Bob Flagg's wacky world.

When we last saw Bob Flagg he was in big trouble. He had just reunited with his wife and daughter after suffering from a mysterious amnesia,  when a bride showed up and said that Bob had asked her to marry him. And, Bob had heartlessly left her at the alter.

After getting the kids off the roof and the nosy relatives back in the house Betty turns to her parents for comfort.

Betty Flagg is devastated. How could her loving, wonderful husband want to marry another woman? She couldn't believe it.

"There, there," says Mr. Drapeau. patting Betty's back comfortingly. "Bob says he doesn't remember. Why don't you sit down with him and talk this out. I know that Bob loves you."

"Oh, Daddy, how can I ever trust him again," sobs Betty.

"I told you not to marry him," Betty's mother says, glaring at Bob. "I knew he wasn't good enough for you."

"Now, Dorothy," says Mr. Drapeau. "Bob's a good man. Don't make things worse for our girl."

"Betty, listen to your father." Bob pleads, "I don't know this woman. Honest!! And will you tell Patsy's dog to stop growling at me."

Bucky is standing between Betty and this strange man who is making her unhappy. He won't let him hurt her.


"Bob," says the bride pulling on his arm. "There people are a bore. Let's go. The minister is waiting."


"What ... No, I can't marry you. I'm already married." Bob is so confused.

"Don't be ridiculous, Bob," says the Bride, pulling on his arm. "You are marrying me. Get a grip!"

As Betty's mother steers her into the house a stranger comes round the corner of the house.


"Hey there!" he says to Mr. Drapeau. " A Mountie and a man in livery riding a bicycle told me that a bride had come to this house."




"Yes, she is over there," says Mr. Drapeau. "She has been telling us that my son-in-law wanted to marry her. My daughter is very upset."

"I am so sorry," says the stranger. "The bride is my daughter and she thinks that everyman she meets wants to marry her. Your son-in-law must be her latest  groom. I can tell you without even meeting him that he is totally blameless"

"Bridie! There you are!" says the stranger. "Your sister, Ellen, and I have come to take you home."

"Hi Daddy. Hi Ellen. Is it time to cut the cake?"


"Yes dear. Let's go. Say goodbye to these nice people."

"Okay! Come on Ellen. Let's go. I love cake!" And with that Bridie and her family left.

"Mom!" says Betty, "Bob was telling the truth all along. He didn't want to marry another woman. Oh how could I have misjudged him so."

Betty doesn't notice, but the peanut gallery is back. They must have heard the stranger arrive.

"Bob!! I am so sorry for having doubted you." Betty ran to Bob's arms. "Can you forgive me?"

"Betty, you have nothing to apologize for." says Bob, giving her a hug. "I am so sorry I caused you this pain."

"It's not your fault Bob." says a happy Betty. "You had amnesia."

"How do you like that?  says Bill to Philip in the doorway. "He got off Scott free!"

"I knew my Bob was a good boy." says Mrs. Flagg Sr. "Just like his sainted father."

But the bride and the stranger and the nurse have stirred something in Bob. He is starting to remember things that happened during his amnesia.


What does Bob remember?

Where did he meet the bride?

Why does the nurse seem so familiar?

Does he realize he is going to be a father again?

What exactly happened when he was missing?

Stay tuned.



Hugs,

Susan

I can't believe summer is almost over!!

Summer flew by, but I got a lot done, traveled a lot, and had a lot of fun.

If you are still having summer in your dollhouse pop over to Left Coast Mini. She has a wonderful give-away. I shouldn't tell you about it because I want to win it, but to be fair I am sharing.

This would look great on the patio of Mindolton Mansion - if it had a patio.


It's a gorgeous little item.







Now that summer is over I am hoping to get some quality blog time. I have several new treasures to share with you and I seem to remember leaving poor Bob Flagg in a bit of a pickle with his loved ones,

I hope we can bail him out. He was always such a good guy, but how did he get amnesia? Head injuries can be very serious. Is that what caused the amnesia? Maybe it affected his personality too.

Who is this mysterious bride?

Will Betty forgive Bob?

Will they be able to get Patsy and her cousins off the roof?

Will the family be able to get back in the house?

Will the delivery man deliver more people?




Watch for more Flagg time. Coming soon.

Hugs,
Susan

A real castle in the air - Daphne takes lots of photos!

Daphne is traveling down the California coast on US. Highway 1 towards the Hearst Castle near San Simeon. The view is breathtaking along the twisty ocean road.

Daphne is taking lots of pictures so she can show the mini-peeps at home.

Seals sun themselves on the beaches along the way. They are resting up for a hard, cold winter and they are molting their old winter coats to make way for new ones.

