TBT: Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

  In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

OPD and Logic

I've been looking through the photo album I got from the Weebles. I'm excited about the photos because I want to use them to create an altered cookbook to trace the family history through the family recipes.

Came across this photo and didn't recognize any of the men. Showed it to Himself and said, "Doesn't this look like the Godfather's button men?" I started humming the theme to The Godfather.

Flipping through other pictures I found the man in the foreground not wearing a hat is my mother's father. (The only grandparent I knew growing up was my mother's mother, ) Called Dad to ask him if he remembered this picture. I don't recall hearing stories of my maternal grandfather having siblings. Dad didn't really remember the picture, but said he thought his father might be in the photograph. He described his father, tall, glasses and always well dressed. (He was a tailor.) The tall man in the back must be my father's father.

"You know, Dad, none of these photographs are labeled. There's nothing written on them to say who the people in these pictures are."

"Don't worry, about that, honey. We (Ma and Dad) know who the people are.

"That's great, Dad, but what happens when you're dead?

T Stands for Mystery Fine China

 

Our niece contacted family members to help her identify some pieces of china found in her mom's house. Her mother is in long-term care for Alzheimer's and the Niece is in the process of cleaning out the house so it can be sold.

I recognized this set. Shortly before or after I was married, my MIL took me upstairs to her attic and pulled out a box and showed me her wedding china. The pattern was made by Edelstein and is Maria Theresia Three Roses. 

I don't know why she showed it to me. As far as I know her two girls had never seen the china until their mother passed. When they were cleaning out my MIL's house, my youngest SIL was expecting and knew ahead of time the baby would be a girl. The SILs wanted me to have the china. Neither of them wanted it as they didn't do any formal entertaining and people were starting to get away from purchasing fine china and silverware.

 I already had a set of china of my own. I told the youngest SIL that items like china, silver, and jewelry were usually passed down through the maternal line. If she didn't want the china, perhaps she should  set aside for her daughter.

The Niece was happy to know the provenance, but didn't really want the china as she didn't have the space or place to display it. There were place settings for 12.

One of the cups was missing a saucer. I told her if she wanted to keep a memento of her grandmother, she could keep the cup with the missing saucer and see if she could sell the rest of the china. I told her about  Replacements, Ltd.  a company that sells and buys china and collectibles. She could go online to see how much she could get for the pieces. The downside is that you have to ship things to them at your own risk and there is the possibility they won't buy it.

She could also find a local antique dealer to see if they would buy the china from her or she could just donate the china to Goodwill.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Second on the Second

From October 22, 2015 a Throwback Thursday

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at this house. My mother's sister and her family lived here. When I was little, my grandma lived here, too. The door used to be the same brick red color.

Because Ma worked, Auntie was like another mother. During school vacations, we would ride the Green Line (subway) with Dad. We would get off the subway at Government Center (formerly Scollay Square). Dad would go to his office in Boston, and The Brother and I (or I would go by myself when I was 9 or 10) would go down the subway stairs to the Blue Line to catch a train to Maverick Square in East Boston.

Even though the Airport Station was closer (Auntie's house was one street away from Logan Airport), we were cautioned to get off at Maverick Square.  We were always told Airport Station was not safe. I suspect it was like we were told there were hobos in the woods. Maverick Square was safer as we could just walk straight down Chelsea St.  No turns and no crossing busy streets.

The door opened into a porch. On the left and up 3 steps was the door to Auntie's house. On the right, was the door that led to the two apartments upstairs. Auntie's husband grew up in this house. His sister and her husband  lived on the second floor. Uncle's mother and a mentally handicapped brother lived on the top floor. When I was little, I called Uncle's mother "The Grandma Who Lived Upstairs". I just remember a tiny, old woman with white hair. She always wore a dark colored dress and a black sweater draped across her shoulders. When The Grandma Who Lived Upstairs passed away, Uncle Peter lived with his sister on the second floor and the top floor apartment was rented out.

We'd knock on the door and waited to hear Auntie coming down the hallway. I can still hear her calling out "Who is it? I always yelled "It's ME!" and she'd reply "Who's me?" before she opened the door.

