Hitty Mehitabel arrives in Wisconsin and her Travels

Dear Hitty friends,
I arrived here in Wisconsin a few minutes ago. Wow, that road construction....kinda bumpy, I must say. You know what they say about Wisconsin, don't you? It is either three seasons (July, August and Winter!) OR two seasons...(Winter and Road Construction).

I had a lovely visit (altho quite busy) while in Illinois. I wonder what my next adventure will be. While with D', I endured a fair amount of rain, it appears that heat and humidity may play a role while I am here.

I am just about to take a little rest before meeting the Hitty family that lives here. I will be back later.

Much love,
Mehitabel



Granny Charming wondered what all the whispering was about.....
"Now, now girls, I told you to let Mehitabel take a little rest before
you invited her to playtime."




Look what I found.........................

This morning, before everyone else was up, I decided to go for a little walk by myself...I didn't go far, but look what I encountered............
I couldn't believe my eyes....but there before me...............I thought for a moment that I might faint. I had never seen a fairy before.......

James Matthew Barrie (Peter, in Peter Pan, act 1)--"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.".

Lovingly,
Mehitabel


.....



Mehitabel's day at the Amish auction-------------------


My dear Hitty friends...

It was early morning here at the Baxter house, when I was awaken by the most annoying "beep, beep, beep".....coming from a little black box with red numbers on it....5:00 it read!!
I knew something was going on when I was snatched from the dresser that I was resting on, plopped into a carrying bag, into a purse and out the door we went. We were soon dropped off at a friends house, got into a different vehicle, and again...off we go.

The sky was a perfect blue, and as we drove out of the city, and into the country, one could see a light fog lifting from the meadows. (That is, if you were in a position to SEE) We rode for several miles, stopping to pick up another friend. Into again, a different vehicle and off we go.

We finally arrived at an Auction. Not a regular auction...An Amish auction. We had to scrounge around to find a place to put our chairs (The benches make your back ache when sitting too long...These gals I was with are not exactly young....only young at heart) At last we were seated. Oh my, the quilts, the handmade furniture, the handmade woven baskets, flowers, baked goods!!! It was wonderful. The "person" did not bring a camera, out of respect for the Amish community. The "person" did buy a couple of plants, but mostly just enjoyed the Americana of it all. There were so many, many people there. I hope the auction brought in a lot of money as it was designated for their school. It was fun to see the Amish children playing, and also working, helping the adults.

It was a fun day!! We shall sleep soundly tonight!!

Yours truly,
Mehitabel



Famous painter My Mom Carver

Well at my stay here in Wisconsin, I noticed on the wall a lovely picture.
The other Hittys let me take it down to examine it. One the back, right before
my eyes was the name of my Carver Mom....This lovely piece came here as a swap.
I thought you might like to see the other talents of my Carver Mom.

Lovingly,
Mehitabel

P S I did get a very good night's sleep after all of our exciting adventure of
yesterday....





Memorial Day Parade................................

Dear Hitty friends,

It turned out to be a beautiful day even tho rain showers were predicted. My hostess got up early this morning and went to a rummage sale at a local church with a neighbor. I was still sleeping and since we had plans to go to the parade, I just stayed in bed. Of course, we hitty girls did some giggling and such. She came home with a bag of doll furniture...not much but a very nice looking bed.

Next, we hurriedly called one of the Baxter daughters, to see if she had set out a blanket for us so we could watch the parade..And she already had done that. However, the crowd was so large that we had to sit around the corner. Turns out, it was just fine..the parade turned right there. AND, I got my picture taken with someone special. The first person in the parade every year, is an elderly
Marine. He MARCHES the entire route, which is several blocks. There are almost 100 entries. After he went past, I noticed him talking to someone. I went up to him, introduced him to Mehitabel, told him a little about her and her travels. I asked if I could take a picture and he was most pleased!! My hostess told him that he was her favorite part of the parade...she gets all teared up. This Marine was in Okinawa, Japan and later in the Korean War. He will be 85 in July. What a special treat!!
Later in the parade, a gentleman was wearing stilts and dressed as Uncle Sam. He also posed with me.
And the next picture is of my hostess's Lion's Club. They have performed for 35 years and are well known as the "Happy
Whistlers" ...
Last but not least is a picture of the Packer float for all you football fans. Now Brett Farve is a VIKING!!!
Sorry, I am so long winded. Tonight we must water the flowers and tomorrow, we are going to work on the house....
Thank you to all veterans who have risked your lives so that we may be free....

