Cloth Doll Baby Challenge

This is a pattern for a 7 inch baby doll that appeared many years ago in the Doll Reader book. She is rather hard to make because she is so tiny and yet intricate. Needless to say, my sewing isn't blue ribbon grade on this little doll, but she did come together :( , after a fashion. She is resting on the sewing table with her underwear and long slip on. Tomorrow I'll start on her little christening gown and her pretty bonnet.

Storybook Cloth Doll Challenge

Raggedy Ann cloth doll...... I've made lots of them, but this little one was the easiest. She is holding a little doll dressed just like she is. This doll was entered into the Cloth Dollmaking challenge this month. It is a lot of fun to be making clothdolls again. Now that I'm 70, it seems harder for me, but more fun. The embroidery on her little apron was done by my new Brother sewing machine. I like that feature, plus it threads itself! :)

Yellow braids on Cloth Doll

I'm studying the book of Alicia Merrett, a master at fabrics. This is the first doll I'm done using a pattern from her book. This doll as double sewn joints, and an elongated back side that allows for her to sit very nicely. Today she get cute little mary jane shoes. Great pattern. :)

Presbylla Presbyterian Vintage Cloth Doll

Being a member of the Vintage Cloth Dolls group, I'm making the challenge doll of winter 2009. She has a neat history, and is a careful recreation of a wonderful cloth doll maker. My version leaves a lot to be desired, but she is cute. I'm using fat quarters for the clothing and so her bonnet is a different color from her little dress. Her boots are painted, as is her hair. Wonderfully fun doll. :)

Bitsy is finished. She has two friends that have been created this week, and join her. Many ideas for dolls are in my old mind these days. I love making the vintage patterns. There are oodles of them to be found. Also, I'm anxious to do art dolls. I'm studying Oroyan and Lichendenfelt books. There is a lot to know, and they are the masters. Also Culea and Ward are fabulous dollmakers, using delightful colors and cloth. I think my future will be hunched around my sewing maching and cloth stash. :)

Old Hobby Renewed

I used to make cloth dolls by the hundreds and thousands.... all kinds.... muslin, sock, wooden, crocheted, etc. I had a doll booth at the Homespun Crafters Mall for awhile. I designed, exhibited, and won awards on my dolls. Things became very hectic in my personal life and I backed off from sewing and hobby work. Now I have more time on my old hands and am starting to make dolls again. I love it. I'm finding old friends on the clothdoll internet groups and it feels wonderful. I'm rebuilding my huge library of dollmaking information. The little doll shown is Bitsy from the current Soft Dolls and Animals magazine. Today I'm starting on a presbyterian doll challenge using the Presbylla pattern.

Where is the rose - Buff Beauty

My son gave me this most gorgeous yellow musk rose a few years ago, for my birthday. It grew in my french-style rose garden in Boise for years. I tried last year, after we moved to this state, to buy a couple of them..... but... alas.... the ones that were sold to me by the High Country Rose Nursery, are not Buff Beauty! Buff Beauty has rich green leaves, and grows in a mound form... the roses are big and beautiful and hang from the healthy green, thornless canes. These horrible roses have thick red canes that bear long hideous thorns. I will yank these horrible roses out of the soil and keep looking for replacements for the beauty I had to leave in Boise. (Sigh)

Snowing in the Valley

The snow and whirling wind and icy roads have hit the southern end of this valley this morning. Usually, it is the northern end that gets the brunt of the storms. Nestling and the foot of the 11,000 gigantic Nebo Mountain, we are like a little banana-belt. It was interesting watching the snowline fall from the top of the mountain range, inching down the mountain sides, until now the valley floor is enveloped in the white brilliance. The first photo shows a red tea rose loaded with snow as it danced in the whirling icy winds. The second is of the miniature roses that bloom in front of the east portico.

English Daisy

Two kinds of daisies grew very well in our gardens in Boise. The magnificant Shasta Daisy, and the adorable English Daisy. I loved both of them The English Daisy did well in the shade gardens. The Shasta Daisy thrived in the summer sun in the exposed gardens along the fence. They were prolific bloomers, going strong in growth and flowering all summer. How I miss them.

Missing my Garden

I am very thankful for all the photography I did in our gorgeous half acre garden in Boise. Memories were so pleasant and I love remembering those times. This little flower grew under a giant pine tree that bordered the secret garden area. It was a survivor, against all odds. I love that. The common name for it is "wind flower." Actually, it is an anemone.

Our Grandson's Wedding

Our precious grandson and his beautiful fiancee had a gorgeous garden wedding this month. I felt so privileged to be there. We helped his mother raise him and we couldn't be prouder of him and his new wife. They are absolutely GREAT! and so devoted to each other.
We can't wait to get up into Idaho and visit with them again.

Honorable Husband

I'm sharing pictures of my most precious person on this earth.... my funny and honorable husband. (grinning) In the kitchen he is preparing breakfast for himself (I had eaten early when I got up) and he did a good job.

The second picture is one of him and one of our handsome grandsons, as they conversed (joking and clowning) about the little league baseball game. It was a really good game and the best player was another one of our cute grandsons. The third grandson likes to attend all the games and support his little brother. I really enjoy these games. I sit beside our beautiful daughter and handsome son-in-law and visit.

Favorite Rose

This is my favorite rose. It is called Fashion. It is not grown anymore by any of the hybridizers or rose growers. Quite a few years ago, about 50, the rose was discontined because it seemed prone to rust. I grew this rose in my front yard for about 40 years and it thrived and hardly ever suffered from rust. It is a florabunda and the most gorgeous rose in the world.

Sunrise in Spanish Fork

Watching the early summer sun crest over the Wasatch Mountains is an awesome experience. From my front porch I can sit and watch this fantastic occurance every morning. Sometimes it creeps up on the other side of the majestic mountains and starts to illuminate the tops of the clouds. Then the cloud tops become dark as the sun climbs and starts to light up the bottom of the clouds. WOW! If there is smoke from the wild fires in the air, the sky blazes with orange. If there is no particualtes in the air, the sky is calmer in color. I love all of it.

Country Scenes

While we traveled in our motorhome here in the West, before the gas prices went through the ceiling, we saw a lot of interesting things. The train rattling over the freeway overpass, in southern Idaho was a very early morning camera shot. The reactment of the "crossing of the Snake River at Three Islands" in southern Idaho was a late afternoon shot. The wagons were pulled by oxen or horses and came down the hills on one side of the river, right into the river and then to an island, and then onto the other side of the river, where we were waiting. It was a gorgeous and awesome sight. One of the teams of oxen got into trouble when the wagon they were pulling started to drift past them, and the cowboys had to work like everything, to keep the oxen from panicking and getting tangled up in the harness. They did avert danger and continued successfully. In the past, some of the crossing were not so successful. A very true to life reactment along the famous old Oregon Trail.

My Photography Jigsaw Puzzles

http://www.jigzone.com/gallery/CA25083E19.6573CBE/3?z=0
Visit the link above and you will have access to my photography on the jigzone site. I have lots of my photography there that is fun to do as puzzles. Some are landscapes, some of wild horses, flowers, etc. The picture here was taken in the Kolob Canyon in Utah, which is just south of the little town we now live in.

Vernal's Homesteaders Home

Vernal in the High Desert bordering Colorado. Terracotta colored mountains and loose towering rock mountains are truly mind boggling. When we drove to the border town of Vernal high in the desert, I couldn't believe the gorgeous formations of the earth there. I think this town was settled a long, long time ago. We saw a homesteaders home that has been abandonded. What a shame. I was raised in one in eastern Oregon. Such warm and delightful memories. We were out for a drive for the day, but we will return to Vernal this spring. I love that drive, plus they have a nursery there that sells High Country Roses!

Provo Canyon Rock Formations

Wind in the canyons leading out of the valley, whip through at a terrific speed. I've watched as the mighty wind storms whipped enough snow off the granit mountains until they were bare. Yesterday, while we were drive to the upper basin where Salt Lake City is, I watched as the wind over Mt. Timpanogos blew fiercely and whipped the snow on top into clouds! Awesome. The sky was blue and the sun was shining, but there over 11,000 feet the wind was causing a terrific storm. This valley and its sheltering mountain ranges give me such goosebumps when the force of nature displays it's powers. At one spot in Provo Canyon, there is a perpetual waterfall for thousands of feet. It the winter it is a curtain of ice glued to the granite.

Provo Canyon in the Winter

Provo Canyon is beautiful any time of the year. When we drove through it just after a big snow storm we were amazed at the breathtaking beauty of the gigantic granite mountains. I'm sharing a few. The road is a wide and safe highway, but ice and snow on it can be hazardous. We were going up the canyon, but we passed miles and miles of stalled cars on the other side who were headed for the Lower Basin. They were waiting for the road to be cleared near the mouth of the canyon, where ice had caused an accident. Beauty has it's price, I'm thinking.

We missed our beloved Tyson and Chelsea and Crystal and Jordon so much that we drove up to Idaho to see them just before Christmas. What a joy to be with them again. They are so alive and delightful and loving and welcomed us with open arms. We couldn't be prouder of them and the successes that have made with their lives. May God bless them forever and continue to guide them. They are our family. While traveling to be with them, I snapped a few pictures of our beloved Idaho, also. We visited our best friends, John and Paige, who live in the quiet dreamy countryside west of Boise. The sun was setting as I took pictures of the surrounding farms, the Boise Mountain Range, and the Owyhee Moutanin Range. While driving home I was lucky to get a picture of a train on an overpass over the freeway down by Glenns Ferry. Another pictures shows the heavenly rays of early morning bathing the very productive farms around Jerome and Gooding. As we drove over the snowy and slick and hazardous Sweetzer Pass we had to stop a couple times for truck accidents. I got a picture of some of the snow on the mountainous pass. We truly enjoyed our visit to our precious family in Idaho.

Snowy Christmas at Home

This winter we have enjoyed sooooo much beautiful snow on the Wasatch Mountain range that towers over our humble little home. Gosh, I didn't know there was so much awesome beauty to be seen. I don't think the Austrian Alps have as much beauty as this gigantic mountain range in the Rocky Mountains. We now own a snow blower and it gets used just about every day. I think I really love our little home here in this heavenly valley surrounded by the mountains.