One thing I didn't like about Auntie's house was the "Buckhowsah", the bathroom, as my grandma called it. The bathroom was at the end of the long, dark hallway, before entering the main house. The bathroom wasn't heated and during the Winter, you could freeze to the seat if you weren't careful.

If the weather was nice, we'd get to play outside with The Cousins.  Take turns riding bikes or roller skating on the sidewalk, playing hopscotch, or marbles using the sewer cover as the playing field. We might get a chance to run errands. Go to the end of the block to Anna's the fruit and vegetable lady, cross the busy street at the light to go to Guy's, the neighborhood grocery store. When I was a teen, we'd go to the barber to get our hair cut by the cute barber.

Summertime, was the best time to be there. Men with trucks would come down the street selling fruit. They'd yell, "Ey waddamalone!" And then there was the man who wheeled a refrigerated pushcart. He sold Slush, a frozen lemonade which he piled into a small, pleated paper cup. On a hot Summer day, it was Heaven in the palm of your hand and all for a nickel.

When I turned 10, I got to have tea with Auntie. She'd make me a cup of tea. It was really more milk than tea with a spoonful or two of sugar in a china tea cup with matching saucer. There would be cookies, too, sometimes the store bought spice cookies shaped like Dutch windmills and Dutch boys and girls. If it was after a holiday, there would be Grandma's bow cookies drizzled in honey and Auntie's sesame seed cookies.

After work, Ma and Dad would come to pick us up. We'd stay for dinner and everyone would crowd around the table in the small kitchen. We'd have Grandma's Cappellini, home-made macaroni shaped like little hats, meatballs, sausage, and Scali bread from Blundo's Bakery to sop up the gravy.

The old folks have all passed away, but the memories and the door remain.

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Calli whines at the studio/office door. Lately, she's been flying down the hall to get into the room when the door opens.  I put a baby gate up. She can see in and see me. She's not sure what to make of my cage, but she's not crying at the door anymore while I work

2. Market32 had pastina!

3. I connected with my cousin's daughter (first cousin once removed). We had a nice chat. She's in her 40s now and I felt ancient 😺

4. Himself gave me a solar powered cat mobile and temple bells garden stake for Valentine's Day. though The garden stake  was not what he ordered. He had ordered a cat with a bell stake.

5. Teague and I went out to breakfast. We tried stopping at First Bite in Grafton, but there were people milling around outside as the place wasn't opened. We found another place called Star Donut though the donuts were wiped out. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a croissant with home fries. Yummy and very reasonably priced.

How was your week?

Inktober 2023

10/04 Challenge prompt: Dodge

The first car my dad owned, a green Dodge given to him by his Uncle Joe when my parents moved to the house where I grew up. I don't know what year or model. A 1950 something built like a tank

Micron Pigma pen, Tombow markers

10/05 Challenge prompt: Map

Micron Pigma pen, Tombow Markers

10/06 Challenge prompt: Golden

Gold leaf on Jerry's Pink Stuff, Nikko G nib

10/07, Challenge prompt: Drip

Micron Pigma pen, Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Glitter

10/08, Challenge prompt: Toad

Toad, from the video game Mario Brothers

Micron Pigma pen, watercolor pencil, Tombow markers, Moon Palace Sumi ink, Nikko G nib

T Stands for the Dropped Dead Murphys Tour - Part 3

After a light, free breakfast from the hotel, we had one more stop to make on the tour. From the 1910 census records, Himself found the house where his  great-grandfather lived. After staking out the house, we headed South and the road home.

M, one of my classmates from Coloring Camp (Enders) had suggested stopping in Freeport, Maine to have lunch at the Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster Co. and we did just that.  I think she had mentioned that the restaurant was cash only so Himself hit the ATM machine before we left the hotel.

We got to the restaurant shortly after it opened and there was already a line and no spaces in the parking lot.  Fortunately, there was a handicap spot and Himself was able to squeeze in. The handicap placard is a life-saver, sometimes.

