Well, over the course of two hours, I managed to fit a grand total of 6 blue pieces into the puzzle. At this pace, I should be done by July.
We’re in a bit of a warmer patch today and tomorrow – it’s nice not to have to run a drip from the faucet – but on Friday that will change. And it will be subzero again on Saturday. Such is the weather merry-go-round of January and February. One piece of good news, the forecast is for just an inch of snow and ice on Friday, rather than the larger amount of the previous forecasts. Fingers crossed that this forecast holds true.
I finished the Julia Dahl and have started this book, Slow Horses by Mick Herron. I found it last year at Oblong books and it’s been in my TBR pile ever since. At least one of you told me at the time that it is a great series. I’m only about 20 pages in.
At the same time, I’m reading:
The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel, a book I’ve had for a couple of years. Lewis-Stempel is British and he writes about nature. So many people I follow raved about this book. It’s written in a monthly form, starting in December, so I’m going to read December and January this week so I can eventually read February when it’s February, etc.
Some new outfits arrived in yesterday’s mail – made by Qiuilizo, who made that adorable blue hooded jacket and pants that Imogen modeled for you recently. I’ve been wanting some casual wear for the girls and these fit the bill.
She made the bags, as well.
I can’t stand it, these two sisters are so cute!
Once again, I am in awe of the talent out there, people who are creating and designing clothes for these dolls. When I think back to my grandmother making doll clothes for every doll of mine from Tiny Tears to my Barbies, I cannot comprehend how she did it. But, bless her heart, she sat down at her little sewing machine in their den and created beautiful clothes.
And I have none of them now. My mother either gave them away after I moved out of the house or, more likely, my sisters inherited the dolls and clothes and my mom gave them away after they had grown out of playing with dolls. Whatever reason, how I would treasure having some of the clothes now. I do have quilts Grandma made, thank goodness.
Is there a toy or doll you had as a child that you still have? Or that you wish you still had? I’m curious.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
I have my original Betsy McCall doll red metal suitcase and Hatboro. On my 7th birthday, my gift was the doll in the suitcase and lots of fabric, patterns and trims. That’s the year Mom taught me how to sew. Precious memories.
Oh my! How wonderful, Judy! How I wish my mom didn’t get rid of things quite so much!
Stay safe, my friend!
Ah, the dolls… I still have Baa’s head. I think she was my first doll and her head is in the basement, all yucky and a dirty, but I can’t bear to throw it away. It’s actually a little creepy, this bald baby doll head, hanging out on one of the shelves. But there you have it. I still have a Barbie, too. And my Steiff teddy. Like you, I have my grandma’s doll quilts which I still use on occasion for different reasons.
I love a book you can read with the seasons. One of my very favorites, Vivian Swift’s “When Wanderers Cease to Roam” is one of my favorites, charting her life in her small Long Island town over the course of a year with her wonderful paintings, most the size of triscuits. I have tried to paint that small — it’s tough!
Good luck with the puzzle. I’m starting a New Yorker one called “The Art Store.” It looks like it might be an easier NY puzzle — not a lot of spots with really difficult areas, like the cat puzzle or your blue sky! I have a lovely, unopened puzzle that is solid pink roses, all of which seem to look exactly alike, that is headed to Goodwill. Everyone I showed it to said, “Thanks, but no!”
I believe I did that puzzle last year or the year before. It’s fun – and you’ll love it.
That book you mention sounds lovely – I’ll have to look for it.
Stay safe and warm, Jeanie.
Here’s a silent youtube with someone just flipping through some of the pages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3JFAaQIJRQ
Oh, thank you, Jeanie!
I have the teddy bear I got when I was 2 years old (in 1952!) He has no ears and not much fur or stuffing but “Beary” is still with me!
How wonderful, Ellen! What a treasure.
Thank you.
Stay safe.
I have my Shirley Temple and Tiny Tears. I also have a christening gown made for Tiny Tears by Aunt Dora. She did it all by hand.
If you haven’t, change the spark plug on your snowblower. Ours was a problem until a neighbor told us this and now it works great. I think Woody and I are a bit mechanically handicapped.It’s all magic…
Eileen
I don’t think I knew that Aunt Dora sewed! If I did, I was too young to retain that information. Oh, how lovely that you have that, Eileen.
We’ll check into the spark plug, Eileen. Any advice is welcome because we are the same as you and Woody.
Stay safe!
I wish I still had my #1 baby doll; my great grandmother handmade all the clothes for it (sewn and knitted). I was not very clever about names – I called her DOLLY. LOL. And most of the time? I kept her naked, lol. My great grandmother made coats, dresses, pants, underclothes, it was a full wardrobe. What I would give to have those and the doll now. I can only guess that at some time my parents cleaned the attic of all of our ‘old’ toys that were stored up there (Dolly included with her clothes) and tossed them all out.
