Category Archives: Everyday

Too Many… Dolls!

For me, that is. In the course of one day I suddenly decided that I NEED to get rid of the dolls that I am not making outfits for. Well, some of the them anyway. I guess the ones that I know I will never make anything for really should find new homes.

A couple of (maybe a few) years ago I sold the first 14″ Kish Chrysalis doll (Grace), two of Ann Estelle’s friends (Gracie and Georgia), and Marley Wentworth; it was fine. Of course it was fine. Look at the dolls I still have! I still have three other 14″ Kish Chrysalis dolls, 10″ Ann Estelle and Sophie. I also have a large Ann Estelle and Lilah (10″ Ann Estelle’s sister). I have lots of other Kish dolls: Tamsin, Alisha, four Riley sized: Riley, Tulah, Zsu Zse, and Avery, three of the small babies: Ellery, Jessamyn, and Miki, a Lisbet (who needs a new lip repaint). Two BJD dolls, a Bo Bergemann Dream Doll and a Pamela Macy Remy are also sitting around. These are all dolls that I do not actively sew for.

In addition to these dolls, I have huge cartons filled with NRFB Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Kelly dolls. Most of these are from the 1990s.

I am not a collector in the sense that one thinks of as a collector because I just don’t like to have a lot of things around. (And, it’s taken me many years to learn this about myself.) The one exception to this is my creative supplies: fabric, yarn, beads, etc. Having those “things” around sparks, not saps, my energy. These extra dolls are sapping my creative energy.

Really… already! I need to destash, declutter, downsize, or whatever it is called.

I snapped this photo yesterday of my 18″ Ann Estelle whom I’ve had since 2003. She is the largest in my “doll collection”. Poor, poor Ann gets no attention whatsoever. She has such a sweet face, doesn’t she?

Comments, please! Any thoughts you might have will help. Please! I need words of wisdom (or just simple words) on how to start, so I can move on.

Mother Nature’s Power and Beauty

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I want to share with you some pictures my husband took of the storm that moved in to our area yesterday evening. He captured some beautiful colors and lightening bolts. It was quite a storm and even produced a small tornado that touched down about 15 minutes south of us.

Even in the midst of Mother Nature’s fury there can be beauty.

What’s Growing Around Here

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Since July is coming to a close and it was a perfect day for taking photos (overcast) I wanted to capture some images of what is growing around our house. I spend very little time in the garden these days, so what is growing has started up by itself with little or no help from me.

Our apple tree has quite a few apples, but sadly they seem to be dropping before they can ripen. I don’t think we will get any this year. Last year for the first time in 6 seasons, we had some for eating. I wrote about it here.

The yellow jacket wasps will be very happy. They love the fruit.

The maple tree has these beautifully colored “helicopters”.

A bit of leaf lettuce is growing in clay pots. My daughter started some seeds for a biology experiment and this was extra. We couldn’t throw it out, so we put it into a couple of pots and hope to enjoy a salad soon.

My husband and daughter went to the greenhouse and purchased some beautiful herbs. Here is a dwarf purple basil and an orange mint.

I dried some jalapeño seeds (I eat LOTS and LOTS of jalapeños) and planted them as an experiment. Do you see the baby jalapeño? I have four plants growing and they are still in shallow containers. I REALLY need to take 20 minutes out of my day and get these poor little plants into deeper pots, nothing too big though. I want to be able to bring them inside and keep them going under florescent lights when it starts to get cold.

And here are cantaloupe plants that started out in our compost pile from cantaloupe seeds that came from a grocery store melon. I dug up a few and planted them in the sun near the house. I hope they have a chance to turn into ripe fruit before it gets cold.

The violas, pinks, and lobelia reseed every year without any help from me.

My hanging baskets that my husband and daughter planted for me on Mother’s Day are doing quite well. Aren’t the flowers colorful?

So, that’s it for out and around the house at the end of July. It was nice to get out today and observe nature even if it was only for a short while before I came in and got to work on my new project. Unlike the apples on our tree, the apples in this print are looking quite delectable. Hope you all had a great weekend!