We queued up and placed our order. It was quite warm and sunny, but we found a table under an awning and sat and waited to pick up the order. 

The Eldest and I had mile high lobster rolls, fries (chips), and the most delicious blueberry iced tea. Maine is known for its blueberries.

Also in the order, Whoopie Pies to take home to the Kitty Sitters

View of the Harraseeket River. Behind me at the back of the restaurant was an upper deck to eat your meal. You could also buy fresh lobster to be cooked for you.

Before leaving Freeport, we made a pit stop at the L.L. Bean Flagship Store. I'm glad we stopped because traffic came to a standstill on the Southbound side of the highway just as we crossed the Massachusetts border. We figured there we be a lot of traffic heading North on a Friday afternoon taking people to New Hampshire and Maine beach and vacation destinations. We didn't count on two accidents to snarl traffic. At least we didn't have to worry about being home at a certain time. The Young One was home taking care of  Calli and Quill so we didn't have to have kittens about being stuck in traffic.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

T Stands for the Dropped Dead Murphys Tour - Part 2

Himself had corresponded with the City Clerk. She had told him the office would be closed around 11 AM until 1 PM for lunch so he decided that should be our first stop of the day. 

Tile floor in city hall

What were these weights on the first floor?

They were the weights and counter balances to a very cool clock on the second floor

I hope you can embiggen the image above to read about the clock restoration.

Himself talking to the city clerk. He was  hoping to find birth certificates. The clerk told him there was nothing on record because there had been a fire and records before were lost. She suggested her contact one of the churches or to check the Maine archives.

After city hall, we stopped for brunch at Governor's Restaurant

We all ordered the Monte Cristo (ham and cheese between slices of thick French toast). Most Montes I've had are served with raspberry jam. Governor's serves theirs with maple syrup. The sandwich came with a side of home fries, and I had a cup of tea.

The Tin Man take a book and leave a book posed for pictures with his friend, the Trash Can.

Mount Hope Cemetery was very large and it seemed everyone was named Murphy. These Murphys did not belong to Himself

 The rushing waters of the Androscoggin River helped to break the silence of the cemetery. If there is land erosion, Mary, here, could end up in the river.

The sections Himself's grandfathers were buried in were G and H. On the way in we passed a marker for section E, but no other markers were visible. I told Himself that the headstones in this area were relatively new, from the 1940s and 1950s. Himself's grandfathers passed in the early 1900s.

Driving around the cemetery, we passed a woman filling up a watering can at one of the water spigots. I suggested Himself stop the car so I could ask her if she knew the layout of the cemetery or if there was someone in the office who could help us. I asked her about the cemetery sections and she laughed. As if putting up markers was a very funny idea. She did point to a section with a large hill on the far side of the cemetery and said that was the older section. I thanked her.

Himself had a picture he had found from FindAGrave.com. The headstone for his great-great grandfather was large. 

In visiting cemeteries, at least in Massachusetts, most of the Irish families had modest headstones. Large monuments were reserved for prominent people or Italians. The Irish must have done well in this area of Maine. A lot of the monuments were very large and not just marking a family plot.

I wandered up the steep hill, did a bit of searching, but had no luck. I did find this interesting headstone for a priest, Father O'Connell. The urn is a common funeral symbol, but I don't recall ever seeing it with a drape. What really attracted me to this stone, was the split in the stone. Like the good Father is trying to break out. Remember last week, I mentioned we were in Stephen King country? 😉 Stephen King writes mostly horror novels.

When I got to the bottom of the hill, Himself pointed to a large monument on the opposite side of the road. What about that one?

I gave him a thumb's up to let him know this was the grave. 

"That was lucky," he said.

"No. They were calling to you."

The photo of the stone Himself had seen wasn't very good and it looked like great-great-Grandpa had two wives at the same time!

As it turned out, gr-gr-grandpa's first wife died and he remarried. Too bad, two wives at the same time would have made a much more interesting story.

The stone marked a large family plot. I think Himself said gr-gr-grandpa had several children with his first wife and 15 children with his second wife. Sadly, these children didn't survive their childhood.

