Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for Blythe dolls

Nephews, Books, and Dolls

at by

It’s so brisk and cool out there this morning! I have a sweater on….what????  Our transition to Autumn weather was rather abrupt, but I’m fully on board. And the light is gradually changing to that beautiful golden light that I love so much.

Yes, if you missed it, my nephew passed the bar exam in Florida, so he is officially a lawyer. In August, he started working for the Pinellas County District Attorney’s office. Everyone who took this year’s exam commented on how hard it was – harder than usual, according to those who had taken it more than once. I’m so proud of him and all he has accomplished after having gone through a harrowing time when he was a teenager. My sister was there at his side through all of it, of course.

Monday was also the day in which Z was having surgery. (He’s fine, all is well. I’ll leave any details for Mere to discuss.) So, as Mere was driving him to the hospital, the phone rang and it was son #2 saying he’d passed the bar. Talk about an emotional day!

One of the books I’d been waiting for is now at my local library branch, so I’m headed over there later today. It’s the newest in “The Girl with… ” series – The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons.  I finished Yellowface  yesterday morning (loved it) so I’m ready for a new read.

Time for a couple of dolly photos:

Nina in her back-to-school outfit. Her body is a bit taller than the bodies of the other girls and her legs seem so long! I love the veins that the customizer painted on her forehead and eyelids.

And a Gene Marshall doll I managed to snag on eBay for next-to-nothing:

This doll is called Iced Coffee. I’ve loved it since I first discovered these dolls. But what I love even more are the great hair rolls and the SNOOD! Oh my goodness, I’ve always loved snoods. My hair, unfortunately, is too fine/thin for any kind of snood, so I’ll live vicariously through this doll. (She comes with the snood, necklace and a matching bracelet, earrings, and that brooch pinned at her waist.

If only we all had Gene’s impossibly small waist.

I know there are Gene collectors who dress and redress their dolls, even making clothes for them (and some of them are exquisite.) But I like them as they are and keep them in the outfits designed for that specific doll. Of course, there are lots of Gene outfits that were sold separately, so I suspect the way to deal with that is to buy one nude Gene doll and use that doll for modeling other outfits. I’ve learned a lot about this from my friend, Doug, who was one of the three original clothing designers for Gene Marshall. He has such fascinating stories to tell!

My Blythes are the dolls I play with and redress, because they’re so gosh darned cute.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

 

Vaccines, Finishing War & Peace, and the Girls

at by

First of all, we got both our RSV and flu vaccinations yesterday. I was checking the availability of appointments at our local pharmacy and there were slots available in the afternoon. We were just planning on getting the RSV, but the pharmacist encouraged us to get the flu shot at the same time.

So we did. He was a nice guy but not the gentlest in terms of inserting the needle. Ah well. I felt a little funky in the afternoon and wondered if it was a reaction, but thinking back on it, I just think it was my sinuses/allergies. If it was a reaction, it was incredibly short and no big deal. Today, I feel fine – except for the fact that Don woke me up with a big snore at 4:15 am and that was it for sleeping. By the way, the snoring issue is much better as Don found something to insert in the nose to keep the nostrils open. This morning’s snore was a rarity.

Anyway – Covid next month and then we’re good to go.

Done; with one caveat – I didn’t finish the Epilogue. It was about ten chapters long, very dry, and was basically Tolstoy’s musings on historians, the path of history, etc., etc. By the time I was halfway through, I finally realized that I had indeed read the entire novel, plus many pages of the epilogue which were making my eyes glaze over, so I was allowed to stop.

It was a gift, this readalong. I don’t think I would have attempted it otherwise. I’ve read several novels that were over a thousand pages, so it’s not the length, necessarily. It was Tolstoy’s WAR AND PEACE and everything it symbolized that would have held me back and maybe the thought that it would be boring, as well. Of course, it was anything but that. An incredible, beautifully written book by a master.

I spent the afternoon on Wednesday redressing all of the girls. I was dealing with a little anxiety. I’ve found that grabbing one of the girls when I’m stressed helps to ground me, if that makes sense. I fell in love with them all over again. I thought it was high time to remove their summer ensembles and get them ready for fall and the start of school.

Here is group one. I’ll share more pictures tomorrow.

Holly, Zoe, and Katie.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Mei, Spiders & A Question

at by

Okay. My first question – maybe my only question: Has anyone had the RSV vaccine yet? If so, how was it? They recommend getting it in September, so we’re contemplating doing that. At the same time, I’m masking now whenever I go out, so maybe I don’t have to worry?

Interestingly, after a stretch of time where weren’t masking, I’ve had to work hard to persuade Don to mask. He’s so used to not doing it. And he wasn’t really reading the information about the new variant or the numbers of people getting Covid. I kept mentioning all the people I knew who had it for the first time after 3 years of avoiding it. He would sort of wave me off because I think he didn’t want to deal with that reality. But he’s masking now. Obviously, when he has a gig, he won’t wear a mask while performing.

This will be our future, I think. A new variant every year. All thanks to those who insisted on not wearing a mask. Who thought only of themselves and not the greater good.

I have yet to pick a new subject to paint, I’ll force myself to make a choice today.

My favorite spider, weaving his web down by the road. He was in my main garden bed a couple of weeks ago – that’s a first.

Big news on the doll front, Mei has bangs.

An online Blythe friend suggested it. Her gorgeous angora hair is very fine and flyaway and it’s always been hard to keep it out of her face. I thought about it yesterday, talked to Don about it, and then….I just did it. I also trimmed the length of her hair about a 1/4 of an inch. I liked it very much, but then, when we were sitting on the sofa, I could see her with her eyes in this position “looking” at me. Was she angry? Was she saying “What did you do??” And ,as I reminded Don, they’re not going to grow back.

This morning, though, I looked at her and had no qualms about cutting them. I really like the way they frame her face. And her hair is much easier to handle.

That’s it. I’m so, so close to the end of  War and Peace! I think I’ll get there this weekend.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives