December Already!

I've been incredibly lax recently with my blog and thought I'd get a post in quickly before it's the end of another year!  I last wrote that it was Autumn already....and here we are, it's winter!  Thankfully though, the winters here in southern Spain are short and mild, we've had some rain, which we really, really needed, but apart from that it's been sunshine during the day, temperatures of around 19C - 21C, and cooler nights.  Perfect winter weather for me!

So what's been happening in my world since I last posted on here?  Well my husband Brian was really sick about 5 weeks ago and I was extremely worried as he's rarely unwell, but he was bad, really bad, collapsing a couple of times, which was very scary and this was just before he was due to go to the UK to visit with his family.  He wanted to leave going to the doctor until he returned from his trip but I was concerned that he was sicker than he was letting on...so I made an appointment and it turns out I was right, the doctor took his blood and his sugar levels were sky high....he was immediately diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and she injected him with insulin straight away in the surgery.  Now, 5 weeks later he's doing so much better.  Obviously he had to cancel his trip, which was a shame for him but at least if he's going to be sick then he is close to home.  But thank goodness he's doing well, he's testing his blood and injecting himself every day and although his legs aren't great, they're at least working to hold him upright!!!

Brian also bought himself a mobility scooter which he's enjoying!! He tells me he's named it Thunderbolt 2!!!  It means that we can get out together, he can ride his scooter and I can walk along next to him with Lucy, our Miniature Pinscher, which is great!

On the dolly front, I have been enjoying my new Dandelion by Bimong and also I recently received my Xiao Yu head from Black Cherry dolls, a Russian artist.  The head sculpt is beautiful and has a gorgeous faceup by Blisslacosta, who is also Russian.  Four months ago I ordered her an Elf body from Dollstown and hopefully that will arrive soon.  In the meantime she is using my Volks SDMidi body, the colour match is really good (the head is Oriental Copper and the body is called Sunlight).  But my Volks girl is looking forward to getting her body back I'm sure!!

I love the way this faceup artist paints the lower eyelashes on dolls, they looks so incredibly realistic.

I have also received some gorgeous gifts from two of my lovely dolly friends.  One of my friends in the US said that she wanted to send me a gift as she enjoyed reading my blog.  I don't like the idea that people think I 'deserve' anything for the fact that they enjoy my photos, I just am happy that people do enjoy them....but this lovely lady asked me what I would like.  I finally suggested that maybe she would like to send me a fat quarter of fabric which I would use to make an outfit for one of my girls and would think of her when I looked at the dress.....and then lo and behold not one fat quarter but THREE fat halves (I think that's what they're called) arrived from her, such pretty fabrics, thank you so much my dear....you know who you are!!!

Using two of the fabrics, I made this dress for my Dandelion, I hope you like it D, and that you think I'm making good use of your very pretty gifts!

Another present I received was a complete surprise from my friend J who also lives in the US.  She sent me a box and inside were two BJDs (ball jointed dolls), both BIDs (Yosd size) from Iplehouse, an extra BID head, another manikin doll (you'll remember seeing two others that she sent me earlier in the year), some outfits, a wig and a pattern!  

Here is one of the new Iplehouse dolls, she is a Elin and I enhanced her face a bit as she was a little pale, I gave her some new eyelashes, new eyes and new wig.  She then went through the dolls clothes box and found herself something to wear!

I haven't taken photos of the other doll and the spare head, but will get to that soon.  

Thank you both, D and J, for my lovely gifts, I'm just so incredibly lucky to have the dolly friends that I have. 

I'm off to the UK on Saturday for nine hours....yes you read that right, just nine hours!! I'm going over to meet my mum and brother and bring them back to Spain with me on Sunday morning and they are spending Christmas and New Year with us.  I will then go back with them to the UK on the 3rd January and spend a few days there meeting up (hopefully) with my friend Sue and my son :)  

Well hopefully I will get to post maybe one more time before Christmas.  Thank you so much in advance for visiting and have a great week ahead!!

Big hugs Sharon xxx

 
                          

Andalucian Tiles....

Recently someone asked me about Andalucian tiles but I am having a senior moment and cannot remember who it was!  So I thought I'd put some photos on here and hope that whoever it was will see them.

The Moors ruled parts of Andalucia from the early 8th until the late 15th centuries – 800 years of history and they left behind many legacies including their art and one area of that are the tiles that are still popular today here in southern Spain.   Examples of Andalucian tiles can be seen almost everywhere and my home is no exception!  Our entrance hall has half tiled walls and a tiled floor.  All of our walls and floors are tiled but the hallway is the best example of the Andalucian design. 

This photo is looking towards the street, we have wood and glass 'internal' front doors and approx one and half metres beyond these are the actual doors which open right on to the street.  (Pavement in England or the sidewalk in the USA).  We don't have any front garden and this is pretty typical for white towns and villages across southern Spain.

This area of the house gets a lot of natural sunlight when the 'main' front doors are open, which is most of the day and early evening, so is ideal for plants....although ours are currently in the garden.  

The ceilings are very high and although this corner cabinet, below,  looks tiny, it is actually about 6 foot tall!  I display my Lladro ornaments in this corner, keeps them safely out of the way of the dogs!

Below are a couple more examples of Moorish art painted on this large wall plate and the green vase standing in the corner:

The wall tiles below show a row of 'border' tiles as well as a row of raised 'rope' tiles. 

Finally the floor tiles, which are a mottled beige/sand colour interspersed with smaller (approx 6" x 6") patterned tiles,  which by Andalucian standards are quite plain but I think they work perfectly with the very 'busy' wall tiles and are easy to keep clean!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this little bit of Andalucian tile art.  If you want to see lots of beautiful examples then there are some gorgeous photos here:

Andalucian Tiles

I hope you will all have a lovely week ahead!