Opposite gr-gr-grandpa's grave were more Murphy graves. This was great-grandpa's grave.

While Himself visited, I wandered around a bit. I was quite touched with this family plot. In all the cemeteries I have visited no matter what day or time of day, there are very few flowers or plantings on the older graves. Someone was visiting here.

Near his great-grandfather's stone, was this headstone. Himself thought this might also be a relation. Both of these men died on the same day.  Back at the hotel, Himself did a little more research. 

He remembered a story that two brothers had been on the railroad tracks. One of them got stuck and the other tried to help, but both were killed by a train. Tragic, but not true.

Himself found an obituary and the real story is just as tragic. James with the large monument owned the mortuary works. His brother, great-grandfather was a stone cutter and James had persuaded his brother to work for him. Great-grandfather contracted silicosis from breathing in all the stone dust and died. No OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to oversee safety equipment. When great-grandpa's brother heard the news his brother had passed away, he was so distraught and guilty for talking his brother to go to work for him. It's not clear whether he intentionally walked on the railroad tracks or wandered there, but he was hit my a train and died a few hours after his brother had passed away.

We had pizza delivered for dinner. After all the research and roaming around in the cemetery, we had Maine's state dessert Whoopie Pie to end the day.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. On the way home from the Dropped Dead Murphys tour, we had a delicious lunch at the Harrasakeet Lunch and Lobster Co. in Freeport, Maine.

2. We've been enjoying rewatching The Game of Thrones with the Eldest

3. We celebrated the Young One's birthday early as she will be spending her birthday in Ohio with her Young Man.

4. After dropping the Young One and her Young Man off at the airport, we stopped for brunch at IHOP on the way home.

5. The Eldest and I checked out The Jewels of the Nile exhibit at WAM. Then we had a late lunch at Panera.

How was your week?

Whatcha Doin?

 

Himself, the Eldest, and I are taking a few days to travel to Lewiston, Maine to look for the Dropped Dead Murphys. It's a genealogy tour as we look for Himself's maternal great-grandfather and possibly his great, great grandfather, too. 

The Young One will be staying home to take care of the fur babies.

Whatcha doin?

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Roasted chestnuts for Thanksgiving.

2. A distant cousin I met through Ancestry sent me a copy of my great aunt Angelina and her husband, Manny's marriage certificate. As I suspected, they were married in Italy not here in the US.

3. Skyped with the Eldest. She's planning on coming for a visit just after Christmas (she has to work in the lab Christmas Day) and she'll stay through New Year's Day. Color me happy.

4. Worked on Christmas card design.

5. Another year around the sun. Brought a wreath to the cemetery where my parents are buried.

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. My "Cousin" sent the kitties a ball track toy from Chewy. Confused me as I had ordered some things from Chewy but no toys in that particular order. Quill really loves the new toy.

2. Calli screamed at me Mama Mama Mama Mama early in the morning as she wanted the wet food and not the dry kibble. 

3. Watched "Unholy" a movie on Netflix. Parts of the movie were filmed at the Martha Mary Chapel, Grist Mill, and the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. It was so fun to recognize the settings.

4. I  found the Raspberry Chocolate coffee that the Eldest likes and a cute, black cat Halloween mug. They were delivered to her in time for Halloween.

5.  Had lunch and a genealogy outing with my friend, Teague.

How was your week?

T Stands for Play Day, All Day

 One day last week, I ran away from home to my friend, Teague's house. Next to Himself, Teague is my oldest friend, and the one who got me addicted  interested in genealogy. The last time I saw her was in early July. At one time when my girlies were small, Teague came over once a week. Now we're lucky if we see each other every few months or because of the pandemic in a year.

Anyway, we spent the morning catching up and then decided to head out to lunch. There were intermittent showers, but it wasn't a washout of a day. The sun came out so we decided we'd go to the local Dairy Queen and have lunch. If it started to rain we'd do a buy and fly, but

it actually was nice so we could sit outside at the picnic tables and have our lunch. 

