A family favorite holiday

Yep, it's Halloween again!  I can't think of a better way to bring down the curtain on my favorite month than a holiday full of kids in costumes and buckets of junk food.  I think the sugar may have given me double vision. 

LOL, Treesa thought Skye Kitty needed a friend.  Prima Kitty is her name, and like Skye her birthday is today.

Prima is very similar to Skye, but not exactly the same.  Her vinyl is slightly fairer than Skye's, and her eyes are that lovely Mattel green (Skye's eyes are blue, also lovely).

These Halloween Kitties are so cute!  As far as I know they all have the same head, but they're adorable nonetheless.  Thank you, Treesa!

Of course Skye and Prima aren't the only dolls I've got DOLLED up, LOL.  So Mischievous Moonbeam and So Surprised Suzie are all decked out.  Moonbeam's outfit was a gift from Mama, and I got the orange one myself. 

Moonbeam's dress has a red petticoat underneath, and it peeks out in places, giving the otherwise blue-gray and black ensemble a nice pop of color.

Then there's Jettivee Bargo and Kyle MacDonald, both clad in costumes my Mama supplied (again).

Kyle isn't just a Scarecrow, though.  He's headed to Oz!  He has his diploma, though I didn't show it here.

"I've got a brain!  How can I thank you enough???"

Well, you can't.  LOL, I always loved that exchange of dialog!  As for Jettivee, she's got an adorable dress under that cape.

So cute!

Mumpy Terri Lee, in orange like Chatty Cathy was earlier.

And as a finishing touch, here's Chatty Cathy's new dress.  Nothing va-va-va-voom, and IRL the skirt is ridiculously short, but it's got cute buttons.

See the buttons?  That was what sold the dress for me.

And that, ladies and germs, is my Halloween for the year!  The Bootheel has had a lot of rain so the ground is wet and spongy, and the air is chilly so we're not opening our doors this year.  We've clipped our curtains shut so no little hoodlums can see in, and Mama and I are enjoying mini Almond Joy bars.  Diet be damned, calories don't count during Halloween...ha, I wish!  But we're splurging a bit and loving every second of it.

Thank you for Prima, Treesa!  She was a lovely little surprise.

Happy Halloween,

RagingMoon1987

So Random, July-August '25

At the beginning of July I was unsure what my immediate future held, so I combined two months again.  First picture was taken on June 30th, a few hours after the last random post went up.  I had yet another new dress for Chatty Cathy.  I was only then realizing that I had nothing patriotic for her, but this getup will do nicely. 

Or rather, it was new to her.  I'd had it laying aside since she looked so cute in white, but I was ready for a change.  I had someone comment on Cathy's hair when I shared this image on Failbook, by the way; the friend noted how red Cathy's hair is, and I don't remember it being this red.  I do know that Mattel hair from this era can change colors with time, so maybe that's the deal.  But if that's the case, then the change only took ten years.  But either way my Chatty Cathy is a strawberry blonde now and I'm not gonna knock it.

Also from June 30th came a Failbook memory, dating back to 2016.  Alistair decided to channel his inner C.C. DeVille.

I'd just gotten a fukubukuro wig bag for my ball-jointed dolls, and Alistair promptly claimed this one.  I'd gotten some beautiful champagne-colored eyes in another package, and the pairing made Alistair pop.  Up until this point I'd had a hard time bonding with him, but this combination made him.

Failbook memory again, this one from July 1st, 2021.

I'm glad I found this picture, as it's the only one I know of that shows all three Magic Nursery triplets in their original outfits.  Not long after this I threw Lulu (left) in a Build-a-Bear Small Fry dress and she hasn't been out of it since.

Another Failbook memory, from July 1st, 2016.  This one also concerns Alistair, and my attempts to tame his hair.

I thought Alistair might make a good decora boy, but as y'all can see Alistair is having none of it.  He reminds me a little of that scene from Beauty and the Beast, where the Beast is getting gussied up for his date with Belle...and a hairstyling session goes a smidge awry.  

July 2nd, in the aftermath of my visit to the hospital with a torn-up ankle, and possibly Day One of a depressed spell (I didn't really start perking up again until July 22nd).  One of my Failbook groups declared it Maryellen Week.  Alas, I have no Maryellen, but Silver Bird does.

