My Christmas List for 2016

  While I started off ahead of things this Christmas season, I have ended up falling behind. I have all my shopping wrapped, but there are still a few things I need to buy. I have been working hard on getting rid of alot of things, and so hadn't devoted time to getting a space cleared for a Christmas tree, until just the other day. For the past several years there has been less and less interest around here in having a tree. When I could roust everybody out the door to buy one,there was nothing but arguing getting it in the house. Then nobody wanted to help decorate it. All Ken and Ivy were interested in was the lights, and no matter how many strings we put on, it was never enough to satisfy Ken, who insists no ornaments can be hung until all the lights are in place. That meant the decorating couldn't start until Ken approved the amount of lights, which he never does. I eventually have to just start hanging ornaments, and listen to Ken gripe that there aren't enough lights, all the way up to Christmas. Ken and Ivy normally hang a half dozen ornaments and leave the rest of the job to me,but this year Iwas on my own with the decorating. The angel has always been Emma's job. She doesn't live with us anymore, so for the last few years she only managed to get over and put the angel on right before Christmas. Until then, we were bare topped. This year she lives in another town, so that means no angel until Christmas,but she'd be very hurt if we did it any other way. And then there's the traditional 'nobody wants to undecorate the tree' too, followed by, 'nobody wants to help me take it out after Christmas either'.
  This year Ivy kept asking "Do we have to have a tree?" Her vote was for some abstract version of a tree, like a huge cone or something. Number one,no. And number two,NO! I'm far too traditional for that!  
  I enjoy seeing my ornaments every year, and going over all the things the kids made over the years. remembering where each ornament came from. (My sentimental linking of Christmas ornaments to family, friends, events, and places is something few have ever seemed to have 'gotten'. Over the years the fact that an ornament from somebody was a special gift never seemed to sink in.)Since I had to decorate the tree by myself this year I started with the most sentimental things and ran out of room. So it's covered only with things the kids made, things my niece made when she was little, a couple I made in second grade, one I've had since childhood,and special ornaments that were gifts from relatives and friends over the years,plus one Elf on the Shelf type guy that came with the house.He's been a part of the festivities in this house for longer than we have, so he went up. I am still hoping to get out my elves given to me by my cousin, and my dad, and the ones I bought on vacation as a kid.I have a miniature stocking my mom gave me one year, and one ornament 'from' my dad. Dad wasn't much of a shopper and usually gave me money once I became a teenager.Christmas eve a few years ago we were visiting Dad in the nursing home, and he opened the gift given to him by the nursing home Santa. There was a shiny red snowflake gift tag with a ribbon on it, and Dad handed it to me and said,"You can have that." So I chose to consider it my Christmas gift from Dad, since he couldn't give me one any other way. It makes a pretty ornament and keeps Dad part of my Christmas. It was the last gift he gave me.
   And now I present:
        My Christmas List for 2016
  This list is partially for Ken's benefit, so he knows what I want,so some of it may not interest you. Case in point, we'll start with the non doll items:

The 2 disc special edition Blu Ray version of Ron Howard's Beatles touring documentary Eight days A Week. I missed it at the theatre and didn't want to pay to see it on Hulu when that's just watching it on tv any way. I held out to have the money spent on the BluRay.
  And then there's:

The live album of the Kate Bush concerts that I, and most of the world, missed a couple of years ago. I would have preferred the vinyl version, but it's twice as much as the CD. Now if she would just put out a DVD!
  Next comes this Charles Dickens biography:

I am sure to get this, because I put it in the cart, and it's been in the bedroom for months.
  I still don't have this 2014 album:

I would prefer it on vinyl too, and brand new vinyl versions are still fairly reasonable.
  I still need the series "Frasier" on DVD.

It's one of my favourites, and it won't be on Netflix forever!
  I haven't gotten a chance to read the Johannes Cabal book I got for Christmas last year, but I'm working on it. At least I started it!And when I finish it I will need:

and...

One of these is actually the first book, so that would be nice...
   I've been going easy on play line dolls the past year. They're affordable, and there are several I like, but I never actually buy them. Recently I've seen a couple of Project Mc2 dolls I like from the latest line. My favourite is this version of Ember:

 There is another Ember at the moment, but this one is more jointed and the other isn't nearly as pretty as this one. That's a shame, because she's much cheaper than this one, and I don't really need Garden Ember's experiment.
  I also like I also like the Disney Store exclusive mini Merida.

She's a tiny version of the Animator's Collection toddler dolls I love! She's even on sale right now for $15.99.You can buy her HERE.
  Another doll I really like is Marinette from Miraculous. I like both versions,(One has a lady bug costume on.), but I prefer this one:

 I first saw her at Target, but she's everywhere now.
  Now for the out of the question doll wishes. These are pretty much just fantasy things, but I put them on here anyway.

