Definitely Dottie

The Girls in Disney

2010-03-27T02:27:00.000-07:00

Arriving at Newcastle Airport the girls were so excited to be going on holiday. Poppet was excited about going on a plane again, and Dottie remembered her visit to Africa to see Jessie and Denise and they swapped stories whilst wating for their flight.

They spent their time waiting for their flight by watching the other planes take off and land and were so excited beyond belief.
When it was time to board the flight they jumped in with the passports and tickets to make sure they didnt get left behind.

They were overjoyed to get a seat by the window for take off........

After a long day they arrived at their hotel at 12.30am, although still very excited they were shattered and fell asleep very quickly in a huge king size bed.

Next day they were up bright and early and after just a few hours of walking ( or should I say being carried) around they just couldnt wait to get into Mcdonalds. They wanted to go into the one in Discoveryland in Videopolis.
They liked the idea of being able to watch the early Mickey Mouse cartoons while they had lunch.

The auditorium was quite full but the girls were soon up on the table so that they didnt miss a thing.

They had their lunch and had a quick read of the programme for the Buffalo Bills Wild West Show that they had tickets for that evening.
I think they really couldnt wait to see all those Cowboys and Indians to be truthful ........

Out came the park map next.......seems they wanted to plan where to go next, they were quite sure that they needed to cram in as much as possible as the time was just flying by. They decided it was time for the Castle.

As I knew it would, the sight of the castle just made them even more excited and as usual they were ready to pose for the camera so that they had a snap shot to remember this special moment.

Next they hit the shops.........

And they were over the moon that the mickey images on the bags were just the right size for them to pose next too , they were flirting with the French male shop assistants , little minxes !

They found some of the cutest postcards and sent some to their friends.

Evening meal was in a brilliant restaurant called "The Silver Spur" they serve amazing food which arrives on the plate like a work of art.

The girls just nearly died when they saw the Chocolate Cake which arrived for dessert.
Guess they dont have a problem with watching their diet so they just ate it all right up !!
The waiters were delighted with the girls who were flattered by their French sweet talking, and I think I can quite safely say the waiters hadnt had 2 customers quite like these before.

After leaving the Silver Spur we headed back to the main gates as it was time to leave the park, as we passed the castle the girls took the opportunity to pose in front of it again as it looked so dreamy against the night sky. It was all lit up with soft tones of pink and lilacs and the wintery evening cast a delicate mist around it.
The girls said they wished they could stay the night in the castle .....but it was time to go for the evening.

Next day we visited the Haunted Mansion, the girls couldnt stop giggling , but it was a different story once inside. They hid in our pockets, scared of the dark and spooky noises.

Thunder Mountain had them terrified.......

And the Molly Brown Steamboat River trip was fab......

But alas the holiday was over all too soon, hitching a ride in the zip pocket of the suitcase they waited for the bus arriving to get back to the Charles de Gaulle airport.

The girls were sad to leave the hotel , but were very tired after their trip and were looking forward to being back home.

The fact that they had been promised that they could have sweets for the return flight had nothing at all to do with it.

Back in England there was nothing to do but wait for the taxis to take them back home.

They had an amazing time and im sure they brought back a couple of addresses of some Frenchmen.....There have been some International phone numbers on the phone bill too since we got back........Wonder what they have been up too, I have a feeling we might not have heard the last about France !!

Thanks for stopping by Dotties blog.

The Girls have been travelling ......

2010-02-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

Well the girls have had a fab time in Paris , they were so excited.

They have lots of photos and tales to tell, so watch this space

Getting in the mood !!!!

2010-02-15T03:18:00.000-08:00

Well Dottie has done all her ironing and packing and she and poppet are all set to go.

They have been getting in the mood, drinking Cappucino's and eating Croissants.......Those holiday clothes arent gonna fit by the time they get there.
(Its just as well they are drawn on lol)

Well Im sure they are goon have a fab time........watch this space, they will be back with tales to tell.

Bon Voyage Girls

Its Official.......Countdown to Mayhem in Paris

2010-01-22T03:22:00.000-08:00

Well Dottie and Poppet may have been quiet for some time, but dont be fooled into thinking they havent been up to much.

