In the early years of our stay here, near Hickory Star Marina, money was in short supply. We were restoring the buildings on the property with only my husband's Social Security check and his two small pensions. I would later find work baby-sitting Melissa Carter's daughter, Ashley, then doing restaurant cooking, being a security guard at commercial locations and finally as a home health care worker. But it was tough going at first.

Christmas presents are a problem when money is tight. It was especially difficult one year in particular. My youngest son, Tom was engaged to a lady with two children, a teen age daughter and a preteen son. I decided to make a doll house for Jennifer, the daughter. There certainly was enough scrap wood out in the barn. I didn't have a pattern.

First of all, I decided it would be a log cabin. I laid out the dimensions for the project, found a suitable piece of plywood for the base and set to work. Cutting out strips of 3/4 inch wood for the logs, I glued and nailed the building together. The chimney and fireplace mantel would be woodburnt and painted to depict stones. Clear plastic panes for the one window and front door completed the ground floor. Wanting space in the attic for a bedroom, I placed the back part of the roof on a hinge. It could be opened when a view of the beds was needed. I cut and carved roof shingles to complete the log cabin.

Next, came the job of furnishing it. I found a tiny spinning wheel at the Appalachian Museum at Norris, but made all the other items. Two high backed colonial benches flanked the fireplace. A table and four stools occupied the far wall. Curtains hung on the window and a tablecloth graced the table. Upstairs, I made two beds and a night stand. The bed had wires as a base for my homemade mattresses, sheets and coverlets. A wood framed piece of shiny aluminum became a mirror. The ladder on the wall gave access to the area. My first attempt at rag rugs made one for the fireplace area and one for between the beds. I had a ball making it all. Jennifer's brother was to receive a homemade wooden stool with his name woodburnt on it.

However, they would celebrate that Christmas without the two gifts. Tom broke up with Brenda before Christmas. Years later, they showed up and asked for the doll house. I said, “No, that was then and this is now. I am keeping the doll house.”

All of this is said to give an introduction to an incident last summer. We had been trying to sell because of Anne's poor health and her being the only one here to do the upkeep. Those days were behind me as well. An offer was made, but included the doll house. There was no way was I going to relinguish my beloved doll house that had for several years resided on top of my bedroom closet cupboards. No way! Jose! There is not another one like it on earth.

We decided to stay.