How to fashion your dolly's dishcloths...

Left and Right, pictured are the two tea towels crafted for our American Girl doll's country kitchen.
The red and white tea towel was cut from a very old vintage tea towel that had far too many stains
that could not be removed without damaging the fancy embroidery work. The second version was 
cut from a fancy piece of old linen. I then trimmed it with black and white ribbon. The fringe 
was cut from yarn and sew across both the tops and bottoms of each towel by hand.

Mr. Sunshine admires his work while dishcloths and rags hang on the clothesline.

Dishcloths, oh I mean tea towels
hang from the dishwasher handle
inside of our large doll's kitchen.
However, we only get them out
 to put on display on a holiday
or when guests come for a visit.

The Story of Miss Dishcloth's Ancestry

       Miss Tea Towel was most thoroughly angry; every one on the clothesline knew it, and it was only Mr. Sunbeam who had the courage to ask the reason.
       "Reason! why they have been calling me a rag, and do you suppose for one moment that I belong to that family? Of course it was all right asking you to fight my microbes (germs, bacteria) , for that is what I am outside today for; but to be called a 'rag' is a thing I will not stand for."
       "Well, I can remember when that was your name;" and Mr. Sunbeam smiled wickedly.
       "Oh, I know; I don't deny my ancestry, even if it goes back fifty years. In those days there may possibly have been a family of dishtowels living in the kitchen, and maybe even a sponge or two. But, it is very different now, and I want you to understand that I am as neatly cut and as carefully hemmed and embroidered as any member of the Bed Linen family. Why some of my fondest memories are of the time I spent in the sewing basket with pillow cases, waiting to be lovingly embellished with fine stitching and colorful floss..."
       "And your gift tags included with wrapping and given as housewarming sentiments - how are you labeled?" Mr. Sunbeam said facetiously.
       "Why, Miss Dishcloth, of course. However, that is only because my people now live in America instead of England. It's all because of that 'tea incident' in Boston Harbor. Well, you can't expect me to be held accountable for American rebellions can you?" Miss Tea Towel pleaded "Don't I deserve the distinction of my embellishments and I am usually put on display for guests or holidays too?"

Dress up your dollhouse kitchen table with...

• Holiday placemats or woven printable placemats
• Sew a set of towels for a smaller doll's bathroom
• Color the children washing doll clothes before hanging them out to dry...
• Raggedy Ann gets a bath and time to dry out with laundry

Queen Kitten's Birthday Party

It is My Party and I'll cry if I want too!
and the whole song here.

The Queen Kitten

 by Eulalie Osgood Grover

   I am the Queen of all the Kittens.

   I am the Queen! the Queen!

   Come, all you kittens and cats.

   Hear what I have to say.

   To-marrow I give a grand party.

   The party will be in my palace.

   You are all invited from the biggest to the littlest, from the oldest to the youngest, from the blackest to the whitest. 

   So wash your paws and shine your fur.

   Forget your naughty tricks and do not one of you dare be late to your Queen's party.

   To-morrow at one o'clock.

       Does your Queen kitten have a soft bed? Does she have a crown for her head? Will you bake her a cake for her party?

       The supplies you will need to make a cat's birthday cake include: a tiny plastic fish bead, tuna pink acrylic paint, masking tape, a toilet tissue square, white school glue, Mod Podge and a bottle cap of any size.

Left, display your birthday cat's tuna cake on a fancy dish to emphasize it's elegance. Right,
Our cat's kitten smells something wonderful and can't resist taking a peek...

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Clean the recycled cap well; let it dry.
2. Cover the cap with masking tape.
3. Pool the white glue inside of the cap.
4. Soak the one or two squares of soft tissue (Kleenex or toilet paper) in white glue to fill up the interior of the cap.
5. Push the fish bead down into the tissue on the top of the cat cake. Let everything dry.
6. Add more glue to hold the bead securely if needed. Let dry.
7. Now paint the faux tuna cake with acrylics as you wish.
8. Finish the last coat with Mod Podge.

Ideas for your pretend cat's cake from YouTube:

• See how to make more tuna cakes for a cat birthday party
• Oreo has tiny tuna cakes for his birthday . . . 
• Happy cats eat a homemade birthday cake!
• A quick kitty cake for your pet's birthday treat.

       Read below about the cat-tastrophy of a Cat Birthday party!

A CAT'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. 

Mrs. Gertrude Manly Jones. 

A KITTY named Pollie — just over the way — 

Gave a party last week on her second birthday.

It was — so I've heard — quite a stylish affair, 

For the cat elite of the village was there. 

For a week the party was meowed about, 

After the neat invitations were out; 

"What shall I wear?" was a question oft asked, 

And for some little time the kitties harassed; 

At last they decided, without a demur, 

That because of cool weather, they'd all dress in fur. 

In the meanwhile, Pollie was burdened with care 

To get up a fine supper, and nice bill of fare. 

There were grasshopper croquets and truffles to make; 

A lot of fat lizards to stuff and to bake; 

There were mice, to be fricasseed, parboiled and stewed, 

And strong catnip bouillon, and punch to be brewed — 

Oh, my ! Was there ever before a gray cat 

Who had such a weight on her shoulders as that? 

But at last the eventful evening came 'round, 

And everything was quite in readiness found. 

In the old kitchen garden the table was set, 

And a funnier table you never saw yet; 

The tea cups were egg shells ; and turnip green plates 

Were loaded with savory messes and baits; 

A large rutabaga was hollowed out clean, 

And made quite an excellent bouillon tureen; 

The table was trimmed up with beet leaves and mint, 

And festoons of parsely were used without stint. 

As the clock struck midnight, the guests all poured in. 

And you never did hear such a horrible din! 

 The old cornstalk fiddles set up a full blast, 

And partners for quadrilles were taken up fast. 

How the feet and the tails did fly in the air! 

How the sparks glinted off from the soft glossy hair! 

Some cats promenaded; others, played the coquette, 

While a pair on the fence top struck up a duet; 

The ball had now reached its dizziest height, 

When from a near cottage, there flashed a bright light; 

A window was hastily raised with a bang, 

And a pistol-shot out through the old garden rang. 

