SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!

 Yes it's the third Sunday of the month and I have been busy doing nothing! Well I did do some things but not that much in truth, if you ignore the gardening and housework!

I did treat myself this wonderful tin from Emma Bridgewater ! What am I going to use it for ... no idea but I just could not resist it. Even Lucas thinks it's great.

He said he could use it for a bed but I told him no, I will find a use for it! Even if it's just where I can see it ! After all it's not the type of tin you want to hide in a cupboard

On the doll front, I have started on a mass clear out of dolls from most of my collections and will follow this with a clear out of props and also some clothing. Everything will be listed on my sales page and some things also on ebay. 

I spent some of Friday and Saturday ,sorting out some dolls and putting them into a sales box etc and this cleared up space in the cabinet ,which enabled me to get some of the dolls I'm keeping who didn't have a proper home , into a space and this in turn helped the studio start to be more excessible.

Because I then started finding space for other items. Some times just a small change can make a big difference. I moved out three wicker chairs from a shelf in the cabinet and replaced them with my long woooden bench, the three dolls are now sitting on that , which enabled me to get a small wooden chair also on the shelf and now all the dolls have a seat rather than one having to sit on the arms of the wicker chairs with the worry of him throwing himself out the cabinet when the door was opened.

The rearranged seating. The wicker chairs are now back hanging from hooks from the ceiling and the bench is no longer forever being moved out the way!

I will be busy over the next week or so, so will not blog next weekend but the week after. Which will be the fifth, so please send in them photos around that date, so we'll have something to see!

 I will of course answer any emails etc.

So have a lovely healthy fun filled couple of weeks and I'll be back soon.

Dee

I CAN SEE YOU !

 

Lucas is outside in his new Cornwallis sweater that he just received from Aunty Diane and he's not even waited to change out of his slippers!

He can hear Valentine calling him ! He tries to hide among the plants but with that red hair and those red monster slippers ,he's an easy spot !

Valentine easily finds Lucas !

" Come one you back inside ! " he says " Mum will go mad if she finds you outside in the wet in your slippers and wearing your new sweater !"

" So no care !"

"Well you'd best care if you want to watch the film later, it's finding Nemo " Valentine knows just what to say to sway Lucas to his will.

" Come on " says Valentine " We can have popcorn when we watch "

" and ice cream " says Lucas

" No just popcorn "

" and Ice cream  "

"  Popcorn only "

" and dougnuts "

"  popcorn"

" and..... toffee napple "

" what ? no napples .. I mean toffee apples , just popcorn "

" and ginger bad men !"

" Popcorn "

" corn dog!"

"P....O....P...C..O..R...N.. "

"popcorn "

" Popcorn "

" me say that !"

they vanish into the house.....

SUNDAY SUNDAY

 Yes it's Sunday again! It's been a lovely week and the weather has been lovely mostly too. It been what I call english weather, hot sunshine with a dash of showery rain and later in the week a cooler breeze russeling the leaves! Perfect !

It was our 46th Wedding anniversary on Monday and we had a low key celebration at home, with a lovely meal and then watched a couple of good films. We'll save the partying until another time.

We have also started mixing again, although in a limited fashion. Our friends came to lunch on Thursday and we had a wonderful time, sitting and eating outside and didn't even have to go inside when we had a small rain shower, due to the gazebo's shelter. It was lovely to see them, it's been so long that we swapped Christmas presents! 

We have made arrangements to see more of our friends in the next few weeks, which will be so nice. 

I would love a few days away but not until all the mass 'holiday' crowds are over and the children back at school, I think we need to get through the next winter before throwing caution to the wind ! 

At least it looks like the Chat n Snap should go ahead this year, although I am going to keep it very simple and  keep lots of space for people.

We also had a new addition to the family, when my niece had her first baby on Thursday, a little boy, she is calling Henry Francis.  So lovely to have another little one in the family.We also got to go and visit the grandchildren on Saturday and had a lovely time and the weather was beautiful.

Agapanthus and Pineapple lillies.

On the doll front , one left , one's sale pending but several arrived ! Mind you two had been preordered just after I finished work last year and were originally supposed to arrive in February but with the pandemic and the boat getting stuck in the suez canel , they have only just arrived this week ! One arrival was my unplanned Natterer doll.

Also I bought a beautiful shawl off Diane Dukes, which Claudia showed off on Friday and I also ordered a sweater for Valentine from her.

Just love the colours here , so sharing again!

 I finally found the time and space to take a photo of most of my Roche doll collection together.

One , Emily, is waiting to be restrung after falling apart. 

I was hoping she'd be back together by this evening but I need to get the right elastic for the job but may not have time to do that until tomorrow, so she may have to wait one more day!

