My Mother's Birthday, My Sister and the Peacock Princess!

Today, January 6, 2025, would be my mother's 108th birthday! Sadly, she's been gone from us, but happily into heaven since 2006, which is almost 19 years already.  It's hard to believe she's been gone that long, but one thing I've learned about the death of our loved ones, even though they are gone from us physically, I never really feel like they are gone from us in a spiritual sense. I don't mean that to be morbid or weird...but if you've lost someone very dear to you, you understand what I mean.  You feel their presence in so many little ways...sweet memories, things you do and say that make you stop and say, "I sound just like my mother!", sweet fragrances that remind you of the things she loved...the scent of lilacs, the welcoming aroma of an apple pie baking, or warm cookies fresh out of the oven...or perhaps the way you appreciate the beauty of a spring day with flowers blooming...or the sound of the autumn leaves crunching under your feet as you walk through the woods on a crisp fall day...or the joy of taking a walk through freshly fallen snow, bundled up and marching around and around as the snow gently falls on your face and makes your cheeks rosy and your nose so cold...These are just some of the ways I remember my Mama...these were things she loved, and when I've experienced any of these events or fragrances or sights I think of her and how she would've loved being there too.  And so today, on her birthday I want to honor her memory...and also share something else that we have in common...

Dorothea May Tedlie Mursch, January 6, 1917~May 7, 2006.

This picture was taken when she was 70! Yes, you can say it...she was beautiful, and she never looked her age! I used to brag about how young she looked and I would ask my friends to guess how old she was, and they'd always guess something at least 10 years younger than she was, and then I'd tell them how old she really was and they'd be amazed. My mother would get upset with me for telling her age, as that was not proper to do. But I was proud of how beautiful she was and I wanted to share that amazing information! LOL.

Here's a few links to other posts I've written about my mother:  (I share them here also for my own recollection of where to find these posts when I'm looking for them!)

Celebrating My Mom

 Link to some family memories of my mother

Link to "Remembering Mama"

The Pie Legacy

The Autograph Book and my life verse

So I've written all this to bring us to another facet of my mother's life that has trickled down into my own life...her love of dolls!  My mother had a beautiful collection of Madame Alexander dolls that she enjoyed displaying for people when they'd come to visit their home, many of whom came to also see my father's toy train collection. They both enjoyed their hobbies during their retirement years, and their love of these collections sort of rubbed off on me...not to the extent that they collected these things, but my appreciation of them stems from their interests.  Sadly, I cannot find a picture of my mother's doll collection. I know I have one somewhere, and when I do find it I will share it, but it's proving to be more challenging than I thought and I don't have to time to keep searching right now or this post will never get written today!     I found a picture! It's not the best, and I'm sure this was early in her collection because I know she had more dolls than this, but this will give you the idea:

What used to be "my sister's and my bedroom" in my parents' home became my mother's "Doll Room" and sewing room after we both got married and moved out.

HERE is a Link to the history of Madame Alexander Dolls

I was also given some Madame Alexander dolls as gifts throughout my childhood and later years. Here they are, because, yes, of course I've saved them all these years:

This is my first "Wendy" Madame Alexander doll. She is called "Wendy", because that is the design/face of this particular doll.  My grandparents gave me this doll when I was quite young, maybe 7 or 8 years old. She's 8" tall, and had several outfits, but is wearing the one I remember most. It also came with a white fur muff, but I think that is long gone. Sadly, this dolly is sitting in the china cabinet because her moveable/bend at the knee legs eventually came loose and fell apart. I still have them, and if I was smart I'd figure out how to fix them, but for now she is happy to sit among the china and crystal of the antique china cabinet. You will notice that she has red hair, which was significant for me as a redheaded child.

Somewhere along the line of life my mother gave me these next two dolls, which are also in the same "Wendy" face design, but they are dolls that represent different countries. This first one is Miss Scotland...

And this little red-headed lass is Miss Ireland. 

And I know you've seen this young lady before in some of my posts. This doll came from my mother's collection after she died. It's the only one that I wanted. Many of the others were given to other female members of our family, especially each of my mother's granddaughters and great-granddaughters. Any left over were sold in my family's estate.  But this one is special because she is the "Anne of Green Gables" doll, and I've told you many times that my mother named me for Anne because she always loved reading her story, and when my mother saw that I was a redhead, she said that my middle name would be "Anne" after Anne of Green Gables. So that is why I am named Pamela Anne with an "e", if you understand the significance of that "e" from Anne of Green Gables' stories. (click that link for more about this story)

And so now this all brings us to the next chapter of today's story. Yes, it is about my mother to celebrate her memory on her birthday, but it is also about her love and my "collection" of the Madame Alexander Dolls and it's further reach into my life today.  Many of you have seen the stories about my dollhouse, "Pamela's Victorian Cottage". If you click on the link in the right column of my blog page for Pamela's Victorian Cottage, you will find the whole history of it from the beginning.  Here's a link  to one special time when my sister Doris came to visit and we enjoyed "playing" together like little girls again...which is appropriate for this post, because my sister also shares the love of these Madame Alexander Dolls, and she is the amazing benefactor "Auntie from the City"

who keeps bringing new members to the family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage each year at Christmas! (these pictures are from 2023)