I tell you the sound of that ringing report 

Put an end to the dancing, the singing and sport. 

The beaux — why, they went just tearing off home, 

And left the young kitties to come on alone.

Kittie Pollie was very much chagrined about 

The way her grand entertainment turned out, 

And although she certainly was not to blame, 

She declares she will never give parties again.

Build a Shoebox House for A Country Mouse

       The following is a photo record of my progress through the crafting of a country mouse shoebox house. It is both simple and a delight for a child or doting parent to build. 

       Both this country house and a town house that I will later post about as well, are based upon the old folk tale "The town mouse and the country mouse" and the Steiff mouse house toys sold during the 1950s.

       I tried to use craft materials found in and around my home to decorate the little houses; I will include instructions for these soon. 

Take a peek inside our country mouse shoebox house.

Supply List:

• a large standard size shoebox
• extra cardboard
• white school glue
• masking tape
• faux 'log' papers for walls
• faux 'wooden plank' papers for floors
• cardboard with heavy rippled texture (optional)
  
• Mod Podge
• Heavy cording for handle
• coffee stirring sticks (ladders) 
  
• plastic plants from the Dollar Store
• burr oak shells for mouse food storage
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• Styrofoam beads for peas and seeds
• acrylic paints: greens and browns

The country mouse house has two floors: the sleeping quarters are located in a loft that can be
easily accessed through two double "barn loft doors.'' The lower half of the country, log-cabin 
styled home is a sitting room and kitchen with a pot belly stove to keep the mice warm during 
winter months. 

Step-by-Step Instructions: 

1. Cut a ceiling/floor for the top opening of the shoebox and attach this with tape and white school glue. Let it dry completely, overnight if necessary.
2. Cut the edges apart from the lid of your shoebox and cut an identical copy from extra cardboard the same size to mask together the ''A'' shaped roof. 
3. Once you tape this in place on top of the open faced shoebox, you will be able to accurately trace around the roof-line with a pencil on top of additional cardboard to seal-off the sides of the shoebox mouse house. Do this for both ends of the house. 
4. Then cut away one of the longer sides of the shoebox to create a large hole for children to play both inside and out of the little house.
5. Cut two identically sized shapes  for the barn doors from the same side of the roof as the opening on the lower floor. (see photos below)
6. Leave the far left and right sides attached to the roof so that the doors need only be bent outwards to access the inside loft. 
7. Decorate the barn loft doors with coffee stirrers in "X'' shaped pattern design, just like real barn doors.
8. Cut away a small hole at one end of the loft floor for mice to access the upper room via a coffee stirrer ladder. 
9. Cut an even smaller hole at the opposite end of the attic space for the stove pipe to fit through.
10. Fit a long narrow rafter inside the pitched roof where the burr oak shells may be hot glued on top of. You could use halved walnut shells if you haven't got any burr oak shells instead. 
11. Fill the shells with Styrofoam beads and white school glue. After these have dried, paint them green, moss colors and brown. These are the seeds and peas the country mouse stores during the winter for survival.
12. Decoupage all of the walls and floors inside the little cardboard home using decorative papers of your own liking. I papered the lower half of the house using the same log print on the walls and yet another faux wood print for the floors. 
13. Now you can fill the country mouse's house with all kinds of sweet old-fashioned furnishings; I'll post my versions later in the week...

Above left, you can see the shoebox with it's lid that I used to build the country mouse house with. 
I used duplicate shoebox sizes for both mouse houses. Right, the roof was made by shaped the box's
lid into a "A'' shaped roof. I needed then to cut additional cardboard to seal off the sides of the house.

Above are the side and back views of the country house. These sides were covered with printed
faux log cabin papers. The roof was then covered with corrugated cardboard to give it a 
galvanized metal roof texture. The rope handle was glued to the top of the roof before the
 textured cardboard was attached. I used white school glue for all of the papered
surface applications.

In the mouse "parlor/kitchen'' there hangs a tiny coo-coo clock, a picture of a mountain 
landscape, an old brass daybed, a hoosier, a wool penny rug, a table with acorn caps 
of pea soup, and a pot bellied stove that really lights up!

Left, see the closure details for the upper loft barn doors. This allows for secure storage of furniture
 and mouse dolls when the playset is no in use. Center, the upper loft has unique faux wooden floors
designed with a ''shabby chic'' printed surface. Right, you can see the penny wool rug, the chic vanity
and Popsicle bed with faux multi colored wood print. I'd describe this style to be somewhere between
granny chic and antiquated homespun; just what I would expect from a country mouse.

There is a rafter spanning the pitched roof in this country mouse house and on it I hot glued as many
oak burrs as possible to store all of the peas, seed, etc... that the mice could store. (View from above)
In between these I hot glued plastic moss and plants purchased at my local Dollar Store. Right is a
 photo taken with the house turned on its side.

Left, you can see the log home for our country mice without the furnishings. It is wide open for 
easy play at the bottom. I store all of the furniture and mice above when it's not being played 
with. Center, you can see the mouse bedroom in the loft with furniture and rafters for food
storage. Right is a detail of the pot-bely stove with an acorn hot water kettle. The stove has 
a open back so that the battery operated tea light might be turned off and on or replaced 
easily. The stove pipe fits through a hole in the loft above so that it doesn't shift or move 
during play.

Country and Town Mouse Products:

• Town and Country wooden house for children five and under . . . made of sturdy wood for rougher play and go here to see additional furniture and mouse figures
• Purchase town and country mice at Amazon  for those of you who have little time to make your own mice . . . 
• Here is a pin of the original "Country Mouse'' by Steiff FAO Schwartz (1950) uploaded by Nicole Souders
• Ellen Rardin shares a picture of the same Steiff Country Mouse House decorated for Christmas (1964)

Town and Country Mice Crafts and Stories for Little Ones:

• Town Mouse, Country Mouse stick puppets for kids by Beacon House, Inc.
• Draw along with Infinity Kids Fun: a town mouse and a country mouse
• "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'' read aloud by TheLittleATheatre
• Back through the mousehole . . . 

The Fairy School

The Fairy School by Marjorie Barrows

At goldenrod and aster time
The fairies near our pool
Put on some freshly laundered wings
And flutter off to school.

They sit at little toadstool desks

And do their fairy sums,

And learn to color autumn leaves

Before the frost king comes.

And then they study very hard

So they can spin cocoons

And sing the flowers all to sleep

With little bedtime tunes.

They'd fluttered home for tea today

When I went past the pool,

But I almost saw the fairy dunce

Staying after school!

Pioneer Home Life

        When the pioneers came in search of new homes several families traveled together and they usually selected some well-wooded spot near some stream. When they were once located, no time was lost but all hands got busy. Often, by the first night, they had an improvised building in which the women and children were sheltered and in a few days they had houses for all and a nice little clearing around each.

       The houses were usually about sixteen by twenty feet or hardly so large. The walls were of logs that ranged from eight to twelve inches in diameter. They were built in the form of a pen with notches in each log at the corners to make them lie solid and closer. Then pieces were sawed out of one side for the door. The frame of the roof was formed by shortening the logs at each end, thus necessitating bringing the logs of the sides closer together until the last one would form the comb of the roof. It was covered with clapboards, which were usually about four feet long, made from large trees and split with an instrument they call a frow (fro). The roof was sometimes nailed on, and at other times it was fastened on with poles laid crosswise of the boards. The floor, if they had any, was made of puncheons, which were timbers a foot or more in diameter, cut into lengths of eight or ten feet, split open, and the flat side smoothed. They were sometimes laid flat on the ground and at other times they were notched at the ends and laid on cross logs called sleepers. The door was quite generally made of planks split out like the clapboards of the roof, which were then pegged to two cross-pieces, one end of each forming a hinge. The latch was on the inside and would drop into a notch in a peg and securely hold the door, but could be lifted from the outside by means of a string extending out thru a hole. If the "latch-string" was hanging out, people were welcome to lift the latch and come in. In one end there was a place about five feet square cut in the walls for a "fire-place,' 7 which consisted of three sides of a pen about three by five feet built in this opening to the top of it, attached to the sides by "notching in",. then lined with stone and well plastered with mud. The fireplace terminated in a chimney which was built of sticks, then plastered with mud. This was the "stick-and-clay chimney." They had no glass for windows, so they just sawed out a piece of log and put a piece of greased paper in the opening.

       The furniture was all home-made. The bed was formed as follows: They first took a pole long enough to extend from the floor to the roof, trimmed the limbs off, cutting each about six inches from the pole, so as to leave several hooks which might serve as a sort of clothes rack. This pole was then set about four feet from one side at a back corner and six feet from the end. A pole was laid from a crack in the end to the first fork in this upright pole, about two feet high, and from that to the side wall, clapboards or something of the sort were laid across and the bedstead was made. On this they usually put a bed made of straw or corn husks, or even grass or leaves. In better days this was supplied with feathers. The table was a crude affair. They had no chairs but they made stools by boring three holes in a block of wood and putting pegs in for the legs. Sometimes they fixed up something like a puncheon with four legs as a bench for the children. They had no cook stove, but usually a large skillet with an iron lid was a substantial part of their equipment, tho they did not always have that. To do their baking, they made a heavy bed of coals on the hearth, set the skillet on them, put their food in, put the lid on, and then covered that with coals. Their light was usually a tallow candle, but sometimes they were not so fortunate as to have the tallow and they had to have a grease lamp. The dishes also were nearly always home-made wooden bowls and noggins. The more fortunate ones only had a few pewter dishes.

       Many had no knives or forks. If the former were lacking, the hunting knife was called into service, and if the latter a sharp stick answered the purpose. Clocks were very scarce. The old rooster would crow just as day began to dawn, so they needed no alarm. They all learned to tell time pretty accurately by the sun, so what need had they for a clock? They had no matches. Sometimes they would start fire by striking a flint so as to throw the sparks on a piece of toe, but sometimes the toe was scarce and they would go a mile or more to a neighbor's to borrow fire. Many of them kept fire thru the winter and summer by keeping a log in the clearing burning.

       The food was plain but very wholesome. The corn-pone and the johnny-cake were served for dinner. As hard as they worked they needed meat and very rarely were they without it. Sometimes it was venison. At other times it was turkey (wild) squirrel, rabbit, "possum" or "pattridge" (partridge or quail). Those who had cows furnished good sweet milk and buttermilk to everybody in the neighborhood. Mush and milk was the common supper dish, and if they got tired of that they could vary it with "hog and hominy". They drank much milk and during the spring months they drank sassafras tea. They raised beans and pumpkins in the corn. They made sugar and molasses from the sap of maple trees, and they often cut a bee-tree, getting sometimes several gallons of honey.

       The majority of the pioneers were poor, but honest and respectable, hence poverty carried with it no sense of degradation or humiliation like that felt by the poor any many alternative cultures. They lived in just humble cabins, but they were their own, built by their own hands. They had few of the conveniences of modern life and they were destitute of many of the things we now consider absolutely necessary, but they were industrious, patient and cheerful and hopefully looked forward to better days. As noted above, they had plenty of food and it was wholesome. They had a good appetite and a clear conscience, and as they sat down to the rude table to eat from wooden or pewter dishes, they enjoyed it. The bread they ate was from corn they had both grown and ground, or it was made of wheat they had grown and by a very laborious process flailed out and ground ready for bread. Some of them had graters on which they grated their corn and wheat, but others had various forms of hand-mills. They walked the green carpet of the forests and fields around them, not with the mien of a vagrant, but with the independent air and elastic step of a self-respecting freeman.

