Some Recent Goodwill Hauls and a Bad Back

  I still have one doll to show you from the first doll show in August, and one to show you from the second doll show in August. I don't have either of those photographed though, and my back has been out for the last couple of days, so that's not going to happen right now. 

  My back was sore and stiff, I think, from the hours of driving to see Ivy Sunday night, sleeping in the car, (because I'm not staying in a hotel during Covid), and then hours of driving back home Monday. We went on Sunday because it's such a long drive and if we used up Monday driving we'd miss time with Ivy, who also had work to do on Monday, and it would be super late when we drove back home. I figured if we got there Sunday evening/night, we'd have all Monday free. It worked out well, except for sleeping in the car. Someone in Ivy's dorm had had Covid recently, so we probably wouldn't have been allowed to stay in her room if we'd have wanted to. I was a bit stumpy Tuesday, and then Ken and I had Fun Day on Wednesday, which involved more driving, and a nice car picnic at an arboretum again. That totally finished me off though. Wednesday night there was a lot of screaming going on during my shower. The neighbours probably thought I was having a visit from Norman Bates.

  I spent yesterday resting, but should have rested laying down and letting my back relax. Instead, I sat up all day, and then there was more screaming at bathtime. I was hoping the warm water would help relax my back, but it just wasn't enough, I guess. I got smart and had Ken put some pressure on the painful places before we went to bed, and it did help unbelievably. I am still having pain, and I've been laying down and moving carefully when I do things. I think I'll probably be better tomorrow. Ken will be glad of that, because I haven't braved the stairs for a couple of days, so he's had to bring me food. (I didn't want to get stuck downstairs, unable to move. There's no working bathroom down there at the moment! (However, I did get a nice porcelain sink at a church sale this summer, and I've been waiting for the weather to cool down before braving renovating that tiny bathroom that only has a tiny window.) 

  Anyway, while I'm an invalid, I thought I'd go ahead and post some dolls that I found at a Goodwill a few weeks ago. There were several bags of dolls that day, and the prices were crazy. The bag I bought was only $1.99 though. It contained these.

  There weren't any dolls I was really interested in, but I got really excited when I saw what the girl on the right was wearing. 

They're a bit stretched out from being on her fat feet. (She has molded shoes already.)

  If you read the blog regularly, you'll know that my dolls are notoriously low on shoes. I was excited about these shoes, because they are Betsy McCall shoes! I have two Betsys, the Tiny kind. Not the 11 1/2 inch one like I showed you the other day.

She was an amazing yard sale find, even if she is missing half a leg . You can see her post HERE, and read my Yard Sale Tale.

One dollar at the flea market! You an see her post HERE.

  I actually have a white pair, and a black pair of Betsy shoes, but no red ones, and someday I hope to get that red plaid dress for her.

  The dolls included a Native American Dress Me type girl.

There was a Ginny wanna be. 

  I'm pretty sure she's not a real Ginny. To tell you the truth, I got so excited about the shoes I forgot to look! She looks cheaper than a Ginny though. She's probably a Virga or something.

  Then there is the girl who was wearing the red shoes.

She's a Hollywood doll...

... like the compo (possible) Alice I showed you recently.

  She has kind of an interesting face.

  I suppose if she were wearing a cute dress she'd be kind of cute. Does anybody know who she is? 

  She has some personality.

And a strange little belly scar. Maybe she's had a Caesarean.

   Aside from the shoes, there was also a brush. (Maybe it's a back scrubber brush?")

Does anybody recognize the brush?

  Another Goodwill recently yielded this chair and this mini American Girl doll.

  It's Felicity. She's very yellowed. 

She doesn't smell like cigarettes, so I don't think it's nicotine. Has anybody had one of these dolls that yellowed.? Do they just do that?

  So now I'm off to rest my poor back muscles, See you soon.

What I Got at the Doll Show, Part 2: Hollywood Alice and Animal!

   Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Summer?! It is far too hot here. I've been hanging laundry, pulling weeds, and watering some plants in the hot sun. (I know. You're not supposed to water plants in the hot sun. But it's better than not doing it at all, and with my memory these days, I need to do it while I'm thinking about it, or I may not do it at all.) Here's a tip: Do not buy potting soil at The Dollar Tree. I bought two bags because I needed to do some repotting. When I was pouring it in the pots I thought it looked like the dirt I dig up around my yard, and not like 'potting soil' at all. I think Dollar Tree dug my dirt for their potting soil, because this stuff was dry and gray, and packed down like a rock in the pots in about a week. I'll probably have to go buy some real potting soil and replace this crap. 

  Speaking of crap, since Lori moved to Georgia, I have nowhere to get my horse manure for the plants or garden now. I don't know anybody with horses, although I'm sure Lori could put in a word for me with somebody. Ken and I were talking yesterday about how it would probably be a bad idea for me to haul a couple buckets of poo back from Lori's when I go to see her in October.  

  And that's another thing. Should I even go to Georgia in October? I'm having second, and even third thoughts about it. I wanted to see Lori, and she's really looking forward to it. It's her 60th birthday. She is planning to take her week's vacation, which she hasn't had in years, and she has a bunch of things planned for us to do, but I'm wondering if it's going to be safe to do them. We could just hang around her house, and yes, she is vaccinated. I do have to actually get there though. Ken suggested that if I do go that I take food, so I don't have to stop along the way. I will have to get gas at some points though. I can use the credit card at the pump and not come in contact with people. I hand sanitize like crazy, as I told you. I don't touch any of my things with the one hand I use to touch other things, until I have sanitized. One hand for touching, and the other kept clean to reach in my pocket and get the sanitizer.

  On another subject, Ken is doing the Charlie Brown happy dance because yesterday we bought another FIVE DOZEN, (And 'Baker's Dozen's at that!), ears of yellow corn from the same farmer we got the last two dozen from.

  Don't think Ken can't eat that much corn. Plus, since we got so much I'll eat some too. I usually don't like to eat it if Ken manages to find some, because he enjoys it so much more than I do. It's his favourite vegetable and one of his very favourite foods overall. He wants to share, but I think it's selfish of me, because he loves it so much. It makes him feel good, because I consented to eat some of it!

  Now! On to my doll show purchases!

  I didn't buy a lot of things at this show, but what I got was 'cherce', as Spencer Tracy said of Katherine Hepburn in "Pat and Mike". And I got it for amazing prices. As you may know, if you're a regular reader of the blog, I have pretty eclectic tastes. From huge dolls like the almost 3' tall bobble head rag doll you saw HERE...

...to the tiny thread dolls you saw HERE...

...to the beautiful, hand painted, realistic face of Tonner's Agnes Dreary you saw HERE...

...to this goofy looking kid you saw HERE...

This one is Ivy's. but I have one just like her from my childhood, in a green dress.

...I love all sorts. Today I'm showing you two doll show purchases that perfectly illustrate that point. The first is this little girl.

  She's about 8 inches tall.

She is marked Hollywood Doll.

I'm not sure if these are her original clothes. There's a slight homemade quality to them, beautiful as they are.

She has bloomers and a slip. Her legs have some problems.

But in these clothes she just says "Alice" to me. And you know how I love my Alice stuff. 

She may have been repainted. Her eyebrows definitely don't look original, but her cheeks do.

What do you think?

I'm still trying to decide what she's made of: compo, or bisque?

And speaking of her legs, here's another photo from the front. She appears to have molded ankle socks.

  She has definitely been restrung, because her stringing is so tight that she can't keep her arms in the downward position.

But there's another problem you may have noticed from that sock picture...

Is it just me, or did whoever restrung her, put her legs on the wrong sides?!

That fabric seems old, but is it old enough to be original?

I  haven't taken her bloomers off to check yet. That's  possibly why I was having a hard time getting her to sit down at first. I finally got her seated though.

She seems to have her original wig.

There is a glue problem on the one side. Fortunately it doesn't show very much.

  Overall, I 'm very pleased to have found her. She's cute, and she looks like an Alice, to me anyway.

She was only $5, so I can't complain too much. Her little Alice outfit was worth $5.

  And the second  doll show purchase I'm showing you today is sort of a direct opposite to the Alice girl. He's this guy!

It's Animal, from The Muppets. This is in fact, one of the first Animal toys that were made. (The other was a plastic figure about 4" tall.) He's a puppet. 

He was made by Fisher Price, and came out around 1978. 

  Inside Animal's head there are hand holds so you can move his big mouth...

...and a switch so you can operate his eyebrows!

At 26" he's quite a big guy. He doesn't take up much space though, because he can literally fold up on himself. He's very flappy. 

   I actually gasped and snatched him up when I saw him. I was thrilled to find him. I had one before and sold him, (because he's actually worth quite a bit), and I wanted to find another one to keep. I have told you before about how if you find toys at a doll show, or dolls at a toy show, you're going to get a better deal on them than if you found them at their 'appropriate' shows. This guy cost $10!

   Other than needing his eyes touched up, (which I have done on Muppets before, and it isn't a big deal), he's actually in really good condition too. A lot of them have disintegrating foam that leaves bits all over your arm if you operate him. This one only leaves slight crumbs.

  So those are a couple of my doll show buys. I have more to show you, and I'd better hurry! There's another doll show on Saturday!