Sunday House Chat
Vultures and Arsenic Bathroom Suites
Chatting about all things miniature on last week’s Sunday House Chat, I remembered a terrifying incident from my childhood.
One day at school, when I was about seven, my teacher taught us about vultures. She told us that they circle around overhead looking for weaklings, ready to rip their guts out. Or that’s what I took from the lesson. What she didn't mention, or I didn’t hear, is that they don't live in Darlington.
One Saturday morning, after I had chosen a miniature dark wood rocking chair from our local toy shop, I stood outside waiting for my sister. My eyes wandered to the sky where I saw some ominous looking birds circling overhead.
Uh-oh. I knew I was small, could even be described as a weakling by a vulture. I became convinced the vultures (probably crows) were waiting for the perfect moment to swoop down, toss away my miniature rocking chair, and rip my guts out.
Anyway, you have probably gathered by now, I survived the vulture attack and here I am typing this golden nugget of a substack.
Last week I showed you my new-to-me dolls house. And that prompted people to remind me of some famous dolls houses. Thank you 🙏
And
showed me Queen Mary’s dolls house. Her dolls House reflected her luxurious palace (and my new dolls house reflects my more modest abode 😂).
By the way, in the picture at the top of this post me and my sister are visiting a miniature village. Can you send me miniature village recommendations? Do they still exist? I could do a google, but I would rather hear your stories.
Things that have arrived in my house this week
When I bought my dolls house it came with two tiny bathroom suites. One red, one arsenic green. I might use the green bath as a ‘catch all/ somewhere to put my rings’ beside the sink.
I added to my collection of tiny willow pattern cups. I will use them for making chocolate pots. Here’s the recipe.
Our kitchen Spotify playlist this week has been mostly Chansons including Edith Piaf’s Padam, Padam and Manhattan Transfer’s Chanson D’amour and Charles Aznavour’s Tout les Visages de L’amour.
The joiner is back
And here is the shelf progress. The cubby holes at the bottom will have doors and there will be shelves above them. Who said this newsletter was boring? 🥱
See you next time for more Sunday House Chat. What’s been going on in your house this week? I am nosy.
Love Helenx
Love this post, Helen- you do look like vulture fodder, to be fair!! 😂 The Godfather of our village allotments died a couple of weeks ago at 88. He used to tell walkers on the footpath next to his plot to watch out for the red kites, as they carried off toddlers and weaklings. (He once skinned and butchered a muntjac deer next to his shed- the fact that he hung up a sheet somehow made it worse, as you could just see the silhouette of him wielding an enormous knife and the odd blood spatter.)
That was a bit of a tangent! I wanted to ask if you know ‘Miss Happiness and Miss Flower’ by Rumer Godden, about a girl who is given 2 Japanese dolls and learns about Japanese houses so that she can make them a dolls house that they will feel at home in. I loved it, and was so sorry to miss the BBC radio dramatisation at Christmas, which disappeared after just a month! 🤷♀️Your dolls house looks like the perfect fixer-upper, what a treat! ❤️
When we moved to Cornwall when I was little, there was a little shop called the Doll’s House which sold … doll’s house furniture. I used to love looking in the window and inside at the little worlds inside the cabinets! The shop is long gone but I remember it quite clearly.
There was a miniature village not far away, although I don’t remember ever going until I was an adult 😅 miniature villages make me think of the film Hot Fuzz - a firm favourite here.
I also loved making miniature cardboard houses with my Dad and brother - lots of fun!
Have a lovely Sunday ☺️