Our Amish Neighbors

 Our neighbors are hard at work...as usual.

Watching our Amish Friends allows me to live in the past for a short period of time and it makes my heart happy... 

Brooke's Open House for Parents

I love that Brooke has a gift for the parents who will be attending the Middle School Open House this evening.

Beams From the Heavens

We are so blessed with the magnificent views on our farm.

Vicki's Journal...Story Squares

 Oh, how I miss my mom...

 Kate and I were talking about "life" yesterday and she mentioned the word acceptance.

That is something I need to work on...

Sometimes I miss the days when I was teaching, raising children, visiting my parents, being part of art groups...rug hooking and Malabar Farm Spinning and Weaving Guild...and starting up Hittyville.

Life does go on and I love this part of my journey, but now and then find myself thinking about the hustle and bustle of daily living back in the day.

So...I have made up a family who is having all those kinds of adventures and decided to write about them in a private blog.

The children are based on some of my favorite dolls. I am so excited to work on this project.  I won't be limited by posing dolls and making sets...just lots of writing from my imagination!!!

~The mind can be a wonderful thing~ 

Hitty Jane's Journal

 Oh, I am so excited!  Doll Mother found these perfectly wonderful rugs for my homestead...

I have a new dress with the Syracuse University school colors...orange and blue!

The reason I have a new dress is Doll Mother and I are joining Kate for a Grand Adventure to Syracuse, New York!
Doll Mother's sister, Missy, is married to Scott, who is the Head Football coach at Syracuse University.  I have never been to a football game and am REALLY looking forward to it!
The orange friend in the picture is Little Otto who is related to the Syracuse Football mascot.
The very handsome Syracuse Gnome gets to live on my front porch during the football season.

Life just keeps getting better and better! 

My Mini Morning Vacation

 Today decided to treat myself to Breakfast by the Pond.

I need to do that more often...

Needing Structure

 I have so many things I want to do and need to start making a list to organize my thoughts.

I feel better already!

Hitty Jane's Journal...Interior Design

Such glorious news, dear Journal!

Doll Mother and I have started decorating my living room.

  My dress matches the colors of my furniture...

I can't wait to see how we decorate the walls.

~Fun~

Molly Mouse and Friends

A spotted giraffe is really quite tall

And makes Molly Mouse

Feel ever so small.

Vicki's Journal...Humid Tuesday

 I finally got around to making Brooke's "First Day of School" gift.

 I thought it might be fun to journal in squares....

Short and sweet...

~Happy Tuesday~

Sunday With Abe

Another glorious Sunday...because we got to spend time with Abe!

Joe had some more work to do on Noah and Amy's fence and we met up with our West Park Family at Panini's.

Abe is looking out the window and watching the traffic light change colors.

My grandson doesn't miss a thing!

I love the mother-son bond Amy and Abe have...It makes my heart so happy to know Abe has the best mother in the Universe!

After lunch, Abe and I did some car watching.

His attention span is quite amazing.  We finally had to pull him away after a full fifteen minutes of watching the world pass by.

Two older ladies spotted Abe from their car and waved quite enthusiastically at him.

Back home...

 Joe and Noah redid the fence to make sure the Houdini Dogs cannot escape...as they did a few days ago!

Now Noah can weed and mulch along the fence line.

 Noah needed Joe's ladder and tools to trim the Crabapple tree.

 Looking good!

 I love that this sign is right by Abe's house!

This West Park neighborhood has many police officers living in it and everyone watches out for one another...especially the children.  

 This tree island is just beautiful!

After a long nap...

 Abe played drums on his blocks for Mr. Fox.

 This is Abe's favorite picture at the moment.  He kept opening the book to these pages and just stared at them.

 Amy told me Abe has started to verbalize when he looks at his books.

Pre-reading!!!

 I witnessed Abe's first attempt at opening the door to their entry hall.

 Abe proceeded to open the door...and close it...and open it!

