news of our dear Mr. Jefferson

my little banty hen,Tasha and her 2 wee chicks,

they as big as a large spool of thread

~~~

~Deerfield Farmhouse News ~

The Ladyes of Deerfield have been very busy this beautiful early summer

here on Deerfield Farm.

Taking care of the gardens,the hens & new chicks, a new little milk cow, Maisy,

weeding the mint fields,
and polishing up the Dolls House from top to bottom in anticipation of....

oh! have you heard the news?!

A large wax sealed envelope arrived in this weeks mail

along with the much awaited and much anticipated

The Goode Ladyes Press.

~I'll tell you more about that soon~

It was, indeed, a large letter

with the unmistakable elegant handwriting

of our Dear Mr Jefferson.

He has written to let the ladyes know that he will soon be arriving home to Deerfield Farm.

He is bringing with him burlap wrapped fruit trees, a large rosemary topiary and a bay tree,

a new copper pot for making preserves,

several boxes of fresh sweet cherries and asparagus,

the promised new hive of honey bees

and he written to say

that he would also be bringing home

a guest!

oh my!! Who can it be?

Mother, Emily & Augusta, Elizabeth and the Titian-haired

ladye are giddy with excitment...

and of course, remembering their promise to be more subdued in their enthusiasm,...

all but Lydia who

~I'm sorry to say~is sitting on the hall stairs -in what is now called"time-out".

Mother has put her there and told her to think about her actions

and how injurious they are to her very soul.

Lydia is singing a made up song at the top of her lungs...louder and louder.

"oh, bother", exclaims Augusta.

"Why can't Lydia behave herself for just one minute?

We're in need of her help and here we all are scurrying about with that racket

going on. I do think she gets into trouble to keep from having to help!

We still need to finish bringing the hay into the barn from the field!"

Emily, always very calm in any situation, tells her that their kind neighbor,

Mr. Hogmire, has most generously offered to help with the hay

after he finished his chores.

Mother has now gone to the stairs and the singing has stopped...

and a great sigh of relief arises from the kitchen...

~~~~

There is much to do in getting the house ready as well as the everyday chores done
and now the much anticipated returnof our Dear Mr. Jefferson and his Guest.

The busy-ness of farm life & the giddy-ness with the Return of Mr. Jefferson's & his guest is taking up so much of the Deerfield Ladyes' time

Thank you my friends,

I hope that you are all enjoying a most wonderful Earlie Summer

yours on this day,

Christine

this is lydia....

....as I opened the door into my work room, a noticeable hush seemed to come over the room.
The dolls, who are usually quite talkative, were as quiet as mice.
I should have been more surprised when I found that "someone" had painted deep red circles on the cheeks of all the other dolls during the night.
I sat down at the painting table and looked around me.
One of my newest ladyes, a most demure Queen Anne, who was standing nearby, pushed a small folded piece of paper towards me with the toe of her
beautifully embroidered shoe.
Inside, neatly written in long spidery sepia ink, was this message to me:

Dear Madame Doll maker,

Lydia....

had a paintbrush in her mouth last evening.

most sincerely,
and with deepest regret,
Q.A.

oh......whatever is to be done with Lydia?

~excerpt from The Pastoral Doll maker in the Summer 2008 issue

Artful Blogger~

delightful diversions & news of our dear Mr Jefferson

Dearest Readers,
our dear Mr. Jefferson has been away to his farm in Virginia
taking care of his business affairs
and the early spring planting of his fields.
While we wait for him to return, there is much to do now that
our farm is dressed in her best pale green gown of spring.

~

Dear Mr. Jefferson has promised to bring us a hive of
his own bees for our gardens here.

He built a little house just for the bees & their bee skep
before he left for Virginia.

Soon they'll be dancing from flower to flower

and

there'll be honey for our biscuits on

cold winter mornings.

Meanwhile, the Deerfield Ladyes busy themselves with spring cleaning of the Doll House,

washing up every tiny cup & dish in the cupboards,

polishing the silver

and making things shine.

Augusta and Emily have been painting a lovely

mural on the wall up the narrow stairs

&

tending the gardens and hens.

All the ladyes have been stitching

their new gowns for the Sweet Springe Celebration

and....as I understand...

the secret and late night reading of risqué novels

by candle light!

Wherever did they acquire those?

I have no idea!

with love
on this day,
Christine

smitten

our Dear Mr. Jefferson keeps this lovely likeness

hidden in his vest pocket...

worn close & turned towards his heart...

just who might this titian haired beauty be?

