A few weeks back, Denise (a longtime reader of the blog) wrote me and asked me for my mailing address, as she had something she wanted to send me. I’m always taken by surprise when that happens, and of course, grateful that anyone would want to send me anything.
Denise alerted me that she had sent the package last week, so Don stopped off at the post office and brought it home. She wrote a lovely note in which she said she had been the full-time caregiver for her mother, who passed away two months ago. She was now ‘paring down and simplifying the home we shared.’ How hard that must be, grieving and sorting through things, everything evoking a memory.
She said that she had known that she wanted to send this gift to me.
I opened the box and gasped when I saw the contents:
Petite Princess furniture! I’ve written about it on the blog many times. It was made by Ideal and was sold from 1964 to 1968. I was a big fan when I was a girl and asked for it for my birthday and Christmas, but Mom was having none of it. (See? I wanted something ‘dollhouse’ even then.)
I found a couple of pieces several years ago that I used in the dollhouse; two dressers and a lamp.
These pieces were Denise’s when she was a girl.
As I told Denise, each time I unwrapped something, I gasped. Don was here at the time and I kept gasping and he said, “Wait until everything is opened and then show me.” (I think my gasps were interrupting his concentration.)
Above, the dressing table, seat, and three tables. Wouldn’t every little girl want a dressing table like that one?
Gasp! The piano! What can I say? It’s gorgeous! (Denise told me the piano is her favorite piece.)
Gasp! A lovely curved sofa and another dresser.
Gasp! Another coffee table and phone and some lamps (the bird lamp is the same as the one I have in the dollhouse), another table, statues, a lamp and some paintings. And there are more accessories, too – statuary, vases, dishes with fruit, tiny glasses – amazing petite beauties.
That Denise would think of me as she, still in mourning, sorts through things in her home moves me beyond words. This is a treasure trove and I am so honored that she would pass it on to me.
Thank you, Denise. I will take good care of it, I promise.
It’s Friday. Yesterday, I thought it was Saturday for half the day and then I thought it was Friday for the other half. Now it actually is Friday. Soon I will have to start working on the text for Comedy of Errors, which starts rehearsals in mid-December. Yes, what seemed so far off is now fast approaching.
Don has told me he will be out and about most of the day. I know what he’s up to, he’s going birthday present shopping!
Happy Friday.
ooooh, aaaaah! :D What marvelous minis!
I know! Amazing, right? I’m very grateful.
What an amazing gift! I love all those pieces and I know Denise has found comfort in knowing they have gone to a good home. Sending Denise a hug during her grieving. I know a certain soon to have a Birthday girl who should be looking for something in the mail soon! Hugs!
Aw, you’re so sweet, Linda!
I hope Denise knows that we are all wrapping our arms around her as she grieves.
I kept oohing and aahing with every scroll of my finger! And that piano…oh my! What a precious gift from Denise. You are going to have fun, my friend!;)
I am! Just have to figure out how to use the pieces, but there’s no hurry.
It almost looks like your next dollhouse needs to be a castle!
It does, doesn’t it?
Very gorgeous little works of art. Hummingbird Cottage will be even more beautiful! What lovely kind generosity. Dianne
I am so grateful for Denise’s generous gift, Dianne.
What a lovely surprise!
It sure was, Barbara!
Wow, what lovely gifts. The piano is gorgeous!!
Have been reading your blog but not commenting – busy weeks I’ve been having, but wanted to say I’ve really enjoyed your pictures of and blogs about the horses. The Mr. Ed shot was just too, too funny.
Hoping your weekend is filled with joy and fun.
Don loves that shot! Luckily the horse held it long enough for me to get a picture! Have a wonderful weekend, Vera.
What a generous gift! Wow. I bet it’s comforting for Denise to know her mom’s pieces will be so well-cared for & loved in the future too. And what fun you’re going to have, trying out arrangements, re-arranging etc. A terrific distraction right now. Can’t wait to see the photos. Enjoy them & have a wonderful weekendI
PS – This is NOT normal. 🇺🇸
And, oh boy, can I use a distraction!
Keep that P.S. going, Janet!
Oh my gosh, Claudia! I had that sofa, the exact same! I had a cousin that gave it to me when I was 4 along with a chair, two tables and lamps. My favourite thing was this little drinks trolley! It had the little bottles, an ice bucket with removable lid, and different types of glasses! Oh, the trolley actually wheeled around! I had no dollhouse, but my Barbie love it! I gave my sister all of the pieces when I went away, she being 10 years younger than me. How I wish I had kept them all!
Hope Don has a wonderful surprise for you 😊
I hope you both have a lovely weekend.
I don’t have the drinks trolley but I’ve seen pictures of it!
I bet there are many of us who regret passing things along to younger siblings!
Debbie, I mailed the book to you yesterday. It probably won’t get there until Tuesday or Wednesday but I have a tracking number if necessary.
