Very Old Doll, I Think.

    My cousin found this old doll when they were cleaning out her mother-in-law's home recently. The doll is quite large, about 28" tall. I believe she is quite old because of several things:
1.  The fabric of the clothing is deteriorating, with several holes. I also don't recognize this fabric as any commonly used today.
2. The doll appears to have been handmade, and one-of-a-kind, rather than made from a conventional pattern. If it IS made from a commercial pattern, it's not one I've seen around.
3. The hair is very unusually applied. It appears to have been crocheted, perhaps, and then sewn to the cloth head by hand; the doll's maker probably came up with the method on her own, as I've never seen hair done this way.
   I haven't yet removed this doll's clothing, so I can't say yet whether she was sewn by hand or machine, but even if she WAS sewn by machine, sewing machines have been around since around the Civil War, so that would not necessarily preclude her being quite old.
   I just now removed her cape, and I'm still not sure if it was handsewn or machine sewn, because it is very well-made--there are no seams visible. All are enclosed or covered. I'll keep removing clothing. I'm hoping I can wash her, but not sure what she is stuffed with, so that is iffy. I wish this doll could talk and tell me about herself. I can hope that the maker signed the doll somewhere, but usually this was not done, leaving us to wonder.
   I will frinish undressing her, take more photos, and post again soon. Stay tuned.

Family Letters from Fall of 1931

Just returned from seventh Annual House Girl Cousins' Reunion; it was close. If things had worked out on a slightly different time schedule, I may not have been able to go.  But as it was, DH was very lucky, and I was lucky to get to go to the reunion, too.

Our Uncle Jim passed away in March, and his son sent along several paintings Jim had done, as well as family pictures and bundles of letters: love letters between our grandparents dated 1900, and another bundle of letters written to our Uncle Ernie by his two sisters and mom, dated 1931. I am enjoying reading them, and am going to scan all for the other cousins who want them. Thankfully, our aunts and grandmother had legible penmanship, so they are quite easy to read.

Things were very tough, financially, in 1931, much like they are today. My grandmother was being nagged for the ten dollar washing machine payment, and my aunt had to pay her creditors half of what she usually did. At one point, my grandmother was in danger of having her electricity turned off. One aunt and uncle and their baby had to move back to the little house next to her parents, and she ate lunch with them everyday. Being invited to eat at someone else's house made groceries last a little longer. One of the letters gives prices for flour and sugar, and I'll post those later.  Mills had cut hours to six hour days and three on Saturdays, and they'd cut wages, as well. All this has a familiar ring to it as teachers in WA state where I live had a 1.9% pay cut this year--the first pay cut ever in my recollection. It's hard not to worry, but it's also encouraging to read these letters from 1931 and see that my relatives found ways to deal with hardships and go on to thrive. We can do that, too.

A New Adventure

About a year ago, I bought several of Dan Reeder's books on making paper mache "monsters," dragons, etc. He has creations he calls "Screamers" that don't look too much like my own Screamer creations. A local art teacher used to have her students make these big Screamer creations, and our local public library would display them hanging from the mezzanine. I liked them a lot and it was always interesting to see the variations that kids would produce.

Anyway, I managed to get several of Reeder's now out-of-print books, and I intended to make one of his dragons last summer, but never got around to it. So I decided that I would begin my dragon now, and work on him out-of-doors this summer, as the paper mache part tends to be pretty messy and I am known for my ability to make even "clean" projects quite messy.

So here is the humble beginning of my dragon: simply a wadded up big ball of newspaper, stuck into a wire coat hanger, and taped around with masking tape. Doesn't look very promising, you say? Yeah, I know, but, believe it or not, it looks just like the picture in his book Dragon Makers Handbook. Stay tuned. I'll post pictures of each step, and if you want, you can make one, too. One problem I have already run into in my rural, off the interstate, locale, is that I can't find white glue in quart bottles, and I need 2 quarts. Guess I will try Michaels, as our Home Depot didn't have it in that quantity. I know they make big bottles of Elmers because when I worked in a public school, we had quarts of it, or maybe it was even a gallon. I had to stop where I was for lack of a second wire coat hanger.

    

Life Happens, Again

My husband LaMont had emergency open heart surgery on Weds, May 25 at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. And yes, he got yet another ride in a helicopter.  We are wondering if he's set a record with two rides in ten weeks.  He had a HUGE aortic aneurysm with no symptoms;  if he had not had a routine echocardiogram that day, it probably would have most likely killed him before it was  discovered. I may be able to post a picture next week, as the thorasic surgeon's PA snapped a picture with her cell phone when they got his chest open. I saw it and it was unbelievable. My youngest (but grown) son wouldn't let me look until he looked first, but it was not yucky, just scary-big.
    DH is actually recovering from this surgery faster than he did the organ failure two months ago, as he was healthy when he went into surgery, except for the little fact of that aneurysm lurking there.
    We are hoping Life will resume its rather humdrum quality around here now, and that further drama will not intrude. That said, we feel extremely lucky that this could be fixed, and supremely thankful to the skillful surgeons who did the work, and the many nurses who cared for him afterward. How do you adequately thank someone who literally saved your life?!

Small Doll Almost Done

This doll set out to be a pin doll, but ended up too tall for that. Her hair is from a piece of some sort of shiny velvet-type fabric, a scrap I was given. Her features are done mostly with Micron pens, found in the scrapbooking section of craft stores. She is not at all fancy, but I like her.  

Hitty Auction for Japan

http://hummingbirdc.blogspot.com/2011/05/hitty-for-japan-charity-auction-on-ebay.html#comment-form

The link above will take you to the page showing the items that will be listed on ebay tomorrow to raise money for Japan, after its terrible earthquake. Please take a look. Thanks.

Introducing JaqueO, the Red-Heeled Monkey

Happy Mothers' Day to all the moms out there. Hope you are all having a great day, and that you all hear from your kids today.

Here is my latest red-heeled monkey, whom my friend Betty dubbed Jaque since he is dressed like a Frenchman. I added the O. He is the first monkey I've ever made from the adult size small socks and he is about 14" tall as opposed to the 18" monkeys I've made with the XL socks. He's rather cute in that size; I will make a girlfriend for him next. He will miss the "group" picture at quilt on Tuesday, as I left him at the gallery yesterday: