Thursday's Trip to the Farmers Market....

On Thursday, my Mom and I took a much anticipated day trip....

After an hour and a half drive, our excitement mounted as we finally reached our destination, the Pee Dee Farmers Market Annual Plant Show & Sale!

(Florence, SC)

It didn't seem we could get there fast enough!

Among the the acres and acres....

splashes of color and lush greenery, we felt we were in Heaven on earth!

We found the usual impatiens, ferns, bougainvillea, petunias, etc...,

but there were many neat unusual plants available...

Below is one I would have loved to brought home...some sort of corkscrew plant,

but it needed a wet, boggy environment to flourish,

definitely not what I have, so I had to leave it behind....

Funnel Cakes....ummmm....

This was a new one on me....Donkey's Ear...

Mom's Favorite...Iris'

Gerbera Daisies Galore....

Fresh Produce....& Strawberries...nestled among lush ferns!

We've made our purchases, loaded our wagons, and are heading home!

I had four "helpers" ....Ashley, David, Coco, & Bailey,

....to plant Saturday, until the rain came quickly,

and we had to stop...now I guess I will have to finish on my own!

Unfortunately, although it was 85 Friday, we are now facing a freeze warning tomorrow night!

I will post pics of my completed plantings when the weather clears and I am able to finish!

My plants are accumulating frequent flyer miles,

while being moved back and forth between the garage and porch/yard...dodging the frost! :)

"In the Spring, at the end of the day,
you should smell like dirt."
~Margaret Atwood

Sharing My Vintage Dolls...

As promised, I pulled a few of my favorite vintage dolls out of storage this weekend! The Shirley Temple Doll, Campbell's Soup Doll, and Cupie Doll I am familar with, but if anyone has any information on the other dolls, I would appreciate you sharing it with me!

The doll directly below is made of some sort of plaster material. The clothes were made by my grandmother, so they are not original...

The doll on the far left is a Hungarian Doll.

Thanks for looking, hope someone can provide insight on the these dolls! :)

~Rhonda

Doll Parade...

I read through a friend's blog that Faerie Window was hosting a Dolly challenge today, and I was so excited to participate! I have collected dolls and have accumulated some neat vintage ones, but they are packed up. I am going to try to get some of them out in the next few days. I'm anxious to revisit with them myself! "smiles"

I was able to access my very favorite and most cherished ones!

These dolls were all handcrafted by my grandmother.

She has always had a fondness for dolls!

On Saturdays, she would scout the local flea market & yard sales for dolls in distress, and in need of a new home. Instead of bringing home stray dogs, she brought home dolls. Most needed a lot of TLC & doctoring, and would have been headed for the trash, had she not rescued them from their fate!

On most any Monday morning, you could ride by her house, and find dolls, rescued the Saturday before, hanging from a clothes line under her carport, to dry from an intense, washing, scrubbing, and hair cutting! She was in her late 70's and 80's by then. Can you imagine what the neighbors thought??? LOL!

The next few days were spent making clothes, with no patterns, only measurements, tailored to each doll with precise perfection and fit!

Her workmanship was beyond reproach!

She felt all proper dolls should be wearing all their correct undergarments too, which she also constructed!

I'm certain these dolls were dressed in a much finer attire, when she completed their transformation, than they originally came from the factory in!

She even did their hair...

She curled and styled each ones hair back to it's original softness and shine. Most had frizzy, dirty, chopped locks by the time she found them.

How many little girls have played beauty shop with their dolls??? I did and that is why I would never consider being a hair dresser today...was not my gift! :)

I couldn't begin to speculate on the number of dolls she brought back to life with her tender hands and care, but I can say, that three bedrooms housed shelves lined tightly with them!

I will try to post some of the dolls she rescued and some of my vintage dolls within the week, so check back with me!

These are cloth dolls my grandmother handcrafted from a pattern. She was an excellent seamstress! She could design and sew an adult or child's dress without a pattern. She made all of her family's clothing, including shirts, pants, and jackets for her five boys, and dresses for her two girls on an old pedal sewing machine.

She was amazing!

Keep in mind, that she made the clothes and most of the accessories for each of these dolls, ....even the shoes and floppy hat, for the dolls just below.

The little stitches sewn on each piece are so exact and finished! I sew a little, but I might not want you to see the underside! :)

My grandmother took a class on doll making and this was her project! She is porcelain.

This doll is ceramic, made from a mold. She painted the skin and face.

Thanks for looking! ~Enjoy!

Rhonda

On The Road Again...

God Bless Our Troops!

Most of my weekend was spent on the road! On Friday, I had to drive my mom to the doctor, and we encountered this sight on our return!

We are located half way between a Marine base and an Army base. Military convoys are a common occurence, but I've never seen one quite like this!

