Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Folly By the Sea

Follow Me To The Sea



Every year since I can remember (with very few exceptions) I have spent at least a small amount of time at the seashore in the summertime. I know I am not alone in this ritual. The lure of the ocean is powerful at any time of the year, but particularly so in the summer. I am not sure whether this is because so much of my childhood was spent in swimming and sailing on the waters of the Cape or whether the feeling would be as strong if we hadn't had that pleasure every year. But either way, I cherish the small amount of time I can get away each year and visit the sea. I know, too, that everyone has "their" ocean. The one that speaks to them the most clearly. For some it is the rocky coast of Maine. For some it is the Islands of the Carribbean. For me it is the sandy shores of Cape Cod, in particular, the Outer Cape where the land narrows to a thin strip, embraced on both sides by the sea. I am so lucky that my Father and his Partner live there for half the year and are happy to host a never ending procession of friends and relatives! And this year was no exception!



So I went to the seashore. And while my Father and his partner Diane don't live right on the shore (which is actually a very good thing because the shore doesn't stay put very well in some places...) almost everyone I know dreams of a visit to a cottage on the shore. So you may imagine my surprise when I came across this lovely little cottage by the shore that was NOT already booked for the WHOLE summer!



It looked so familiar!



My friends and I engaged it on the spot!



Oh, did I forget to mention that besides my son, a bunch of my little friends decided to come with me to the shore this year? It was one of those last minute decisions, but they all wanted to come!


Ken has decided to go for an early walk on the beach before the crowds arrive!


Oh, and my time traveling friends are here too! I'm not sure how long they are staying.





But they wanted to check the place out.







I know they have NOT brought their bathing suits so there will be no swimming. But a walk perhaps?





But not a very long walk in those gowns!



Someone should have warned them how sandy it would be!





Charlotte and her children came too! They were very eager to spend some time at the shore!











They are VERY good children. But she did have to warn them to be careful and not stray too far. And they did NOT bring their swim suits either. It was a last minute decision to come after all. But that is just as well. I don't think she would have let them swim anyway because of the Sharks!









Maybe not any farther than this!





(Tommy is sure that sharks won't come this far ashore!)





Oh, but WHO is this? Have we even met before?
Would you care to go for a walk on the beach?






Felicity is happy to go for a walk, even though she just got home from staying out all night at a ball..... (NOT a beach ball in that gown!)







It is such a lovely view!







Or they could stay and join Charlotte and the children for a picnic breakfast!



But I am not sure if anyone remembered to pack the picnic basket..... it WAS such a last minute decision!








So you may be surprised to find out that some small improvements have been happening recently to the Folly! It has NOT been ALL fun and games! Come on in and I will show you!





The most noteworthy improvement has been the addition of a cornice trim in the parlor. I found some small scale trims in the ready-made wooden moulding sections of the local Home Depot. I painted them in the light blue with gold in the recessed parts. I think they add a good framework that was missing before with the painted ceiling.




I know you won't remember how it was before, but the fireplace has been painted to resemble black marble around the firebox. And the firebox itself has had the brickwork painted in.





This close-up just shows the rough nature of the paint job.



I think it will need a little touching up!






So far, the only improvements to the windows has been the view.......Come look!
















I sure wish I could curl up and sleep by this window!





As for the outside, the missing shingles on the roof ARE slowly being completed!







I don't know about you, but I will ALWAYS dream about a cottage by the seashore.








I'm glad you could join me in a little Folly by the Sea!




















Follow Me To The Sea

23 comments:

  1. Love the house on the beach photos! Great idea!:)

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  2. I like your house, it is very nice on the outside.I love the colors.
    And I like your playing with the dolls.I do so too. The pictures with the childs and the beach are great !
    Nina

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  3. lovely spot for a beach house, nice views but such a shame they didn't get to go for a swim!!! hadn't they heard of skinny dipping!! :)

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  4. Love this little story. Your house is lovely!

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  5. Thanks Ewa! I had fun! I just couldn't resist bringing the minis with me!