I think my mom did the same, but in this case, the dolls and clothes were probably in my closet.
Thanks, Dawn.
Stay safe.
The two sisters look great in their new clothes. The little cross body bags are adorable! I had a crissy doll that I just loved. Her hair grew longer when you turned a knob that was on her back. I thought she was just beautiful. Wish I still had her.
I think Tressy dolls did the same thing with the hair?
Or am I remembering incorrectly?
Stay safe, April.
There are two things I wish I still had – a doll given to my Mom when I was born. She was dressed in a christening outfit and bonnet and was about 16″ long. The other was a teddy bear but he was a panda. I had bitten part of his nose off I remember and I had him until I was a teenager but then I don’t know what happened to him. He was so squishy and soft.
I’m so sorry you don’t have that doll! We never forget them, do we?
Stay safe, Carol.
My mom was an excellent seamstress and made doll clothes for me and my sisters, both for baby dolls and the Barbies. She was a perfectionist, and they were beautifully sewn.
Thanks for the book suggestions. This past week I’ve read a couple books I picked up at a library book sale. They were awful. : (
Do you have any of the clothes, Lynda?
Stay safe.
I still have my much loved Tiny Tears, but her very old rubber body stinks to high heaven, so she’s confined to a box! I also have the very first gift my adoptive dad gave me – a Ginny doll! Unfortunately, she’s lost one of her legs and her hair is permanently messy, but I still love her. For Christmas this year, I put my daughter’s tiny rocking chair beside our tree, hung my grandma’s homemade doll quilt on the back, tucked a Christmas book of my grandfather’s (publ. date 1888) and sat my mom’s childhood rag doll in the chair. I found antique blocks at my favorite antique store, and spelled out JOY on top of my mom’s copies of An Old Fashioned Girl and Little Women and put the books underneath the chair – every time I looked at it I was filled with both joy over wonderful memories and a dash of homesickness/longing for my sweet childhood days.
Oh, that sounds so beautiful, Martha! What a lovely and comforting scene.
Stay safe!
Being the oldest of four girls, not many of my dolls survived. I did have to take her to Oklahoma City to a doll hospital and have a new wig put on her. Her hair had been styled a few too many times. LOL
Oh, when I think what I did to some of my dolls’ hair! I remember cutting a lot of hair on one doll and my mom got mad at me!
Stay safe.
The Wood sounds interesting…I’ll have to check it out.
I sold all of my dolls in the early 90’s…I have no regrets. At the time I had 3 young boys, (I didn’t think they would like my dolls), and I sold them for a very decent price that we used for remodeling projects.
I do have almost all of my stuffed animals however. Guess I just loved those more than my dolls! ;)
I don’t think dolls would fund a remodeling project nowadays!
Stay safe, Donnamae.
Lol….it was a relatively small one…but fair point!;)
xoxo
Would love the name and address of that doll hospital in Oklahoma. I have my Mom’s bisque faced lady doll that needs some tender loving care.
Hopefully, Judy will see your comment. If not, you can google it, I’m sure.
Stay safe, Deb.
I would like an upscaled version of each of the girls’ jumpers, please. Gorgeous colours.
I still have Teddy who has my name tag sewn on the back of his head from the time I spent my third birthday in hospital with pneumonia.
Also have Paddington Bear complete with green duffel coat and Wellington boots from my teens.
I think he might be worth something now as he one of the original models.
Didn’t have many toys growing up in the sixties but my friend Kathryn had Barbie and Ken. They were quite rare at the time and imported from the States. She had a few Liddle Kiddles, also from Mattel. They were tiny dolls in a perfume bottle, each one a different flower fragrance.
She bought me the Sweetpea and Violet ones for my birthday. I loved them and wish I knew what happened to them. (I suspect my mother would have dispensed with them either in 1969 or 1971 when we moved houses😬)
What stories! I think an original Paddington Bear would fetch a lot of money. (I’ve always wanted one – I should get a newer version.)
I remember Liddle Kiddles!
Stay safe, Dee Dee.
I still have my Revlon doll, the precursor to Barbie. I think she’s much prettier. I have the outfit she’s wearing but none of the other beautiful clothes I had for her. I also have a little brown furry monkey my dad bought me in Kress dime store when I was small. He is quite worn and well loved. They both sit in a bookcase in a spare bedroom.
I don’t remember Revlon dolls – I’ll have to look them up!
Love that you have both the doll and the monkey.
Stay safe Sharon!
