Sweet and Spooky Dolls

TGIF!!!  It is a misty, cold, and dreary morning here in SW Virginia today.  The weathermen are even calling for snow in the mountains!   

A couple of weeks ago at the auction where we bought the Victorian buffet (a couple of posts below), they had several of these French boudoir dolls.  There was one in particular that I fell in love with because she looks like me!  Fate and luck were with me that day because I was able to buy her!  I would like for you to meet Bridget...

 Isn't she adorable with her hat and glasses?  And those hoop earrings, pink taffeta dress with lace insets!  I was so happy that I was getting to keep her but decided she shouldn't live alone, so I also bought a little lady I call Helene....

 Isn't she stunning with her blue polka dot dress with lacy slip and that jaunty red beret is just the cat's meow.  These dolls were made in the 1920's and are composition and cloth with painted features.  I had never seen any before except in pictures and really like them.  The auctioneer said he would have some more for auction next month as he had just grabbed a couple out of a house he said was totally full of dolls.  I can't wait until his next auction!

And this little lady was purchased simply because no one would bid on her and I stuck my hand up and said $1.00 and the auctioneer yelled SOLD!  I am so glad she got to come home with me.  She looks a little like one of the Little Women.  I named her Sally.  That was my great grandmothers name.

Now I have to say Yngwie and his friends do not like these dolls sitting around at all!  When he was home last weekend with friends they thought I just had them out as spooky Halloween decorations!  He also thinks it's weird that his 50 year old mom names her dolls.   My sister even said they were positively scary!  Really??  I think they are adorable!  I guess it's a matter of perspective.

I actually have NOTHING planned for this weekend.  WHOO HOO!!  A free weekend.  I am soooo looking forward to it! 

Blessings

Linda

p.s. I am linking up to Romantic Homes Show and Tell Friday!  You can find it here:  http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Good Monday Morning!

I say that "tongue in cheek" as I most definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  UGH...  I hate when I get up grumpy.  Fortunately, coffee was made when I got to work and after about 3 cups I am finally starting to act human.  Kinda..

I have no reason to be grumpy, yesterday was a glorious day in Virginia.  The sun was sifting throught the beautiful fall leaves and it was the perfect day for a day trip.

Our family hit the road about 10:00 on our way to Paint Bank, VA.  A beautiful little town about two hours from where I live and very close to White Sulpher Springs, WV.  On the way, we stopped at the VA State fish hatchery.   They had ponds full of every kind of trout you can think of.

 This is an inside view of the restaurant.  The restaurant is on the ground floor and upstairs is the swinging bridge and gift shop.  The restaurant is called The Swinging Bridge and is in an old converted general store.  The specialty of the house is buffalo and that is exactly what we had.  Buffalo Burgers!  They were delicious!

This is the view of the top of the restaurant from where I was sitting.

 Yours truly standing on the swinging bridge.

 There are lots of scenes like this in the restaurant.  It is truly very pretty.

 On the property stands an old corn mill.  You could go inside and see how the grain was ground.

 The landscaping outside the restaurant is just lovely.  There were several ponds, streams and waterfalls.

 Yngwie was home and went with us!

 This is a view of the restaurant from the parking lot.  Look at those mountains in the background!

 We drove on into Sweet Springs WV where this place used to be a resort.  The area is known for it's "healing" springs and many presidents and famous people came to Sweet Springs to relax and heal in the waters.

 This is the old bathhouses around the pool.  All of this has fell into disrepair and is abandoned now.  Apparently there is no money for it's upkeep, which is such a shame considering it's history.

All in all it was a fun and relaxing day and I should sit back awhile and reflect on the blessing of living in such a beautiful place and getting to spend the day with my loved ones.  I have no reason to be grumpy.

Blessings

Linda

Finally Found It!

What is it you say???  It is a victorian buffet for my dining room!!!!  I have been searching for at least 15 years for a walnut victorian buffet that was in my price range and unfortunately, all the ones that I liked, well... they weren't.  So last Friday DH and I decided to go preview the furniture that was going to be at an auction on Saturday and low and behold there was a buffet.

I felt my heart going pitty pat and the auctioneer came over and was showing it to me and I asked how much do you think this will bring?  He said not under $2000!!  My heart dropped like a rock.  Waaaayyy more than I wanted to pay.  I said I wanted to pay less than $1000 and he just laughed and said no way would I get that buffet for less than $1000.

But Saturday morning we decided to head over to the auction anyway.  We were very surprised that there wasn't very many people there, but there wasn't a whole lot for sell, mostly all furniture.

The buffet was item number 97 on the list and as I watched the items being sold before it, I was surprised to see that they weren't bringing near as much money as I thought or the auctioneer thought.  As a matter of fact I bought a couple other things before the buffet even came up.

