Wednesday 30 June 2010

One Object 365 Days Project: 6/365


I presented Ethel~Maud with the pretty new dolly chair I recently bought. She told me that she felt like a fairy princess which made me, Gervaise the Gnome and all Ethel~Maud's dolly family so happy as we all love her very much :-)

365 ~ Day 125


Julia put on her new apron and helped Mummy with the housework. She did a very good job of dusting her pretty pink wellie-boots and was so helpful that she dusted Dolly and Bear, too!

Wonderful Wednesday!



My garden angel casts shadows of love, peace and protection.....

Tuesday 29 June 2010

Monday 28 June 2010

Sunday 27 June 2010

Doll Census


This is my sweet Dolly Daughter, Julia ~ I love her to pieces :-) I was SO excited when she joined my dolly family as I had wanted a "big" doll for absolutely ages. I'm the only one in my family who loves dolls and in fact my children (who are 19) find most of my dolly family pretty freaky and think that I'm extremely weird ;-P

As you can no tell from the photo below, Julia is toddler-size ~ about 34" tall. This makes it so easy to dress her since she can wear "real" clothes. The only problem I've encountered is that her feet are very wide, so it's hard to find shoes which fit. I think I may have to have a go at making some for her :-)

On the back of Julia's neck is a stamp which says Jesmar Made in Spain. Up until yesterday, I hadn't been able to find out anything about Jesmar but one of my Flickr contacts has now given me this information:

"Your Julia is a Spanish doll from the 70s and 80s. Her original name was Rosaura. Jesmar was an important toy manufacturer in Spain that sadly stopped production a few years ago, after 60 years of activity. Rosaura had a wheel in her back to let her hair grow. And also a mechanism to put a disc and a battery inside and she could talk. But I see your doll back has nothing of it so that surprises me!"

When I first had Julia, I thought that perhaps I would re-root her hair as it has been hacked about rather badly but over time, I've grown to love her just the way she is :-)

Julia won't be parted from her pretty pink wellie-boots at the moment, even in this extremely hot weather!

More Dolls & this 'n' that...


These boots, photos above and below, came with a set of dolls (photo further down this post) I recently bought. To be honest, I'm really not all that keen on these chunky boots so they may well find themselves back on Ebay at some point!


These are the My Scene girls that the chunky boots came with. Starting with the brunette on the left we have: Selina, Bridget, Mimi, Tiffany and Mae.

Here is a close-up of Mae, showing her wonderful eyelashes. I didn't realise that any of the My Scene dolls had "proper" eyelashes! Mae has gorgeous hair, too.

Melanie is, I believe, a Fashion Fever Barbie. She is, for a change, in excellent condition! Melanie has such a pretty face and lovely hair.

I don't know what this plant is called but it grows very readily in my garden! I love the way the flowers curl up in the evening.

I adore the scent of honeysuckle. The smell always reminds me of staying at my Grandma's when I was a child as she had honeysuckle growing against the wall opposite her back door :-) This plant is growing against the side of the hen house.

Another shot of the white climbing rose at the far end of the hen house. As I have said many times already, I am absolutely thrilled at how well it has bloomed this year.

I am still working my way through that pile of ironing!

Actually, to be fair, I am now caught up ~ and keeping caught up ~ with the day-to-day stuff. It's all the linens that I'm still ploughing through LOL

These were very creased and needed lots of lavender water sprinkled over them, so I draped them over the clothes-horse to dry off in the sunshine :-)

Abigail is always very interested when the patio door is open and stands on the step, peering in. This time, though, she decided to boldly go where no chicken had gone before LOL Unfortunately, Amber chose to come flying in a few seconds after I took this photo and poor Abigail ended up bouncing off the side window in her panic to get back outside! You will be pleased to know that she was none the worse for her adventure ;-)
That's Prudence outside the door, doing a spot of sunbathing.

I thought you might like a close-up of my ear as I have had another piercing done LOL It is surprisingly tricky to take a photo of your own ear!

Prayer for World Peace



Dove of Peace ~ Giclee print


We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being.
We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma;
that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world;
that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life;
that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children;
that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world.

We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery - hungry, sick, and utterly without hope.
We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labour, prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family.
We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind.
We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment.

We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more.

We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving;
that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life;that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts;
that we may learn to rejoice in our being.

We pray for these things with humility;
We pray because of the hope that is within us, and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit;
We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God.
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.

prayer for world peace ~ dr jane goodall

Saturday 26 June 2010

A walk on Walsworth Common...

...last Sunday:

This just makes me so angry! Why do people think it is perfectly fine and dandy to dump their rubbish in our beauty spots and public spaces?? Whoever threw these bags here could just as easily have taken them to the local dump. Instead they chose to discard their rubbish in an area which belongs to the whole community...and the whole community will be footing the bill for clearing this away. Shame on whoever did this ~ and they should perhaps remember that what goes around, comes around.

This makes me very angry, too. There are ALWAYS bags of rubbish left at the bottle/plastic recycling banks in the car park of our local Common. What is wrong with people? Why do they find it so hard to understand that these banks are for plastic, glass, etc, and not general household rubbish! No doubt these same people are amongst the first to complain when the local council taxes go up, even though they are contributing to the rises with extra rubbish disposal having to take place!

