Georgiana's Visit: Indoor Fun on a Snowy Day

Trudy here. Everyone at Islandshire has really been enjoying their time with Harriet and Eliot's cousin, Georgiana. She's very friendly and lots of fun! So, it's time for the Gazette to report on the local happenings.

We couldn't leave the island while she was here, because the outside country spent the whole time in the midst of a crazy ice storm . . . not to forget the snow, too. As it happened, there was no need to venture out, since there were so many fun things to do!

First, Harriet took Georgiana to some of the best windows to view the snow and ice. Everything was very beautiful and sparkly.

 

After walking about the house and eating breakfast, the girls decided to sit down and read a chapter or two about one of their most illustrious and patriotic ancestors, Sir John Eliot. The story of his famous speech in Parliament was quite riveting!

Harriet (left) and Georgiana (right) reading about their famous ancestor.

The girls were so enthused after their reading that Eliot decided to take them on a tour of the family portraits in the hall. He told them some short stories along the way about the different people in the portraits (Eliot loves to chat about family history and give house tours.). Georgiana was quite taken with the story and portrait of one very shy ancestor who spent his career in Parliament working to abolish the Slave Trade.

Georgiana was having so much fun that Eliot decided to surprise her with something that afternoon! He went into the attic and pulled out an old family trunk . . .

The girls had to close their eyes while Eliot got the old hasps opened up. They had to gasp when they finally got to see the inside.

The trunk was full of family heirlooms! Old clothes and hats and shoes and fans --- all from their many ancestors --- even a beautiful velvet cloak.

Georgiana was at a complete loss to know what look at first. She was wondering if she was allowed to touch anything when Eliot said that they should play dress-up, suggesting that they each pick an outfit belonging to a certain relative.

Now the question was -- where to start? Harriet paged through the clothes and selected a beautiful light pink Regency dress, suggesting that Georgiana try it on, since it belonged to the original Georgiana Eliot.

How amazing ! Georgiana was in raptures and couldn't wait to try the dress! What an amazing experience to wear something belonging to a great-grandmother.

Once all three of them had changed, they almost felt like they had stepped back in time. They hung their own modern clothes in place of the antique ones and posed for some photos.

Here they are, each standing in their costume, and you can see a real portrait for the ancestor who originally wore these same clothes. Eliot is wearing the hunting clothes belonging to a grand ancestor who served with distinction in WWI --- but whose real passion was riding and hunting.

Just when Georgiana felt like the day couldn't get any better, Harriet surprised her again . . .

Time for an old fashioned picnic! Harriet had picked apples from the family orchard, and she had baked Cornish Pasties and Devonshire Cider Cakes from the cherished family recipes. What fun! And how delicious.  

By now the afternoon was pretty well spent, and it was time to get back into their own clothes. Harriet was picking up the cloth from the picnic when Georgiana told her there was a small problem. The girls had hung their outfits up so neatly -- but they looked exactly alike! How could they tell whose dress was whose?

After a closer examination the problem was sorted out, and the girls could change . . .

The fun wasn't quite over, though, because Nanea and Benny had made some snacks and set everything up to watch a movie together. It was starting to get late, but a cousin doesn't come visiting every day, right? So it's okay to stay up a little past bedtime. Everybody got in place on the sofa to let the "Robin Hood" movie begin!

Eliot, Harriet, Georgiana, Nanea and Benny enjoying some popcorn, cupcakes and peanut butter on celery.

The movie was really great, but the boys enjoyed the snacks the most!

The girls were getting pretty tired. In fact, Nanea fell asleep. Harriet and Georgiana weren't far behind her.

More snow was falling outside, but there was a nice fire in the wood stove. So ended one of Georgiana's most perfect days!

Meet Georgiana Laurel Eliot (+ Her Trip to the Hospital and Salon)

Sarah here. This is a special post, because it's not every day that a special visitor comes to Islandshire. I mean, most dolls that come here end up staying!

After posting all kinds of pictures (on several doll forums) showing Harriet's restoration and the search for her perfect wig, I began e-mailing with an online friend who also owns a number of American Girl dolls. She fell in love with Harriet in the Monique "Bebe Carrot" wig. I offered to help her customize a doll of her own, but it took a few weeks before she realized that she really did need one herself. You know, it's those cases that usually result in a doll that is super special. Well, she bought a Bebe wig and started collecting the pieces for an outfit like Harriet wears. Finding a beautiful Marie-Grace doll even proved easier than originally thought, and she won a very nice doll on an online auction.

