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RAGBRAI Comes to ROLFE
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A.k.a. The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.
FROM THE WEBSITE: RAGBRAI is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. Heading into its 48th year, RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest multi-day recreational bicycle touring event in the world. Des Moines Register Media has been the title sponsor of RAGBRAI since 1973.
Every year, the route is slightly different. This year, RAGBRAI came through Rolfe!
This is only the second time they’ve come directly through my little town in the 15 years since I’ve lived here. The first time was 15 years ago. In a way, yesterday was possibly a last in a lifetime event for me. Who’s to say I’ll still be alive for the next one?
It takes months of preparation, and the closer it gets, the louder the buzz of excitement in the air. Giant bicycles someone made appeared throughout downtown to mark the event. I went out in the calm of the day before to get photos.
Picture it: You have a town of about 500, give or take. Suddenly, a crowd of 20,000+ people on bikes comes riding through. It was WONDERFUL. To watch, that is. My bum hurts just thinking of doing it myself. I would have been content just sitting on the curb, conspicuously eating ice cream and shouting, “Buuurrrrn!!” as the skinny little munchkins went whizzing by. This is what will contribute to my early demise, I suspect.
But I didn’t sit on the curb (there isn’t one), or eat ice cream (I don’t have any). Like a proud citizen, I mowed and weed-whacked my lawn the night before so it would look its best. In the early morning, Julie came over and we sat on my porch to wave and wish the riders a hearty “Good morning!” and “Welcome to Iowa!” because people come from all over the world for this ride. Insane people, but people nonetheless!
Julie went home to wake Scott. I went inside to put on a bra (wouldn’t want to excite the masses) so I could venture out into public and take a few pictures.
It’s one thing to see 10 or 20 bikes at a time go zipping by from the narrow vantage point of your porch steps. When I went to the corner of my street and looked toward downtown, my jaw DROPPED. I’d never seen anything like it! MASSES!! Masses of humanity! There was music playing and tents set up and delicious smells of various foods. Totally worth putting my bra on for! I traipsed downtown to get more photos.
The race always takes place in the last week of July, which is frequently boiling hot. This time, the weather was GLORIOUS. A high of 81, with lows in the 60’s and a beautiful, sunny day.
You can imagine what a boost it is for a small town like ours to have that many people coming through. Besides all the vendors, several enterprising folks and small organizations set up shop. A ladies organization – and I speak from personal knowledge when I say they do wonderful things – baked dozens of pies. They sold all 750 slices by 9:30 in the morning!
My enterprising neighbor Nikole raised money by selling brownies. She’s also fortunate enough to have the best and only hill in Rolfe, and she wisely used this to her advantage, laying down a huge white tarp complete with a hose to water it down. The words “Brownies!” and “Water Slide!” were ringing out through the morning. There were a LOT of happy customers! Even in nice weather, biking an average 67 miles a day, one would tend to get hot!
It was a circus! It was a carnival! It was a mini-Olympics, all rolled it to one. And then, POOF! It was over. Julie and Scott drove through town in the aftermath. I expected to hear reports of lots of trash and water bottles left behind. Nope! Everything was clean, everything was gone, as if nothing had happened at all. But it did. I saw it! And it was WONDERFUL. A huge thank you to all those who made this event go so smoothly.
And with that, I leave you! May you find a bike with a comfy seat. May we all! Because you’re my favorite.
We’re Going on a TREASURE HUNT!
Every now and then you need an adventure. Last Friday was our latest.
My wee sister Julie and I are very similar, but with a little twist on each similarity. I like crunchy peanut butter, she likes creamy, I like Crest, she likes Colgate, I like estate sales where I know the price and can “hem” and “haw” to my heart’s content. Julie likes the fast moving thrill of an auction.
At a recent auction – and the auctions in Iowa are huge and every bit as wonderful as you could imagine – she didn’t see a dollhouse until it had already sold. Later, when she told me about it, I asked her if she could contact the guy that bought it to see if he would sell it to me. He has a store, and that’s what he does. We offered $30, and he accepted!
So last Friday we set out to the little town of Peterson, Iowa, a scant hour away, to pick up the dollhouse and see what other treasures we could find at the man’s store. It’s called “ThriftnPick.” Here’s the WEBSITE, and here’s the FACEBOOK page.
