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Showing posts from April, 2017

The doll man

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Dear Diary, Jesse :  I found this by accident; I can't explain how it showed up on my computer recently.   It needs to be shared!   The Doll Man is a fictional superhero from the Golden Age of Comics, created by cartoonist Eill Eisner and originally published in 1939. In the beginning - The adventures continue - And to make sure there's no doubt - All the while this guy's hanging around somewhere -  And, finally something I can relate to today - I leave it to my readers to have fun captioning these pages! "I am the Doll Man!"

Bottling fever in full swing

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Dear Diary, Jesse :  This is a long weekend in New Zealand and the lads decided to make the most of the time to put up some of our early harvest. Angelo :  I did the carrots and peas from the garden.  We bottled them with Rosemary, Thyme, Coriander and a pinch of salt.  They will taste delicious.  I'm just shifting them across the bench top to get them closer to the pantry for storage. Armand :  I bottled the bread & butter pickles, using the gherkins and onions from the garden.  B&B pickles aren't well known in NZ but the people I serve them to all want seconds! Here, I'm putting the labels onto the jars. Adam :  This year the cherry (which unfortunately don't come from our property) crop was about 2 weeks later than usual but it's also lasted later into the summer.  The cherries this year are beautiful: big and plump, dark and crisp and very sweet.  I bottled 14 quarts to eat this coming winter.  Right now, I'll eat the last o

A suiting wardrobe

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Dear Diary, Jesse :  I suppose most everyone with dolls and their extra clothing struggles with storage of the latter.  I have tried all kinds of things: plastic containers both large and flat, doll trunks, suitcases, dressers both large and small, doll wardrobes and others I've forgotten.  But, none have really been all that satisfactory. The chief reason for my dissatisfaction has been that doll clothes are small and I like to keep everything in strict order: jumpers with jumpers, trousers with trousers, jackets with jackets and separated from coats, dress shirts with dress shirts and not with casual shirts - you get the picture.  Keeping everything organised and yet easily accessed challenges me constantly.  I do not like to dig very far down in a drawer or container to find something. Each boy who lives here has his own small dresser but even these drawers are too deep for my satisfaction.   When Hans arrived, I knew I needed something better.  As luck would have it, I

Making apple pie

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Dear Diary, Adam :  Autumn seems to be the busiest time of the year around here.  The fruit and produce all conspire to ripen at the same time and we have to stay focused to get all the processing of the food done so nothing is wasted.  Spring and summer this year were bleak and rainy with most days having cloudy, grey skies and very little sunshine.  These conditions, coupled with the frequent strong winds, produced harsh conditions on the orchard and all the fruit trees suffered. Even so, we did get some apples. Angelo :  Now comes the real work.  Because there is so much to do, even we dolls help out. "I'm putting the jars into the water bath." "My job is to peel and core the apples.  Luckily, I have this handy gadget to do most of the work." Angelo :  I like the feeling I get when we've finished and have something to show for it.  We are a self-reliant household and take pride when we make our own food. "Here we are with the

Around the world in 730 days

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Dear Diary, Jesse :  I am gobsmacked that this blog has been on the internet for 2 years now!  I can't believe that all this time has passed already and we're headed into our third year of sending goodness from New Zealand around the world. I've kept a record of all the countries which have visited the blog.  The statistics don't show if these visitors return or if everyone is new.  Some countries seem odd and I can't explain how or why someone came by to take a look.  But, for whatever the reason, we've been viewed around the globe.  Here are the 76 countries which have checked us out: Algeria, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Botswana, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatamala, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Luxembourg,