Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Show And Tell and More




Kelli has challenged each of us to share a childhood keepsake this week for Show and Tell. I am going to share a story of my wonderful doll. When I was quite young - probably around six years of age - my parents gave me a doll for Christmas. I really do not recall exactly what she looked like, but when I was ten I begged them for a bride doll. Isn't that a high priority for every fairy tale girl? My father was in medical school and my mother was making ends meet with teaching. Needless to say, there was not a lot of money. My very clever mother decided to take my "old" doll and have her made into a bride doll. She was given a new wig, a delightfully created bridal gown and placed under the Christmas tree. I never knew that it was the same doll until I was in my 30s. She was adored by me as a beautiful bride and I still delight in seeing her until this day. Her gown is a little worse for wear and the hair would be eligible for the bad hair day contest, but I am glad to have the opportunity to share her with each of you. I cannot imagine what the monetary value for her would be these days since I know that my years would make her an antique. I do know that there is no amount of money that would make me give her up.












Recently we have noticed that the cat's food seems to be disappearing faster than normal. To be honest, the cat should check in at 60 pounds at the rate it is going. We have been suspicious that there is something else lurking in the dark. The food, which is kept in a galvanized can with a tight lid, has been spilled all over. I figured that the cat must have super powers and so I secured it even tighter with a bungee cord over the lid. The cat must certainly be starving to go to all the trouble to get that lid off. All of a sudden the can was being rolled around and I would find myself searching for the entire can in order to fill the cats bowl. We knew that something else must be going on but were unable to catch whatever it was ...... until.....






Yep, that is one big raccoon who has decided that cat food is going to be his/her new diet. I don't think so. As you can see, this animal was really not intimidated whatsoever as evidenced by the fact that my daughter, upon seeing it, had a chance to still go in, get the camera and take flash photos of it. From the photo it appears that it has two colors of eyes. Is that possible in raccoons?





Monday was #3 son's 35th birthday. His older daughters wanted to help make a birthday cake for him and they came over here to bake it so it would be a surprise for him. As children, our sons favorite cakes were train cakes so we decided to make one of those. The girls did all the decorating and had a blast doing it. I have a feeling that it will be a greatly requested cake by the younger brothers in that family from now on.








I've started on my summer themed quilt for the Four Season's Quilt Swap. There are so many wonderful summer ideas running wild in my mind, but the thoughts of a Neapolitan ice cream cone are prevailing.








What do you think? Does this fabric just scream Neapolitan to you? There was a new technique in last months quilting magazine that I am going to be using. I'll share more later.






Our #2 son and his wife are in Hawaii for a week to celebrate their tenth anniversary and we are enjoying a few days with their four children. The kids are great and wonderful with finding ways to entertain each other. One toy that they so enjoy while they are at our house is Magne*tix. These are interesting shapes of rods, chains, balls and wheels that attach to each other by a magnet force. This is definitely the type of toy that would have attracted my attention as a youngster. I highly recommend it for any of you who have young (or older) children around.









Pattie is having a summer contest on her blog. She is going to make a quilt for the winner with some darling healthy eating fabrics. She does a beautiful job with her quilting. I had lunch with her on Monday and got to see some of the quilt squares that she has just finished from her sixteen week class. Be sure to check her blog out and enter her contest.






As I write this, my house is being filled with dust - again! We did a remodel last year to make our home more handicap accessible in case we had the need for either of our parents or for us in the years ahead. We put a whirlpool tub in the bath that was remodeled. It worked fine for five months and then started tripping the circuit. The Aqu*atic company sent a repairman out since it was under warranty. He determined that the tub was defective and needed to be replaced. However, the company says "No." They feel that the tub can be "repaired" AFTER it is removed. Of course the company policy is to NOT pay for the removal. We have been fighting with them since November and have finally resorted to an attorney (my brother) which just infuriates us to no end. To avoid an even longer delay in the use of the tub we are paying to have it removed and then pursue our actions afterwards. I cannot stand a company that will not back their products even with a warranty. After all, we did purchase the tub in good faith and would expect nothing less from them. We did not expect to pay full price for a "repaired" tub.



Since I will be busy watching the grandchildren this weekend, I am hoping that everyone else will have a great weekend as well.






































17 comments:

  1. I loved seeing your bride doll for show n tell! I also got a bride doll for my 10th birthday and have often wished I still had her.
    Your train cake turned out really cute. Happy Birthday to your #3 son and Happy Anniversary to #2 son and his wife!
    Enjoy your weekend with the grands and I do hope your whirlpool tub mess is straightened out very quickly!
    xo

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  2. Nice to still have your doll. Her face reminds me of one doll that I had too when I was little. I wish I still had the one that I just loved. Do you remember the Tonette perms back then? Well there was a doll that you could get named Tony. I had her and My great grandmother made her a wedding gown and the whole outfit. Boy how I wish I had kept her.
    Sandy

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  3. Hello,
    Thanks for coming by my blog! I love the doll story, I have one too , one year my Santa gave me 2 dolls,I thought I died and went to heaven, one was a baby I could give a bottle , ohhhh my.... was I in love with those dolls,mostly I played with a small bear called ((Baby)) he was my father's toy ,I will make a blog about him soon for everyone to see, he is a real heirloom treasure.The memories are treasures too.
    Take care,
    Diane
    http://dianobe.blogspot.com/

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  4. I think your sweet doll is Sweet Sue by American Character. She IS sweet, with a very cute face. How does she smell by this time? The plastic on a lot of them is breaking down with age and smells awful - I hope yours has escaped this malady.

