Nature, Animals, (Including One Amazing Spot!), Bakery Goodies, and a Few Dolls

  Ken and I have been going offfor our Fun Day lately, and trying to enjoy some nature.

  We visited this park a few weeks ago. 

  The idea was to let Ken cook out while enjoying the beauty of nature. Of course, by the time we got to the area where the park was, and stopped and grabbed some food for the picnic, as we were going from the store to the car, it began to POUR rain. So Ken couldn't cook out. Luckily I had bought things that didn't need cooking, like pasta salad, cheese, and cooked eggs with peppercinis, and Ken had bought potato salad. So we shared and survived, eating at the park from the relative dryness of our car. We had stopped at the Amish bakery that morning, so we even had dessert.

Finally got that nasty beard off Ken's face!

   The pictures above are from the gorge overlook. By the time we could look, Ken couldn't be bothered to get out of the car. I hobbled down myself and looked. 

  We went back last week too because we had seen some berries growing the week before. We wanted to see if they were ripe. We thought they were black raspberries, which Emma LOVES. And black raspberries are hard to find in stores and really expensive. The frozen ones I bought for Emma's bridal shower cake last summer cost $40! So we went to the park again, and a lot of them had ripened.

   It was really hot. The car air conditioner isn't working, so I wore my sun hat tightly on my head so we could have the windows down and I wouldn't be blinded by flying hair.

Tammy World wore her sun hat too.

My left arm got sunburned. (Don't ask me how I only sunburned one arm.) We had to beware of the poison ivy, which was everywhere, and the thorns, which were mostly in my arms.  But we picked a bunch of berries. More on that in a minute.

Tammy wanted to help. "But you didn't bring a basket."

"Not a problem."

   We still haven't taken the walk down to the other overlook point, because our leg/ankles/backs haven't been up to it! On this day my leg and feet were really bad by the time we finished picking berries and eating. Ken wasn't doing too great, but he did hobble over to the overlook point I had gone to the week before. Hopefully, if we go again, we'll both be in a fit state to walk down to the other point.  While we were in the park we saw a bunch of groundhogs, out eating in the grass. I saw a couple of chipmunks run across the road at different spots. Two little spotted fawns came out of the grass at the edge of the road through the park. They seemed to be alone. Then their mother stuck her head out and rounded them up and back into the bushes. Later, as we were leaving two more little fawns came out at a different spot, and then jumped back in. Probably the same misbehaving kids! As we were leaving, down the 2 mile road to the gorge overlook where we had been, I saw a deer up on the slope next to us. She started to run, and I was driving slowly, as the rules say. We traveled together until the deer, who had been going gradually higher and higher on the slope, disappeared over the top.  

  But the best thing happened on the way to Emma's to drop off the berries. Not only did we see a lot of deer, including this one that crossed the road ahead of us as we entered the edge of a tiny town. When we got up to where it had crossed, it was just standing in somebody's yard, eating.

But before that we saw the best thing ever. We were driving along on a country road. I saw something at the side of the road that looked strange. There were no cars behind me, so I slowed down. As we got very close I saw what it was, and started yelling, "Bald eagle! Bald eagle! Bald eagle! Bald eagle!" The bald eagle was at the edge of the road, eating a dead deer. It didn't take off until we were quite close. Then it lifted and flew off, across a field. I could see it's white tail very clearly. It flew across the field and landed on top of a dead tree. It was so cool!!! 

  I only had my phone, and it doesn't zoom in very well. It all happened so fast, I couldn't get a picture until it was on top of the tree. That made my day though!!

   So we dropped half of the berries off with Emma. She said they were blackberries. I have to admit, we tasted some as we were picking them, and some of them tasted like black raspberries, and some, the bigger ones, didn't. I assumed there were just two kinds of berries growing close together. 

  So, since Emma didn't approve the berries, we went this week to another park, where some ladies had told me years ago that that is where they pick black raspberries. But first we stopped at the bakery and got our cream filled thingies again. They are filled with real cream, which you don't get any more. Then we went to the Amish bin store for 25 cent day. It's a weird place for a bin store. It's in the country, back a gravel road. This is what was right behind where I parked.

  My phone camera didn't capture it, but the light hit that section of the field where the curved furrows are, making it lighter than the rest of the field, and all the colour was so bright and crisp.. All it needed was a yellow brick road.

