungarees look perfect on Ashley, my blonde blue eyed No Navel girl and so I see them as hers. I now see these as Martha's.

Is it just me or do others have certain outfits that can only be worn by one particular doll or are seen as one dolls 'property' ? answers in the comments please :)

I love it when a doll and some clothes make a perfect match !

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ADAM ESCAPES!

 Robin and Adam are outside in the shade because today is very hot!

 Robin had been wearing his scout uniform but Adam had still been wearing his original Gotz outfit!
The tweed wool coat, with matching shorts, knitted v neck top and long socks.....

"Goodness you must have been baking Adam " Robin says " I thought she was never going to take you out of that coat! "

" Take my coat off !" says Adam " I thought she was going to sell me again! "
" Really!"
"Yes Really " sighs Adam " when she just left me sitting around in the bedroom, then the studio and I didn't get to come see everyone.. I feared the worse!"
" Oh if I'd known I'd have come looking for you !" Robin says " You know what mum's like for getting side tracked "
" I so do!"
" Well come on ! lets get back inside and with the others then she'll forget whatever plans she may have had ! " Whispers Robin

" We're just going in to watch a film " States Robin, nudging Adam towards the door...
" Don't you want to play outside " Mum asks, not really paying attention as she's trying to decide if the plants need watering again tonight .
" Will do that when it coold down a bit later " Robin says nudging Adam harder , then they make a dash for the back doors and vanish into the house.
Looking at the disappearing Adam , Mum wonders what it is she wanted Adam for?...... Never mind she's sure she'll remember sooner or later..


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SUNDAY AGAIN!

So Sunday's arrived at little overcast almost a threat of some rain but it held off and turned into a lovely sunny day and even Staurday was a nice day with a breeze.

My week's been one of work and relaxation but I did finally send in my letter to say I would be retiring at the end of September. ( I can go earlier , should I wish ) But at present I've said I would stay until then. My manager put it into the system and I received an email saying to check the workday section which told me ...Terminate Denise Owen!! Charming! It sounds like I'd best not be answering the door for a few months.....

So it's finally on the system, I am retiring! By September... at the latest! Paul is also retiring at the same time, he's actually worked an extra two years were as I'm escaping two years early!!
Paul's company wanted him to stay on and do less days and he was considering working a couple of days a week but he's decided he's had enough and so will stop completely.
I, who was planning to escape at the end of July, have given in to my managers wish for me to stay on longer by agreeing to work until end of September if nothing changes.
At present I'm working from home and they are more than happy with what I'm achieveing , hence the request that I work longer, but I think both of us finishing together, will be a lovely way to start our retirement.

Moving on ,If you remember it was just over a week ago that I went to the eye clinic,
although the eye clinic said it could be up to six weeks before I got the results of my eye test, they came this week! Probably because they are having to social distance people, they are seeing less people so results coming back much quicker than normal. But I was given the all clear which was great.
Now if only everything was that easy!

I seem to go through periods of buying nothing, no dolls, no dolls clothes etc but then when I do fall off that wagon, it's like the heavens have opened and things are arriving left, right and centre!
For a week or so I've had Ginny on almost speed email ! I had asked her to make me a couple of pairs of cord cutoffs for my boys, then I went looking on her site, bought a few dresses, then went back again, then looked at a couple of t shirts to go with the cutoffs, while there saw another couple of dresses and so it went on!!

At least I've not bought any dolls.....................well Sasha dolls! I'm now at the stage with Sasha's that the doll must be one that hits me in the heart! I need to fall in love with her/him and this happens so rarely these days.More often than not I find a photo of a doll I have owned and think , oh why did I sell her but then if had not I'd not have some of my other dolls.

So I now need to change a couple of the boys into the new cut offs and take some photos, if they let me!
I did receive a chair that took about a month to arrive, came from the US via Germany for some strange reason.

It's a good size for the Sasha's and some of my BJD dolls, so It will be in use pretty soon.

At the moment I am set on using up things we have around, I'm crochetting a blanket with some left over balls of wool of an evening , while watching tv or a film and this weekend I gave Paul the task of using things we already had lying about the garden and carport, to make the winter shelter for our pots of plants that cannot stay outside if the temperature drops too low or there is a frost.
Every winter we have to try and find places under some sort of cover to protect them, usually we land up with so much in the greenhouse, no one can get inside.
But not any more, for we now have a 6ft by 6ft covered area for the winter plant storage.

 we've gone from this..to..

This! It just needs a few bits and pieces done to conplete it, but it is wind and water tight.
And we already had everything we have used, including the door which came off our old gzebo when we used the polycarbonate to board it out again to shelter plants.
To the left hand side of this we'll have a small roofed potting area and some pot storage, which Paul will also build out of wood wtc that we already have laying about.


So I wish you all a lovely doll filled and healthy week ahead.

Dee

SUMMER PLANS

 Violet and Sapphire are excited at all the things happening in the garden.

They have discovered Mum's old metal shelving rack and are discussing it's uses.

 "There are all sorts of things we can use these shelves for !" states Violet
" We ? " asks Sapphire " It's Mum and Dad's shelves "

 " I'm surprised Mum doesn't want it somewhere in the house!" Sapphire tells Violet but Violet shakes her head.
" It's too industrial and Mum doesn't do industrial " she giggles " Now Auntie Simples does industrial "
" Well what are they going to use it for and outside!" Sapphire's confused

 

" It's for their soon to be potting area " she says excitedly " They can put all sorts of things on the shelves" she reaches toward the middle shelf " Small pots, tags, garden tools, all sorts of handy things for when you are working and potting up plants "
Sapphire's now thinking " hey maybe we could have one in our shed? "
" I wish!" Violet beams " but they only come in BIG people size "

" Are you sure ? " questions Sapphire " has Mum actually looked? does Mum know we'd like something similar? "
" Oh I didn't think of that !" exclaims Violet " Lets go and see what Mum says, you know she loves looking for items that are just right for all us village kids "

 Sapphire and Violet head off to find Mum and see if they can set her off to hunt for a metal shelf rack for their shed !