Still, at least this bench always makes me smile :-) Every time I see it, I find myself thinking that one day it will disappear into the Common LOL Mind you, it's been like this for many years now so perhaps it has sunk as far as it's ever going to go!

The ducks were taking a little nap.

A very handsome chap. He was very interested in us ~ probably wondering if we were going to feed him LOL

Bottoms up!

Such a sweet duck ~ and she posed for me beautifully :-)



It looks very mysterious, I know, but really it's just a small group of trees and shrubs on the common :-)

A not-very-good photo I took with a Flickr friend in mind, who is very keen on trains!

The "leaning tree" of Walsworth Common ;-)

Amber's poor leg was a bit sore following the trauma of the bath she had had earlier in the day! But she soon got over it LOL
"Oooooh, this is so interesting Mum! Such a lot of yummy smells for me to investigate!"





"I think I may be a teensy wee bit sniffed out now!"

Aren't I lucky!


Sandi (aka The Nostalgia Fairy ) and I did a "swap" ~ and this pretty pink package was inside an envelope which dropped through my door earlier in the week, along with such a lovely letter! There was a gorgeous smell of lavender when I opened the envelope and look what was inside those pretty pink wrappings:

Isn't everything just wonderful? I am absolutely thrilled with it all!

The sweet bow is a brooch and the little knitted bag contains lavender ~ hence the lovely scent which wafted up when I opened the envelope :-)

I was so surprised when I spotted the pretty peg-doll, as I have had peg-dolls on my mind a lot this past week or so! I finally laid my hands on my pack of dolly pegs at the weekend ~ I knew they were in my shed somewhere ;-p ~ and earlier in the week I gathered together a variety of bits 'n' bobs, ready to start making and dressing some peg-dolls myself! I know mine won't be as lovely as the ones Sandi makes, though :-)

And as for the knitted cupcake ~ well, I was very excited about receiving one of these "Sandi Specials" as I have loved them ever since I first spotted the ones on her Flickr photostream!

Sandi is such a lovely person and I have found her blog and Flickr photostream a total inspiration. Do go and visit her gorgeous blog: http://wwwthenostalgiafairy.blogspot.com/ ~ I am sure that you will be as inspired and entranced by her beautiful photos as I am :-)

365 ~ Day 124


Julia looked and looked, but couldn't see any gnomes in the hamlet. She was so disappointed even though I gently tried to explain that they had moved away.

A short interview with Ethel~Maud


Hello ~ my name is Ethel~Maud :-) Sharon was "tagged" by one of her Flickr friends and she chose to interview me!

Two names you go by:
Ethel~Maud and Sweetie

Two things you are wearing right now:
A new summer hat and my old hankie dress.

Two things you want very badly right now:
Well, I don't really like to ask Sharon for things as she has been so kind in buying me to come live with her and mending my arms. But I would really love a new, proper, dress ~ one made especially for me. Oh, and a session in the Dolly Spa would be lovely, too.

Last two people you talked to on the phone:
Do you know, I have never used a telephone! I think it would be a lot of fun, though it might be a bit big for me. Perhaps if I ask Sharon she will show me how to text on her mobile!

Two things you did last night:
I spent a lovely evening with Gervaise the Gnome and he took me for a romantic walk in the moonlight. I'll share a little secret with you: I'm rather sad that he is gay as I think I could easily fall in love with him *sigh*

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
Help Sharon do some more tidying and visit the fairy who lives in the gnome hamlet ~ I think she is a little bit lonely now that the gnomes have gone.

Two random facts:
I can't remember any of my previous life, even though Sharon has told me that I am more than 50 years old! I am rather ashamed to admit this, but I am jealous of all the fashion dolls in the family ~ they are so beautiful with such lovely figures, and I feel very dowdy and ugly compared to them.....

I hope I haven't bored you all; I'm afraid that I don't live an exciting life and was hoping that Sharon wouldn't choose me!

Dear God...From the Dog



TO: GOD

FROM: THE DOG


Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?

Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the 'Chrysler Eagle' the 'Chrysler Beagle'?

Dear God: If a dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad dog?

Dear God: We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.

Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?


Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good dog.
1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.
2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.
4. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.
5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
7. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.
8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table.
9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.

10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt on the rug.
11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.
12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

P.S. Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I please have my testicles back?

Country Cowboy!

Friday 25 June 2010

In the garden today...


I can hardly believe how many blooms are on this climbing rose this year!

Creeping Jenny and Ivy are obviously the best of friends :-)

The creeping jenny flower is so sweet and such a pretty shade of yellow ~ rather like a buttercup.

When the girls are out in the garden, they have taken to running up to me every time I set foot out there ~ I guess they are hoping I might have some tasty treats for them LOL

This succulent seems to like living in the cracked bird bath.

The last of the self-sown poppies.

So pretty ~ nature doesn't care about having the "right" colours side-by-side. Mother Earth always gets her colour combinations right :-)

This is the fairy who lives in the gnome hamlet. I hope she isn't too lonely now that they have gone away.....