Good Deed part II - the gentleman returns

I spent hours sorting and researching all the dolls in the tubs. It seems like there are hundreds, but I know there really aren't that many.

Today the gentleman came back. He said 'Do you still have the dolls I gave you last week?' I said that yes, I did. He said that someone wanted the one in the long white dress. I was very nervous about that.

The tubs were tucked into a corner, piled on top of each other for space reasons. I opened the top one - and there it was! The one he had come to retrieve. It was a 'Mint'* baby he was looking for. (*Bradbury, Danbury, Franklin Heirloom, whatever - that cranked out contrived collectibles in the '80's) I was so glad it wasn't one I had become attached to.




To me, this is the most special doll in the bunch. She needs some TLC - cleaning and reattaching her wig, but she is very sweet. The top of her dress is yellowed from nicotine and I have to find out how to get it off. She's going home with me - soon. I just have to decide where I'm going to put her once she gets there. The little chair is cute, but a bit small. It's part of my collection of props I'd like to sell. We used to take elaborate pictures of the cloth SewSweet Dolls in settings with all sorts of props. Now, I'd like to sell the props, but haven't had much luck.

Dolls are kind of an affliction for me. I have tons. It isn't my intention to keep these recent donations - well, maybe just a few . . .

Antique Bible

This is a picture of a very, very old Bible with a leather cover. The cover has metal clasps on one side. Sadly, it has water damage, but it is still a treasured possession.
We are wondering if anyone call tell us what language it is in?? Please help if you can, and show it to others who might be able to help. Thanks!

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, maybe . .

You know how no good deed goes unpunished? Well - last Friday (Good Friday) an old man (by that I mean lots older than us) called and asked if I would be willing to take some dolls his wife had collected. He said he had been trying with no success, to give them to someone who would appreciate them. He sounded so sad . . I said 'sure'. He showed up a short while later with 4 huge tubs full of porcelain dolls, plus bags of plastic dolls, clothes, shoes, wigs, etc! You know how much room I have here, so I think you can picture this. He was so sweet, and appreciative; talked about his wife a little. I thanked him profusely, and gave him my sympathy in the loss of his wife, and he left.

And, there I was, barely able to get in my office, with 4 huge tubs taking up most of my floor space. My original plan was to just pass it all on to some group that could clean them up and give them to kids, but these aren't toys, they are 'collectibles'. Joey was very encouraging, even offering to sell some on Ebay. His other idea was to offer them on our web site, which would bring in more (and new) customers. A really good idea!



The dolls turned out to be mostly 'contrived collectibles' and porcelain reproductions, but . . . (naturally) there a few I actually like. One, a repro, might even make it home! So what did I say about no good deed? hmmm

So, now to Ebay to look up values. Some have numbers on them, like 4579n, which I think means that they made 10,000 for each letter of the alphabet. That's a lot of dolls. They are probably about 25 years old, which I think is new, but Joey assures me that, to a lot of people that's OLD. Who'd a thought. I think I have to keep the little Fireman. He looks very much like my Tommy, when he was little. Tom always wanted to be a fireman, and he is!


The little 'Cub' is about 4". The doll in white is a lovely, repro about 16" tall.

St. Patrick's Parade 3-13-10 - Drip Dry Dragon

Another march down Spring Road behind the Elmhurst Armpit Orchestra. I'm not sure if there is a reason why we are placed behind them, but they are fun, and entertaining and make the wait seem shorter. We typically walk at the end of the parade, because we collect recyclables. I'm not sure what they did to deserve being at the end...

It rained on our parade this year. Rain was predicted, so we came prepared with umbrellas, ponchos, etc. That kind of cancelled out all the green we were wearin'.

This is an acitvity or our church's (First Congregational UCC) Green Team. The ClutterBug is a Chinese Dragon type critter, that I made last year, to give the Green Team something interesting for the parade. It is a work in progress, growing and changing every parade. Lots of church members joined in, and we had fun. The heavy rain waited until the parade was over, but not until we got into our cars which were parked a long way from the end of the parade route. Oh well . . .

The ClutterBug marched too, with Bob, Karen and I, inside. It was snug and dry in there, but it gives an odd perspective on the parade. Basically, you can see some feet along the sides and the person in front of you - Bob in this case. His view was through the ClutterBug's nose. When I listed what I wanted to be when I grew up, a ClutterBug wasn't even a glimmer of an idea. Who'd a thought..


The ClutterBug is reclining over the tops of several folding chairs, to dry out. Some ironing will be needed, too, I think.

Dog house

This is the 3rd dog house I've built and I don't have a dog! The dog house on the house BOM quilt was bothering me. I am 'triangle challenged' as a quilter, and the little ones in the dog house did me in. I showed a close-up of the 2nd one, a while back so you could see that someone was at home, in it. So - this is the latest re-make. I've also started doing some detail stitching on the quilt top. Hope I don't ruin it.

Random Thoughts

I just noticed, on the hand dryer in our building, the following notice;

Caution
Hot surface
Avoid contact

and I thought . . . what a perfect choice of words! Concise and to the point. Think about how much time might have gone into planning those few perfect words. Think about how you would have said it . . .

Parking - my need to get a parking spot behind our building keeps me on schedule every day. There is, maybe, a 10 minute window after 8: a.m. before the lot is full. I always plan appointments for the afternoon, so that I don't have to worry about re-parking in employee lot. There is a 3 hour limit everywhere else. Recently, in one of these situations, where I re-parked, I was returning to my car, pressed the button, and - no beep! Then, just as I was about to press it again - the car beeped. I looked at the 'key', looked at the car and reached for the handle. "That's my car!" said a voice directly behind me. Ooops, she was right, of course. That's where my car was, earlier. Mine was a few slots over.

Yesterday I met an old friend

After church yesterday, we were invited to a dear friend's home for lunch, and to talk over the annual meeting, and to listen to "Irish Thunder" - a series of PBS TV shows with Irish male singers. In the series of 3 programs, we watched one young lad, Damien I think, grow up. It was delightful and I'm quite sure he is a super star. It reminded me of watching Donny Osmond grow up, but this kid did it in one afternoon.

When we arrived, and went to put our coats in Judy's guest room, I saw this adorable doll sitting on a chair. Of course, I commented on it - "Oh, what a cute doll" or something like that. Judy looked at me as said "Well it should be, YOU MADE IT!" The weird thing is that I don't have any memory of making it, but I do recognize it when I see it, and know that I did.
Sometimes I worry about my memory, or lack of it - but I think it just a case of needing more RAM - my brains are full.