Merry Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas!! We really enjoyed time with the members of the family who were able to be here (and really missed those who couldn't be).
A Christmas Eve snow set the scene, falling thickly as Elizabeth, my mom, and I went to the Christmas Eve service. Christmas Day was quiet as we postponed the big family dinner until two more families could be there.
It was so much fun to have the house full of little boys. The Thomas trains got good use, and later the Jeep came in for a visit, too.
Also in the slide show are photos of John J and JT's Christmas and our Christmas time visit to Charles and Dawn (and Brent) in Tucson.

The doll's Christmas

After taking a peek to see if Santa had started making his list, the dolls decorated their Christmas tree. Wendy and two Ginny's are wearing their new, handmade Christmas dresses.






The Nancy Ann's watched from the top of the bookcase, thinking about their own gift lists.



(I didn't make the red skating outfit, however. She is a new Ginny that I got for a great price on ebay! The twin Nancy Ann Storybook dolls are new, also, won on ebay for less than $4 total!))

Thanksgiving weekend

I think the theme of this long Thanksgiving weekend might be "Meals". We had almost every meal together, which was wonderful! John's mom outdid herself, with the Thanksgiving day meals, the lunches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and all the dinners. Plus a breakfast of pecan waffles, pancakes, sausage, bacon. One lunch we were treated to home made vegetable soup by Vera Mae and sandwich fixings provided by Stephen and Carolyn. Of course, everyone brought dishes so there was plenty to eat!!! The guys got lots of outdoor work done. There were several trees which needed to come down. My yard looks a bit messy now with two cherry trees spread across the grass. :-)
My only contributions to the meals were the two batches of homemade rolls, the two pecan pies, and the pumpkin cupcakes. I made one breakfast, using a favorite recipe for Oven French Toast. It makes a very custard like casserole and looked nice with my homegrown raspberries sprinkled in. And of course there was kiwi and raspberries for JT. He really likes pineapple/orange juice, too.
JT seemed to have a very good time. He is really social so playing with Nathan was a treat. There was lots of train time. And the time John J put in on the electric train board seemed appreciated. :-)
My favorite comments were from JT: Sigh. "It's a good day to be home." "I love you Grandpa."
I regret not getting much of any shopping done over the weekend. Sigh. Maybe there are bargains to come. And, of course, we very much missed the kids who couldn't come.

Dolly toys

I only stopped at one antique store while on our last trip. (I hope to stop at one or two large ones next year.) The one I chose to stop at was very unexpected inside. The antiques were incredibly nice and expensive. I think much of the furniture was European. I definately didn't buy anything there, although they had a fairly new Shirley Temple doll...for $200. LOL :-) About 10 times my upper limit!
I did find a little red wagon and a wheelbarrow at Walmart. They had been filled with bags of Halloween gummy candies. The doll with green eyes and red braids is my new fully articulated Madame Alexander Wendy. She needs a few clothes. I have a "new" pattern that is a 1952 issue of outfits. There's a nurse's uniform complete with cape and cap, a long dress and "straw" hat, and some 50's style play dresses.
Oh, and we did stop at the market and the Amish general store. So, I have pecans, sweet potatoes, honey...

GGAF 2010

We enjoyed the 2010 Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival, Heritage Arts! The coordinator of the Heritage Arts area, Paula Lou Mapoles, is a true Southern lady and is one of the most gracious women I've ever met. All the Heritage artists are so friendly. The neat thing this year was that every artist in the "front row", booths 1, 2, 3, and 4, won an award. John won an award of excellence.






We enjoyed our walks on the beach. We arrived quite early on Thursday again, and Paula Lou let us go ahead and set up. We were on the beach by noon. :-)

However, we weren't too motivated for early morning walks on Friday and Saturday mornings as the temps were a bit low--in the 40's. We were braver on Sunday morning. And of course, on Monday morning we were out early. We did see tar balls and found shells with oil on them. The jellyfish and fishies went back with the next waves.


The road to Ft. Pickens was open this year and we were glad to be able to drive down for a visit.



The shelter house the Venture Crew enjoyed using is no longer there. It was hard to pick out the gate which was the entrance to our campground. There were mostly dead trees in that area. There is, however, a large area of shallow water there now, which would be a wonderful place for children. Not many shells are there. Probably they catch on the edge of the sandbar farther out.

Looks like someone caught the sun.

Toad Lily

I was pretty excited when this Toad Lily bloomed. I got it a the first flea market this spring and I wasn't sure when to expect blooms. I will be trying to find more of them next year. It tolerates shade!

Little Women set complete

I have a complete set of the Little Women 12" dolls now, unless I find a Laurie for a good price. In review: I got Marmee for $2.50 at a flea market (no postage :-). She needed restringing. The next cheapest (aside from postage) was Amy, who I got on ebay for $6.99. She really is in mint condition HOWEVER she has a flaw that must have happened in the factory somehow. I have no idea how she came to have eye sockets of different sizes. I think her eyes are the same size, although they look slightly different because of a difference in how much white is visible. Then there is Meg. She was with another doll and her share was $7.50 plus postage. She didn't appear to be the same doll shown in the ebay ad as her hair was in the original set in the net and the doll in the photo had her hair loose around her shoulders. However, Meg was really, really dirty and the dirt had clouded her eyes. The third time I tried cleaning them I poured water and Windex across her eyes so that her eyes were wet enough to look darker. Then, after a good draining, she went in front of a fan and even the hair dryer. She's looking almost normal in one eye and much better in the other. Her clothes came clean. I did have to sew a section of ripped lace on the petticoat and darn it in one small spot. The doll who came with her (no arms but otherwise physically perfect) was said to have a stained dress. The stain came right out but I wasn't told how chewed up the underskirt was. Sigh..
Beth and Jo are from ebay also and cost more, but I did set a $20 limit! Beth is perfect, I think, and Jo is close. I think one cheek has more color.
Moral: be careful on ebay. I should have sent this Meg back but she's grown on me.


I finally found flesh colored stockinette so Dolly, my first doll, has new arms and legs. She needs a better wig. This is just craft hair sewn down the center. She's wearing a dress for a Madame Alexander Kitten that I got at the antiques market at Johnny Appleseed, and Elizabeth's little socks. Someday maybe I'll figure out how to get her eyes to stay aligned and can give her new lashes. The paint is off part of her cheeks and blush doesn't hide that in photos. Maybe foundation? :-)

Oct. 3rd, 2010

First, I wanted to send Happy Wishes to Beth and to Carolyn!
We had a very nice visit with Elizabeth. The awards banquet is always nice. The food is always good and the awards are presented quickly, although I never mind hearing about the accomplishments of all the recipients.

Mystery doll

I found this doll at a shop called Timeless Treasures which is a vintage shop right downtown. Somehow I'd missed it before. The dolls they had were all very reasonably priced and I may go back in a few weeks.
This doll was only several dollars and is an 11" Effanbee. I though she must be one of the Grand Dames, or from their storybook doll series, because of the size. However, the only place I've seen her online was on a site with dozens of Effanbee dolls shown by category. She was in her own category marked "unknown". Sigh. Effanbee sold some dolls through Amway and I wonder if she's not another of those.

Johnny Appleseed

It was nice to be back at this festival. I looked forward to seeing the alpacas, visiting the antique booths (a bust), getting honey candy, eating stew, checking out the cookie cutters, and visiting with old friends. It was a bit sad that the massed fife and drum corp and bagpipe bands playing Amazing Grace at 2 o'clock was moved across the grounds. I missed hearing that.
Was I ever incredibly surprised and so very pleased when cousin Mary and her husband Don came to see us on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so very much for coming. I know it was crowded and dusty when they got there and I hope they had fun anyway.

We also enjoyed a visit with Old Threshers friends of John's parents.



John got a lot of carving done, which will help with the next three shows. He found out today that he will be allowed a double space at the show in Tucson.




I got some alpaca roving which came from "Crackerjacks" but I don't know it that is one of the pictured alpacas.



I felt like I was back when I saw "President Lincoln" strolling around.

Madame Alexander Portrettes Anastasia (Cissette)

I was able to get this at an antique mall in IL because it was on sale, although higher than the Queen of cheap has had to pay before. I think I got a good buy, although she is missing her shoes and her cape. I didn't realize about the cape at the time. Oops. I plan to keep a watch on ebay as eventually everything seems to show up there! :-) Or I will make one and use tatting as the trim as the little loops will be easier to mimic.
FYI: Cissette dolls are a very popular Madame Alexander doll and are just under 10" tall. They have a fashion doll figure but the Cissette doll is also used for other character dolls--the Portrette series being one. If you ever find a Cissy, you are really in luck. They're about 20" and go for a lot. I'd never hope for one.

September days

Some special people have September birthdays! Aunt Alta, Charles, Mom, Dawn! And then there's a wedding anniversary (Charles and Dawn!) Happy, Happy, Happy to all!!
Tomorrow is the last flea market. Hope it's a good one!

The Yard Sale Dolls

I took Mom in to the day hospital on Friday and had to stay in town to get my labs done and since it was Friday....I occupied myself by going to yard sales! :-) I really was going to be good....
I've been wanting a shelf to go over Elizabeth's bed and I found a nice one, a little shorter than I wanted but "a bird in the hand" was too good to pass up, even though the price was a bit high for a yard sale. I also got a huge Boyd's bunny which may end up in an Easter basket someday if I can bear to part with it. I got a lot of other fun stuff, clothes and books and a Mickey Mouse pancake mold. And a signed teacher doll pin which will be fun to wear on day's when I'm in the elementary. She's tiny but has stuffed moveable legs with painted shoes.

And of course, I seemed to find a lot of dolls, even when they weren't advertised.
At three different places I found these next four dolls for a total of $7.50 !! so I don't think I was too big a spender! One older lady was selling some of her 300 dolls as she needed to move from her teeny tiny house into an apartment. The garage she had her sale in was very old and the dolls were a bit dusty and possibly dry rotted. But I got two.
The Duchess doll, from about 1948, has beautiful fine lace around the bottom and on the skirt. Unfortunately the lace in front has a lot of splits and a couple of tears. It seemed to have been stiffened and if it was starched that would account for the problem. Items which will be stored long term shouldn't be starched. But she's still pretty and I will try to mend the worst two tears so that they're stabilized. The cream ribbon used for a bodice is stained red from the cape, as are the arms. I'll wrap new cream ribbon over the old. The cape will have to stay as it. The nap is falling off but I won't replace it. The Duchess dolls were made beginning in 1948 and I know that molds weren't always updated so that she could be later than that. These little dolls were about 7 1/2" and had moveable arms but frozen legs. They were often costumed elaborately.

I wish, again, that I'd done a before photo because Tubsy was a mess as far as her hair. I think she was marked more than I paid but the woman twice offered her at a lower price. So I brought her home and poured Downy on her hair. I thought it was dry rotted and would break off when combed but it combed out from it's matted state into very uneven hair with some shiny strands, some fuzz, and a few bald spots. The elderly collecter knew nothing about her but at home I looked her up and discovered that this Ideal doll is from about 1967. She has an intentionally wobbly head so that it moves when she is moved and comes to rest in various positions. When she is placed in water up to a line on her bottom she is supposed to splash in the water. I haven't figured out how to get the inner battery box open so haven't tried her out in a tub. :-) The outfit she was wearing was too big so she has on one of Elizabeth's first dresses for now. I love her face (although I think her teeth were set a bit too far to the side at the factory) and she makes me smile!



At another garage sale of collectibles I got this newer Zapf doll with a lot of her accessories in a zip bag--plus her potty chair. This, and several other baby dolls I've bought recently, will go on ebay someday if I don't have granddaughters. I'm buying baby dolls to be played with but with collecter value.

And finally, here is the Thanksgiving cornhusk doll which reminds me of my Nan's cornhusk dolls. I found it when I went back to the Hope Haven thrift store for a large 1960's fashion doll, found her gone, and was directed upstairs. I didn't know the thrift store continued upstairs. For anyone local who hasn't been there. Wow!!! What a lot of stuff. I don't know if there are very many treasures there but it's interesting.

Old Threshers

We had a really great Old Threshers this year. There was a torrential downpour Wed night and Thursday morning and some light showers on Monday morning. And there were some high winds the rest of the time. But, hey, it's Iowa at Threshers time! Temperatures were otherwise very mild, with cool evenings. The ground dried pretty quickly so there wasn't much in the way of swampy areas on the pathways (some in the parking areas!). Sales were very good and I heard that this was true for a lot of the vendors.
John and JT got to be with us for the whole of Threshers, which was really great. We have to be in the booth most of the time but Dad or I got out with him a few times a day. Dad took him to eat at the church tents about three times and he really "chowed down". My mom was there for three days this year. Grandma Weyer and Judy were there from Tuesday evening until after the show ended on Monday and Stephen and Carolyn came every day. John W, Cindi, and Nathan were there for the weekend. So it was a nice group of us.
As you can see, he got to carve with Grandpa twice. This is just a short clip. He and Grandpa were carving and in one of the videos JT is saying that he's making a spoon to hang up. In one of the photos you can see that he was briefly holding the spoke shave by himself. Nathan also made two spoons!
It was pretty obvious how happy JT was to see Nathan. Oh, my, maybe he'll be a tackle for a WI team someday! He just loved Nathan right off his feet. :-) They had some fun in the huge sandpile that Thresher's makes just for the show (doesn't sit out long enough for cats to find it :-).

There were train and trolley rides. John J has some great train and log village photos. No carousel rides this year as JT seems to be really leery of them right now.


Elizabeth was home from Fri evening till Sunday afternoon and I was really, really happy to have her and two of her good friends dress up on Sunday! The costume closet hasn't been busy enough the last few years. In the sandbox photo, JT is wearing one of his Dad's/uncles' brown shirts. I made the blue one for him this year and got suspenders from Kalona.


Also in a photo in the slideshow you can see Grandpa's new toy. The jeep still works and JT learned to drive it pretty well. It even went outside one morning. :-)
I was happy to get some new dolls from some of the antique dealers. The one in faded pink is a 1955 Madame Alexander straight leg walker which I was thrilled to get for $15. The one in the center is a new ceramic doll which was left from the doll convention held at OT this June. The paper dolls are left from older conventions and one was given to me by the curator of the OT doll museum and president of the club. The doll in plaid is, I believe, a Roberta walker from the 50's which I got for $4. I love a good bargain and these certainly were!

Congrats to Charles!!!!!!!!!

I REALLY wish I could have been at Charles' graduation!! He was top of his class, a Distinguished Honor Grad, and got a coin from the Major. And on Thursday he flew home!!!!!!!!!!! I know Dawn--and Pepper and Bubbles--were happy to see him! I hope to have photos later.

Visit from Elizabeth and Brent

I know the bottom two photos don't go with this post but I love them and you can just enjoy the contrast of Sedona with our place!
We were so happy to have Brent and Elizabeth for lunch on Saturday. Brent came down to see his family here before flying home this morning. We know Elizabeth will miss him but hopefully Lizzy will be some company this school year, and they'll see each other at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break. Lizzy certainly seems entertaining and energetic enough to make herself good company. She either thinks she's a puppy or a flying squirrel!!

Elizabeth's room

After our nice visit at Elizabeth's apartment, I went home and tried putting finishing touches on her room at home, now the pink guestroom/Elizabeth's room.
John C helped me by putting up the new blinds and fixing the loose curtain rod. Mom let me switch a walnut table in my green guestroom for her vintage table in her blue guestroom. This table was purchased from our neighbors, the Wisdoms, in TX, when I was a little girl. I'm not sure what wood it is but it matches in color the mahogany vanity that was my grandmother's and which Elizabeth has always used.
So, here are photos of the newly redone room. I want to add a narrow shelf over the bed and my "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" poster to the empty wall.
I guess I don't have photos of the other end of the room but the walnut rocker, my great grandmother's, is just inside the door and behind the door is the white wicker child's set of chair and loveseat. They'll get new cushions of green and cream polka dot fabric and the bed is to sometime get a quilt with that fabric, the valance and dust ruffle fabric, and at least two more.

Mom and I to see Elizabeth

I was really happy that Mom agreed to go with me to see Elizabeth, and take Lizzy to her new owner. And not just because I might need help with the cat! I don't remember that I ever took mom to Kalona, which is on the way and so much fun to visit!
Lizzy was a great traveler and it was a mild day so our brief stops at the various country stores didn't bother her.
We stopped first at the General Store. I love the assortment of items here. Everything from straw hats and suspenders and ladies unmentionables to housewares and baked goods. Mom got some dish towels and cookies for Brent and I got fresh bread and eggs for Elizabeth, and chocolate covered pecans for mom and me and maybe some to share. :-)
Mom enjoyed seeing the Amish buggies outside and interacting with the young woman who checked us out.
I went back to the highway to drive through Kalona on our way to Hwy 1 and the Stringtown grocery. Mom got to see some more buggies and more Amish farms.
The Stringtown grocery has an amazing assortment of goods in bulk, a walk in refrigerator run by a generator, and some housewares, herbal remedies, and baked goods. We bought a coffecake, spices, dried parsley, and peaches. Next time I go I hope to get butter, too.
Next we went on to the cheese factory and bought some smoked cheeses. So, Elizabeth had some goodies for the week.
I was fun to see my little girl :-) after she spent the summer away!