Caroline's Home / The DeSalvo's Residence

Caroline's Home

The DeSalvo's Resident

The photographer knocked on the door and asked if she could come in to take photos of the house for the Lundby Lane Chronicle Newspaper. Anne Marie declined so the photographer changed herself into a spec of dust, wandered in and took the photos anyway. This post is being written by the photographer (me) as she floated around the house and took photos. Let's enter through the upstairs window. How nice this home has storm shutters and clear blinds.
Let me float around here to get a photo of this room. It looks like the boys room as I see two beds and one crib. Somebody sure loves clowns. I wonder who painted the Chicken and the Horse on the walls. HHHhhhmmm... Or who's initials could be CH?
This is my view down the hall and I can see through the bedroom into the bathroom from this point of view.
This is an overview of the master bedroom. Looks like these folks put in some thin white vertical wall dividers. (Note: The white boards are not permanent, just an experiment to see what looks attractive.)
Oh my... An orange and pink bathroom. The pink sink, tub and toilet are Caroline's Home. The orange washer, basket and iron are plastic and will be replaced when feasible.
Now we are downstairs in the kitchen. (I have great fears in this special house of putting anything on the walls with painters tape. I fear it will remove the wall paper so I'll figure something else out later on.)
Ah ha, there's the party. It seems all the girls are here. I hear laughter and giggling. I hear Anne Marie telling about Evil's birthday coming soon and asking the ladies if they would like to come. Oh my... Mary is offering the new Gotland Cottage for the party. Anne Marie accepts the gracious offer. Oh boy, I can't wait for that party.
I'm going to waft around to see what snacks they are having. I see some crackers, cheese and a full candy dish. The pitcher and glasses are by Chrysnbon Miniatures.
This must be Anne Marie's mother or grandmother's photo in her neatly organized book case.
This photo is a overview of the large room downstairs. If you look closely you can see the blue painters tape that was used to secure the over head lighting.
Well I'm going to sneak out the front door now.
I leave you with this photo of the front door. I am sure nobody knows I was even here. I love the little knocker.

Lundby GOTLAND

Featuring a new house on Lundby Lane.

"The Lundby GOTLAND"

The construction is finally finished. Martin & Mary are breaking in the new home with a BBQ Party for all the neighbors.

If you click on this collage you can see closer up all of the individual photos. The Gotland home has outlets on the inside and on the outside. The outlets are on three sides of this little new design cottage.

Front (upper right): Martin has cooked a large turkey that is cooling. Now he is teaching Erik and Vinnie how to prepare steaks and tomatoes on his new Lundber Sure Shot Grill.

Side #1: Nickie and Gustav are playing tic-tac-toe.

Side #2: Shower, bathroom and garden area.

Inside (lower left): Lots of activity going on inside. All the girls are working on a floral project for the New Coffee Shop. Evil and Antony are playing nicely. Oh wait... I just looked again. Evil has gotten Mary's purse and is curious. I hope Mary notices that soon.

This Gotland Cottage is really very cute. It offers four play sides. It only took me three hours to assemble it using a most important tip sheet. It can still be purchased in the U.S.A. from Cheeky Monkey Toys for $127.99 (20% off) and the shipping was Free.

http://www.cheekymonkeytoys.com/

Credits: Collage was created with Google's Picaso and uploaded directly to this blog.

The Park on Lundby Lane

Welcome to the Park on Lundby Lane

All the kids are playing nicely. Evil is having fun going down the slide. Nickie is pushing Gustav and Antony on the merry go round. Signe is having a blast on the tire swing.
Marta and Anne Marie say Hello to each other. Marta invites her to sit on the bench. Nickie puts Evil on the merry go round and the kids continue to play.

The adult conversation begins.

Marta: So how are you today Anne Marie?

Anne Marie: I am well today. You sure look nice.

Marta: Thanks, I just got my hair cut. Don't you just love this park?

Anne Marie: It's so close to home. Where we used to live the park was too far for the kids to go alone and it wasn't safe anyway.

