My Boy Joseph......

Just look at my beautiful boy Joseph. My doll Joseph that is! I remember the day he arrived at my home. I was around 6 or 7 years old. Up the road from our home lived a family who had three daughters and I guess at that time they would have been in their late teens to mid twenties. The youngest of the family, Gayle had decided that there were some of her childhood things that she didn't want to keep and that is when Joseph came to live with me. I have loved him for the past 35 years or so. He has never had a large wardrobe as he is a large doll. He had a couple of singlets and a matinee jacket or two and alway a nappy to wear. He has wonderful eyes that open and close but the most unusal thing about them is that they move from side to side!

My Mum has been busy smocking and he is wearing his beautiful new smocked bubble suit and his darling little beret! Isn't she so clever. I wish my little girl was still small enough to wear pretty smocked dresses.

He has just had a trip to hospital - the dolly hospital that is. His hand needed fixing and his face was a little worn, but he is all better now!!

I think he looks a darling sitting up there in his lovely vintage high chair (a recent find) with his Bunnykins bowl and mug (that belong to Alexandra) .

We recently took him to a valuer and were quite suprised to find out he is worth at least $200! I was astounded.

Another recent find is this lovely old mirror. I just love its' oval shape. It looks wonderful above the sideboard.

Can you see my mannequin wearing her new "fur". I was so pleased to find it also in the local thrift shop.

Also at the thrift shop last week I found this beautiful cake plate. It has delphiniums on it. It was meant to be I think as I have just planted quite a few punnets of dephiniums in the garden. I am going to hang it on the wall in the kitchen.

My dear friend "B" has been spoiling me again. Look at this lovely trailing vine she bought for me. It certainly did the job of cheering me up during a few weeks of feeling a little low.

I made this "Vintage Tag" a little while ago. It was a lovely little project to work on. I had a lot of fun going through my old lace collection and choosing just the right pieces. It has some embroidery and also quite a lot of little beads and pearls too.

A little more pottering around the house this weekend I hope. The children are on school holidays now which means a little more leisurely pace around here for a few weeks. I just had a phone call to say my two pieces of furniture have had their makeover and will be back tomorrow - so that will be exciting to play with.

So, with some lovely thrifting finds and some very nice pottering in the garden the last two weeks have been a little more bearable.

I visited the lovely Penny McKinlay in Pittsworth this week and bought five beautiful Old Tea Roses. The two I have already, Mrs. B.R. Cant and Rosette DeLizzy are growing beautifully, so hopefully these new ones will perform just as well.

Looking forward to a wonderful weekend.