Had I the room I would add Maryellen and Addy to my collection in a heartbeat.  I freaking love them both. 

My ankle was killing me that afternoon, so I passed the time by monkeying with the dolls I had within arm's reach (quite a few, LOL).  During this time Aimee gently reminded me that she hadn't been played with in awhile.  By the next evening I was in much less pain, so I moved Aimee up front and let her pose with Flower Magic Mary. 

My, oh my, the aesthetics sure changed in the twenty years separating the seventies and the nineties.  Big eyes were prevalent both decades, but...oh, I don't know.  There's more than just the clothes that tell me Aimee is older than Mary.  But of course dolls are ageless!

July 4th, 2016.  Another Failbook memory, another goofy wig for Alistair. 

I didn't like this one on him as much as I did the golden wig, and I think Alistair was ready for me to just pick a look for him already. 

Same day, present day.  I changed Terri Lee out of her patriotic dress and into something else.

This is a case of "I saw it in a window and had to have it."  I saw those jewel tones and knew my doll had to be the one who got it.  It's not tight across the shoulders like the patriotic dress is.

Same evening.  My mobility sucked on Independence Day, so I'd let quite a group of dolls accumulate on the back of the couch.

Flower Magic Mary and someone else's My Child doll are the focus here, but Candela Laura can also be seen on the right of the image.  On the left Aimee chose not to look at the camera this time; I joked that she was trying to be artsy like the members of Pink Floyd did back in the day.  In the linked image Syd Barrett is staring into space, while Roger Waters is turned away from the camera in an Alfred Hitchcock sort of way.

July 10th.  One of those pictures that I grabbed while I was getting ready for work.

Chou Chou and Xue don't look like the happiest little dolls, but they've become fast friends due to their somber expressions and their similar heights.

As I stated in a prior post, it gets chilly in Casa Pizarro, and Candela Laura decided to steal my blanket.

We can share, LOL!

July 13th.  I was watching a distant lightning show, and my pretty Francie was watching me.

Like me, Francie is thankful for what she's got (a home, new friends, a soft coat), but she also dreams of a life without pain.  Unlike Ilaria, Francie's broken knee does hurt her some.  Not long after this I stabilized it with some brightly-colored duct tape, and now Francie is happy again.  Treesa, Francie and the rest of the Pennsylvania Gang send their love.

July 15th.  This is Mariannina. 

Mariannina is another Furga doll, one that is quite popular on one of my Failbook groups.  Seriously, EVERYONE in that group has some variant of this doll.  Mariannina is small enuff to ride in the bag on my walker, and sometimes she does exactly that.

July 26th.  Alistair sort of got a redress.

All I had to do was take off his cardigan, cap, and scarf.  He was wearing a red T-shirt and a black tank underneath all along.  As if y'all couldn't tell, Alistair's favorite color is red.

July 27th.  Suzette made a reappearance after a long battle with mold.

I'd just cleaned her eyes, and one of them momentarily stuck shut.  Normally these dolls don't wink unless one manually holds their eye shut, but Suzette did it for me.

August 1st.  Johnny Hailey made a reappearance, with my present for Courtney Moore in tow. 

That, in his arms, is a Pillow People character, Mr. Sandman.  The Pillow People were pillows and stuffed dolls rolled into one, and they had a number of different themes.  Thunderclap, from the Nighttime Sounds category, is my favorite, though I'll maintain to my dying day that things that go bump in the night don't necessarily want to be my friends.  Yes, apparently the tagline for that subgroup of Pillow People was "These noises in the night want to be your friend."  When I was growing up the absolute last thing I wanted to hear in the middle of the night was a friggin' thunderclap, and I still don't 100% love it because it means I have to pop out of bed and unplug my phone, lest it get fried by an errant lightning strike.  But I still love the Pillow People character.

As for Johnny, his clothes are a little worse for wear than Alistair's, because Johnny was right next to my open window during a couple of very hot summers.  He's dusty and his clothes need a bath, and as usual Johnny is none too happy about it.

"Admit it, you forgot about us."

Y'know, I never realized until just now what a sad expression this head has!  Not the paint, but the head mold itself.  Here's how it looks without spectacles.  

Those eye wells...but then again, that's what I wanted.  All of my ball-jointed dolls have backstories with a healthy amount of tragedy, and Johnny lets his feelings show.  Alistair tries to hide his.