I still love Diana Effner dolls, and this Maru and Friends Savannah doll is on my list of wants. I was very pleased with my Maru doll. the quality and beauty of these dolls is wonderful. But Savannah has red hair! Maru and Friends dolls are available at the shop in Florida and online at Maru and Friends.
  Another beautiful Effner doll on my list is the unattainable Little Darlings dolls, like this one:

I am willing to settle for one of the smaller, cheaper, but similar, Heartstrings dolls. I especially like this one:

This is Simply Jackie.Heartstrings doll are only available online from Jo's Doll Shoppe.   I would have preferred the little boy that looks just like her, but they seem to be out of him.
  I also still want a Garden Patience from Tonner.

I have a Prom Patience, and she's nice. However, she doesn't have any decent clothes, because I bought her nude, and she has dark hair. Beautiful Garden Patience is a red head,and also wigged, so she can be whatever you feel like at the moment. She is also from a few years ago and now is VERY expensive. The Patience line disappeared for a while, and Tonner brought her out again this year. I was disappointed that none of the new dolls were red heads though. They did put out a red wig for Patience.
Another doll still on my want list is Raggedy Riley by Helen Kish.

She's from several years ago, and,as with Garden Patience, out of my price range. 
Continuing on the older dolls that are out of my price range but they are on my fantasy list, there's Creamsicle Lark, also by Helen Kish.

There are several Lark's, but this is my favourite, except maybe for:

 ...the equally unattainable Lark of the High Seas.
  I have an Agnes Dreary, but I still need a Viktor Dreary to go with her. There are several Viktor's. This one is just plain old Viktor Dreary.

And there is this one:

This one is Little Mister Melancholy.

And this more unusual one:

He's not called Odd One Out for nothing.

The only one I don't really care for is this one:

They named this guy right: Hide and Go Creep.

But these all came out ages ago and the Agnes line has been discontinued. They're out there though.
  And those are my big wants for the year. Have a happy holiday season everybody!

My Christmas List

  If you've been reading the blog you'll know I am locked in a never ending, but once a year, battle with the leaf sucker truck. This year, as usual, I raked all my leaves, (and the leaves of the entire neighborhood, which blow into the hedges at the side of my house), the miles and miles down the street to the tree line in front of my house, where I then wait for the leaf sucker truck to never come...so my leaves can then kill all the grass in my tree line and make the ground far too lumpy to mow without getting a hernia...which is then punctured by ramming the mower into my stomach when it suddenly gets stuck on lumps of uneven ground...which is caused by the piles of never picked up leaves.(Shew!)And you'll know that we had unexpected and unseasonal snow and below freezing temperatures this past week. That stole my last hope of the leaf sucker truck coming. But lo and behold, on Friday I heard a loud obnoxious noise which went on so long I realized it was not some big overgrown vehicle waiting at the traffic light that is almost in front of my house, but was, indeed, THE LEAF SUCKER TRUCK! They actually came, and sucked up all our snow covered leaves out of the tree line! Amazing! We were left with a bare green tree line amongst the snow covered ground. Then yesterday the weather warmed up and it rained, so all the other snow was gone too.But the amazing thing is, they actually came and took our leaves. That almost never happens. Either the world is about to end, or my life is going to change into some sort of fairy tale.Anyway...
  The holidays are fast approaching. That means it's time to look at my Christmas list again! Amazingly, before I finished this list I actually managed to get one of the dolls on it! I'll tell you which one at the end.
  This year's list is mostly just a fantasy list. These are dolls I would love to have, but due to their prices, I will almost certainly never get. It's nice to dream though. (Who am I kidding?! It's so much better to actually get the stuff than it is to dream about it!)
  Top of the list is definitely this guy, Hamish by Wilde Imagination.


  This is Hamish as Peter Pan,a limited edition of 250.

  As far as I know there have only been four Hamish dolls sold: Peter is one.
Also this Hamish, which was a limited edition of 300...

He has teeth! Aww!!(All the Hamish's do, but I'm just pointing it out.)

 Little Gardener Hamish, a limited edition of 125...

and Trick or Treat Hamish, a limited edition of 75.

  For a change my tastes don't run to the absolute most expensive of the lot! I don't even like the most rare one, Trick or Treat Hamish. (Dead Hamish: That's just creepy.)Unfortunately, my most favourite is not the most available either. I think my very favourite is Peter Pan, since he has brown eyes and dark brown hair. In a pinch I would settle for any of the regular three though! (Just not Trick or Treat.)
   My next doll should probably be referred to as a 'figure', because he's a guy thing. It's the 12" Micheal Caine as Alfred from Batman, by Hot Toys.

How amazing is this thing?! This is a doll!

Micheal Caine is one of my favourite actors, and this doll is an incredible likeness.

Want!!

This doll is over $200 though. BUT, there is a possibility here. You can buy JUST THE HEAD! Then I could put the head on a cheaper body...maybe. Hey, I'm willing to try it.
Next on my list is an absolutely unattainable 'want'. I love the Little Darlings dolls by Dianna Effner.

She's beautiful.
I spotted this guy online.I think he's a Boneka doll.

Not only does he have that cute face sculpt, he's a little boy, and a red head too!But why is he wearing shoes from the disco era?

He's an Effner sculpt, but is he a Little Darling? I'm confused about the whole Little Darlings/Boneka thing.
Since a basic, nude doll is somewhere around $300 to $400 I know I'm never going to get one.I would settle for the vinyl, ball jointed  Ashton Drake Mary Mary Quite Contrary, my first choice, or Little Red Riding Hood.

This is Red. Mary has the same head sculpt, but she's a red head.

Marry Mary Quite Contrary, why are you so expensive?

 Ashton Drake also previously did porcelain dolls of the same characters, but with different Dianne Effner head sculpts and completely different costumes.They are all cute, but I prefer the warm look and smooth feel of vinyl.
The Ashton Drake Alice is also on my list.She's Effner too,and from the same series as Little Red and Mary Contrary, but the sculpt is different.

She's Alice and a Dianna Effner sculpt, two things I love.
If those are all too hard to get,(Which they are.), I would settle for a Maru and Friends Savannah doll.

They're actually too expensive for me too.

She's an Effner sculpt too,and closely resembles the Little Darlings faces. She looks a bit older. Maybe she's an older sister.She's actually about 21" tall.I prefer the smaller size of the Little Darlings, or the ball jointed posability of the fairy tale characters,but beggars can't be choosers, as they say. In fact, I'm not so choosey that I wouldn't take a Maru and friends Jamie if Savannah was unavailable...

They have the same head sculpt, and I actually prefer Jamie's hazel eyes, even though I prefer Savannah's hair.

Another 'too expensive' doll on the list is Raggedy Riley by Helen Kish.

She's from 2006, so she's not too readily available...or affordable.

I love her hair.She's not as posable as a Contempo Riley, but she doesn't have scary pale eyes like some Rileys do, and she has that hair. Maybe someday I can find a cheapo Contempo, (Yeah right.), and change the hair.
Finally we come to the last 'too expensive' doll on the list. (I'm totally ignoring any R. John Wright or Maggie Iacono dolls, because they are so far out of range I can't even see them.)

Oh yeah. There they are. R. John Wright's Mad Hatter and Alice...

...and R. John Wright's Sugar Christmas Mouse.Stop the cuteness! $570! There. Cuteness at least contained.

Maggie Iacono's Alice with the card guys was around $1600! Never mind.

Anyway, the doll that is actually on my list is Patience by the Tonner company.

This is my favourite,Garden Patience,but, again, beggars can't be choosers. I would take...

...Glinda Patience...

...Through the Woods Patience...

...Perfect Patience...

...Tokyo Patience...

...Dorothy Patience...

...Ahoy Patience...

...Prom Patience...

...And of course there's an Alice Patience too!

 I'm not picky really!Any Patience will do.As I said though, my preference would be Garden Patience, with her red hair in bangs, and pink lips. Plus I think Patience looks better with blue eyes. My other choices would lean to Glinda, Ahoy, or Alice.
I got to see Patience in person at the doll show recently, and she's much smaller than I imagined her. She has googly eyes that roll back and forth when she's moved. She's also very poseable.

Now if we're talking about dolls that are actually even close to affordable, there's Journey Girls Kelsey.

I prefer this one, with the sweater.but since she's not in the stores anymore and a second hand one costs about as much or more than a new one, I'll take whatever I can get. I am kicking myself because I actually left behind a Journey Girls Dana at Salvation Army recently. I thought she was over priced at $6.99, since I thought she had had a haircut. Nooo. Dana's hair just looks like that.
  I also would like to have the first Ever After High Madeline Hatter.

I collect Alice dolls, and this would fit in that line. I really want this particular one though,with these shoes and the polka dot tights, but since she's from the first wave of Ever After high dolls she's going to be harder to find. (Tip to Ken: they have two of them at Rural King...)
  I would love to have one of the small Mooshka dolls.

 And there was a really cool articulated red haired doll in the Pirate Fairy Tinkerbell line. I only saw her once, so I can't be sure, but I think it was the Rosetta one I loved.
  Of course, there are other things on my list: The ever popular black socks, a new night gown, a programme from the recent Kate Bush concerts,etc. But you don't want to hear about that stuff.
  And which doll did I manage to get before the list was finished? It was Patience! I was able to get a 'cheap', naked Patience online.(Being as it's Patience, she was still not that cheap.) She is the Patience that would definitely have been my last choice as she came. But, what have I been saying?And anyway,I've warmed to her a lot. We'll see which Patience I got tomorrow.