Just as we were finishing up, it got very windy and the umbrella at our table blew away.  I put a chair on it so it wouldn't blow further away. We went in to order some ice cream to take home, and I told one of the staff about the umbrella.

No patrons were in the restaurant so you wonder how an order could be mixed up. Teague ordered a mini cookie dough Blizzard (soft service ice cream with bits of cookie dough in it) and a small cookie dough Blizzard for her husband. I ordered a mini Heath bar (toffee bits) Blizzard. When we got back to the house, there were 3 mini Blizzards. 2 were cookie dough and the other was M & M candies.  Hmmm. Well, M&Ms  and Heath bars are both candies so it was all good.

For the afternoon, I had brought my laptop so we set up in Teague's sunroom and played genealogy. Last week, I had mentioned finding cousins. Teague has a subscription to Newspapers.com so was looking up obituaries so we could find where everyone was buried so we can plan a road trip to go cemetery sighting. 

A few years ago, we were trying to come up with a cool name for going to the cemetery. Cemetery hop, sounded frivolous and maybe disrespectful. Head Stoners, fun, but maybe not. So Cemetery Sighting or Siting.

Teague's husband left to go to a meeting and we were deep down the rabbit hole of genealogy. Late in the afternoon, I had a cup of tea, and Teague also had some delicious apple turnovers. It was well past supper time when I noticed the clock and how late it was. So we shut down for another day.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Throwback Thursday - Searching for Scrimas

 

Pasquale's son, Generoso (Joe)

My friend, Teague, first got me hooked on genealogy in 2011.  Researching one's family tree is a lot like doing a large picture  puzzle. Usually when you work on a puzzle, you have a picture from the box of what it will look like. That part is missing when piecing together a family tree.

One of the first puzzles I encountered was looking for a Pasquale (Patsey) Scrima. Somehow related to my mother's side of the family. I didn't know whether he was related to her mother or her father as I knew very little about my mother's side of the family. I came across a passenger list with my grandfather listed and the person he would be staying with in the US was listed as his brother-in-law, Pasquale Scrima.

I had recent confirmation from my cousin that the Scrimas were cousins related to us. Not just close friends that Italians absorb into a family, but he didn't know how they were related.

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on town records for residents of Ariano di Puglia in Italy where both my mother's parents were from. Poking around looking for my great-grandparents, I found my grandmother and her siblings. Then siblings of my great-grandmother. Then a spouse for one of her sisters, Generosa Scrima and then their oldest child, Pasquale later known as Patsey.

Patsey is my first cousin twice removed and related through my grandmother's maternal side of the family. 

So the earlier clue that I had about my grandfather staying with his brother-in-law, Patsey was wrong. Patsey and Grandma were first cousins. I can see how talking to immigration authorities a white lie might have been told or information misunderstood. Since one had to have a sponsor, it would be better if blood ties were close. Easier to say you were staying with the husband of your sister rather than a cousin of your future bride, or a friend.

I've also found Patsey's children including his eldest son, Joe pictured above. The photo looks like it was taken during during WWII. Maybe during Joe's basic training.

My next step was to search through the Boston Globe to find obituaries and to find out where Patsey and Generoso are buried. for a future cemetery sighting. Except for some reason my electronic library card at the Boston Public Library isn't being recognized to search the newspaper. I'll have to wait until the library opens to see about accessing the library.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Found Marriage/Birth/Death records for residents of Ariano di Puglia (now Ariano Irpino) in Italy where Grandma was from. Searching through the records she went from having one brother to having  3 brothers and 4 sister though one sister died in infancy.

2. Friends from South Carolina attended a wedding on the New Your/Western Massachusetts border. They swung by for a visit so we took them to dinner at Point Breeze.

3. Pulled an all nighter and fell down the genealogy rabbit hole

4. I had my annual eye exam, and my current prescription is still just fine. Whew! That saved $800

5. Annual tune up for the boiler and the mini splits. The tech said the inside of the mini splits were so clean they looked brand new. Thanks to Himself for cleaning the filters

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - Finding Millie

 

Millie (left), Ma (right), Ida

In a conversation I had with Ma, I had told her she should go through the old photographs and label them so we (The Brother and I) would know who was in them. Her answer to me was "we" (Dad and Ma) know.

