Bessy sure is dressy

While Rachel was on Fall Break, I took the girls up to visit my parents. One exciting aspect of the trip was learning just a smidgen more about the castle I mentioned back here. I stopped at a gas station near by to inquire and was told by the woman working there that she had not lived in the area long, but had been told that an elderly woman in her 80's lives there by herself now. She and her husband had built the place a long time ago, before any of the other houses in the area had been built and that it was nothing but a residence. Curious. I was, in fact, so curious that I even found an overheard view of it on google. Now if I could just get its whole life history.



When the girls and I arrived at my parents, I was excited to see that Dressy Bessy had found her way out of their attic and into the library, where all the toys are. Bessy and a tiny piano were new additions. Rachel was mainly interested in the piano and in retrospect, I think I was the only one really thrilled about seeing Bessy again. I loved this doll. You could do so much with her! Did you have a Dressy Bessy? Or her "brother", Dapper Dan? I have asked so many people that question and gotten strange looks from them. How could a child of the 70's not have had one is what I want to know!



I'm thinking that if I use what I learned from the Black Apple tutorial for a basic doll, and also gave Bessy a good study, I could come up with a cool new version that might make a good Christmas gift for one or two of my nieces. Of course, I would either have to make some alterations or finally learn now to put a zipper in. Wouldn't she be cute with a little heart tucked into that zippered pocket? And I guess, unless I stumble upon an eyelet setter soon, I would have to do something different for the lace up vest, but you get the idea. I'll put it on my to do list. Right there with the two quilts that I was going to have done for when it turned cold (oops...that would be right now), baby quilts for twin girls due some time in December, a quilt for our newest niece and all the other ideas for Christmas rumbling around in my head. Seriously. I have got to find a way to get more time!



I've been putting the twirly skirt tutorial to good use, but the pictures are on Jim's computer, which is threatening to die (and take YEARS worth of family photos with it), so I am trying to remain calm and just trust that all will be well with that.

On a completely different subject, while I was sitting here at the computer, not too long ago, I kept hearing a weird noise. I would say (and did) that it almost sounded like an owl. And it was very close to where I was sitting, albeit outside. I finally convinced Jim to brave the cold with me to investigate. By the time we got out behind the house, it had moved, but sure enough, we found it in a tree behind our neighbor's house. I wanted to stay outside and watch and listen longer, but Jim declared it too cold and also said that you have to be careful about shining bright lights at people's homes late at night. Really? Still, it was pretty cool.