Today marks the 16th anniversary of the day we officially moved into the cottage. Wow! For two people who thought the dream of owning our own place might be unattainable, that dream came true. We are ever grateful and never, never take this for granted. We have too many years of living in rentals, sometimes – in my case – very, very small rentals – behind us. We know how lucky we are.
Speaking of small, I’ve been thinking a lot about how, as I get older, my life and the things I collect speak to childhood and whimsey. I was talking about it to Don this morning. It all started in 2002, when I began to collect figural eggcups with chickens and ducks and geese and bunny rabbits. They spoke to something deep inside of me – a yearning for simpler times, perhaps, a love of the whimsical, and a love of the small. In the course of the past twenty years, I rescued two baby dolls. I made a cloth bunny rabbit. I’ve knitted bunny cozies for my egg cups. I started to collect thing from Vintage by Crystal – the queen of whimsey. I decided to try renovating a used dollhouse and look where that led me! I collect dollhouse miniatures. I collect putz sheep. I collect miniature pottery. I collect dollhouses.
The evolution of my collections – the change from art deco Fiesta Ware to the charming and whimsical designs of McCoy and Roseville (which were the beginning of this new focus) is fascinating to me. There’s something that draws me more and more to my childhood, which wasn’t idyllic, but was full of imagination and toys and making dollhouses out of shoeboxes.
Is there a comfort in the small? In the detail, the designs, the sweetness? Yes, the sweetness – that word just came to me. There’s a sweetness to dollhouses and wee bits of furniture. There’s a sweetness to dolls and eggcups and putz sheep and stuffed bears. A longing, perhaps. A yearning.
Yesterday, after dithering about it for days, I ordered a Blythe doll. I don’t know if you know what Blythe dolls are, but I see them all over Instagram and I have become entranced with them. There’s a whole world out there of Blythe collectors, people who make clothes for Blythes, people who modify the dolls to have distinct features. It’s like walking through a secret door and discovering a new world. The doll itself is not particularly attractive; it’s the way it has been sculpted and modified that can transform it into something darling.
Anyway – and I trust you will understand – I’ve been looking and I found a Blythe that spoke to me yesterday. (I think you have to fall in love with a particular face – it’s very personal.) She will be winging her way to me from England. I plan to slowly accumulate a wardrobe for her. I’ll take her with me to NYC for company, just as I used to take my stuffed bear and bunny with me when I went away for coaching jobs. (Maybe I’ll take all three!) I find myself yearning to play dress up with my doll. Maybe it goes back to my beloved Tiny Tears doll, with a wardrobe handmade by my grandmother – I can still see her pink corduroy coat and bonnet, which my mom disposed of without telling me. I still miss that beautiful doll. So I’ll have a new doll that I can play with.
A little bit crazy? No doubt. But I strongly believe that play and whimsey keep us young at heart. I ran across this quote from my adored George Bernard Shaw this morning:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
That says it all.
Stay safe.
Happy Monday.
Good for you 16 years in your home.
Over halfway to total ownership.
We finished this year and we thank God it is a wonderful feeling to go into retirement with no house payment.
There have been many sacrifices to do so.
Would love a Subaru Outback but no we just kept over paying.
You will get there.
I suspect it might never be paid off, but we’ll cross our fingers. We didn’t buy our home until we were in our mid-fifties and we were freelancers, so we have a high mortgage payment.
Stay safe, Linda.
Congrats on the anniversary of your home ownership! May you have many more happy years in your home.
Thank you soooo much Ellen!
Thank you Ellen!
Stay safe.
You know what I immediately thought of, Claudia? Little Sara Crewe’s LAST DOLL, from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess! May your Blythe doll bring you as much happiness and comfort as Sara’s doll brought her. There’s a darling picture of Sara and her father admiring the doll in the window on p. 18 of my Burnett/Tasha Tudor well loved book. Nothing beats Tasha Tudor’s illustrations – which also hearken back to that sweetness you recall from earlier days.
Happy house day – my husband and I are equally grateful for our home, which we weren’t sure we’d be able to afford (musicians/self-employed for years) and we’ll probably never have it paid off, but we certainly are grateful every day for the comfort and shelter it gives us!
Oh what a lovely memory, Martha! I love Tasha Tudor’s work – (and her gardens!)
We’ll definitely never have this house paid off unless some bizarre unexpected windfall happens! Same thing for us – freelance artists. Income always changing.
Stay safe, Martha.
Claudia and Don,
Congratulations on the anniversary of moving into your beautiful cottage. It is heartwarming to read the gratitude expressed by you, as well as your readers for the gift of a place to call home. Being able to feel safe, secure, at peace, loved and embraced when you open that door is something we should acknowledge more. Those feelings do not depend on necessarily ownership of a property, but by finding our place in this vast world. So many of feel that if not for the Grace of God, we might not be where we are today. It only takes a quick look around us or to turn on the news to know how very, very lucky we are.
Sherry B
P.S. I found my Thumbelina doll the other day! I am not familiar with Blythe dolls and look forward to seeing yours.
Yay for finding your Thumbelina doll! How wonderful!
Stay safe, Sherry!
I still have my Tiny Tears – she was my first doll!
I loved mine, too, but where she ended up, I don’t remember. Hooray for still having yours!
I still have mine as well, but oh man, she doesn’t smell very good! Decomposing rubber = icky smell so she has to reside (naked, all her clothes have disappeared) in a plastic sealed box. But somehow I just can’t throw her out, or my first Ginny doll, who is also naked and only has one leg…
I bought a tiny version of her several years ago. I’ll show her on the blog soon. The one my mom got rid of was bigger.
Stay safe, Susan.
I understand your feeling for the whimsical, tiny things. I think it is a form of escape…I find that it is for us at least. For us it is the 1940’s. Our favorite movies are from the 40’s and we Love Big Band music. We both have been reading lots of fiction and non-fiction of WWII…mostly from the British view. It’s just a momentary dip into a simpler, quieter time. Course, we were both born in the 40’s…me in 43 and him in 45.
Absolutely. My dollhouses are a definite form of escape!
I love, love Big Band music, Lynn!
Stay safe.
Sixteen years is a long time! I’ve been here 31, and am once again thinking of moving on
I do not think adding a doll to your collection crazy. I hunted until I found the Thumbalina doll from my childhood. I had both sizes. I purchased the smaller one, and am now on the hunt for the larger. I will have to be patient.
I also have a menagerie of dogs and bears.
Sweetness is a good word to describe then. Comfort? Warmth?
I don’t know but they make me happy.
Good for you for finding your Thumbelina! I remember them so well, though I never had one!
Yes, definitely comfort and warmth.
Stay safe, Trudy.
Blythe dolls remind me of the movie Big Eyes and the paintings by the woman whose husband took all the credit! Sorry for not remembering her name—or his. But the paintings brought back the fifties and early sixties for me.
Congratulations on your Cottage Anniversary. That’s about the same time as we found our lake house, but we bought it and moved in the next year. Much more fun moving in than moving out.
Isn’t it interesting? I hated those painting! Still do. (My best friend loved them.) But somehow Blythes don’t bother me at all.
Oh, I think we’ll stay in place here. The very thought of moving makes me ill. But we only have one house. I hope it’s going well, Shanna.
Stay safe.
I love Blythe dolls! You are right that they are quite individual. I have seen a few that look a little creepy, but most are adorable.
I loved dolls as a child and still do. I was blessed to have a daughter and 3 granddaughters to buy dolls for, and play dolls with.
Your doll will be something fun and easy to take to NYC.
Congratulations on your home ownership anniversary! We built our home in 1976 and I am grateful to have a comfortable home and 10 acres even though there is always something that needs to be fixed or replaced these days.
Hope your doll doesn’t take too long to get to you…I’m looking forward to enjoying her with you.
Stay safe
Yes, some of them look quite creepy! But some are so beautiful.
The doll is being shipped tomorrow but you never know how long it will take!
Thanks Marilyn.
Stay safe.
Oh, how I loved my Tiny Tears doll!! And, I had another fav…maybe a Betsy doll??? Can’t remember the name, but she had furniture, etc that I loved.
We babysit every Mon for our (now 17 mo old)Granddaughter. She arrives w several fav toys, always including a little “Baby” she brings, along w a blanket & 2 bottles. She puts her baby to nite nite many times during the day. She also brings her 2 fav trucks!! Circle of life!
Are you set to get any of the rains of Hurricane Ida as she works her way back to sea? Hope you are having a good day! Take care.
Betsy Wetsy? I remember wanting one.
We’re getting rain today and then on Wednesday and Thursday which, I suspect, will be remnants of Ida.
Stay safe, Chris.
Congratulations on 16 years in your delightful cottage. Your words about a simpler time with more sweetness really spoke to my heart. I am 73 this year and also find myself yearning for simpler times. Also, thanks for introducing me to Putz sheep. I have a few of them and didn’t know they had a name until now! I collect Beatrix Potter figurines and have 16 of them prominently displayed on a plate rack in my living area. They are so sweet and remind me of how much I loved my childhood on the farm.
We yearn for simpler times – especially now, don’t you think? There’s too much sadness, too much anger, too much needless death. Anything that brings comfort – like putz sheep – is most welcome.
Thanks, Carolyn.
Stay safe.
Carolyn – I also have Beatrice Potter figurines, probably about a dozen. I think my favourite is Pigling Bland!
Welcome to the doll collecting world! Be careful, Blythe dolls can be entry dolls to the word of Bjd collecting. Something I have discovered this past year. I actually have a Blythe sized Bjd from Maskcat, a wonderful small company. She is the same size but doesn’t have the big head. Are you going to custom paint your Blythe (do a face-up)? That’s so much fun! Anyway, I just love this hobby and have met many wonderful people through Instagram and Etsy and even through doll collecting groups In my area. I think I also lean towards things of a child-like nature to express my creativity.
This is a custom doll, so the face has already been painted – she has freckles!
I looked up the BJD dolls – they’re lovely! Part of what I love about the Blythes is the big head! I find them fascinating!
You’re so right – it’s like going down the rabbit hole and discovering so much and such interesting people! Like you!
Stay safe, Jane.
Claudia, I also have a Blythe doll. Actually, two. One full size and a miniature. I was going to make her clothes but decided I didn’t want to fiddle with the tiny pieces. I make clothes for my daughters’ and my American Girl dolls instead…the “real”ones bought before the Pleasant Company sold to Mattel. Clothes and accessories are now so cheap looking, and made. Have fun with you doll.
Congrats on your cottage-versary. I’ve been in my house almost 3 decades. It was paid off two summers ago…that is a very freeing feeling.
I would be terrible at making those small clothes! I’m shopping on Etsy, after deciding to leave it to those who know what they’re doing.
I suspect we’ll never have out house fully paid off. That’s what comes with buying a house in your fifties and working in the arts.
Thanks, Wendy.
Stay safe.
Happy 16th Anniversary in your home! What a home with what special memories you’ve made. We’ve been here fourteen years, and it’s the longest I’ve lived in any house my entire 71 years.
Thank you, Linda! I lived at my childhood home for 18 years, then for a couple more when I finished college. But since then – 4, 5, 6 and 8 years in various cities until this one!
Stay safe!
I had a phase where I collected Christmas Village ceramic buildings. Very 50’s and as you say whimsical. Luckily I ran out of room. Rarely do I display them for Christmas anymore. I don’t like clutter much.
Enjoy your collections. You have a talent for displaying them.
We collected those buildings, too. But that was when we were renting and we had a fireplace mantel. You’re right – very whimsical.
Stay safe, Kay.
Claudia the playing and enjoying the whimsy touched me. I’ve been blessed for the past 10 years to have Grandchildren to play with. Old and New toys. I’ve enjoyed playing with more cars and ‘boy’ toys and learning just how much fun that can be. Then baby dolls, Barbie and tea sets. I may have come to some of this on my own (my collections closely reflect yours) but having Tiger and Scout have kept me young in thought and full of whimsy! Hugs!
And you can rediscover toys because of your grandchildren, Linda!
Stay safe, my friend.
Happy house day! We all need our nest!
The Blythe dolls are wonderful. I’ve seen some great transformations over the years–very creative. I know you’ll enjoy yours. Looking forward to seeing yours!
I still have my Gerber baby and doll clothes my mom made. The rubber has stiffened and deformed, but she is well-loved anyway. Now I get to share playtime with the grand-daughters as we sew and create a dolly world (and happy memories) together. I firmly believe that imaginative play is the best!
I love that you have your Gerber baby and doll clothes, Roxie!
Imaginative play IS the best!
Stay safe.
There’s nothing wrong with whimsy. I confess I haven’t heard of Blythe dolls either. I wasn’t really into dolls much as a child, I had two, Kim who was white and made of some type of resin. Her hair was glued on and she looked almost scalped! My favourite was Belinda who was black but sadly she only had one eye!
I still have Teddy who is 65 years old and has hardly any fur left. Several years ago I started collecting Girls’ Annuals from the 1960s. These used to be published for Christmas and tied in with their weekly comic book counterpart. They had wonderful names like Bunty and were full of comic strip stories of girl’s boarding schools or ballerinas. I managed to get the same ones from the mid 60s that I would have received.
Happy Monday
Sounds like a wonderful thing to collect, Dee Dee, full of references to happy memories!
Stay safe.
GBS had it right with that quote! I’ve long been a collector if all kinds of things — my mom was, too. So, some of those collections have built on hers, some are mine alone. You turned me on to Vintage by Crystal! Now they are my rotating holiday companions! They give us joy — and isn’t that the point?
It is exactly the point, Jeanie.
Thank you.
Stay safe!