A SAD SUNDAY CATCH UP

 

Well it was a sad week here. Something we knew was likely to happen did. Paul's dad passed away after a fall at his care home. He had not broken anything an although in some pain started to recover only to suddenly take a turn down hill.

He reached the grand old age of 101 nine months and 27 days. If you asked him his age in the last few moths he'd say 102 ! He was in an excellent care home and had been quietly enjoying himself but he had been ready to go for a few years, So we are sad for our loss but happy he is at rest.

Luckily Paul had finished his jury service on Monday and been released from attending any more, so he was able to go to his dad when he had his fall and then be at the hospital to sit with at the end.

I'd not been feeling too good myself this week and so had been staying pretty close to home, trying to fight what ever it was off. Still struggling with it but slowly improving.

Paul had been working in the garden during the week, making a new 'gate' for the folly to stop the dogs being able to just wander in .

I'm really happy how it looks with the folly, in keeping I think.

On the doll front before all the above, I was told by a good friend that she may have a Sasha I'd be interested in. Now you know I was saying that next year I'd be looking at adding a few Sasha's back into the village but if the right doll came along I'd have to maybe snap it up! Well this was that doll ! Alas it's meant I had to sell some things that would hopefully go quickly in order to buy her. But she is worth it.

Which brings me to why Prince Gregor is heading this post, he volunteered to be put up for adoption ! Yes he did! He said he'd be very sad to leave ,to me, but told his siblings, it really wasn't posh enough here for him and he never got to wear his uniform to show his status! But I know he only told them that so they'd not miss him, as I saw a small tear drop as he climbed into his tatty old box for his journey.

It's also meant a couple of my treasured vintage Sasha and Rosie blooms have had to be sold, to help with adoption fees. I'm just over half way to my target, so check the sales page, you may find a treasure or two up for grabs in the next few days.

I did sell Prince Gregor and he is already happily with his new family, I also sold another couple of the treasures.

According to the weather forecasters we are about to have round ten days of rain and it's ready started as I sit here typing.

The US Sasha festival was over the last four days and looks like everyone had a great time and have been sharing their photos.

Well since it's raining I'm off to watch the film Emma while doing some knitting, so I will wish you all a happy healthy week ahead

Dee

A PROPER BRITISH SUMMER SUNDAY

 

Yes, sunshine and showers! Ah perfectly British summer weather! Back to wearing a cardigan inside!

Well Paul's been on a case for his jury service, so he's been off out everyday apart from Tuesday and will be off to 'work' again on Monday.

So not a lots been happening around here, apart from the usual house work and a bit of knitting and net surfing. I have managed not to spend the housekeeping on dolls or doll related items due to boredom.

I've been looking at the Ebay Sasha listing seeing some lovely Sasha dolls appearing for sale, it's nice when the rarer ones appear, good to see they are still out there and available. Having all my Sasha's and Gregors laying on the end of the kitchen table, waiting to be redressed, made me realised I'd thinned them down quite a bit and I'm missing not having any 68 girls in the clan, not that I have any chance of replacing them any time soon but interesting how I missed seeing them along with more button nosed kids! So maybe next year I'll look to re add a few, if I can find them available at the same time I have some cash! The two do not always go hand in hand!

The twins are this week's headliners , Violet wearing a Karen Wanaka dress and Sapphire in a Kath Barnett dress and both in Rosie Bloom shoes.

On the doll front I suddenly sold one that had been sitting around a while waiting, along with a couple of other things, which freed up some space. 

I have to confess to being in a doll buying mood! So am fighting against it but naturally if a doll who calls to me appears and I fall in love....

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

Dee

HATTIE HAT QUEST COMPLETED...

 

So !                                                                                                                 

remember the box of cottons, left sitting in a box for the last few year? And that I decided to finally make up some Hattie hats with it?

So when I went through the cotton, I found I had lots of pink for some strange reason and six balls of  the same shade and two different in organic cotton ! This I put on ebay and sold, which reduced the pile slightly.

These balls I have removed from the box and will use for something different. So I have finished ALL the Patons cotton dk plus the extra two balls of green I just had to add ! But then I had just enough of a ball of white to make one hat and the top of another, I remembered that there was also a different cotton yarn part ball hidden  by some hats I'd made, so I used that to finish the part white hat but then I had a bit of the green left! So I had to look again at what was left and use another couple of odds.