And this year is no different, even though my sister has been sick with a bad cold bug and couldn't come visit in person, she sent her sweet little gift by way of my sister in law last week when we met.  So here's the gift you've been waiting to see:

Isn't she beautiful?  Yes, this is a 2024 Hallmark Christmas ornament created with the Madame Alexander doll design.  Every year Hallmark comes out with a new Madame Alexander doll ornament, and my sister started giving me one each year for Christmas quite a few years ago. I think I just counted 11 of them, to be exact!  Some of you have asked me before where my "family" members came from for Pamela's Victorian Cottage, and now you know!  This particular doll is called "Peacock Princess", and so I had to look that up because I had no idea who she was. I don't have any little girls in my life who want to see all the princess movies or read all those stories, so I am out of the loop when it comes to Princesses.  

Here is a link to the Wikipedia info on the original Peacock Princess story.   

And this is the "AI overview:

"The "Peacock Princess" story, often originating from the Dai people of Yunnan Province, China, tells the tale of a beautiful princess who is often depicted as a magical peacock maiden, where a young prince falls in love with her, usually by encountering her while she is bathing in a lake; however, due to a trickster or evil force, the couple faces challenges, often including a separation where the princess must transform into a peacock to escape danger, ultimately reuniting with her prince and overcoming obstacles to live happily ever after."  According to the Wikipedia story, "The Dai people worship peacocks as being messengers of peace, kindness, love and beauty."

I looked up some other references to fairytale stories about the Peacock Princess, and some were good, and some tended to embrace a kind of woke and new age legend, and I was not too impressed with those.  So let's just enjoy our beautiful new addition to our family and make up our own story, shall we?

As always seems to be the case, right on Christmas day there is a wonderful mystery guest waiting at the front door...

Waiting around the corner of Pamela's Victorian Cottage is someone we've seen before...

Yes, the beautiful "Auntie from the City" has arrived, and as always she brings some exciting gifts for the little family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage...

But she is not alone...she has brought along some "Heavenly Messengers" to help out in presenting this wonderful "gift"...

Yes, our angel friends have flown in just for this very special occasion! 

They want to make sure that our special new visitor is welcomed with open arms...just like Mr. Snowman is ready and waiting with "open arms"!

Pretty soon the little Mama comes to the door, and is totally surprised to find this beautiful little girl dressed in a peacock blue coat and hat, and carrying a bag made of peacock feathers!

"Oh My Goodness!" She exclaims!  "Where did you come from?"

She looks to her left, and then to her right, and sees the little angels that she has become very familiar with over the years!  "Oh Dear! It looks like God has sent us another new little girl to live with us!"

Then she looks around the corner of the house and sees her sister, "The Auntie from the City", standing there with a big smile on her face!

"Oh Dear Sister, I should have known you would have something to do with this!"  "Well, let's don't just stand out here in the cold..."

"Let's go inside and meet all your new sisters, who are anxiously waiting to welcome you to the family!"

"Come on in and warm up with a cup of hot tea".

They are busily getting things ready to make you feel right at home...

And you are all welcome to come and enjoy our Christmas day with us!

There's plenty of food and gifts and love for everyone!

And for our beautiful little Miss Peacock Princess, there will always be a very happy ending for your story!  God has brought you to a home filled with love and laughter and the love of Jesus in every room.  And here we can all be His messengers of peace, kindness, love and beauty."

Galatians 5:22-23 

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

I hope you enjoyed this little story of the Peacock Princess finding her new home at 

Pamela's Victorian Cottage.  I think my mother would've loved this story and this sweet little doll, and this is a fitting tribute to her on her heavenly108th birthday.

And a special thanks to my sister Doris, the "Auntie from the City" who has made this sweet story possible.  

Oh! I almost forgot...there's one more little gift that she gave me for Christmas...this adorable little trinket dish:

Awwww, I love this, don't you?

Thank you, my sister Doris.

And thank you to our mother, who instilled us with this love of playing with dolls from the time we were little girls.

My sister Doris, our Mother Dorothea, and me, Mother's Day 2003

And Thank You, Jesus, for giving us the joy of living and loving!

Amen.

Tuesday 4~ Relaxing

 

Relaxing

Hello! Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
Do you keep busy all the time? Many people don't take time to smell the roses. What about you?

1. When was the last time you sat down and relaxed and allowed the weight of the world to melt away?

Just a few minutes ago.  I sat down and looked at a new magazine that had come in the mail...

I don't get many magazines anymore...so many of them just have way too much advertising and not enough content. But Country Living still has some beautiful pictures and stories, and someone very thoughtful actually subscribed to it for me, so I will enjoy it as long as it lasts!

