Before departing for England, we began preparations at home to install carpeting upstairs where my doll room is located. Rick was planning to host Navy buddies from his Navy days while I was to be away and the house needed an update plus cleaning. I emptied every cabinet to pack and protect the dolls while all the furniture was moved to allow the old carpet to be removed and the new carpet to be installed (one of the 10 boxes packed).
I began packing for the trip overseas two days before I left. I was not able to blog before leaving as all my time was either packing dolls or working to make the house more presentable for guests. It was a marathon event!
The flight over was very nice though it was delayed over 5 hours which was unfortunate. Finally I arrived at the Newcastle airport and Tricia brought Janet there to pick me up. It was a very happy reunion after a long separation. 😊
One of the travel bags I packed held a precious pale faced studio doll to bring to Janet Myhill-Dabbs who is her new Mum. Her name is Lilith. ❤️
Also, Tricia had decided to let me adopt her very lovely Martha who is seated next to Lilith. ❤️
Tricia provided information about Martha’s history and she was called Martina at one time so I decided to restore her name. Martina is a BI studio doll expected to have been made in the late 40’s to early 50’s timeframe.
This photo was taken in Janet’s living room.
We visited Riley’s Fish Shack for a tasty breakfast.
Located right on the shore of the North Sea.
A yummy poached egg and fish cake breakfast.
We observed people enjoying the beach with their dogs and brave people swimming in the chilly waters!
After Mass on Sunday, we went to the Tynemouth Market which was such fun.
I was happy to find this colorful and warm knitted hat in grownup size!
Janet and I walked her dog Bouncer along the sea.
Lovely sea shells in this intertidal zone.
Hannah spent a lot of time with Janet’s doll James Norton. She is smitten as we all are! 😊
A sunny walk with Bouncer.
We had a fantastic lunch at the local restaurant called the Boatyard.
We met one day with Tricia and Peggy to play dolls st Janet’s house and then to have an afternoon tea at Spanish City. It was a very nice day! ❤️
A close up photo of the beautiful Martina. Her dress came from Switzerland on a course doll and is perfect for her.
We realized that Martina and Janet’s Catherine had been photographed before in a poster above showing the four face molds.
So we took their photo together once again. They are redressed but their lovely faces are the same. They so enjoyed their reunion.
The evening before we left, we went to a fantastic play called “Legally Blonde “. It was a musical version of the original movie and was so very entertaining. I laughed and laughed and thoroughly enjoyed every minute!
A final photo of Janet’s garden before we departed for Nottingham and the Sasha Celebration Weekend. A favorite bird from previous visits is called Fancy Pigeon and was there! I had the pleasure of setting out seed for the pretty bird. A most wonderful visit with Janet and I am very grateful for her warm hospitality. It is such a joy to see this part of England again with special friends. Sasha friends are the very best friends. ❤️
Sasha Shangri-La 
It was fun to see Martina again as she lived with me for several years. I took the photo of the four facial types and Heddy Elizabeth (in lower right corner) still lives with me and has lived here for 31 years. The photo was taken on our front lawn and they are in a little rocking chair that is over 95 years old now–as it was Charlie’s when he was a baby.
Thank you Dorisanne for writing. I thought you must have taken that photo and that they were all your dolls at one time. It is special that the rocking chair was Charlie’s baby chair. A wonderful memory. ❤️ xxx
Letting Martha/Martina go was a wrench but I know she is in excellent hands, and it was for a good cause.
Thank you Tricia. ❤️
Goodness Ginger, you’ve been so busy ! Having to box all your dolls up before you left and leave the place spick and span for the visitors while you were away.
It looks like you had another lovely visit to England, to the SCW and with Janet and Tricia.
How wonderful that Janet now as your Sasha and you have Tricia’s, it’s like keeping them in the family.
Would have loved to have seen you again but alas this working for a living does get in the way of things.
Thanks for sharing your trip photos with us 🙂 xx
Ps, forgot to say I love the hat and you are looking good 🙂 xx
Oh thank you Dee! Finding that hat was a real joy. I thought of Rosie’s knits with the sweet little lambs. ❤️ xxx
Thanks Dee. I really missed seeing you too. It was a wonderful weekend and the visit has been fantastic. I tried yesterday to comment on your blog and it would not recognize my google account and the comment disappeared. I tried commenting on Gregoropolis site too but no luck. I am not sure why. Maybe because I am overseas or maybe it has to do with the”cookie” message that keeps popping up each time. I will try again after I return home. ❤️ xxx
Sounds like you had some very fun adventures. Martina is a real beauty. I’ll bet your kids will be clamoring to get out of those boxes when you get home!
Thank you Steve. It has been great fun and so nice to see old friends and to meet new ones. My poor kids are hopefully taking a long nap and are safe and sound. I look forward to freeing them when I return. Martina is such a beautiful doll and I love her very much. Her sisters and brothers are sure to love her too. ❤️ xxx
I have finally got around to reading the blogs I have missed and am so overjoyed to have had this one waiting for me Ginger, on the day you fly away from us. We had so many wonderful memories and I love that you have photographed them so well for us to enjoy and reminisce over in the future. It was such a treat having you stay along with Martina, I loved how the pin dropped for us both when we studied Dorisanne’s poster from way back, what a strange coincidence. Safe journey dear friend and enjoy your new carpet! ❤ ❤ ❤
What a lovely post Ginger, the photos are great, it looks like you had a super trip to the UK 🙂
Big hugs xxx