So above is all that's left of what was in the cotton yarn box! I'm going to keep the purple ball and the brown one at the top and maybe sell the other balls on. 

So the last hats and the tiny bits of yarn left that I cannot really use without then having to start on one of the last few full balls.

    

                                         110  HATTIE HATS COMPLETED!!

Yes that's right one hundred and ten hats! All apart from two, have the double edge to make the curl back brim.

h

h

Hattie got out her 'Ken the man Hattie hat stand ' in order to show off a few of the last ones made.

Hattie sends love to Ken, who made her hat stand for her many years ago, when she first started her Hattie Hat's business, and his lovely wife Doreen who encouraged him to do so.

So now I have a box of hats instead of cotton and I'm loving the change.

They are in groups in the bags with a note in each, to help me find them easily. I've kept two and sold eighteen, so just another ninety to go...

Well I finished them yesterday and so did not have anything to make while watching the tv last night, so today I sorted through my knitting bag and found some chunky yarn I was crocheting into a blanket, so I carried on using the oddments of yarn I'd left with it.

Once I had used it up I went in search of some chunky yarn, I knew I had received as part of a mixed box of yarn, the ball you can see in the above photo but what happens when I go and look in my yarn boxes......

Yes , did you guess?, a whole bundle of bright cotton! However I'm still saying I completed my quest as these were not in the box with the rest.

Now It's a case of what will I do with them.......

SUNDAY IS FOR SNOOZING

 Or not! 

Saturday was a blustery day, which I loved. I've always loved windy days especially during the summer, they are so exhilarating. It's still a little windy today but no big gusts of wind like yesterday.

The weeks consisted of working on tidying the garden, making design decisions because like everything, you do one thing that then leads to another thing needing doing. In this case a board in the fence had rotted, so was replaced and the decision made to reduce the border on that side and pave more of that area and use it for the big pots of Hosta's we have elsewhere, allowing that area to have a change.. see never ending really! lol

All work will stop for next couple of weeks while Paul does jury service! It appears you can be called to service up until your 75. I was called on years ago when the girls were at primary school but had just had a severe virus that had attacked my back, making it hard for me to move around with out it spasming and neither could I lay down, spent days sleeping upright on the sofa! But it meant the doctor said I could not do it because the virus could take two years to clear! I have to say I did have the odd spasm in the following year if I caught a cold but nothing as bad as when it attacked my back.

So I'm hoping I won't get called now they have found us!! 

On the  Hattie Hat front, it's been a very productive week, the two balls of green arrived to add another splash to the range. By Thursday morning I had made 73 and sold 6 of them. I'm thinking with the amount of yarn still left I could actually make it to 100 !!!!

Two of this bundle are missing, Libby is wearing one because it goes beautifully with her dress and she's this Sunday's header, and the other I gave away.

 It's Friday night and I'm up to 85! Sunday morning and the totals 90 ! So it could be 100 by tomorrow morning, if I start a few during the day

maybe.. 

They are already up for sale on the sales page if you fancy a look.

On the doll front nothing's left but I did win a Sasha today.... I know I'm supposed to be cutting back, but not on the Sasha's as such. Plus I redressed almost all the girls yesterday and realised I don't actually have that many left! So naturally I went onto ebay and bid on a lovely girl I'd been watching.

I also admired the three brunette side parts who are up for sale , especially the 68 girl. Alas no funds for me to bring her home but she is a gem.

I do miss Shelly's Sasha site for the eye candy and the layaway.

I'll finish with this photo of Libby wearing a smocked dress by Special Delivery of the US, who alas is another who as now retired from making her wonderful dresses. I actually sold this dress a few years back and then rebought it when it reappeared on ebay last year. Seems I'm revisiting my early Sasha life and gathering things back to me!

Have a lovely healthy fun filled week ahead.

Dee

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT, THAT IS THE QUESTION

 

Toby's been down to the end of the garden to see just what Dad's been up to recently. He thinks the wildlife pond will be a great place to watch for insects coming for a drink.

Zak calls for him to come and see the new bench mum's put right at the end of the garden.

It's not long before Zak wishes he'd not called Toby over!

"I don't think mum's going to be happy with you climbing up her new bench!" 

" Well she should not have bought one with a perfect  climbing frame then!" retorts Toby

"People cannot be expected to not buy something because of you!" Zak states

" Maybe mum wants me to use it to climb on? Did you think of that eh ? " 

"anyway how else am I going to reach these cherries? " says Toby turning back to look at the cherry

Zak looks at what Toby's talking about

"That's not a cherry you can eat!" Zak tells him " This is just an ornimentel cherry tree, not an eating cherry tree!"

" You do talk rubbish " scoffs Toby reaching for the cherry.

Surprisingly Toby makes it back down without falling or getting stuck like what usually happens.

"Look at this cherry Zak, lovely and sweet I bet "

" It's for birds! Not people and it won't be sweet it will be sour!" insists Zak

"I've got two, so we can have one each" Toby tempts " I'll even bite into mine first "

"No thanks! " says Zak marching off " BUT I'LL TELL MUM WHERE TO FIND YOUR BODY!"

he shouts as he leaves.

Mm wonders Toby looking at the cherries, could Zak be right about them? Last time he got all huffy about something Toby ate, he landed up with a very bad tummy upset! But the cherries look like cherries people eat....

He thinks about what to do for a while until finally he throws them into the border below the tree.

giving a deep sigh , he turns away

I know! I'll go ask Hattie and if she says they are ok to eat I can come back and get them. Smiling he dashes off in search of Hattie, sure that he'll be heading back once she's given the all clear!

ANOTHER SUNNY SUNDAY

 Yes, the weather is still nice and sunny, despite it being Wimbledon, when it's almost guaranteed to rain! Which it has been doing at Wimbledon but we have only had the odd short downpour now and then, just enough to give the garden a watering.

z

So we are trying to build another water feature in the garden on the raised bed. All was going well until we started trying to build a waterfall ! Who knew it could be so hard to put the stones into the right place to get the fall right etc ! Luckily we have been married for so many years, that the calm's returned once we've stopped and returned indoors! 

The turn it this way, no not that way ..that way.. could have destroyed a young marriage quite easily! or at least resulted in a spate of silence! But at lunch today, after another morning of, try that stone, no good, but what about that one etc , we have realised our error and how we can make it work! 

But Paul's got a bowls match this afternoon, so we will have to put our 'light bulb' moment into action tomorrow.

We enjoyed getting to look round our local village gardens, some were several acres! One even had a big and I do mean big greenhouse style building at the end of which was a long wooden table and what looked like a kitchen! That garden also had what looked to be an office with several computer stations in a building just over to the side of the big greenhouse, so I wondered if it was the 'works' kitchen. There was also a lovely large garden with three water features, one large pond facing the patio, a small stream leading to a large pond, in a filed to the side and then tucked away at the side of the house behind some very large hedges, a zen garden area with a tiny water feature in the centre of some old York stone paving with a bench so you could sit and enjoy some peace and tranquility , well if there were not other people appearing through the hedge entrance!

I wished I'd taken my camera, so I could have shared some photos. 

Hattie's hats are still being made, working my way through the pinks and now starting on the blues. The box of cotton is going down nicely however, being me, I decided I really needed (Mmm ) to make some green hats too. But I don't have any green as such in my box, so off I go , just to look you understand, at some green. Amazed to find just how much they are now asking for balls of dk cotton! Did it stop me? .. no of course not! I just searched around until I found the cheapest price and bought two balls of two different greens. 

So far I have made somewhere in the region of 50 plus hats! I said to my sister Michelle, that this was obviously going to be the year I made 70 or more hats and only manged to sell three! But as I told her, I'm really enjoying making them and want to see just how many I can make from the cotton in the box ( plus the extra greens). Looks like Hattie's Hat's with Hattietude will be a record year for hat production!

Zak, our headliner, was changed this week into some lovely lime green dungaree shorts, newly received, along with an existing Ginny striped T shirt we already had. Toby was also changed into a yellow pair but I'll need to go find what he's up to in order to take his photo. So I did buy a few pieces of clothing for the village clan, however some lovely shorts I got from Ginny, which I then put to one side, I've not been able to find just where that one side is!!! So annoying! But my own fault as \I have several boxes and bags sitting about by my desk and I know they are in there somewhere! Hopefully I'll have found them by next weekend and the other boys can get changed, Percy is walking around in the altogether refusing to get dressed in anything other than his new shorts!!!

On the selling front, I had recent sold a couple of items on ebay which then the buyer didn't bother to pay for! It's seems that people can now do this, without any comeback! I would understand if they'd been pricy items and they realised they  could not afford them, but one was only £3 plus pp! and a last minute bid! another an offer that I accepted ,  No response to a request for payment, even just to say sorry I don't want them or whatever! Not impressed with either the person involved or Ebay for allowing them to get away with it, without them getting a black mark or something.

So just the odd completed sale on some non Sasha/ doll related items but every little helps reduce things and opens up more space.

On that note, I'm off to continue searching for that 'one side' place I put the shorts , so I'll wish you all a lovely healthy fun filled week ahead

Dee

DOLL PHOTO DAY JULY 5TH

 Yes, it's the fifth already, so time to see what dolls have popped in to say hello.

Over in Gregoropolis, Louisette and Emile are making plans for celebrating Bastille day on the 14th July. Emile is all for storming Daddy Steve's office and freeing him from the tyrants that make him have to go to work all day!

Louisette's not keen on Emile getting himself arrested even to save daddy Steve, she doesn't think her heart could take it!

Meanwhile Gregor is helping Mum, Hildegard, clear up leaves after the recent storm. Only problem he is picking them up one by one and studying them! " Look Mum, see how this one is all curled up? No wonder the storm made it drop! Or maybe it was already down? What do you think Mum? "

Mum thinks she needs a strong cup of coffee and soon, if Gregor is going to ask so many questions every time he collects a leaf !

Here, Erik's been out in the garden looking at what's been going on! Seems to be a lot of rocks and slate appearing, he wonders just what Dad's up to?

He thinks he heard mum and dad talking about needing even more rocks! Just what are they up to now!!

Many thanks to everyone taking the time to send in a photo for todays post. There is still time to have more added if you'd like to join in.

FIRST SUNDAY IN JULY

 

Yes, It's already the start of the second half of the year! This month the Sasha doll festival is taking place on the USA.

So lots of photos and goodies will be appearing soon on the facebook groups etc.

Here it's been a;; about the garden! Paul's been working on the end raised bed, on the new design. I've been doing house work and trying to sort out what can go from the house/garden or dolls etc.

Yesterday was my birthday, so I enjoyed a lazy day with family which was lovely. I was given some gardening vouchers, so will be heading off down to the local garden centre to buy some plants for the new areas on the raised bed.

Today was the open gardens in the village, which we pulled out from doing due to the amount of hard landscaping we, still need to do. But that allowed us to actually go round and see the other gardens that were taking part, for the first time in years. Which was lovely, saw some lovely gardens and even some lovelier houses! A couple of the gardens were an acre or more! So much space but then so much more to garden!

I received a lovely gift from a friend for my Ten Ping doll, which made me get my act together and put her furniture into her house, so now she's sitting pretty. I just need Paul to make the front for it but we are into gardening time now, so it will have to wait until the autumn.

Ten Ping in her new outfit made by the extremely talented Chris M.

Martha was the most recent one to finally get changed this week, yes I'm still not getting my act together, she's wearing a beautiful dress with butterflies made a few years back by the very talented Ginny, which is just perfect for Martha with her colouring.

On the doll front  no one's left and no one's arrived. Hattie's still got me working on her hats, to clear the box. It will be interesting to see just how many hats will be made from the cotton. Although I am going to sell the soft pink matching cotton balls, or I'll still be making hats come Christmas!

Of course now it's July, It will be doll photo day on Tuesday! So please send in a photo or two if you are able.

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

Dee

JULY 1ST

 So it's July 1st , so second half of the year starts.

Wishing everyone a Happy Birthday who celebrates this glorious month. Starting with well.. me... Happy Birthday toooo meee, Happy Birthday toooo me.... lol