Vicki asked if I would share a photo of the antique dollhouse. Here it is. This was taken the day I found it in a local antique shop – December 21st of last year. I dressed it up for the holidays. There you go, Vicki!
And a side view. The shutters open and close. What a labor of love this was. I wonder if it was made for a child or simply for the satisfaction of constructing a miniature? What’s the back story on the house itself? I knew it was a steal when I bought it for $75 on sale, but I also couldn’t bear the thought that this heavy, well-made, one-of-a-kind house was sitting in a booth with a big ‘mark down’ sign, abandoned and alone.
I tend to do that with certain things. I endow them with human qualities. That dollhouse was immediately ‘sad and lonely’ and needed to be adopted. By me.
I did the same thing with this little beauty.
I saw her in an antique shop several years ago. She was sitting on a child’s rocking chair in a booth. Each time I went back to the shop over the course of several months, she was still there. She was wearing a beautifully handmade dress with lovely shoes and a bonnet. She was a little worse for the wear, but that made her even more lovely.
Someone had loved this baby doll.
We had next to no money on hand at the time and I was getting ready to go to San Diego to coach for 10 weeks. I think she was about $50 or maybe less, but, nonetheless, even that was too much. I couldn’t buy her.
Off I went to SD, but I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Finally, when I had received a few paychecks, I emailed the antique center, told them my story, tried my best to indicate what booth she was in and asked the big question: was she still there? The person on the other end said he knew exactly what doll I was referring to and yes, she was. I paid him right then and there. Then I asked if he could hold onto her until I returned home. Yes, he said. And that is how this little darling came to live in our cottage.
My beautiful doll with two left legs is also a rescue. More on her another day.
Two Finches Taking A Bath:
They were at the birdbath again yesterday. It’s been very hot. I’ve seen bees drinking the water, birds, hornets – you name it.
Finally, Happy Birthday to my beloved mom. She would have been 92 today.
Happy Wednesday.
I share a birthday with your Mom☺ what is her name? I’m all my 73 years I have never run across anyone born on July 31. 💖🎂
Her name was Shirley and she died five years ago. Happy Birthday, Jan!
Claudia,
I have done the very same thing, endowing things with human qualities and I too rescued an antique doll a few years ago for the same reason. Love and peace to you today as you remember and honor your Mother in your heart.
Thank you, Susan.
Love the pictures of the birds enjoying the bird bath.
Thanks, Cathy!
Yes! Birds bathing—love them 💖. Birds are some of my favorite creatures and I miss all of those who have lived with me over the years. Loons are the best things at the lake, too!
Loons are wonderful!
I rescued a stuffed rabbit. He was so forlorn that he had to come home with me. He sits now with the other animals and a doll from my childhood. They call my Grandmother’s rocking chair home.
I enjoy watching the bids take their baths. They enjoy it so much. It is fun too when they just toss the dirt up in the air. I guess I just love the bird antics.
I almost said happy Saturday, and then realized it is only Wednesday. Happy whatever day it is Claudia. I’m not sure if it’s Wednesday or October.
I thought it was Friday yesterday. I understand.
I am terrible for putting human qualities on items too. I saw a rabbit cookie jar looking very forlorn at an antique shop. I though about him for a couple weeks and then just had to go buy him.
I just love your dollhouse! When you posted photos of the inside it took me a few seconds to realize it was the dollhouse. I was trying to place the room inside your house and couldn’t think where it was!
Your birdbath photos are fantastic. Our four get lots of use but aren’t quite so busy today as we have cooled off a bit.
We are blessed to still have my Mum. She turned 85 a few months ago. I know I am so lucky to still have her.
Enjoy your day Claudia.❤️
Thank you so much, Robin!
Love the birds & your tales of adopting things. Best to you on this day of remembrance.
Thank you, Martha.
And my mom would have recently turned age 95; she passed just shy of her 89th birthday. We’re a lot of us here, moms and daughters both of the same ages. Sometimes it staggers me to think that my beloved grandma would now be age 119. And she was the youngest of all four grandparents.
Oh, thank you for posting a photo of the house, Claudia! I appreciate it. Isn’t it wonderful?! I don’t know why I’m blanking on it and I suppose at the time I probably even made a comment as I think I already said, but I had somewhat quit the blog world around that time (took a time out/hiatus). It is indeed, from how it looks in the photos, sturdy and utterly charming with your effects & accessories. It had your name on it from ‘hello’.
I now have a half-dozen doll houses (various sizes and materials, none of them vintage) I’m currently not doing anything with although it’s a future project and I’ve accumulated a lot of ‘stuff’ for them (I love miniatures). They’ll never be precise and to scale like yours! Count ’em,
Claudia; how many houses do you have now to keep you very busy?!? (Ah, the space issue of where to put them in a small house; my dilemma and yours, right?!)