They have been preparing for an adventure , and when Dottie chatted to her airline friend Richard and mentioned that the girls could both do with a break, he was only too pleased to get them a couple of tickets to fly to Paris !

They are so excited , they are already planning some fab adventures.

They are now counting the sleeps until they leave and im sure Paris isnt going to know whats hit it !!!

I for one cant wait.........

Kitchen Capers..............

2009-03-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Dottie and Poppet have been so patient over the last few weeks while I have been so busy and they have spent alot of time just hanging around having fun watching tv and reading etc. I think alot of the time they have beeen bored, but they have been very good and havent complained once.

So I suppose when they found out I was planning to do some baking it was only a matter of time before they wanted to be in amongst the thick of it , helping out they called it although Im not convinced.

Dottie quickly got the handwash soap and shouted for Poppet to get her hands washed.

Then she came along with the baking timer, I was quite impressed, she seemed to be very organised.

Before I knew where I was the girls had everything under control and they were opening a box of muffin mix.
Dottie said they had been reading up on things in the BeRo book and it was ok for me to go off and have cuppa while they did the baking. Alarm bells started ringing and I couldnt help feeling as though things were moving a little too quickly, and I wondered just how much control I was going to have over this baking session.....

The girls got right on organising everything that I decided to put the kettle on, that cup of tea might not be a bad idea after all.
They were weighing out ingrediants and being very well organised , even if I do say so myself.

Dottie got out the castor sugar, the girls were laughing and im sure I heard them say something about make it nice and sweet as the way to a mans heart was through his stomach......bet Sams going to be doing some taste testing ! Poor Sam, hes always the taste tester, although I think he enjoys it really.

Although the girls cant stay serious for too long, I came back with my cuppa to find them hiding in the flour bags and making ghosty noises, and giggling.

I reminded them if they couldnt behave I would not let them help out, that soon brought things back under control.

Dottie and Poppet referred to the cook book and once again the baking session was back under control.

Perched on the side of the mixing bowl the girls seemed to be having a discussion, Dottie was concerned that the mixture wasnt mixed enough, Poppet suggested that she take off her shoes and jump into the bowl, apparantly she had seen someone on TV treading grapes so maybe the same idea would work on white chocolate muffins?
Dottie was quick to inform her that no one would be putting their feet into her cake mixture, especially if she was going to be giving it to sam to taste test.

Poppet finally agreed.

Poppet added extra chocolate, just in case there wasnt enough in already and Dottie poured a little carnation milk into the mixture to make it smooth and moist.

Once they were satisfied that the mixture was ready they emptyied it out of the bowl.
The girls were very quick to lick some of the chocolaty mixture from the bowl. It was yummy.......

With all of the mixture into the cake cases it was time to put them in the oven.

While the flour and sugar were still out the girls quickly rustled up a chocoate cake and an orange cake too. I think Sam will be eating cakes for ages at this rate.

It didnt take long for the cakes to cook and while we waited I washed the dishes.
The girls made a wonderful chocolate icing which they used to sandwich the cake together and to decorate it also.

With the cakes all cooling on the rack they girls made themselves a well earned drink and had a sit down.

As soon as the cakes were cooled , we decided to put them in a tin to keep them fresh, I must admit the girls had done a great job. But I had a feeling we would be eating cake forever we had so much of it.

I was very impressed at how hard the girls worked and that they obtained such good results, obviously all of the reading about baking had paid off.
They had only misbehaved slightly , so I cant complain really. I found myself admitting I was happy for them to try their hand at other things from now on.
They had a good time but were very tired when they were finished.

Dottie rushed straight to the phone to tell Sam all about it, I hope hes hungry when he gets home from work....................

He wont be able to get into his uniform by the time hes eaten this lot !

Thanks for stopping by.

Baking Antics..............

2009-03-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry the girls havent blogged for a while, but that doesnt mean to say they havent been up to mischief, because they have............

Updates will be posted soon, when Ive dusted all the flour away........

Thanks for being patient.

Are you sitting comfortable? Then we shall begin.....

2009-01-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

After many nights of having to amuse themselves while I was poorly, and once the Christmas film season had finished Dottie and Poppet found themselves a new past time......Reading.........

They have been sitting for hours reading to one another and even read a few stories for me while I was poorly.

They would climb onto their sofa and get out the books.

At the moment this one is one of their favourites.

This story was written by my son David when he was only 7 years old. It was televised on the Jackanory programme and i made it into a book for him as a keepsake this Christmas.
It is exactly as he wrote it all those years ago....and its called "The Tigers Birthday".

One day last year , Toby the Tiger woke up feeling rather pleased with himself. It was his birthday. He was very excited, he ran to his postbox but he was very sad when he got there.
There were no birthday cards and no birthday presents. He was very sad.
He sat down on the path crying, he didnt think that all of his friends would forget his birthday.

He put on his coat and set off to see his friend Lenny the Lion.
When he got there Lenny was digging his garden.
"Hello" said Toby, "Did you know it was a special day today" "Yes" said Lenny "I must plant my seeds today or my plants wont be ready in time for the summer fete" Toby's heart sank. "I will see you later Lenny" and he set off again.

The next house he came to was the house of Sammy the snake.
"Hello Sammy" said toby, "Did you know it was a special day today" "Yes" said Sammy
"I am going on my holidays, I cant stop and talk to you , I must go and pack my case"
Toby felt awful...........

Once again Toby set off.
As he was walking Polly the parrot flew past.
"Hello Toby" said Polly "Its a special day today" "Yes" said Toby and he smiled.
Polly explained how she was on her way to see her sister who had just got married. "How nice" said Toby "I will see you later". As he walked away big tears rolled down his cheeks.

He nearly walked passed the house of Gordon the gorilla.
"Hello Toby" said Gordon, "Why are you crying?" "Its my birthday today and nobody's remembered" cried Toby. "Nevermind" said Gordon" Lets go for a walk, it will make you feel better".

As they walked through the jungle it was very quiet.
"I think everybody must be very busy today, its very quiet " said Toby.
Just then there was a loud cheer "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ".
Toby was so surprised , all of his friends were deep in the jungle.
There was cakes, hotdogs, crisps,trifle, sandwiches and lemonade to drink. There was also a big pile of cards and gifts.
"This is the best birthday I have ever had" said Toby.
"I would like to say Thank you to all my special friends for my special day".

Dottie and Poppet hope you enjoyed hearing the story as much as they enjoyed reading it.
Thank you for stopping by, call again soon.

Celebrations for Dottie and Poppet

2009-01-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry this post is very late, hopefully we are just about back on track now and updates should be back to normal quite soon. Thank you for your patience.

The girls may just be small, but they sure had some big celebrations.

Mini quiches, cocktail sauges , pringles .....I dont know where they put it all

After eating a huge lunch they surprised me at being first to the tea table.
They were jumping for joy at the chocolate cake which has become one of their favourite cakes.

At New Year , they had the tinyest bottle of champagne chilled and ruby red glasses at the ready and the toasted in the New Year as soon as the clock struck 12.

They were extremely well behaved and got up to no mischief, although as I wasnt very well it may have been that I just didnt notice.

Merry Christmas from Dottie and Poppet

2008-12-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

Dottie and Poppet are so excited, I dont think they are ever going to go to sleep tonight.

They have been eyeing up the stable under the tree all week and tonight decided to take a closer look.

It wasnt long before their curiosity got the better of them and it didnt take long before they were inside the stable, theres one thing for sure they are not shy.
Poor Mary and Joseph, as well as the 3 kings and the shepherd boy they got Dottie and Poppet too.

Mind I will say they were very well behaved and even Poppet offered her koala bear to baby Jesus.

The Girls hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and I will be sure to take lots of photographs.

Its nearly time for Santa , so the girls are off to bed soon.

" Merry Christmas Everyone"

An early gift from Sam

2008-12-20T08:34:00.001-08:00

Wow......Look what Sam has bought for Dottie !

