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[Enufstuff]

Hi Pam,

      The drop in temperature here, has been such a relief. I hope that it has been the same for you. It is so nice to be able to open the windows and have fresh air.

      Katie has been loving it too. She can sit by the screen door, in the top of her cat tree and watch all her animal friends outside.

She loves her birds and squirrels and especially gets excited to see "the little baby ones". That is what I call the chipmunks.

      You sound a lot like me in your jewelry purchases. When I was intensely collecting, I wanted all the colored gems and I had to get earrings, pendant, bracelet and rings to match. Most of the pieces are gold. Some are in silver. I was into 14 kt. gold and then 18 kt. gold.

      Some of the gold is from Turkey. They make beautiful gold jewelry. I had to have a Byzantine necklace , bracelet and earrings. That necklace I only wore once. Now, it is such a big,

heavy necklace, I would feel so conspicuous wearing it.

     Your fleur de lis pieces must be very pretty. Are you French, or do you just like that design? I have a small gold fleur de lis pendant. I had to have at least one, being French on both my

mother's  and my father's sides.

      When we went to Italy, I bought a large fleur de lis pendant, with crytals, on a long chain. I wanted it to wear in

Florence, since their symbol is the fleur de lis. In Florence, I got a gold fleur de lis charm for my gold charm bracelet.

      The Italian fleur de lis is different from the French one.

Between the petals are two stamens on the Italian version and also little flowers on each of the side petals.

      Just recently, I was thinking about the origin and researched it. I found that the Italian version is older and goes back to when the Germans controlled Italy. It was originally white on a red ground and then the Medicis changed it to red on a white ground. The French version came about 200 years later and was gold on a blue ground. Many other countries have used the symbol also.

    I hope that you wear your fleur de lis in good health and have  a happy birthday and enjoy your dinner.

    I see that you also give your girls gifts for Mother's Day. It is mostly something small, but I always give a little something to each of the four girls. My oldest daughter once asked my why I gave her a gift ( she never had children). I told her that "You are a better mother to your dogs, than some people are to their children". They have been her babies, and she spoils them.

   It has been a couple of years since I gave them some of my rings and I will probably let them each pick one for next Mother's Day. I also give my son something for Father's Day.

   You mentioned Herkimer jewelry. I did'nt know that it was being use for jewelry. I'll have to look that up; very interesting.

I do have a Herkimer Diamond in my mineral collection.

   Your collection is very interesting and it sounds like you have a lot of beautiful pieces. I thought you were just looking at the Zealandia collection and didn't have any. How wonderful that you do have some of those lovely pieces. What are yours?

   I also love amber and bought some when QVC had a Russian

priest as a guest who brought amber and other things from Russia. I also bought a doll dressed in tradition Russian folk attire. That was for my doll collection.

   When I sold antiques, I acquired a graduated, faceted bead,

Baltic amber necklace. It was only choker length, so I bought

an antique faceted bead, jet necklace and I took them apart and made a longer necklace, alternating the amber and jet beads.

    Amber I like to wear in the fall and the necklace that I made,

I wore to work on halloween. Working in a school office, I wore jewelry and outfits for seasonal holidays.

   How unfortunate that you lost a gold and diamond earring. I hate losing things. There are a few small earrings that I can't find, but I know that they are in the house.

   Those QVC Irish shows were fun. Each year, I would buy a cape or a sweater.

cont...

[Enufstuff]

@PamfromCT   Sorry about that. My post needed my son's assistance.

        The Irish shows - A lot of Celtic jewelry, sweaters, capes,

and Belleek were collected. Some of it was for gift giving for my

girls. My middle daughter would take the day off work to see those shows that were such fun, with the music, step dancers and

film clips of Ireland. QVC offered so much variety in the 90's.

       Well, the weekend is here and we can enjoy the change in

temperature and lower humidity.

                            Take care and enjoy going out for dinner.

                                                                       Donna

[PamfromCT]

@Enufstuff - Hello Donna!