I wanted to stop the car, and salute or clap for them! :)

Thanks to all who serve our country, and their families who support their loved ones!

~~~~~~~

O Spring, Where art Thou???

On Saturday, I had to drive over to our lake house, to check on some repairs being done.

If you look outside, it looks like Spring, BUT it has rained and drizzled for over a week, and today is a chilly 53 degrees. Which, in eastern NC, on the coast in April, that is pretty cold! :)

The ride was a beautiful sight....God's magnificent wonder & handiwork! :)

Wisteria dripping from the trees, delicate lavender drops...

Azaleas bursting with color...

The Boys & Girls Home of North Carolina

The winding road around the lakefront was almost magical! It was an overcast and dreary day, yet the vivid colors of the wisteria, dogwoods, azaleas, and flowering pear trees just popped against the bleak canvas, and were so vibrant!

The clouds are beginning to roll in (AGAIN)...time to head home before the storm!

Good timing...we were almost home when the downpour began! We got over 3" of rain Saturday, which was a blessing!

Our home in the distance...

And last, but not least....Another Big Pink Azalea???

I think not! :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend ! ~ Rhonda

Little Gift Ideas...

This weekend I had to put together some little promotional gifts for our sales rep to pass out to Nurse Referrals at the Doctors' Offices.

Just thought I would share them! They are very "budget conscious"

...a more pleasant word for "cheap"! :)

The plastic cups were 6 for $3.00 at Big Lots. The ribbon & green filler were also purchased at Big Lots! Ribbon was $1.00 a roll, and did 6-7 bows. The green filler was $1.00 a bag and I used less than a half of a bag for 18. The cello bags were found at Wal-mart for $1.27 for 20 bags. The hibiscus flowers were found in bunches at the Dollar Tree, 7 flowers on each bunch for $1.00. The cups were filled with candy from Big Lots and The Dollar Tree, and was all "good chocolate, " but for a great price!

If you have any ideas, I would love for you to share! I'm always looking for inspiration and new ideas, as I have to do these often! :) ~ Rhonda

Tea Pots & Memories...

I've never considered myself much of a partaker of Tea, only the occasional unsweetened tea when I travel or eat out. I can't even make a decent pitcher of sweet tea, which is a shame and a sin, considering I dwell in the south! I didn't realize I had as many Tea Pots & Sets as I did, until I joined in the challenge of the Week 3, Tea-a-thon, hosted by Gracious Hospitality. And so my search began...



Since posting a couple of days ago, with tea pots still on my mind, I began to recall pictures of Ashley taken with tea pots at various ages. I started pulling out my scrapbooks. I love to scrapbook, but have fallen severely behind! There just isn't enough time to fit it in these days. And...when I scrapbook, my world shuts down! Dishes, dust, and laundry pile high and thick, my family and pets go hungry, bits of paper, stickers, and pictures are scattered, and litter what seems the entire house, and myself....Oh, I'm a frightening mess! But I do enjoy it, and the results of capturing our memories is priceless!

I began to leaf through the pages of the books, each turned page evoking a floodgate of emotions and recollections. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I alternated between the two. Sometimes both at the same time! And I have to say, "My babies are P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S, just beautiful!" But then, being their Mom, I may be a little biased! "smiles" I laughed at how funny the were, (and still are!), as I recalled their personalites and the things they did and said. And I cried, for one, the simple fact that they are growing way too fast. Where does the time go? And, for the loved ones in the pictures, that have since passed away, and meant so much to us!

And all the while, the "cheesy" song, Memories, played in my mind and I can't escape it!

Lyrics...

"Memories, light the corners of our minds,...scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind, smiles we gave to one another, from the way we were. Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time rewritten every line?... For it's the laughter we will remember, whenever we remember, the way we were...."

~~~~~~

Memories are much an old friend, and I've decided to share just a few with you, although I could fill this blog with pages and pages of them! :) My daughter will complain that I have probably picked the worst ones, as she always does! LOL! It was hard to pick which ones to share, but I narrowed it down, for one, many contained family and friends that I didn't want to post without their consent. And please keep in mind, most of these are from the late 90's and early 2000, before I had the clarity of a digital camera. :)

Hope that you enjoy them, as much as I have sharing them...

The inspirational picture for this blog!

I'm not sure that you can read the poem, this is it...

~~~~~

The Tea Party

"I had a little tea party, One afternoon at three, T'was very small, Just I, myself, and me.

Myself ate up the sandwiches, While I drank up the tea, T'was also I who ate the pie, And passed the cake to me."
~Anonymous

~~~~~

Madeline's Tea Party

When Ashley was 5, 6, and 7, she participated in "Madeline's Tea Party," hosted by the Literacy Council, as a fundraiser. The girls, accompanied by their moms, dressed in their prettiest dresses, hats, ribbons, and gloves, and enjoyed a delightful light lunch and tea! "Madeline" made an appearance, read one of her books, and took pictures with the girls.

She signed their books, which Ashley still has!

~~~~~~~

I also have pictures, that I didn't include, of Ashley at an Americal Girl Tea Party, at the American Girl Store in NY, much to her chagrin! She was 12, "way too cool," and only went to appease her cousin! LOL! Don't get me wrong, she is a great girl...it was just a phase! :) But I did want to share, that if you are in NY and have a younger girl along, it is a wonderful, fun event to try and the food is great!

~~~~~~~

Ashley ever quite the princess...was also a Ballerina...

David & Ashley...

This is a picture of the Grandmother that I inherited the blue & white Tea Set from, shown in a previous post. She spent her last couple of years in a rest home and passed away three days after my father-in-law, pictured below.

Pictures of a Past Vacation To Florida...

Pictures of past Halloween Costumes...
(Also, captures Ashley's art...the Dog Drawing...)

Pictures of time spent at our Lake House...

The last page/picture contains one of my father-in-law, the children's"Grandaddy Bill", who passed away two years ago. The children were really close to him!