A BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN SUNDAY

 

Well today was a beautiful autumn Sunday, dry and bright with a strong cool breeze stirring the plants etc. Just the type of day I love.

Spent some time sitting outside under the gazebo knitting. I'm working on a tank top for my middle daughter, it did start out for my youngest daughter, who when I showed her a photo once over half way up the back , she said she didn't like the colours ! Luckily my middle daughter did, so I have undone and restarted it in a bigger size for her. Today I got to finishing the first ball of 100g of wool. I'm not far off of finishing what is the back and will then be able to start the front. I am trying to to wander off and start knitting smaller doll sized items or it will get put aside for another year or more !.

It's wider than shown as now I have decreased for the armhole, the sides have rolled in ,when I put it out for the photo. But this is the biggest piece I have to knit as the front has v neck and there are no sleeves.

Just need to keep knitting a few rows every day and it will soon be done and I can start on other things.

On the sewing front. . . . no sewing has been done, I know maybe I need to try doing the same with that, a bit of sewing each day ! maybe I will try that starting this week coming. 

We are still awaiting the new radiator, so the bedroom is just waiting. But now the weather is changing as the season changes, we have started putting plants away in the greenhouse that will need protection from cold and rain.

The outside table top has been cleared of plants and replaced with some geraniums which should last until the first frosts.

The greenhouse shelves are now filling up.

So the coming month, October, which is already just days away !, will be spent getting ready for the coming winter, bedding down plants, putting things away, clearing space for those things to be stored and also getting rid of those things that are no longer needed. 

The handsome Robin was todays headliner, he's wondering if his siblings and himself , will also get the preparing for winter treatment or will they be shivering until December , like last year !  So I have promised I will start with the boys first this time ( I think he didn't even get changed last winter but don't remind him ! )  So that's another small /long job to add to the now ever growing list. 

On the doll front, a few small things have moved on , including a book on dolls along with a few no doll related items. Among them a large China platter, that I had boxed up a couple of months back as I had just the perfect box to keep it safe for it's journey, so that box had been sitting around waiting for someone to buy the platter. Now that space is back , so very happy that's now found a new home. I have a couple of things , non doll related, to sell but don't have a suitable box for them, so despite my many box hoard, I will need to find them boxes before I can put them on sale ! You just cannot win some times ! 

I still need to get into my doll studio and overflow storage and get things sorted and moved on. Maybe October will be the month I get hard with all these 'props' and get some proper space found.

Much to my own surprise, absolutely nothing doll related has arrived this week ! I even managed to resist Rosie's shoe release , which is a first ! 

So I will wish you all a happy healthy week ahead 

Dee

SUNDAY WHIZZES ROUND AGAIN

 

 The weather is a true September , with cooler nights and sunny days, a drop or two of rain and the crisper mornings.

So the week has gone quickly because there have been lots going on, mostly relating to getting on with the bedroom.

We went off to look at radiators at B&Q , then went back home and found the right one on their website, so placed our order. Two days delivery then the following day turned into a two week delivery ! So we will have to be patient and wait. We also looked at paint for the panelling but nothing suited.

I also ordered and have received the fabric for the blinds and headboard. The fabric is by Sanderson but bought from a different website, where there was a nice sale going on but that website does not do paint.

I then decided maybe the Sanderson website would have the right colour paint. Found three possible matches and sent for the sample pots.

They arrived at the same time as the fabric. Paul painted all three on a piece of wood, one was totally wrong but there were two contenders.

I decided I needed to see these two on a larger piece of board and up in the bedroom.

So the mood board was placed on the bedside table close to the wallpaper and the vintage water jug which had become the colour them for the room.

We decided that we both loved the deep berry one best , the one on the left in the photo. Then I started receiving photos from my daughter Lindsey ( computer whizz ) of the paint behind the bed , so several back and forth's before the one we will do was shown.

This one is with the panelling only up to under the window, which is quite high, with the wallpaper above.

Then she added the headboard 

Then with the panelling up to the top of the wall. The ceiling along the window side slopes as the window is set into the roofline.  I should have asked her to add the new bedding but will save that for when the room is actually been done.

So now added to my sewing to do list, are two roman blinds and a headboard. But I won't even start them until the radiators been moved, the wood is up and is being painted.

Also this week I had to have two fillings, much to my delight they only took around 30 minutes , although it took an hour of more for the numbness to wear off.

We also had this week, the cat worry. Yes we no longer have any cats ourselves but our youngest, the Princess and Prince's mum has two Main Coon's and one Nim, the female , had not come home for two nights ! Only having been out overnight once, this was out of character for her. So messages back and forth about what to do, when to leaflet etc. Messages were put on the local groups and I suggested if she had a box of her favourite treats, to try walking round rattling the box and calling her name.

This worked , she found her but she was trapped in someone's garage and no one was in ! The house was one of several large houses that are behind where she lives. She  could find no way to slip any food or water into the garage for her. Back home, messages on the groups to try and find anyone who knew the owners, then a call to 101 to see if they could help , while that was happening my son in law went out to see if he could do anything. He found he could see her through the window and went into the garden and tried the door into the garage and it was UNLOCKED ! Wonderful ! One cat picked up and rescued and held tightly all the way back home ! Which saved the fire brigade, the RSPCA and whoever else being called out to get her out, because Courtney would have taken that door down if that cat had to stay in there any longer !  But all is over and no damage needed to be down and paid for and two trackers are on there way for her and her brother.

Nim the naughty ;)

Today's headliner was the beautiful Arabella , a law unto herself , but a sweetheart on the quiet.

On the 'find some space 'front, two dolls have gone, along with a couple of small items. Which is good , so a little more space in the cabinet although not that much yet. But I now do need to actually sort out more of the larger prop items and get them listed and on ebay, so I start seeing space in the studio and storage overflow. Or even give some to the local charity shops. Now we are in autumn and that old winter will sneak up on us suddenly, along with Christmas and everything will stop again.

I had the mad thought of making use of ALL my fabric through out the winter , so that I would be left with a big pile of items, instead of a big pile of fabric , trimmings etc. Now lets be honest, I've had a pile of lemon coloured socks, half made, waiting to be finished , for at least six weeks or even two months and they are still waiting! So the reality of me using up every piece for my fabric stash, over the winter is nothing but the mad thought of an old lady losing the plot . . .  but not the fabric ! It must be the autumn seasonal weather getting into my soul and sending strange ideas wandering about in the hope that one or more may actually happen. . . .

So at present I will work on getting the existing sewing list done and the bedroom finished by the end of the year and be more than happy to achieve them.

Have a great healthy fun filled week ahead with a few impossible dreams added for the season ;)

Dee

 

SO ALL CHANGE

 

This post was written on the 5th to be posted during last week but then I totally forgot about it, so here it is.

Naturally moving the shelf turned out to involve taking part of the cabinet apart because the top shelf that needed moving turned out to be fitted in! So after sleeping on  it, Paul kindly dismantled half the cabinet removed the fitted shelf, then put it all back together again and adjusted the spare shelf to go just where it was needed.

Cicely is  now standing by the smaller doll cabinet.

So the dolls had to be piled on the table while all this was happening.

While this was all happening, we had a change about, moving a small China/ book cabinet from a centre position to one side, also moving the large picture above across also. Then we moved the green doll cabinet to stand beside it and then I could reload the dolls back onto the now moved shelves.

The doll cabinet now in it's new place. I will have to be careful that the sun doesn't hit it late in the day.

On the top shelf, now dropped down so the Sasha's could stand on it, filled with dolls.

In the middle shelf, now a few inches smaller, the Roche dolls are back in place.

The next shelf down which has always been a Sasha shelf , now back full of dolls.

The bottom shelf, which is behind a panel on the door, hold the Roche doll original outfits and tags etc, along with their shoes and boots.

A lovely cabinet full of dolls ! 

Claudia todays headliner, was asked to try on a Roche doll dress because a friend needed to see it on a Sasha has she had just bought the same Roche doll but minus the dress. So measurements were needed along with a Sasha for reference for sizing.