Lovingly yours,
Mehitabel











Doll Club Tonight..............

Dear Hittyfriends,
>
> So tonight we are headed off to my hostess Mom's doll club. And would you believe it??? It is about wooden dolls. It is a pot luck event with a speaker who carves dolls.....What timing!!
> We will post pictures tomorrow and then I must begin to get my things in order so that I may travel on to Wanda's house in Oklahoma. I can't imagine what is in store for me there, but hostess Mom has shown me some of Wanda's photos and I can hardly wait.
>
> Much love,
> Mehitabel


Dear Carver Mom,

It was so much fun last night. Mr. Kublank commented on how lovely I was and all the detail that I possess. Other members in the club thought I was just beautiful. There were several other Hittys there.
Mr. Kublank carved the Hitty in the red dress. She didn't look anything like me, but her carver loves her anyway. There were some Raikes Hittys, a Helen Bullard Hitty, a Polly Paige Hitty. The last two mentioned were collectibles of Mr. Kublank.
So many wooden dolls!! And the joy they bring to the ones who live with them.

Love, Mehitabel

Dear Hittyfriends,

Well, last night was special. I attended the doll club with my hostess.
The Regional Director was the guest of honor and he brought some of his wooden doll collection. He and his wife are both collectors. Other
members of the club also brought wooden dolls for "Show and Tell"...
and guess what??? I got to be a "Show and Tell" too! Everyone was very interested in my travels. Mr. Kublank had his picture taken with me! There are so many different kinds of wooden dolls. I was really surprised. Some are big, some are small, fat, skinny and all.

Tonight my hostess Mom is going to prepare me for my journey to Wanda's house.

We went to the animal fair and a farewell to Illinois

The birds and the beasts were there!

Yesterday, the rain stopped long enough for us to find one last adventure before I head for Kathie's in Wisconsin! A bunch of us hopped into Mike's car(the kangaroo taught us well) and headed across town. There's a wonderful park nearby, where D's children and grandchildren used to play, with gigantic enormous animals for little bitty people persons to ride upon and to slide down and to swing in. As we all stood together looking at all the playground, it only took a moment to decide where to head first!

Of course, we had to all try the climbing wall, which I found a little scary with my wooden pegs and all! But, Hickory Tot, who is so much more flexible, passed us all like it was a tree! She even got higher than Wes and Buster, though they tried with all their might to catch up with her! Mike had to reach her down, or she would still be climbing!

There was a huge dinosaur and a frog... thank goodness they were fastened tightly to the ground! Bravely, Miss Tina and I sat upon the dinosaurs nose and tried not to tremble... his large white teeth were bigger than the two of us together! Lily~Pat and I sat upon a gentle purple hippo with gi_normous eyes that seemed to follow us everywhere! He was quite slippery, so I, for one, was quite glad when Mike got us down! It wasn't until we left the park that D' realized that Mike had gotten her into the picture, too!

In spite of the warm sunshine, a big thunder caused the ground to tremble and us to shudder! We quickly posed for a picture together and headed home! It was easy to see how those little child people could spend the day at this park!

Slippery sliding hugs... Mehitabel












Last minute pics... one with Buster as cowpoke. A final farewell picture in my dress and bonnet from d' with my new best friend and traveling companion,he's a tall one!

Heading to Wisconsin... Mehitabel

Lions Tigers and Bears

OH, MY!

Bright and early Sunday morning, we all piled into the car and headed acroos
town to the Miller Park Zoo. It had rained all night and the skies still
appeared rather ominous, but Mike reassured us it was not supposed to rain til
late afternoon. Though we took him at his word, D'Marie packed us into a plastic
carry tote just to be safe!

The zoo had hardly opened when we arrived, so we got talk to some of the zoo
workers and watched as they went behind the scenes before the crowds came.
Miller Park Zoo was a wonderful little zoo, with several small buildings to
shelter the animals and birds. There was a beach for family swimming, but it was
still closed for the season. Off to one side of the lake, we could see wonderful
paddle boats and canoes. Perhaps one day, we will come back when every part was
open... though I'm not sure I could reach the peddles on the paddleboats!

It seemed the closer we got to the animals, the brighter the sun, so most of
them came out of their homes to greet us. A Kangaroo hopped behind me when I sat
upon his fence! Wouldn't it have been fun to ride within the pouch? The billy
goat jumped upon this house and a beautiful white alpaca grazed nearby. There
were so many animals, it was hard to not take a picture of every one of them! I
would have loved to take them all home with me, too, but D' said they would
become to lonesome for their families and that people would miss seeing them
when they came to visit the zoo. So-o-o-o, we left each one, but I still think
it would have been fun to watch the eagle each day in my garden, or maybe the
little meerkats!

We saw the tiger pacing and the leopard sniffing the flowers. The Sun Bear came
clear down to the fence to say hello to us. When they realized we were watching
them, the gorillas began putting on a delightful show and chased each other and
swung all over the place. It was so fun, but their noises were a little scary
and I just about jumped out of my wooden skin! I was glad we had Mike, Wes and
Buster with us for protection.

There was a special place called the rainforest. Birds squaked and flew around
our heads! Lucky for us, the poisonous creatures from the tropics were in glass
enclosures, thank goodness... blue frogs and yellow frogs, lizards, snakes and
even some special monkeys. The floor was so awesome with all kinds of leaf
prints showing onto the cement!

Before we left, we got to see the Rainforest Theatre and sit upon the stage.
Our final stop was in the children's area, where Hickory Tot and I got to pose
with a Gorilla, a Bear and a Skunk... who would believe! I also got to pick out
a little souvenir that won't reqire a fence or food as I travel to my next
destination.... a little giraffe finger puppet! Oh what adventures we can do
together this summer!

We had a wonderful day and took tons of pictures. Have fun looking at the photos
and pretending you're at the zoo, too! Wish each of you could have come along,
maybe next time!

Soft and cuddly bear hugs... Mehitabel

In the wee small hours of the morning.........

Oh these wooden joints! Such a wonderfilled night with everyone... we danced til dawn and slept til noon... but of course, not WITH everyone! Had to take a brief break yesterday and let our bodies rest!

This evening we have driven to Bloomington, Illinois, where D' often visited her two Grandmothers when she was a child. We crossed at least three areas that were terribly flooded. Even the small rivers in D's town are flooded. We are all praying for no rain tomorrow... Sunday, as there is a special place we get to visit. D' has told us of a fun park that we will go visit tomorrow... it even has a Zoo! So exciting, I can hardly wait!

With all the graduations going on today, we had quite a time finding a motel room. Mike was getting pretty frustrated, plus there was so much traffic! Finally, we are here and he is already snoring for all of us. The boys are going to sleep with Mike and the girls with D'Marie(just in case anyone was worried). Guess I'd best get ready for bed. I still need to shower and decide what I want to wear to the zoo! Oh, I hope I can sleep tonight! Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!

P.S. I tried not to look, but Buster is wearing reddish long-johns that almost match his beard!

Warm and snuggly hugs... Mehitabel












SIMON SAYS>>>>>>
While the boys shower, we girls decided to play Simon Says...
Hickory Tot is so hysterical! Mimicking the big person, Hickory Tot says, "Snore like Mike!" Of course, we all did and blew it!

Giggling hugs past midnight... Mehitabel

Raining Days n Mondays......

But this is Thursday...
Storms all afternoon, some areas getting over 4 inches of rain near here! What to do? What to do?

As we all sat moping around, D' called us into the dining room! There on a giant craft mat(to us, Hitty-sized creatures) were scissors and colored papers and beads and wires and stickers and sequins and buttons and so many things, I cannot remember it all! What a blast! We colored and pasted and cut out wonderful things almost all afternoon! We even got to use glitter with a little help from d', so that we didn't get it into our eyes.