Marta: Oh and where did you live?

Anne Marie: Well, I'm not supposed to tell but I feel I can trust you. Can you keep a secret?

Marta: Why of course I can.

Anne Marie: We used to live in New Jersey. My husband Vinnie saw something when he was working in the bar. Then some guys came to our house and it wasn't pleasant. They were all dressed in clown outfits and they weren't friendly at all. They scared me and the little kids. Evil got freightened and hid under his bed. Antony ran from the house as fast as he could and Nickie tried to defend his dad Vinnie. I managed to call the police.

Marta: Oh my goodness. What did Vinnie see?

Anne Marie: I don't know because he won't tell. All the clowns had Vinnie on the ground and then thankfully the police showed up. Then the clowns all left very fast and the police nabbed a couple of them. The very next day some other guys in blue uniforms came and helped us pack up and we moved to a quiet place for a while and Vinnie went with them quite often. Later on the guys in the blue uniforms came back to our house and packed us up again and here we are on Lundby Lane. I think we will be staying here for a good long while.

Marta: How are the boys with all of this?

Anne Marie: To this day Evil is afraid of clowns. We took him to the circus and he cried so hard and was so distraught that we couldn't stay. Nickie and Antony are okay and tell me they are very, very happy here. They just love this park.

Marta: Thanks for telling me Anne Marie. You can confide in me. Will you tell Mary? She sure is nice and I bet she can keep a secret.

Anne Marie: You have to swear to me you won't tell a single soul. Not even Mary...

Marta: Oh okay, I won't tell. I promise.

Anne Marie: Thanks Marta! I am so glad to have a friend in you. I'll see you soon when you and Mary come over to see our new Caroline's Home. I invited Millie also. We'll have some fun. I best get along now. Come on kids... Time for dinner.

Marta: Great to see you today Ann Marie. Bye Kids...

Credits: The tire swing is Lundby. The slide and merry-go-round are solid wood and marked Germany on the underside. The park bench is just a wood bench with no markings. The background is an old canvas painting that just happened to work with this scene.

Gothenberg / Mary Visits Marta

The Lundby Gothenberg

Mary visits Marta to check out the Fjelde's new digs. Marta and her family recently moved into the Gothenberg model home on Lundby Lane. They are still settling in.NOTE: Marta does all the talking in this post.

Hi Mary... So nice of you to come by.
Would you like some cheese and crackers? Please excuse the mess as I haven't finished setting up the kitchen yet. Plus I just got home from the grocery store where my husband Erik is working. Thanks Mary but I don't need any help.
This is the bathroom. I can't stand the avocado green coloring. It looks so old but Erik loves it and the kids just don't care much because they love the big bathtub. I really like the double sink though.
This is our dining room. I have more boxes to unpack for here also. Oh that's from our home in Sweden. Let's go upstairs.
This is where the kids sleep. Gustav (Gus) and Signe are really happy here. They have an imaginary wall to divide them so they feel like they have their own rooms. The kids took the dog out for a long walk but actually the dog is walking the kids. We love that park that is so close by. Our kids have been playing with the DeSalvo kids. We are happy they are making friends.
This is our living room. I have to finish hanging pictures on the wall. I wanted to paint over the wall paper but I really started to like it so it will stay. Oh you don't say. Well Anne Marie mentioned to me that she would like to have both of us over to visit. Great, then we'll go soon. Say, there are some bulldozers down the block. What is going on? I see. So a new Gotland Model home is being built. Oh really! We sure hope we get some more great neighbors like you.
This is our bedroom. These are the Outdoor Lanterns that I collect. I love all the bright colors. Erik takes them outside and lights them all for me during the summer months. They are so colorful. Thanks for stopping by Mary. Sure I would love to come to your house soon. Sure we'll go visit with Anne Marie first. We just love the new coffee shop and Martin is such an excellent cook. He told Erik he would invite us for a barbeque soon. We are looking forward to it. Mary walks away and peers in the window hoping Marta gets all situated soon.