We had SO MUCH FUN. The store was endless, with row after row, and cranny after cranny filled with treasures, many of which were .25! Wanna see some of the treasures I found?
<<<Speaking of embroidery, I got this stand because Julie and I have decided to take up needlepoint as a hobby. True to form, she’s picked crewel embroidery, I’ve chosen cross stitch. This one’s mine from Ebay. I love it! So Steampunk-y. >>>
Speaking of Steampunk, not many would get excited about a bag full of zippers, but this girl would! They have so many uses!
.25 for the whole bag! I like the metal ones. 
You can use the metal part for embroidery… 
…or use it as a trim, like on this hat. Or to add some weight to the bottom of a dollhouse curtain.
I also found this piece of metal. Another .25! I didn’t know what I would do with it, but it was something you don’t see everyday, so I had to have it. Dollhouse patio furniture, perhaps?
Some more odds and ends:
These little flags are tiny. I’ll tea-dye them for a patriotic doll. 
I love a nice tin! 
Good velvet is hard to find. I’ll use this for fabric. The lining’s great too.
Three tiles. One each for a above a dollhouse stove. 
Metal Frame. Saw in two for a headboard and footboard for a fancy dollhouse bed. Tiny Grotto plate and cup.
And now for the piece de la resistance, the dollhouse! It needs some work before I can actually start decorating it.
The front. I can work with this! There were extra pieces of wood inside, including tall, carved wood spindles that would be good for a porch that wraps towards the right. I think I’m going to channel the house in Mary Poppins, complete with a gated square on top.
The back. Here’s where it goes all wonky. There are some rooms only accessible from the inside. I’d like to have the whole back open with two pieces of wood, like a book. But this is good wood, and with a little modification, this will be a great dollhouse.
I also found this beautiful sign.
All in all, it was a glorious day! Including the $30 for the dollhouse, I spent just under $45. Not shown are the kitchen stool, the wooden dollhouse window, a jar of wood findings and a few other odds and ends. THIS STORE HAS NOT SEEN THE LAST OF US! It was like Disneyland. You couldn’t do the whole thing in one day. We’re going back for Julie’s birthday in a week and a half!
If you’re in the area, and love a good treasure hunt, you should go!
And with that, I leave you! Know what? Even with all these fun finds, you’re my favorite treasure!
Next up: RAGBRAI. What is Ragbrai, you may ask? You’ll soon find out!
My Own Personal Waterloo
My new plan is to work one more year at school and then next summer (if not before) hit the ground running and go back to doing what I love best: creating. Before I get too old! To that end, I am moving heaven and earth to get the house around me organized and in good working order which involves many, many tasks. This is the tale of one of those tasks.
It all started with my garbage disposal. I wish I had a better picture, because it was spectacular. COMPLETELY rusted away from the sink above, and was only held up by a few old plastic bottles of cleaner. Just look at it! For that reason, I avoided “under the sink” forever, and just used the one side. When I got a home improvement loan, I was finally able to have the whole thing removed and turned back into regular plumbing.
Now that that was fixed, I really wanted a Reverse Osmosis drinking water system. Reverse osmosis turns your tap water into something akin to bottled water. No messing with five-gallon containers or endless little plastic bottles! It’s a little expensive to begin with. $700 to $1000 to have it installed, but I discovered I could buy a system and do it myself for $300. Score!
Once the scary disposal was gone, I gritted my teeth, put on some rubber gloves, and emptied everything out from under the sink, including an old mouse trap. Gulp! I channeled my mom, who faced this sort of task with grim determination.
After I bleached and scrubbed and bleached again, I put some linoleum tiles down. Much better! The plumber accidentally left that cord in the upper right behind. Even plumbers make mistakes!
My new system finally arrived. I have zero knowledge of plumbing so I studied the instructions backwards and forwards and bought the required tools, a 1/4″ and a 1/2″ drill bit, and I skimmed through a video or two. Finally, I was ready to go. I would install the system, have lunch, and take a nap.