Of course, I did a horse for Buster to hang in his room at the bunkhouse, but I noticed Lily-Patt did, too, and so did Magnolia! Oh well, he is a handsome dude... but, they get to see him evryday! Wes said there is plenty of room in the bunkhouse for lots of horse pictures. Boy, what a wonderfully deep voice he has! Joey colored a great picture of his favorite computer cartoon guy.... it was awesome! Buster did a huge picture of a longhorn to hang above his fireplace... I was very impressed! It looked like leather when he got done.

Little Miss Priceless, Mulberry, and Ladybug each colored with wonderful pencils and then painted with water brushes. Their pictures looked so pretty!

Even Hickory Tot did her favorite thing, a beautiful tree! I've promised her we will take it home with us and hang it in her room, if our grown-up person doesn't mind.

We had such fun and heard a song on the radio as we cleaned up our messes... 'Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down....' Not me, not us, we're glad it's Thursday and that someone very special invented scissors, paper and glue!

Sticky, but glittery hugs enclosed... Mehitabel













Shake your Bootie.........

Oh My! I think I just saw the sun rising over yonder...

But then, so have all the others! About seven, Buster, Wes, Joey and Peddlar showed up at D's with their musical instruments! Buster with his Gourd Cello/Bass, Wes with his clarinet, Joey brought his bongos and Peddlar had his golden bass clarinet... What a trip!

We sang and danced and sang some more! Our evening went on and on and on! Tina Marie and Ladybug knew all the words to every song! Ladybug and I harmonized with Hitty Perfume, while the guys were accompanied by Hitty GW, who brought and played along on her dulcimer. It was marvelous! Who would have thought such wooden pipes could sound so heavenly together? We may have to take this act on the road...

but not until we all get some rest!

As the book says, "My spirit was willing, but my pegs were not!"
Won't take me long to fall asleep...

Yawning hugs... Mehitabel

As I dry my ringlets

Morning Friends...

Such a night as I have never known! After seeing the photos of Gladys' new family addition from Ingeborg Tinnius, D'marie invited her Hitty Ingeborg to an evening of dinner and music at a local restaurant with tables on their veranda.

Hitty Lily~Pat, carved years ago by Pat Thompson, had opened a small Fairyland Restaurant with items all from the woods... lychen, branches, flowers and seeds decorated the sweet chairs and tables. I felt so at home!

With a light breeze going, Lily~Pat couldn't keep our table candle lit, but it didn't seem to matter. The atmosphere was so peaceful and to add to our delight, Lily~Pat brought a handsome musician to play at our table. Strumming his beautiful gourd cello, Buster, hand-carved by Wanda Harrigan, sang all our favorite songs! We felt so honored and he gave us his autograph!

You should have been there... he wears OLD SPICE and smelled so nice! He even winked at us a couple of times, making Hitty Ingeborg blush! When we had finished our dinner, Buster joined us for a glass of white wine. We talked well into the wee hours of the morning! Did you know he hails from Oklahoma and was once a cowboy.... he still wears his boots and red long-johns.. . and does a wonderful rendition of 'Oklahoma'!

We took Hitty Ingeborg home, humming all the way to her door! I'm still floating!

Guess what? Tonight, Buster is going to come to D's for a cookout! Be still my wooden heart... well, I don't know what I'm doing dilly-dallying around here... I've only four hours, I need to get ready!

Musical hugs.....
'where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...' Mehitabel

Now that I have my ringlets dry, I've put my pretty new T-shirt on this afternoon and D' took a picture of me. She was able to find my T-shirt at a scrapbook shop that had different t's from Disney characters and logos.

D' cut about half an inch off the bottom of the purchased t-shirt, slit the back and then used the cut off piece to make a placard for a button and loop. It isn't tight going over my head now at all and I love it! D' says I can take it to my final home with me! Would you believe... it says '100% Princess' on the front and is one of my favorite colors... PINK! Of all the photo proofs, I picked the one in the tree branches(we did it indoors, so my ringlets wouldn't sag from all the rain!) Enjoy...

Rainy day hugs... Mehitabel

The Chase

Who would have thought?

After breeakfast and tooth brushing, the rain had finally stopped for awhile and We decided to go out to D's backyard pond and help her clean the big pump. There's a few koi and even some new fish babies in the pond, plus some giant GROSS frogs and their baby tadpoles(kinda cute)!(I don't think I like frogs... they look kinda slimey!)