Oh, and that musical instrument by Johnny's side?  He's taken up playing the balalaika.

I have no idea why, but I like a well-played balalaika so I won't complain.  Marillion may have had something to do with it; I love their song "Estonia," and it features a balalaika.

August 2nd, 2025.  The resin takeover of Casa Pizarro continues.  This is Wozzeck, my eternally sleepy, eternally chill Wishel.  Despite my claim on his original post, Wozzeck is not a Festivous Wishel, but rather an Unbeknown.  Festivous had angel wings and a halo, and Wozzeck does not have those features.  Unbeknown Wishels COULD have angel wings and halos, but they could also have demon wings and little horns, or a single horn like a unicorn, or none of the above!  Unbeknown or Festivous, Wozzeck is a Wishel, and Wishels are tough to find.

His hair isn't that red IRL.  Surprise of all surprises, none of my ball-jointed dolls are gingers...not yet, anyway.  I do have a red wig, waiting for a doll to wear it, but that'll have to wait...that is if bugs haven't eaten it.  More on that at eleven.  I apologize for the glut of ball-jointed doll chatter.  I spent a decent amount of money on those dolls and am only now trying to pay attention to them again.  In the time that I've been away most of the Etsy shops I went to for BJD stuff have closed, so finding things for Alistair, Johnny, and Wozzeck is going to be no easy feat, but I've got several crates of stuff so it's all good. 

August 7th.  The first picture I got of Ayla Diamond.

I like these My Mini Babies a lot, but I only want the one.  I don't want her to have to share clothes with someone else, LOL!

And now for the eleven o'clock news!  August 9th I retrieved Chloe from Casa del Luna...and the aforementioned bugs had destroyed her wig!

Darn it, the shop where I got that wig isn't open anymore!!!  

August 16th.  Johnny got some new threads.

As usual Johnny doesn't want his picture taken, but since I'm bigger than him I prevailed.  His new clothes came from ETDolls, and since most of my favorite haunts for BJD clothes are no more I may hit this ship up often.

August 22nd.  Mama nearly measured herself in the middle of the night and knocked over some of my dolls in the process.  While I was setting things back up I got this picture of Bunnie Candie and Malinda Irisa.  Please ignore the Blue Emu in the background.  That stuff is good stuff.

Once again it's possible to see the difference between a neon Preemie and a non-neon.  These girls need Halloween clothes, but unfortunately finding themed clothes for Preemies is pretty tricky.  Take that back, Christmas items are semi-easy, but Halloween and fall?  Forget it!  I really need to whip out my sewing machine and start making doll clothes myself.

I must say, the past two months have been very dynamic.  At the beginning of July I was depressed, tired, and hot, and now the end of August has come and I'm...well, not depressed.  But I get frustrated more easily, and that's new.  I don't like that.  What can I say, going from gimpy but ambulatory to full-tilt crippled in less than a year is infuriating, and I don't think fibroid surgery is gonna be the cure-all I was hoping for.  But it's a step in the right direction.  Come the middle of September I'll know for sure what the future holds.

All of my love,
RagingMoon1987

What should I do for Terri Lee?

Mumpy Terri Lee has her original wig, but it's not aging well.  It looks okay from the front...

...but it's losing hair badly on both sides.  The thin spot is close to her temple here.

I don't know if y'all can see it, but the back of her dress is covered in blonde fibers.

What should I do for her, y'all?  Do I leave her current wig alone and cover the bald spots with ribbon, or should I shoot for a new wig?  eBay has a couple'a options, but I don't think they look right for Terri Lee.  Hmmm...I think I just answered my own question.  But I'll ask y'all anyway:  if this was your doll would you leave the wig alone or look for a new one?

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

My little firecrackers

I kid y'all not, I can't say enuff good about vickiveesdollclothes.  When I want something cute for So Surprised Suzie, a lot of times Vicki's the one who's got it.  Case in point.

It's another little bell bottom set like the one Suzie wore during most of the spring, but instead of a headband it's got a cute hat.

Hats were kinda a thing in the nineties, when Suzie was also a thing, so this works.

But Suzie isn't my only little firecracker this year.  Hey, when do I ever have only one to show???  Here's Kyle and Jettivee in their outfits from AdollableByRita on Etsy.

