Bringing the Manor Back to its Full Glory!

  Today, I painted the house....both inside and outside!  I even painted the roof!  Of course, I am not referring to the Little Bayou House but rather what shall from this point forward shall be called the "Tiny Bayou House"!  In the readying of the place for the visit of the grand-littles, I repainted the old dollhouse that Darling Daughter had when she was a tyke.  It has been a long time since she played with it and, over time, it had become quite grungy.  The house had become a makeshift shelf in the bottom of a closet and held all sorts of items that just did not seem to go anywhere else.  Well, they found a new place to go and that place was the garbage can!  The dollhouse was hefted up atop the dining table and the paint job commenced.  Now the dollhouse can return to its full glory as a plaything for the Grand Princess.

  The story behind the dollhouse is almost as precious as the house itself.  Years ago when Mark and I had toddlers of our own, money was short at times.  Mark was working in the construction business and, as we all know, weather dictates when workers are on the job.  No work...no pay.  It just so happened that around Christmas one year, the weather was quite rainy (about like this year!).  With the rainy season, jobs were scarce so we had pennies to spare for gifts.  Old Santa was in dire need of some help.  His elves got busy and created all sorts of magical things as gifts for our kids.  Stuffed animals and doll clothes were sewn, wooden boats and cars were built.  It was fun for us to see just what we could create on a budget of nothing.  Mark built a house. The dollhouse for Darling Daughter was made purely from scrap lumber and odd pieces scrounged from relatives' sheds.  He worked at my folks' home so that Elizabeth would not see the dollhouse.  When it was carted home long after the kiddos were in bed, I had to paint the thing in the upstairs closet!  Again...fun times.

  The Tiny Bayou House shall take on the new role of entertaining the next generation.  It has been painted and sits ready to occupy its new (old) residents.  I have plans of stitching a few outfits for some of Darling Daughter's old fashion dolls so Mary Ruth, the Grand Princess, can pretend to her heart's content.  I do not know who will have more fun...me, reviving the old toys or the grandlittles playing with them come next month!