This and That...and a new doll

Do you recognize this doll? She is Elsie Dinsmore, from the now extinct Life of Faith Dolls. She is beautiful in person. Do I need another doll? Hmmm...that's a good question. I think I need a bigger house, or else I need to re-organize the one I have. I'm not good with organization of furniture. I need help! I'm trying to re-organize my bedroom so that there aren't so many dolls standing or laying about. I'm setting up a Christmas scene on my window seat. This is a large, long place perfect for setting up dolls and their accessories. In the summer the A/C unit was in the way, and the window seat became piled up higgledy piggledy. Last week I cleaned it off, and vacuumed the dusty blinds. It's quite a chore! I do it twice per year, but it probably should be done each month.

Back to Elsie Dinsmore. The Life of Faith dolls were designed for wholesome Christian values, and the books by Martha Finlay were also available from them. I'm not sure how long the company, Mission Press, was in business but they are no longer producing the lovely dolls. I have one of their catalogues from 2006. Fortunately I'm a pack rat, and keep dolly magazines! The pictures in this catalogue are lovely. I would love to collect all the outfits, maybe from eBay. Right now my dolly funds are depleted.

When I was a young girl, I drew my own Elsie Dinsmore paper doll. When I find it, I'll scan it in, and put it here on my blog. That's another thing I have to organize...my paper piles!

A sweet day...28 years ago...

Twenty eight years ago, a young man proposed to me after church, in a rose garden. Yes, it was the first day of November and bitterly cold. Yes, he had just lost his job. But I didn't care. I was in love, and before he could finish his speech, I interrupted him and said YES I will marry you, and I have the date picked out.

Oh to be young and naive again. All that mattered was that Robert had finally proposed, and I could begin the wedding plans. For years I'd wanted to be married on April 3. I'm not sure why. The only reason I can think of now was that April and the number 3 was my favourite month and number.

Does young love need to make sense? Anyhow, for two solid weeks I floated on cloud 9 until I had to come down to reality and focus on boring wedding plans. I was more interested in the honeymoon and living happily ever afterwards. I've always felt that weddings are a total waste of money. Too bad the whole ceremony couldn't be skipped...but my family wanted a lovely wedding for me, so I had to go along with it. Looking back, I do wish I could have eloped.

Oh the memories.

Halloween photos

This is what my front window looks like each Halloween.

This year I added all my American Girl dolls too!

The newest one is Kirsten, pictured on the left above.

The doll on the right is a Canadian blonde hair pig tail Chatty Cathy,

wearing a brand new dress I just finished.

From left to right:

Nellie, Molly, Kit and Samantha.

Later I added Emily (not pictured) and this is another vintage decal eyed Canadian
Chatty Cathy.
Do you think I have enough Halloween decorations?

A happy Halloween

We had a happy Halloween celebration.

To begin with, it was a clear night with a full moon.

It was cold but there was no wind.

Leona made this pretty mini pumpkin arrangement for me.

Here are the Halloween guests!

Have you had your flu vaccination yet?

The party table.

The Halloween treats. We only had 42 come to the door. We usually get 60+.

We think it might be due to all the talk about the swine flu.

Hmm...one gentleman and one witch.

My window display.

Aren't they cute? This year I added my American Girls.

Don't you just love Halloween night?

Here is Yvette Marie celebrating her first Halloween in Canada.

The 2010 torch relay has begun!

(Photo above: 2010 Olympic winter mittens, sold at The Bay downtown)

Are you an Olympics fan? I'm un-decided!

Do you know that the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Whistler BC next February?

The torch relay began in Victoria this morning. I actually watched it on CTV, as I

was curious to see how it arrived, and how it would be lit.

It was very interesting.

The first two torch bearers, Catriona le May Doan, and Simon Whitfield, carried the first part of the flame. The flame is carried 300 metres, then passed to the next torch bearer.

I don't dare copy any pictures from the official 2010 Olympic site, so you'll

have to go and check them out yourself!

I went downtown today, in order to visit the large Olympic superstore, located on the main

floor of The Bay. I bought one pair of red mittens, size Medium; very difficult to find.

For some reason, there are hundreds of size Small and X-Large, but hardly any mediums.

Who would think that we all have medium size hands?

I asked the clerk how many mittens were made, and she said one million will be produced.

So if you want a pair, you'd better hurry!

They are only $10.00.

When I bought these, I was also given a free Olympic bag.

Cool!

Writing Wednesday: A Halloween Story

I'd nearly forgotten all about Writing Wednesday.

Underneath it all, though, I still love to write. I find myself writing more and more online.

Ever since I was 10 years old, I've kept a journal. This year's journal is pathetic.

Each year for Halloween, I love to hand out treats to the neighbourhood kids, even though I don't know a single one of them. For a few years I've been writing stories to hand out with the candy. Yesterday I sat down, and I wrote a new story.

Here is the beginning part:

It was Halloween night. A full moon lit the pathway, and a cold breeze rattled the last of the leaves from the trees.

“Hurry up, Marie!” yelled Matthew. “We’re going to be late!”

Marie grabbed her mask, and hurried after her brother.

“Let’s take the shortcut, past the graveyard,” she said. “It will seem spookier!”

The gravestones gleamed in the moonlight.

“What was that?” whispered Marie.

“I didn’t see anything,” replied Matthew. “Over there, behind the tree. I saw a large shape moving. Could it be a ghost?”

They both stopped and peered over the fence. Someone or something was in there, and suddenly there was a thudding sound.

I wrote the story in half an hour. I simply sat down at my computer, stared at the screen, and began with the sentence, "It was Halloween night." The story has to be very short. I make 2 columns on one page, and fill up one column with the entire story, then copy and paste in the second column, and print out 30 copies. (60 stories total)

If you'd like to hear the rest of the story, please email me. I don't want to put the whole thing here, in case someone steals it and makes a large profit from it. Tee...hee...

An exquisite Halloween swap gift...

I participated in my first doll Halloween swap, as you know by a previous post.

Today I received the most exquisite dolly outfit I've ever seen.

This is from Clarissa. The sewing is impeccable! The hat, dress, wings, shoes,

pumpkin and leotards are so well sewn, I can't believe it.

It's a work of art.

The hat fits Kit's head to a T. There are 2 autumn leaves, a feather, and

a bead embellishment.
Look at the beadwork on the skirt. I love the fabric too.

Here are the gorgeous wings for my Autumn fairy.

Have you ever seen anything like it?

(if you click on each photo, you will see it enlarged, and then you can view all the fine details)

Thank you SO MUCH, Clarissa! I'm thrilled that you had ME for a swap pal!

I think it's the best costume of all.