You're Invited!

A Little Surprise!

Imagine my SURPRISE, ;) Dear Readers, when I came down to my kitchen this morning and found this tiny note propped against my tea mug! I almost overlooked it, except that the TABLE was clean so it was clearly visible against my dirty mug left from the night before....! I opened it straight away, and this is what I found inside......

In case you cannot read the tiny print, I will tell you that it says:

"Dear Daydreamer,

Please join me to look at sites for weddings.

Let's meet at the Castle.

Yours, Pollyanna."

Oh, how SWEET, I thought! This will be really FUN! We can start to plan the wedding right away (so I have an idea of what I am getting in for....!) and she can let me know what sort of things SHE'S thinking of! This WAS going to be fun!
But since she hadn't mentioned a time to meet (Does TIME matter to the dolls?) I decided to have my tea and run a few errands first. Then I would be free to spend all the time necessary just planning weddings! But one thing led to another and before I knew it it was getting LATE! So I hurried on over to the CASTLE!

Guard Ian met me at the door.....

I could hear all sorts of Noise coming from INSIDE the Great Hall..... That's funny, I thought, Pollyanna didn't mention other people coming to look too...... The Hall was ALL lit up! And FULL of people....
Why, it looked as though MOST of the Dolls had gathered..... and were sitting at tables....

And then I looked up and saw Henry motioning to me and saying "We saved you the BEST Seat over here!"

It was then that I noticed a Banner overhead that said "HAPPY"........ That's a nice touch, I thought........

Then I saw the OTHER Banner, right over my head, that said "BIRTHDAY"....... Oh, how SWEET, they're having a Birthday party, thought I........

And THEN I heard them shouting "SURPRISE!" And "Happy Birthday, Daydreamer!"

WHAT? A SURPRISE Birthday Party For ME?

Oh My! OH MY! I NEVER would have imagined this!

But HOW did they know when my Birthday was, I wondered? When I asked Pollyanna she said she heard from Arthur...... He said to Plan a Party at the Castle for Daydreamer's Birthday.........

When I asked Arthur he said Ken had told him we needed to get ready for a Party at the Castle for Daydreamer's Birthday........

When I asked Ken, he said he heard from Guard Ian that there was going to be a Party for Daydreamer's Birthday and we'd better get ready......
When I asked Guard Ian how he knew he said he'd heard from Kix the Stable Boy that the Daydreamer was having a Birthday Party at the Castle and we'd better be ready.....
And when I asked Kix, he shrugged his shoulders and said he'd heard from Henry that there was going to be a Birthday Party at the Castle for daydreamers........

And when I asked Henry he said Belle had told HIM She'd had a daydream that there was going to be a Party at the Castle for Someone's Birthday........
And when I asked Belle, SHE said she'd heard OLD MEG say "Beware! The Birth this Day of Dreams! There will be a Party at the Castle! Beware!"

Ah, Old Meg! Old Meg KNOWS things........

Even though she never leaves her hearth.....

But Belle was much more interested in the porcelain plate in front of her than in any old sayings from Old Meg...... she has Never seen such plates before!
And now that the Party was truly happening..... people were starting to eat and make merry!

It looks like Chip has had enough to eat for now.....

And the littlest children are starting to get restless..... they are pestering their parents......

The Time Traveling Ladies are even here! They look so Lovely in their gowns!

And Helen and Charles are having a good time too..... is Charles about to make a speech?

But wait, WHAT has caught Henry's attention...? He looks Astounded...!?

Oh My GOODNESS! Look what they have brought in!

A Huge (Little) Birthday Cake just for Me!

So, did I make a wish before I blew out the Candle? .....

Of Course I did! But I can't tell you WHAT I wished because that would break the spell....!

Can we EAT the cake now? The children are wondering...?
( They have never SEEN so MUCH Cake!)
Yes, Please! Have some Cake! You Too, all my Dear friends in Blogland!

You ARE Invited!

(Even though my real birthday is tomorrow....
it is a work day so we had the party a day early!
I AM SO glad you could come!)

To Build Or To Blog....

Pollyanna Goes Shopping!
And Happy Birthday Darlings!
Dear Readers, one and all!

As I was rushing around my 1:1 scale house this morning, bemoaning the fact that it was truly FILTHY, and I was going to have to cave in and do some REAL cleaning, I was also fretting about the fact that I didn't really have anything ready to "blog" about in the mini-world! HOW did that happen? And WHAT was I going to do about it? As I said to my son, I couldn't simply leave the Halloween Post up any longer..... it was really getting stale! He very kindly suggested that I could show the dolls cleaning up after the Halloween Party in the Castle! I thought that was a delightful idea! So, here you can see that Ken has hunted around in the Castle and found an old broom to sweep out the Great Hall! It was SUCH a fun party! But we do need to clean the Hall and get it ready for the next part of building.......




And it's NOT that I have done no building recently.... it is just that the building I have done is all small bits of this and tiny bits of that with nothing finished and ready to share. You must remember that when I began this blog last April, I had been working on the various dollhouses for months already.... and had been collecting pieces for years before that. So it seemed as though I would NEVER catch up in the blogging! And I have to admit that the great pleasure of sharing all of this with you HAS eaten into the time I have to devote to my building. And, as I am sure you are all aware, one can use HOURS of time happily visiting each other's blogs, being enriched by another's vision and coming away with new inspirations and answers to questions! Rest assured, I am NOT giving up on blogging!

But I am keenly aware that if I am to have anything to blog about, I have to keep up with the building. And I am also aware that I am naturally slower at making decisions and completing projects than would be needed in order to provide subjects for frequent blogs. I really don't like to rush to get something done just so that it IS done! I want to take my time and savor the process. So I hope you will be patient with me as I enter this new stage in my blogging! I am just more aware of the dilemma on a daily basis.... should I build... or should I blog.....?

And when in DOUBT there is always the last recourse of the desperate... GO SHOPPING! Which is what Pollyanna did recently! She simply fell in LOVE with these chairs!



Now I will have to confess that they are Christmas tree ornaments! I found them in a home decor catalog (Ballard Designs) and they come in sets of three and they are perfect dollhouse scale! I could NOT resist and bought two sets! They are perfect for outdoor garden seating....... even though none of my houses HAVE an outdoor garden area at all! Perhaps I am going to have to add a mini garden....

Pollyanna has brought two over to Arthur's home.

And she has put two out in the yard in front of The Lovely Old Dollhouse........

She set them under a small tree near the door......

Every house should have somewhere to sit outdoors she thinks!

And she also bought a small Japaneese stone lantern to put by the doorstep!





She might use it here......

Or she might set it under the tree near the new chairs.......

This could be the beginning of a Japaneese garden........!

Meanwhile, now that everyone has recovered from the Halloween Festivities, there are Birthday Parties to Celebrate! Sally May's and Chip's daughter Annabelle is turning three! She is having birthday cake at the Lovely Old Dollhouse with her parents, Pollyanna, and Great Grandma Helen and Great Grandpa Charles!

Helen is fixing the Tea, while Pollyanna is cutting the cake!

Annabelle is so excited she is standing in her chair!

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

(And a special Happy Birthday to my niece Hali and my son Jake!)

Don't forget to have a piece of this DIVINE cake!
(Made for me many years ago by my sister and my nieces!)

(And a Special Happy Birthday to my sister who's birthday was last week!

And to my Great niece who's birthday is in two weeks!)



Arthur has decided to take a quiet moment in the new garden chairs!

The perfect place to sit and look at the stars above........
And to contemplate the complicated questions of the Universe.....

To Build Or To Blog - That Is The Question