Clarissa my nice big , 19 in , Gotz Natterer doll new arrival , will make a great addition to my natterer collection. I will have to find some time to take a new group photo of them , now a few more older dolls have arrived.

I also want to try and get the studio sorted a little more this week, since I am almost there, although this last part will no doubt be the hardest as it will mean things may need to go, in order to find that space ! Plus I have decided to re arrange more of the shelves to suit the dolls rather than props ! 

I have so many irons in the fire as they say and not enough time! Well I'd get more done if I didn't sit around surfing the net!

So on that note I will wish you all health and happiness for the week ahead

Dee

SPLASH OF RED.....

 

Claudia is wearing a beautiful dress by Judith of Dolly Doodles, she loves the big red poppies on the dark blue background,

Claudia does like to wear red and although she wants to show off her new dress , it's a little chiller today so needs to add a wrap.

So she adds this beautiful soft shawl by Diane Dukes of Knits4sasha.

Now she feels lovely and cosy outside.

It's nice and long so is even keeping her back nice and warm too.

 Mmm I ask " Maybe we should see if one of your sisters would like to try the shawl ? "

Claudia give me a look ! " Well the answer to that is no ! I think it should be mine becuase it does suit me "

Well I have to agree , she is right ! 

AN AUGUST SUNDAY

 Well  I may as well start with a confession.... remember that rash and it was rash , idea I had of challenging myself not to buy any dolls, dolls clothes or dolls accessories? Well the dolls clothes failed the next day when I realsied I needed some summer clothes for my Gotz Hannah and Chloe ( happy kidz dolls ) so went and ordered some.

Then a day later I ordered a cat scooter for all the dolls to share and I had to order it now because it was on offer at half price! 

Then by Wednesday what should happen but a friend decided to list several early Gotz natterer dolls and yes I couldn't miss adding one to my group! 

So that was a big fail and then I remembered that I had decided that I shouldn't say I won't buy dolls as the minute I state this , dolls just tumple out of everywhere ! smiling and laughing and giving me the adopt me looks. But I didn't buy a doll until the fourth when normally that would have happened before the ink was dry on the challenge! 

It's been another week of sunshine and showers , with Paul working on a new project in the garden and me doing some cutting back and weeding. We have a large garden bin ,which the council collect for a small fee , every fortnight  and we also have three large composing bins at the back of our garden but still we always seem to have more garden waste than bins to put it in. The council will empty our garden recycling bin in the morning and usually it will be full to overflowing by late afternoon!

All this sunshine and showers are making the weeds appear almost as soon as we have turned our backs ! 

The new pergola and walkway will allow our wistera , roses and jasmine to shelter the seating and give some shade in the rising summer temperatures to come.

I've also spent a fair bit of time watching the olympics , which have been wonderful, seeing all the winners and also enjoying how well we in the UK have done this year too.

On the doll front , no sales this week although there is a possible sale ahead. But yes a non Sasha doll is on her way. Some clothes have arrived as I mentioned earlier and a cat scooter.

I also realised that the two new dols Prince Gregor and the Velvet have almost the same issue numbers ! The Prince Gregor is number 388 and the Velvet is number 3288 ! spooky or what ! lol I then thought should they be twins ?

So I took thisphoto of the two of them together. but I think they don't 'match' unless they are non idential?

A closer look and no I think Prince Gregor is an only child of royalty. I know there is a Princess Sasha but they have always gone for silly money , but the pintucks Sasha with the deep blue eyes would be a good match to PG. I don't think Ruby Red looks too happy about being a twin to PG !

So the Velvets together at last ! I looked at Violet's number which is 4413 and Sapphire's whose is 902 

Ruby also looks a little smaller than Violet and Sapphire but it could be the fact the others are wearing trainers and Ruby is wearing a pair of kidz and Cats doll shoes. I may have a measure up later to see if she's petite, her hair is also a little bit darker .

The twin's that were, asked their new sister if she liked gardening and she said... Yes ! Thank goodness although she did say she is especially interested in trees. So they are slowly getting to know each other and sharing ideas and information.

So no more challenges that relate to anything doll related cos it's never going to work !

And on that note I will wish you all a happy healthy funfilled week ahead.

Dee

IT'S THE FIFTH SO DOLL PHOTO DAY

 Yes it's already that time of the month  so lets get started !

Over in Gregoropolis Nathan and Dan Ryan and planning on getting outside for some fun. The boys who their dad says are twins insist that they are twin cousins! 

Mmm you look pretty identical to me but hey, I'm sure there are people out there whose cousins look just like them.

Over at the Ursula's house someone's enjoying the view of the garden .

It's Britta , a Natterer girl , whose moved in and getting the feel of her new home.

Meanwhile down on the coast in Somerset, Jessie Alice is all ready to get out on that beach and enjoy some rays !

She's just hoping she can find a space with all those staycationers who will cluckering up the place, mum Liz may have trouble finding her !

Here in the village, his royal highness , is finding it all very strange and unsettling to be as he puts it " Living among the hoi polloi ! "

I have told his new brothers and sisters to give him some time to come to terms with his drop in status but I don't know how long their patience will last ! 

From Halyna we have Thomas enjoying a trip to Govenors Island.

Thomas is loving watching all the boats.

Many thanks to everyone taking part, still time to have your photos added if you would like.

HOW'S THAT SONG GO?

 Oh yes I remember ... 

"Some day my prince will come.... some day.. de dum de dum.... "

Lets listen..  A big sigh .... " So still not a palace ! nor even a castle..... well they do say that every englishman's home is his castle " another big sigh.....

He makes his way inside and heads upstairs " Mmm well they have some decent artwork I suppose "

"The carpet's a tad modern " he says continuing talking to himself as he goes " I hope I have my own bedroom ? "

Best leave him to find his new family, it could be a little bit of a shock...searching with all the boys...

Below is his first reaction to seeing his new home ....

The very first try at a photo ! 

Well I saw this prince on ebay and thought I'd never actaully owned the Prince Gregor, so put in a couple of bids and left the rest to fate ... obviously another doll meant to come to the village !

SUNDAY 1ST AUGUST

 Well I managed to complete my self imposed challenge, to put a photo on everyday for the month of July. My intention was just to add one photo but as usual when I take a photo or two and then go to add it, a small story will attach it's self to them and one becomes several with a story.

So we are now starting into August usually a nice hot summer month , although we seem to have had plently of heat already along with some short sharp heavy showers. Personally I quite like to get some rain during the month , it saves on having to water the garden and helps to freshen the day or night and makes for better sleeping conditions.

As is usual for this time of year most of our spare time is spent weeding or working or even just sitting out in the garden. The gazebo has come into it's own with it's new walls allowing us to leave out the seating cushions without fear of rain soaking them in from the sides. Which with the on and off rain showers this last week as been great.

Although I know that getting Paul to start any inside jobs this time of year is nigh on impossible , my mind has turned towards getting my bedroom decorated and finished. It was last decorated about 13/14 years ago when I could not live with the coral coloured wallpaper that was up when we moved in any longer, so stripped the walls and painted them in mocha as a temporary measure until we got round to decorating...... I also bought the beautiful calm wallpaper I wanted to be hung back then.

One thing led to another over the years and the bedroom stayed mocha and the wallpaper stayed in it's box but my mind is now focusing on that room, even though the kitchen  downstairs still needs finishing but that involves new cookers and another change about, so my bedroom is jumping in front of finishing the kitchen. So this week I decided to move the bed around to decide just where it was going to be placed. Naturally I did not go for the original option of under the window where there was no radiator but under the window where there is one ! 

So now I will need to get a plumber in , to move the radiator and also an electrian to put in some plug points ( we won't mention that he'd already put in the plug points under the other window ready for the bed placement ! ) At least I decided I could live with the old ceiling and not need to pull it down , it's lathe and plaster and the dust/ mess, would be a nightmare ! But  I can sort out the plumber and electrian while Paul's still focused on outside, ready for when I can get him back in for work on the house. If I can get it all done by Christmas I will be very happy! 

Our new larger water butt finally arrived after about a four week wait. We have a large one for Pauls workshop down the garden and had a much smaller standard one here by the house, but decided to upgrade the house one to a much bigger one, what with climate change and the hotter weather, it will enable us to use more rainwater rather than a hosepipe. The above photo was taken for the agapanthus rather than the waterbutt, however you can see it in the background.

We have also spent some time catching up on whats been happening at the Olympics and enjoying seeing team GB get in the medals. I must be so hard for those that have trained for so long and this one big event , when something stops them freaching the top or they have an injury etc. But they should all be proud just to have had the chance to attend.

On the doll front another doll was sold but also a baby natterer doll arrived along with a Gotz mini Ella plus I may have bid on a Gregor ..... and won... So he'll be turning up next week and then I go into my next self imposed challenge of buying no dolls or doll related items for the coming month! There will be one exception and that is if a button nosed brunette was to come up for sale at a good price but thats my only exception! Half the bsattle for this challenge will be remembering it!

So it will soon be the fifth and doll photo day, I look forward to seeing your lovely photos arrive to be shared with others.

I wish you all a happy healthy month ahead and a very happy birthday to anyone celebrating one this month.

Dee