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.

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!

Recent Acquisitions: Tonner Ron Weasley

  First of all, I'd really like to hear from our giveaway winner about the prize's arrival. So if Miss L Spooky would drop us a comment and let me know she received it I would appreciate it.
  This is a 'recent acquisition' that I actually got online, not from a yard sale or thrift store. He was such a good price I couldn't pass him up. He's Tonner's Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series of dolls.

Ron is 12" tall.

 I think he was released in 2010. He was a limited edition of 5000, which is not that limited.

He has the same body as Tonner's Marley,Agnes Dreary and Patience dolls.

In addition to the standard joints he has jointed ankles,wrists,knees and elbows,as well as an upper body joint.

And he comes with a spare hand containing his wand.

I love his Hogwarts uniform. The clothes are well made too.

The sweater, or, since he's British, the jumper, (Over here a jumper is a dress.), closes in the back with snaps.

 He has a beautifully hand painted face.

His tie is askew. I had trouble keeping it straight, but I think that's in character for Ron.

Must be a windy day at Hogwarts.

His pants even have a tiny zipper.

His little shoes lace up!

I LOVE these shoes!

But the lining of his pants is drooping below the bottom of the pants.

The doll is a great likeness of Rupert Grint, the actor who played Ron in all the Harry Potter movies.

Rupert as he looked in the first H.P. movie

Slightly older Rupert.

Well, I think so. Ivy says he looks more like actor Asa Butterfield.

 He does look a bit like him.

All you Asa Butterfield fans out there, customize your dolls now.   

But he still has a very Rupert Grint face.

The hair is a bit too long and thick though. He would look a lot more like movie-Ron with a bit of a hair cut.

I might give him a hair cut.

I think the Ron looks more like the actor who played him than the Harry doll, and way more than the Hermione.

The wig on this doll is really soft.
I love the skin tone on these Tonner dolls. It's very realisitic looking.

  The Ron character in the books was wonderful. He was funny. He was probably my favourite character.He had a lot more to do in the books than the character did in the movies. In fact, as the movies went along they gave Ron less and less to do until he almost disappeared completely. It was such a shame, because a lot of the humour went with him. (Not to mention one of the most horrifying and sad scenes in any Harry Potter book, which takes place in the Ministry of Magic and involves a tank and a 'brain'.) Another reason the deleting of Ron was such a pity is that Rupert Grint was such a talented child actor. I would have bet money that he would have been the one of the main three that would have had a career beyond 'Harry Potter'. He hasn't been nearly as popular or busy as the other two though. I suppose he might have if he had been considered as attractive as Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson.(And for all you people out there 'shipping' Harry and Hermione, just...stop it.) Rupert has made quite a few films and recently made his well received Broadway debut in "It's Only a Play".