I love reading your messages.  You have so many interesting thoughts and express yourself so well.  That is a gift.

Oh, you guessed correctly.  My mother’s heritage was French.

And all my French lady relatives were/are a positive stereotype.  Always so well groomed and dressed.  And lovely manners and such.  The fleur de lis is all things to me, the symbol of heritage, a flower, and the Trinity.  

I have three Zealandia small pieces - a small bird pendant, two bees on a honeycomb pendant, and bee earrings for some fun.  I guess I am drawn to creatures that fly, having a couple dragonfly pieces from other mediums.  I really love the bee theme, skeps, etc.  

Your jewelry collection sounds so wonderful.  And how you assembled a different amber necklace sounds so artistic.  Amber is so beautiful, isn’t it?  And colored stones, well I love them all.  

I share your your love for dolls, as well.  My DD had a collection of international dolls growing up.  For a while I made some very primitive dolls, but my focus became on my Teddies.  I have a picture of me as a tiny tyke, “chopper legs,” walking with a big Teddy.  I have somewhat culled my collection, but still love those guys.  I found one in an antique shop, so old and worn, fur all rubbed off.  I had to have him, a teddy so well loved by a little person.

My DD married later in life, and she and her DH found one another.  Never married before, too engrossed in their jobs I guess.  They have a nice life, having two dearly loved kitties.

Your Katy sounds so cute, likelier a dainty version of Sir Winston.  Our first boy cat, and he is quite active and a busy little guy.  Rules went out the door when Winston came in.  He wore us out!  He has a kitty tree, like your Katy,  but he uses it as a launch pad to the top of a bookcase unit in the family room.  

I recall all you were reading about the Medicis.  I am sure you are learning so many interesting things,  History is such a big draw.  Are you interested in the Shakers?  An interesting culture, very inventive and hard working folks, and we have gone to two old settlements.  Was an old settlement in our general area, but nothing left.  Been to old ones in Mass. and NH.  

My little Royal library, all English, and so much pertaining to 

Queen Elizabeth, is my little treasure.  I admire her so much.  Only been once to England, but I wish could go back.  But Italy...just waiting to go once it is safe for us.  Having things to look forward to keeps us going!

Our two GC keep us going.  We are old to have such young GC.  We do hope to see them grown up.  They are good kids, so happy about that.  I am sure your family is the same.  

all my my best to you,

Pam

[Enufstuff]

@PamfromCT 

         Happy Birthday Pam,

              I hope that you had a wonderful day and got to do something fun; or at least spoiled yourself on your special day.

     I enjoyed reading about your French heritage and I feel the same about the Fleur de Lis. Back in the 60's I bought brass colored bathroom towel racks that had large Fleur de Lis wall

supports. Now I have in my bedroom, two large brass candle holder wall sconces that are Fleur de Lis.

   A year ago, I purchased a comforter with matching pillow shams and Euro pillows in soft pale pink. The pieces are quilted in a large Fleur de Lis pattern.

  Did everyone love your new Fleur de Lis jewelry? It must be beautiful. Your Zealandia jewelry pieces sound lovely. When I looked at the collection on line, I saw the pretty bee and honeycomb pieces.

   When Joan Rivers sold her jewelry on the Q, I bought many of her bee pins and a pair of bee earrings. In addition to the dragonfly pendant from Maine, I have two dragonfly brooches.

Butterfly jewelry is another collection that I have. The purple

butterfly is the symbol for Fibromyalgia. Two of mine are silver with pave' amethysts. It seems that we have similar tastes in jewelry.

    Snake jewelry is another one of my collections, even though

I don't fancy live snakes.

    Also interesting, is that you and your daughter had doll collections. When my girls were preteen's I would give each of them an International Vogue doll for Christmas. Dolls were always given at Christmas (from Santa) from the time my three girls were very young, as I always got for Christmas until I was 13. My girls had baby dolls and later Barbie dolls. Were your daughter's International dolls, Voque or Madame Alexander?

