ANOTHER COLD JANUARY SUNDAY ON TUESDAY !

 

So who forgot to put the post on , on Sunday ? Paul. . . . okay it was me ! I did get as far as putting up the starting photo and I sort of remember thinking about it late Sunday, then realised I'd forgotten yesterday and meant to do it then but was in the middle of doing something so it slipped away again! 

Then one of my readers sent a message asking if I was okay since I'd not help her fall asleep with my usual Sunday post ! Cheek! 

I've become fixed on making up granny squares and turning them into blankets !!

When I placed out the squares after making the sofa back blanket, I had enough to almost make another one ! That's what comes of just making them nightly without stopping to check just how many I'd made.

I did think about just putting them together and making a second one and started sewing them together until I got half way across and then re arranged them into a different patten and made this one above which is a nice size for a lap blanket.

So that left me with roughly a third of the original squares, which I then arranged on the table, working out I needed another four squares to make the pattern up, I had two and two more that were not right for the pattern, so I set about making two more of each, so I could decide which way to go.

So another lap sized/ sharing blanket.  this meant I had four squares left over, Which would only have been two if I could have made me mind up or spotted what I did in the end , before I made them, which was put a complete line all round of the ones edged in dark blue around the outer edge. 

Now I really need to be knitting but it's so easy just to pick up the hook and make a few granny squares I now have another dozen sitting in my basket ! So another blanket may be on the make!! Do I need all these blankets? no ! But I do so love colour lol and they are nice and bright ! Maybe I'll put one up for my followers. So watch this space. . . . . well not this actual space . . . but you know what I mean.

So the beautiful Belle ( Belinda ) is todays headliner, who I should never have sold , but it was in my less is more stage , which if you saw just how much I have , you'd be amazed I can have those stages ! 

Since there never seems to be any less before they gather again.

I'd like to say that on the doll front I have not bought anything but that would not be true! I have got a second issue gotz doll on layaway. Now years ago I am sure I bought this doll because I liked her but I cannot remember what happened to her ! Did she arrive and almost straight away turn round and leave? Is she still in her tube somewhere in the loft ? attic?  If I was to send Paul to search would she appear like one of those poor dolls that have spent years in the boxes never to see the light of day for more than the time it took an owner to make sure she was okay then put away to keep her nice !!! 

I am a release the dolls! person ! get them out of the tubes, stand them in a cabinet if you must but let the poor things at least be able to watch the world go by, even if you don't let them out of the cabinet to enjoy some play ! Remember Toy Story !!! 

I wonder where Belle is now? I hope she is getting lots of attention. I should have kept that Petrana outfit too . . . . . . story of my life ! Thank goodness it was frowned upon to sell your children. . . . who knows what could have happened, if I'd seen another I wanted more . . . . . . ( just kidding )

So have a great happy healthy fun filled week ahead,

Dee

Where's that snoring coming from?. . . . . . Icy is that you ? . . . . . . Icy icy !!!!

A COLD JANUARY SUNDAY

 Well it is definitely winter here in the United Kingdom ! Snow, ice, freezing winds along with rain added in, have been the weather for the last week. 

Luckily, I live in a part of the country that rarely get's hit by the snow storms, there may be a dusting , or the excitement of a few snowflakes but it's rare to have more than an inch or two which is gone within a couple of days , if not sooner. While elsewhere in the country, they are being cut off and having to wait for the roads to be cleared.

We do however get the ice, so do have to be careful when out and about outside.

So I have been working on my sofa blanket and have now sewn it together and crocheted the edging.

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The edging is curling up at present, so I may have to give it a press. I still have to finish trimming all the yarn ends on the back. But once that's done it will be all ready for the spring /summer months to go on the back of the sofa. I have to say that it's a lovely warm blanket I found while crocheting the edge, I was getting so hot I had to remove my cardigan after a while.

I still have a good few granny squares left and a few that still just need edging. So will make the last of them up and sew them together into a smaller lap blanket. When searching You tube for ways to sew the squares together, I watched a few other crocheting video's , which showed me a better way of making the squares, so I will probably also have a go at that over the coming month.

Again I have used a photo of a doll I used to own years ago. Poor NP's just do not last long in the village, they arrive only to leave again within a few months or at a real push a year. I have had three red haired girls over the years and one blonde boy, do I wish I'd kept at least one ? Maybe this one but hindsight is a wonderful and annoying thing lol. 

Gill and myself, have been talking about the amount of dolls that have come and gone over the years we have been into Sasha and how we should have kept a good few of them.

It appears due to the cold weather I'm in hibernation mode ! Barely venturing out for more than a walk round the garden each day, for some fresh air , then back inside. Although I will be meeting up with an old work friend this week, so that should get me out and about again.

On the doll front I did sell a Gregor ,who arrived because I though he was an earlier boy but he wasn't , so I put him back on the adoption list and he went off to a good home.

So not a lot going on here, just plans being made, tea being drunk and wool being used.

Have a lovely warm, healthy doll filled week ahead

Dee

SWEET LUCAS . . . . COUGH. . .

 

It was twelve years today that I paid Lucas's bail money, I mean adoption fee ! and he started on his journey to safety in the village.