Mama supplied these, of course.  She loves dressing my dolls as much as I do.  Believe y'all me, it's greatly appreciated. 

And of course, there's Terri Lee, mumpy and grumpy as always. 

There was a thunderstorm moving in when I took that picture (last week), so that may have concerned Terri Lee some.  She's not a big fan of thunderstorms, but luckily for her the storm fizzled out before it got here.

It's hot today, but the humidity isn't as high as it was last week.  No storms in the forecast as far as I know, either.  Not today, anyway. 

I plan on doing as little as possible today.  I'm not even gonna bother with fireworks, though I'd like to.  I'll explain why in a future post.

Happy Independence Day,

RagingMoon1987

A nod to House Party

Today's post is going to require some explanation, so be prepared to read.  First, here's Mumpy Terri Lee in her new Christmas dress.

Note the Christmas lights dangling from the bow at her neck.

This ensemble was supplied by eBay seller My Dollies 3, and that shop never does anything half-a$$ed.  The dress comes with a full petticoat and a cute little pair of rhumba panties...and the petticoat has the same Christmas lights on it.

That alone is going above and beyond, since the petticoat is rarely seen by the outside world, but guess what?  Terri Lee's panties also have Christmas lights.  I pointed these out to Mama and said "I'm getting House Party vibes here!"

Yes, House Party.  Being in the doll hobby can lead to some strange conversations, and the story I'm about to relate hearkens back to one of those conversations.  Several years back Mama and I were discussing Horsman's Poor Pitiful Pearl doll, and that made Mama think of the late Art Linkletter and a T.V. show that he had, Art Linkletter's House Party.  Among other things, the show had a "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" segment with two boys and two girls participating, and at the end of the segment each child would receive a toy or other gift.  One time the two girls each received a Poor Pitiful Pearl.

The thing about television back then was that 

A) a lot of it was either live or on a low budget that didn't allow for retakes, and/or

B) kids had no filters.  They didn't back then and they don't now.  Thus the "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" segment. 

After our chat about Poor Pitiful Pearl, Mama related a story about one particular little girl on House Party.  Mr. Linkletter had asked her what happened when she found out she was going to be on the show, and the child answered "First Mommy bought me these new panties!"  She proceeded to heist her skirt and show said new panties, to the embarrassment of her mother and the amusement of Mr. Linkletter and the audience.  You and I know that panties aren't meant to be shown, but kids don't always know.  And by jove, if those drawers were anything like Terri Lee's then they were worth showing anyway!

And that, I do believe, is my first Christmas post of the season!  Oh, how I love the Christmas season!

Joyeux Noel,
RagingMoon1987

So random, part four

It's been quiiiiiiet here on the blog lately...not on my end, but two of my best followers have very good reasons to not be swinging by.  Tam is assisting her husband (who, thank God, was improving last I heard), and Barb...Barb says the Cleveland area had a couple'a small tornadoes!  No one was hurt that I know of, but even small tornadoes can tear a lot of stuff up.  Barb says the power has been out for forty-eight hours now, though she's fortunate enuff to have a generator.  So, Barb and Tam, I love y'all both and I hope things will continue to improve.

As for me, life is...well, about the same as it was on the sixth.  The weather is pleasantly warm and very, very pretty, and I've been...well, not too lazy to mess and gom with my dolls.  These random picture posts never are popular, but they're fun to put together.  Today we start on June 24th, 2024, with Mumpy Terri Lee. 

I'd just put Terri Lee in her Independence Day dress, but I couldn't get her seated due to her joints.  So she's straddling the back of the couch.  As usual, Terri Lee isn't thrilled about this.  Is she ever???

To June 29th we go, and to two Cabbage Patch Kids. 

I like dolls dressed in yellow, and Cleopatra Chantale and Allie Kathleen fit the bill perfectly.  I also love their different personalities; Cleo looks like a noisy, jolly chatterbox, while Allie is more content to smile and hold her tongue.

July 1st, an unseasonably mild day.  I grabbed Little Honeymoon from Casa del Luna and brought her back here.

I think she's happy to be back at Casa Pizarra.  I know she's looking forward to having new stuffing (I promised her that before the year was over).

July 3rd.  Morgan sits pretty in her then-new dress.

She's not coming out of that dress anytime soon.  She's too stinkin' cute in it.  The materials are nice and thick, too!  I love this dress!