    Tiny tears was my favorite baby doll and my all time favorite was Ginny. I still have my Ginny dolls, clothes and

furniture. Toni dolls were  another favorite.

    As an adult, I collected more Ginny dolls, Toni dolls and my mother collected Madame Alexander dolls for me. Among others, she got me the complete set of Little Women.

    In the 90's QVC was another source for dolls and I bought a lot. Some were Marie Osmond dolls and some others they sold back then.

    After my mother passed away, I inherited her doll collection.

Some of them are French and German dolls in addition to Madame Alexanders and Ginny. She had a doll room and also had a collection of Teddy Bears. I have few of her Teddy Bears and collected some more; Steiff, Hermann and a couple of Boyd's Bears and one Mary Meyers mohair bear and one Alpaca bear. How wonderful that you have a picture of yourself with your Teddy . What are some of your bears?

    About 20 years ago, I discovered a shop in Rockport, Mass.

Rockport was once an artist colony by the ocean and still has art galleries, gift shops and restaurants. It's fun to go there at least once a year.

     Well, anyway, one day I went with a friend for lunch and a little shopping. We saw in this shop window, mink teddy bears.

This shop had all handcrafted beautiful things. A local Rockport woman recycled mink and other fur coats to make her beautiful bears. She only sold them at this shop and the gift shop at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. They were not inexpensive, but I had to have one. Eventually, I collected five of them.

    I have not worn fur in 30 years, but this fur was recycled and instead of being trashed, found new life in these incredible little bears to be cherished. I told my girls that they can each have one when I pass. It may sound silly, but I even named the bears. When my mother was in her 50's collecting dolls, I thought that it was silly that she named them. I guess I have turned into my mother.

   The other thing that I have from my mother's doll room is an antique wicker doll carriage. In it I had a very old bisque doll that was given to my mother when she was a little girl. The woman who gave it to her was an elderly woman who had the doll as a little girl. Well, when Katie and her sister Sylvie were kittens, they decided that they loved to sleep in the antique carriage. So, not to disappoint my little spoiled girls, I packed the doll up and put it away  in a safe place. Sylvie loved sleeping in that carriage until she died. Then Katie began sleeping in it again. So cute! She gets away with a lot more than my kids ever did, so I can relate to Sir Winston having no rules.

   With your interest in Britain, is your kitty by any chance, named after Winston Churchill?   I'm sure that your Winston is much cuter. It is amazing how cats can find a way to climb up high. That must have been something to see, the first time you witnessed Sir Winston get to the top of your bookcase.

  Sylvie was more of a climber than Katie, but she taught Katie how to jump up onto my antique icebox to the toaster oven then to the top of my Hoosier cabinet. The first time I went into the kitchen and felt eyes on me, I looked up and was surprised to see Sylvie looking down at me. With all that fur and the fluffy tail, she dusted the top of it for me. It's taller than I can reach. Mommy's little helper! Not.

     Queen Elizabeth is such an amazing woman. I have never read about her, but have seen documentaries on TV about her life. I was surprised to learn that she drove a jeep during the war and could even repair one.

     She is always impeccably dressed and wears such lively colors, that look so good on her. The last time I saw her on TV, she looked so tiny and frail. She has lived quite a life, and unfortunately had to witness scandalous behavior in the lives of her children. She was fortunate that she and her husband had

so many years together, before he passed away.

    I read somewhere that she took, I think it was seven Corgies

in the car with her. She loves her dogs. The Queen is a legend.

         Your Royal library is a treasure.

      I have not read much about the Shakers. My mother was into their simple style of furniture. She collected doll house miniatures and had a few different room styles in her corner cupboard. One was a Shaker room.

      In the 70's, my ex- husband and I went to Poland Spring, Maine for a weekend. I think there was a small Shaker settlement there. I remember a meeting house that had separate entrances for men and women.

    cont.

     Late last night, I had the same problem with my post and I tried to get my son to help, but he was asleep. So, this is an attempt to finish that post.

     Your trip to England must have been wonderful. I have never been there. If you do get a chance to go to Italy, I'm sure that you will love it. I would love to go again, but I think that our days flying to Europe are over.

     I would just love to fly to Bermuda again, but don't feel safe to do that yet. I hope that things are better by next spring.

      With Covid still out there, I don't go to any gatherings and

avoid crowds. My great-grand daughter's first birthday is next week and it will be in a rented hall with a large group of family and friends. I feel badly missing all the kids parties, but my grand daughter and her children haven't stopped going anywhere and her friends are the same. She and her husband

are anti-vaxers and they have never stopped socializing. Yes,

they all got Covid last winter.

     Too many people out there think that it is  all over, it's not.

I'm not happy to be missing so many things. I used to be the one having all the parties and holidays at my house. Now, I don't feel safe going to any events with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I know that they are all out there socializing and I'm not a risk taker. It is sad and not what I imagined my retirement to be. Today, two little outfits from Macy's came in the mail. I will get them to Charlotte (1 year old) and Kendra (5 years old), before their birthdays next week.

       Tomorrow, I am going to Maine for the day with my cousin. We are going to a small town to a jewelry store. The husband and wife who own it, work with the owners of a couple of mines in Maine. They only sell gems that are mined in Maine and also, some minerals.

        The husband is a goldsmith and I'm taking my Aquaprase

stone to have him make a pendant. My cousin wants to buy a watermelon tourmaline. She and I are more like sisters and see

each other about once a month. She is the only one I go out with. We always have fun together, especially when we laugh at the things we did together when we were kids.

       I hope that you enjoyed your birthday and have a lovely weekend.

                                      Take care,

                                                 Donna

[PamfromCT]

@Enufstuff 

Hello Donna!

You are just the sweetest!  Thank you so much for remembering my day online here.  It was such a surprise!  By the way, when is your birthday?

Yes, the Fleur de Lis pendant and earrings have been admired.  And some pieces have more meaning, like this does for me.  Your bedroom decor sounds so lovely and unusual.

Such a special retreat.  

Funny how how we both have an affinity of our special “critters”!  They are so meaningful as well as beautiful.  I do have a JAI butterfly I bought on sale, covered with stones.  I do have several of his pieces, partial to colored stones.  And I do have a little bee pin or two, along with a few favorites.  But, for some reason, I never think to wear my pins.  My favorite pin is a little Paul Revere teapot, bought at Boston’s fine art museum.  

I like scarves, too.  Only have a few silk, but many others.  while I won’t wear one instead of jewelry, I should keep appropriate o es with coats and jackets, I guess.

Your doll collection sounds heavenly.  Really.  I just had the popular dolls at the time growing up.  My DD has her collection of international dolls, but no children.  I know she would like to give them to her niece, but they are so over the top with all types of “stuff.”  And my son works from home, and is probably the happiest I have seen him in years.  But that takes that extra bedroom for his home office.  I hate to see dollies not enjoyed.

My childhood dolls - who knows where they went?  It is a blur.

I do have my little wicker rocking chair, wicker doll cradle, and a few odds and ends.  My mother was not a “saver,” and tended to get rid of things much easier than I ever could.  She did get rid of things I wish she had saved, but she wanted to live that way.  And moving to smaller quarters didn’t help.  

I did buy a wicker doll carriage many years back.  It was on a trip to Maine, and I could not resist.  It was unpainted.  At the same shop, I also bought an old wooden child’s sled, with a large handle for adults to push.  The blades are wooden, and there are repainted of red paint.  We brought it home tired to the top of our car, and it is in my dining room on display.  The doll carriage was given to my GD a few years ago.  She was into her American Girl doll in a big way!

Your doll collection sounds amazing!  I do have a tiny peasant woman doll brought from France for my mother, which I keep under glass. My teddy collection has also been cut back a bit.