At first it was a big learning curve for us all but especially Lucas. The poor boy had been encouraged to go with his naughty side. He thought nothing of eating his new siblings sweets or throwing their teddies and toys into any nearby water or even the bin ! Some we never found again.

But with the love of his new family and the gift of his puppy Socks, he has turned the corner and is now a lovely sweet boy, who no longer throws others toys away or eats all their sweets.

He does still get up to some mischief , but nowhere near what he did when he first arrived. Socks always tries to keep him in check !

Now he is more like a typical toddler, throwing a tantrum when Father Christmas refuses to hand of his sack of presents but learning you don't get everything you want.

He loves snowman.

He even likes to get new clothes and doesn't mind too much if he matches  with his younger sisters or brothers.

But at heart he loves his sailor outfit and says he wants to be an adventurer who sails the eleven seas ( still working on his maths ) and he likes to snuggle up with Hattie and tell her how he is so happy to have escaped and found everyone. The nightmares are few and far between now, thank goodness, and it's onwards and upwards for this sweet eating lad.

THE FIFTH

 Yes the first fifth of the month, for the new year 2026. So another year to share lovely photos of our dolls.

The first doll day photo of 2026 comes from RoRoPo over in Germany where they have already had some snow !!! But that does not stop Holly and Beverley from getting out the toboggan and whipping down any slope they can find in the garden.

Over the pond  Franz is in love with his Swiss hat ! He feels it is the perfect style to show the world and his siblings that he is a boy of style and taste. 

While his sister Harriet thinks if would look better if the feather was red and not blue, since red is really the best of colours but she'll not upset him by saying so.

Back over here, Gill's girl, Luisa is wrapped up lovely and warm in her tweed hat and coat. No worries about getting cold in this lovely outfit.

Some of her babies are refusing to move off the armchair or change into warmer clothing, they say babygrow's are for life not just Christmas ! 

Meanwhile up north Ronny's thrown, I mean let , the toddlers outside to play, hopefully she'll let them back in before dark as I know she likes them to get plenty of fresh air  ;) 

Indoors, two of their older siblings are playing at picking pockets but Ronny at the back is not quite getting it right , as Ronald catches her at it ! If she doesn't get better at it there will be no holiday in the sun come summer.

 It appears they are young and in love and not learning to pick pockets ! I think my tale sounds better . . . .

Here in the village, Magda and Arabella have ventured outside but not wearing suitable shoes.  " Mum said we had to change into wellies or boots " Magda reminds her sister

" We'll be back indoors before she notices " Arabella informs her " anyway we don't have to do everything mum tells us to! "        Magda decides not to answer that ! 

Ava is properly dressed in boots for her trip outside in the fresh air, she is still settling in so does what mum asks. But then she doesn't know quite yet that some of the children in this village are a law unto themselves !! 

Many thanks for all the lovely photos, still time to have yours added.

Dee

SO IT'S 2026 !

 

 

The start of a new year and all it will bring, none of which we know, but we hope will be if not wonderful, at least lovely.

So the Christmas decorations are all down, packed away and back in the loft of the extension. Apart from my large fabric Snowman, who needs to spend the non festive period wrapped up in a plastic bin bag. Since it appears mice have been in the extension roof! , he needs to go up into the main loft for safety. While the mouse's route into the roof is found and dealt with , along with any coming in. But that will have to be a job for when the weather warms up.

The year has arrived along with a really cold snap of weather. Above us in the north it's been snowing and also over to the east. We have only got the really cold weather but no snow, which suits be fine. Although I do like how snow makes everything look , I don't like the fact it can be dicey to try and drive in it.

I may  not leave the house for a week but then if were to snow really badly, I will feel the need to be out and about within a couple of days? I don't feel trapped , I just seem to decide that now I want to go out ! Strange !

I say all the decorations are down, I still have to change the Christmas China off the dresser and also put the small dresser back in the doll studio and that also needs to be 'changed' china too. A job for later today, Sunday.

Yesterday, Saturday, there was a super moon, the last for a while.

I took this photo using my camera around 4.35 pm

Lindsey took this one just before me, using her phone. I tried taking a closer photo but despite my camera appearing to be steady, it was jumping about all over the place ! That's the problem with being old ! Although you don't think there is any shake in your hands , there obviously is ! So I have shown Lindsey's.

I don't do new years resolutions any more, since they never happen and are almost like a goal in the opposite direction to what I have put ! No dolls, six then turn up within a month or two etc .

So I will stick with making lists, I do so love a list ! lol, and seeing how many things I have managed to cross off by the end of the year , even better if I lose the list and it turns up a couple of years later and I can cross off half a dozen things that have been done over the missing period.

So tomorrow is the fifth and I am pleased to say I have already been sent the first photo for this years offering. I need to take a couple myself to add , so at least there will be a few to see. 

The photo headline is another Sasha who moved many years ago to  a new home, I know I know, what can I say I find beautiful dolls then pass them on. . . . . . it's a service to others . . . . . 

So have a lovely healthy week ahead, make sure to spend some time with the dolls, even if just to stand and enjoy looking at one for a few minutes.

Dee

HAPPY NEW YEAR

                           WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR