SOME DETAILED VICTORIAN DOLLS

I decided to make Victorian rag dolls for the girls for Christmas. This is Betsy, Sophie's doll. I hope to picture Emma's doll on a future post. I was able to construct these dolls from scraps I had laying around. I don't think I purchased one single thing in the process. I always love to create bargain items.

I was really impressed with how these dolls turned out. I hadn't made dolls for years. Decided to alter the pattern just a bit and so I used black velvet to make the legs appear to have old fashioned high top shoes on and still left the main part of the legs in muslin color. Here's a close up of Betsy's feet. Hopefully more details to follow when we get some pictures of Emma's doll, Charlotte! Blessings, LORI

WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM AN OLD PHONE?

My daughter has always loved old phones and decided to search for the perfect model. She chose this 1941 black desk model complete with cloth cord. Doesn't this bring back memories? I can remember when my Grandma had one like this. I loved playing with the dial.

Yesterday when we received the much anticipated item, I began thinking about what an old phone says about us. This one attests to the fact that we once built things to last. It has been refurbished and actually works, still its obvious that it was designed for endurance just by the materials used. The body is metal and the handset is Bakelite. When you pick it up it is SOLID. This baby weighs a whopping 6 pounds!

Another statement made by this beauty is that we used to live at a slower pace and that was ok. Dialing was an event. No hurry up push buttons. You dial and wait. The higher numbers take longer to dial. Oh, well, I thought it was fun! Are we really in that big a hurry? Speed dial? Why? I wonder how much time is really saved by the faster dial method? Is it a significant amount? This phone is from the days when moms were home and spent their whole day homemaking, preparing nice meals, doing laundry, ironing and starching shirts, welcoming kids home from school with cookies and milk and talking to the neighbors over the garden fence or from a phone like this. I kind of miss that, how about you?

Another thing I remembered was that we could not get into near as much mischief with a phone like this. Most were plugged into the only phone jack in the house and usually there were other family members close by--no private, sneaky conversations! And if that weren't enough, the party line was another check on morality and behavior. The neighbors could pick up and listen in at any time and probably often did!

One other significant thing....you couldn't carry this with you! Your arms would break! It meant you had to actually leave the thing behind in the house and that's not all bad! Are we really so important that we all need to be "available" at any given moment? One of my pet peeves is that it's hard to carry on a conversation with people anymore. The ringing of cell phones is so common and many people will answer even if they're in the middle of another conversation. Where have our manners gone?

I think the admonition in the center of the dial is great, LISTEN....For Dial Tone....do we ever take time to stop and listen to anything or anyone anymore? I wonder.

For just a little while, I'd like to go back to some of the old ways--maybe it would be a real eye-opener to see how far we've come! Anyway, we're enjoying this lovely addition to our home. It's romantic to think of what all might have been said over this phone in it's lifetime. Since it's a 1941 model, I feel quite sure that someone called a loved one to check on them when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Maybe someone got a call asking them to the Senior Prom. Maybe someone else called to cry with friend when President Kennedy was shot. Who knows what all this phone has heard. In this day and age when traditional values, freedoms, justice, and just about everything else is up for grabs daily, I long for the stability of things we used to value.

An old phone can say a lot. Blessings, LORI

DISHES, DIGITAL CAMERAS AND HOMEMAKING TIPS

ONCE IN THE TRANQUILITY OF THE DINING ROOM, CARRIE FOUND MISS WINFIELD BUSILY UNPACKING DISHES AND WIPING THEM OFF. SOME OF THE OTHER GIRLS WERE HELPING HER. "OH, GOOD, CARRIE! YOUR'RE HERE! WE NEED YOU TO TELL US WHERE THE DISHES SHOULD BE PLACED IN THE CABINET," MISS WINFIELD SAID. "YOU DO KNOW HOW YOUR MOTHER HAD THESE ARRANGED, DON'T YOU?" from "The Fields of May"

On this sunny, but cold January day, I decided to quit putting off the inevitable. My china cabinets needed a thorough cleaning. This is a job I always dread. This curved glass cabinet was given to me by a friend and has become a valuable piece of my dining room furniture for the last 20 years, since I've rarely met a dish I didn't like!!!

Today, as usual, I started the cleaning by emptying the shelves one at a time. I wash the dishes, dust the shelf, and clean the glass inside and out. However, it's so full of dishes that in order not to forget which go where, I replace each shelf before emptying another. Still, each time I face the dilemma of getting them back exactly as they were. Finally today after about the third shelf, it dawned on me to use my digital camera to photograph the shelf and then use the picturea as a replacement guide! Voila! A new homemaking tip: USE YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA TO PHOTOGRAPH A SHELF OF DISHES!

CHINA CABINET TOUR:

This lovely dish is a modern carnival glass bowl. I have used it for really nice late summer flower arrangements. The vivid colors of marigolds, cosmos, lavendar, and zinnia really bring out the bowl's rainbow of color.

 An old platter with a delicate center bouquet and gold floral filigree border.





I love this interestingly shaped bowl/platter given to me last Christmas by my mother-in-law.

St. Paul's Reformed Church of Colon. I almost missed getting this nice commemorative photo plate. Not accustomed to spending more than $2/item at auctions, I let this slip through my fingers a few years ago at a sale. My husband was at the other end of the auction trying to purchase an antique frame for me. He requested I get this plate. I was so ashamed when I realized what he paid to "secure" the frame for me while I let the plate go in a stack for $3 or so. (I tend toward cheapness!) I approached the fella who bought the stack of dishes in which the plate was grouped and asked if he'd sell it to me. He said I could have it for free! Whew!! My husband wanted this because the old church is right across from the one we pastored. It is out in the country between Colon and Burr Oak and is no longer used except once a year for a reunion service. He displayed the plate on the shelf in his office at the church for years.

While I was cleaning, I decided to reconstruct a cake plate (wedding gift) that had lost its pedestal years ago. Thankfully I had saved both pieces. I got out my trusty glue that I discovered by way of my daughter-in-law and her cake plate crafts last year. Finally fixed after so many years! Hooray! Now my mom will work on repairing the tea cup I dropped after this whole cleaning job was done. It was "The Little Mother" teacup and saucer, one of a matching pair that sits on top of the cabinet. It was already broken, so when it slipped from my hands as I dusted, it shattered instantly.

Here's the silver and gold shelf minus some of the teapots, already in the dishwater. This is probably my favorite shelf as it sparkles when everything is in place. I keep my best teapot on this shelf with a 25th anniversary plate and salt and pepper shakers, crystal vases, and candle holders, and a gold-edged deviled egg plate.

Next week.....this cupboard gets cleaned! My husband's grandfather made this and we inherited it since my husband was the first grandchild. I don't know what I'd do without it, but it is HUGE and I have it filled to capacity. Probably a two to three day job instead of a few hours. DEFINITELY PHOTOGRAPHING THE SHELVES BEFORE REMOVING DISHES IN THIS ONE! Thanks for visiting my china cabinet. I'll post more when the other one gets cleaned. In it I keep my beloved transferware collection. Blessings, LORI

THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD

EMMA gave us all something to think about this Christmas. I've had this cute little church centerpiece for several years. The chamber of commerce gave it to Clint as a gift after he spoke at one of their holiday meetings quite some time ago. I've used it on the dining room table ever since.

This year, I moved the church to a side table and it was just at Emma's eye level. Suddenly when we lit it, she squealed excitedly, "Granny and Papa! There's a wedding in the church!" I got down on her level (what a neat concept!) and looked and sure enough---there are tiny plastic figures inside behind the yellow windows....a bride, a groom, the preacher, and some guests! None of us had ever noticed them before! I wonder how many other wonderful things we adults have missed as we hurried through the holiday season? I hope we all took some time to see things through the eyes of a child--took time to appreciate all the intricate details of the incredible Christmas story instead of just passing through another holiday season.

This last picture seemed appropriate to add because of the title of this post. Emma was enjoying the mirrors at the antique dressing table in the upstairs bathroom. Aren't all the mirror images interesting? Rhi took these very neat pictures--reminders to stop and reflect on the wonders all around us in 2013.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD'S BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!