It Took 55ish Years for "Little Dog Lost" to Finally Come Home

When I was a little girl, my parents signed me up for the now defunct Weekly Reader Children's Book Club, where (for years) I received one free book each month in the mail.

I read many, many good books through that program, books my children enjoyed after me.

On book was called "Little Dog Lost" by Rene Guillot.  My copy looked like this used copy for sale on Amazon.

I was probably about eight years old when I received that book in the mail. I fell in love with the story and the beautiful pen and ink illustrations of a little Pembroke Welsh corgi who lives a dual life (part fox and part dog split between two owners, with none of his families knowing about his double - and then triple - life when Tiny meets another family and spends part of his time with them, too).

I used to dream that a little Pembroke Welsh corgi would be waiting crouched for me outside the door when I came home from school, just like Tiny did for Frances (the little girl who received him for a gift on Christmas Day) one day when he returned to her.

But it never happened, no matter how hard I wished for it.

Furthermore, my copy of "Little Dog Lost" also disappeared at some point, most likely one of those items that vanished during our multiple moves when Ron got dementia and we lost our home.

No matter how many hints  - and links sent - to my family, I never did get a copy of "Little Dog Lost."

And then last Monday night, Daniel walked into the house and said, "Merry Christmas!"

If you think that blue bow was wrapped on a copy of the book, you are very, very, very wrong (scroll for the right answer).

Daniel said, "Meet Tiny."

Yes, I now own a little Pembroke Welsh corgi named Tiny.

The kids looked far and wide to find a Pembroke Welsh corgi puppy that resembled the one in "Little Dog Lost."

And he came to me with a blue bow - and plenty of items that all eight week puppies need to have.

Isn't he sweet?????

P.S. We still haven't brought the Christmas tree out of the garage. We haven't put up one decoration, celebrated St. Nicholas, or bought one present.

But somehow, we are celebrating Christmas just the same.

And the best gift is taking pride that I helped to raise some really amazing human beings.

Happy Thursday!

Merry and Bright Indeed

On December 14, I received a lovely surprise gift from Angie Aegerter, owner of the Fit Foundation in Crest Hill.

In 2023, Angie purchased 30 copies of  the WriteOn Joliet 2022 anthology and gifted them to The Timbers of Shorewood book club.

I invited Angie to WriteOn's annual holiday gathering at Cemeno's so she could meet some of the writers. She was unable to attend - but popped in to give me a gift bag with this lovely card you see below.

Yes, let that sink in. She bought books from us and then brought me a bag full of gifts. The card itself is so pretty, I've left it propped against my computer monitor these last two weeks, just so I can keep looking at it.

And here's what was in that bag.

But first, the fun bag, just so you can get an idea of her generosity.

The first item was this towel with a pickup truck. I regifted it to Timothy, who has Christmas decor in his house with red pickup truck themes. That's not because I didn't like or wouldn't enjoy it, but because I knew he appreciated it more.

Also, Timothy lives next door. So it's not like I wouldn't see or use the towel.

Next, I received this bag of chocolate. How did she know I love these?

Angie also gave me this Christmas candle with three amazing scents. I am a very sensual person in that I love items that please the different senses. 

Writers sometimes refer to "smell" as the forgotten scent. But good smells can do much to lift spirit and evoke and happy memories. I love the right scented candles and the right incense.

At any rate, I am enjoying this candle.

Here is the same candle from behind, so you can see how pretty it is.

But the very best part of this gift is...

...is the new friend I've made through our love for serving the community through using our respective talents. 

Happy Thursday!

The Kiddle "Kollection" is Gradually Growing

My sister and I loved playing with dolls when we were kids. I especially loved Kiddles, but I don't have any of them anymore - and wish I still did.

And, of course, I never had the entire collection, which was pretty vast. I even remember the first Kiddles my sister and I received: Honeysuckle, both of them Kologne Kiddles. 

I'd also owned Violet and Lilly of the Valley. My sister had Sweet Pea and Apple Blossom. This last sadly disappeared. Every now and then, we'd get it in our heads to tear apart things and look for her. But we never found her.

I'd received Lemons Stiddle from the main collection for my eighth birthday. And the following year, I received the King and Queen of Hearts from the storybook Kiddles collection.

From the Sweet Treats collection, I'd owned Frosty Mint and Grape.

But as of Old Calendar Christmas and the internet, which makes buying vintage dolls so much easier, I now have two of the Kologne Kiddles. Both were presents from Rebekah.

The newest one is Sweet Pea, which, ironically, was a nickname Rebekah had acquired when she was a little girl.

Rebekah surprised me with Rosebud about a year ago. I had never owned Rosebud but always wanted her.

Not to sound greedy, but I'd still love to own a Crissy doll and a Velvet doll.

Also Rock Flowers.

And Dawn dolls.

