FALL NEWS

It's been month since my last post.
Life seems to throw us all kinds of curves, some good, some bad.
My eye problems are getting better, hallelujah....
but whenever you feel like you are getting back on track, something else gets thrown your way.
I get a nasty tick bite the beginning of June and have been dealing
with Babesia, a somewhat rare, tick-born illness.
It has been a long haul with fever, myalgia, really feeling unwell, constant tiredness, and weekly blood checks. Finally we are getting somewhere. I have tested negative twice. But we are now testing
again for Lyme, because I still have painful myalgia.
How can a tiny tick...and I mean TINY, create such problems.
The meds were hard to take too. And what I don't understand is the price of the medication Mepron. A 1000.00 dollars for only fourteen days, and multiply this by many weeks.
Even with insurance it is still very hard on the wallet. But you do what you have to do.
Hopefully this will be the end of this saga.

With this said, there also has been some good news:
The magazine with our home featured is out and on the newsstands.

We are in "Vintage Style" Fall/Winter 2014

They did a good job, and the writer "got" me. As some of you will know, this is not always the case.
One very funny thing though....it says "doll makers home", and not a doll to be found.
Oh, there were some dolls in our home, but for whatever reason,
be it that the photographer was a man, or that the magazine opted not to show any, I will never know....
but we all find it somewhat strange.

To house and home......
I am cleaning out everywhere.
We are toying with the idea of putting our house on the market
sometime next year. Because my hubby has ongoing health issues,
the property itself has become too much.
A small piece of property and a home on one floor would be the better choice.
We have to see. Meanwhile I am purging.
My friend Laura is coming soon to help me set up Etsy.
I have so many things to part with from antique children's clothing, to bears, and much more.
That should be interesting. Hope to get on with that in the beginning of the new year.

To some other good news..... I am working on some Fall and Halloween dolls, and will be posting soon.

And now.....a few pictures........

Love this pumpkin....unusual shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am getting in the mood to do a little

Halloween decorating.

 

And this Harvest moon certainly helps.

 

 

So, watch out for some Fall-Halloween

goodies for sale coming soon.

 

Wishing everyone a beautiful Fall.

 

God bless,

Evi

 

 

WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO

It has been awhile since I have posted.
Much has changed, and unfortunately not all for the better.
Both hubby and I have been dealing with medical issues.

For me, there has been a change that right now affects my vision in my right eye.
I had to have laser surgery the middle of May, (after cataract surgery a few years ago), to remove a film that had developed over my right eye.
Had the same problem with my left eye a few years ago, and the laser surgery on that eye went very well.
Not so this time.
I ended up with what is called posterior vitreous detachment.
In plain English I am dealing with a clear gel-like mass, plus a floater in my eye....like looking thru a shifting white curtain with something black swimming in it.  Yuck.
It has gotten a little better, but I still have problems sewing and doing the things I love.
From what I understand, most of the time it will get better....question is when.
I am trying to live my life normally, but have not had the desire to post, visit blogs, etc. Too much eye strain.
We are also dealing with the fallout of this last horrible winter.
The garden is VERY slowly getting cleaned up.
So much died. It breaks my heart.
Some things will come back, others will not.
A large retaining stonewall partially collapsed. The repair cleaned out the wallet.
I took some pictures over the last month and am sharing them with you....the before and after.
Hopefully we will get back to some normalcy.
Hubby and I would LOVE to forget this last year!

So here are a few pictures........

 

We did not get to see this beautiful view from our living room

this year,

instead this.......

 

We are still cutting out the dead stuff....

carefully.

I see that some things are coming back from

the bottom.

 

 

Last year.....

 

 

...this year.

It will be awhile before I can cut hydrangea's again.

 

 

 

On the right a butterfly bush.

I loved all the butterflies that visited every year.

On the left there is a beautiful clematis...

mostly gone now.

 

 

It draped itself over arbors and fences,

 

 

and had such unusual flowers.

 

 

I spend hours cutting out the dead things very carefully,

and it is slowly coming back.

