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Saturday 19 April 2014

Ten year anniversary and Olivia Kish!

Today is the ten year anniversary of us moving to Spain...and my goodness the years have passed very quickly.  It was a bit of a culture change when we first came here, a whole new language to learn, new friends to make, as well as adapting to a completely different way of life!!  And I have to say it really has been worth every moment....I can honestly say that I have no regrets about coming to live here and certainly wouldn't want to move back to the UK, although it is nice to visit occasionally....but I'm always happy to return 'home' to Spain!!

I took some photos of our two lemon trees today.  Well I say 'lemon' trees, one of the trees was in fact an orange tree when we first bought the house, but after a couple of years lemons began to appear and now it is a mixture of the two!  Weird!!!  I would say that I still find it 'novel' to just walk out into the garden and pick some lemons....!  Although we do have far more than we really know what to do with!!  And the smell of the blossoms.....lovely! 

Orange AND lemon tree!


An abundance of lemons!


I also took some photos of Olivia, my Primavera Olivia by Helen Kish.  She's a 12" tall jointed plastic and vinyl doll who I've 'customised' a little bit by adding a wig that I made from Tibetan lambswool and adding some shine to her eyes and lips.  I really think she is such a pretty doll....I have had Kish dolls in the past, but I think I like this one best of all!









17 comments:

  1. Very lovely photos Sharon! I can only dream of having orange and lemon trees in my yard! Your sweet Olivia looks wonderful in her overalls and her wig is perfect :). I really enjoy your Spain photos--just beautiful :)

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    1. Thank you Ginger! I have to say that the novelty still hasn't worn off, having the trees full of citrus fruits.....so different from what we used to grow in our garden in the UK!! I'm glad you enjoy the photos and thanks too on Olivia!!

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  2. Happy 'Spain move' anniversary. How curious to have a lemon and orange tree all in one - maybe it was grafting that did it.

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    1. Thank you DollMum!! Yes, the tree is weird! We are guessing it's a draft but it's not an obvious one, so we really don't know. All we know is that when we first came here, it was all oranges and then one day...lemons too!!! The funny thing is, it's an old tree and at first it was quite sparce but now it's doing really well!

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  3. We do have a little lemon tree in is in a pot and spends the winter in the greenhouse but it's lovely to see such big trees full of lemons and Oranges.
    I love how you have customised this girl Olivia and the photo's of her are gorgeous, I have always wanted an Helen Kish doll and this one just confirms it! :)
    Happy going to live in Spain anniversary :)
    Hugs Dee x

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    1. Thanks so much Dee, glad you like Olivia!
      I think the trees do better in the ground, obviously, but you would probably lose the tree if you did that.....I suspect that the frost might damage it and you'd not have anything. I will try to bring some lemons with me in October....I did used to send lemons by post to friends in the UK but it started to get very expensive in postage!!!

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  4. Happy 're-locating to Spain' tenth' anniversary to you and your family, and not forgetting to include all those little 'doggies.'

    How wonderful to have an orange and lemon tree in your own garden.....obviously due I should think to cross pollination by the bees and insects. You should get all your various dolls to form a ring around the tree and sing the song..... 'Oranges and lemons.'

    Trying hard NOT to let any of your non-Sasha dolls influence me into buying any other than a Sasha doll!
    Happy Easter!

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    1. Thank you very much Kendal! Yes, cross polination or a graft.....one day I will do just that with the dolls! LOL
      Haha, it's best to not look because it is a slippery slope no matter what the doll type I guess! (No, I don't 'guess', I know....been there, done that!!)
      Hope you had a lovely Easter weekend and ate all that chocolate!!!

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  5. You make such a convincing case that it kind of makes me want to move to Spain! LOL It really does look lovely!

    Olivia has so much personality with that wig, and I love her outfit. :)

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    1. We certainly have shorter winters than you do there in Canada, Lynn!!!! I'm not sure I could 'do' long winters and extreme cold nowadays!
      I'm glad you like Olivia, I'm really enjoying her, I think I like her best of all the Kish dolls I've bought ....and sold!!!! :)

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  6. Olivia is lovely - I have been looking at the bjd sites - but MUST resist! You make the spanish lifestyle look very tempting too!

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    1. Thank you Tricia, I'm glad you've enjoyed the photos...sorry about the added temptation though!!! ;)

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  7. Love this little perfect wigged Olivia - she's always looking so serious.
    Great to see the double fruit tree. Perhaps it's like one of my plum trees, wich has two kinds of plums.
    Why not plug a graft of lemon on a orangetree.

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    1. Thanks so much Anne, glad you like Olivia, she is very sweet, isn't she! And oh yes, so very serious!!!
      I do think that it could be a very old graft that maybe just showed up like it did once it realised we were going to care for it!!!! Bit far fetched but a nice thought all the same!!!

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  8. Hi, I am so in love with your little Olivia in her wig. I would love to make a similar wig for a doll but in a smaller size. I've been reading as many sites as I can about making lambskin doll wigs and I'm most puzzled by the amount of curl you managed so close to the root/skin. Seems most of the hair is straight so close to the skin. Did you curl it yourself? Does your wig include the skin or is it on a handmade cap? Please, any help you can offer me would be greatly appreciated.

    She is truly stunning!
    Nina

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    1. Hi Nina, thanks so much for visiting my blog and your comments on my Olivia.
      This wig is about a 4/5 inch size if I remember rightly, and it is still on the skin. The piece of lambswool that I used was particularly curly so I didn't have to do anything to it after making the wig only spritz it with some water to calm it down a bit.
      I only managed to get a small bit of lambswool because it's so hard to get just the right piece, isn't it? I know what you mean about the curl, often the curls are very loose, but I was just particularly lucky with this bit.
      I hope you're able to make your wig how you'd like it, but if you do need to curl it, there is a way using metal knitting needles and damp hair, then drying them either naturally or in a warm oven. I've only done that with loose hair, not hair that's still attached to the skin, but I would imagine that it could be done also with small pieces of cocktail sticks instead of the needles....
      Hugs Sharon

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    2. Thank you, Sharon! You've been very helpful, I didn't know I could curl lambskin wool, I have never worked with it but I'm about to start! Wish me luck...
      Nina

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