He has been working so much overtime and now we know why. Dottie has her own sofa , a very swish one at that. Dottie and Poppet have been enjoying the christmas films on tv and to be honest have been a little lost on my big sofa, so Sam kindly bought Dottie her own so she can watch her films in comfort.

Dottie says its given her an idea, but we have to wait a little while to find out what shes got in mind ! Knowing Dottie it will be fun.
Poppet is pleased that theres loads of room for her to sit on it too even if Sam is here, its lovely and cosy for them.

Squirrels and Sparkles

2008-12-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

When I decided it was time to put up the Christmas decorations it wasnt hard to find some help.........Although maybe thats not the right word, it was supposed to be help but it soon turned into something very different.

I was lifting the tree out of its box and all Dottie and Poppet could do was giggle, I couldnt understand what was so funny.......
I assembled the stand and then added the other sections until it was complete, only one problem, the girls were missing !

I hadnt noticed that the giggling had stopped, I had been concentrating on the tree, where had they gone? I shouted for my daughter who came straight away but she hadnt seen the girls either. I called their names but got no reply.
Where on earth coud they have gone. My daughter checked all the boxes and i checked under the sofa etc.
Then my daughter grabbed my arm.......she beckoned to me to be quiet. As we stood in silence there was rustling in the tree. A clicking noise followed, then weird little noises.....it sounded like a squirrel, thats silly , Its an artificial tree !
My daughter and I crept up to the tree slowly , the clicking and sqeaking continued, we were nervous and hanging onto each other as we got closer to the tree. Our hearts were pounding , and then it happened ..........

THOSE TWO LITTLE MONKEYS WERE INSIDE THE TREE ! They shouted and jumped forward onto the tip of the branch and my daughter and I nearly jumped out of our skin.

Of course the girls thought it was so funny, they were rolling aroung laughing , whilst my daughter and I recovered from the shock !

Next came the garland for the mantlepiece, the girls loved this as its lights were already attached so as soon as it was in place i turned it on and it lit up.

They were so excited about the lights , before I knew it they were back in the tree as i put on its lights. They were squealing with delight as the lights lit up the whole tree.

From the tree Poppet got her eye on one of the decorations and quickly slid down the inside of the tree.

Poppet was so excited at the red boot trimmed with white fur, a whole conversation started about Santa Clause, Poppet decided she would try on the boot for size.
She jumped right in and started singing "Santa Clause is coming to town", we laughed and laughed.

Then all kinds of antics started , Dottie found 2 little drums and the singing just got louder and louder.......

As the girls went through all the songs I continued to dress the tree , with my new friend ' HEADACHE'............

In a couple of hours and the tree all done, and the drums hung high on the tree we were pleased with the finished result.

It was even better that night , when we switched off the main lights and sat in the cosy room watching TV with just the tree lights and the mantle lights casting a warm glow over the room.

Merry Christmas from Dottie and Poppet, they will be back very soon.
Thanks for stopping by.

Crop Day Dilema !

2008-11-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in writing this post. We have had an extremly busy week.
Going back to last Saturday we had a crop day at our house.
Marina , Heather and Annette joined us to have a Christmas Crop Day.
All went well to start with and everyone was having a fantastic time.

While Annette was stamping, Marina and Heather were working with lots of glitter and embossing powders creating some fabulous tags, cards and christmas decorations.

When everyone left there was alot of glitter everywhere.

Poppet jumped inside the duster and dottie pushed it around to give her a ride.
They were having so much fun, but the glitter was going all over the carpet.
I decided to get out the hoover before it went right through the house.
Unfortunatly when i came back with the hoover i didnt notice that only poppet was still on the table. Dottie had slipped in all the glitter and floated down to the floor.
What happened next was scary !
I couldnt here poppet shouting above the noise of the hoover , and i thought she was waving at me , not trying to get my attention, so i waved back.

Dottie is as light as a feather, so it was inevitable that as the hoover got too near she got sucked straight in.....

As I turned off the hoover Poppet slid down from the table and ran over to the hoover.

Poppet jumped up on the hoover and i couldnt decide what she was trying to tell me, she was waving and pointing to the tank on the hoover.
Just then i noticed something moving inside, OH NO ! It was Dottie..........

I quickly opened up the hoover to get dottie out and poppet ran to get a bandage.
Dottie was flustered at first but laughing so hard, she said it was the best roller coaster she had been on, and although she was coughing with all the fluff, she wanted to do it again.
Poppet returned with the bandage and i told her that dottie seemed fine and didnt really need a bandage.......However.....

Poppet insisted that dottie was bandaged up incase there was a problem.

She said she had learned all about bandages , and was an expert .......
Well when i saw the finished result , I wished it had all happened a couple of weeks earlier as this was the best Mummy costume I had seen ths year !
Dottie kept insisting she was fine and wanted to do it all again but poppet was having none of it.

Poppet insisted that Dottie go straight to bed and get some rest and she would be the nurse and look after her. Dottie decided not to argue, to be honest i think she was having trouble to move with all that bandage.
Poppet had everything under control, and had dottie tucked in under the covers so well , dottie couldnt move.
Next time i will make sure they are high enough up from the carpet so we dont have any mishaps, although saying that dottie was so keen to have another go, that might be hard.

Thanks for reading this post.

Ooops a daisy !

2008-11-23T01:47:00.000-08:00

Dont panic everyone.....its all sorted now and Dottie and Poppet are fine, but come back later to see why we needed this !

Lil Aussie Poppet has arrived

2008-11-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, this is my new friend Poppet, she has travelled all the way from Australia to visit me for a while.
Her mum and creator is Linda and you can find her blog here its an amazing blog with some fantastic artwork , check it out.
Poppet has had an extremely long journey and is very tired, so its something to eat and an early night as her little eyes are closing.
Dont forget to pop back and see us soon , isnt her little koala bear cute?

Will post again very soon, love Dottie and my new friend Poppet

Now Im worried !

2008-11-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well I came in from the school today and Dottie was hovering around her phone, and acting all suspicious.
Shes been dancing and singing too.....very strange.
Shes up to something and as i was asking about what she wanted for tea, she was humming , and not listening at all.

I had to warn her that if we didnt get the tea sorted there would be no time for crafting tonight !

That seemed to work, no sooner said than done, the mind was made up. As it has been a cold day, it was to be Corned Beef Hotpot for tea.

Dottie climbed up onto the bench and supervised the preparation of the vegetables, and the corned beef.

She asked how I felt about her having a friend to stay over?
I told Dottie that her friends were more than welcome anytime she wanted, we could easily make extra room for another little one.

She has had a big smile on her face since the weekend, but once I said she was allowed, she just beamed..

She was dancing on the edge of the baking dish , and nearly feel in......

She was having a great time, Im not sure what the tune is that she is humming though.......

Sounds a bit like " Waltzing Matilda".

I asked her "what the tune was?" She said "a friend she had been talking to on the telephone had taught it to her !"

"Who was this friend?" I asked "Oh just someone I met when I dialled a wrong number on my telephone" she replied.

" Sounds unusual" I said. "And they taught you a song?"

"Oh yes , we talked a while " she said, "and we have alot in common ! "

"In fact I said I would ask if they could come for a visit"....."So is it ok?"

"Where do they come from " I asked...........

Now this is where it gets tricky........Wait for it........and they have been on the phone all weekend..........

ONLY AUSTRALIA !

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather.....AUSTRALIA !!!

"What about the phone bill" I asked....."Oh dont worry , my calls are all free, an old friend who owns a phone network has given me a special phone, all expense paid" she spoke up. "He also owns an airline too , so hes bringing my friend over to England free too, if she can stay".

Well what can I say, seems like its all planned.

And the little lady in question appears to be called.........

Poppet !!

So apparantly Poppet is on her way, I dont know anything about her so we will just have to wait and see what happens next. Seems Dottie has it all planned, so who am I to get in her way of having a good time !

Mysterious phone calls !

