Easter 2011

What a nice weekend and beautiful Easter day!!!
John and JT arrived in the very early am of Friday so they had all day Fri here, Sat, and most of Easter Sunday. I hope John J got some rest last night!!
John J hauled a couple of wheelbarrow loads of gravel to the dog yard on Friday, digging out the mud by the gate and adding a layer of gravel. Maybe Baby won't be able to dig such holes by the water and food dish slots. If she doesn't get to come in about once a day now she gets really unhappy.
On Saturday John, John J and John W pulled fence wire. That was a tremendous help to John. He just couldn't get around the trees on the lower South side by himself. Unfortunately they ran out of wire before they finished. Oh well, the expanded dog yard is closer to reality. It's not like they don't have a huge one already but if expanded they will be able to come in the back door. Hence, I'm thinking of a dutch door to the laundry room and back door area....
The little boys, John T (lots of Johns :-) and great-nephew Nathan, had a great time playing in the mud puddles with all the old Tonka trucks, pulling each other in the wagon, and sharing Nathan's bike with training wheels.
On Sunday, Steve's family made it to church. John J, JT, and Elizabeth overslept and John wanted them to rest. Too many of us have been sick lately so not many made it to church. I know that was a big part of Sunday for John J and JT so I was sorry about that.
It was fun to hide the giant egg and see JT hunt for his toys. JT and Grandpa checked out the garden as well before dinner.
Dinner was the usual feast. My rabbit shaped rolls turned out as well as I could possibly have hoped. The molded lamb cake came out in one piece and so did the chocolate rabbit baked in an old two piece aluminum mold. Elizabeth's puff pastry asparagus with cheeses was awesome. Grandma Weyer had her usual scrumptious ham and roast beef and yummy potato salad and jello salad. (Elizabeth said "Yes!" to that potato salad.) My mom made carrots like JT likes them, as well as cherry and strawberry pies. Cindi brought a luscious lemon chiffon and Elizabeth made her first lemon meringue pie. And Carolyn, of course, had her fab deviled eggs. I doubt any of us could equal each others specialties at this point..??

Auction

The glass front bookcase was a big splurge (for me, anyway) at an auction my husband wanted to attend. He was able to get some nice hardwood lumber. I got a vintage nativity set and a crock full of kitchen gadgets for Elizabeth. There were other neat odds and ends that were added to what we wanted so we ended up with a train theme music box for John and JT and a Nippon plate for Elizabeth, plates for my Mom. Funny, because no one else would bid on the nativity set and the auctioneer said, "Isn't anyone here religious?" I knew I wanted it but was waiting for the starting price to fall. I got it for $3 and had to grin when the auctioneer said, "Sold, for $3 to the religious lady."! It was made in Japan. Remember when that wasn't so good and now it's usually vintage and Made in China is what you have to look twice at.....
Anyway, most of my dolls are behind glass and if I ever get sane and sell them, I'll have a nice bookcase. I have an old side table/magazine rack with the same beaded wood trim. That and the secretary desk/bookcase were my husband's maternal grandparent's. The secretary and the "new" bookcase have the same type of metal pins holding up the shelves. I need to sell a few dolls so there aren't so many on the secretary desk....

Chicago

It was great to see grandsons, sons, and Beth!!!

March doll news

I was so fortunate to win a cape and cap for my Anastasia on ebay. Only her cape (and shoes) was missing but I used the cap I won, also, as her original cap had a stretched out chin strap.
Below is another of the beautiful tablecloths my mother-in-law gave me recently. Enjoying the fine whitework are the Madame Alexander Little Women, the two 1950's walkers, the newer Madame Alexander, and a 1960's tubsy. We're getting ready for spring outfits or decorations and accessories.

Around the House

My father's mother made this quilt and my mother-in-law had it quilted for me by some Mennonite ladies in Kalona, Ia. She just gave it to me Saturday. The white blocks of the quilt are old sugar sacks and have a logo on the back side of some of the blocks.
She also gave me some beautiful old linens: tablecloths and runners, doilies, napkins. There's one set of 12 damask napkins. I was so excited about it all! :-)
I'm going to try and do a slide show of all my quilts.

Elizabeth and Bella

Elizabeth was home for two nights before flying to AZ for spring break. Bella seemed to recognize her instantly. Lizzie not so much. :-)
Elizabeth took Bella for a long walk down the lane and east of the pond. They ended up at Grandma Weyer's house for a visit complete with treats.

Bella

John finally found a puppy which met his requirements of being large and cold tolerant. Bella is a Newfoundland and is a really sweet girl. She's friendly, active, and is training pretty well. Newfoundlands are noted for their good temperment and for being the water rescue dog of Newfoundland fishermen. "Nana" in Peter Pan was a Newfoundland. And Emily Dickenson had one, also.





An owl photo:


This is a photo of a barred owl who paid one of our bird feeders a visit one morning. He left without a snack.