Before anything even began to arrive in the mail, a name was decided on --- this new little doll would be called Georgiana Laurel Eliot. She's a distant cousin of Harriet and Eliot, so they could hardly wait to meet her.

A large box arrived at Islandshire, and there was poor Georgiana with a mess of hair and rather loose legs. It was time for a trip to the local hospital (to tighten her limbs) and the hair salon (to get a whole new hair style and colour! Harriet was a little impatient, so she had to meet Georgiana before the make-over process began. It was a very happy moment.

Georgiana (left) and Harriet (right) finally get to greet each other.

Georgiana was a little nervous about the whole procedure, so everyone tried to be very friendly and make her as comfortable as possible. Connie pulled out the padded chair, Nanea got out a nice quilt, and Hallie made a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream. With all this attention, Georgiana began to feel much better --- even looking forward to a hair cut!

Enjoying some hot chocolate before her trip to the hospital.

After finishing her hot chocolate, Georgiana laid down in bed and fell right to sleep. She had a few odd dreams about elastic cord, metal ferrules and short-haired wigs --- but she slept pretty well.

Georgiana dreams of shorter hair . . .

And time passed . . .

Some time later, Georgiana woke up feeling very refreshed. Her joints were much tighter, so she felt ready to do something fun. A whole new outfit was brought to her, and she got dressed. By this point, she was feeling so great that she wanted to look in a mirror. She couldn't believe it! Her new hair was so amazing. Gone were the days of snarls and knots and frizzy curls tickling her cheeks. Harriet came to visit her right away. It was such a thrilling moment that they decided to pose for another photo.

Harriet (left) and Georgiana (right) reunited after the procedure.

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About Georgiana Laurel Eliot

The inspiration for Georgiana's character came when the first leaks showed up for Blaire Wilson, American Girl's 2019 Girl of the Year doll. Obviously, Blaire is going to have more of a gardening/country style feel to her, because she seems to have flower/gardening accessories, a pet piglet and a lamb. Plus, her boxes are all very pastel-coloured things with flowers on them!

With all of the recent problems appearing with new AG dolls (i.e. bad eyes, new body fabric, etc.), a lot of people are nervous about buying new dolls at all --- and there isn't much confidence in the coming quality of Blaire (at least the first runs of her, anyway). Lots of people are thinking that they will opt to purchase Blaire's accessories for an older doll that they already own --- or that they will customize an older doll for their own Blaire. My friend felt this way and decided to create her own version of the 2019 Girl of the Year! She decided on the name "Georgiana Eliot" after reading some of Harriet's history and story, combined with a love for Jane Austen novels.

During all of the weeks of Georgiana's visit to Islandshire, there was a lot of time for my friend to come up with a full wardrobe and personality for this cute girl. Here's a small background that she wrote about her:

Exactly what she'll be like may surprise me, but I picture her as a feminine and practical problem solver. Years ago my mom said, about some home repair I'd done, "That's what I call a woman's solution. A man would do something more time-consuming and complicated, but this will work with far less effort and an equally good appearance." Georgiana goes for women's solutions when her family needs more income.

She has overalls for working in the garden. I got them on Etsy, and two shirts, one a classic collared shirt in stripes and the other a flowered knit, both pink, from the same shop. Since she spends time working at her family's farm stand and in the kitchen, she has 3 pairs of jeans (olive, gray, and blue flowered) and coordinating tees, for a casual but business-like look -- she sees herself as a businessgirl. I picked them out at Silly Monkey Fashions on Etsy, which has attractive separates at attractive prices.

Georgiana lives not far outside of Charleston, SC, and has convinced her mother to serve teas on the porch and later in the redecorated front room (called Mockingbird Lane Teas). She has painted the chairs in coordinating colors and now takes orders for them. The family is beginning to cater farm-to-table lunches and small weddings and now involves her extended family.

She started by convincing her mother to serve iced tea and homemade cookies to some lost tourists who stopped at the farm stand for directions.  Now they serve hot and iced tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation, sourwood and tupelo honey from Savannah Bee Company, scones with her aunts' homemade jams, tea sandwiches using local produce and products, including vegetables and herbs from their garden, and cookies from family recipes.  They are working on a selection of tea breads and tea cakes, starting with the Indigo Tea Shop's zucchini bread. The Indigo Tea Shop is owned by Georgiana's mentor, Theodosia Browning, whose (embellished) adventures have been recorded by Laura Childs. Her constant inspiration is Afternoon Tea, by Susannah Blake; and her current inspiration is Alice's Tea Cup, by Haley and Lauren Fox.

Georgiana wears the old white American Girl Revue overalls when she's working as a member of the serving crew and a pretty dress from Farm Cookies when she's co-hostessing events. For cooler weather she has a hand knit sweater and gray tweed skirt.

Between work and school, she's too busy for organized sports, but because she's always on the move, she wears a fitness tracker (from the CYO accessories), and she runs every day with KC, her King Charles spaniel (from Grand Rabbits, a fantastic local toy store -- KC was manufactured by Douglas). For that she usually wears distressed powder blue jeans (Silly Monkey) and a soft gray sweater layered over a white tee from Eighteen Threads. She likes headbands and collects and often wears pretty, glittery shoes.

With all of that story ready, I decided to make some accessories for Georgiana before she headed to her new home. So, I came up with a way to make miniature doll-sized "Charleston Tea Plantation" tea bags, some Savannah Bee Company honey jars and Georgiana's two favorite books!

All that was left now was packing Georgiana up for her journey home! My sister and I thought it would be fun to customize a doll box for her, so we made a special print out, got some fancy tape for a box "band", and covered the print out with a piece of clear plastic. Her accessories got a special little box of their own.

Pretty soon, Georgiana was on her way to her new house . . . but not before she did some pretty fun things on Islandshire (and made a lot of new friends)! This is just the beginning of Georgiana's story and her visit to Islandshire. More to follow shortly.

A Package for Nanea

Trudy here. We had a big event, so I wanted to mention it. Yesterday, Nanea received a package in the mail! Harriet and Connie have dollie pen pals, so they get some letters in the mail . . . but no one on Islandshire has ever gotten their own little package before!

It was a small square box, and it came from a friend named Marilyn. A little birdie had told her (somehow) that Nanea sure was wishing for a gold hair clip engraved with her name on it. Who would ever think there could be such a thing, but there is! And Marilyn had one that she couldn't use, since none of the dollies at her house are called "Nanea".

So, a big "thank you" to Marilyn, because now Nanea can wear a personalized hair clip. She says that it's kind of like wearing a name tag on your head! She couldn't be happier, and it hasn't come off yet. She even sleeps in it!

Nanea is counting down to vacation!

Trudy here. Nanea has asked me to post this, because she's so excited that she wants to share. The big girls are going on a vacation to Florida next month, and they want to take a few dolls with them. Well, it's been going back and forth around here as to who from Islandshire gets to go. Finally, they've decided! Billy, Benny and Nanea are going.

Well, Nanea can't wait. It's all she talks about. She's started packing her stuff already, and she's taking every outfit she's ever worn! In fact, she's so excited that Grammy had to make a "Vacation Calendar Countdown" for Nanea to help her realize how long is left to wait. Nanea gets to tear off a little piece each day, and when there are no little pieces left to tear --- it's vacation day!

Even though it's cold here, Nanea is wearing her vacation travel outfit already.

So, stay tuned, because you'll be hearing more about vacation preparations as the time gets nearer.

Internet Problems at Islandshire

Trudy here. All modern-day reporters understand the value of an internet connection --- especially if you have an online Gazette like us! Well, earlier this week a big storm came through the neighbouring land (there are no storms actually in Islandshire) and zapped electricity and internet connections all over the street. Out internet was out for two days, that is, until a nice repairman (Cody) and his friend brought a a big cherry-picker truck to fix everything!

Benny really enjoyed watching the repair work. He even considered changing his chosen profession from Pearl Diver to Repairman . . . but that was a sort of short-lived phase.

Now that the internet connection is back up and running, stay tuned for some really exciting news! We're going to have a party and introduce a visiting friend pretty soon!