Doll-A-Day 2023 #227: Specs Reads-a-lot

   Today's doll is a Lalaloopsy. She's Specs Reads-a-lot.

  She's a Lalaloopsy Littles doll, from 2011. She originally came with her pet bookworm. He was a bilious shade of green and reminds me of the green tomato worms that my mom used to pick off her tomatoes in the garden when I was a kid. She used to put them on a rock and then throw a rock at it and run, because they sort of exploded messily when smushed.  

 Specs gets her name from the fact that she wears 'specs', or, glasses.

She has the typical nerd's tape on her glasses.

She has her full outfit, of one piece short and shorts with suspenders, (or, braces for our British readers), and both shoes with attached socks.

She's jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips. She can sit, but not sit up by herself. 

Her shoes have 'R' for right, and 'L' for left. on the bottoms.

Specs is the little sister of Bea Spells-a-lot. They must have different dads though, because they have different last names. As with all Lalaoopsys, her description tells us what she was 'sewn from'. In her case, it was 'pieces of a school uniform'.

 

  Specs was the first Lalaoopsy Littles with coloured eyes, and is one of only two with blue eyes. She's also the first Littles with a hair accessory, and one of only two with glasses. She's supposed to be a toddler, but a genius and a devoted student. Huh?

  That's it for today. See you again tomorrow.

More Birthday Goodies, and Less of My Nose Stitches

  Well, I'm sure you've heard way too much about my nose for the last couple of days. Today we're going to take a step back in time to look at what I got on my second birthday treat trip to the Big City the week before last.
  We had to take a short trip on my actual birthday because we had to get back for Ivy to get to bed for school the next day. So last week we went back for me to get a chance to go to some of the places I didn't get to go to the first time. I brought home a lot of goodies, some of which we'll take a closer look at in the upcoming week. Here's most of the haul:

Left to right: Sweetie Candy Ribbon Lalaloopsy mini and Our Generation mini Kendra,Hallmark 2014 'Tailg8n' ornament,Patch's Treasure Hunt Lalaloopsy mini,Planet of the Apes Cornelius Scalers figure by Neca, Madame Alexander Travel Friends India doll, and Only Hearts Club puppy in a bed.

I instantly fell in love with Sweetie Candy Ribbon because her colouring reminded me so much of a lot of the toys from my 60's childhood.

Groovy colours, man!

Our Generation Mini Kendra. If you read my post on my first birthday shopping trip, you'll know I was considering her then. We'll go into detail in her review coming up this week.

1/6 scale accessories! I removed them from the tail gate sign, and removed the beer from the tongs. The ornament was 90% off now.

I love Patch. I'd prefer he was the one with clothes instead of a skeleton suit, but he was only $3.99 at Tuesday Morning. The Only Hearts Club pet set was originally $3.99 at Tuesday Morning, but it was 90% off.

Cornelius was clearanced at Toys R Us. He's going to end up hanging from my rear view mirror.

Looks like he's not wearing his dentures...

  It was the first time I had seen the Madam Alexander Travel Friends dolls. If I had an unlimited budget I could have bought several, but the India doll was my favourite.

Watch for her review in the coming week.

I forgot to put these in the big picture:

This mini Chinese calendar and key ring doll came from a Chinese grocery store. The doll is 5" tall. Her clothes and shoes are removeable. The calendar would be great for a 1/6 scale Chinese restaurant. Our local Chinese buffet gives out the full sized ones every year around January.

And I also got these at Dollar Tree.

 1/6 scale lamps with glow in the dark shades. I'm going to try to make them into light up lamps, not just glow in the dark. Madeline Hatter is showing size comparison.

The shades glow in the dark,and they actually glow REALLY bright straight from the store, without even being 'charged'.

In case you aren't familiar with Dollar Tree, everything there is actually a dollar, unlike a lot of stores that call themselves 'Dollar' this or that.
    We'll have an in depth look at Our Generation mini Kendra and the Madame Alexander Travel Friends doll  from India in a couple of reviews later in the coming week.

