Category: Dolls

TOYS – CEE’S FUN FOTO CHALLENGE – Marilyn Armstrong

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things People Play With

By the time you hit your retirement years, “play with” can take on an alarming tone. The problem is that our taste in fun has not changed, but we have. So even though we used to love formula racing, our aging bodies might not be up to the split-second timing required to handle them.

Some of us collect miniatures or just plain collect. Others of us see for a less perilous path to entertainment, foregoing mountain climbing, NASCAR racing, and deep-sea diving.

Then there are the rest of us who never did that in the first place. We have to give up other things, like powerful hallucinogenic drugs which don’t work well with pacemakers.

Fortunately, there’s a whole world of other stuff to try.

I play with cameras. Photo: Garry Armstrong
Garry plays with cameras, too
I play with Robbie.
I play with dolls
And we both play with dogs!

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TRUTH IS, TRY ART – Marilyn Armstrong

Weekly Photo Challenge: Work of Art

We have tons of art in the house. I like to think we also have a fair bit of truth, but if no one seems able to define truth, how in the world do you define “art?”

Is that the stuff which is just pretty but serves no “useful” purpose … or is it anything that has a certain eye-appeal, no matter what you might want to call it.

Monochrome with red dress

I collected dolls for years and antique Chinese porcelain … and for a long time, teapots and other oddities. Some people find the dolls creepy. I love them. We have paintings and photographic prints and small items that really are pretty, but currently (in this world) useless.

Is anything that makes you feel better about life not serving a useful purpose? If it makes you feel good, isn’t that enough?

I don’t know how people manage to live in houses without any art or pictures or prints. Don’t they need the color and the motion? Something to tickle their fancy?

DOLLS IN PINK – Marilyn Armstrong

DOLLS IN PINK

Pink is such a favored color by little girls, it’s no wonder that many of the dresses for dolls were in pink — or the second favorite — purple.

Even the wall is pink! Three Toni dolls, from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s.

 

SWEET SUE – AN AMERICAN CHARACTER DOLL IN FINEST PINK – Marilyn Armstrong

Sweet Sue – I made the hat myself 

American Character was never as popular a name as Tony or Madame Alexander … or for that matter, Barbie or even Ginny. But American Character dolls had the sweetest faces for dolls of that period.

Their best-selling doll was “Sweet Sue” of which this is an original. She was extremely popular from the early 1940s until the end of the 1950s when high-heeled fashion dolls became the trend.

Okay, let me rephrase. The doll is original. Her hair is original, but her clothing shredded. I bought her a made-to-order dress. I also made her a hat because Sweet Sue always wore a hat and usually one with flowers.

Quite a few of these days came through my world and most of them, I sold, but this one, because she was not as valuable since her clothing was not original, I kept for my own. She lives on my dresser along with two Cissy dolls from Madame Alexander and one Princess Elizabeth (as in the child queen of England), also by Madame Alexander.

I have many other dolls in the room, but Sweet Sue is a favorite, with her lovely face and gentle smile.

Also, the hat is pretty cool, isn’t it?

MEET PINK CISSY FROM MADAME ALEXANDER – By Marilyn Armstrong

Pink Cissy – Madame Alexander

This is Cissy by Madame Alexander.

The dress is an original, designed and sewn by a talented woman who wanted the outfit to look just like one her mother wore to church in the 1950s. The dress under the coat perfectly matches the coat, scarf, and hat.

Meet Miss Cissy by Madame Alexander. She is wearing a homemade outfit cut from an old dress I found at the Salvation Army and sewn by an exceptionally talented seamstress.

She is an original Cissy except for her wig which is not right. Usually, you can buy replacement wigs for old dolls who wear wigs, but not for Cissy. Nothing was available anywhere. I could not find an appropriate replacement wig for her, so she is wearing a wig that at least fits her head, but is absolutely the wrong style.

Otherwise, she’s one of the original fashion dolls and quite a beauty. Also, most definitely pink.

RDP #41 – VINTAGE STUFF – Marilyn Armstrong

RDP #41 – VINTAGE

Each time I get one of these “Vintage” things, I think I should post pictures of Garry and I. We are definitely vintage, though today has been a yeoman’s effort at house cleaning — or at least cleaning the kitchen, living room, stairs, and foyer.

Photo: Garry Armstrong – circa 1928

It would have been less strenuous if Gibbs has not thought this was a great time to go swimming in the water bowl. Each time I cleaned up the gallon or two of water all over the floor, I’d turn around and there was another gallon there. And of course, the water bowl was all full of mud and the VERY clean kitchen floor had his muddy footprints on them. So you could say we have a thrice cleaned kitchen and hallway floor.

Qing dynasty rice bowl, typically used by field workers. The blue chicken is a cultural thing. The bowl is almost 200 years old — and it isn’t even close to my oldest piece of pottery.

