Sentimental Restoration

As a young child, one of my favorite things about visiting my Nana and Gampy was Susabella. In my little girl memory, Susabella was the most beautiful baby doll, with her curly auburn hair and glacier blue eyes that opened & closed. Her lace trimmed dress was several shades lighter than her eyes, but the same icy blue hue. When we (the 3 grand-daughters) would visit my grandparents, Nana would "hide" Susabella...usually in one of the same 4 places :-) The search for the treasured baby doll was almost as exciting as being the first to find her.

My cousins and I were in our late teens/ early twenties when our Nana passed away and Susabella was the one heirloom that nearly caused an irreparable family feud. Because I was the eldest grandchild, it was decided that the coveted baby doll would be mine.

For years I kept Susabella perched on the needlepoint cushion of a chair my Nana made. As she (and I) aged, Susabella's auburn locks grew brittle. Some of her eyelashes loosened. Her "skin" became a bit grimy and her dress began to disintegrate. Still, I saw her as the precious doll of my youth. It wasn't until I had my own children that Susabella's age became evident to me. I finally put her in a closet, wrapped in a blanket my Nana had knit, when the sight of her (literally) gave my son nightmares.

Last week Susabella fell off my closet shelf, while I was searching for a handbag, and I decided it was time for a make-over. I had originally intended to research companies that did professional restoration of dolls, but happened upon a plethora of websites that sell doll making supplies. I ordered a wig and a pair of new eyelashes, figuring that was as good a place to start as any. The package arrived this afternoon. I washed Susabella as best I could with "Goo Gone" and popped her new do on, with minimal difficulty. The eyelashes were quite another story...don't know HOW Dolly Parton et al mess with those things on a regular basis! I dug through a bin of my favorite baby clothes of my daughter's and found an ensemble that does Susabella proud.

Of all of the refinishing projects I have undertaken, this has been FAR and away my favorite. Although I think of my Nana frequently, today she was working alongside me as we restored Susabella to her original beauty! The fact that her eyelashes are crooked and there are remnants of ballpoint pen on her chin is apropos. It was Nana, after all, who presented a lovely gift-wrapped present held together with black, electrical tape!

A little late for Halloween...

Seems the holiday season brings out the shutter-bug in me. I took some pictures of my pup's cat....Yes, the cat belongs to the dog. They adopted each other a few weeks after we got the puppy. A year later, it would appear that both are here to stay. I digress. I, personally, thought this picture of Abigail is adorable, but have been told it's "beyond" spooky.

Winter Wonderland

I'm having a bit of difficulty with the placement of pictures in the entries, but wanted to add a few I took today, after my daughter & the pup got tired of posing. I especially like the picture of the gold star in the boxwoods. That was quite accidental. Evidently, the star fell off of the garage door during the storm and my landlord kindly propped it in the bush while he was plowing.

Did Someone Say "Snow"???

Not that it's unusual to have a snowy December in New England, but it would appear that Mother Nature decided to dump a whole winter's worth in 3 days! The children were, naturally, thrilled to wake up Friday morning to a day off from school. I was equally pleased, when it continued all day, to not have to go to work. Saturday was clear, so my vacation was short-lived. I was pleasantly surprised to find that things weren't TOO crazy, at work, after the loss of one precious shopping day. We woke up to more snow this morning and it continued through most of the afternoon. The kids and I are all teetering on the brink of cabin fever. I don't dare check the weather channel, for fear tomorrow may be another school cancellation and I NEED the day for last minute bustling about. I sure hope Mother Nature is listening and will take pity on those of us who aren't quite as organized as we'd like to be.

My little one braved the elements, with an (initially) reluctant 13 pound fuzz-ball, in tow. They had a fabulous time and I thoroughly enjoyed capturing their snowy smiles on "film".