My Birthday Report

    The weather is warmish and most of the snow has melted. My daffodils are poking out of the mud, and the iris's are showing signs of life. I have baby tomato plants starting to grow. It might actually be starting to look like Spring.
  As you may have noticed, I had a birthday the other day. In spite of being sick with the whatever-this-thing-is, I managed to enjoy myself.We went to Columbus and shopped and ate, and, in my case, wanted to lay down and close my eyes.
  The Indian food was a bit disappointing. It wasn't nearly as good as it was last time. It was nice to have a buffet that we, as vegetarians, could eat anything from, but it wasn't the best Indian food we could have gotten. The paneer Makhani  was too salty, the samosas were too bland, and the saag paneer was just ok.
  It seemed that everything I went shopping for was not available. I had considered getting an Our Generation mini doll, but when we got to Target they only had two different OG mini dolls, and they were more expensive than I remembered them being. I decided to think about it.Then I forgot instead.
  The movies I needed to replace my broken Planet of the Apes Blu Rays weren't in stock at Barnes and Noble or Best Buy, both of which had had plenty around Christmas time. The books I wanted were either still in hard back, (Ken wanted to buy it for me anyway, but I said I'd wait.), or not in stock. I did order the one that was just out of stock.
   Ken and Emma got me something I wanted desperately and was afraid they hadn't gotten: tickets to see The Who this May!Whoo hoo! I told them the tickets were for sale before Christmas, and they already had them by then! They didn't give them to me for Christmas though. They tortured me by making me think I wasn't getting any tickets and having to wait until my birthday. We went to see The Who last year, and they were great. It was the first time I had ever gotten to see them, since I missed out getting to see them in the early 80's. (I was supposed to go with a friend and her mom,but I apparently insulted Elvis Presley and her mom wouldn't take me. I was traded in for a different friend who didn't even like The Who. The injustice of it all. I believe anybody has the right to not like Elvis without fear of losing their Who ticket, and I still stand by that.) Like last time, Ken and Emma are both going with me. Last tour was all Quadrophenia, and this tour is all hits. Emma hopes that this time she'll know more of the songs... 
  Ivy gave me this cool miniature glass jug.

I am going to have to get around to building that 1/6 scale antique store to display all my goodies in.
  Fuzz got me the complete 'Wings' series on DVD.

Ivy and I have been enjoying Wings recently on Netflix, but they don't have all the episodes.
  I got a few other things, as well as something that came in the mail a few days later. I'll share that another day, in more detail...
   
   In response to a comment I said I didn't get any toys on my birthday. That wasn't strictly true. I forgot I stopped at my favourite Goodwill on the way in to town and found all these goodies:
A mint condition Loopy Hair Spot Splatter Splash Lalaloopsy, and she has her complete outfit with shoes.

 She was only $1.50, so I didn't turn her down, even though I prefer the minis.Our local Salvation Army has been charging $7.99 and up lately for Lalaloopsy dolls, even without shoes.

The articulated dolls are Fashionistas I think...

...plus one Liv.

This guy isn't jointed, but he's brand new and complete.

I love the Tinkerbelle dolls. I was afraid this one had had a haircut, but no. Her hair is always like this.

The little Chelsie friend is so cute.

And this tiny football helmet will look great in a dollhouse kid's room. It's even detailed inside, and has a tiny chin strap!

I'm not sure what I'll do with this 1/6 scale wooden table and chairs set, but it was worth $1.50.

Ken says there is something else coming in the mail. Hmm...? A body for Michael Caine perhaps? That would be cool.

 That lone head is freaking people out.

