Michelle Wants Spring Now!!!

Just like she does every year, Michelle has declared winter over & is trying to rush in Spring. She went to the store yesterday & stocked up on Primroses. Primroses are one of her favorite flowers because they are usually out first every year. Here's some bright yellow and some ruffly purpley pink ones she put in the hanging pot...on the other side are some bulbs that are throwing up some green. Michelle can't remember what they are since she put them in a year ago & then forgot about them.

These bright sun burst yellow Carnations are just the thing for the center of the big pot. Surrounding are more primroses in pinks and reds w/yellow centers...must coordinate after all.

These pretty pink and yellow primroses are in the hanging basket off the front porch rail. Yellow seems to be a theme this year...

And remember those little Christmas trees from last month? Michelle has now planted them in a big pot outside. Once they are acclimated they will go in the ground. But for now the big pot w/lots of room that can be moved to more protected places in case of a cold snap will have to do. After all Michelle may have declared Winter over, but that doesn't really mean it is.

Look What Michelle Found in the Garden!

Look! Michelle found a Garden Dragon in the flower bed this morning. She thinks the poor thing woke up yesterday & came out hibernation to sun itself & when it got too cold couldn't move. We've brought it in the house & Michelle says until the weather warms up, it'll have to stay with us. As you can see as long as proper precautions are taken it's perfectly safe & doing much better now that it's warmed up. We'll release it probably in March...Michelle says the weather should be warm enough by then.

Ashleigh still introducing Muffy

Michelle forgot to get this little Muffy gem off the shelf for the picture. This little Muffy beauty is made from mohair & as you can see is even more dainty than myself. Personally, I would not like being kept in the plastic case, but she doesn't seem to mind. I like her outfit, the lavender is lovely.

Ashleigh introduces Muffy VanderBear

Muffy VanderBear and her friend Hoppy VanderHare are made by The North American Bear Company. Muffy has even more clothes & accessories than I do. Here are several of Michelle's Muffys, Hoppy is in the back on the left, the larger Muffy in the middle is actually Alice VanderBear and is Muffy's mother. Easter is Michelle's favorite holiday, hence two Easter outfits for Muffy (pink), and the yellow one for Hoppy. Michelle has several outfits and the tea set for Alice & Muffy to have tea parties with. These are very well made jointed bears, the accessories are a lot of fun and there are many to choose from. The North American Bear Company also makes some other bears that are not Muffy related & Michelle has one tucked away somewhere, so we'll take a peek at that one another time.

Happy Birthday Hitty!

Today is Hitty's Birthday! Of course a lady doesn't discuss her age, but here are some of the Hitty's from our house with a shout out to the Ancestor Hitty...and me of course, some of my best friend's are Hittys.

Ashleigh introduces Back to Basics

This is a Back to Basics bear. Michelle believes that he looks like a Gund bear. After doing some research she found out the Back to Basics offers two bears made by Steiff. During our trip to Toys R Us she found out the Gund makes bears for their Animal Alley line. Her current operating theory is that Gund used to make bears for Back to Basics, but now Steiff has the contract & Gund is working with Toys R Us.

Of even more importance is my new Valentines Day outfit! The dress is light pink & has white stripes on the skirt. It closes w/a heart button in the back that matches the heart button in the white flower on my new hat! I love hats, sigh...

Ashleigh Introduces The Smithsonian Bear

This lovely young bear was picked up recently from a lovely little antique mall downtown. Michelle had been looking at her everytime she went in & finally couldn't leave again without her. She is a 1987 replica based on the original "Teddy's Bear" created by Ideal (before they were Ideal) that lives at the National Museum of American History . We call her Alice in honor of Teddy Roosevelt's wife. She came to use wearing some baby clothes, but they are currently being washed. Originally, Alice wore a large red bow with a tag on it that give a brief history of the teddy bear. Alice is around 13inches tall, has the long curved arms, more rounded feet than the Steiff bears, and shoe button type eyes, embroidered nose & mouth. Of course as a newer bear-all synthetic materials, but Alice is very well made. The company that produced this bear for the Smithsonian is Determined Productions.

Off to the Canby Swap Meet We Go

We got up at 3am, so that we could leave at 4am, so we could be in Canby at 8am for the "big" swap. Well, actually it was big in previous years & run by a different group than the one that ran it today. There was hardly anyone there, maybe a quarter of the vendors we're used to seeing there was all. We were mightily disappointed. Michelle did find a nice picnic basket, Gregg bought a few car parts he was looking for, and Riley got some pliers and a measuring tape for her toolbox. Poor Doug didn't find anything he wanted.

We left there at 9:30am...on the way home we have to go through Eugene. The kids really wanted to go to Toys-R-Us. Since it was way early & the swap meet was so disappointing we went. Here I am posing w/a cousin & some giraffes in Animal Alley...that is a fun place. Riley found a stuffed bunny and some Little Pet Shop dogs, Michelle got some baby stuff for an upcoming Great-Niece and friend's granddaughter...again Doug found nothing he wanted & neither did Gregg.

We stopped in Cottage Grove for lunch at Carl's Jr (Gregg's favorite place to get a burger), then we checked out a car lot that usually has a lot of fun vintage cars on it...there were a few cars, not as many as usual, but the lot was closed. We then went to The Dollar Tree...Riley & Doug both got some snacks for the ride home, so did Gregg, come to think of it. Michelle got some more baby stuff (she loves baby stuff).

