Sunday, May 27, 2012

Maybelle

Grandma had tried to keep Maybelle with her in the city ever since her parents were killed in a buggy wreck in 1907. But she kept running away, back to her home at Graymont. However, when Granny Gray passed on, Maybelle said that all the "servants" left, so she consented to stay with Grandma in her city apartment. Most of the time.

Maybelle is a pretty little red-haired girl, a bit fey. She is almost a year older than Camilla, though very tiny. Her room at Graymont is on the third floor in the south wing, and the Dolls have cleaned out the other rooms on that floor and arranged a guest room, plus bedrooms for Dolly and Camilla. There's a tiny bathroom at the end of the hall behind these rooms. The only sources of heat in this wing are on the first floor, so the Dolls will have to move back home before winter comes.


Mama and Daddy have legally adopted Maybelle, in accordance with Granny Gray's wishes, although May always makes Daddy uncomfortable with her chatter about nonexistent servants, animals that act like people, and learning to fly like the birds. Grandma says that she will "grow out of this." But Grandma is an optimist, and she really doesn't pay much attention to children's chatter.

Unable to find enough bedroom furnishings at Graymont, the Dolls moved their upstairs furniture to Graymont instead of putting it into storage while work on their home is in progress. When they picked up Dolly's big blue piggy bank to move it, the parents were amazed at how heavy it was. This is Dolly's room,

and this is Camilla's:



The "guest room" at the east end of the hallway now contains things from Daddy's study at home, and a long narrow daybed that can be made up for sleeping. They didn't move all the books. The box with Leonardo on it is really a disguised strongbox where valuables are stored, including the chess set when it is put away.


The chess set was a gift from Brother Ned when he was in Russia. Ned said the black pieces are solid gold and the white ones are solid silver. Daddy doesn't quite believe it, but he treats the set as a treasure anyway. He has never asked how Ned acquired the set, and he feels very guilty for having lost the "gold" bishop.

The pig in the corner is made of lead, and was a gift from a family friend, Mr. Jack Dyno.

2 comments:

Deb said...

What a wonderful job they have done in fixing up Graymont. The rooms look cozy, what with rugs and pillows and such. I'm glad that Maybelle has been adopted! Can't wait to hear what's next!
Oh, and about you not liking ice cream...that is terrible! Have you started having problems with lactose?
I am not suppose to drink much milk, but I do have it in little bits. I don't know if I could go off milk or ice cream forever!
Hope you are having a good weekend!
Hugs...

JD Atlanta said...

I'm impressed by your Graymont, your story, and your photography!