Memorial Day post

Yeah, I  know it's seven-thirty local time and Memorial Day is just about over, but here's Rita Cheryl getting in the holiday spirit anyway. 

My family members who served in the military were blessed enuff to come home alive, but all the veterans knew people that didn't.  My dad said there were two days of the year when his great-grandfather would crawl into a bottle, and both days were anniversaries of particularly bloody Civil War battles that he'd been in.  I know he'd survived the battle of Shiloh, but I forget the other one.  Either way, my great-great-granddaddy had a hard time two days of the year.  Daddy said the rest of the time he hid it pretty well.  

My own grandpa also suffered some PTSD after his experiences overseas during WWII.  Again, he functioned pretty well, but he saw things (and did things) that haunted him 'til the day he died.  Our military men and women are not wussies, ladies and gents.  I admit that I love the day off from work, the family, and the food that Memorial Day brings, but I don't let myself forget the real reason for it.  I hope y'all don't either.

Happy Memorial Day, 

RagingMoon1987 

Runs With Scissors

The good thing about silly doll names is that they make your family members laugh.  The bad thing about silly doll names is that they sometimes stick.  Meet my new doll, Runs With Scissors. 

She was a gift from First Uncle (the one I like).  He told me I won her at a silent auction during a trivia event.  Her hair needs a little TLC, but otherwise she's a fine doll.  She's got pretty eyes.

Scissors is a big girl, by the way.  I didn't photograph this, but she's taller than the American Girls.  I have no idea who made this doll, but it's entirely possible that she has a better name than Runs With Scissors. 

Love to all,

RagingMoon1987 

The local flora, and Rita Cheryl

Immediately behind my place of work is a sizeable field.  This spring it's been left fallow for longer than usual, and that's allowed for some very lovely weeds to grow.  This is just a glimpse of what it's like.

In By the Shores of Silver Lake Laura Ingalls Wilder described the prairie surrounding her in great detail, noting that in the fall the various clumps of grass would turn this color or that color.  I wonder if this field is anything like that?  Now granted, it is late spring rather than autumn, and Laura was on a huge prairie while I'm standing in maybe an acre of land, but I still wonder if their beauty can compare.  But either way there's all sorts of stuff to see.  I traipsed out here hoping to get some good doll pictures, but I got distracted by all the weeds.  The very first one I saw was this one, a large colony of goat's beard.

Goat's beard is NOT to be confused with goatheads.  One is a weed that looks a lot like a giant dandelion, and the other grew straight from the belly of Lucifer.  No joke, some of the blossoms on this goat's beard are folded up, and if allowed to continue growing they'll spread out like the head of a dandelion gone to seed.  For some strange reason, when I was very little I tried to eat the seeds of a goat's beard, much to my mother's dismay.  I never will understand why I tried such a stunt, since I knew dandelion seeds weren't fit for eating, and in my child's eyes goat's beard was just a big dandelion.  Indeed, the two are closely related, both have edible roots, and I think they both fall under the "damned yellow composite" category as well.

The next couple of pictures will be a bit blurry, because it's a bit windy today.  Ah, windy and in the low seventies...I wouldn't cry if the whole summer was like this!  Anyway, these soft yellow flowers often found their way into my childhood bouquets.  I have no idea what they are, but I've always liked them.  Usually the blossoms are buttery yellow or light orange, but sometimes they're also pink.

This sucker came up to about my hip.  It's a wild onion gone to seed, and the field is full of them.  Want a little spice to go with your goat's-beard-root-and-dandelion-root salad?  Add a few of these puppies.

Then there's this...I have no idea what this stuff is, but it's obviously purple.  Grandma would've called it wild heather, but it doesn't smell like heather.  It looks a lot like hairy vetch to me.  If this is the case then it's good to have this in your fallow field, as it's a good nitrogen fixer.  Heck, maybe this stuff was planted specifically for that purpose; farmers do do that.

Of course all that matters naught to Rita Cheryl.  By now she was getting impatient to have her picture taken.  I put her in a patch of hairy vetch.

Believe it or not, that vetch is holding Rita Cheryl up.  As I said earlier, the wind is blowing today, and usually when it's windy I can't get Rita Cheryl to stand (she's getting pretty floppy).  I will say though that despite being a Brooklyn girl my dolly has adjusted to country life!  As for me myself...well, I'd love to travel a bit and see the rest of the country (especially Yosemite National Park), but I wouldn't trade living in the boonies for the world.  To an outsider there's not much to do, but if you've lived here all your life then you know there are ways to entertain yourself.  Walking the fields is a good way to do that...provided you have good walking shoes and watch out for snakes.  Don't go in sandals, like I did.

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987

My first meeting with a Berenguer baby

I've admired Berenguer babies from afar for a long time, but I never bought one for myself.  That probably will hold true for awhile since I have another baby doll on the way (spoiler alert), but today I got to see a Berenguer IRL.  A little girl brought her into the library.  Her name is Elizabeth.

I didn't get a good photograph of this doll's face since I didn't want to monkey with the placement of her arms, but her eyes are amazing.  I love her vinyl too; it's soft and ever so slightly squishy to the touch.  Not a lot, mind y'all; this baby is pretty tough, but she's also cuddly.  I think she may be a drink-and-wet doll, since her diaper was damp when I held her.  One thing that surprised me about Elizabeth is that she's quite small.  I didn't photograph this either since I wanted to give the little girl her baby back, but Elizabeth is less than a foot long.  Miss Emily noted that her Berenguer dolls were on the small side, but just the same Elizabeth's diminutive size surprised me.  I seem to say that a lot about dolls, don't I?  I know I did when I reviewed Cami all those years ago.