And some of the other dolls I had when growing up.

That's not even getting into the paper dolls...

The Resulting Flyer

 After yesterday's long post, I have just a couple words to say.

Support the Book Market. 

Buy BryonySeries books now. 

For directions, visit bryonyseries.com/promotions.

BTW, what do you think of the resulting flyer?

And feel free to share!

If you want an electronic, copy, email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com, and I will send you one.

The Fifty-Year Wait Has Ended

As a child, I loved dolls, and I had a lot of dolls.

I probably had more dolls than any other kind of toy, and I liked playing with dolls more than any other activity.

My sister and I had dolls of all shapes and sizes, including paper dolls: with tabs, magnets, and even dolls we cut from catalogs.

Some of our favorite dolls were Liddle Kiddles. I even had Liddle Kiddles coloring book.

I also had a list of dolls I never owned but yearned to own. That includes most Kiddles (the line had so many, it was nearly impossible to own them all), Crissy and Velvet dolls, Rosemary from the Rock Flowers, and most of the Dawn and Barbie dolls.

My favorite Liddle Kiddles were the Kiddle Kologne dolls. And the one I most longed to own was Rosebud.

And she recently arrived in the mail for me.

You see, one day I was showing Rebekah some of the vintage dolls I once longed to own, including Rosebud. So without telling me, Rebekah found one on Etsy and ordered it for me.

It was a lovely, sweet surprise.

Rosebud even still has a faint rose scent clinging to her.

My two granddaughters fell in love with her and wanted to play with her. If I had more (including the colonial dollhouse I once has a child, along with some period furniture), that would have been a grat option.

And thanks to the internet, not out of the realm of possibility.

Rosebud is currently sitting beneath a small Christmas tree Joshua and Timothy bought me, which Timothy set up on one of my dressers (one that used to belong to Ron's mother) late at night on the Feast of St. Nicholas.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Five Minutes on Christmas Eve

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Five Minutes on Christmas Eve

As I'm writing this, I get a phone call from my nearly seventeen year old daughter Rebekah. She and her fifteen year old brother Daniel and my husband Ron are done rolling newspapers and are heading home. Communion bread for this morning's Divine Liturgy is rising in the oven, and soon I'll be out in the van throwing newspapers.

This is not how we used to spend our Christmases.

Years ago, when my six children were very young, Christmas Eve meant getting together with my first husband's side of the family and enjoying a special Christmas Eve dinner of twelve traditional dishes, that represented the twelve apostles. We continued that tradition up until this year when the timing of Christmas as per the newspaper schedule and everyone's work commitment made such a gathering impossible.

Then the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder as I was getting ready for bed last night, at the ungodly hour of seven o'clock (It's ungodly when you rise at midnight). I hollered down the stairs for Daniel, but he had left with my oldest son Christopher to pick up my daughter-in-law Cassie from work. So, I phoned my twenty-year-old son Timothy who was still stuffing Sunday inserts for their customers with Rebekah.

After making sure they were near each other, I asked Timothy to put me on speaker phone. He did, and I read from the Gospel of Luke, beginning with Gabriel's appearance to Mary and ending with the shepherds. When I finished, there was a chorus of excited voices. My kids were not alone in the warehouse.

A number of other carriers were spending their Christmas Eve there, too, preparing for Sunday so they could spend Christmas Day with their families and had been touched by the reading. Timothy said, "Now it feels like Christmas. Thank you for reminding us of the reason for the season."

Whatever the reason for YOUR celebration this day, have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Christmas: Aug. 6, 2017

Although we always celebrate Christmas, usually twice, we have not bought or opened gifts in quite a few years.

The reasons are many and complicated, but mostly because the resources of time, money, and transportation aren't available, so we've put extra focus on the meaning for the celebration.

But giving and receiving tokens of love is a great joy, one my daughter Rebekah really missed.

When she said so again this summer and hoped circumstances could be otherwise this year, I proposed, "Why wait? How about Christmas in July?"

Well, it took awhile before we could scheme the budget and gift ideas. Rebekah did the ordering. Some items were slow in arriving. Some of us are gone over sixteen hours some days.

So we waited until all items were shipped. Then Rebekah and I set a date of Aug.6. I wasn't on call, then boys had nowhere to be, etc. It was perfect.

Except the weekend fell apart. We missed church for the second week, and on the Transfiguration.

I had work that needed completing.

We rescued a hawk.

So Rebekah did most of the wrapping. She made a cardboard tree.

And among the chaos and the business, we set aside a quiet hour and brought out presents and shared their the unwrapping. Timothy and Daniel were surprised and liked their gifts.

Sort of reminiscent of Christ's birth, isn't it?

Anyhow, here are three gifts, all courtesy of Rebekah, and all Bryony-themed: a vintage pipe candle holder, a purple rose necklace, and a piano charm "pearl" bracelet.