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WREN

Today it was Wren's turn to select a new piece of clothing to wear.

 

She's not so sure it was the perfect choice now the weathers turned wet and windy!

 

But she knows she can always put on a cardiagn until the warmer weather returns, which they are saying it will!

 She's very happy to have a new summer dress, she just needs some of that sun to go with it!


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DAY OF THE

DEAD!

Christian is over the moon that he's beaten the other boys to the new shirt from Ginny !

He knows the others are going to be so miffed he got in first ! Even a couple of the girls will be disappointed when he shows them.

He was so happy he came and got me! to take some photos before the others see him !

He starts to wonder if he can manage to keep one of the others from nabbing it when he's asleep!

 Then he remembers the boys code ! He who wears it first keeps it until he's ready to share  !

 "Okay Mum, I'm ready "
" You are? "
"Yes lets go show the my brothers "

and so we head indoors, I'm just tagging along to make sure they all behave, there could be tears so popular this shirt is going to be!

 The shirt is deeper in colour than shown here, celebrating the Mexican festival of the dead, I knew I just had to get this for the boys.


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TUTTI FRUITI

You may remember the two dresses in the Tutti Fruiti fabric that the girls recieved a while back, well the lovely Ginny foumd another colour in the fabric .. cream!
So we placed our order the minute we heard and the dress arrived Friday, so who would be the lucky wearer!

Well It's Mabel Lucie in the Tutti Fruiti!

 Mabel Lucie poor child is a wobbler... badly in need of restringing!

 But she did a sterling job staying on her feet and did not fall over even once!

 In fact she stood in some great poses, not for her the two feet flat on the ground !

Such a sweetheart , who is surely entitled to be able to stand without fear?

She wears a pair of olive Rosie Bloom shoes which pick up with the olive green of the pears on her dress.


I really am going to have to gather together all these wobbly dolls and also find poor Olivia, whose been in pieces for probably more than a year!! and Ginny ( not the dress maker ) whose armless !!!

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SUNDAY

Well Sunday's here again and a lovely sunny warm day it is too! After the cooler wetter weather of last week it's a welcome change. Mind you I did not mind the showers and rain we had, the garden is so dry that the rain at times heavy,  only barely touched the surface.

 a view of the gazebo at 8am today with the sun streaming through on the right.

I had to go for an eye test at the hospital on Friday and it was a bit of a surreal experiance, having to wear a face mask all the time I was there, sitting in a chair 2 mtrs away from the next, hardly anyone around.
I had drops put in my eyes that enlarged the pupils , so that photos could be taken of the inside of the eyes. My sister ,who had also had it done before, said it stings and then your eyes are blurry up to 6 hours after. However it seems I live in the only part of the country where the NHS trust still put a small drop of pain killer into your eyes first and then a few minutes later add the drops to widen the pupils. So no stinging for me.
My eyes did go blurry but strangely not to bad. The only time I had any real trouble seeing was when I left the hospital and was hit by the bright natural light outside, even with my glasses that automatically darken in bright light, it was still hard to keep my eyes open to try and see, but as one cannot drive after having this process, Paul was there to guide me back to his car and drive me home.

My order of heather toned wools arrived ,for my dolls sweaters I intend to knit before the winter actually arrives! I just need to decide what styles I want to go for, find a basic pattern , then change it to how I want it. Pardon? did I check my already large stocks of yarn for my sweaters.... well as every knitter will tell you, you very rarely have just what you need and so the purchasing of more is always required......honest....

Well it seems I've sort of agreed to now work until the end of September! There was I counting down the weeks until the end of July only for the date to run ahead two months! Mind you it is not set in stone as anytime after the end of July, I can just say, sorry had enough I'm off ! so we'll see how it goes!
So now I'm looking forward to the two weeks holiday I booked for the last couple of weeks of July, so five whole weeks to go...

 A few weeks back I changed all the china on the dresser, clearing off all the dolls that were stood on it and it was a dresser again....now.....I don't know just quite how it happens that over a short space of time it seems to become a gathering station for dolls again....does anyone else have a similar problem!

My doll sales are ticking along, the only issue depends on what country the doll needs to be sent to!I had two that needed to go to Russia, which meant a trip to the post office! But I also needed to go into work on Saturday, so I was first in the queue at the post office yesterday ,suitably masked. It's much better if I can have the parcel collected and sent on it's way, which I have managed to do up until these two parcels.

We continue to spend time working on the garden, the house always takes a back seat during the summer. Paul's finding space for the Canna's and Dahlia's he's over wintered in the greenhouse and are now needing to go into the garden to help add some much needed splashes of colour.

Wishing you all a safe and healthy week ahead

Dee 

BRUNETTE'S TO THE FRONT!

The facebook group is doing brunette week. Now I do love a brunette or two and one of my longest standing members of the village is Claudia.

 

Claudia , a favourite  but don't tell the others, was an unexpected buy a good few years back now.

I saw her on the Germany ebay and I was about to go on holiday ,was sure she'd be snapped up but no! her listing ended without a bid !
So when she reappeared, I landed up bidding on her while I was away and contacting the seller to check they'd send to uk if I won. Which I did! She is one of the most quiet residents of the village, which some would says not hard with how rowdy the rest can be!

 

Her hair is beautiful but delicate, it's not falling exactly but we don't over brush it just to be safe.
Today she is wearing our new Vintage Sasha outfit along with some JJ sandals.

Claudia thanks you for visiting and wishes you all a lovely evening.


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