Gene Marshall dolls

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.

My smaller Rose of Sharon suddenly started budding late in the summer, though I didn’t think it would amount to anything. Well, lo and behold, it’s blooming! In fact, yesterday I had to chase away a Japanese Beetle who was attempting to dine on a bloom We haven’t had many Japanese Beetles this summer, but I guess I’d better keep a watch on that bush. Excuse the weeds! Too much rain equals lots of weeds and I usually give up on weeding in August.

There are a lot of bees buzzing around the blooms.

I mowed on Sunday – the lilac side of the front lawn – and Don and I mowed the main part of the lawn yesterday. We’re hoping to mow with the unrepaired lawnmower through the end of the season. It makes it twice as tiring, but we have to have a small tree that fell taken away by our tree guy – it also fell on partway on our neighbor’s property. So whatever extra money we have will have to go to that. That tree was already dead and it lives in a soggy part of the property. I think all of the rain hastened its demise. It’s been a summer to remember – and not very fondly.

Today, I’m taking a break, though more mowing has to happen tomorrow. And weed whacking.

In reference to my post about aging, after yesterday’s mowing without a self-propelled lawnmower, Don and I reminded ourselves that we are still pretty darned vigorous. We have made a vow to stop all talk of aging. Period. We are able to take care of our property. We are not retired and are entirely capable of working many hours a day at our respective professions. We want work and we welcome work. Our minds are sharp. And we look pretty darned good.

So that’s it. It will be a challenge because so many negative thoughts about aging creep in our heads throughout the day but we’re going to retrain our thoughts and spoken words. We are not going to think in years except in a positive way.

Just wanted to share this little outfit that I ordered on eBay.

This is called “Mandarin Mood” and the story behind it is that Gene loves to entertain at home when she’s not on the set – this time she’s having a party with a Chinese theme and this is the hostess ensemble she is wearing. It came with the earrings and the black chopsticks (?) for her hair. There’s actually a doll that comes in this outfit, but I put it on Simply Gene (the one who wears the bathing suit.) In addition to the dolls, most of the outfits were sold separately as well.

I always wanted red hair in this shade. Or black hair, like my dad’s. Ah well. I live vicariously through my dolls.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Nephews, Books, and Dolls

Flowers and Gene and Not Thinking in Years

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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