Some Busy Work,Some Freezing Cold Gardening, and a Patience Photo Story

  It has been SO COLD the last couple of days. Yesterday it was about 42 Fahrenheit! (Today was not much better,at 43.) I got a lot accomplished yesterday though. Some of the plastic drawer units I keep my fabric in were getting squashed from the weight of being stacked. Ken helped me lift them and I did some rearranging so they could sit without being stacked on top of each other. Then I was able to resort my fabric drawers. That took AGES. I had them separated by pattern,(stars,polka dots,stripes,animals, flowers,fruits, period specific patterns,etc.) They had gotten a bit mixed up because I couldn't get some of the drawers open because they were squashed, so I was just sticking fabric in whichever drawers I could get open.
  In spite of the cold,I also harvested some of my leeks yesterday. I planted them years ago. They come back every year, but never get big enough to eat,and then start blooming. You may have seen the blooming leeks, (No pun intended,although they are really annoying...) on the blog. For instance,in some of the pictures of the mini Pippi I made for a Flickr friend.

You can see her whole post HERE.

  This year they are getting almost big enough to eat! I harvested a couple of young leeks that were a pretty decent size,and, accidentally, a tiny one. Ken and I both had a serving's worth last night though. Leeks are a veg that grows better in the cooler weather,so I think our really cool Spring has been just what they've been wanting.
  I also cut a few of the Hostas. Some of them were about 6 inches tall,and some weren't even that tall, but were starting to unfurl any way. It was enough for a nice little batch of them.
  On Easter I took some other pictures besides the ones of Tammy World. Doing Doll-A-Day has meant I rarely get to show you a doll more than once. Because I'm not doing it this year gives me a chance to 'play' with some dolls I haven't gotten to for a while. One of the dolls I have been looking forward to getting to do some pictures with again  is Patience. You can see her original post HERE. She posed for some pictures with a little ceramic bunny I have. I had no story in mind when I took the pictures,but as I was posting the photos on Flickr, a story just wrote itself. So here is my little story. Patience's dress is from an old 12 inch Effanbee doll, if I'm recalling correctly.
                                               Patience's Easter Adventure
 Patience went for a walk in the woods to pick some flowers...

It was very quiet in the woods.

A quiet rustle in the undergrowth caught her attention.

She couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Ah."thought Patience,"I think it's coming from over there.Hello!" she called softly.

She saw a furry little creature hiding under the leaves. She decided to sit down and pretend not to notice, in hopes that the shy animal would come forward.

Eventually, she saw him,out of the corner of her eye.

"Hello." said Patience,"Who are you?" The little rabbit's nose twitched. "You may call me Pinky." he said,"How do you do?" "I'm very well thank you." said Patience,"You may call me Patience."

Pinky and Patience picked flowers all afternoon. Pinky ate them all, but Patience didn't mind.She was glad to have made a new friend.

As the sun began to fade Patience bid Pinky goodbye,promising to come visit him again soon. "And I will come to visit you in your garden." said Pinky.

"Hmm...yes,well,maybe I should visit you." said Patience, remembering the flowers. "Very well." said Pinky,"I'll see you soon!"

And I'll see you again soon.

Doll-A-Day 301: Prom Patience

  If you read yesterday's post, you'll know I've been wanting a Patience doll, and that before I finished my Christmas List post with her on it, I managed to get a Patience. The mystery was which Patience I got. Well, here she is.

She's Prom Patience.

She originally looked like this.

Prom Patience is a limited edition of 350. She has "mink brown hair", (Looks black to me.), and blue eyes.Since her hair was meant to be in an up-do, it's not the same length all over. That's not a bad thing though. When her hair is in double ponytails, like the first picture, the short bit that was her topknot covers the back of her head nice and evenly, since she wasn't meant to have her hair parted down the back.
  I was pleasantly surprised by her hair. When I looked at a couple of Patience dolls belonging to some ladies at the recent doll show, I was told that they had both replaced Patience's wig because the hair on Patience dolls was so awful.("Just not very comb-able" was what they said, I think.) For one thing, Prom Patience is rooted, not wigged. (Maybe they meant they just replaced her hair with a wig.) For another thing, her hair is silky and smooth, and doesn't tangle easily, even if it is slightly thin. Whenever I comb it the comb glides through, and all her waves are still there. It's also the type that will never get crispy and matted.
  Another really fun thing about Patience is her 'flirty eyes'. Her eyes roll from side to side when she's moved.

She has 'real' lashes, but her eyes don't close.

This sideways thing is really getting on my nerves.

Sometimes they don't roll exactly right.

Whoops!

Sorry about this!

I bought her on line. She was in her original box and shipper box, but she was nude and her hair was down.That was ok with me, because I didn't like her in the big prom dress and tiara. It didn't seem to suit her.Since she was naked she had to have something to hang around in, so she's been lounging around in this LittleMissMatched outfit.The shirt fits perfectly. The jacket's sleeves are just a hair short, and the socks fit all snug and look really cozy. The pants, however, are quite short on her, and the shoes are way too big.
She also tried this Christmas sweater, which is actually an ornament.

I found it at Meijer recently and thought it would make a great doll sweater.

 Once home I discovered that it was sewn AND glued to the hanger. It was a trial getting it off the hanger without cutting or tearing the yarn and causing the whole thing to unravel. I'm still not sure it won't! And then getting it on Patience was also quite a job. She liked it, (The sleeves are a little short.),but she said it wasn't worth the squeeze it took.

"If I ever get this thing off I'm not putting it back on."

We both knew this outfit was only temporary, until I could find her something else to wear. I was going through some stuff we got at an auction recently and I found a couple of old 12" Effanbee dolls. Their clothes looked like they might fit, so I tried them on Patience.The blue of Little Miss Muffet's dress looks good with her eyes.

It's a hair short though.It also has a pinafore.

Patience has 14 points of articulation. She's jointed at the neck, shoulders,wrists, elbows, hips,knees, and ankles.She also has a joint in her upper body that allows her to tilt sideways.

The Effanbee socks are too big though,

Patience has small, detailed feet.

She's jointed at the ankles, but there's not much poseability there.

The only way the shoes come close to fitting is with the socks on and they are still too big.

We'll have to do a bit of looking for shoes, or maybe make some. I've been wanting to try that.
 In the end she stole the thigh high socks from a generic porcelain doll.

"These socks have been washed, right?"

The Miss Muffet outfit has a mob cap too, but she's not too sure it suits her.

 Patience was lonely, so Maudlynne Macabre came out to hang out with her. They look pretty good together. Maudlynne looks like her older sister...sort of.

Since Maudlynne is Tonner and Patience is Wilde Imagination, they are related.

Maudlynne is supposed to be 10 years old. How old does that make Patience? (She was going to the prom, after all...)

Patience is 14" tall, much smaller than I originally imagined she'd be from pictures. If her head were sized to fit her body she'd be about 12" tall.

After that one she tried on this Effanbee Little Girl With a Curl dress.

It's all one piece, even though it looks like two. There are bloomers with it too, but Patience decided to forgo those.

"I don't like the way you made that sound. I just don't like long underwear."

Maudlynne was looking so depressed that I rounded up a new dress for her too.

I stole it off a Pauline Bjonness-Jacobsen doll.

Despite the dark hair, I'm getting an 'Alice and her sister on the riverbank' thing here.

I think it looks really good on her. It suits her personality.

The blue from the dress ran on to the white collar when I washed it though.

I'll use some Color Run Remover on it. I'll save that job for my Stain Devils review. You'll be amazed.

I love Patience's articulation, although it would be nice if her ankles actually got some use out of being jointed. The movement is almost non-existant there.

 I love her crazy, rolling eyes.

I like the feel of her silky hair, and the fact that, so far, even I can't mess it up.

I might still prefer a red haired Patience, but if I never get one, (which I probably won't...Say. Didn't I say that about Patience in general?), I am enjoying this beautiful girl. 
  See you tomorrow for another doll.

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.