Finally, the buffet came up on the block and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears!!! "Up next is a Victorian Buffet from the early 1800's, solid walnut" What's the bid??   $100, 200, 300, 400, 500 that was by bid... going once, going twice,.... people you aren't looking here cried the auctioneer!  SOLD!!!!  I got my buffet for $500!!!  The auctioneer just looked at me and shook his head and smiled.  I was so excited I practically jumped for joy.

It fits perfectly in my dining room!   See those bottom doors?  You push them and they are like Lazy Susans... 

 Look how the doors swivel!

The detail on the back is just gorgeous!

You can't imagine how happy I am to have finally found the buffet that I have been wanting for much less than I ever expected to pay!  I am so looking forward to decorating it for Christmas!  And don't hve to wait too much longer to do that, do I?

Hope everyone has a marvelous weekend!

Blessings

Linda



Halloween Treat Bags!

One of the most magical things about Halloween when I was little was when you would go Trick or Treating and someone would give you a treat bag!  Those mysterious bags, ususally stapled at the top and you would have no idea what would be inside until you got home and opened it up. 
Would it be a delicious Hershey bar or the much coveted BB Bat taffy stick?  Or one of those yucky orange and black molasses chews?  Perhaps Bazooka bubble gum and a Tootsie pop? 

I loved getting those bags and would save the bags until my mom would clean my room and pitch them away.

 I decided to make treat bags for all the employees of our company this year.  I purchased clear plastic treat bags and made the cardstock toppers for them. 

 If was so much fun to put together all the fun elements for these little treat bags.

Yummy candy inside, Milk Duds, Reese's Cups, M&M's, Fruit snacks, etc...

But no nasty molasses chews!

Blessings

Linda

It's Time for the Halloween Happy Shelves!

I am so excited to show you my Halloween Happy Shelves!  I hope they make you smile, like they make me grin every stinkin' time I walk by them!

 The very top is my extremely tacky silver glittered skulls that I love so much along with those creepy gargoyle candle holders and a few other gruesome friends.

 BEWARE!  of all the scary or not so scary goblins that occupy this shelf!

 My rendition of a Halloween Village.  I bought a plain birdhouse and dressed it up with scrapbook paper and fun embellishments to create the ghostly house in the center.  So much fun, I am making one for Christmas too.

 A couple of my newest occupants are this years Peanuts Halloween figures.  I love Peanuts, do you?

And last but certainly not least, most of my Halloween stuffies!  New for this year is the little orange cat I made on the right.

I can't believe Halloween will be here in a couple of weeks and all my creepy and cool friends will have to be boxed up for another year. 

Blessings

Linda

Spring Violet Dinnerware

Last weekend I attended an estate sale in our town and when I entered the house into the kitchen I saw these dishes sitting in the cabinet.  I was drawn to them instantly and decided right then and there that if the price was right, those dishes were coming home with me!

 Luckily, The price for the entire set was only $35.00 and then it was the second day of the sale so I got 25% off, which came to $26.25!  There were 10 dinner plates, 15 sandwich plates, 12 saucers, (oddly enough, no cups!), 12 bowls, 2 vegetable bowls, 2 platters, 2 creamers and sugars, and 12 dessert plates!

I was estatically happy with my purchase and immediately went home and tried them out with my fall decorations in the dining room.  I think they will look better in the spring, but I am going to use them for Thanksgiving this year.

Later that same week I went over to spend the day with my Aunt who had surgery on her shoulder.  She sent me into the living room for something and on her wall was hanging one of these plates.  I picked it up and took it to her to ask where she got it and she said it had belonged to my grandmother, that the Spring Violet pattern was her Sunday dish pattern!   It must be genetics!  The original set now lives with my cousin.  So, now I am on the search for the cups.  I'm sure I could find them on ebay, but the physical search is way more fun!  And the guy who ran the estate sale said the basement of the house was still packed up and he would be selling it soon.  Maybe those cups are hiding down there!

Blessings

Linda

June??? Really??/ June??? or Welcome to Fall!

I can hardly believe that my last blog entry was in June!!!   Good Grief! 

I had an extremely busy summer!  My garden was just fantastic!  I truly had an over abundance of vegetables that I spent nights and weekends canning and still had plenty to give away to friends and family

 Lots of Pickles, both cucumber and beet!

 Zucchni relish, squash pickle, bread and butter pickle.....

 Canned tomatoes and pickled beets.......

 Tomatoes and cucumber galore!

 Lots of beautiful peppers!  Aren't those purple ones gorgeous?

One packed freezer!  I'm ready for winter!

Blessings

Linda