       In nothing have there been greater changes than in their dress. The women usually wore a homemade dress of what they called linsey-woolsey, but occasionally the more fortunate ones could get calico from ' ' back east ' ' and wear that on Sundays or on dress occasions. They wore hoops, which made the dress spread out at the bottom. Sometimes they had sleeves made very large and stuffed with feathers so that if the arms were extended at right angles to the body, the sleeves were about as high as the head.  On their heads they wore sunbonnets in the summer and shawls in winter. If they didn't go barefooted they wore moccasins, which were made of a piece of deer-skin, which were laced along the back of the heel and the "calf" of the leg and also over the toes and instep up along the shin. The more artistic ones ran about a foot high and the tops were cut into strings, which were painted in various colors and allowed to dangle about the ankles. The girls often carried their moccasins to church, putting them on at the door. 

       The men wore hunting shirts, breeches, moccasins and a cap. The hunting shirt was a loose sort of a blouse. It opened in front and was large enough to serve as a sort of pouch in which to carry lunch and other things necessary for the trip. It was usually belted down and in this belt he always carried a hunting-knife and sometimes a tomahawk. On dress occasions he wore a short cape over this coat, which terminated about his shoulders in a fringe of bright colors. His cap was made of coon-skin made so that the tail served as an ornament dangling from the top or down behind. His "breeches" were of buck-skin. In winter he wore the hairy side in and in summer he reversed it. On at least one occasion the "buck-skin breeches" served another purpose. 

"Reverend James Lemen of Monroe County and his son were out plowing and left their harness in the field at noon. The boy, hoping to get a vacation, hid one of the collars. The father was resourceful enough and at once took off his breeches, stuffed them with grass and this served as a collar for the afternoon."

       They had plenty of work to do and if they got tired they worked at something else until they rested. The women had work around the house daubing the building, getting wood, grinding corn, cultivating the truck-patch, dressing skins and making it into clothing, or carding, weaving, and spinning cotton or wool and making that into clothing, knitting socks and stockings, milking the cow and teaching the children to read. When she got this done she went and piled brush or something of the kind until she rested, if she was tired.

       The men cleared the ground ready for crops, sometimes at the rate of ten or fifteen acres per year, by cutting down all the smaller trees and "deadening" the larger ones. They made rails and built a fence around the fields, then plowed the ground with a home-made plow and cultivated the crops. Besides all this, they must "all-hands" protect the chickens, geese, ducks, sheep and hogs against the opossums, raccoons, panthers, wild-cats, and wolves, and it sometimes happened that they had to protect themselves against the local natives when there was a dispute among them.

       They were good at combining business with pleasure. In the spring they had log-rollings, which everybody‚ men, women and children, attended. This was an occasion for everybody to help and it was a source of great pride to a man if he could pull all the others down at the end of a "hand-spike". The women took their spinning wheels along, and it was a great day for them as well. They had many amusements which were an essential part of their education. The boy soon passed the bow and arrow stage, and before he reached his teens he could handle the rifle well. They often had "shooting matches," and they developed great skill in marksmanship. Pioneers learned the tricks of the animals and could imitate them all, from the ''gobble" of a turkey to the howl of a wolf. They learned how to decoy the panther from his hiding place and how to call a deer by day or to "shine" him by night.

       Boys went courting in those days. Among them there was no aristocracy, so there was but little looking for wealth or influence. They generally married young and started out in life for themselves. In those days you could tell when young people were going to get married by the way a young man tried to prepare a few home-made tools of his own and also by the fact that the girl was taking an additional interest in drying fruits, making quilts, etc. On the wedding day all the neighborhood was there. The ceremony was performed at noon and then came the big dinner. In some neighborhoods this was followed by dancing the "fox-trot" and the "country (contra) dance" until daylight the next morning. The old fiddler was in the height of his glory. In other localities where they did not believe in dancing, they spent the afternoon in the various sports common to pioneer life, and departed to their homes before night only to assemble at the home of the father of the groom for an "infair" dinner the next day. Within the next week a place for the house was selected and the neighbors built a house for the new couple, and after a "house-warming" which consisted of an all-night party or dance, the young couple moved in and were "at home."

       If any of them became sick, the good old mothers were the doctors. If they could not be cured, it was often ascribed to the ill-will of a witch. If they died, the preacher was there to say the last sad words at the grave. The neighbors were the undertakers.

"Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect.

Some frail memorial still erected nigh,

With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked,

Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

Their names, the years spelt by the unlettered muse

The place of fame and elegy supply,

And many a holy text around she strews.

That teach the rustic moralist to die."

       As the years rolled on, fields were cleared up, the whip-saw and the saw-mill were introduced, better homes were built, churches were organized and schools were established. Various enterprises were started up and people became specialists in different lines. The Indian and many of the wild animals disappeared. The pioneer doctor succeeded the old "witch-master" and the people generally led an easier life. In our imagination we can look back over half a century and, on a winter evening, see the old pioneer grandmother sitting by the huge fire-place, knitting away, while the children are gathered around actable and by the light of a tallow candle are studying their lessons, and the pioneer grandfather sits in meditative mood. Finally, when lessons are gotten the children call on Grandfather to tell them a story and out of the depth of his heart he tells them a story before they scamper off to bed to have a frightful dream about battles with their enemies or of the good times at some of their gatherings. Waller, Illinois.

Home life of Pioneers in California.

Back In The Attic

        The  Popovers  were  going  to  move  back  to  the attic  and  Mrs.  Popover  was  glad  of  it.
       'It  is  not  good  for  the  children  to  live  downstairs,' she  said  in  private  to  Mr.  Popover.  'See how  Loo-Loo  lost  his  head. That  can't  be  good for  any  child.  And  Velvetina  has  asked  over  and over  again  for  a  new  dress,  instead  of  being  satisfied with  her  pretty  pink  velveteen,  as  she  should. It  is  all  because  she  has  seen  Ellen's  dresses  and wants  a  new  one  like  hers.'
       'When  do  we  move?  Have  you  heard?'  asked Mr.  Popover.
       He  liked  it  downstairs  and  would  have  been glad  to  stay.  But  of  course  he  did  not  want  to do  anything  that  was  not  good  for  his  children.
       'We  will  move  to-morrow,'  answered  Mrs. Popover. 'I heard  Aunt  Amelia  tell  Ellen   so.'
       And  I  think  the  reason  we  are  moving  is  because Ellen  is  going  home.'
       At  this  both  the  Popovers  looked  sober,  for they  had  grown  fond  of  Aunt  Amelia's  little visitor.
       'We  knew  she  had  to  go  home  sometime said  Mrs.  Popover  sensibly,  after  a  moment's thought,  'and  I  believe  the  children  are  better off  upstairs.'
       Mr.  Popover  did  not  answer.
       He as  thinking  to  himself,  'Perhaps  it  isn't true  a   all.  Perhaps  Ellen  isn't  going  home.'
       But  it  was  true.  Not  only  was  Ellen  going home,  but  Aunt  Amelia  was  going  with  her.
       'Before  I  go  away  I  mean  to  clean  the  attic,' said  Aunt  Amelia,  'and  we  will  move  the  Popovers  up  there,  too,  until Ellen  comes  again.'
       So  the  next  morning,  bright  and  early,  Aunt Amelia  and Ellen  and  Caroline  went  up  to  the attic  with  brooms  and  pails  and  brushes  and mops.  It  was  autumn  now,  and  brisk  little breezes  went  scurrying  about  the  long  low  room, stirring  the  summer  dust  that  lay  in  corners here  and  there.
       'Caroline  will  scrub  the  floor,'  said  Aunt Amelia,  looking  thoughtfully  about  the  room, 'while  you  and  I,  Ellen,  go  down  and  empty  the Doll  House  so  that  it  can  be  moved.'
       You  may  be  sure  if  Aunt  Amelia  had  anything to  do  with the  moving  of  the  Doll  House, it  would  be  done  in  the  very  best way.  The  moment Mrs.  Popover  saw  Aunt  Amelia  come  into the  playroom, with  Ellen  behind  her  dragging  a clothes  basket  at  her  heels,  she  knew  that  she need  worry  no  longer  about  the  moving  of  her furniture.  This  time  there  would  be  no  tipping and  tilting  of  the  Doll  House  with  furniture and  dishes  tumbling  and  crashing  about inside.
       'Velvetina's  bed  is  broken,'  said  Ellen,  peering into  the  Doll  House.  'I  think  she  is  growing too  heavy  for  this  little  bed.'
       'I  can  mend  it  with  glue,'  answered  Aunt Amelia.  'Put  it  on  the  table  in  my  room  and  I will  mend  it  by  and  by.  Now help  me  pack  this basket.'
       Into  the  clothes  basket  went  the  furniture‚ chairs  and  tables  and  beds,  Loo-Loo's  cradle, the  bookcase,  the  piano,  and  Mrs.  Popover's sewing-machine  with  the  little  wheel  that  would really  turn  round  and  round.  The  sewing-machine was  new.  Aunt  Amelia  had  brought  it  to Ellen  the  day  she  had  fallen  asleep  in  the  preserve closet  with  her  jar  of  cherry  jam.  Next came  the  pictures  off  the  walls,  the  ornaments, and  the  dishes.  And,  last  of  all,  the  Popovers themselves  were  placed  on  top  of  the  basket, quite  as  comfortable  as  any  family  may  expect to  be  on  Moving  Day.
       Ellen  took  one  handle  of  the  basket  and  Aunt Amelia  the  other,  and  very  carefully  they carried  it  up  the  attic  stairs.  Caroline,  who  had finished  her  scrubbing,  followed  with  the  Doll House,  empty  and  light,  in  her  arms.
       Then  Caroline  wiped  out  the  inside  of the Doll  House  and  Aunt  Amelia  and  Ellen  shook the  rugs  and  dusted  the  furniture  well.  Finally they  sat  down  on  the  floor  before  the  Little House  and  set  it  all  in  order,  as  neat  and  spick and  span  as anybody's  house  could  be.
       'Now,  Ellen,  you  put  the  Popovers in and finish  the  House,'  said  Aunt  Amelia,  'while  I open  and  air  these  trunks  and  boxes.'
       Aunt  Amelia  and  Caroline  worked  together. They  shook  out  winter  clothes  that  had  lain  in the  trunks  all  summer  long,  and  they  folded summer  clothing  and  packed  it  carefully  away.
       At  last  their  work  was  finished.  The  attic  was clean  from  one  end  to  the  other.  It  smelled sweet  and  soapy,  a  smell  the  Popovers  liked because  it  meant  spring  and  fall  house-cleaning to  their  four  little  noses.
       Ellen  had  finished  her  work  too.  She  had arranged  the Popovers  nicely  in  their  own  Little House.  Mr.  Popover  stood  before  the  bookcase, studying  his  books.  Mrs.  Popover  was  busy with  her  saucepans  beside  the  kitchen  stove. Velvetina  was  looking  out  of  the  window,  while Baby  Popover,  as  usual,  lay  smiling  in  his  little wooden  cradle.
       Now  Ellen  had  to  bid  the  Popovers  good-bye for  she  was  going  home  the  very  next  morning and  probably  would  not  see  them  again  for  a long,  long  time.  She  kissed  them  all  round,  she hugged  them  close,  she  whispered  a  tender  goodbye.
       Then  down  the  stairs  went  Aunt  Amelia  and Ellen  and Caroline,  with  their  brooms  and  pails and  brushes  and  mops,  and  left  the  Popovers alone  in  the  attic.
       Alone?  Oh,  no!
       For  no  sooner  had  the  sound  of  footsteps  died away  on  the  stairs  than  there  came  a  familiar scratch,  scratch,  scratching  in  the  wall  and  out stepped  Peanut,  come  to  spend  the  evening, and  as  happy  as  a  king  to  have  the  Popovers safely  at  home  once  more.
       How  they  all  talked!  How  their  little  tongues flew!  They  had  no  fear  now  of  being  disturbed by  Uncle  Henry  flapping  down  the  hall,  by wicked  little  Blinky  ready  to  pounce  upon  them with  his  sharp  teeth  and  still  sharper  claws.
       They  spoke  again  of  the  clean  and  soapy  smell in  the attic.  They  sniffed  the  odor  of  the  furnace that  had  been  started  that  very  day.  Mr.  Popover  even  warmed  his  toes  against  the  chimney, as  they  all  did  every  year  in  bitter  winter weather.  Tonight  Mr.  Popover  toasted  his  toes only  for  old  times'  sake,  for  the  attic  was  comfortable, if  not  a  little  too  warm.
       Then  they  talked  over  the  summer.  They talked  of  Ellen  and  Blinky  and  Jack-in-the-Box. They  spoke  of  the  rude  clothes-pins  and  Mr. Popover  wished  he  would  never  see  them  again. They  spoke  of  Aunt  Mary  Jane  and  hoped  she would  not  come  visiting  Aunt  Amelia  for  a  long, long  time.
       'If  she  does,  I  shall  scratch  in  the  wall  the very  first  night,'  promised  Peanut  with  an earnest  quiver  of  his  whiskers.
       Then  the  Popovers  told  Peanut  over  again the  story  of  their  night  out  under  the  apple  tree and  all  about  the  fairies,  how  they  had  looked and  what  they  had  said  and  done.  Mrs.  Popover  made  Velvetina  stand  out  on  the  attic  floor and  dance  for  Peanut  all  she  could  remember of  the  fairy  dance.
       Mr.  Popover  next  told  of  his  call  upon  Doctor Frog,  and  of  how  his  legs  had  trembled  as  he  had climbed  up  and  down  the  honeysuckle  vine.
       'Doctor  Frog  said  to  me  that  Mrs.  Popover's Floating  Island  was  the  best  dessert  he  had  ever eaten,'  added  Mr.  Popover proudly.  'He  said  it was  much  better  than  mud  pudding,  which  was what  his  wife  usually  gave  him  for  tea.'
       Peanut  told  how  lonely  he  had  been,  how  he had  tried  to  make  friends  with  a  fat  spider  in  the attic  and  with  a  field  mouse  who  lived  in  the garden  out  by  the  lilac  bush.  But  he  had  not met  anyone  whom  he  liked  so  well  as  the  Popovers,  which  made  the  Popovers  feel  very  comfortable and  happy  indeed.
       It  was  now  bedtime.  Peanut  said  goodnight and  slipped  away.
       And  then,  and  not  until  then,  Velvetina  discovered that her  bed  was  not  in  its  usual  place beside  her  mother  and  father's  big  gilt  bed.
       'Don't  you  remember  the  leg  was  broken?' said  Mrs.  Popover.  'Aunt  Amelia  is  going  to mend  it  for  you.  She  will  bring  it  up  to  us  tomorrow, no  doubt.  You  may  sleep  at  the  foot  of our  bed  tonight,  Velvetina.  That  is  what  you may  do'
       But  Velvetina  was  tired  and  excited,  both  at coming  home  and  at  seeing  Peanut  again.  She was  so  tired  that  she  didn't  act  like  herself.
       'I  won't  go  to  bed  at  all,'  cried  Velvetina,  'unless I  can  sleep  in  my  own  bed.  I  won't  go  to bed  at  all!'
       'What  will  you  do,  then?'  asked  Mr.  Popover  impatiently. 'Do  you  mean  to  sit  up  all night?'        
       'Yes!'  answered  Velvetina,  stamping  her  foot, 'I  mean  to  sit  up  all  night.'
       Mrs.  Popover  knew  this  was  nonsense.  Not while  she  was  Velvetina's  mother  would  Velvetina  sit  up  all  night.  She  was  wondering  what  to say  or  do  next  when  up  the  attic  stairs  walked Aunt  Amelia,  with  Velvetina's  little  bed,  nicely mended,  in  her  hand.
       Aunt  Amelia  snapped  on  the  light.  She  set the  little  bed  in  the  bedroom  close  beside  Mr. and  Mrs.  Popover's  big  gilt  bed.  Then  she picked  up  Velvetina  and  tucked  her  in  the  bed, as  snug  as  snug  could  be.
       Aunt  Amelia  stood  looking  in  at  the  Little Doll  House.  She  looked  at  it  for  a  long,  long time.
       At  last  Aunt  Amelia  spoke.
       'Good-night,  little  Popovers,'  said  Aunt Amelia  in  a  very  gentle  voice.
       And  then,  to  the  amazement  and  horror  of Mr.  and  Mrs.  Popover,  they  heard  Velvetina, tired  and  sleepy,  quite  forgetting  for  the  moment that  she  was  only  a  doll,  they  heard  Velvetina speak  right  out  loud!
       'Good-night,'  answered  Velvetina  in  a  drowsy little  voice.   'Good-night.
       Mr.  and  Mrs.  Popover  simply  didn't  know what  to  do.  Such  a  thing  had  never  happened in  their  family  before.  So,  very  sensibly,  they did  nothing  at  all.
       As  for  Aunt  Amelia,  of  course  she  heard  the little  voice,  but  she  thought  it  was  a  creaking board.  It  is  true  that  Velvetina's  voice  was  a trifle  fine  and  shrill.
       'What  creaky  old  boards!'  said  Aunt  Amelia. 'I  suppose  I  could  have  a  carpenter  nail  them fast.  But  I  rather  like squeaking  boards in  an attic, I think.'
       Although  it  had  turned  out  so  well,  Mrs.  Popover  felt  worried.
       ' I  must  speak  firmly  to  Velvetina  the  moment Aunt  Amelia  goes  downstairs,'  thought  she. But  by  that  time  poor  little  Velvetina  was fast  asleep.
       The  morning  will  do,'  decided  Mrs.  Popover. But  in  the  morning  they  were  all  so  busy  looking round  the  attic  that  nothing  was  ever  said to  Velvetina  at  all.

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Loo-Loo Goes Sailing...

        Baby  Popover  had  a  pain  and  Mrs.  Popover  did not  know  how  to  cure  it.
       She  had  rubbed  his  stomach  and  had  given him  a  drink  of  mustard  tea.  She  had  pinned  a piece  of  red  flannel  on  his  chest.  She  would  have held  a  warm  flat-iron  to  his  feet,  only  he  wouldn't lie  still  long  enough  to  allow  her  to  do  it.  She had  rocked  him  and  patted  him  and  sung  to  him her  sweetest  lullabies.
       But  nothing  seemed  to  help  Loo-Loo's  pain. He  cried  and  cried  and  flung  his  tiny  fists  about until  Mrs.  Popover  felt  that  she  couldn't  stand it  another  minute.
       Mrs.  Popover  knew  quite  well  what  had  given Loo-Loo  his  pain.  For  that  very  afternoon Loo- Loo  had  been  almost  drowned.  He  had  lain  in the  bottom  of  the  bath-tub  for  as  much  as  two minutes,  filled  with  water  to  the  brim,  for  his head,  a  cork,  you  know,  had  unfortunately come out  just  as  he  fell.
       It  all  happened  because  Uncle  Henry  bought Ellen  a  sailboat.  It  was  a  pretty  boat,  with snow-white  sails  and  painted  a  bright  red.  The Popovers  were  delighted  when  they  learned from Ellen  that  they  were  to  be  the  first  to  have a  sail.  They  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  water running  into  the  bathtub,  and  Velvetina's
cheeks  were  red  with  excitement  when  Ellen first  set  her  on  board.
       But  Mrs.  Popover  and  Velvetina  both  proved too  heavy  for  the  little  sail-boat.  It  tipped  and lurched  and  dipped  water  no  matter  how  light they  sat.  So  they  were  forced  to  watch  the sailing from  the  edge  of  the  basin  above  the  tub, and  while  they  were  sorry  not  to  be  of  the party, they  enjoyed  Mr.  Popover  and  Loo-Loo's  pleasure in  the  fun.
       To  and  fro  in  the  bathtub  sailed  the  little boat.   Ellen,  kneeling  at  the  side,  helped  it  to turn  corners  safely  and  to  go  now  fast,  now  slow.
       Loo-Loo  and  Mr.  Popover  rolled  happily  about on  the  deck.  Of  course  they  could  not stand, they  were  not  sailors  enough  for  that,  though Mr.  Popover  remembered  hearing  some  one  talk about  'sea  legs '  and  meant  to  have  them  as  soon as  he  could.  To  and  fro,  to  and  fro  rolled Loo-Loo  and  Mr.  Popover.  They  were  not  seasick  in the  least.  Loo-Loo  did  not  seem  to  miss his mother.  He  smiled  happily  as  the  little  ship sailed  slowly  or  dashed  swiftly  through  the water,  whichever  Ellen  chose.
       'Now  we  will  have  a  storm,'  said  Ellen,  and then  I  will  have  to  go  and  be  dressed.'
       So  Ellen  made  the  storm.  She  beat  and  stirred the  water  with  one  hand  while  with  the  other she  guided  the  little  boat  through  the  heavy waves.  She  growled  and  rumbled  like  the  thunder too.
       'It  is  as  good  as  a  real  storm  at  sea,'  called Ellen  to  Aunt  Amelia  in  the  doorway.
       Aunt  Amelia  had  come  to  the  doorway  because  of  the thunder.  She  thought  that  Ellen must  be  in  trouble  of  some  kind.
       And  it  was  while  Ellen  was  talking  to  Aunt Amelia  that  Loo-Loo  fell  overboard.
       There  was  no  railing  round  the  little  ship,  and as  it  rocked  and  tossed  in  the  stormy  waves over the  side  went  Loo-Loo  without  a  sound,  without a  cry.  You  see  he  couldn't  cry  because he  lost his  head.  At  the  very  moment  that  he  fell,  out came  the  cork  that  had  been  loosened  by  so much  rolling  about  and  down,  down,  down went  Loo-Loo  to  the  bottom  of  the  tub  while his head  floated  jauntily  about  on  the  crest  of the  waves.
       Why,  it  was  something  that  might  not  happen to  a  person  in  a  hundred  years,  his  body  at  the bottom  of  the  sea,  as  it  were,  and  his  head floating  about  on  top.  I  am  not  sure  that  it could  happen  to  you  or  to  me.
       But,  at  any  rate,  it  happened  to  Loo-Loo,  and for  as  much  as  two  minutes  Ellen  did  not  notice that  he  was  gone.
       The  first  things  she  did  see  were  Mrs.  Popover and  Velvetina  lying  flat  on  the  basin  where a  few  moments  before  they  had  sat  smiling  and straight.  They  had  probably  fainted  when  they saw  Loo-Loo  fall.  But  of  course  Ellen  did  not know  this.
       'They  are  tired,'  thought  she.  'I  will  put  them all  to  bed  now.'
       Mr.  Popover  was  lying  half-upright  on  the deck.  In  some  way  his  head  had  caught  in  the rigging  and  that  is  probably  what  had  saved  Mr. Popover  from  following  Loo-Loo  over  the  side of  the  boat.  But  of  Loo-Loo  there  was  nothing to  be  seen  until,  after  Ellen's  first  stare  of  astonishment, she  spied  his  head  bobbing  along  in the  water.
       It  took  her  only  a  moment  to  find  his  body, and  not  that  long  to  empty  the  water  from  it, stick  his  head  on  again,  and  dry  him  off.  She dried  Mr.  Popover  and  the  little  red  boat,  too. Then  she  sat  the  Popovers  round  the  dining room  table  in  their  own  Little  House.  
       'You  must  be  hungry,'  said  Ellen.  'I  know  I am.'
       And  off  she  ran  to  change  her  wet  dress  and to  ask  Caroline  for  something  to  eat.
       But  the  Popovers  were  not  hungry.  They were  troubled  about  Loo-Loo.  For  no  sooner had Ellen  gone  than  Loo-Loo  began  to  cry,  and he  had  cried  without  stopping  until  twilight,  in spite  of  all  that  his  mother  had  done  for  him.
       So  at  last  Mrs.  Popover  made  up  her  mind that  she  couldn't  stand  it  another  minute.
       'Mr.  Popover,'  said  she,  speaking  loudly  to drown  Loo-Loo's  screams,  'you  must  go  out and  fetch  the  doctor.'
       'Very  well,  my  dear,'  shouted  back  Mr.  Popover.   'Where  shall  I  go?'
       'You  must  go  out  the  window  and  down  the honeysuckle  vine,'  answered  Mrs.  Popover,  who had  planned  it  all  while  patting  Loo-Loo  on  the back.  'Perhaps  you  will  meet  the  fairy  King and  Queen  under  the  apple  tree.  They  have  a baby  and  could  tell  us  what  to  do.  But  at  any rate there are  plenty  of  crickets  about  and  there must be a  doctor  among  them.  They  can't  always be well.'
       'Don't  you  think  Peanut  might  help  us?' called  out  Mr.  Popover.  He  didn't  at  all  like the  idea  of  climbing  down  the  honeysuckle vine.
       'Peanut!'  cried  Mrs.  Popover,  and  she  almost stamped  her  foot.  You  see  Loo-Loo  had been  crying  for  hours  and  she  was  tired  out. 'Peanut  doesn't  know  a  thing  about  sickness. He  has  never  had  a  pain  in  his  life.'
       Mr.  Popover  didn't  dare  say  another  word. He  clambered  out  of  the  window  and  started down  the  honeysuckle  vine.
       At  the  foot  of  the  vine,  near  the  iris  bed, were  half  a  dozen  jolly  little  crickets  who  were playing  their  wing  fiddles  as  hard  as  ever  they could.
       'We  are  practicing  for  the  next  Fairy  Ball.'they  called  out happily  to  Mr.  Popover.
       But  when  they  heard  that  Mr.  Popover  was in  search  of  a  doctor  for  his  sick  baby,  they were as  sorry  as  they  could  be.
       'Yes,  we  have  a  doctor,  a  cricket  doctor,'  said they,  'but  no  matter  what  ails  us  he  always gives  us  pepper-grass  tea.'
       'Perhaps  pepper-grass  tea  would  help  Loo-Loo,'  said  Mr.  Popover  hopefully.
       'Perhaps  it  would,'  answered  one  of  the crickets.  'But  let  us  ask  my  mother  first.  She  is as  good  as  a  doctor,  any  day.'
       The  little  cricket  mother,  who  looked  as  wise as  an  owl,  listened  to  the  story  of  Loo-Loo's  accident and  of  his  pain.  And  at  the  mention  of  the cricket  doctor  and  his  pepper-grass  tea  she  shook her  head.
       'Your  baby  doesn't  need  tea,'  said  the  little cricket mother.  'He  has  a  pain  because  he  has been  full  of  water.  Why  should you  give  him any  more  water  to  drink?  Go  down  to  the  pond and  ask for  Doctor  Frog.  The  little  frogs  must often  swallow  too  much water  and  he  would know  how  to  cure  such  a  pain.'
       This  advice  seemed  sensible  to  Mr.  Popover, and  with  two  friendly  crickets  to  show  him  the way  he  went  straight  down  to  the  pond.
       'Doctor  Frog!  Doctor  Frog!  Doctor  Frog!' chirped  the  crickets.
       And  up  out  of  the  water  with  a  jump  and  a splash  came  plump  old  Doctor  Frog.
       He  wore  a  neat  green  suit  and  a  snow-white vest  and  he  stared  at  Mr.  Popover  through  his great  horn  spectacles  as  if  he  had  never  seen  a clothes-pin  before.  And,  come  to  think  of  it, perhaps  he  never  had.  But  he  knew  all  about a  baby  frog's  aches  and  pains,  and  when  he heard  that  Loo-Loo  had  swallowed  all  the  water that  he  could  hold,  he  said  he  would  cure him  in a  trice.
       'I  have  cases  almost  every  day  of  baby  frogs who  have  swallowed  too  much  water,'  said  he.
       'They  don't  need  medicine  to  drink.  They  need something  solid  and  hard  like  a  pill.  I  will  send your  baby  a  pill  that  will  cure  him  in  an  hour's time.'
       Doctor  Frog  was  good  as  his  word.  He  put into  Mr.  Popover's  hand  a  half-dozen  pills wrapped  in  a  water-lily  leaf,  pills  that  were certainly  solid  and  hard,  and  that  looked  to  Mr. Popover  very  much  like  the  little  white  pebbles that  might  be  found  on  the  edge  of  a  pond.
       But  he  took  the  pills  gladly  and  thanked Doctor  Frog,  who  kindly  said,  with  a  wave  of his  hand,  that  there  would  be  no  bill.  Then home  Mr.  Popover  hurried  as  fast  as  his  long legs  would  carry  him,  the  two  faithful  little crickets  hopping  along  at  his  side.
       'Let  us  know  whether  the  pill  helps  the  baby,' chirped  the  crickets  as  Mr.  Popover  started  up the  honeysuckle  vine.
       But,  if  they  had  listened,  they  might  have known  for  themselves.  For  no  sooner  had  Loo-Loo  taken  one  pebble  pill  than  he  stopped  crying and  fell  asleep.
       Doctor  Frog  had  cured  his  pain!
       'Someday,'  said  happy  Mrs.  Popover,  as  she lay  in  bed  that  night  with  her  hand  on  Loo-Loo's cradle  in  case  he  might  awake,  'some  day  I  am going  to  make  my  very  best  dessert  and  carry it  down  to  Doctor  Frog  myself.  I  must  thank him  in  some  way  for  curing  Loo-Loo's  pain. What  do  you  think,  Mr.  Popover,  is  my  very best  dessert?'
       "Floating  Island  pudding'  answered  Mr.  Popover  at  once.  'It  is  my  favorite,  and  I  think that  Doctor  Frog  would  be  sure  to  like  it,  too, because  he  lives  in  a  pond.'
       'I  will  make  it  tomorrow,'  said  Mrs.  Popover, 'and  carry  it  down  to  the  pond  after  dark.'
       And,  so  far  as  I  know,  there  is  no  reason  for thinking  that  Mrs.  Popover  did  not  keep  her word  nor  that  Doctor  Frog  did  not  enjoy  the Floating  Island  pudding  quite  as  well  as  Mr. Popover  thought  he  would. 

Mr. Popover asks Dr. Frog for advice.

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