Credits: This is my first Lundby Doll's House that hubby found at the local antique store Christmas 2008. It came with a lot of furniture, many lights, a transformer and even had the original box. He wasn't sure what he bought for $75. USD but he knew it was oh so good. The bulk of the furniture items in these photos are Lundby. The burgundy chair in the bedroom is from Caroline's home. The two small beds in the kids room are Barton. The hutch at the top of the stairs in the kids area is plastic and I don't like plastic in my Lundby House but it fits. During the year of 2009 I set up a small booth in the same antique store and finally met the lady who had sold this house to my hubby. She told me she had bought the whole package at a garage sale for $50. and was happy it sold. I love when antique dealers don't do proper research. This is one of the reasons I will go to every garage sale I can because maybe I'll find one. This to date was my best Christmas present ever. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

New Coffee Shop on Lundby Lane

JUST ANOTHER DAY

ON LUNDBY LANE

Martin & Mary are up early. They are discussing their plans for the day.
Martin: Hey Mary, where did you get that new carousel?
Mary: Oh dear, I went to the flea market. It didn't cost much and I think it's Sterling Silver and from the 16th century. I just like the horses. They go round and round.
Martin: Good for you Mare. Thanks again for the new thermos Mary but I just can't find anywhere in town to fill it up because it's so large. So what do you want to do today?
Mary: HHHhhhmmm... (Thinking)
Martin: I know you Mary. What are you thinking about?
Mary: Well, we could use a coffee shop in town and Millie does need a part time job. If I opened a new coffee shop would you make everybody those Swedish pancakes that you make for me?
Martin: Why I'd love to. When will you open the coffee shop?
Mary: Remember not only am I cute but I'm also a doll and can do almost anything. I'll make some calls today and have the coffee shop opened first thing tomorrow morning. Want to help?
Martin: Oh I'd love to but I've got to meet our attorney Bill today for some paperwork. We just sold another lot of land and some nice folks want to build the Gotland Model on it and move to Lundby Lane.
Mary: That's great Martin because our money wagon is getting a little low.
Martin: I'll fill it up for you again dear. That's one of my favorite things to do.
So... Mary and Martin then get on with their day.

The Very Next Morning the

COFFEE SHOP

is Open and Filled with customers.

Let's have a look in the windows.

OOoohhh...

Let's have a closer look.Let's go inside.
Hey there's the Fjelde's and the DeSalvo's.
The girls at the counter are such dolls and so cute.
And there is Martin serving his Swedish Pancakes to the DeSalvo kids.
UUuummm... That sure looks good.
Chocolate Milk, swedish pancakes and butter.
OOOooohhh Butter...
Now where did Mary find that poster for the wall?
This really is a Big Party for a Small World.
Oh Look... It's the clerk from the BIG & TALL store peeking in the window to see if he will fit. Nope he won't fit.
I wonder what will happen tomorrow on LUNDBY LANE...

Credits: Miniature foods items were obtained by visiting many antique stores, garage sales, auctions, estate sales, flea markets, eBay lot sales, one miniature show and two miniature stores. Several of the items are made by Lundby. The curtains hanging to make a pretend wall was an idea borrowed from the "House on the Rock" in Wisconsin where two men had made over 200 doll houses and furnished them all. The counters are two Lundby refrigerators laying on their sides. The poster featuring Lundby's Anniversary was sent to me with my welcome package as I am a new member of the "We Love Lundby Club".

Who's Who / The Cast of Characters

Who's Who

The Cast of Characters

GROUP PHOTO

Mary and Martin Stockholm

LUNDBY LANE

Mary and Martin live on Lundby Lane in the Stockholm Mansion with their dog named Honey. Martin's great, great, great, great, great grandfather George Washington homesteaded the land and most of it now belongs to Martin and his lovely wife Mary. Inside the Stockholm Mansion.



