Blogland Tour, Anniversary and North to Alaska!

August 4th, 2014 and it is a VERY EXCITING day! Welcome to my blog and my day for the BLOGLAND TOUR. Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose invited me to participate in this traveling event. I have never done anything like this and I have to admit, it has been quite an adventure and a learning experience. I hope you will pop over and visit her beautiful blog or stop by again for a return visit.

Stephanie and I have been blogger friends now for a few years. She has organized several teacup exchanges that are always fun. These are the goodies I received in a spring exchange. I hope she does another one soon!

Before I begin my BLOGLAND TOUR, I would like to say Happy Anniversary to my Jimmy. We have been married 41 years. It has been a journey filled with so many blessings. I love you Jimmy!

Our daughter Gina and her delightful husband Eric surprised us earlier this summer with an invitation to ALASKA! We are flying to Alaska this morning for a five day trip. Our 40th was last summer and we were all so anxious for the birth of our little Otto, we cancelled our trip to the East coast. So this is a belated 40th Anniversary trip. Our hearts are filled with gratitude. Eric's has family in Anchorage and he will be our official tour guide. We met Eric's family two years ago at the kid's wedding and we are excited to see them again. A big thank you to Eric and Gina both!

So now, on to the questions to be answered for the BLOGLAND TOUR....

 #1.    WHAT AM I WORKING ON?

I am a quilter and I am going to bind this little vintage quilt block. I love the colors and want to use it as a little tablecloth for a vintage Willow Blue doll teaset. I need something a bit primitive and this block has just the right look.

Last year I joined a wonderful internet tea group called AFTERNOON TEA ACROSS AMERICA
or ATAA. We have holiday card exchanges that are so much fun. We send cards, tea and little tuck ins. The recent exchange was called...Summer Celebrations. I have been scrapbooking my cards and goodies so I can look at them and enjoy the treats. I have gathered my papers now, so I  just need to get them into my book.

I am lucky to attend several quilt retreats during the year with some very special friends. I NEED to finish this wall hanging quilt for my Mary Englebreit sewing and crafting room. It's my happy place! I should have had this finished. All it needs is the borders, quilt it, bind it and add the special final touches.

I am going to add vintage crocheted potholders in the five large squares for a fun touch! I have been collecting several and will have to choose just five. I do know this little lady will have a place of honor in the center.

If you follow my blog, you know that I am a doll nut. I found this wooden dollhouse shelf in May at the thrift store. I have been collecting mid century plastic doll furniture for a few years...the kind I had when I was a little girl. I need to paint it and add primary colors for the trim as it will live in my Mary Engelbreit cottage.

Should I decorate the inside walls and floors? That would be fun, but I'm not sure if I just want to keep it simple.

#2. HOW DOES YOUR WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS?

Well, I'm not sure it is all that different. I think being a collector and sharing that interest with my husband may "color" my blog. We are always ready for another SALE and enjoy working together at four antique and collectible shows each year. We are both retired, so this is something we enjoy doing  together.  Here's a couple of pictures from our last show.

We enjoy going to Estate sales and you will see the goods in many of my blog posts. We seem to always be up for the hunt and it's fun! I bought this box of goodies at a recent sale. We love it when the write us says..."digger" sale.

Some of our finds get a bit of new life and may end up on my Etsy site~LADY LINDA LOU.

You will also find an abundance of Tasha Tudor post on my blog and I think that makes my blog a bit different too. I am a great fan of this illustrator and author. I adore her work and it is an important part of my life and so a big part of my blog.

Some of my Tasha friends have been working on this little Annabelle doll for years. Our group is scattered across the USA but we have had a couple Gatherings in Vermont, so several of us have been able to meet.

We have a virtual St Nick's teaparty on December 6th and sometimes we have an ornament exchange.

This is Annabelle's best friend who lives in Montana~Annabelle of Montana of course. They visit each other back and forth a few times each year.