Lots of plants are gone for good,

no signs of life whatsoever.

 

 

Our big beautiful rose arbor with New Dawn.

My pride and joy.

It was intertwined with a beautiful clematis

that grew all the way up onto our front deck.

 

 

You can see the clematis to the right.

It bloomed together with the rose.

 

 

It was lovely!

 

 

 

This is it this year.

The roses suffered so much too.

Poor hubby is wearing his rose gloves to untangle and cut

the mess.

It is going to take forever to have it pretty again.

 

 

We also lost trellises.

 

 

Besides trellises we lost my beloved birdhouse that

hubby build me once for my birthday.

He is trying to fix it.

 

 

The only things that have been growing and surviving beautifully are the weeds.

It has taken me weeks to catch up, and my bad back does not help.

 

 

But I have planted things like geraniums,

and they are doing great.

I feel there is hope.

 

The one hydrangea that is doing well,

was planted two years ago close

to the house, where it got winter sun.

Just looking at these big heads makes me smile.

 

 

Here and there I tucked in herbs, but because

we have had so much rain lately,

most herbs are not at there prime yet.

I am hoping, since I use a lot in cooking.

Love this golden oregano.

 

And the geraniums on the front deck are

looking great.

So, I am living with hope.

 

 

Hope to use my new carrying basket for flowers or herbs.

It was a birthday gift from hubby,

We got it at the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck.

My one outing.

It was wonderful, but all the looking left and right

made me feel dizzy.

Hopefully they will have it again next year

so that I can have a really good time.

 

And speaking of birthdays.....

mine was not celebrated this year.

I am sure I will make up for it next year!

But my girlfriend Debbie spoiled me, amongst other goodies,

with a most beautiful cake that she baked for me.

How sweet was that!!!!!

 

It tasted great !!!!!!

Look at all the work and love she put in for me.

 

And so I am ending this post.

Grateful to have dear, sweet friends,

a family who loves me,

and even with so many health issues going on right now,

I am grateful for what I have.

And being an optimist at heart,

I know this too shall pass.

 

I wish everyone a great summer!

 

God bless,

Evi

AN APOLOGY!

 

 

Just a note.

As many of you know by now.....

as I went to publish my sale,

my computer locked,

crashed, whatever you might call it.

I set in front of a blank screen,

wondering, what just hit me.

After panicking at first,

I reached out for help, and with  my providers guidance,

I got it going again.

The post is up again in it's entirety.

 

The dolls have found loving new homes.

I am grateful for everyone who hung in there.

You all were troopers.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

 

God bless,

Evi

 

NOT READY FOR PRIME-TIME

 

We are sorry to report that we, and our sisters

are not ready for our debut.

We haven't even grown our whiskers yet,

and are waiting patiently for clothing and all

the goodies our creative mom has promised us.

And waiting is no fun.......

 

 

 

.....and gets mighty cold.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I have been having back problems again on and off

since the beginning of January,

which has developed into full-blown sciatica.

In Germany it is called "Hexenschuss",

translated.........shot by a witch.

Actually it is more like lightening striking.

It is as nasty as it sounds,

and goes right down my "sewing machine pedal" leg.

So, all my babies have to wait a bit longer.

 

As I am grabbing my new best friend, my heating pad,

I am heading for bed.

Not the right way to start Spring.

 

I hope you have a far better and wonderful

beginning of Spring!

 

God bless,

Evi

SNOWED~IN VALENTINE'S DAY LUNCHEON

 

Finally!

After planning and planning,

waylaid by constant snowstorms,

we celebrated our Valentine's day luncheon.

This year my friends Laura (from 52Flea),

Paula, Kathleen, Carole Maynard (Maynard Greenhouse),

and a new friend,

sweet, petite Tovah Martin joined

me for this special occasion.

We missed our dear friend Debbie, who had other plans.

 

Oh, did we have fun!

 

Tovah visited for the first time, and I am looking 

forward to seeing each other in the future.

If the name rings a bell, we'll get to that later....

 

 

The table looked pretty in it's finery.

