January 29, 2023

An eclectic garden and playing with dolls

When we purchased our home 12 years ago, it had well established gardens. They weren't particularly my style but they were OK and didn't look too bad. Basically there was a garden of different coloured Grasses at the front and a cactus garden at the back. The cactus garden is now more of a rockery which basically means I have added other plants in amongst the cacti. Sometimes those cacti can look very pretty:

One of the native grasses in the front just about took over the whole area. As it produced prickly spikes all the time, it wasn't very endearing, so last year a kind friend spent a very long time removing it for me. I was thankful I didn't have to pay him commercial rates as it was a huge job! The whole garden has been replanted and is much more my style, though I have kept all the small grasses and the rather attractive purple fountain grass. 

Hibiscuses love our sub tropical climate and daughter number 2 has been very generous with sharing cuttings of some of hers. Even though the flowers only last a day, they add a bright spot of colour in the garden or on the dinner table.




My girls know how to spoil me and daughter number 1 gave me this beautiful specimen with its multi centres some years ago and now it is quite a large bush, in spite of many prunings:


We're in the middle of Summer here and the sun beats down and the days are hot, so it's not very conducive to being out in the garden at the moment. Indoor activities underneath a fan or air-conditioning are much more attractive!

That means getting out the crochet hook! A friend asked me would I make her 65 year-old doll some clothes. She has had the doll her whole life, its broken leg has been repaired and she figured it was time she looked pretty again. It's from the pre-plastic days when we had vanilla-scented rubber dolls. This one of course has lost all its perfume but she is a little cutie.


I've made her a little pair of nappy pants:


The doll is about 8 inches high and any patterns I could find were quite different in size, so it's been a bit of trial and error and pulling out and redoing.

Aren't these little shoes (a fraction more than 1 inch long!) so cute? I was so happy to go to my drawer and find these tiny little pink buttons about 4 mm wide, perfect size and colour for the shoes.


I have another more pressing job that I am doing for a friend at the moment, but I am quite excited at the thought of making a pretty dress and bonnet soon. There's something still in my heart obviously when it comes to dolls! I loved playing with mine when I was a little girl, and I'm rather enjoying playing with this one and making her pretty! 

Happy stitching!
Val







1 comment:

Susan said...

Your gardens are beautiful. I'm a desert woman and I love cactus gardens. They bloom so beautifully, and some are night blooming. The doll is such a treasure. I love those cute little shoes you made with tiny pink buttons.