Millie Spencer
LUNDBY LANE
Millie lives in the apartment at the Stockholm Mansion. She is Mary's personal horse trainer, loves animals and is looking for a part time job.
Millie spends a lot of time with the horses named Peaches and Checkers.


The Fjelde's
LUNDBY LANE
Erik, Marta, Gustav (Gus) and Signe
The Fjelde's are new to Lundby Lane and are wonderful neighbors. They arrived here from Sweden. Erik works in the local grocery store and Marta has opened a flower shop. Their two children are well behaved, intelligent additions to the block. The young lad is named Gustav and the family calls him Gus for short. The young lady is named Signe. Their dog is a full grown labra-doodle named Lucy and is a large bundle of joy.
Inside the Fjelde's Gothenberg Model Home.
The kids room. Signe takes her doll everywhere with her.


The DeSalvo's
LUNDBY LANE
Vinnie, Ann Marie, Nick (Nickie), Antony (Tony) and Evil (Evil Baby)
The DeSalvo's recently moved into the Carolines Home Model on Lundby Lane. It is still a mystery where they are from and why they declined photos being taken. The photographer had to do a fly by with a high speed camera to get these photos.
The DeSalvo's live with their dog named Putz. It has been told that when Vinnie takes the boys and the dog out he calls them by name: Yutz, Clutz, Dutz and Putz. Anne Marie thinks she is a fashion icon. Wish we knew more. The children were extremelly difficult to photograph.
Inside the Three Boys room.



Dr. Bob and Annie
ARDMORE AVE.
Bill and Lois
Ardmore Avenue Residents include Dr. Bob and his wife Annie. There is only one house on Ardmore Avenue. Dr Bob is very sick and could not attend the photo outing but the rest of the group showed up. Dr. Bob is the town doctor and his special wife Annie reads the bible to him frequently. His Friends Bill and Lois were in for a visit. Bill is also a writer and Martin's attorney.

So that's the gang. (For now)
Note: No arrests were made during the making of this blog although some parties remain very suspicious.

Favorite Things / Part II

I just cherish that little plate. It measures 3/4" round. What a great find! Maybe Martin will cook Mary something sweet to put on it or Mary will hang it on the wall. I just don't know what they do with all the things they get. (Note: I accidentially deleted this photo from the blog below and I wanted to include the photo to show the cute little plate.)

Favorite Things from the Shopping Trip

Hubby and I went on an adventure yesterday to find a Miniature Doll House

Store we didn't previously know of.

Thanks to the kind Blogger who let me know about Lolly's in Elgin, Illinois. There are only three miniature stores in all of Chicago Land and Lolly's is loaded with tiny treats for all. We meet Lolly herself and I asked her if she had any Lundby items. She said she didn't and almost all items were 1:12 scale. Of course I had my little Peep (Mary) and some furniture with me for sizing. After a long time browsing and playing I found the doll house that the visiting children are allowed to play with. Well just look at what I found on the front porch. I showed it to Mary and she sat on the swing and really wanted it. Lolly said it wasn't for sale. Well, Mary wanted it badly. In a tough economy everything is for sale if there is a buyer. We negotiated and now Mary has a nice porch swing to rest on under the shade. (I spruced up the fringe with some Febreeze and it is about as good as new! I am very grateful the kids didn't destory it or smear chocolate all over it.)

Just look at what else I found! The bird cage is from Caroline's home catalog. The table and chair are Lundby. I found the bird cage in the case and the table and chair were with the kids play house.

The tiny little blue birds are incredible. Mary just had to have the thermos for Martin. (Adorable) Mary wanted the hot chocolate mix, the two cups and spoons for those cold winter nights sitting by the fireplace. Mary also begged for another vase for herself as she is a collector of tiny vases. The tiny plate was found amongst the childrens items and is the perfect Lundby size. Mary thought Martin would like it too. Close up it has two tiny rabbits on it and is made of ceramic. All told we could have gotten more but Mary and I got just what we needed.

Thanks Lolly! Thanks Hubby!