Once back on Hwy 38 we stopped at junk store in Drain. Riley found a teddy bear she wanted & Michelle found a Mon Chi Chi puppet and a Flatsy doll. Then we stopped in Winchester Bay at a lighthouse store that is owned by an old friend of Gregg's. This place was amazing! Everything in it is really lighthouse related! I found some cute little resin lighthouses of our local lighthouses that I wanted, but Michelle says I have enough stuff for right now & she doesn't want to have to build me a new house right away...but, my birthday is coming up next month & I know what I'm campaigning for!

Love Bug Challenge

These little cuties were created for the Love Bug challenge in one of the online groups that Michelle belongs to. The Love Bug will go to Doug, and the Love Bear will go to Riley on Valentines Day.

How about a hug?!!! Or they are wrestling, hard to tell.

Swaps!

Michelle has the swaps ready to go! Here is her afghan for the Hitty Afghan Swap. She is running this swap (means she sets the dates for being finished & mailed, matches up partner from those who sign up, etc.) This afghan is in honor of her younger sister Tami's old Nice Blankie-soft & fuzzy in the middle, but silky along the edges. My co-host today is Hitty Daisy. She is a Pat Thompson Hitty and make an excellent model.

Here is the cute little dolly that Michelle made for the Hitty Dolly Swap. She's only 2 inches tall! She's made from two strands of embroidery floss and a size 8 hook...I want one for my birthday, but Michelle says she was "fiddly" to make & has to think about it.

Michelle also finished the Happy Birthday Hitty swap & actually mailed it out today. She totally forgot to take a picture of it. She's kicking herself enough for that so I won't rub salt in it. It was a pretty good swap though if I do say so myself.

Ashleigh introduces Robert Raikes bears

Now Michelle really loves her Robert Raikes bears. She ordered the two brother bears directly from Raikes, got the panda bear & the bear with the silver face off eBay, and found the large bear at an antique store here in town. Robert Raikes bears are five way jointed and have carved wooden faces and paw pads.

These two "brother" bears came as a set with this book that was written by Carol Raikes, Robert Raikes' wife, and illustrated by J.W. Raikes his son. It is about two boys that they adopted from Russia.

I like the Raikes bears. They all have friendly expressions and nice fur. Apparently Mr. Raikes is mostly retired now. He also did a line of Hitty dolls...some of which Michelle also has, but that's another blog for another time.

Michelle's "new" car Baby Girl

Gregg bought Michelle a 1965 Ford Mustang GT a couple of weeks ago...that's me waving by the antennae. It's a sweet little car & we're having a ball cruising around in it. Michelle named her Baby Girl.

She's pale yellow with a black vinyl top and white Pony interior. See these running horses? They are all on all the seats. I think the Pony interior rocks out loud. Michelle had a 1966 Mustang years ago named Mustang Sally that she used to drag race, but poor Mustang Sally was sold to pay for the 1955 T-Bird & the idiot kid who bought her rolled her within a month of buying her. Gregg felt so bad for selling Mustang Sally that he's been looking for years for a car to replace her that Michelle would like. Baby Girl now has the wheels that Mustang Sally had on her in remembrance.

Ashleigh introduces the Steiffs

These are Michelle's two Steiff bears. The big one is Donald and is reproduction of an early 1900's Steiff bear. We believe that the little blue one, Amanda, is just adorable...but then who doesn't love a little blue bear?

As yu can see, they both have a big feet, the "hockey stick" arms and the hump on the back, along with the triangular shaped head. Both are also made of mohair. Other features include the famous "button in the ear", embroidered triangular nose, embroidered mouth & "paws", button eyes (just like me!), and five way jointing.

All in all, very handsome bears don't you think? Very well made bears, with very good materials. Along with the well known name explains why they tend to be pricier than your average bear (which is why Michelle only has two currently).

Things that are coming...

Michelle's been swamped trying to get stuff done, so just a quick note to let you all know what is coming up. One of the things that I want to do is a series introducing different bears by who made them, like Boyds, Steiff, etc...Michelle has some of these different types of bears so I can even have pictures!

We have some swaps and challenges coming up too. Above is the Bargain Basement Bear challenge that Michelle just completed. We call him Thrifty & Michelle has less than $2 in materials, so he definately lives up to his name. Right now she is working on an afghan swap and a Love Bug challenge and she has a tiny doll swap to get working on, so we'll have pictures of those coming up.

Riley will be in a play in February so I'm sure I'll get to attend at least on performance...it runs every weekend in February. Oh, and swap meet season is coming. That should be a lot of fun!

Plus we've got Valentines Day, Michelle's & Mine's birthdays, St Patrick's Day, and Easter coming up & there's sure to be stuff going on that will be fun!

Tea Party!

Yesterday Riley came home from school with a stomach bug. When she started feeling better she decided that Isabelle and I needed to have a tea party. While we were drinking tea we kept an eye on some little dollies that wanted to play in their playpen. It was a very nice way to spend an afternoon.

Happy New Year, Happy New Home

Happy New Year everyone! Here I am partially moved into my new house. Still waiting on a couple of things to arrive, but as you can see I've already had a guest over. Llama is still waiting for the poll to be over so that she knows her name. If you have a chance vote before you go.