Birth, Death, Growth, and The Return of Skipper Saturday

  Some of you may have been confused as to the order of the last few Doll-A-Day posts. I had three ready to post when all the recent events started happening. They got posted all at once afterward, just because they were there. Then I noticed they were in the wrong order, and I attempted to correct that by putting them back in draft and reposting them. They were being stubborn and refused to go where they were supposed to. As that wasn't my biggest concern at the time, I gave up. Somehow with all that they got sort of mixed in with the other posts and some of you may be thinking, :How was she messing with those posts at a time like that?!" Well, I wasn't. It just all got mixed up with all the removing and reposting.
  I've been hemming and hawing over returning to the blog. Do I start Doll-A-Day again? Do I wait? Or do I just let that boat sail completely? Should I at least do Skipper Saturday as a regular thing? The page views are higher today, so are people looking for my Skipper posts? (Those of you who have been regular readers ought to know better than to look for the day's post early in the day!) I've been trying to be 'normal' after Dad's passing, but whenever I do 'normal' things, I feel I shouldn't be yet. When is it ok to go back to normal? I had this same problem when my mother passed away. But hers was sudden, so I hadn't had time for early grieving. I feel as if I have already been grieving for a long time, which I have because I started months ago when Dad's health started to fail. My sister is having a hard time. It only fully hit her last night. Maybe it will hit me like that out of the blue one day, but I think I will just continue in my funk for a long time. But I've been trying to ease back into doing the things I always do and carry on. So I decided to post a Skipper today.That will be a separate post, so make sure to check it out.
     Ken's nephew became the father of a baby boy recently.Yesterday I was shopping for baby clothes. I miss having little ones. Mine are so big now, and NONE of them want to have children. I kind of feel like I made having children look as if it was no fun, for them to feel that way. (Which it was. I LOVED having kids.)They assure me that's not the case. They just don't like kids and/or don't want to have to take care of any. Fuzz says it's because kids are horrible, especially babies. He said babies are hard to deal with.I tried to tell him that babies are easy. It's when they become teenagers that they become difficult! It's so much easier when they are little, and you can keep them with you, safe and happy. When they get bigger and start going out into the world, where you can't always know where they are and that they are safe, and having problems that you can't solve for them; that's when it's hard.
  Our giveaway winner, London Peony has contacted me with her address, so she will be receiving her miniature checker set very soon. Thanks for entering London.

"Crown me!" says Leptospurmum.

I'm considering doing a Christmas giveaway, but this time somebody needs to give London Peony some competition, otherwise she'll be over run with cool stuff I'm giving away. Come on people! Doesn't anybody else want to play with me?
  In other news, as they say, my pear tree is full of baby pears...

...my tomato plants are getting bigger...

...and I think that corn I planted is finally starting to come up.

Corn?

I just hope it's not too late. The mulberries, which are usually finishing up by this time, are starting to get ripe, and, as usual, my garlic is threatening to take over the yard!

The computer insists on loading this one sideways. But you get the idea...

 The garlic is only rivaled by the the wild strawberries, which, unfortunately, are inedible.

Gol durned wild strawberries have flourished, whereas my edible strawberries, that I paid money for, died out.Figures.

Oddly enough, the leeks, which NEVER get full sized anyway, are starting to seed already, as is the garlic. What?! 

My puny leeks. That pointy thing at the top will soon be a ball of tiny blooms, which will drop utterly worthless leek seeds back into the ground, where they will not grow next year.

There's a pumpkin plant, (or is it cucumbers?) growing of it's own accord amongst the Myrtle.

This is sideways too, but you would never have known if I hadn't told you.

 I still have Amaryllis' blooming, but the Rose of Sharon and the Sweet Peas are taking their time. The tiny blue flowers I used for a lot of doll photos lately are, I think, Forget-Me-Nots.(Now that I think about it, I did have a packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds. I must have sprinkled them there.)

 Emma commented how fitting that is, considering they are growing at the edge of our 'pet cemetery'.
  So, lots of growing going on, but whether or not it produces anything remains to be seen. I'm famous for my black thumb,so I'm not counting on anything.
   Anyway, I have done some yard saling the last couple of days. It looks like Monster High,and Lalaloopsy dolls are beginning to hit the yard sales in a big way. I snagged 2 full size Lalaloopsies, (Ok. One of them was naked.),a mini, a plush, and several pets this weekend.

  Just to update on my recent cheese related injury: I am still limping and the toe is still swollen and still hurts, but it's almost back to it's normal colour. And you thought fats and cholesterol were the biggest dangers of cheese...
  Check out today's other post for Skipper Saturday.
 

Doll-A-Day 125: Alice in Lalaloopsyland and the Wacky Hatter

  Today we're continuing with Alice week with a Mini Lalaloopsy set, Alice in Lalaloopsyland and the Wacky Hatter.

  I liked the look of the Lalaloopsy dolls when they first came out. I didn't buy any for a while though. I wanted this set when I saw it because it was not only so cute, but it was Alice, one of my favourite things.

I was lucky enough to nab this one for my birthday last year, just before they disappeared from the stores altogether.

I think they did a pretty good job with this set. Alice is in the traditional blue and white, with blonde hair, but she has the striped stockings from Through the Looking Glass.

They carry the theme of cards or diamonds,spades,clubs, and hearts on several of the pieces.

Remember, Alice met the Red Queen, went to the trial of the Knave of Hearts, and the fellows painting the white roses red so they don't get in trouble with the Red Queen, are, in fact, cards themselves.At the trial of the Knave of Hearts Alice ends the trial (and pretty much the book),by declaring the courtroom's occupants  "nothing but a pack of cards!", at which point they all turn into cards and fly at her.

‘Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’

I also thought the pets were well chosen: a white rabbit and a cat.

The cat may be the Cheshire Cat, or maybe the character Alice's cat Dinah. (The real Dinah was the pet cat of Alice's sister Ina.)

Another good choice for The Wacky Hatter might have been a dormouse that would have fit in an oversized teapot, since The Dormouse was at the mad tea party and, as Alice leaves, the Mad Hatter and The March Hare are shoving the poor Dormouse in the tea pot.

Some trivia for you: The idea of a 'mad' hatter, and the phrase 'mad as a hatter' come from the fact that in the era the book was written, haberdashers,(At the time a term for hat makers.) used mercury nitrate in the production of felt for making hats. Exposure to the fumes over a prolonged period of time caused many workers to develop a tremor known as hatters' shakes,and/or a dementia characterized by 'pathological shyness' and irritability. The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland doesn't seem to have a problem with shyness, but he takes the prize for irritability!

The beautiful Mad Hatter by R. John Wright, which I do not own, is a somewhat more congenial looking fellow than the character in the book.

 The Hatter wasn't the only disturbed guest at the tea party. "Mad as a March Hare" is another common phrase used to denote someone who acts erratically. The phrase is derived from the spring mating behaviour of European hares, which is described by Wikipedia thusly:
"This odd behaviour includes boxing at other hares, jumping vertically for seemingly no reason and generally displaying abnormal behaviour." I have seen our old bunny Gabriel and our current bunny Jerome do the vertical jump for no apparent reason. It's the cutest thing ever.

A real dormouse actually looks more like a hamster, with a long furry tail,than a mouse.

It's found mostly in Europe, but also in Africa, and Asia, and it really does sleep alot: up to 3/4 of it's life. In fact, the word dormouse comes from the Anglo-Norman dormeus, which means 'sleepy one'. The name was eventually changed in common usage to 'dormouse'.

A dormouse sleeping in a rose. Photo by Richard Austin.

The dormouse was considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, as a savory or a sweet, dipped in honey and poppy seeds. Blah! They are still a popular food in Slovenia, and the bowl full of cooked whole dormice I saw while researching online looked disgusting!
  And while we're at it, (What are we at?), why does Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter look like Elijah Wood?

Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter 'totally looks like' Elijah Wood.

 Sort of back to the subject at hand, I also don't own R. John Wright's magnificent Red Queen...

But I have seen her in person at a couple of doll shows. She's huge, and very impressive.

...or his gorgeous Alice...

 ...or his other gorgeous Alice with the baby that turned into a pig...

Someday when I'm a millionaire I will own them all...

Tomorrow we'll see another Alice...but not an R. John Wright one.