Since this post was written a cull has started on the dolls, so tiny pockets of space are appearing in the cabinet, just how much space will appear remains to be seen ! 

CLOUDY COOL SUNDAY

 

Another Sunday whizzes round but this one is a cloudy day with a threat of rain, it rained in the night /early morning which is all still so needed for the garden and the countryside. We have a hosepipe ban still and it's not likely to be lifted until December, that how low our water reserves are. But hey lets build AI data centers that need masses of water to cool them. . . . . . 

The house I lived in before this one, was a tall Edwardian semi, with large rooms and big bay windows, a half cellar and half stairs (short flights to each floor ) because the back of the house was lower than the front. So you walked down a short flight to the kitchen, up a short flight of steps to the front of the house, up a short flight to the bathroom and back bedroom, then up another flight to the large front bedroom and large back bedroom. Which meant there were two roofs, the lower back one and the larger front one. We did extend into both lofts giving us a large bedroom at the back and again the half flight to a second bathroom and large L shaped front bedroom. It was a beautiful house with lots of space but on a busy road into the county town. 

We wanted a bigger garden and did not want to be rattling around in a large house once the girls started leaving home, so when that started to happen we downsized to where we are now, a much smaller house but with a garden as large as our last one at the front and a much bigger garden at the back plus off road parking. At the time I lived in the Edwardian house I was not such a big collector and had not gone down the Sasha doll path.

Now that I have fallen into the collecting bug, I have a smaller house to stash it all in and so every so often and especially in the Autumn and Spring, I get the need to start culling the dolls and their items. I do wonder if we'd still been in the bigger house, and the dolls had their own space/room, would I still get this need to cull them? Or is it a natural instinct to do with nesting for winter and cleaning out for spring ? 

Anyway that culling has already began! Despite sorting out the doll cupboard, whose post I forgot to add, so will add tomorrow, some dolls have already found new homes and gone off to their new mum's.

But apart from that I have not actually achieved much. Although we did manage to sell the old pine bedside cupboards yesterday, so they went off and are two less things needing a place to stand. Which was great, I do love it when things go quickly and don't sit around for months.

Adam is doing well but naturally gets tired as the school week goes on, so depending on just how tired he is this weekend and if he recovers his energy , will depend on whether he may need to shorten his days for a little while. 

Today's headliner is Elizabeth a 1970 Sasha wearing a lovely William Morris fabric dress by Ruth Hartley. Her foot is hoovering over the adoption list but I need to have a proper look at who will go.

So on the doll front it's been a bit of a whirl wind , so far three Sasha/Gregor's have gone in the cull , one Gregor has arrived but for how long ! and the two extra bargain priced Roche dolls have arrived. A couple of small items have sold, so a bit of space has been found but still nowhere near enough from the doll studio or the overflow props store, which if anything is now getting fuller with the cardboard boxes I am saving just incase I need them. In an Ideal world I would love to clear at least half of the space in that overflow storage and a quarter of what's in the doll studio but unless I had a stall at a doll fair and managed, by some miracle , to sell almost everything I took with me, it's going to take years !  So I content myself that at least some things that have sat around for years unused or un needed are slowly going off to new homes.

I have not managed to get back ,to work my way through the sewing list,  that's awaiting me, so that must be something that gets underway this coming week. I never used to be this slow but then when I was working, I had less time to do things , so got on with them, where as now I have loads of time and ignore it ! 

So on that note I'm off to ignore it all as it's Sunday a day of rest lol, but Monday well that's another matter. . . .

Have a lovely healthy fun and doll filled week ahead. 

Dee 

A SUNNY SEPTEMBER SUNDAY

 

So it's September, the herald to autumn, a season I love. Already we are having the lovely sunny days with the nights starting to cool. We are also still having a few rain showers which after the long hot summer we have had, are still welcome. 

