Olivia just pops in to say Hi!

No dolly time for me at the moment, but I did take some photos of Olivia, my Helen Kish Prima Vera girlie, last weekend, so thought I'd share them.  She's such a pretty girl and likes to hang out with the Little Darlings.  Here she is with her doll who has auburn curls, just like she does!

Especially for Auntie Ronny!

No, sorry Ronny, not a photo of Kara, my Chihuahua, but of Reece, my UFDC Little Darling, wearing her 'special' Volkswagen tee shirt (made by TTYA) for you to see :)  She says she knows it's not a Beetle on the front, but a cute VW van instead!  She hopes you like it!

 

She likes to wear it with her skinny jeans by Becky Colvin.....

 

Her "mummy made" well worn denim jacket......

 

 And her red cable knitted beanie hat by Maisiedoats.....

She thinks she's "Super Cool!"

Sorry for the poor photos, I took them inside with flash today. :/

A new little Sasha lover in the making...?

Today Sidika discovered the dollies!  But not any old dolly, oh no, this was a specific one that she had in mind.   Her little face was a picture!

Of course she's only small so she couldn't reach them herself!!!  Or so I thought!

Not to be outdone, she pulled over a couple of dolly boxes and climbed on them to get a better reach! (Please ignore the dust on the Mariquita Perez boxes!)

At first I thought she was only after the little Lindt chocolate bunny (still not eaten, bet you're impressed) that baby Bertie was holding......

But no, it would appear that she has set her sights higher than the chocolate.....(strange girl!!!)...

And actually prefers Bertie instead!

She carefully lifted him down and craddled him to her!!  And asks me "please mama, can I keep him?"

Oh dear, how can I refuse that little face?!!!!

A bit of a tragedy....

....well for me anyway. :(

On Sunday I was in a happy mood, wrapping Christmas presents and looking forward to going out for our anniversary supper in the evening....I also was enjoying a little bit of dolly time before having to leave them all to their own devices whilst I prepare for Christmas and the arrival from the UK of my mum and brother John. 

Ellie, my lovely Little Darling, painted by Dianna Effner, was in need of a change of clothes.  She's been modelling for me but was just in her undies :)  I picked her up and thought her wig felt a little dry, so I went through my wig box trying different wigs on her.  As I did this, I noticed that her eyes were a little dusty, so I picked up a piece of knit fabric that was to hand and gave her eyes a wipe over.  Something looked a bit 'amiss' I thought, so I grabbed my 'reading' glasses to take a closer look.  I noticed that one of her eyes looked 'cloudy', I touched it and it felt sort of 'rough', the only word I can think of to describe it really...so thinking something had got on it, I wiped again with a tissue....I didn't do it hard but it didn't make any difference, it looked like Ellie was getting a 'cataract'!  I was horrified.

To cut a long story short, one of her eyes is damaged.  I was so upset, I admit that despite her just being a doll, I cried.  Basically, one eye looks fine and from the side is still shiny and domed, but the 'effected' eye is flat and lifeless, no dome, no shine, nothing.

I decided the only thing to do was email Dianna Effner herself and see if she could help.  I also posted about it on the Little Darlings Forum in the hope that someone could help.  A lovely Moderator on there emailed me with Dianna's email address and I sent her a message.  I didn't expect to hear back from Dianna quickly, I appreciate she is very busy and gets lots of emails, never mind the fact that it was a Sunday.  However, when we got back from our meal on Sunday night, there was a reply from Dianna, she asked me to send Ellie to her and she'll redo her eye(s) and will do so as quickly as possible so that I'm not without her for too long!!!!!!  How wonderful is that?

I will be getting Ellie packaged up and shipped off to the US very soon....I'm currently debating on whether to send her this week or wait a couple of weeks until after Christmas....I don't think I could bare it if she went missing on top of this.

In the meantime, here are a few of my favourite closeups of my lovely girl.....I decided against sharing photos of her current state on here, I'd rather look at her how she was and hope you all will too.

Today is our wedding anniversary....

.....and so I thought I'd write a little tribute to my lovely husband Brian....after all, he puts up with a lot with me and my dolly addiction!

We've been together for 23 years but married for 9 years.  We got married in the Registry Office in Gibraltar back in 2005.....the very same Registry Office that John Lennon and Yoko Ono got married in!  Although I think theirs might have been a bit more glamorous than ours LOL.  Here we are inside, just the five of us.....back row left to right, our son Brendan, my mum, my brother John, and of course us in front! (Wish I'd not been so fat but can't change the past!)

I think apart from when I had Brendan, and when Brian and I met, this was the happiest day of my life :)

And here we are afterwards...still laughing, Brian makes me laugh all the time!

And here's some more photos.....as well as loving me, Brian loves kids and dogs too....can't be bad!!!!

 Here he is above with our Yellow Labrador Heather, who was a 'reject' from Guide Dogs as she had a reluctance to work! LOL....she lived to the ripe old age of 15 and a half! :)

Brian used to be very good at woodwork and made me this little sunroom at the bottom of the garden when we lived in the UK.

 Above, a day at the seaside with Heather and our 'guest', Lucy, a Curly Coat Retriever, who was the working Guide Dog of the MP David Blunkett, we used to look after her for him when he went on his holidays.

And below, who doesn't mind making a fool of himself by dressing up at work, all to raise money for charity! 

And on some of our wonderful holidays in the past!

I hope no-one objects to my slushy sort of post, but I just wanted to say how lucky I am, and how much I hope for another 23 years together :)

Now...before he starts to moan, I'd better go and get ready to go out for a meal! ;)

See you all soon!

A little Indian girl called Sidika......

We recently were chatting on here about Himstedt dolls after my visit to Steve....and of course it got me looking at and sharing old photos and well....one thing led to another, and like most dolly collectors I started to obsess over Himstedt dolls AGAIN!!!  I didn't really want to go down that road again, honestly, but I couldn't stop looking at the little Himmie dolls that were on offer, particularly on Ebay Germany.  I saw this little girl for sale by an Austrian lady but she didn't take Paypal and I don't do bank transfers, so I thought it was unlikely that this little one would be coming to live in Spain.  However, to cut a long story short, I contacted the seller, we got chatting...her English was so much better than my German!...and now I'm the proud new owner of this little sweetie!

Her name is Sidika and she's 73cm tall.  She was released in 2005 as part of the World Children's Summit and she is supposed to represent a child from India.  Although she didn't come to me in her original outfit, I believe her hair is still in it's original style, though it is a bit untidy, so I might replait it soon.

Luckily I have kept all my previous outfits for these dolls but Sidika is very slim through her torso so I think I'll definitely be sewing things for her when I get time!  Most of what I have is too loose on her.  I did however find this old machine knit dress which sort of fits, so she's wearing that for now, although it is old and the neck isn't finished properly! 

I love her facial expression, her open mouth gives her a look that I would describe as 'full of wonder'!  I find her very realistic as does my dog Choco, who is giving her a wide berth as she stands in the lounge!   I already have several photo 'opportunities' in mind for her, so, as they say "watch this space!" :)

Destin.....just because!

I love this little 60s Gotz Slate Eyes girlie that I found with a BIN on ebay back in June. I think she has the cutest little face, sort of small and elfin.  When she arrived she was so much lovelier than I expected from her listing, and in much better condition!  The only thing is, I can't seem to take photos that show just how sweet she is!  But I thought I'd share these that I took yesterday, just portraits and a bit repetitive, but I kept trying to get 'that look' that I see in real life!  I don't think I've even achieved it yet, but I love her all the same!

Here's Destin: