SUNDAY DAYS

 

Well weather wise it's not been too bad a week, sunshine and showers , and now finally dry ! The week has passed with just the usual things garden and house. However I decided I needed to make the dolls some socks.  Gill kindly sent me some stretch jersey fabric and then that was as far as I got, after getting Petrana's sock and pants pattern. Finally after a persistent voice asking have I made any yet, I cut the fabric out to the correct size to make socks from.

So now I just need to start making them! I just they are not too hard to make ! 

The end of the month is now a busy time, with the garden open for the village open gardens and now our little Adam will finally having his open heart surgery the day after. which is naturally a worry but once it's done and he is recovering we will all be happy.

Now you would have read that I'm on the no doll buying wagon but had lost a wheel ! Well my wagon is now down to just one wheel ! and very nearly was down to none! But I may and probably will have to go on a three month no buying ban from July to September at this rate ! 

Today's headliners are three of the No Navels , Sienna , Martha and Ashley wearing the same style of dress by Ginny of A Passion for Sasha. 

On the sales front, things have changed because of the doll buying. So I have had to search for a few things to sell to pay for the dolls I have bought , so a couple of Sasha dolls have had to go because a couple of others are arriving.

I fell off the wagon the second time for a Button nosed girl , only to fall off again for another one !! These days the button girls rarely come up for sale especially the ones with decent eyes.  So this has meant not only dolls are up for sale but also some shoes and clothing.

Luckily I have had a few sales , including my lovely 68 Gregor Scott , who I had hoped to keep but if I spend I have to deal with the results, So he's gone to a new home and a few pairs of my Rosie blooms and some clothing. Which as been very helpful. I had been hoping to go quiet on the selling front for the summer and I am hoping it can still happen, even if it has to be slightly later.

So wishing you all a happy healthy week ahead 

Dee

A TRIO OF LATER BRUNETTE'S

 

A couple of weeks back I redressed most of the girls and the 2nd series brunette girl's decided they all wanted to wear the Petrana playsuits, luckily there were three of them so no one had to miss out ! 

Luisa is wearing a lovely dark blue with reds and yellows.

Luisa is a brown eyed girl.

Annette is wearing a lovely pale blue with red berries playsuit.

Her eyes are blue.

Last but by no means least, is the sweet Anika, wearing a deep blue playsuit with a nautical theme of red and white anchors.

Anika's eyes are a lavender colour and her skin is the palest of the Sasha's.

I'm enjoying having these later Gotz dolls , I may need to go and read the Three Ann's book and see if there are any other's that should be on my radar for the future! 

HEIDI H ARRIVES

 

Today Heidi H arrived in the village.

I've called this baby Heidi H because she is made up of the head of an Ester toddler and on a body of a Gotz baby limited edition, so signed on the body.

So she's Heidi Hybrid , but Heidi H for short. Obviously her hair's been dyed and I do love a red head.

SUNDAY SUMMERY

 

So this Sunday has arrived on the back of a week of heavy rain showers, with a splash of thunder included. However when the sun as managed to break through, it's been hot. Which means that when they start talking about a hot summer is on the way, they are probably correct!

This means I'll be hiding indoors if that happens! Between showers we have been continuing the garden tidy up.

Paul finished off replacing some old paving with some old bricks to the path on the right in the above photo, it runs along the side of the doll studio , so now it matches the brick area in front of the studio.

These two new brick paved area's have really tidied up this part of the garden. Bringing the troughs round from the front garden to here , have helped them have better sunlight and are not overshadowed by other plants. 

This year all the Magnolia's seem to have put on a spurt and are also full of lovely green leaves, like the magnolia behind the troughs above.

Our eldest daughter's partner is going to come round sometime in the next couple of weeks and using his drone take some footage of the garden , which we are really looking forward to seeing, especially the aerial views. We will share it where we can.

This week one of the dogs, probably Rufus, whose tail could be used as a lethal weapon, knocked my laptop onto the floor, it seemed fine until a day later when it would not open ! one of the hinges is broken , so after a lot of careful handling , we managed to get it open almost but not quite to having an upright screen ! I gave instructions that no one was to close it , only to on the second time of using I shut the lid !!!!!!! Managed to get it part way back up, left it overnight , then managed to get it open once again ! It's not perfect, I have to put something under the keyboard in order to get the screen straight but I will need to see if I can get it repaired while I wait ! Cannot hand it over and be without for days !!!! So another expense !

Meanwhile my faffing about continues ! Takes me at least half the day, before I'm even thinking of starting on all the things I need to be doing and then I only need to be side tracked and nothing gets done! So I must avoid this happening next week, so I can get more things sorted along with some sewing.

Today's headliner was my Gotz Luisa, who I thought looked great amongst the flowers, so used her photo. 

On the sales front, a few more little bits and pieces and a bear went off to new homes, so little by little, things are slowly moving.

I did however slip of the wagon yesterday and bought a small non Sasha doll , which meant I had to sell on a couple of pairs of shoes towards her cost but my own fault for falling off that no dolls month wagon, so only three wheels left but I can make it to the end of the month. . . . .

On that note I will wish you all a happy healthy week ahead , filled with doll and family fun.

Dee

IT'S THE FIFTH, SO IT'S DOLL PHOTO DAY

Yes, it's that great time of the month doll day photo time!. So let's get started

First in is Gill's two dungaree girls , who are ready and waiting to get off on their holidays! It's a shame the weather's changed from hot to not! But they tell me, they can wait and once that temperature starts rising they'll be off to the seaside.

Here in the village, Hettie spent some time outside with some of the bears enjoying the sunshine between the showers ! 

Here we have Holly, from RoRoPo checking on the Elder flowers since she is this years Miss Elder. She has been busy helping her mum make lots of lovely jam, so now we all know where to go for a nice afternoon tea of scones with homemade Jam.

From across the pond , at Gregoropolis, we have Lulu and Lottie ready for some gardening or possibly mischief , they have not quite decided which they are in the mood for. . .. . . those boys best watchout if gardening loses the vote !

Meanwhile looking handsome, in their new shirts, Sasha and Miquel are intending to find a nice spot to sit out in the garden and enjoy some quiet time away from the others. I do hope the spot they choose is well hidden from a pair of buttons with a mischievous streak ! Or there could be chaos ! 

Meanwhile up north these two attractive young ladies, are trying to decide what to do with their mum, who seams incapable of taking a decent photo and even resorted to asking Norm, who is a very clever and willing but a DOG! Luckily for them and us, Merrick saved the day ;)

Norm's try was good but still needs some work before he tries doll photos but probably better than his mums. . . . just saying . . . . 

Luisa is out in the garden , enjoying a nice walk, while the weather is dry for a moment. She's planning on changing into some jeans and a big woolly if the sun doesn't come back soon.

Many thanks to everyone who has sent in some photos for doll day, still time to have your added.

Dee

JUNE 1ST STARTS WITH A SPLASH OF LILAC

 

That's right today is the first of June ! The weather has cooled down, so not flaming June as they say but I'm all for some cooler weather and a bit of rain , overnight, if possible.

Clementine is wearing a lovely new dress set by Ruth Hartley, in of course a William Morris print fabric, also in a lilac pink mix and Lilac seems to be the colour I am favouring this summer.

Several of the girl's are now wearing Lilac/ purple dresses at present and I decided just the other month, that the school uniform will be Purple and Royal Blue. 

So Nancy is wearing the first of the summer school uniform dresses.

Arabella ,in Catherine French dress, is not so sure about school uniforms unless they are for a private school, I've informed her she will be going to the village school like everyone else in the family, especially because the current government don't like private schools in case people get cleverer than they do.

Sienna is in a Ginny dress.

Libby is in a Vicki Chapman dress.

I gathered all the girls wearing lilac and purple together for a photo, naturally the wind started to gust, some of the dolls decided tp try and not stand properly but in the end I did manage to get a couple of photos before a gust destroyed the line up.

So from the left Nancy, Elizabeth, Arabella, Sienna, Clemmie and Libby.

Nancy, Elizabeth and Arabella 

Sienna, Clementine and Liberty

Well I only came on to wish you all a Happy Healthy fun filled June and to remind you to send in some photos for Doll photo day on the 5th.

Dee

THE LAST SUNDAY IN MAY

 

Well not just the last Sunday but the last day of May ! Best of all it's come with a massive, over ten degrees, drop in temperature! So finally it's cool enough to get on with a few things.

I did manage to get a couple of  things done last week,    before the temperature just got to hot , but nothing to make any big difference, so now I will be able to get back to cleaning and sorting out the doll studio and hoping to find a couple of long lost items as I do so.

I did ,if you saw yesterday's post , get nine of the dolls dressed in summer wear and just needed to sort out a couple of them with shoes and socks. But once I had dressed them , I didn't want to put them all squashed back up in the cabinet, so for the moment, while I decide just what to do with them, they are standing, still two deep, on one of the sideboards in the living room. 

I'd like to display them better but having two large dogs, they bring in a lot of dust, which settles everywhere, so I'm constantly having to wipe the duster over. So some thought needs to go into maybe displaying a few here and there and then maybe switching them around.

Today's headliner is Elizabeth, who was one of the girls who finally got put into some summer clothing, she still needs some socks but is otherwise happy.

She is one of my few blondes, for some reason I tend to go towards the red heads and brunettes, much more than the blondes. 

On the sales front, not much has happened, I did sell a couple of small items, which was good as it's a little less sitting around.

But I did have a small Roche doll and a Larger Roche doll arrive. The larger doll had been on layaway which I completed a week or so back and arrived Friday, along with a small doll that appeared on Ebay and which I decided was a good price , so added her to my collection.

I am also waiting on a couple of gingham dresses from Ginny but from tomorrow, I'm on a Dry June, so no buying any dolls, doll clothing, shoes props etc. Which naturally means just the doll I've been waiting for will appear ! But I will try my hardest to sit on my hands and just watch her /him go by.

We , the royal we that is, are still slowly working on the garden and it's starting to fill with colour, naturally because we are taking part in the village open gardens, we are hoping it doesn't all open too early and all be done by the time the day arrives. But it it happens that way, so be it, there is still enough to see anyway.

Since I will be having a Dry June, I will be getting the sewing machine out and having a go at making more items ,using up my stock of fabric's etc. Which will be good for my bank balance and my making more space.

On that note I will wish you all a happy healthy week ahead 

Dee

ALL CHANGE . . . . .

well nine at least ! 

 I brought in a bundle of clothes for the dolls from the doll studio but naturally 

I did not think to add a mix of shoe colours, so a couple need shoes and socks, where other could swap

shoes or keep what they were already wearing.

x

Well It's starting to cool down a bit, so I'd best go find their last few shoes and socks and remove them from in front of the tv or I won't be popular later ! 

HOW MUCH ?

 

A new arrival in the village this week . But I didn't buy her but swapped her , for one of the other village children who was happy to move on.

Since it's still hot, she makes her entrance, at the entrance ;)

She tells me her last Mum was obsessed with Chocolate , so called her Cadbury ! Which meant she was more than happy to have a name change, so she's now called Calico Kate , Callie for short. She tells me she is a country girl at heart.

We are both happy with our new family members and it's a great way to add a new face to the family without spending any money.

GREEN AND BLUE

 

I have been wanting to get this dress set in this colourway off Ginny at A Passion For Sasha for ages and finally got round to it the other week.

Because of the hot weather when it arrived, Ava had to have an indoor shoot along side Magda in the hallway by the front door.

So another girl dressed for the summer . although I may have to give Ava's fringe the hot water treatment to see if I can just get that side to go down and not stand almost on end like it does.

That or see if I can get just her fringe re rooted either as a fringe or long to match the sides. . . . 

DAY FOUR OF THE HEATWAVE HITTING THE COUNTRY

 

Well the south of the country at least. We are now in the second day of the thirty four degrees ! All the back curtains are closed , the sun hitting side , doors wide open and two fans going and it's still just tooo hot !

I was hoping to take Magda outside to take some photos but walked out the front of the house , the slightly shaded side and walked straight back in again. So used the book shelf by the front door.

Which turned out quite well as it meant with the mirror behind could show the pretty matching ribbon that goes with the dress set. Which I bought off A Passion For Sasha on Etsy made by Ginny.

A very pretty ribbon held on a clip.

It's a shame that it's round the back, but then again it does add a little plus when you see the doll from behind.

So despite the weather I did manage to get some photos after all.