The garden is desperate for whatever water it can get , since the hosepipe ban is still in place and our soil is the free draining type , which means it really suffers from lack of watering. We will be looking at lots of ways we can store water and also need less watering next year , if as they say, the summers could be full of heatwaves like this year. We will no doubt lose some plants by the end of the year, so will be looking at those plants that can cope in hot dry weather to replace them. 

The bedroom is on hold while we sort out a plumber to remove and refit a new radiator but the swatch of the damson coloured fabric arrived and goes well with the wallpaper and so I will be buying some fabric to make a headboard and also some roman blinds for each window. 

Without intention, the bedroom colourway is turning out to be similar to the flowers on this vintage water jug, that we have owned for years. Since I have always loved the jug and it's decoration, I'm more than happy it's working out that way.

Well I have done some cleaning up this week  but it's been inside and not out in the doll studio or the overflow doll store but I will get there , slowly but surely. Especially as its autumn on the way, when we all get the sort it out, sell it, donate it vibe.

Today's headliner is the lovely Poppy, who swapped dresses with Claudia , so she could match up with her blonde sisters in the William Morris dresses.

On the reducing front, a small doll chair and a baby Sasha sold which is making space. I have not bought anything this week but I do have a couple of dolls , Roche ones, arriving on Monday I bought them a few weeks back from a friend who was selling them for a very reasonable price, so I asked her to hold them while I raised the funds , which she kindly did. But they do have places on the Roche doll shelf now I have had a change about.

So on that note I will wish you all a lovely happy healthy week ahead.

Dee

IT'S THE FIFTH SO DOLL PHOTO DAY

 Yes it's shot round again ! But at least we are now getting some rain and it's not quite so hot.

For once I had a photo ready to use , unlike normally when I am dashing about last minute to add mine in ! These are the 60's blondes standing at the from of the gang all wearing their William Morris fabric smocked dresses by the talented Ruth Hartley.

From across the pond in Gregoropolis , we have Anika and Kara enjoying some very tropical weather while showing us just how different Sasha's are despite being almost the same age .

While down the road in Broxbourne , Gill's two blonde No Navels are also showing they are the same but different. The girl on the right fancy's coming to live with me but her mum just plain refuses ;) 

Claudia was kind enough to give her dress up to Poppy , so she could be the same as her blonde sisters but she didn't mind has she loves poppies, so got to wear Poppy's poppy dress.

From Old Simples we have three of her gang looking 'hot' in their baggy trousers and in the girl's case cropped top. My ex son in law wore those baggy trousers where it was touch and go whether you'd see more of his pants that you wanted to ! and that was back in the mid to late 90's , fashion always comes full circle but save me this one ! 

Also from old Simples is these two , who look up to mischief if you ask me, that red head is defo whispering , maybe planning their escape . . . . .

Thank you to all those taking part, still time to have your photo added.

Dee

COMING BACK DOWN

 

Now when we started on the bedroom and when for wardrobes that also have drawers in, we got rid of our two chests of drawers. Sitting on one set, was a lovely old display cabinet , which I set up as a dolls house for my smaller eight/ten inch dolls.

So it now had nowhere to go in the bedroom. Today Paul brought it downstairs and placed it in the living room while I decided what was going to happen to it. 

Now somehow a group of my Sasha's were now standing ( three deep in some places ) on this sideboard and they needed to go into the doll cabinet. The only way to do that was to clear out some of the smaller dolls in there along with some other things. Also remove the only tall doll, a Roche, then drop the top shelf down allowing me to use that shelf for the Sasha overflow although I still thing they may not all fit ! 

Cicely, the doll in the red coat will need to come out , so the top shelf can be dropped down.

 I decided that if I put the small display cabinet on the sideboard and moved the small dolls into it, this would allow the space for the shelf move. So I moved everything off and then needed to decide if it should go one side or the other or go in the middle.

one

two

three

Of course the middle was settled on.

Pictures put back up either side.

.

Now the smaller dolls are in the cupboard 

top

Middle

bottom shelf

c

Next the dolls in the doll cabinet need to be moved while the shelf is dropped and then the Sasha's will have a home, well most of them.