Blossoms

I haven't been able to blog for a while, so until I get some new pictures to share I am posting pics from Daphne's and my adventure - our road trip south to find spring (and dollhouses).

We have been home just over a week now and spring has found us. I have blossoms on the trees in my back yard and leaf buds on the trees in the front. They are lovely.

All pictures shown here were taken in Washington, DC's tidal basin on Easter Monday. The temperature was 80+ degrees. We got there just in time to see the cherry blossoms before they disappeared.

Enjoy,

Hugs,

Susan

Time to go home - Let's pack the car

Daphne supervises the loading.

Can you believe we got them all in? And the luggage too!?

Daphne and her driver left the DC area with five dollhouses in the car.

Three Keystone types. a beautiful mid-seventies Lundby with all the furniture and a garage sale Plan toys (it had to be taken apart to get it in). See my previous posts for pictures

And ...

Believe it or not. they picked up two more on the way home.

Just between you and me - I am starting to think Daphne has a problem.

Hugs,

Susan

Lundy - mid 70's perfection

Guess what! One can find Craigslist treasures even on vacation!

This house was offered on Craigslist and even though Daphne is the wrong scale she felt it was important to bring it home too.

The house is from the mid-seventies and came with all the furniture, transformer and working lights.

The lady who was selling it had it as a child and must have loved it very much. It is in pristine condition. Again I will say - how can they part with these things? Lucky for me she did.

The people were purchased at a flea market along the road. Three are Lunby from about 2000, and the mom and dad are Caco - from a period when they tried to save money by putting really cheap clothes on them. The dogs came with the house.

I love everything about this house. Daphne and her friends had great fun setting it up. Then it had to be all packed up again for the car ride home.

Hugs,

Susan

Daphne needs to get a real estate license

Daphne has found another open house.

This lovely 1947 tudor style home is completely furnished.

Daphne takes a tour of the house and falls in love. She has to have it. There is a built in fireplace in the living room and even a cat who comes with the house.

Once again her traveling companion gets out her wallet. (where do I find a companion like that?)

And another house goes into the car. It's lucky Daphne is small. The car is very full and if she were any bigger she would have to ride on the roof.

Another one?!? Another open house???

Daphne has found a second Open House.

She loves the little benches at the front door even though one needs a repair. She's confident she can have it fixed.

She wonders what kind of party blew out the front window, but she doesn't let that deter her from looking the house over.

She's getting to be an old hand at this house business and she doesn't hesitate to ask the price.

$30.00? Well, it isn't quite as nice as the last house, but the benches at the front door have cinched the deal. Again Daphne's traveling companion gets out her wallet. And again the house goes into the car.
As soon as she can, Daphne puts her garage sale furniture in to the house, just to see how it looks.

The scales are a bit wonky, but Daphne knows there is better furniture at home and maybe more will show up in this adventure.

We will just have to wait and see.

Hugs

Susan

The open house

Daphne's adventures just keep on going.

Now she has found an Open House. It is a lovely little Cape Cod. Daphne learns that it was originally sold by a company called FAO Schwarz about 35 years ago.

What a beautiful little home, thinks Daphne as she has a look around.

I'm going to find out what the asking price is.

Daphne is so excited once she finds out.

They want $35.00. Daphne has no money of her own, but she is confident that her traveling companion has enough cash.

Yes, she is right. the deal is struck and into the car goes the house. Daphne is already furnishing the house in her head.

My, oh my. What else can happen?

More to come ...

Hugs,

Susan

Daphne goes garage sale-ing

Daphne finds a sweet little house at a garage sale.

"Is it for sale?" she asks excitedly.

"On, no," says the lady of the house. "My father built this for me. Then it was my daughter's. I could never sell it."

"I understand," Daphne says. "If it was mine I could never part with it either. Thank you so much for letting me have a tour of your charming little cottage. It is very cozy"

"I'm glad you stopped by," says the kind garage sale lady. "Your visit has been fun."

"By the way," she continues. "I do have some furniture for sale if you are interested."

"I like these very much," says Daphne, trying the couch. "And I like the little seal. I'll take him too."

Daphne has one last look around before leaving. She finds the roof of the house gives her a good vantage point.

Next ... Daphne finds more houses, and these ones are for sale. Yikes

Hugs,

Susan

Daphne's Spring Road Trip

As far as I know dolls don't get to go on many road trips, unless children are involved. But there are no children here and Daphne, a vintage Caco lady with somewhat unraveled legs, went on a long journey.

She did things that dolls don't often get to do, like visit Japanese temples, climb trees, tour a mansion, and view lovely vistas of the countryside.

The view from the rest stop was breathtaking, but there were many miles to go. Daphne and her companion were driving south to spring blossoms.

In the urban wilderness of the Nation's Capital, Daphne and her companion went for a walk. They were looking for blossoms.

Daphne climbed a tree a saw a beautiful mansion surrounded by lovely spring blossoms.

As she walked to it she delighted by the lovely grounds, especially the waterfall.

She was particularly taken with the beautiful and exotic orchids.

And she loved the Japanese temple. But all the walking and climbing made her tired, so she lay down for a little rest in a garden.


More of Daphne's adventure to come...

Hugs
Susan

p.s. the rest stop is in Pennsylvania. The mansion, blossom, and other items in the beautiful gardens are in Washington DC at Hillwood Museum and Gardens, the twenty-five acre estate that once belonged to Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post cereal fortune.