  After that we went to the other park, and Ken cooked out in the light rain that kept coming and going. There were berries. We both tasted them, and agreed they tasted like black raspberries. Of course, we delivered them to Emma, and she later sent me a message and said they were also blackberries.

  After we left Emma's we went to a nearby town and had ice cream at the Indian ice cream place. (So, I guess we had kulfi, not ice cream.)

Ken had pistachio and mango, with something else in between. I forget what it was.

Falooda and another one. I had almost eaten all of by this point.

   From there we went to a small antique mall. I was determined to keep walking and get some exercise, because lately I have had so much pain and problem with my leg, knee, back, and feet, that I feel like I am fading away. When I'm home I do very little most of the time, because the pain is too much. I mowed the grass and spent the next two days letting my leg stop hurting beyond belief and start working properly again. If I'm home and I start hurting, I give in, and sit down, or lay down, depending on how bad my back hurts. I have been actually getting a little scared lately that I'll soon not be able to do anything. As I told Ken, in the antique place, the anticipation of what might be around the corner helps keep me going longer than I might otherwise. So I hobbled around the small antique mall.    After leaving there we went back through Emma's town on the way home, and stopped at another small antique mall. I did see a couple of things that might interest all of you. One was this doll.

  The tag says it's a 1966 Cintage P.M. Sales Peter Pan doll. The doll looks right, from what I see online, but not that outfit. I think that's homemade. The doll also reminds me of  a couple of dolls I posted a few years ago. That eye make-up is familiar. 

  I liked this doll, but I was good and left he there.

  In case you're wondering, she was $10.

  When we got home I was hurting so badly that I didn't know if I was going to make it through my shower. I took the next day to let the pain subside. I can't keep doing this though. I hope this leg thing changes soon. It's been on and off for years now, and it's only becoming more of a problem. The thing is, it can disappear just as quickly as it came.

  See you soon.

  

Doll-A-Day 2023 #353: Red Haired Hillbilly

   Okay. I have a weakness for these vintage hillbilly dolls. I have a couple from when I was a kid. My parents were from Kentucky, and every summer we spent two weeks in Kentucky, visiting relatives. Dolls like this guy were sold at souvenir shops there. I used some of my vacation money to buy my hillbillies. You can see them, and another I bought s a grown up, HERE.

  Today's guy is about 11 or 12 inches tall. 

  He's pretty typical of this type of doll. He has a scraggly beard, cliche' hillbilly overalls, and bare feet.

And of course, a floppy hat. This one is a faux straw. Another thing that was common is the nylon string in his hat. I don't know if these guys have the string to hang them by once you've bought them, or because they were hung on a rack in the store.

  

He has crossed straps on the back of his overalls..

He has a very serene look on his face.

He appears to have originally been holding something. I'm guessing, from seeing so many of these dolls, that it was a 'moonshine' jug. That might account for his serene look.

 

He has stitched in toes on his bare feet.

  You can see another pair of my hillbilly dolls that are different from this guy, HERE.

That's the doll for, well, not the day. Let's say, for number 353. There will be three other posts today, at least. We're steamrollering through posts to catch up with the days for the end of the year.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #338: Marx or Miner Dollhouse Family

   Today's doll is a whole family.

I think they're by Marx, but, while these guys abound on the internet, most people don't seem to know who they were made by. I can see why: They don't seem to have any markings on them. Maybe those are under their clothes. I think they're from the 60's. They could be 1970's.

UPDATE: I found them online, in their original box. While they may have been sold by various companies, the boxed set I found was the 'Bend-A-Family' by Miner Industries of New York, and made in Hong Kong.

  They're standard dollhouse size. The adults are about 6 inches tall. The kids are about 2 and a half inches tall.

 The mom has teeny tiny buttons on the front of her dress.

  They're made of rubber, and have wires inside for posing.

Her legs are a bit wonky.

There are two kids, a little boy, in blue and white gingham, and a little girl in pink, (that might have originally been red), and white gingham.

 

The girl had a red skirt, and the boy had blue shorts.

He looks like he's saying, "Whaaatt?!"

The dad has a glued on shirt and pants, and badly done tie.