July 7th.  Someone on a Failbook group asked who everyone's emotional support Cabbage Patch Kid was.  This was my answer. 

Usually it's either Idalia Gale or Candela Laura, though I also use Cleopatra Chantale a lot, and sometimes Beryl June since a Failbook friend voiced a fondness for her.  The night before I took this picture Cleo was the one I cuddled with, because I desperately needed something to cuddle.  A close friend's fiancé died suddenly of a heart attack, under circumstances that were hauntingly similar to my own daddy's demise.  So the night between July 6th and 7th was hard for me.

July 8th saw a new addition to the Cabbage Patch, and a new addition to the baby doll nursery.  This is when Beryl June moved in.

An outtake from this post and this one.  I thought they all looked so cute together.  Present are Beryl June, Baby Needs-A-Name, Idalia Gale, and Susie Sad-Eyes. 

Also on July 8th I got this picture for an aborted post on doll hair.

Present here are Esmond Brant, Taniyah Yasmin, and Hugo Jack.  They have no hair at all, obviously, and sometimes I prefer that.  I have more bald Cabbies than this, but I thought three was plenty.

A random post that DID make it to publication was this one about dolls with freckles.  At the time I only had three living at Casa Pizarra. 

Candela Laura and Baby Needs-A-Name have a lot more in common than just freckles.  They date back to the eighties, they're both blonde, and they're both wearing pink.

Later that same evening I took this picture of Candela Laura and my neglected Checkerboard girl, Shannon. 

Unlike Baby Needs-A-Name, Shannon doesn't have a lot in common with Candela.  So this truly is a "just for the heckuvit" picture.  This next one, on the other hand...

...I took that for a reason.  I had a post planned for Shannon, but while proofreading it I found it drier than unbuttered toast so I scrapped it.  I do still owe Shannon a post of her own, though.  She's too cute a doll to be forgotten like I did.

July 26th.  I'd just bought and begun reviewing that infernal Decora Girlz doll, and I needed a pick-me-up. 

Okay, Decora isn't so bad, but getting her dressed was such a pain in the posterior that I needed some cuddle time with my soft kids.  Morgan and Alexandra Claire provided that support. 

July 28th.  It was a nice, quiet, sunny Sunday.  I'd glutted myself on ham steak, baked potato, and vegetables, and I was in the mood for something cozy. 

I guess all of my random pictures are cozy in a sense, because my dolls are always seated and comfortable.  Nathan Hunter, Lucey Dena, and Lucey's dog Ginger caught wind that Matt the Brat would be joining the Patch, and they spent most of the afternoon talking about what he might be like.  

As usual I have to have at least one Failbook memory.  This image dates back to July 29th, 2016.

Johnny Hailey and Alastair Adalwolf in their yukata.  Summers are hot where they live (their storyline is set on Mars in the far, far future), so this is what the denizens wear.  Johnny has a pocket watch tucked into his obi; he never goes anywhere without that.

August 3rd, evening.  Kitrick Randolph Fergus was slowly but surely settling in.

Little Maya is in his lap, and the season's second shellbug is nestled in his hair.  I read Little Maya's eBay post wrong and thought I was getting a little outfit that Lulu Achoo could wear.  Joke's on me, but Maya is awfully cute and very happy to make Randolph's acquaintance.  As to why Randolph is wearing a shellbug in his hair, I used to do that when I was little.  Drove Grandma crazy, LOL.

August 5th.  Hurricane Debby was in the news, and it was Bae Day Monday on my favorite Failbook Cabbage Patch group.  Bae Day Mondays have themes, and that day's theme was red hair.

From left, Cleopatra Chantale, Valencia Rose, Val's doll Titania Rosalind, and Kory Aryan. 

Same day, different pair.

Esmond Brant and Booful Beans occupy the same patch of real estate, and...well, I think they look cute together.  Also visible in the back are Nathan Hunter, Shelley Fred, Cara Raelean, and to the very far left, Hedda Get Bedda and Booful's brother Bedsie.  Hedda spends most of her time asleep, so she's a perfect friend for Bedsie. 

Good thing whatever illness she's got isn't contagious to other dolls!

<runs hand across throat>  That's a good place to cut it off...for now.  

Love y'all,
RagingMoon1987