Mr. Jefferson's 'Smitten' portrait miniature made by my dear friend, Cathy Penton

welcome Dear Readers

Welcome

My dear Friends,

for those of you, Dear Readers, who have just found us,

Welcome!

I have just begun my new adventure in sharing the stories of the Deerfield Doll House here on the 13th of February.

So that you will know just how our dear Mr. Jefferson came to Deerfield, please allow me to

"catch you up" with the beginning

of our Deerfield Dolls House stories with these first 2 installments of

Mr. Jefferson Comes Calling

you will need to read those 2 installments (links are below) first and then

come here for the continuation of the story with

the shoe on the tea table...or apologies graciously accepted

written February 13

&

with love, your secret admirer

written Valentine's Day, February 14

I hope that you will enjoy your visit to Deerfield Farm

and to the Dolls House.

There is always much to do and much a do

I hope you visit often.

Welcome and Enjoy,

Christine

~~~~~~

You will find them both here

beginning with

Mr. Jefferson Comes Calling

http://thepastoraldollmaker.blogspot.com/2007/11/mr-jefferson-comes-callinga-little.html

My Dear Madame....

http://thepastoraldollmaker.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-dear-madame.html

with love, your secret admirer

The continuous scratching of a quill pen on paper has been coming from the keeping room all morning.
I look in to see Mr. Jefferson, head bent over the sheet of paper on the little table in front of him.

He looks up, thoughtfully tapping the feather tip of the quill against his chin. His spectacles perched on his nose, he pushes them back up and then, head bent, the scratching begins again.

Catching a glimpse of the letter over his shoulder, I could see that he has very lovely handwriting.
I smile at how the black silk ribbon tying his hair back seems to always be freshly washed and ironed.

Indeed, he is such a fine gentleman.

The ladyes are occupied in another corner of the doll's house. They have brought their paper cuttings, watercolors & sewing baskets to the sunny window.
Each are busy in their own little worlds, trying their best to keep their endeavors secret from one another.
Cutting and folding bits of carefully saved papers into woven hearts for heart in hand valentines with hand written messages and tokens of friendship for one another~

and (I suspect) for Mr. Jefferson as well.

I've noticed that a certain auburn haired ladye has been secretly gazing at Mr. Jefferson at every opportunity.
Now, I wonder what is she quietly scratching away at with her quill in hand?

the shoe on the tea table or apologies graciously accepted

My Dear Readers,

It has been sometime since I've put my pen to paper to write the goings on here on Deerfield Farm. Life here, it seems, is always humming with much to do.
Snow falls and melts as soon as it touches the warming fields. Fat green buds are coming out on the old lilac and the robins have taken up residence in the elms on the pond bank.

Early this morning, a meadowlark was singing from the old willows,

a sure sign that spring is coming.

Life in the doll's house is also humming with much to do

and much has occured with the ladyes and Mr. Jefferson since my last writing to you.

So here I will begin again with the continuation of our story

Mr. Jefferson comes calling ~

my dear Madame...

and

the shoe on the tea table

or

apologies graciously accepted.

When we last visited, Mr. Jefferson was dangling a thin sock with a large hole in the toe that desperately needed mending.

Let's peek into the doll house and listen in....

"of course, dear Mr. Jefferson", I replied, "and again, I do apologize for not anticipating such a response to your coming."

He touched his hand to the tip of his paper hat, smiled and nodded.

From the sewing box I found an old ribbon sash to tie his make-do robe snug around his waist and a pair of old wool doll socks to keep his feet warm, for which he was most grateful.

That evening, the ladyes, prettied and polished, presented Mr Jefferson with their most sincerest of apologies and curtsies as well as a plate of macaroons.

He graciously accepted.

A sigh of relief emitted from the ladyes and he, in turn, made light of losing his footing on the tippy parlor table with a most amusing reenactment of the event which gained uproars of laughter from everyone around the room.

No one seemed to notice when, but sometime during the evening, Mr. Jefferson's lost shoe miraculously appeared on the tea table next to the sugar bowl.

We all then settled in for a cozy evening in front of the fire

where Mr. Jefferson regaled us for several hours with stories of his growing up in the woods of Virginia, his family and of course the largest hog he ever raised.

And so begins our long friendship with Mr. Jefferson,
the handsome country gentleman farmer from Virginia.

~~~~~~