Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Sunday morning Christmas cheer.

Thank goodness our Christmas celebrations are relatively simple. I don’t think I have it in me to do much more than basic decorating and buying a few little things for Don – which I have yet to do. But he has to have something to open on Christmas morning, don’t you agree?

This will be a quiet and peaceful Christmas.

Okay. I have to ‘fess up. One more Blythe doll arrived late Friday night – all the way from Spain. I couldn’t resist her – there’s a story as to why. The woman who created Olivia, aka Livvy, and I were chatting on IG one day. Her name is Natalia and I first became familiar with her sprite-like dolls through my friend Susannah. Susannah is a long-time blogger and I’ve followed her for years. She lives in London. In fact, she was the person who introduced me to Blythe dolls (I’d been aware of them, but not the world of customized Blythe dolls, which is very different.) Susannah is an incredible photographer and her photos of her ever-increasing collection caught my attention. I became enchanted. She has several dolls from Natalia whose account is (at) VegaDolls on IG.

Anyway, I consulted Natalia when I was thinking of adopting Livvy, as she was being sold through a a woman who had adopted her from Natalia and I wanted to make sure everything was on the up-and-up. She assured me that the owner was a longtime friend and completely trustworthy. This initial conversation initiated a dialogue between us. One day, after BlytheMadrid, a convention where Natalia displayed her creations, I commented that she must be tired after all of that and she responded that she was not and was going to create another girl that week. What, she said, would I want in a doll? (She was trying to figure out what direction to take.) I told her short brownish hair and no bangs, as all my dolls had bangs. A week later, she wrote me and sent pictures of her newest creation and I fell for her. She wanted to give me the first option if I wanted her, but there was no pressure to buy her. But, she told me later that she had created her for me. I took a deep breath and purchased her. I never say never, but I’m pretty sure my family of girls is now complete.

Here she is:

Her name is Pippa. I briefly toyed with calling her Scout, but I realized I couldn’t call any other being, whether human or non-human by that name. Scout will always be our beloved Scout.

So she’s Pippa and I’m calling her Pip for short. Her nose is slightly rosy, so Don and I have decided she has allergies like her mom.

Those shoes have ladybugs on them! This is how she arrived in the box, a beautiful wooden box with the VegaDolls logo on it.

And here she is with her sister, who is showing her where all the clothes are:

Now I’m going to concentrate on clothing for the dolls. Maybe a new outfit once a month. I already have some things on the way but shipping is very slow because of the holidays.

Between these girls and my dollhouse and my books, I have a lovely little world in which to live and I’m very happy about it. And that world is underscored by my husband’s guitar.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.