The first thing I had to do was drill a new hole in my kitchen sink for the faucet that would dispense my water. It turns out, old stainless steel sinks are really tough, and the faster you drill, the harder the steel gets. The sink was smoking, the drill was smoking, I burned my fingers.
I finally found out I needed a special drill bit, one I’ve never heard of or seen before. It’s called a Step drill bit. It’s gold, because it costs a lot of money. And I’ll only use it once! But needs must, as they say in jolly olde England.
Surely that would be the hardest part, and it would be smooth sailing from there. Wrong! There were so many other stops and starts. Throughout installation there were equal parts swearing and praying, one loud and the other soft. More than once I decided to give up and call a plumber in the morning. But then morning came and I would try, try again.
Finally, I finished. It was time to turn the spigot. I now know what they mean by, “Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!”
It was leaking all over the place! I almost cried and probably would have, if I hadn’t already sweated all the moisture out of my body. I finally figured out I hadn’t pushed the tubes into the “quick connect” joists firmly enough. One last trial. I redid the joints and held my breath.
IT WORKED.
This little project ended up taking THREE DAYS. But I learned a lot. And it’s done! I did it! I didn’t give up! And less the $100 I spent on tools, I still saved $300. That’s $100 bucks a day! Would I call a plumber if I had it to do over again? I’LL NEVER TELL.
My next major project – after a complete overhaul of my downstairs bathroom – is my sewing room. You think my disposal looked bad? Wait until you see the room where all the magic happens! I’ve filmed the “before” and am going to make a video post. VERY FEW have ever been in there. Few would dare! COMING SOON.
With that, I leave you! Need a hole drilled in your sink? I’m your girl! You know why? Because I’ve got the bit, and You’re My Favorite!
Breaking a Thumb – and a Sweat
It was August, and it was HOT. Hard to imagine on a wintry day like today. My brother Kenny had come from Utah to torture help me with my yard. I thought he was going to maybe whack down the little sucker trees that had overtaken my garden, mow the lawn…Nope! He went full monty yard-wise, digging out those sucker trees by the roots, adding a weed barrier against future miscreants, adding mulch, fairy lights and fairies…My dream garden! He put in hours and hours. I tell you, this guy has the strength of an ox half his age!
Alas, I do not. I wanted to get back to my sewing room. I was having a slight breakdown when my cell phone rang. It was a job. Starting the very next day. Just a temporary one – at the time. It has since become permanent and that’s where I dwell to this very day.
Luckily for me it’s at an elementary school and we get out in the summer. Therefore, come June I’ll be back to doing what I love best. O.L.D.S. (Once-Loved Dolls, in case you didn’t know). I’ll start with the girl that I was working on mid brother’s visit and before that phone call.
Her name is Woodstock, and here are a few peeks at her. She won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but sometimes you just have to get a little groovy with it. She’s a 14″ Anne Shirley and like most Annes she had some broken fingers. Two, to be exact. Her pinky and ring finger on her right hand. That’s what gave me the idea in the first place. She already almost looked as if she was flashing the “PEACE” sign. But to make it convincing, she really needed to have her thumb bending inward too. Gulp.
Yep, I did it! I broke off her thumb. Anne’s fingers are actually kinda stubby. I didn’t want to make them disproportionate to the rest of her fingers, so what you see is what I ended up with. I’m happy with them!
I’ve already made her day of the week underwear and her cork wedge shoes. The bell bottoms I’m going to remake because I’m not happy with the fit. There’s also going to be fringe and flowers and leather in her ensemble too. She’ll finally get her turn and then it will be onto the next. And the next, and the next after that. Can I get more than three dolls out in the summer? I hope so!
In the meantime, I love my job! I work with kids who need a little extra help. Don’t we all sometimes? Plus, we get snow days. Like today.
I hope you’ve all been well. I miss you and can’t wait to see you again on a more regular basis! This job keeps me young. Challenging and rewarding and then summers off to play and do as I please! THANK YOU, KENNY. I face this coming summer with a beautiful garden that’s full of potential that I could never have achieved otherwise and an appreciation for all that you are, even though at the time I wanted to smack you a little bit if I’d been able to lift my arms…
Until June, and now and then in the meantime…You’re My Favorite!
She Came In Like A Wrecking Ball
We were languishing in the living room doing nothing in particular, when we heard a low rumble in the distance. The skies were perfectly crystal clear! But that rumbling grew louder and louder. We got up from our various spots and wandered to the windows, curious as to what was making that sound. Suddenly, CRASH.
“That came from the front door!” Betty said.
We opened it just in time to see a strange little girl, breathless with laughter as she got to her feet and brushed herself off…
Thus begins the description for O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 120, Poison Ivy, the Roller Derby girl. You can see her adoption page HERE.
Our Ivy is an early composition doll measuring about 15 1/2″. She’s a less expensive doll of her day. Can you imagine a doll that doesn’t cost much nowadays with a human hair wig and green tin eyes? And separate little inserted teeth (that scare my wee sister so mightily)?
A few days before Ivy arrived my own wee sister Julie, with her snapping blue eyes and rosy red cheeks, suggested doing a roller derby girl.
“Too modern!” I immediately nipped that idea in the bud. But then came that rumbling sound advancing to my door. Hmm…
Turns out, the roller derby as we know it today was started in Chicago in the 1930’s. Skating events first started as marathon races to see who could skate the longest, etc. Then Leo Seltzer and Damon Runyon added physical contact and teamwork and voila! A new sport was born.
Even here in our own little Rolfe we have roller derby events come into town. They are well attended and fun to see.
“Poison Ivy?” my mother cried. “That doesn’t sound like a very appealing name. Are you sure?”
“SURE I’m sure!” I answered back assuredly. “It’s a real roller derby girl’s name!”
Surprisingly, Julie said that I would need (NEED!) to do a second outfit for this girl. Something girlish for when she wasn’t skating. I of course was planning on doing one anyway. I knew a regular coat, hat and dress wouldn’t do. Not with Ivy’s boisterous personality! So I decided to do something a little…loud.
The flower buttons on Ivy’s coat were sent to me by my sister-in-law Suzanne’s mum, all the way from England. Thank you, Rosemary!
Gretchen was adopted by sweet Janey J. of Oakland, California. This is her SEVENTH O.L.D.! She also solved a mystery for me: if you look at the Registry for O.L.D.’s 61-80, you’ll see that I thought I’d completely skipped No. 79. Not so! For some reason, sweet 79 never got a post or even a mention. I’ll be fixing that on the table in a bit. Thank you, Janey!
In the meantime, O.L.D.’s Nos. 81-100 has just been added. I’m almost up to date.
And with that, I leave you! Happy derby, you’re my favorite.
Yours, Mine, and “OURS.”
“WAIT! Don’t tell me…”
The little girl stood there gazing up at me with her piercing blue eyes, patiently waiting.
“My Pet!” I crowed. I’m always proud when I can identify a doll that’s not necessarily composition.
“OUR Pet,” said Dot the smart aleck, peering at the back of our new arrivals head. I should never have taught her where to look for markings.
I would soon learn that this little girl was a doll of few words. No matter. Her cheeks gave away how very excited she was at the prospect of being loved again…
Thus begins the description for O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 119, Gretchen, our very first “Our Pet” doll. You can see her adoption page HERE.
Just because she’s the “first” doesn’t mean there are a wqhole bunch of other “Our Pet” dolls waiting in the wings. She may very well be the one and only! They were made by the Armand Marseille company usually associated with bisque head dolls. This doll’s head appears to almost be a fired clay that’s been painted, as close as I can tell by looking inside her head.
I had no particular theme for her in mind; I just want to make her as cute as possible. She is such an adorable size at just over 14″, so perfect to hold. If I could keep her, I would. But alas, there’s always another doll clamoring for attention so I must prepare her, love her, and send her on her way. First I started with her few minor repairs.
Her forehead was pitted and devoid of paint, and if you look closely, you’ll see some chips around her eyes. I did a little light minimizing touch up. Her sleep eyes are made of glass. She’s actually marked “Our Pet”.