I have to deal with Mom’s dolls one of these days. There are four. I call them the Frankendolls. Thing is, they probably have value; she’d dated one from the 1800s. She never got a new doll; they were always hand-me-downs as she grew up poor, mostly in The Great Depression. She dropped the big baby doll on hard pavement and cracked its head. The tiny ‘newborn’ baby doll is missing a hand. At one point she used red nail polish to redefine mouth/lips on two of the dolls; doesn’t work.
There was a guy profiled on CBS’ Sunday Morning show, in New York (state) somewhere, who was a faithful restorer of dolls (or if not restorer, very-good ‘patcher’/fixer-upper). At the time, I emailed him and he said I could send them the dolls but he had a heavy workload; I didn’t follow up on it because, at the time and which is still the case, I couldn’t get to the dolls from where they’re stored in a chest (because of my stupid packed-up-for-remodeling house; the remodeling which never gets done although we’re about to make a major dent in it come September). I’ve never found anyone in my area who is a repairer of antique dolls. I really can’t do anything much with these dolls of my mom’s unless they’re at least partially repaired. Your doll is so sweet (face is unmarred), but my mom’s dolls aren’t like her (little tomboy girls as was my mom were rough on dolls with porcelain or other crackable materials; no durable plastics back then)!
Your bird photos today are incredible. Since I quit feeding, even though I regularly/daily fill two birdbaths with water, I get no birds of any kind that I’m seeing; makes me feel badly, like I let them down. When I’d feed, in more recent years, I’d get overwhelmed with bird life; almost got out of hand. The bold jay who still comes back every year gave up on me this spring; he ‘yelled’ very noticeably upon his return, mere feet from me, as if to say, “What’s up with you, human lady? Why aren’t you feeding me?” Then, he disappeared.
We do have a wide surrounding of many trees, plants, flowers, bushes and grasses over at least 7 or 8 properties, probably 10 acres (also, a quite-nearby, good-sized cemetery dating from the 1800s which is filled with all kinds of trees and is also a water source with nearby fruit orchards backing up to people-less foothills and canyons); it’s not like there’s not resources for the birds in the natural environment. I’ll still always do the water for them, though. It’s there for anybody who needs it!
Ha! I found the doll repairer, God Bless the internet for as much as we can curse it.
(Brian) Taggerty Doll Clinic
Elmira, NY
http://www.TaggertyDollClinic.com
(vintage doll doctor; repairs vintage and antique dolls)
The piece was from 2015 on CBS. He’s president of a doll doctors’ association, too. Works construction for a living; repairs dolls for the love (I think it said his grandmother was a doll repairer, too, so he grew up surrounded by dollywork-in-progress).
He said in the interview, “We’re not the owner of our dolls; we’re just the caretakers til the next owner.”
Thanks, Vicki!
As this evolved, I’m hoping he IS still doing the work. I emailed him to find out.
Brian Taggerty
80 Hendy Creek Road
Elmira NY 14905
phone 607/426-4129
(published info from at least Dec 2018)
xo Let us know what you find out, Vicki!
Okay, but then I’ll shut up for awhile because I am enthusiastically dominating your comment section again like I’ve done in the past. I share a lot of your passions for collecting which is why I’m here, and then you get me ‘all excited’ about everything, Claudia!
Wanted to say, too, that I love that the house you photo’d (for me!) today has a chimney!
And it really is a chimney. If you drop something down the chimney it ends up in the fireplace.
Hmmm. This part of my comment got zapped again. I just thought I’d add this if it could be informative for anybody else. I did just try to find that doll repairer guy again, and here it is:
(Brian) Taggerty Doll Clinic
Elmira, New York
http://www.TaggertyDollClinic.com
Vintage doll doctor (repairs vintage and antique dolls)
He’s also a president of a doll doctors association (he works construction for a living; repairs dolls for the love of it; I think it said his grandmother was a doll repairer, so he grew up surrounded by dolls as works-in-progress; he said something to the effect [in this 2015 CBS piece], “…we’re not actually the owner of the doll; we’re just the caretaker til her next owner…”).
I don’t allow comments with links to post until I approve them. That’s why it disappeared. But it hasn’t gone away. I just need to see those comments to make sure that the link is a safe one and not one that is malware or a bad link or a porn site. I get plenty of those links here as well.
Oh, Claudia; I’m sorry if I’ve mucked things up. I don’t think about things like that but I know we’re supposed to be careful with links; I guess I figured he was legit because of that CBS show; I’ve written to him now (today) via the doll doctors’ association because his own site which I posted has expired or I wouldn’t have written it down here for anyone; I’m just not doing my homework first; so, again, 100 apologies, Claudia. I caused you xtra work with my multiple ‘sends’.