It's relaxing to just sit and peruse the pictures and dream a little bit about some of the things I see and the ideas they have for decorating and cooking, etc. Now that so much is online we don't get to actually hold a real magazine very often, and I do enjoy sitting back in my recliner and looking and dreaming a bit.  

This issue had pictures of log cabins...just my style and idea of real relaxation!

2. What things do you find most relaxing ? How often do you get to do these things?

Of course, most of you know I find photographing nature to be a very enjoyable and relaxing thing to do.  Our own Still Waters Pond gives me plenty of  subjects to photograph.  I try to take the time to look out there often and see whatever there is to see. Some days there is nothing much to see, but then other days we are blessed with beautiful creatures from God's Creation who stand and wait for me to take their picture as if they expect it!  The Great Blue Heron stood very still for me this morning. I was most appreciative!

I'm always so thankful and blessed when God provides these beauties for me to enjoy!

I also love taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets. The sunrise the other morning was just gorgeous, and the Sand Hill Cranes made a cameo appearance in a fly-over while I was enjoying the moment:

Can you see them?

There they go! Off to wherever it is they like to spend the day, and then they come back here to our pond for the night.

It was definitely a beautiful way to start the day!

3. What things wind you up and keep you from relaxing?

Housework! LOL. Knowing it needs to be done, and not having the energy (or desire) to get up and do it, but feeling guilty that I'm not doing it.  So I can't relax until I do.  Now, these next pictures have a story.  Saturday morning hubby said very sweetly to me that perhaps it was time I thought about cleaning out my side of our closet, as the clothes racks are starting to look overly full and crowded. I was a little bit put off by his "suggestion", and made a few comments that may not have been entirely sweet and demure in response, but after I thought about it, I decided that he was probably right. I hate to admit that ever...but yes, it was time I did something about my half of the closet. We won't mention the fact that the reason HIS half of the closet looks so nice is because he takes his extra seasonal things out and puts them all in the guest room closet, and I can't even hardly open the door to THAT closet because it is so full of HIS stuff...but we won't mention THAT! LOL.  So moving right along...

And so, I started weeding things out of my side of the closet...and found many things that probably should go to the thrift store so someone else can get some use out of them because I am not wearing them anymore for various reasons.  Among those items were some very special things that I have been holding onto for quite a few years...18 to be exact.  Why? Well, these next items belonged to my mother. They were things that I saved out of her closet after she passed away, and I actually thought I would wear some of them, (and I have), but now I no longer wear them, and they really aren't my style, and they are still in excellent condition for being so old, (my mother had good taste and had some lovely things, but I only kept some that I thought I would wear or that I had actually given to her).

These two jackets I gave to my mother, and I can remember her wearing them, and when I was still working, I often wore them to work. 

And she had some lovely little blouses with short sleeves...

I love this delicate pink one...but again...I just don't wear these kinds of blouses anymore.

I actually wrote a post about this blouse and one of my mother's sweaters HERE a long time ago. The sweater I have decided to keep, as I still wear it occasionally and I really don't want to let it go yet.

I always loved the collars on these two blouses:

So anyway, I made up my mind that it was time to let those things go. It wasn't easy, but it's time.  I pray there will be some dear person who will appreciate them and enjoy wearing them. 

Here's the bags of items I gathered. They will go to the church thrift store tomorrow, and that will be that.

My hubby commended me for a job well done. I thanked him, but told him that  he needs to get rid of about 5 or 6 suits from his years in the ministry that he will most likely never wear again, along with several winter jackets that we have no use for here in Florida. We live in a very casual area, and men just don't wear suits to church here.  We will save one or two for possible weddings or funerals, but that should be enough.

 But that's another story for another day. LOL.

4. When was the last time you treated yourself to something, anything that is special?

Hmmm, I'm thinking...the trip we took to the mountains was pretty special, and I'd say that was a real treat. You've already heard all about that, however.

How about this?  You'll think this is crazy. We took a little walk this evening, and we came across this bush that was blooming: Turk's Cap or Sleeping Hibiscus

With it's bright red flowers on the green leaves, it almost looks Christmassy, doesn't it?

Here's a close up of the flower:

So what's so special about that you may ask? Well...Here I am reliving a childhood memory from our days on the playground at school!  There were always lots of these plants growing all around our playground, and the flower has a very sweet nectar that if you pick it off the stem and suck the end of it, you will get a delightful little sip of what the butterflies and bees love to much!

Hubby also remembers doing this as a child. I think every child who grew up in Florida in our era had this experience.  And so we both enjoyed this little treat very much! It took us back to our childhood!

Here's a Psalm for the day:

Psalm 145:14-19

"14 The Lord upholds all who fall,

And raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,

And You give them their food in due season.

16 You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,

Gracious in all His works.

18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He also will hear their cry and save them."

And so with that I will conclude this edition of the Tuesday 4 meme for this week.  If you wish to join in the fun, you can do so HERE!  I hope you found this "relaxing" and enjoyable! See you again next week!