Sharon, I too have my Revlon doll. She has no shoes and she is disjointed at the midsection. She is wearing an evening gown my grandmother made on her treadle sewing machine. I was going to have her repaired but the doll hospital in Berkley Michigan closed . Poor doll was the victim of my youngest brother seeing how many times her waist would swivel. He was nine years younger . I found a new in the box Revlon at a doll show in the early nineties and decided my broken one held more memories and would rather invest in the repair . She was the last doll I played with until I had a granddaughter and it was all about American girl dolls.
I remember that doll hospital, Patricia! I have family that lives near Berkley and Royal Oak.
xo
Claudia
Love the girls comfy clothes!
As for my dolls, most are gone except for Poor Pitiful Pearl, Baby Dear, and one Blonde buffant Barbie. And I have one of the real handmade cabbage patch dolls. Wish I had a place to display them all!
I had a Barbie with a platinum bubble cut(I think that’s what they called it.)
I don’t have any of my dolls. Not even my Barbie. Sob.
Stay safe, Judy!
Reading is so comforting to me this time of year. I had one Barbie I kept and clothes my Mom made and gave them to my daughter. Not sure where they are now? They had a flood where some boxes were stored and I’m afraid they got ruined and she doesn’t want to tell me and I haven’t asked. I can imagine them still being just fine that way. Silly I know.
Better not to know. I completely understand, Linda!
Stay safe.
I still have my Chatty Baby doll, with her original outfit. Sometimes she still talks when her string is pulled, but mostly it’s too garbled to understand. I also have Ken and Skipper (where Barbie is, is a long sad story). I have my Raggedy Ann from when I was two, and several of my Trixie Beldon books.
I love the girls new outfits!
Weren’t they also called Chatty Cathy? Or am I remembering wrong?
I had a Skipper, I think. I’m glad you still have those treasures, Debbie.
Stay safe!
Oh, how I wish I had my Ginny doll with all of her accessories. Such fun!! I DO have my little table and chairs I received for my 4th BD, 68 years ago. It has a formica top and the steel bowed legs just like the one we had in our kitchen. The wee one now uses it for coloring, and for having lunch when she is here. That is amazing. Our 2 kids also used it many years ago. I still have my doll crib which we will bring up in a year or two. My daughter still has her Barbies and all of the outfits, etc.
Speaking of reading…I was looking at Rosamunde Pilcher books and found one I could not remember reading. The Day of The Storm. I ordered it from the library and I am savoring every single word. I am trying to not read more than 2 chapters a day because I want it to last as long as possible!! Her writing brings me the utmost joy!
We did not get a single flake from this recent storm. Hope you will escape most of it as well, most especially the dreaded ice. Take care.
I had a little table just like yours. I have no idea what happened to it!
I love Pilcher. I’ll look for that book Chris! Such a pleasure to read.
Stay safe!
I’m a bit late to this party but I’m enjoying the thread!
My beloved Gerber doll with her footed flannel jammies is tucked safely away. The rubber has degraded and cracked, but I wouldn’t dream of ever getting rid of her. I fed her and changed her diaper and practiced being a mama on her first.
I have a 60s Barbie with a blonde bubble poof–my mom knitted a complete wardrobe for her one Christmas. What a treasure! All still stored in the white plastic wardrobe that I played with as a girl. I remember thumbing through the catalog of official Barbie clothes with grade-school friends–the stewardess uniform, Suburban Shopper and Orange Blossom are a few that I loved. A few years back, a friend brought out one of these old catalogs and I’m pretty sure all of us shed about fifty years as we oohed and aahed!
My grandma sewed Raggedy Anns and Andys for all of her grandkids (thirty plus). Each doll had a different hair and eye color and all were dressed uniquely. They arrive at each family reunion we’ve had, since we’ve all kept them close. I’ve started rehabilitating those that need a little extra love as I channel my inner grandma and send them home freshened up and spiffy.
I’m kinda hoping that maybe one of the grand-girlies will cherish the American Girl dolls and all the clothes and accessories I’ve made for them too. If not, some little girl will have fun with them as they are passed down.
Thanks for the book recommendations.
I gave away all my dolls when we moved to Florida. Like you I wish I had kept some of the clothes my grandma made. I still have a Midge doll in the box. My mother hid her before a Christmas and forgot about her. She was discovered after I was an adult. I need to find a museum or collector to take her since she is in perfect condition. That will be good research project.
Enjoy your girls. The clothes are beautiful.
My mum made me a rag doll from my first blanket. On one part of one of the legs she made it inside out. You can see the pattern on the fabric. I still have her
I’m so glad you still have her, Sue!
Stay safe.