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It is such fun having places where I can put my dolls out where people can enjoy them. Oh, and the afghan on the chair?
It was my very first crochet project, after a whole lot of prodding from my mother. I started it during a blizzard, and I
made so many squares that the next morning my hand was "frozen" in the position I'd had it in so many hours, just like I'd
held the crochet hook!
The painting of the ship above the chair was done by Kevin, our youngest son.
This is the other front corner of the living room. The TV is the one
that nearly broke Billie's back when she helped Tom carry it in. The stool and the cat on it are Billie's offering, as is
the one on the blanket stand/mirror. The one on the stool has a sign hanging around its neck that says, "It's Not Easy Being
Puuurfect." The one on the stand has a mouse that is tied to a piece of yarn, trying desperately to escape from the cat.
It's really quite funny, her putting cats in my house. Any of you who know me very
well know that I'm not really a "cat person." While they are not my favorite four-legged animals, they all seem to like me
the moment I step into their territory.
Billie has a cat; her name is Lady Slipper. Actually, we are almost on speaking
terms already. As cats go, she's one I can almost tolerate. She knows enough to avoid me and I can quite easily do likewise.
I am making an honest effort to get to be friends, however. One of these days...
The little doll who stands there was a gift to me from a little Chicano girl from
East Grand Forks, Minnesota, quite a few years ago. Mission Socorro (see that story at http://missionsocorro.tripod.com) had helped the family and when it was time for their daughter's first communion in the Catholic Church, we were
the only "gringos" who were invited to both the rite at the church and the party at the family's home afterwards. The little
girl gave me the doll so I would remember her. I do, fondly.
The two hats hanging beside the mirror were Ivan's. He always had a "thing" for hats.
I have pictures of him when he was just a little boy wearing different types of hats. When we first got married he had a tam-o'-shanter.
He accused me of ruining it. It needed washing, and somehow in the washer it lost the pom pom on the top. He said it was no
good without it, so I threw it away. He sent me evil barbs about how I had ruined his tam for many years. I finally found
one in a little Scottish shop up in Winnipeg, so I got it for him for Christmas. He also loved bagpipes, especially playing
Amazing Grace (although it always made both of us cry). I hired a bagpiper to play it for him at church for our 35th anniversary.
I stuck his tam in my purse and he wore it. You can see a picture of it on my blog at http://www.janetelainesmith.blogspot.com .
The other hat was a gift to him from Willy. Willy had been on a bike run (he's a
biker, and he looks like it) out in the desert someplace in Nevada. He spotted the "Indiana Jones" type hat and he got it
for his dad. It is leather, but you can take it and roll it up, sit on it, stomp on it, anything you can imagine doing to
a hat, and it pops right back into shape.
I am hoping to get hooked up with the Red Hat Society here in Amberg. That's another
thing I always wanted to do, but was never able to. I was lamenting the fact that I had not brought a red hat with me, but
then I spotted the tam-o'-shanter. Yes! I DO have a red hat!
Notice the beautiful tile on the living room floor. It looks just like wood parquet,
which I have always admired and longed for. It's my favorite floor in the whole house.
This is a painting Ivan did of the house in St. Peter, Minnesota that
I grew up in. We lived there until I had finished the 6th grade. That's the year I broke both bones in my wrist and all the
bones in all five fingers. How did it happen? Well, I fell off the monkey bars my dad had made for us--while reading a book!
So much for my athletic prowess! I guess I was meant to have books in my life from a very young age!
And now for the most fun of all. I'm saving the pictures for this one
to the end, just to pique your curiosity a bit.
Billie told me that they have a nice big sofa in their basement that they will bring
over to my house. The only problem is, we are on the prowl for two strong men who can carry it over here. At this point, we
don't even care if they aren't particularly good-looking! We want their muscles, nothing more.
So, as I made stupid remarks about the sofa's absence yet, Billie went down and got
the two little throw pillows that match the sofa and said I might as well get a start on it.
I set the two pillows up against the wall where the sofa would eventually be. Then
Billie had a brilliant idea! Here are the results of her creation...
It's so cute I'm going to have to find someplace to put it when I get "the real thing" in there.
Oh, and the paintings on the wall? They were done by a very good friend of Kevin's. One of them is of Dunnottar Castle
and the other one is from Stonehenge, both in Scotland.
But wait! It's Billie and Tom to the rescue--again!
I now have my
davenport (or sofa, couch, divan, depending on what part of the country you hail from). In addition, they brought a coffee
table. The cute little extra stuff is all mine, and if I hadn't already fallen in love with this place, I would now.
The two Shirley Temple dolls have found a place on a softer surface, and the afghan
has moved from the top of the cedar chest in my bedroom (where it was replaced with another one). The little doll was a gift
to me from Raquel one year for Mother's Day. There was a little 11-year-old girl, Katy, who helped me tremendously when I
was packing to move to Amberg. I gave her some of my dolls when I left, and she was thrilled. One day, as we were packing
the little doll and her pillow, she put a penny on top of the pillow. "Keep that with her," she instructed me. "That's her
lucky penny." Judging by how happy and contented she looks on the coffee table, I'd say it's working!
The flowers are the ones the former Playboy Bunny gave me, that were in the dining
room. They have been replaced by a whisky bottle of a Scotsman. I'll try to get a picture of him up in the dining room. The
books--well, you can guess where they came from.
Yup, life is good when you live in the town of Amberg, Wisconsin.
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