I thought it was a computer problem on my end again. I usually never put in links; again, sorry; was just trying to pass on good info; I looked it up and he’s three hours from you, west, nearer to Ithaca. If I could only just ever be able to take my cross-country trip, I’d take the dolls to him in person for their repair. Darn! My cousin got her BA from Cornell and I’ve always since wanted to visit lovely Ithaca.
You didn’t muck anything up. I just have the settings set to review any link in a comment.
I have six – two are finished, three are in process, and one has to be built!
I don’t do feeders because my neighbor’s cats roam on our property (which pisses me off, but that’s another story.) So I don’t want birds to be attacked because they’re on the ground eating seed that has fallen from a feeder.
Which one has to be built? It’s a kit then? I have a vague memory of you mentioning it. Sounds very challenging; those Betsy McCall houses in the 50s were apparently the same.
It’s a kit that I started a while back. It’s currently in the closet!
The community where we live in Arizona doesn’t allow us to put out bird seed (attracts rodents) but I do put out five large water dishes which includes one bird bath. I freshen the water each morning and love watching the birds bathe….mostly in the regular water dishes….rarely in the birdbath!
I had that happen at an old house I lived in that was under remodeling (such that we weren’t living there yet). Was on a hillside in an old, old, OLD neighborhood with a lot of mature trees and foliage. My husband had hung a bird feeder on a back porch in which case I then happened to see the largest rat of my life in broad daylight. But all these past years when I’d feed at my current home, I never had to worry about rodents because we had an adjacent and large feral cat colony which has now mostly died off (and the three cats who still come to me are very elderly and well-fed, so they’re no longer interested in chasing/killing rodents). It had been, for 100 years, starting with barn cats who reverted to the wild, a sort of natural-eco cycle of life which now doesn’t really exist and we have to be vigilant about rodent control in these days as we’re still in a hillside, heavy-vegetation environment, not exactly urban (and rodents can be destructive; they also carry disease; at our other home mentioned [with the bird feeder and the monster rat] we had a devil of a time keeping mice and rats out of the attic and dual cellars where they chewed not just wiring but also insulation). I won’t feed seed again; the birds will have to make it on their own! I do feed these semi-feral cats who remain, but I’m extremely careful when and where I feed and how much, and the food is never left out at night.
I love watching them bathe, too. Catbirds and robins, especially, are vigorous bathers!
I really know little about birds; it was my mom’s thing, and I’m in her house, so I just continued her feeding for awhile til I no longer could do it anymore. Do the birds bathe to clean themselves and also to stay cool? I know of course that they drink, but I’ve seen birds out at that cemetery I mentioned and they’ll try to splash in the tiniest puddle. Or try to ‘wash off’ with a sprinkler head that’s still bubbling low to the ground.
Both, I think. xo
OMG, Claudia. I thought I was the only person on earth who did that – endowed inanimate objects with human characteristics. I sometimes wondered if it was just a wee bit psycho on my part – LOL. I feel sorry for little critters or creatures or objects sitting unwanted on dusty shelves all the time. I always think how sad they must feel, no one wanting them. I don’t always bring them home with me, of course – but I ALWAYS think that. Thanks for mentioning your own proclivity for this – now I know there are others like me out there [we should have jackets made – haha!]. Can’t wait to see how this little house is going to be fixed up & loved once again. Peace. 🏡
#Resist
#ImpeachTrump
I always think that, too! I have a feeling there are many of us out there! xo
Love to see the birds taking a bath. Your doll is adorable.
Marilyn
She has such a sweet face! Thanks, Marilyn.
hope today has been easy, filled with peace and happy memories for you.
sweet photos of the birds in the bath. :)
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy!
I love seeing your doll houses and I love how certain objects speak to you and even better than you listen to them!! Watching birds as they bathe is so much fun–they get so excited and seem like it’s fun. I’m sure it feels good especially on these hot days. We saw our first bear of the season (it’s unusually late) last week, a small one, not a cub but surely very young, no ear tags, making her way around the edge of our property before it dips down towards the road. She disappeared down the hill and in my mind I started singing The Bear Went Over the Mountain. LOL. But in a minute, she came back up again and wandered off in the other direction. I guess the other side of the mountain was all that she could see after all. Hope your days as we head toward the weekend are peaceful and summery. And happy birthday yesterday to your dear mom.
Love seeing bears, but it’s always a wee bit scary as well! Thank you, Nora!
I love that you saved that dollhouse and the doll. You have a very tender heart. I also give human feelings to things, like lonely salt or pepper shakers that have lost their pair. They need homes too!! Hugs.
I agree!