Even with my work jeans and t-shirt, I really hated to get so mucky, but Joey wanted to catch one of the frogs, so the next one that came close to us, we started chasing across the rocks..... HE almost fell in when this one big frog jumped back into the water! Luckily, Joey was bare-footin' and it didn't matter that his feet got wet! He grabbed a big ugly frog by a back leg as D' reached for Joey's foot! Joey said I was so lucky, cuz we were going to have that for supper...! Oh, Dear, I really hope D' has some peanut butter instead! After watching it jump everywhere, Joey finally decided he should let it go. Thank goodness! I was extremely glad and didn't even watch to see which direction it hopped!

Suddenly, I heard a squeal... kind of a cross between one of delight and one of fright! There on the top of one of the pond walls was Hickory Tot! she had had her own wild chase going on! Would you believe... while we were going after the frog, Hickory Tot had seen a squirrel! She said it had become a mutual chase... the squirrel chasing Hickory Tot one minute and then Hickory Tot going after the squirrel.

When we finally caught up with the two of them, Joey was able to catch the squirrel and I caught Hickory Tot! I had to briefly explain the story of Miss Hickory and the squirrel(leaving off the final details, of course, so as not to give her nightmares this week). Joey disciplined the little squirrel, who promised he and his family would never hurt Hickory Tot... as long as she promised not to chase him or steal his hidden walnuts from last winter!

Needless to say, we had quite a workout and didn't get the pond pump cleaned... D' says maybe tomorrow. There are thunder storm warnings for this afternoon, so we've decided to go inside for lunch and then maybe play some games. My pegs are worn, but it was great fun with Joey. Later this week, he said we all get to go camping... if the rain ever stops and lets the ground dry! There's a wonderful lake near the campground, too, so we may get to go fishing, as well! Rain, rain, go away... come again some other day(or week!)....

YIPPPEEEE... peanut butter and jelly biscuits for lunch! Lovin' hugs... Mehitabel

Mehitabel Arrives in Illinois

Oh, My goodness...

After what seemed like an eternity, I've arrived and thankful to be standing on solid ground again! Although the skies were beautiful so high above I felt like I could have touched heaven, as we neared the Mississippi River Basin, the trip became pretty stormy. I felt like I was riding a yo-yo! Perhaps the window seat isn't always the best!

At one point, I thought I would lose my bonnet... the child in the seat next to me turned on the overhead air and nearly blew me out of my seat! Fortunately, his mother reached up and turned the air down, but I still felt chilly for quite awhile. I was so grateful to have my beautiful cape that Sherry had made, as it warmed my wooden pegs wonderfully. One would have thought nothing could ruffle my splinters after all those motorcycle rides at Tina's, but the flight to Chicago was a bumpy one! I must admit, the Amtrak from Chicago to Macomb was so relaxing... I think I could travel across America on a train.!

There they were... almost all of the Hitty Street family peering out the Depot windows watching for me! Oh, I feel like a movie star... I'm here! (I'm exhausted.) I should have cat-napped today, but now I'm so excited to be visiting with my next new family! YIPPEEEE... I'm here at D'Marie's in Illinois! Oh what fun it will be for the next couple weeks!
Hitty hugs... Mehitabel





Shhhhhh... Mehitabel is still sleeping! C'mon, Hickory Tot.. we'll show you where the boys are hiding!)










Hi, Miss Tina and others.. they think I'm asleep, but I was just dozing and listening to the rain this morning! Hickory Tot is such a wiggler all night, it felt good to have the bed all to myself for awhile. They are off finding the boys, so I have a little while just to myself. It's still raining, but D' said after breakfast it should stop and we can go out to the pond. Mike took the big pump out yesterday and it has to be cleaned for it to work well, so we're gonna help! D' has a pair of extra jeans and a t-shirt for me to wear so my pretty dress Linda made won't get dirty! She said we'll have to watch for frogs, especially after all the rain.. I can hear them croaking even here in bed! Well, I should get my shower and join the others. Know that I will never forget my adventures, not all my new friends as I go from place to place! Each of you will always have a special place in my heart... warm Mehitabel hugs... M'