:: running around with Aunt Velma ::

I am at Aunt Velma’s house today . . . and we are “on the run”! I love knowing that I can do something for her after all of the years that she as done for me & my family.

On our list of “to dos” today are:

• Stop at the bank for a bit of shopping cash.
• Try a new restaurant for lunch. We stuck with an old one & tried a new salad!
• Go to Wal-Mart for groceries to hold her until I get back from our trip next week.
• Stop at the house to unload and prop our feet up for a few minutes.
• Pour us a big ol’ icy Co-Cola!
• Put up the groceries.
• Take the old roll of doll photographs to the developer.
• Drive to Hobby Lobby for some embroidery floss { 12 skeins of # 221 } for a new quilt project.
• Go to Books-a-Million for the new Ted Kennedy book that Vela wants to read.
• Flu shot at the Health Department . . . [ had trouble finding it ] . . . they have a fabulous new building!
• Detour to Spring Street for some fresh eggs, meat & vegetables for her famous “Vegetable Soup”.
• Stop at Hancock’s for a length of polar fleece for a new bath robe for winter.
• Stop back to pick up the developed photos.
• Run by the barbeque place for two sandwiches so we don’t have to cook supper!
• Watch South Carolina play Old Miss!

{ unknown Confederate grave }

We stopped at the West Cemetery on our way back from getting lost looking for the new Health Department.

There are quiet a few Confederate graves here and most of them have no names on them anymore. Some of them have tattered Confederate flags stuck in the ground next to them. I think that this one is so sad.

{ a Hemlock has grown into this marker from the 1800’s }

Many of the markers go back to the early years of the 1800’s & some are even as old at the later 1700’s . . . some of our family included with these old ones. Mr. West whose farm the cemetery began is a relative of Grandpa’s.

These newer graves are for my grandfather Thompson, great aunt Delia, and my great-great grandparents, Permelia [1852 – 1906]& James Franklin Thompson [1842 – 1920].

This little fellow is a composition doll from the WWII era & wears a uniform that Aunt Velma sewed from an old WWII uniform. He certainly looks as thought that he has been in a battle, doesn’t he?

{ Aunt Velma still uses my old film camera! }

When we got home from all of our running around, Vela went upstairs to take some more photos of her doll collection. We have decided that she is getting to be a darn good photographer!

{ Three very nice bisque head dolls made in France. }

{ Tiny Tears, Nell Sue & Bubbles }

The doll in the middle is one that Mr. Sam McMurry gave Aunt Velma when she was a small child. She named it Nell Sue and it was the only “store bought “ doll that she had. This little Bubbles is one of my favorites from her collection.

This 7 inch bisque “frozen Charlotte” has on a replica of the dress that Aunt Velma wore to her high school graduation in 1930 from the old City School building on Broad Street. Vela said that her actual dress was white & that she made it for her graduation.

I just love this cute little pair of bisque dolls with the jointed arms & legs. The jaunty little red hats are molded into the dolls.

Aunt Lucille sent these two dolls to me when she was stationed in Guatemala with the Air Force in the early 1950’s. I had about fifty foreign dolls that were sent to me by Aunt Lucy when she would be stationed overseas. Aunt Velma has all of these in her collection now.

We ended the evening with the football game . . . quilting for Vela & needlepoint for me. I did talk to Melinda about her recent trip to Scotland & Ireland & I talked and talked and talked to Janey about all that we needed to catch up with over the past few months!