Our computer is about to go kaput so I am borrowing Andy's laptop but my borrowing privileges are severely restricted so after a quiet week on the blog this past week the quiet might continue.

Our computer is quite old in computer years, 7  and it has been struggling for some time.

I'll be here when I can.

I will announce the winner of the give away tomorrow if Andy lets me. 

Click on the link in the sidebar if you haven't already entered.

I have been here and there...

but mostly here,

with family and things to do...

but these three 9.5" dolls plus a handful of little dolls will be in the shop at 10pm tonight ( AEST)

ANZAC Day

Mum and her best friend Billie, Mum is wearing her brother Jack's army hat

My Mum was 8 when WWII started.
She was the second youngest of 8 children with three older brothers who all went into the Armed Services when the war came to the Pacific region.

Her oldest brother Jim, born in 1915 just a year before his namesake Uncle was killed at the Battle of the Somme, caught by enemy fire and perished in No Man's Land, joined the RAAF.

Her other two big brothers, Charlie and Jack joined the Army.

Her sister's husband Norm joined the Airforce.

All survived and went on to live ordinary lives and bring up ordinary families in ordinary towns and cities.

To live through something so extraordinary, to fight in a war and then just come home and get on with it as best they could ...

extraordinary.

Lest we forget.

Mum in her brother Jack's army coat and hat

Dolly Day Friday ( on Monday which is also ANZAC Day)

By Barbara of Aunt Boos Babies

By Cathy of Pink Petunia Cottage Dolls

By Fabs of Fig and Me

By Jenn of Tumbleberry Toys

By Anouk of  Atelier Poppenoek

By Micha of Puppenleisl

Just wanted to share some of my recently favourited dolls from the Flickr Steiner Dolls group.

There are links to all these wonderful dollmakers in my sidebar plus many more.

You can never have too much of a good thing like pictures of lovingly made dolls.

So many beautiful dolls.

If you want to see more hand made dolly goodness check out the Steiner dolls group on Flickr.

Happy Easter

Remember this

Hot Cross Buns

It's coming round to Hot Cross Bun time again or have you been eating them for weeks. 

The supermarkets have had them on the shelves since a whisper past Christmas.

We did eat some a couple of weeks ago, with much angst from me.

A packet that I had bought  from the supermarket, ridiculously reduced in price at the end of the day that I stowed in the freezer, just in case,  were heated up and eaten when the cupboards were bare in the midst of all the family busyness that followed  Dad's death.

Amazingly the family prefer home made buns and every year I can't remember which recipe I usually use, usually being once a year. 

Thankfully the recipe is recorded on the blog.

Oh that's right I said when I found it not too far into my hunt through the recipe pages.

Quite enjoyed the little saunter I took through the recipes actually. 

You can find them here, I think there are quite  few recipe repeats but it brought back lots of nice memories of food made and shared.

Grab your sneakers and slacks...

relaxez vous.

Autumn clean up

Starting the Autumn garden clean up.

What are you up to?

If you would the chance to buy this 15" Rainbow Woodland Sprite go here

Dolly Day Friday

Isabelle

Benjamin

Marianne

Camille

Alice

 Gabrielle

These are the dolls that went into the shop yesterday.

I love that each one is quite different but still has the essence of a little jenny wren doll.

Every day this week has been a dolly day as I've worked 9 to 5 to get the dolls dressed for their big day.

Tired but happy today

Who would ever have thought  I would spend my middle years making dolls, for a living???

Life's twists and turns, it constantly amazes me how my life has turned out, not that I ever had a plan.

My only plan was that if I married I wanted to marry a man who was kind and had a good sense of humour and I wanted to have a house with a window seat. 

I ticked those two off the list years ago.

Very much deep in dolly land at the moment as I get the dolls ready to go in the shop.

They will be in my Etsy shop in the evening tomorrow at 10.30pm Tassie time.

Shivering dolls

It's cold here and I am working on clothes for these dollies and more that will be going into the shop on Thursday.

I seem to be surrounded by dolls shivering under crocheted blankets.

Little Gems Tearoom Mice

Ooooh, look what I just bought on an early morning shopping spree.

It's Susan's new pattern and I think they are gorgeous.

Fifi and Lola, so sweet.

Picture by  Raining Sheep

I just found a lovely blog

 Today we visited the renovated but empty QVMAG

 A cluttered and dark building has been to restored to a wonder of fresh natural light. 

Who would ever have thought such beauty was there all along.

Oh, and luckily Kate found the smallest room in the house/gallery/museum.

Dolly Day Friday

  This is Charlotte, a little 6" poppet from the late 1960s.

 She is my doll, she was essential to many Barbie doll games, the cute little sister or child of Twiggy or Pj or Barbie.

I always loved her posable head and sweet, sweet face.

 I have no idea where she came from, she never seemed to have any clothes of her own, I think maybe she came as  a Lucky Dip prize at a school fair. her only marking is Hong Kong.

This dress is not hers,  as usual she is dressed in someone else's cast offs. 

She often wore a little green knitted dress that has now been eaten by the moths and she also wore Tuppence's red sweater and a pair of trousers.

 She was  and is very cute, very photogenic and a sweetheart. 

I named her after Charlotte Bronte, her hair with the centre part reminded me of the picture on the front of a copy of Jane Eyre that we had.

Poor thing does deserve some clothes of her own after all these years don't you think.

Do you have any special little dolls from your childhood , or more recent times?

You have to love a tiny wee doll.

Tea cosy question

 Had an email from a reader about a missing picture of a tea cosy on one of my earlier posts.

I think this is the tea cosy I was talking about in that post.

I found it very dirty and shoved down the back of a shelf at the op shop.

Here are some of my tea cosies, some inherited, some found in op shops, none made by me

Doing words

Working on a family of dolls that should have been finished half a lifetime ago, well at least a month ago.

This is the little brother and big sister plus there is a mum and dad, also naked, waiting patiently for their clothes.

Visited Nanna's coffee shop for afternoon tea with Mum and Kate. 

Don't think Mum was much impressed but Kate loves it.

Planning the clothes and hair and faces and stories for some new dolls for the shop to be ready for next week.

 

Listening to a best of Simon and Garfunkel CD, chosen by Kate  enjoyed by me and by Stephen.

Don't know about Andy , he is researching computer components and hears nothing...nothing.

 

Planting spring bulbs, tulips, ranunculus and spring crocuses to join the hyacinths and daffodils and bluebells that grow in the garden outside Kate's window.

Thinking of Dad each time I do the washing up, he always had such a  look of concentration on his face when he washed the dishes.

Enjoying  these superb autumn crisp mornings and sweet sunny days, Tasmania does autumn so well. 

Soft, sweet days.

April Give Away

I think I forgot to tell you about this month's give away on the dolly blog.

It's a dear little mermaid just like the one above.

She is 15cm (6") to the tip of her tail and made from all natural fibres.

Anyone can enter but only once per household.

I will draw the winner on May 1st.

Make sure you leave your comment on my dolly blog to enter, not on this blog.

Good luck.

fairyland

Phoebe, the very old cat says come and look what is in our garden

( indulge me guys, Phoebe really does think she can talk)

It's toadstool season

The front lawn is full of bumps that overnight erupt

and are slowly turning the garden into fairyland.