The first site of the Castle is breathtaking. It is set way up on a hill and looks totally out of place in the wild and barren countryside. Zebras run with the cattle in the fields of the estate. They are descendants of the Zebras from Randolph Hearst's private zoo. (Daphne missed that picture - too bad.)

Wikipedia tells us:

"Hearst Castle is a mansion on the Central Coast of California, a National Historic Landmark in California, United States. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan for William Randolph Hearst—a newspaper magnate from 1919 until 1947. In 1957, the Hearst Corporation donated the property to the state of California. Since that time it has been maintained as state historic park where the estate and its considerable collection of art and antiques are open for public tours. Despite its location far from any urban center, the site attracts roughly one million visitors per year.

"Hearst formally named the estate "La Cuesta Encantada" ("The Enchanted Hill"), but usually called it "the ranch". The castle and grounds are also sometimes referred to as "San Simeon" without distinguishing between the Hearst property and the Unincorporated area of the same name."


Daphne loves the pool:

And, she wishes that she and Colette and some of the other little peeps would be invited to stay in the magnificent guest house shown here.

The bed is made and ready and the dinner dress is set out in the ensuite bathroom. Bathrooms are a funny place to have closets, don't you think? But, then again, the steam would get the wrinkles out of the clothes.
 

The ceiling of the guest house is beautiful!!

And the view from the patio of the ocean and surrounding pasture lands is incredible!

There are lots of doll-like peeps around, Daphne notices, But they are very large and colorless and they seem very un-bendy.


She takes some pictures anyway. The big doll peeps are very beautiful.

This one is relaxing by the pool.
















And these three seem to have a secret.

This one, who lights the private movie theater, is a bit imposing.

And this poor peep seems to be laboring under a misapprehension of some sort. Daphne is very confused but takes a shot anyway.

The great hall even has these strange unbending peeps embedded in the mantle.


Daphne wishes that Colette were here so she could ask her about it.

The formal dining room is very impressive and very castle-like.

It even has the knights banners. Something about banners reminds Daphne of home. What is it? Oh, yes. The Flagg family and all their relatives.

Daphne  can't wait to show them her pictures.

Back outside again they get another wonderful view of the ocean.

The last stop on the tour is the inside pool with its 18 carrot gold mosaics.

"Wow!' exclaims Daphne. "This is even bigger than Colette's hot tub."





We hope you enjoyed the tour. I wonder what will happen next.

Hugs,

Susan

... stopped into a church I passed along the way ..

After leaving Colette and the San Francisco holiday Daphne and her 1:1 traveling companion went further down the coast with a group of friends from DC.


There was no longer anyone of  Daphne's size and even though they visited wonderful places, by the time they got to the Mission in Carmel by the Sea Daphne was feeling low and a little out of focus.

 
This is the 3rd Mission completed by the Spanish in California and is the final resting place of the founding father of California missions, Father Junipero Serra. It is quite lovely and the gardens are beautiful.

When they got inside the church Daphne's spirits rose. There in front of her was a whole village of little peeps. They were slightly larger than Daphne, but they were definitely her kind of people.

A large and elaborate creche was in an alcove displaying the everyday lives of its villagers while, on a raised patio in the background, Mary and Joseph rejoice in the birth of their son.


(The photographer apologizes for the blurry pictures. They were taken without a flash so as not to intrude on the wedding taking place in the chapel down the hall)

As Daphne finished her tour of the Mission she felt much better and more focused.


Life was good and she was happy again. Little peeps could turn up in the most unexpected palces







Next Daphne and the big peeps visit the Hearst Castle.


Stay tuned.

Hugs

Susan

Carmel Doll Shop - not to be for me.

The Carmel Doll Shop could be a wonderful experience - if you could actually get inside it.


So far I haven't been to Carmel, California more than once every 30 years, so I was excited to visit the famous Carmel Doll Shop.

It has wonderful antique dolls and dollhouse items.


When I arrived it was closed. The sign on the door said that if it was closed during business hours I should phone the posted number and someone would be there within minutes.


Heart aflutter I dialed the number.

The voice that answered was promising. "Carmel Doll Shop?"

I explained I was there and waiting for them to arrive within minutes so I could see the shop.

 But the voice had some crushing news. "The owners are at a doll show in Chicago and won't be back until next week."


I explained that I was leaving town soon.  Would they be back before Wednesday?

"No," the terrible voice told me. "They won't be back by then."

Heart broken and crestfallen, I could do nothing but take pictures through the windows and imagine that the wonderful antique items I saw inside that shop were selling at prices that I could actually afford.

Heavy of heart I consoled myself at a nearby cafe with a cappuccino and blueberry scone.


I will have to content myself with their website where I know the prices are out of my range. But to dream is to live - or some such ...



Hugs,
Susan