2008-11-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

Not sure whats going on with Dottie.......shes been on the telephone an awful lot this weekend.
Everytime I get near she starts whispering! wonder what shes up too. She's obviously planning something exciting.
No doubt we will find out soon enough. Good job shes got free weekend calls!
Stay tuned , I will keep you updated. Jaqi

A Cake Calamity !

2008-11-13T12:49:00.000-08:00

Dottie was so excited that we had guests for tea on Sunday.
The excitement turned to pure delight when she asked if she could help make the cake and I said "yes".

First we must wash our hands, and she insisted that she have her photo taken with the soap so there were no chances of anyone thinking that she hadnt washed, especially as she had been crafting and working with paints and glitters earlier in the morning.

After getting out the large bowl dottie started with the sugar, she thought we needed lots of sugar as she said the cake needed to be sweet just like her ! I added the margarine myself, as dottie being let loose with that seemed to be tempting fate.

Dottie was confused, she was having trouble finding the eggs, she looked everywhere.
I mentioned that they were still in the Hen......well she stood ages asking this hen if it would be kind enough to please lay 3 eggs so that she could make her cake.
There was no answer from the hen....Dottie stamped her feet and stated that if the hen didnt co operate then desparate measures would have to be taken.

I asked Dottie what she meant, she whispered that if the hen didnt lay 3 eggs, she had decided she was going to inform it that instead of the leg of lamb for Sunday lunch we would be having CHICKEN.........
She had me laughing so much, I thought it best to let her into the little secret that the hen was actually not a real hen but just a container that the eggs were kept in.
Dottie was relieved as the thoughts of wrapping the hen in tin foil wasnt something she was looking forward too......

Next step was the flour, well this is where things went a bit off course !

Dottie insisted on climbing onto the bag of flour, and yes you guessed it.........

I dont need to tell you what happened next.

Still laughing at the hen incident she lost her balance and fell straight into the flour bag.
Her legs were wiggling around , and clouds of flour poofed into the air.
Guess I wasted my time doing the dusting I thought to myself.
She was shouting and screaming at the top of her voice, swallowing flour into the bargain.

It wasnt very long before help was at hand and although she looked like a little ghost and as flour continued to be poofed into the air as coughing and spluttering was mixed with laughing I couldnt help thinking to myself , Im sure we have been in situations like this before !

It wasnt too long before dottie was dusted down and sitting on the edge of the mixing bowl trying to be serious.
To be honest, I was a little nervous, i was half expecting her to slide down the inside of the bowl, straight into the mixture. I had visions of sitting at the tea table watching as someone bit into the cake and a little hand would be sticking out of the cooked cake clutching ATC'S........

I thought it best to send Dottie for the Vanilla essence. Laughter started again, she tipped upside down next to the bottles, she laughed and laughed. She thought someone had left Dottie sized bottles of wine for her. Oh no I dont think so, too little for wine ! although a glass of brandy was sounding more like a good idea to me.

Dottie set the timer for the cake, and I was just so pleased it was in the oven without any mishaps.

She climbed into the mixer , so that she was out of harms way while I cleared up all of the mess ! This cookery lesson had been different thats for sure

Once out of the oven, I sighed with relief. Dottie, despite the flour ghost incident had made a beautiful moist cake, which tasted wonderful.

Hi Everyone !

2008-11-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your patience, I cant wait to get started , and tell you about everything ive been up to lately.
My Aunt Chriss, has left a message for my mum Louise just so we can check that everything is ok for me to play on this blog.
We all know that young ladies need permission from mam before venturing out into the unknown, and im no exception.
As soon as my Mum has been in touch we will be ready to go.......
Fingers crossed everyone that ive been good and she will allow me to play, dont want to get grounded before I start........

I will be back soon , Ive got loads to tell. See ya, Dottie x

Hello and Welcome

2008-11-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hi,
My name is The ATC Queen Dottie, and I belong to the Artist Trading Club and its members.

I was given to The Artist Trading Club by Lousie from Dotties World.

At the moment I am staying with one of the club members, and this is my blog where you can follow my day to day adventures while im here.
I hope you have a sense of humour, and thank you for stopping by.