Twenty-Six

I've just celebrated another birthday. I am not 26. However, Sweetie and Pretty have lived in this house for 26 years this month! 

Here we are, in our starter home, getting ready to celebrate one last holiday before we move. The last thing I will bake in this house will be holiday rolls this afternoon. They will be knots, rather than crescents, mostly because I have already packed the rolling pin. When they come out of the oven, all the baking supplies will be packed up snug, because (drumroll please)...  

We close on Thursday for the new place! 

If you're counting (and I most certainly am) we've spent...

26 Halloweens...

26 Thanksgivings...

26 Christmases...

26 New Years...

26 Wedding Anniversaries...

26 Birthdays for each of us, and after tomorrow...

26 Easters in this house!

Nostalgic much, Pretty? I know. I know. But that's what happens. We took down the photos and the growth charts, and we are packing things up every day. I'd like to think that the trash collectors are impressed with the amount of refuse and recycling we have hauled to the curb so far. Jess is right. I am a hoarder. But I am less of of a hoarder now. Progress...and Swedish Death Cleaning...lol!

Just one more holiday in this house. 

Two more weeks. 

Three more blog posts (including this one) in this house. 

That's a pretty good run, so thanks for the memories, Little House!

I know it's still a pandemic out there, but I can not help but hope that you have some plans to gather with loved ones, either online or in person, to celebrate the hope that Easter and Springtime bring. New beginnings, including rounds of vaccines for everyone, and fresh starts are everywhere. What is one way you can start fresh today?

Whatever it is, I'm glad you took a moment to stop in and say hello! 

Happy Easter, peeps!, and Knit in Good Health!

A Doll's House

I will start by offering an apology to any of you who are seriously into the miniatures game, which I (clearly) am not. There was a time I thought I would be, circa 1992-ish (???), and that's when I bought this lovely piece of work:

I actually bought it as a kit, built it, painted it and decorated it. Then I furnished it with items I made myself from balsa wood, cardboard, foam and fabric scraps, using plans from a book I checked out of the local library. 

The wallpapers were purchased from a shop that specialized in miniatures, and the patterns are to scale for the house. 

Carpet in the living room, bedroom and sewing room are small cuts from upholstery samples I found while perusing for craft supplies, and the kitchen floor is fashioned from scraps of wallpaper, glitter and a clear-coat varnish of some sort.

The upstairs carpeting was created from 1-inch squares of felt, and that is probably one of my favorite parts of this dollhouse. I glued them down one at a time!

I made curtains for all the windows and doors, using fabric, lace and ribbon scraps I had laying around, because I have always been into all of the crafts, and sewing is no exception! All-in-all, this dollhouse was so dear to me that I never let my daughter play with it. I'm a little embarrassed about that, because she really wanted to play with it...and it is a toy...but I held fast for some reason. 

I do still have a couple of the wood pieces I made, and the original chair and sofa. But balsa wood is weak, and when I finally let a couple of kids play with the darn house, many of them bit the dust. The original beds (with their fancy, curvy, carved frames and headboards) and sewing table (with it's impossibly skinny legs) are no more. 

As I entered into my knitting years, I crafted some dolls of an almost appropriate size, 

and they did need a place to sleep, so I eventually made three beds in plastic canvas for them a few years back. The dolls have been pretty happy with those, and there have even been a couple of sleepovers with the barbies...but there is (sadly) not much photo evidence of that.

When Jess was too old to play with the dollhouse, I gave it to a friend whose daughters were also not allowed to play with it (although I told their mom that I wanted SOMEONE to play with it). Then I had my first grandchild, a girl. One of those other girls that couldn't touch the dollhouse growing up contacted me, asking if I wanted it back for this new dear girl to play with. What goes around comes around, isn't that what they say?

So I have had the dollhouse in my little house again for the past 10 years or so, and my granddaughters have LOVED playing with it! My daughter is still a little resentful, so she doesn't play with it, and she has two boys that probably won't play with it. (To be fair, the trim is splintering and falling off, and the pieces inside are probably no longer as safe as they may have once been...and the boys do have other dolls and many, many toys!)

So, in my continued Cleanout of 2021, this one will be leaving my home. Just about everyone is ready to see it go, but I blog it to hold onto the memories, and to remind myself to let the kids play with the toys already! There is nothing so precious as the heart of a child, and aren't we all kids at heart sometimes? So play with the kids, and play with the toys, and live in the moment today...because tomorrow is never guaranteed.

Do you have a favorite childhood toy memory? Drop me a comment, and tell me about it!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Life in a Little House

This past week, I have thought a lot about Little House on the Prairie. Pa and Ma, Mary, Laura and Carrie all lived together in a very small space. Visits from neighbors were few and far between in the early days...not another soul but the Ingalls there usually...especially during long, hard winters. Pa worked the fields on their property, Ma and the girls spent their time keeping the household running and occasionally taking odd jobs to bring in egg and pin money... 

Watching the television show as a kid, and even watching reruns as an adult, it seems so idyllic. Sure, they had their issues. Kids did not always get along, and sometimes hail ruined the crops. I am sure Ma burned a dinner or two, and although the work was rewarding, it was difficult. But at the end of the day, Pa took out his fiddle, the girls sang and clapped and danced until it was time for washing up and prayers. Then they all fell into bed and slept peacefully until dawn.

Perusing social media, I have seen the desperate posts of mothers trying to work with littles underfoot and fathers in just the next room over doing the same. It has made me wonder, more than once, about the similarities to pioneer life. How many of us are confined to our own, small houses and property with only our families for company? Is this the first time it has been like this for us? Can you imagine the pioneers of our country living like this without the Internet, Zoom meetings and social media? How did they not lose their minds???

I suppose they were just used to it, as we are all getting more used to it with every passing week. I miss church gatherings and visits with neighbors. I miss getting together with my knitting group. I MISS HUGGING MY GRANDCHILDREN!!! Even with the Internet, Zoom meetings, social media and blogging, I can feel my mind slowly slipping away many days!

As the Ingalls girls grew, so did the towns on the prairie. Eventually we see kids going to school most days, and Ma even gets a job as a school teacher for a short time. It doesn't happen overnight, and the adjustments to more people always seem difficult. But the joy of having other people nearby, and the opportunities to "pick a little, talk a little" with other moms, dads, kids...well, it was certainly something to look forward to! Church social? Yes, please! 

I am looking forward to the day we have a vaccine for this virus. I am looking forward to the time when gatherings of more than 10, no masks required, are once again upon us. I am looking forward to picking up my grandkids and hugging them as tightly as they will endure, possibly kissing them all over their little faces (yes, even the 9-year-old, if I can hold her down), and I am confident that day will come. I am looking forward to more time outside the 1,054 sq ft of my own Little House. 

In the meantime, I am thankful for our jobs and for kids and grandkids who reach out via video chats, text and phone calls. I am thankful for Essential Workers who keep healthcare, safety and commerce going so that I can be confident that we will have what we need for our time in this Little House. And I am thankful to know that this is not all there is...I am thankful to have hope in Jesus, and a place in heaven when my race here is finished.

I am also thankful for the knitting, and my massive yarn stash! I mean, what are the people without hobbies doing right now to stay sane??? What are YOU doing to keep your sanity close? Do you need some yarn? I could drop it off on your porch...

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!