A Mysterious Delivery from California

Mrs. Flagg and Patsy are enjoying breakfast in their cozy kitchen. Bucky is close by, hoping Patsy will spill her cereal or drop her toast. Mrs. Flagg is about to pour herself some cereal when the door bell rings.


"Now who can that be?" asks Mrs. Flagg. "We aren't expecting anyone are we?" she asks Patsy. Patsy shrugs, but can't answer because her mouth is full.


At the front door they find a delivery man on a bicycle. He has a large basket balanced precariously on his handle bars.

"Oh my goodness!" says Mrs. Flagg. "Is that for us?"

"Yes ma'am," says the delivery man, "All the way from California."

"From California!! We don't know anyone in California," says Mrs. Flagg, "Who can it be from? Is there a card?"

"Well ma'am, there was a card, but it blew off the basket as I was riding over here, and it flew away. I didn't see where it landed." He just didn't want to get off his bike and chase it.

"You have a lovely uniform, by the way." says Mrs. Flagg.

"Thank you ma'am. They make us wear it. They think it makes the deliveries look more classy, but it's hard to ride a bicycle in these pants, and the buttons on the vest get caught on the packages. It does scare away dogs though, so it is safer to do my deliveries."

"Yes, I wondered where Bucky went. he usually comes to the door with us," says Mrs. Flagg.

She looks at the basket again. "Oh my. This is very exciting and very mysterious." says Mrs. Flagg. "Patsy, what do you think? A basket from California!"

Patsy isn't listening. She is fascinated by the delivery man's bicycle. She would like to try to ride it, but she isn't sure how to get on.

Besides the delivery man is ready to leave so she has missed her chance.

"You ride safely now. And thank you for bringing the basket!" calls Mrs. Flagg as her rides away.

"Thanks! Ride!" calls Patsy, wishing she had a bike.

In the living room Mrs. Flagg unpacks the basket. It contains California wine, oranges and sourdough bread.

"What a thoughtful gift," says Mrs. Flagg. "I can't imagine who sent it. What a mystery, If only he hadn't lost the card."

"Mom, can I have an orange?" asks Patsy.

"Not right now," her mother says, "You just had breakfast. Speaking of breakfast I had better clear the table. You and Bucky leave that basket alone. You can have an orange for lunch."

Yes, Mom." says Patsy says as her mother leaves the room. But she isn't really listening. She and Bucky are busy.

A few minutes later Mrs. Flagg is on her way upstairs. "Patsy," she calls, "I am going upstairs to make the beds. Remember what I said and stay out of that gift basket.

Patsy doesn't answer. She and Bucky are way too busy to listen.

I wonder if this mysterious basket has anything to do with Collette;s discovery over at My Realitty. Check this out!

Ugly Earrings = Mini Designer Tables

I stopped at the thrift store on the way home from work last night and bought some of the ugliest earrings you have seen since the eighties. What fashion sense the original owners had.

I removed all the metal earring hooks and findings and added some orphaned marble chess pieces - a previous thrift shop find.

And voila!! Old earrings + old chess pieces + a little glue = mini side tables!

These tables actually look better in person, but you get the idea.

I know the pieces sitting on the tables are really ugly, but hey, they won't look too bad sitting on a dollhouse shelf and the dollhouse people should just be happy to have any kind of decor at all. Humph.

Actually I love the black and white pointy blob. It looks soooo avante guard arty. It seems to be made out of squeezed out tear-drop shaped pieces of plastic caulking.

I don't know why anyone would wear this as an earring, but I thought it would make great dollhouse art.

The little zebra is the right scale so I had to have that set, but the wooden cone dolls are rather scary. Maybe they can go in a toy shop or a swedish modern house. Again I can't see why one would put them next to one's face and go out in public. But maybe that's just me.

The orange tables are plastic and marked Denmark on the back. I had to glue the bases off to the side because that's where the indent for the earring back was. I decided that that was what the table designer had intended so the tables would be sooo trendy and modern.

Hugs,

Susan

Tiny French Fashion doll

I won this lovely lady on eBay recently.

She is just 6 inches tall and beautifully detailed. She was made in 1982 by a talented doll artist, but I don't know the artist's name because there are only initials and a date on the doll.

I have named her Victoria after the Queen of her day. I know how I will dress her, but have yet to summon the courage to start.

She will need a delicate lace-trimmed silk gown that discreetly displays her decolletage and features a beautifully draped bustle at the back.

I have some delicate vintage handkerchiefs that would make lovely undergarments and nightgowns. And I have some beautiful light silk for a gown.

I would like to make her a whole wardrobe - nightgowns, petticoats, day dresses, capes, hats, etc. But that may be too ambitious for me. We will see.

Victoria has glass eyes, and an elaborate mohair coif with braids and ringlets. Her body is made of Kid and is hand-stitched.

I fell in love with her the moment I saw her picture on eBay. I knew she had to come to Mindolton and live with me. I was so happy when I won her. I put in a high bid and won her for less than half of that. Yes. sometimes that does happen.

Mindolton is a magical village where houses of different scales and time periods live happily next to each other.

I have one house that can be done up suit her. I haven't done the decorating yet, but hope to get to it soon. It is the Apple blossom I bought from craigslist last year. It's the bottom two photos in this blog.

I think this house will make a beautiful Victorian home for Victoria. I wonder how will live there with her. We will have to see.

Hugs,

Susan