This was the day I moved cabinets to get behind them (ew!) and under the feet (double ew!). Next time I have the courage of my convictions, I’ll move the piece in the middle where I store the pots and pans, as well as the dog, treats et al. It doesn’t get moved because it’s heavy. There’s a lot unloading of other things before we even think about moving it. Not an easy job for a couple younger than we and a huge job for us.

Ana McGuffey – 1946 – Mme. Alexander – Doll’s faces are intended to embody the “adorable” factor of real toddlers.

There are an awful lot of vintage things around this place, even discounting Garry and me as the primary vintage couple.

See the pictures for other vintage items and wave to us as the vintage couple who seem to collect stuff even older than we are. Old, older oldest?

INERTIA – IT’S HOW WE START THE DAY – Marilyn Armstrong

Inertia – For which the counterpoint are Dogs

I had a really bizarre dream about dogs and being somewhere else with one of them and realizing I had a cat at home and had not arranged for anyone to take care of him. I called my son and he seemed unsure about that other cat, probably because we don’t currently have any cats but actually have three dogs. Eventually, I woke up because the aforementioned three dogs were throwing themselves at the bedroom door.

Inertia will keep me right where I am. In bed. I don’t really need to get up today. Garry needs to get up, but I don’t have anything urgent to do, not counting what I’m doing right now (writing), starting the coffee up … and giving treats to the dogs.

If I don’t get up and give a cookie to the dogs, they will break through the door and Duke will be standing on Garry’s chest, slobbering on his face. Remarkably, Garry has less sense of humor about this than he did 25 years ago. Back then it was pretty funny.

It was only 8:30 when I woke up screaming. It wasn’t screaming because the dream was so bad. I was screaming because I’d twisted one leg and it really hurt and both my arms were asleep. I had to go to the bathroom which was complicated by two arms that wouldn’t work — dead to the world — and one twisted leg.

Yet I managed to go back to sleep for one more hour. Because 8:30 is too early for me to get up unless someone gives me a good reason. That is no doubt why the phone range promptly at 9:30. Dentist. Monday. Reminder.

I knew there was something on Monday. I thought it was getting Bonnie clipped, but it turned out that’s on Friday and Monday really IS the dentist.

Should I get up? Inertia was mumbling in my ear. “Don’t do it. It’s a cruel trap. You can get at least another hour in bed.”

Between the single bad dream, my twisted body, I’d turned off the A/C and really needed to turn it back on … and anyway, I have a computer next to the bed … I decided to just take a peak at the computer. It’s the secondary part of the morning inertia thing.

At this point, it is already 10:30. Garry showed no signs of stirring. This is not unusual. He used to get up every morning at one or two. For everyone else, that’s the middle of the night. For him, it was the beginning of the day because he was on The Earliest Show and he needed to be curried, combed, and dressed for television. Now, he wears stretchy pants and something on top, depending on weather and if he has plans to do anything beyond petting dogs.

I shouted in his better ear that he had a thing at CVS. He needs to get a meningitis vaccination so he can have his cochlear implant. Apparently when they cut holes in your head, meningitis is a bad thing to get. I have had viral meningitis and I can tell you that it gives you a headache that is like every other headache you have ever had and all the rest you will ever have in the future in a single headache so horrendous that your eyes roll around in your head and can’t focus. Blinking hurts. Did I mention the nausea and the rash?

Anyway, what with the nature of this surgery, he gets vaccinated. I’ve had the disease so I don’t need no stinking vaccination. I’ve got antibodies. Also, no one is cutting holes in my head. At least, no one told me about it.

By now, the door is straining. Bowing. They aren’t huge dogs, but you add them together and they amount to more than 100 pounds of power pup.

“I’m COMING,” I said. “I’m on my way. Calm your paws, you little furry monsters.” All that did was get them more excited.

“She spoke!” they barked. “She’s ALIVE. She’s coming!”

In retribution for my slow appearance this morning, one of them ate the instructions for the new router. Good I already installed and registered it, eh?

And so our prompt free week begins with a new prompt from Fandango. The word of the day is inertia. It isn’t only a word. It is a lifestyle. 

Why do only humans feel getting up is so urgent? Unless you have to report to work, one hour is as good as any other hour, right? The dogs have even less to do than me, unless getting me into the kitchen is their version of a job.

Since this is new, here are instructions and they are pretty simple:

Welcome to June 1, 2018 and the inauguration of Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed for those of us who are suffering from withdrawal after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “inertia.” Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and click on the Mister Linky thingie below and then visit others who have participated. (This is my first time trying Mister Linky and I hope it works. If it doesn’t, let me know in the comments.)

I will be writing my own response to this prompt in a separate post, so be sure to look for that.