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  5. Oh my! What a beautiful and very special doll! How sweet of your mom to do whatever she could to get you a bride doll! I just love that stpry!

    Happy birthday to your son! That train cake is so cute, my hubby and boys would love it! And Happy Anniversary to your son and his wife as well!

    How funny about the raccoon!! Oh my goodness!! LOL!!

    Hugs,
    Amy

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  6. Love that train cake! I know the kids had a great time decorating that1 I also love your doll! What a great keepsake, and great memories!

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  7. That is a wonderful thing your mom did. My sis and I got a big bride doll, somehow, miraculously, since we had no money either.

    Darling cake! What cute girls.

    That raccoon looks possessed! I'm glad you figured out where the food was going and can hopefully get rid of the critter! They can be really nasty.

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  8. Wow... there is a lot going on here!
    I love the cake, and what beautiful little girls you had to guide through the creation ! Happy Birthday to your son!
    I agree re the fabric. Ice cream cones sound perfect.
    And I do hope your whirlpool bath is fixed soon. Thanks heavens you have an attorney in the family!
    Enjoy your time with your grandchildren, and have a great weekend!

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  9. Your precious doll is beautiful. What an absolute treasure with a heartfelt story to go along.

    That little bandit raccoon looks like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. How simply darling.

    Hope you get your tub fixed to your expectations. I too, hate it when a company falls short of its promises. Have a good weekend.

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  10. Wow! We do not have racoons here.

    The train cake looks fun and wasn't your Mum clever to change the doll to your liking without you even knowing.

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  11. Your mom did a wonderful job on your bride doll, she is just beautiful! I also love your new fabric, those colors are great together!
    ~Kelli

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  12. Love your fabric choices! I have several of them and have had a blast making bags, quilt patches, yoyo's, and aprons with them.

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  13. Oh I love the story of your bride doll!!!!! I think we could use some of that ingenuity in todays throw away society and make things last longer. I have several of my old dolls, I'll try to remember to post a picture soon.
    Yes, I took another tumble but not a bad one this time. I am stiff and lame this morning but it sure beats the concussion and bruises of last time. Don't have a clue what happened to cause it. I have been riding him every day practically and conditioning him to build him up after his long time out of commision. He's been going beautifully, the best in years. It makes me very nervous about riding him again as I really don't want to break my neck but R says not to panic over a one time thing so I am trying not to. I will talk with the vet again tomorrow and see what he thinks. May need to take him in for some x-rays of his front legs just as a precautionary thing. He's moving much better this morning, he was very stiff moving last night but I put him on some bute and that seems to have helped. Oh the woes of horse ownership!
    Love the train cake! Are you going to post the directions? D would love that!
    So you've joined the ranks of the raccoon invaders! I had left my sunporch door open a bit for the cats to come in and looked out and a raccoon was trying to get into the birdseed barrel. By the time I got my camera she was gone darn it! She still hasn't brought her babies out yet. I think they are still in the hayloft.
    Love, love, love that fabric! Can't wait to see the finished project. I got a call this morning at 7:10 from a man that had bought one of my bags for his mother and wants another one. I thought that was rather early on a Sunday morning to be calling! We don't sleep in as we have critters to feed but lots of people would still have been sleeping! Weird!
    I would be rather mad too to have a company not stand behind their product! It's not only the $$ it's the pain of having to take that one out and have the mess again. Like you we've had our share of renovations and don't enjoy them!!!!
    Got to get ready for church. We don't have air conditioning in our church as it is really old so it will be hot today. We are supposed to hit 90*! I don't like the heat so I will be fanning away! lol!

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  14. So I had my last test today until the eye doctor. It was the bone scan. It is absolutely no problem as a test, but I am a bit anxious about the results, which I'll learn soon.

    Thanks for coming over to visit today!

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  15. wow! and what a beautiful keepsake she is! wow!!!!

    The culprit is caught in action! I would have freaked!!! great photo!

    girls are so adorable! love that train cake...amazing!
    grandson too!

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  16. That's a really cool doll (and I am not a doll person). I think the racoon looks healthy enough without having to eat your cat's food! Maybe you could set a humane trap for him and call the wildlife commission? I'm sorry about the whirlpool fiasco! Thanks for the comments on my blog too!

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  17. beautiful doll.
    I like your ice cream colours for summer, that screams summer to me.
    magnetix are big at my house as well, a great toy, Tracey

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