 Ellie likes sitting on Mommy's lap too...

 Amy and I took Abe for a walk in his new stroller.

 It was time for Joe and I to head back to the Farm and say goodbye to our beloved West Park Family.

Abe has mastered the art of waving...

~It was the best of visits~

Hitty Jane's Journal...My New Friend

I have a new Friend who just happens to be a Praying Mantis.  I asked him if he really does pray and my Insect Friend assured me he does.

He mostly prays for safe travels throughout his day and gives thanks for Mother Nature's many hiding places.

It is amazing how all God's Creatures pray according to their own circumstances.

God must be VERY busy listening to everyone's prayers.

I wonder how He keeps it all straight and then I remember...He can do all things because he is God.

That is almost too big a thought for my little doll brain.

I think I will go outside and play now...

Hittyville's Thought for the Day

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up,

snow is exhilarating;

there really is no such thing as bad weather,

only different kinds of good weather."

~John Ruskin~

Vicki's Journal...Sunny Saturday

 Today has been a great day.

I was so relieved and thankful I did not wake up with any soreness from the big jolt I experienced when I hit the barn yesterday.

Joe and I took Brooke's car to the body shop and the very nice gentleman got the paperwork going.  The damage will be easy to repair!

We celebrated with Brooke at Lyn-Way.

 Joe and I continued to the local hardware store...which has a nice gift section...and I discovered "embellish your story" magnets by Roeda.

These sweet characters reminded me of the Paper Land I have been wanting to create for a LONG time.

Maybe the time is NOW...

 Brooke insisted I get back in the car and take a drive.  I think she wanted to make sure I didn't have any post-stress driving stuff going on.

I have to admit, I was a bit shaky at first, but after a few minutes I was totally fine.

Another reason to celebrate...this time with a root beer float at the Root Beer Stand.

Thank you, considerate daughter!

 I did manage to watch an episode of The Waltons entitled "The Nurse".

Mary Ellen is getting closer to her goal of becoming a nursing student...Loved the show!

I always enjoy spending time with Joe...just being and discussing upcoming projects on the farm and in Hittyville.

These are but a few "snapshots" of today's adventures.

I think I like doing a blog journal...

My Friday Folly

Today was going to be a great day.  I had an appointment to take Brooke's car in for her new wheel rims and I was also hoping to do a bit of craft shopping.

And then...

This is Brooke's car...and it is parked where I usually park my car.
Today this spot was empty, because Brooke drove my car to her school.

This empty spot is where Brooke's car is always parked and where it was parked this morning.
Foreshadowing...

I backed out of my spot as I always do..
BUT
I did not look behind me!
BIG MISTAKE!!!

Crash!!!
The barn stopped Brooke's car and I felt a jolt and wondered what had just happened.

Oh my goodness!  My usual good judgement lapsed and because I did not look in my rearview mirror, I damaged Brooke's car AND the barn!
I was so upset...but felt much better when Brooke assured me my well-being was what was important and a car can be fixed.

I learned a HUGE lesson today.  I will ALWAYS look before I back out of ANY space.  I do it when I am out in the world, but as a matter of habit, I obviously don't always follow safety first at home.

Thank you to my family for not making me feel any worse than I already do and thank you to Michelle, our house cleaning friend, who kept her eye on me to make sure I was okay.

Lesson learned and a reminder to all of you...Look before you back out...no matter where you are!

Froggy Friday

I am so glad our pond has Frog Friends again!

Hitty Jane's Journal...The Canal Boat

 I am so excited, dear Journal!  Captain Harlan Hubbard has invited Poppy and myself to take a ride on his canal boat!  He overheard Doll Mother telling Mrs. Hubbard how much I loved Lewis' boat and thought I might enjoy the canal boat as well...and the Captain suggested I bring a friend along.

I tell you...every day is a glorious adventure in this wonderful doll life of mine!