Granted, the blonde mohair wig I chose for her is a little scraggly. All my wigs are! I have three bins of scraggly wigs, all patiently waiting their turn to be pieced together so they can once more sit atop a future beloved doll’s head and therefore be loved once again themselves! Same with all my fabrics. “Pick ME this time!” “Me!” “ME!” It’s amazing I get anything done with all those voices clamoring around me…
Speaking of voices, “ONE DRESS!” my wee sister cried. But, honestly! We’re straddling winter and spring here, what’s a girl to do? I soothed her by telling her I would use the same pattern for both dresses. Then I added a sweater and two aprons…I cannot be stopped!
It’s no secret I enjoy a sweater with flowers embroidered on it. I know three stitches, and by golly I use them. This sweater was made from the stash of beautiful old wool sweaters that were thrift store finds that Julie had given me awhile ago. I love using sweaters to make sweaters!
The pointy hat and mittens are made from red cotton velvet. The mittens are attached to each other with middy braid. For the hat ties, I braided red cotton string and made pompoms.
I had flashbacks the whole time I was working on the coat. I don’t know how, but I rarely make coats using the same fabric I’ve used before, at least without mixing and matching. The fabric for Gretchen’s coat is the same fabric I used for Holly’s coat when I was rushing and I singed it. Don’t think I didn’t pay close attention this time!
The shoes are based on some originals I’d seen. You know what I need? Good scallop cutting scissors. I didn’t have any, so bless my heart I cut them as evenly as I could. They’re leather and the ties are braided embroidery floss.
I found an already made slip that with some added lace was the perfect length to peek out from both her dresses. Pointy hats, flowered sweaters, and lace peeking out from the bottom of a dress. Does it get any better?
So there you have her, a wee little girl with high rosy cheeks and messy hair, counting the days to her new adventures.
You know who’s not counting the days? Sally Joy! She was adopted by Gwen R. of Medford, Texas. I think this is O.L.D. number five for Gwen. Thank you, Gwen! And your sweet husband too.
And with that, I leave you on this first day of spring! No matter the season, YOU are my favorite.
Grandma’s Got A Brand New BAG
The girl standing at the door was rather large. Even so, it was impossible to see her face beneath the pile of clothes she was carrying in her arms. Was she a girl? Or a little old lady? The hair peeking out from the top of the pile was decidedly gray…
Thus begins the description for O.L.D. No. 118, Sally Joy. We call her S.J. You can see her adoption page HERE.
This is only the second time I’ve had this particular doll model walk through my door. HERE’S the first. Her name was Felicity. She’s the one I gave the first legolectomy to. Luckily for me, S.J.’s legs were just fine.
One would think with all the clothes she arrived with I wouldn’t need to make her a thing! That I could simply clean her, do a few needed repairs to her composition, and send her on her way. AU CONTRAIRE!
First of all, S.J. arrived just as the hasn’t-happened-in-20-years Polar Vortex was ending, where temperatures were well below zero for both highs and lows, and the “feels like” temps were -50 degrees! All of S.J.’s clothes appeared to be more suited to summer.
To go with her summery clothes, I made some white leather sandals and the floppy hat with the large white flower. They go with everything.
Perhaps I was longing for a little summer myself; the first thing I made for her was a 1920’s style bathing suit. I also made a simple “wrap” – basically, a square piece of cloth, selvage to selvage and hemmed on either side, that she could use as a towel or simply to lay upon the beach. The fabric came from an old cardboard suitcase that was filled with 1930’s fabric that I found in the house I bought behind me. One of my FAVORITE FINDS EVER.
Then I set about making her more wintry outfit. A kind fellow Rolfian we shall call Jule H. – not to be confused with me wee own sister – had been cleaning out her fabric supply and gifted me with a bag of fabric! I LOVE fresh meat! I also love fresh fabric…When S.J.’s wig became so noticeably lighter, I thought that the pretty cream checked fabric contained within that bag would make her sort of glow.
I then made her a very heavy, very 20’s style coat, a coordinating wool cloche-style hat, and a pair of brown leather shoes. And of course, a carpet bag to carry everything in so she could more easily make her way to her new home.
She comes with a LOT of stuff. At 23″ give or take, she’s a rather large girl. But like all large girls, she can sit with several smaller dolls on her lap so barely takes up any space at all when it comes right down to it. And she is oh so very kind.
