Home and Garden

Today is such a special day and I wish I could celebrate with someone.
We've been doing so very much work this summer. Fall into bed exhausted every night. Gardens are looking lovely. Loving the trim color now. The new gutters look so good.

Cosmopolitan Ginger

We were in Des Moines this weekend for The ArtFest Midwest. We arrived in town early on Friday so we were able to pay a visit to The Brass Armadillo, a wonderful antique mall. I saw lots of dishes I would like to have purchased. But, as usual, it was a doll I came away with. I was trying to decide between a number of interesting dolls which were in my price range. This is the one I decided on, not knowing at the time exactly who she was. At first glance I had thought she was a Ginny but she wasn't marked and Ginny's always were. It didn't take me long this morning to discover, through computer research, that she's a Cosmopolitan Ginger. The Ginger doll was unmarked and came in a big, medium, and small eyed version. Some had painted lashes and some had molded lashes. Some were walkers, which mine is. But, they all share a distinctive arm hook, which mine has. Ginger is actually one of the 1950's walkers that I had watched on ebay over the last year or so. But the starting bid was almost always too much for me. Ginger's clothes are usually tagged but the cute taffeta-like outfit of my doll isn't marked. It's possible she was one of the dolls made with a Cosmopolitan Ginger mold but sold by another company. This morning I saw a Ginger in the same outfit on ebay and the original owner listed her as a Ginger and didn't mention tagged clothing.
So, I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find that the little doll that appealed to me is one I had on my wish list and was, indeed, a good buy.

JT's Iowa Birthday and Father's Day/Snake Alley

It was a wonderful weekend. Photos are better than many words and I will load more on the slideshow. I've had a lot of pain in my left hand and arm. Between that and the busy work of getting the party ready--finishing up the Thomas cake, doing two batches of ice cream custard, picking the peas....I hope I gave JT enough fun..

New Dolls

My Mother is waiting expectantly for me to start selling my dolls. :-) She mentions it often.
Sigh. I don't know why I like them. Two things come to mind. Four cousins from 16-18 years old playing with some little dolls we bought at a gas station during a stressful time. One of those girls is gone now and how I wish I could share a laugh with her about it. Well, I think our uncle bought them for us, smiling fondly at our silliness. I think mine had a yellow raincoat. And I remember how fascinated I was with the elaborate shoe box doll house an older cousin had made.
I got a great deal on both dolls on ebay. Scarlett looked dingy in the photo online. Her dress washed beautifully. The elastic is stretched in her sleeves and pantaloons. And her hair bows have faded a bit. Otherwise I think $6 was a great deal!
The bookcase I got at an auction is "full of dolls" as my mom told me. I told her that someday Elizabeth can fill it with law books. :-)

Weyer's Grove Gardens

It's just such a beautiful place to be. My flowers are wonderful this year and John's garden is about the best it's ever been. Can't resist sharing some photos.

Happy Anniversary to Us

I spent part of the early morning in the south flower beds photographing the hummingbirds. John and I had lunch in town. In the evening he worked in his veggie gardens while I mowed with my present, a John Deere riding mower, taking the clippings to him to spread on his garden.

Elizabeth's Graduation 2011

How lucky I am to have such a special daughter. (And three special sons, too, I know!)The photo above shows her with her Honors cords, her Omicron Delta Kappa cords, and her ODK medal.
It was a looong weekend, but what wonderful events took place!! On Friday John got up very, very early and drove home from near St. Louis. I picked Brent up and by 11 am we were all on our way to Iowa City. Our goal was to get Elizabeth to the Political Science Departmental awards and graduation reception by 12:45. We should have left the car at her apartment because I think we ended up parking farther away than that because the Law School Graduation was going on across the hall. She wondered if she could wander across the stage there and save herself 3 years of work (and $). :-)
Elizabeth presented her poster entitled "Presidents, Congress, and Crime Control, a Comparative Analysis of Omnibus Crime Legislation, 1984-1994", which was part of a paper and presentation for a class. She was one of 4 to present and the others had made posters as part of their Honors requirements. The presenters only had to stand by their poster and provide information to those who inquired, some of whom were judges. The young woman who had been to Iceland to do part of her Honors research won the poster award (prize: a 4gb Hawkeye flash drive). Then the awards were announced. The student with the highest overall GPA for a graduating Political Science Major was....Elizabeth!!!!!! The student graduating with the highest GPA in Political Science classes was again the girl who did research in Iceland. And again the prizes were really nice flash drives. We had some refreshments, walked back past the Old Capitol for photos, and went for lunch.


Next, we sensibly left the car at Elizabeth's apartment and walked back to the IMU for the Honors Program Graduation and presentation of Commendations. Elizabeth received her white honor cords and her four commendation certificates. Lots of her friends were there so there were lots of photos taken here, too.
Afterwards, we loaded as much as we could in the car and left for home. The disadvantage of having all your children fly the nest is that you are left to do some moving on your own. :-) We went to bed early. In the am hours John and JT arrived and I got to give JT a snuggle as he went back to sleep.
EARLY in the morning we were up again and piled into the car for an arrival at Elizabeth's at 7:45. The area around the stadium, arena, and university hospital is so congested at times like this. But traffic kept moving and we were able to drop Elizabeth near the arena just a bit late. We walked about 1/2 mile after parking, in a light rain, so we were happy to finally be able to take our seats. JT did really well for a 3 year old who had to spend a lot of time in the car followed by sitting for a couple of hours. He was pretty quiet!
I can only imagine what it meant to her, after four years of hard work, to hear the words,
"Elizabeth Weyer, with Honors in Political Science, and with Highest Distinction."

It was too congested inside for photos and too rainy outside. I don't have as many as I'd like but I do have some good ones.
We went back to the apartment to dry out a little and then headed to a local restaurant, Bob's Your Uncle. Yum!! Lots of Elizabeth's friends were there with their families so...more fun photos with family and friends.!




I had worked on the gardens and lawn for weeks anticipating a day when we could be outside for the Graduation picnic. Alas, it rained buckets. We grilled just inside the largest garage and ate inside at Grandma Weyer's house. But, all our family who could be there came, Brent's local family came, and we had a wonderful time! Elizabeth got lovely gifts, and some were so very special and touching.