Thank you for sharing the pictures. All of them are lovely pieces especially the piano and sofa. It was so thoughtful of Denise to want you to have them.
It was, indeed. A complete surprise and such a generous gift!
My condolences to Denise. Knowing treasures that you can’t keep for one reason or another will be taken care of by someone who treasures them almost as much is always comforting. They are lovely, and I love the time period the furniture represents….so stylish!
It must be enormously comforting, Wendy.
Very sixties and stylish furniture. Reminds me of the bedroom set I always wanted – I believe they called the style French Provincial – white with gold. I thought it would be the neatest thing to have in my bedroom!
I had a childhood friend who got everything, much to the envy of a lot of us other kids in the neighborhood. Her whole little-girl bedroom was brand-new, with the white/gold French Provincial, even a bed WITH A CANOPY (which I thought was any dream come true). Very fluffy and pretty and pink. I wanted her world! I wanted to sink into that bed with its gossamer ‘roof’ and pretend I was a princess in a tower.
Yes, my neighbor had the same kind of bed with a canopy! I think that’s when I pestered my mom about a bedroom set just like my neighbor’s. My mom wisely said no because she knew it would wear thin very quickly!
My thoughts goes out to Denise and sorrow at the loss of her mother.
How kind of her, to take the time in the midst of her grief to forward these Petite Princess items to you, which has certainly brighten your day, Claudia .
I think that each piece of furniture as well as the accessories are lovely, but the Loveliest by far, is Denise’ s caring and generous heart.
I couldn’t have said it better, Elizabeth. In fact, I didn’t. Thank you for writing so articulately about Denise’s generous spirit.
What a wonderful, thoughtful gift. You are lucky to have such great blog friends. It was my 71st birthday last week. My son phoned 3 days after and apologised for forgetting the date…The same thing happens every year, so I’m used to it. The only card I got was from my ex-SIL. She and my brother were divorced over 30 years ago, but we still send ‘sister’ cards to each other. We share the same birthday although she is 18 years older than me.. Sorry, this isn’t meant to be a pity party. I have many things to be grateful for, and I’m determined to focus on those. Blessings
Happy Belated Birthday, Lesley! Believe me, I have spent more than a few birthdays alone – even since I’ve been married. Sometimes one of us is working away from home. And I don’t really get cards anymore, except from my husband and my best friend. But I can’t complain because I’m not so great at sending cards, either!
I’ve had to become accustomed to spending holidays alone because my husband works long hours (including holidays) and my closest relatives have all died now. We’ll get invitations to share, say, a Thanksgiving with someone, but it always seems to make us feel like we’d be intruding on a family get-together, like outsiders, although I know we should look at it differently. One of the problems is that the relatives we DO have live in faraway parts of the country and, in these years, it’s hard for any of us to travel due to money and health (and oftentimes weather!). They, too, are busy with their own families (in-laws, grandchildren, etc.). My house isn’t in any kind of shape right now for entertaining (remodeling; improvements) so I can’t exactly have anybody over either. A lot of us just don’t have the Hallmark moments but I think what I’ve learned is to find contentment with some other aspect of a holiday, and I definitely cherish past memories; other years. I go for the simpler now, and it’s okay. Like Lesley, I work on the gratitude; the calm. Sometimes all it takes for me is to pick a few blooms from my garden, put them in a vase and get a smile from seeing them every time I go into the room. It can make ANY day a good day!
I love greeting cards. I’ve kept a ton of them, received over many years. They’re a gift. Hardly anyone in my life ever sends them anymore, including me. I buy them and then don’t get them sent, but it’s a lovely tradition I don’t want to see end. I can remember at Christmas, looking forward to the letter carrier at the door; my parents amassing 70 or 80 cards from people they’d known throughout their life. We’d hang them up, all over the place; line ’em up on the piano. So colorful and festive. No internet in those years; it’s how people reconnected; postage was cheap(er). I’ve gotten the electronic greetings and they’re clever but I find them a little cold. There’s nothing like a handwritten letter or card in the hand, fresh from the mailbox on the front porch. I’m determined this year to send out December cards. And I want to buy a real Christmas tree, a living one, in a pot. I’m tired of my fake tree. I haven’t had a real tree in probably 25 years. I’ve discovered a safe place to plant a real one, so that’s my plan come January. (I’m feeling the need, in light of recent happenings, to slip in as many comforts as I can this holiday season!)
My husband’s goal, once he has more time in life, is to gather up anybody we know of, who might be alone on special holidays. Have a table full of folks who otherwise wouldn’t celebrate. There are lots of ways to define a family. Make new friends. He’s very social and he likes to cook (I don’t), so looks forward to a big spread, good conversation and…togetherness!
I remember getting so many Christmas cards. But I almost never send them now. So the cards we get are dwindling. That’s not good. Every few years, I send them out. The truth is, some years, the expense was more than we could handle. But this year? Especially this year, we should do it.