Tulips always make me happy,

a sign of things to come.

 

The table settings were simple...

the colors subdued.....

 

I do not have much talent when it comes to making things

from paper, and my writing is not very pretty.

(My friend Debbie writes like calligraphy)

Wish I could!

But I found this little birdie project on Country Living's

website with instructions.

I just added things to make them more personal.

 

My contribution were homemade cookies.

The gals always arrive laden with gifts, as you will see.

 

Lunch consisted of Cream of Asparagus Soup with

 sautéed shitake mushrooms,

Baked Salmon with Brown sugar and mustard crust,

red potatoes with creme fraiche and chives,

and Ina Garden's Corn and Avocado Salad.

 

Desert was an apple cake and a fruity chocolate Torte.

Unfortunately I did not get to take pictures,

but I saw the girls photographing.

Maybe they will have pictures on their blogs.

 

When my friends come, they come bearing gifts.

There is no way of stopping them.

They are the most giving friends,

and I don't mean only gifts.

They are there for each other and for me

whatever is going on.

Their love and caring, our sharing is to me

the biggest gift anyone could give!!!!!

I love them all with my whole heart.

And this is what Valentine's Day is all about.

 

The beautiful basket above was made by my friend

Carole Maynard.

I am in absolute awe.

There are more than 40 pieces of paper interlocking

to make this creation.

How does she do this?!

I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

Some of us had not exchanged Christmas gifts yet either.

So there was quite a flurry of activity.

Many beautiful and thoughtful gifts were exchanged.

 

Laura knows how much I love rabbits.

Yes, this pretty pillow cover from Pottery Barn will

soon find a special place in our home.

Ah, signs of spring.....

 

and Paula followed suit by giving me this

pretty Rabbit's Foot Fern,

gussied up in a beautiful container.

 

Kathleen made sure our tootsies stayed warm

with Valentine's socks packaged in a pretty heart box.

 

Oh, and if this was not enough joy,

Tovah gave me one of her absolutely beautiful books.

Tovah is an author of more than a dozen inspiring books

on gardening. She writes for many magazines, teaches,

and many of you will remember her as a garden editor

for Victoria magazine.

 

 

When I went to bed last night, I took the book with me.

I started to read and could not stop. It is not just giving you pictures of house plants and important information,

oh no, there is a story with every plant.

The are loved, and they have personalities.

I chuckled at the story of the asparagus fern.

This is definitely not just a plant book!

And there is Einstein, her cat.

Being a cat lover, I would love to see a whole book

on Einstein and his life with this lovely, creative woman.

I feel truly blessed to have her join us and making a new friend.

 

 

And with the winter woes, we all needed

a happy occasion.

Some of my friends made it up the driveway,

others had to walk.

This winter has not been kind to us here in the

Northeast.

Snow was flying fast and furious.

Wait for the same scene coming up.

 

The snow is over two feet deep with

many higher snow drifts.

Here it is now up to the railing.

There is furniture under all this white stuff....

hard to believe.

We are trying to get it off the roof.

This load scares me to death. So many roofs are

collapsing. We have a leak on the chimney cap membrane.

Something to be fixed after this mess.

 The bitter cold cracked it, and the crows

are helping themselves by pecking at the rubber.

What next !!!!

 

 

On the front deck there are big window boxes

under the snow.

You can guess where they are?

 

 

My deer is frozen into the snow and ice.

The real ones have a hard time walking through the snow

and finding food.

 

And this weird crater is our version of mount Vesuvius.

Actually this is a tree stump way under there.

Interesting!

 

Remember where the snow was in the picture before.

This was after the storm, oh, and we will get

another 4 to 6 inches tomorrow.

 

So, with this in mind, I will be heading for my bed early

with Tovah's book and dreams of plants and spring.

All my plants are at hubbies office for the winter.

Our home gets too dry and warm.

He takes good care of them, but I

cannot wait to get reacquainted.

 

I think by now most of the country is yearning for spring.

Happy dreams!

 

God bless,

Evi