This photograph was one example. On the back Millie, Mary, Ida in Newark, New Jersey July 1936. When I was young I had asked Ma why she was in New Jersey and she said her father let them (I'm assuming she meant her mother, sister, and youngest brother) go on vacation. In 1936, Ma was 18 years old.

Sometime later my comment must have jolted her to action as written in pencil on the back: Millie looks like me. She's my cousin. The other girl is a girlfriend. And the 64 million dollar question: Millie who? 

This week, I fell down the genealogy rabbit hole. I stumbled onto a site that had birth, marriage, death records from Ariano Puglia (now Ariano Irpino) where my mother's parents were from. This was an unbelievable gold mine.

I knew very little about my mother's side of the family.  I pulled two all nighters searching records. My grandmother went from being a child with a brother to  having 4 sisters and 3 brothers! I knew she had a brother because I have a photograph of her and him (I don't know which brother) taken when she went back to Italy for a visit in 1963.

I found siblings for her parents. And spouses for her aunts and uncles, And cousins! Grandma's maternal aunt turns out to be Millie's mother and my great-grand aunt. The great- grand aunt also has the same first name as my mother.  Millie and I are first cousins twice removed. Millie's mother is a great aunt to Ma, and Millie and Ma are first cousins once removed. I think that's how  the theory of relativity goes.

When one mystery is solved another mystery pops up. Off to find another cousin of my grandmother.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Himself bought some muffins and picked a special chocolate and vanilla chai muffin for me.

2. Spent Saturday preparing food that could be eaten cold in case of a power outage from the storm. I made so much food that I didn't have to cook for 3 days.

3. Received an Ancestry message from distant cousin from my mother’s side of the family . Maybe some clues.

4. Chatted with my cousin and The Brother. Conversation take-away is we're getting old.

5. The Tesla Powerwall app stopped working a couple of months ago. After hunting around, I found a tweak, and now the app is working again.

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - MacTavish

 While researching genealogy, not only is it about tracking data like birth dates, city of birth, census records, photographs, but it's important to try get the stories behind the facts.

Ma told me when she was courting Dad, he had given her a stuffed Scottie dog that they named MacTavish. The dog wore a Tam O'Shanter, a Scottish hat. I don't know whether the dog was a birthday, Christmas gift, or a prize won at a fair. I never asked Dad his side of the story about the toy.

Ma had a Persian Lamb coat which she loved. The coat was never properly cared for or stored. One of the shoulders was torn so it couldn't be worn. Besides, no one wears fur coats any more. What to do with it? 

A few years ago, I stumbled on the idea that teddy bears could be made from fur (usually mink) coats as a remembrance. I thought it was a charming idea, but it was very expensive, and I don't really sew. The coat languished in my cedar closet. Until...

The Young One has taken an interest in fabric arts. I told her the story of MacTavish and asked if she could do the project. She found a Scottie Dog pattern on Etsy.

After working on the project,  a couple of weeks, cutting and sewing by hand, she presented me with MacTavish. She used blue safety eyes and sewed on a square, leather button nose from (Ma's) the button box. MacTavish had to have blue eyes because he was for me, and blue is my favorite color.  She also gave him a jaunty, Tartan bow. I'm working on crocheting a hat for him.

I told the Eldest about her sister's creation and the response was: : She made a cute dog out of that hideous coat! 😀 (I'm not really interested in having one, but it is cute.)

I'll ask other family members if they want a MacTavish, but I'm thinking the answer is no. There's still a lot of material left as MacTavish was made out of one of the sleeves. If the Young One has no further use for the material, I found some animal rescue sites that take donations of fur coats to use as bedding.

Thank you, DB for bringing MacTavish to life for me, for us. MacTavish will be yours. When it comes time for you and your sister to clean out the Dollhouse, if left up to your sister, MacTavish will be first in the dumpster. 😺