We remember Tasha every August on her birthday. Last year I was so lucky to be in Montana and this is the tea my good friend LaVonne made for me on her farm. It was a magical afternoon.

The Tudor Family has started a little museum and society. They are trying to get some chapters across the states. I am in the process of organizing an Oregon chapter! It's exciting. I am hoping to have a fall gathering to get it going.

#3. WHY DO I WRITE/CREATE WHAT I DO?

Isn't that an interesting question?! I love history and have always been thrilled to read journals from the past. I have tried for years to keep a paper journal, but alas, I just cannot keep one going. I can't do it.

In June of 2010, my daughter Gina helped me set up my blog. It has been fun to watch it become "me" and take on a different look as the years slip by. I write to record my life and hope to publish all of this writing into books for my children and my grandchildren. I want to leave a record to be enjoyed by family. I want my blog to be a happy blog and it makes me happy when others enjoy my writing.

#4.  HOW DOES MY WRITING/CREATIVE PROCESS WORK?

I was once a shoppe owner for 18 years and helped my husband with his Hallmark Pharmacies before I had my little shoppe. I love to do displays and I think my mind is ALWAYS working on the next blog post. I often say to my hubby, oh, that will make a great blog post or I NEED that or a blog post. I don't always plan out my posts in advance. I do try to post my TEA TIME THURSDAY post each week and my TASHA TUDOR BOOK REVIEW on the first Friday of each month. Sometimes life just gets in the way and that's OK! The more you blog, the more wonderful bloggers you meet and that has been a delight in my life the past four years.

I am inspired by my Tashsa friends....

Especially my really good friend LaVonne who makes me laugh! She is a treasure.

And new friends......

I can't forget my quilting friends and all their creative works of art.....

My Jimmy who keeps me on track and loves me just the way I am...

My daughter Angie, SIL Chris, Ava and Otto...constant love and fun times...

My dad and my lovely daughter Gina (we share a birthday) and my styling SIL Eric....

Teatime adventures and more teacups and teapots....

All the holidays...

A little music here and there....

A fun festival ...

Roses...Portland is the CITY OF ROSES...

Some gardening...

Trips to wonderful places that express God's beauty...

And of course my faith and the freedom to express it....

Stephanie asked me to invite two special blogger friends to be the next blogger on the BLOGLAND TOUR. Sadly, one of my blogger friends felt she could not continue this exercise, so I have only one blogger friend to introduce to you today. Susan at Writing Straight from the Heart has graciously agreed to join the tour. She is getting ready for her vacation too and has also had a difficult time inspiring blogger friends to participate. I think everyone is busy with summer plans and it does take some time to write this all up, but it has been fun.

Writing Straight From The Heart

Susan's BLOGLAND TOUR will be on Monday August 11th. Please stop by her wonderful blog. She  is a faithful blogger who posts fun, thoughtful and interesting things all week! I don't know how she does it! Everyone enjoys her blog and I know you will too! Thank you Susan!

A Blog Tour at The Enchanting Rose

   

Happy Monday blogger friends. This is my rose by my front door that is in full bloom again. It's such a pretty flower that blooms off and on all summer. It's perfect that it is in bloom today as I want to share with you that next Monday on August 4th, I will be taking sharing with you on a BLOG LAND TOUR. It is actually my wedding anniversary too, so it will be a fun blog post.

Today, one of my most special blog friends, Stephanie is having her BLOG LAND TOUR. She is one of the sweetest bloggers I know. I do hope you will be able to visit her beautiful blog and meet a new friend. Click on the link under her logo for an enchanting visit.

The Enchanting Rose

Stop by next week to visit my blog tour. I will be sharing a few more blog friends who will be joining the tour next for you to enjoy. This is a great way to meet some new bloggers and see what motivates us to blog. Have a lovely week ahead. Can you believe it's almost August?

