We are having a warm but dry spring, and our gamble to plant tomatoes early looks like it will be a winner. For the next week we are expecting highs in the eighties. Nothing is really more rewarding to me than watching living plants, so the busytime of spring is the height of joy. My overused hands do not allow me to actively garden anymore. But I water and putter.
Tending the house and yard and enjoying our hobbies and visiting friends and family, all fill out pleasant days around the basics in life like caring for Tyler, and for Jack's parents (90 and 96!) who live nearby. Escaping into hobbies like collecting, or handcrafts like knitting and quilting keep a happy balance for people and I believe have importance for that reason.
Just as everything in the garden wants attention right now, there is always the ongoing care of restoring the doll collection. I feel decidedly like the old woman in a shoe with so many dolls I don't know what to do! 80 plus dolls is quite a commitment. Only a handful of them have been bought in original clothing on original bodies in acceptable condition for display. Dolls in prime condition command a premium, when one can find them. So for the past two years now I have been working first to repaint heads and make new bodies for the 26 fire damaged dolls we saved, not to even mention clothes for them yet. And I have added over 50 more antique dolls, almost all of them very needy too! I worry at night that my hands and my time will not be sufficient to put them all in good order. Thank goodness for the help of friends who have made garments for some of them.
Now Jack is making some saddle type stands for them. We used coat hanger wire, in dowels on round wooden bases. A belt of velcro around the waist holds the doll tightly in place. Some are quite heavy, the Greiner doll pictured is 36 inches tall. we have made 4 now, need about 12 or 15 more! In case you are wondering, the little green house in the photo is our cat's door into the garage. Edyth