  I ran across these guys in storage the other day. They aren't the cleanest, so sorry for the grime!

  That's it for today. See you for the next doll tomorrow, or maybe tonight!

  

Doll-A-Day 2023 #324: Hong Kong Liddle Kiddles Clone

   Today's doll is another Fuzz rescued from someone's trash with a bunch of vintage things. She's this tiny girl.

She's obviously a clone of Mattel's Liddle Kiddles, and not a bad one at that. She's a couple of inches or so tall, and has a very Kiddles face and eyes, and the same style body.

Like the other doll Fuzz rescued, she needs a bit of a clean up.

She's obviously a clone though, because she's marked Hong Kong. If she were a real Kiddle she'd be Japan.

She has red hair in two ponytails, and a blue polka dot dress that's glued shut. To wash it, I'd have to rip is apart and take it off. Real Kiddles had removable clothing.

  Kiddles were rubber with wires armatures for posing. This girl seems to be the same, but she doesn't bend very well.

She has a strange tall pair of plastic undies.

  

Pardon my nasty fingernails. I've never been very good at having nice nails.

  That's today's doll. Tomorrow you may begin to see some bombardment of posts, in an effort to catch up for the year. Look out.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #323: Baby Wee Winkies Doll

   Today's doll is a tiny girl that Fuzz gave me.

 Fuzz rescued this girl from someone's trash, along with a bundle of vintage Christmas wrapping paper and Halloween cutouts, and other old stuff.

  She's only a couple of inches tall, not counting that huge ponytail topknot. (It looks weird because half the ponytail flips over the front.)

 

  Weirdly, she has a paper label glued across the front of her that says Baby Wee Winkies. I've looked them up, but all that comes up is Shirley Temple in Wee Willie Winkie! So all I know is that she looks very 1960's.

And she says Japan on the back of her head.

Oh, and she's a pin!

Here you can see that that is a ponytail on her head, just with  a piece flopped over. Her hair is blue, and it looks more blue because her scalp is painted blue.

She needs a little clean up. Her blue hair could be brighter.

  Her head turns, but the rest of her is all one piece.

Her lower body is skirt shaped!

  That's today's doll. We're coming down the the wire, People! I'm going to be playing catch-up this week, trying to get back on schedule with the year before it reaches it's end! So there are going to be multiple posts some days. I hope I don't overwhelm you! See you tomorrow.

 

Doll-A-Day 2023 #320: Snowman

   I know. I'm another day behind for the year. My computer was being so slow and not loading pages and not letting me do anything last night. So it wasn't even worth trying to do anything with it. So today I'm back, with more catching up to do! It's also the day for the Doll Book of the Month Club, which WILL be posted, along with last month's post! So, you get a bonus today! 

  Today's doll is this little fellow.

  I've had this little guy since I was a kid. He comes out every Christmas. I spotted him still sitting out in our bedroom last week and had to bring him back and give him a bath. He was a bit sooty, and still doesn't look very white, but he's better, and at least he's not melted!

   I bought him when I was a kid. They were Christmas decorations, not toys I think.  I bought two sets of these snowmen. There were two in each set, and an accessory. I don't remember what the other accessory was, but I know one of the sets came with a sled, made of  a slab of plastic peppermint with candy cane runners. There were two yellow and orange snowmen, and a green and pink one, and a red and pink one. One of them at least is in a sitting position so he could ride the sled. The others are packed up, so this guy was all alone.

He's about 3 or 3 1/2 inches tall, and made of soft hollow rubber. His head can turn, and his arms can move.

   When I got them, I thought they looked cold, being in the snow, (and made of it!), so I made them scarves. 

  I totally forgot that they all have hats! The yellow ones have yellow stocking caps with white pom poms on the ends, the red one had a red hat, and I haven't seen the green one's hat for a while. I think it's pink. This guy's hat is actually here. It was in the box for the Christmas stockings. That was brought here early on because I needed to clean the stockings and put them away. But I forgot to put it on him for his photos. It's a bit  stiff, and doesn't stay on very well. Originally the hats were glued on, but of course, I had to take them off!

  

  I bought these snowmen on vacation in Kentucky one summer. That's how I got a set of my Christmas elves too. They must have kept Christmas stuff around for ages in those stores!

  He's here making this room more Christmassy.

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