I'm Back And Ready To Get Back to Blogging

It's been almost a month since I blogged! Jimmy and I had the most wonderful vacation, thanks to our good friends the Stucky family in Montana. I am doing to work backwards this week and try to post about our trip. Those of you on Facebook probably have seen all the fun we had, but I still want to blog about it so I can have a record of all my fun. Blogging seems to be the best way to keep track of my life...my adventures and my journey through life. I always tried to keep a paper journel, but it never worked for me. So, I am jumping in here once again. I haven't read any of my blogging friends posts for so long! I will have to work at reconnecting with everyone again. My Jimmy is in Idaho for quite awhile at his goldmine camp. His midwest friends have traveled out to meet him and he was sure excited to leave. It will also give me sometime to get caught up on my Etsy, blogging, letter writing, thanks yous from vacation and of course, some babysitting.

This weekend was filled with fun! Yesterday I went to a sale and really found some fun items as you can see! Some for Etsy, some for friends and some for ME! This show is one every month but they break for summer. It was very busy yesterday and everyone was anxious to get back to normal after the summer.

There were lots of doll furniture and miniature. This cigar box is filled with some I found yesterday and some I found at the miniature show that was held on Saturday. My friend LaVonne and I are hoping to make a Peddler Doll after we finish our Annabelles. It was fun to have things to look for at the show.

I walked into my tea room yesterday and found this little gift that Jimmy left for me. It's so sweet.

So here's a photo of the "crowd" at the miniature show! Oh my gosh, it was so crowded. It was at a new building and they need to work out the bugs...like widen the aisles. Lots of smiles.

You get to vote on the best exhibits. I wasn't as impressed with the offerings this year. I hope the show will get stronger again next year. Transitions are always hard.

I also ran into my friend Angela who comes to the show every year. We met a few years back when LaVonne was out. We only meet once a year at the show, isn't that funny? She is so sweet and always a joy to chat with. Her mom was too ill to attend, which made me sad. I told her next year!

This boat was amazing and very large. It was just charming and I have never seen anything like it. If you looked in the window down below, the dolls are serving tea!

A cute little garden theme exhibit.

This was a Christmas German market and it was WONDERFUL. My pix didn't come out too good, so you can't really see all the little details.

A fun little camper trailer that was getting a lot of attention.

This little sewing lady was my favorite! She was under a glass dome, so you can't really appreciate it all.I met the lady and purchased some items from her booth. She was really sweet and took a lot of time with me. I do believe Annabelle has to open a quilt shoppe someday. I have actually been collecting lots of sewing minis and think it would be great fun.

Remember, I said I had to backtrack so now I'm going to tell you about the Doll Show that was held on August 31st. I wanted to take Ava and she was so cute at her very first doll show! This is my favorite picture of her there...so sweet looking and looking and looking.

I tend to go for all the older dolls. I was surprised at how much Ava has learned from me about dolls. She's a little sponge and just soaks it up. Love having her in my life!

We had to look at the vintage American Girl Dolls. Ava is hoping for one of the new ones this Christmas. My daughter Gina had the Samantha, so Gina and Ava have been sharing all the talk and catalogs about it all. Gina took her to the American Girl Doll shoppe in Seattle. I would like to go!

You know, shopping makes you hungry! So we went to Heidi's for lunch. Ava's loves to color...pretty serious. She ate all her soup and her salad.

I love tin head dolls and they are hard to find in Oregon. They are sort of like china heads, only made of tin. Often they are loved to death and primitive. I got the one on the left on our trip to Montana. She needs a dress or a shirt at least! I found the one on the right at the show. She is in great condition, love her dress and she is probably the best one I have. She was a bargain, as the lady wanted to get rid of her...good for me! I need to do a post on my tin heads.

I am trying not to buy anymore peg heads, but this little set with the book was too cute. The story of the doll is similar to Hitty.

So, you now have a wee little look at a few fun activities of Lady Linda! This week I start a new quilting group, back to bible study and the quilt show is this weekend! Just too much fun.