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  6. Thanks Susanne, it is a very beautiful place! I am so lucky to be able to go!

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  7. Thank you Nina! I was just looking at your dolls too. I LOVE the little baby carriage you made for the little girl! Where do you get your dolls? They have such good joints to pose them!
    I love color so I am making the house as colorful as I can!

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  8. Hi Christine! I had to laugh at your skinny dipping comment! Not ONE of them (well, maybe Ken :)) thought of it - or EVER would think of it! They are MUCH too old fashioned for that!lol! Positively Victorian! Actually going into the water was NOT yet fashionable!

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  9. Thank you Heather! And welcome to my blog! I am having fun playing with the house(s) ... but the stories don't always come to me easily. They just all wanted to go to the beach so I had to make it happen!

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  10. What a nice story, I like it!

    Greetings Jody.

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  11. I love your dolls and that fireplace is precious!

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  12. And Thanks to you too, Visionary Butterfly! Thanks for "Flitting " over to my blog! I just checked out your blog! Nice Kitchen!

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  13. i love the house and its the best think i have every saw i like the colouer and the dolls and the cloths
    hugs
    lauren's crafting tries

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  14. Thanks, Lauren! I love to hear that people like the colors I use.... I love lots of color! Thanks for commenting!

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  15. Wonderful photos! I really enjoyed the story, the scenery and all the visitors to the lovely cottage by the sea!

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  16. Hehe, Betsy, I know many people travel with their dolls but so far you are the only one who travels with your house!!!! You may top the list for most enthusiastic dollhouse lovers! :):).

    I just love the variety of your dolls. And the scene between Felicity and Ken reminds me of the movie 'Somewhere in Time".

    This time , you have provided many pictures with snippets of your commentary and I must say they are much easier to read :). I have always enjoyed reading your posts, long paragraphs or not and I always read every word, so don't get me wrong :). Just saying it's easier to read! :):)

    By the way, no need to worry about picnic baskets, they can have fishes and clams for dinner ! :)

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  17. Thanks Helene! I think it was looking at your pics of your dollhouses outdoors that gave me the idea to bring the Folly to the seashore... and once the idea was formed, I couldn't ignore it! Thanks for your inspiration... it was really fun... and SO satisfying to actually see it on the sand dunes!

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  18. Hi Sans! I could only bring the house because it is so little and light weight! And once I had imagined seeing it at the beach.... I just HAD to bring it! And then the dolls all HAD to come too..... my Dad was very understanding and waited on the beach while I did all the photos early in the morning before there were too many BIG people there.... I really enjoy seeing it there.....
    As for the *ahem* wordiness of some of my paragraphs.... I get carried away by the letters I love so much all coming together as words..... and lacking any kind of editor looking over my shoulder I just go on and on.... I come by it honestly .... my family are all very wordy too!
    But I will try to include a better ratio of pictures to words..... because I love pictures just as much if not more..... just don't want to bore people with too many pictures either....
    :)
    As for the clams and fishes, I'm afraid we big people ate them all ourselves while the little people weren't looking..... I'm going to have to get up to speed with some of the finer accessories like mini food and dishes! So much still to do.... but that is where the FUN comes in!

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  19. You know, Betsy, whenever I need a good read, I come over here and hope that there's a new post from you :). I love words too. Used to be a voracious reader, you know the kind who reads with a pencil so that I can underline interesting paragraphs , write down how I felt ! :) Not anymore though. There really has been a paradigm shift on people's attitude toward books and the habit of reading thanks to technology.

    I say just be yourself. Write how you like. :). I will always love coming here :).

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  20. Thank you Sans! I truly value your comments and enjoy reading YOUR posts just as much. I love the way you weave so much information into your tales! I can only hope to be as interesting a read as your posts! As for reading a lot.... can't seem to stop myself, but mini-making has cut into reading time lately! I just LOVE to make things!

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  21. Están francamente bonitas la casa y las fotos, muy original.
    Un abrazo
    Maite

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