We will be together on Thanksgiving, and I’ll come home from Hartford for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We were going to go down to Florida for the week next week, but we’re so exhausted – physically and spiritually and emotionally – and we also didn’t want to be trying to find motel rooms the weekend before and after Thanksgiving, plus there are big forest fires in North Carolina, which we would be driving through – so, regrettably, we’re not going. I’ll miss seeing everyone, but my gut told me that it wasn’t the right time to go, so I’m heeding the message. My birthday is Monday and we’ll celebrate together and Thanksgiving will be, most likely, just another meal. That’s okay with us.
I think it’s good to trust your gut. Tuck in. It’s fine.
xoxo
I don’t know a thing about this Petite Princess furniture. How? I’m in your age group! But I never read Winnie The Pooh either, and I don’t remember Dick & Jane. A lot of stuff seemed to wing by me. Anyway, it is SO nice, this group of miniatures; just darling, exquisite, detailed, unique treasures. What a gift! Denise was probably glad to find a good home for her keepsakes, with someone she likes and who she knew would love her things. I’ve enjoyed seeing these photos, Claudia! I adore the bird lamp.
I imagine if I said anything back in the day about Petite Princess, Mom cut me off at the pass and said we couldn’t afford it. I don’t mean for that to sound harsh; she would have found her usual gentle way to distract me on it…but the stuff does look expensive for its time, was it? I was heavily into Barbie in 1964, so that’s probably what we focused on.
Thanks for the peek!
We were the same, we had very little money and Mom and Dad did their best to make Christmas presents-filled. Mom watched every penny, so I’m sure she would have thought this stuff was a bit frivolous, especially since I already had one of those metal dollhouses. Mom was practical!
How very thoughtful of Denise! And everything is so beautiful, especially the piano. I am sending my condolences to Denise. She must be one of the nicest people to be so thoughtful at such a sad time in her life. You do have such nice readers, Claudia.
I think she must be, Dottie.
I have wonderful readers, including you!
For someone still grieving to think of you is rather humbling. What a kind gesture. And it must be comforting for her to know how much you will love and treasure those beautiful pieces. Can’t wait to see how you use them.
The wind is blowing so hard here today, it is crazy!! It was 64* when I went into Madison earlier today. The temps are dropping quickly now. Glad we aren’t much farther north where that icky stuff is supposed to fall. Hope you had a great “finally Friday”, and hope Don arrived home with something to hide!!
I was very, very touched by this gift, Chris.
It was fairly warm – in the 50s – here today, sunny and nice. But I know that temps are going to drop on Sunday and next week promises colder temps. Glad you’re not getting snow!
We are blowing so hard here in SoCalif…all night long and into today; yesterday morning I went around the entire exterior of the house to make sure everything was anchored, knowing the wind was coming, but it just blew to shreds [an hour ago] a tied-down tarp over one of our outdoor sheds (roof leaks, so we have to keep it covered…and, now, they’re actually predicting some rain on Sunday, so we’re going to have to get another tarp asap although the likelihood of actual rain seems remote…but, oh, would it be great for our state…).
I wish you didn’t have to be traveling in snow with your upcoming work, Claudia, but I do look forward to your wintery photos each year; it’s so holiday-esque! Will Don, work-permitting, be joining you on any of these work sites now that you (sob) don’t have Scout to attend to?
I do so hope you get rain, Vicki! I know how much you need it.
Don will probably come stay with me for a day or two when I’m in Hartford. Hartford isn’t the most exciting place to be and we are both homebodies, but he’ll come. Maybe not until opening night, but he’ll be there. And I’ll go home as much as I can.
How fun! That must have made your week. Hope you’ll show some photos when you get them in place.
I’m not sure that I have a place for them yet, Judy! They may have to stay safely nestled in a box until I figure out how to display them.
That was so nice of Denise to think of you. She knew you would treasure them, and take good care of them. All the pieces are precious, but my favorite is the dressing table. I always wanted one.
I had a fold up cardboard Barbie house that I treasured! The furniture and everything was made of cardboard….. It was quite sturdy though. I wish I still had it!
Sending my condolences to Denise on the loss of her mother.
I had a Barbie house, too! And a Barbie car! I loved all of that stuff, but where it went I’ll never know. My mom probably got rid of all of it in some sort of purge.
Oh my! Those are awesome miniatures. She definitely picked the right person to gift them to. Wonderful!
They are really wonderful and I’ll treasure them always, Tammy.
I’m not even into dollhouse furniture, but yet I think that’s the most gorgeous dollhouse furniture I’ve ever seen! What a generous and loving gift.
It surely was, Melanie. You can see why I wanted it when I was a kid!
What a sweet lady Denise must be!..,these pieces are just beautiful…
They really are!