Wee little Pendleton, my very first composition doll ever, went to…the lovely Linda L. of Portola Valley, California! California happens to be where I was living when I adopted her in the first place. Pendleton has gone full circle. Thank you, Linda!
And with that, I leave you! I think we’re on our last single digit weather day. Spring is in the air! And YOU are my favorite.
Set Her Free
Reader, I could not believe my eyes when I opened a bin from a dark corner of the closet and saw her laying there. I checked her back just to make sure and saw the horrible strips of skin that confirmed her identity, but I already knew. I turned her back over and looked at the sweet face I’d first seen 20 years ago. There was no mistaking those features. After all, I’d painted them myself…
Thus begins the description for O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 117, Pendleton. You can see her adoption page HERE.
There was a time when I didn’t know that composition dolls existed. I don’t know if I ever would have were it not for the popping of my childhood friend into my life for a brief moment. She showed me her collection of old dolls and I was entranced. WOW. There were bisques, hard plastics and composition dolls. For the next few years I would scour the antique stores for ones I could afford but never found any.
Fast forward to 1999. I was standing in the living room in my little house in Napa, California talking to my sister Carol, when she handed the phone to her daughter Rhiannon. There was excitement and relish in her voice as she told me, “There’s this site. You’re going to absolutely love it. It’s called ‘Ebay’.”
Ebay? What a strange name! I joined but worried about sending my money to some stranger. These were the days before Paypal, when you would pay by mail. It seemed like quite the risky gamble. But then I saw her. That goggly fish. She was filthy and had no hair or painted features, and she was cracked all over but she was also very affordable. I loved her instantly.
When it came time for her auction to finish, I waited anxiously by the computer, my heart pounding, my cheeks flushed. I put in a bid, but was it enough? There was no automatic countdown. You had to refresh the page each time. And when you did, it reloaded as slowly as the sun rising above the horizon, except backwards and line by line…by…line. GAH!!! I was almost too scared to look, but I HAD WON HER!!! And it hadn’t even been a contest! Apparently, no one wanted her but me. That suited me just fine.
Once she was finally into my anxious little hands, after my check traveled one way, and then she traveled the other, the next problem became how to fix her. I got a very well known doll repair book that mentioned “Formby’s” and how it magically re-creamed the composition together, kind of like a paint thinner. This didn’t seem right at all, but nothing ventured…
I didn’t have any Formby’s or paint thinner on hand, but I had fingernail polish remover! It seems so silly now, but I was merely trying to be brave and doing what I could for this girl. I was horrified when I saw the results. WHAT TO DO?
Then a light bulb went on over my head. My friend Holly! She had mentioned doll repair while I was still trying to absorb the wonders of these creatures that weren’t in museums or antique stores behind glass. I contacted her. And she gave me that best tip I use to this day.
And now here she sat, poor little Pendleton. Lonely and forgotten. That sweet face that started everything for me now as neglected as the Once-Loved Dolls I vowed to try to save. Which is why as an act of love this Valentine season I’m letting her go. THANK YOU, PENDLETON!! I shall never, ever forget you.
As I mentioned on Pendleton’s adoption page, there’s a song from a movie that would move me to gulping, sobbing tears if I let it. Instead I control myself, genteelly biting my lips, silent tears flowing like diamonds down my rose petal cheeks. Also, my nose gets a little snotty. Can you guess it? Here it is:
“When She Loved Me” sung by Jessie in Toy Story 2. This song gets me every time! Julie just snorts, so I guess not everyone feels the same way. I’m sure Julie has many other good qualities. Sniff!
On a side note, I’d like to thank the wonderful people of Rolfe who attended or participated in any way in the breakfast and bake sale auction benefit for Julie and Scott. BEST TOWN EVER. This is one of the many reasons I love Iowa, and Rolfe in particular!
FRANK & SPOT were adopted by…Adele M. of Castroville, Texas! They will be in good company as this is the fifth O.L.D. for Adele, including a previous Kewpie, Jude the Mail Carrier. Thank you, sweet girl!
And thank YOU. Aren’t I lucky to have so many Valentines in my life? Happy Valentine’s Day, Sweetheart! You know you’re my favorite.
Right Said Fred!
One never knows when one might need a rescue. During Valentine’s day for sure! Especially when it’s a Kewpie and his ever dotted dog…
Thus begins the description for O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 116, Fred the Firefighter and his Trusty Sidekick Spot. You can see their adoption page HERE.
Fred, as you may have guessed by now because you are fast becoming an expert, is a 12″ composition Kewpie doll. He is the third Kewpie to have passed through the Hideaway’s doors. Can you sense a theme with me and Kewpies? That’s right, they’re all daily heroes!
That’s right! They’re all HEROES.
I tried to get him to do a calendar-like post as firefighters are known for their calendars that are sold to raise money for good and charitable causes, frequently with rippling muscles and “Come hither” gazes. Fred was shy at first. I showed him some examples. “See? They pose with their dogs. You can pose with Spot!”
We came close!
Behold the rippling muscles of his biceps! Some might call them mold flaws from factory, but we know better! Clearly, Fred has been working out.
Spot was made with a former stuffed rabbit toy. The fur was rather thick and had to be trimmed. For awhile I looked like a stuff toy myself, so covered in fur was I.
Fred’s helmet was made from leather with a chipboard frame. I studied a lot of fire helmets old and new to figure out how I wanted mine to look.
The ridges on vintage fire helmets are very pronounced, so I did reverse French seams. These things take a lot of pondering…
Because it is so close to Valentine’s day, Fred will not come empty handed! It would never even occur to him! Hopefully, he will send someone’s heart a-flutter…
Nicholas was adopted by Adele M. of Castroville, Texas. She has three previous O.L.D.’s, including Jude the Mail Carrier himself! THANK YOU, Adele, you are much appreciated!
And with that, I leave you! Happy Playoff day and may the games be GOOD. But whether good or bad, you’re my favorite.
Fearlessly Facing the NEW YEAR
We mortals sometimes have a hard time not judging a book by its cover. I have learned that this is most unfair when it comes to those whose features are painted on, especially when done against their will.
“I am NOT afraid!” Nicholas protested when I told him my thoughts. “I am BRAVE. Can you help?”
Hoo. This was going to be a tall order. But if Nicholas could be brave with eyebrows like that, then so could I. “Why, YES I CAN…”
Thus begins the description for O.L.D. 114, Nicholas the Toy Soldier. You can see his adoption page HERE.
Refilling and repainting Nicholas’ face was daunting. The top layer of paint is very thick – too thick to be filled in with mere paint, and a lot more “skin” flaked off with cleaning. Including one of Nick’s “fraidy cat” brows. The other I had to remove with the tip of a pin. I used epoxy, sandpaper, paint and prayers..
Nick is a 15″ Schoenhut doll. Their wigs are originall nailed onto their heads, as was Nick’s. I didn’t want to remove it for washing, so I spritzed it with Windex and blotted it dry.
He was now ready to MARCH! And march he did. His outfit is trimmed with gold braid of various kinds sent to me by the lovely Janey J. of Oakland, California, along with his red plume. The visor and strap on his hat is made from black patent leather.
For his “civilian” outfit when he’s not marching, I channeled Christopher Robin from A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” books, because he often wore boots and shorts.
Nick is the last doll of 2018 and adoption ends this Sunday. Then his new adventures with a brand new (to him) human BEGIN.
As do all of ours! Speaking of new adventures, I have a feeling 2019 is going to be our year. To begin with, I’m slowly updating “The O.L.D. Registry.” You can see the little link way above at the top of this page on the right. So far I’m up to O.L.D. No. 60 with the help of my brother Dennis. Little by little I’ll get to No. 115 and add each lost doll as their new journey begins. There are a few tweaks to be made to the first 20, but there you’ll see which doll was number what, who adopted her, and what her adoption fee ended up being. Always interesting to see, I think! What would I change with these dolls of the past? NOTHING. I do my best with each and every one.
By the way, WordPress has changed its format and I’m still trying to figure things out. Hope this looks normal, we’ll see!
Cherry and Wills were adopted by Gwen R. of Bedford, Texas. This is magical number 4 for her! THANK YOU, Gwen.
And with that, I leave you! HAPPY NEW YEAR, the best is yet to come, and you’re my favorite.
D5 Creation