The two stars are a large and smaller teddies from Harrods.

William and Harry!  Carried those guys home!  And believe it or not, Winston was named by the folks in the shelter.  It does suit him.  

He he is only a few years old, and our first male cat.  He is such an active guy and climber!  I do have a wrought iron gate to keep him out of the living room.  Fabric upholstery, my GM’s cut glass, etc. and Winston don’t mix.

Many years ago, we had a Corgi - Willie - named for Prince William.  He was a very sweet dog.  We do love dogs, but we are certainly not up to caring for a dog.   It I would recommend a Corgi to anyone.

I sympathize and agree with your reluctance to throw caution to the wind and ignore the threat of these viruses.  True, who would have imagined?  Retired,  it not what we imagined.  You are doing the right thing by being cautious.  

My DH and I have had all our shots, bolstered, along with the flu shot, and then the s.ningrix vaccine our PCP recommended.  And still very careful.

My SUL’s father refused shots and insisted on socializing with no limits.  Just when he finally agreed to get the vaccine, he went to his doctor, not feeling well.  Doctor callled for an ambulance to take him to the hospital.  Released after several days, he was left with severely damaged lungs, and has been on oxygen 24/7.  After a while, he had a heart attack.  Heart surgeon afraid to operate, as he would have to be put on a ventilator and afraid he might never get off of ventilator.

Due to persistence of my DDand SIL, they found a surgeon at Yale who will be putting stents, which does not involve deep anesthesia.  I hope and pray this helps him, as he really is a good person.  Procedure will happen this week.

[Enufstuff]

Hi Pam,

     Thank you for your post. I look forward to reading them. We seem to have quite a few things in common. To answer your question, my birthday is May 11. I was born on Mother's Day.

     Like you, I have a collection of scarves, several of which are silk. Three of them, I bought in Florence to go with a leather coat

that I purchased there, on our Italy trip. Some other silk scarves are from Boston Museum of Fine Arts and from the Metropolitan Museum. I wore many of them when I worked.

Now, I like them with jackets and coats in Spring and Autumn.

  Your Paul Revere teapot pin must be pretty. That is a nice memento of your visit to the museum. I liked to wear pins on my jackets at work. I have a couple of snowflake pins that I like to wear on a winter coat. I loved them on a red wool coat

that I once had. I wish that I could find another red wool coat.

It is difficult to find the shade of red that I want; not a blue red

or a wine or burgundy shade. It is also difficult to find a real wool coat today. Most are blends or polyester or acrylic.

   It is nice that you have your wicker rocker and cradle. The

wicker doll carriage and wooden sled were great finds. That is

what I loved about antique collecting, you never know where you will find the next great "treasure". I have to keep myself from looking, I have no room for any more. Your doll from France must be a very special treasure.

  Also special are your Teddy bears from Harrods. When I was collecting bears, I thought that if I ever went to Harrods, I would get one of their bears. From what I have seen on TV, that store is amazing. It must have been fabulous to shop there.

  Since being married, I have only had cats. They are so much easier to care for than dogs. I did have a Cocker Spaniel when I

was growing up. Her name was Cindy. I had her for 15 years.

  We have also had all of our Covid vaccines and boosters. I know that the next booster should be available by October.

I'm just nervous about getting so many shots. We don't really know what long term effects they may have. I haven't gotten a Shingles vaccine. I've heard of too many people having bad reactions to them and I am super sensitive to so many medications.

   It is too bad what happened to your son in law's father. I hope that all goes well with his surgery. My husband had a stent put in about 25 years ago. Then he had a heart attack four years ago and needed three more stents. He is doing well, but he is not careful about diet and he is careless about doing yardwork when it is hot and humid. I can't seem to convince him how dangerous his behavior is. He eats nearly a pint of ice cream every day. If I even try to nicely give him any guidance, I'm a nag. He's 84 years old. I can't teach him anything. If I ever had a heart attack, that would scare me straight!

              Take care and stay well,

                                             Donna

[spiderw]

As someone who loves to read, I would be very comfortable sitting on this lovely porch  What a warm comfortable look!!!!!

[PamfromCT]

@Enufstuff 

Hello Donna,

Oh, What a wonderful trip to Italy you were blessed to have.

And smart to buy items you can wear and enjoy.  I picture you as a very pretty and petite fashionista!  My problem is that I tend to save nice things - like a few silk scarves - in my bureau drawer upstairs.  What is the purpose of that?  You are inspiring me.

The great news is that DD’s FIL had two stents put in with absolutely no complications.  He went home several hours after this procedure.  I sure hope this will help him. DD and SIL are concerned that FIL might have unrealistic expectations about the results.

I do know what you said about finding 100% wool coats is hard.  I wonder if you might consider a red blazer?  I used to have one and wore it frequently.  Of course, I guess it’s likely universal that blends have taken over.

Last year I bought a few cotton ragg sweaters from LLBean.

I always loved the fair isle style, and bought one first, and then two more.  This year they are offering cotton ragg sweaters again, but only one fair isle style.  I am glad I followed my instincts, as I like the classics and don’t want to waste money on fad clothing.  I picture you as a classic lady, too.

Oh, husbands!  I remember reading years ago that a person’s greatest strength can be their biggest liability.  It is situational.  

Here, DH is a very calm, focused, non-emotional person.  Very hard working.  Assets, yes.  But the flip side is very stubborn about some things.  

DH had a mild heart attack ten years ago.  It must have been 

Brewing for quite a while.  I was shocked, as he would go on 10 mile bike rides.  Well, at first very concerned about his diet and not overdoing his yard work, etc.  But gradually has gone by the bye.  He does love to be outside, but he tends to overdo!  He is 81 years old.  He has his little office and tv upstairs with a nice recliner, etc.  He spends time on his computer, does desk work, and watches sports on tv there.  I respect this, as I am not a sports person.  

So I do find evidence of snacks he tries to hide, but not very well.  And speaking of ice cream, all of a sudden he is buying it.  And we are both eating it as a pm snack.  I somehow think sherbet would be better.  I should explore that.

And I try -“I love you.  I care about you.  I don’t want you to have an event you won’t recover from, etc. etc.  after a few minutes of that I lose my cool.  “Never, ever, have I see anyone as stubborn as you.”  End of story.

What to do?  Years ago, I did convince him that he had to give up snowblowimg our quite long driveway.  He did the blower away, and we have had someone come in with a plow to take over.  for a couple years he lamented he gave up the snowblower.

[Katcat1]

Enjoy your lovely porch.  Ice Tea or Lemonsade sound good right now.

[Enufstuff]

@PamfromCT 

              Hi Pam,

              This is a very sad day.  Early today, I was making a cake for my son's birthday, which is today. The tv was on and I heard that the Queen's family was sent for to be with her and that her doctor's were very concerned for her health. I knew that was not a good thing and that her health was failing.

            Still, it was rather shocking to hear that she had passed.

She was The Queen forever and loved and respected all over the world. Ninety-six is a long life, but she will be missed by so many. It is a great loss for her family, the people who worked closely with her and of course her Corgis.

            Charles has had decades to prepare and I'm sure that he

will be a great king.

              Just last week, my daughter sent an email to me to watch a youtube video - Queen Victoria's Favorite Jelly Pudding/Royal Upstairs Downstairs/Real Royalty.

             I then found Inside the Cambridge Mansion That Hosted Queen Victoria. Both on youtube.

             I made a note of these videos to tell you about them.

They were very enjoyable and I thought that you may like them, if you have not seen them yet. There are also more, but it was late at night and I just watched those two.

           It is wonderful that your daughter's father in law had a successful surgery. I hope that he is doing well in his recovery.

            I am making this a short email, so that I don't run into problems since it is late and my son is probably sleeping.

            I'll email again tomorrow. Good night for now,

                                                                           Donna