Of course I sneaked Rita Cheryl to work like I almost always do, and when I showed her to Elizabeth's "mommy" her face lit up.  Young though this child is, she is already familiar with American Girl dolls and even owns one (Kit, if the description I got was correct).  The child proceeded to tell me that Elizabeth has a twin, and these dolls apparently live the life of Reilly at home and at the child's other home down in Paragould.  No joke, the little girl's mama said that Elizabeth and her twin needed a playground, and Elizabeth was carefully wrapped in a super-nice baby blanket.  This little girl knows how to treat her dollies!

And with that, I issue a Busy Beaver Warning, as I am going to be extremely busy over the next few weeks.  As I probably mentioned in the past post or so, my A/C is on the blink and has been for some time, and my house is messy to the extent that I'm ashamed to have anyone in it.  Thus my free time will largely be dedicated to cleaning, though I'll pop in to say hello as often as I can.  I have a week and a half before temperatures reach ninety again, and I intend to make the best of it.  But, dear readers, you have not been forgotten!  I have plenty of time to think while I clean, and maybe I'll get some better ideas for blog posts.

Ciao and cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Clothes from Pegsdollclothesshop

As the weather warms I've treated some of my dolls to some new spring/summer clothes, as I often do during this time of year.  No biggie, except that this particular Etsy shop is undergoing an unusual dilemma.  Pegsdollclothesshop is run by a lady named Peggy Peterson, and a few weeks ago Mama got an email from Miss Peggy warning that she'd been diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer.  Since then Mama and I learned that the cancer has not spread, but Miss Peggy has something rare called...jelly belly, which I've never heard of, that she'll need surgery for.  Makes me think of those gummy tummy penguins that the Candy Blog wasn't enamored with, but I digress.  Peggy stated in her email that the doll clothes kept her busy, so...I've been trying to keep her busy, and to hell with money.  I've got...<pauses to count>...I've got six little outfits so far, four for the girls and two for Kyle.  Since I've been puttering about with Danica a lot here lately, she goes first.  

Y'all may or may not see something poking up underneath Danica's blouse; that would be the tubing from her diabetes pump.  Miss Emily reviewed the diabetes kit on her blog several years back, so if you want a detailed look at that set, you know where to go.  Anyway, the blouse is a sleeveless square-necked smock blouse, rendered in shades of purple.  The pattern on the blouse is floral and makes me think of the Lilly Pulitzer dresses that several of my girls wear in summertime.  It isn't this blue-tinged IRL; I took this picture indoors and the others outside on a sunshiny day.

The waist of the blouse is ringed with my favorite trim, ric-rac.  It appears to be tie-dyed as well.

The pants legs are trimmed with more ric-rac and bands of the floral blouse fabric.  The rest of the capris are made of this glorious royal purple quilt fabric.  It's a lovely shade.

If I had any critiques I'd say that Danica's blouse is a little tight.  The Velcro fastens, but I had to tug a bit to get it shut.  A slimmer doll like Kristiana could probably wear this without the necessary tugging, but Danica looks fine.  She can also sit down; while her blouse is a bit tight her capris are not.

Different day, different weather, different doll.  Marina's getup is made from the same pattern of capri pants and a smocked blouse, but in green.

Marina has green highlights in her hair, so why not toss her in green clothes?  While the purple set is floral, the green set has a nice pattern that looks like...kinda like God's eyes. 

The green set is trimmed with ric-rac like the purple set is, but this ric-rac is silver and sparkly.

The capris are made of a different material than the blouse (and all of Danica's getup, for that matter).  It feels a little like burlap but isn't as rough, and it looks like gauze but isn't as lightweight.  The legs are trimmed with more ric-rac.

The same fabric makes up the straps of the blouse, providing a nice visual tie-in.

Marina's blouse fits her like a glove, but her pants legs are a little tight where the ric-rac is.  I had to tug a little harder to get them past her calves, but it can be done.  Like Danica, Marina sits like a charm in her capris, though I didn't think to photograph that.  As I noted back during Halloween, Marina is a new doll and thus tightly strung.  It can be a struggle for both her and Danica to sit, thus why I make note of how well they can move in their new capris.  Birthday girl Luciana is also still fairly new, though she's loosened up a bit in the time that I've owned her.  However, sitting should be a breeze for her since her new outfit doesn't incorporate pants.  She prefers skirts and dresses during warm weather, and she loves studying space, so I bought her a constellation dress.

This new dress drew a better reaction from my mother than Luciana's LAST dress did, LOL.  After I put this on her, I see that it's not just a constellation dress, but a Zodiac dress!  Here's my sign, right up front.

Here's Luciana's sign; she shares a sign with Harry Truman, and with one of my great-grandmothers.  Don't mess with the bull, young man.  You'll get the horns.

Alright, Moon Girl, quit gawking at the various constellations and talk about the dress itself.  The dress is pretty simple, and it kinda has a silhouette like the dresses that Samantha and Rebecca would wear.  Drop-waisted, with a short skirt.

The dropped waist has this loopy white trim that feels smooth and soft to the touch.  This is a snagging hazard if treated rough.

That's about all there is to say about Luciana, so on to the one and only Rita Cheryl.  Rita Cheryl isn't big on dresses, but she loves purple so getting her in this dress was a cinch.

The cut of this dress is more like that of your traditional AG generidress.  The waist is trimmed with...guess what?  Gold ric-rac!

The neckline is a square neckline.  I don't have too many doll dresses like that.

I love the gold accents in this dress!  I'll have to get some gold shoes to match.

As for Kyle, he had two outfits to choose from, so he picked a Mickey Mouse-themed outfit.

The front of Kyle's shirt closes with Velcro, but it also has buttons that add a nice finish.

The shorts are...well, red shorts.  These are a nice length, and they're loose enuff that Kyle can sit.

Here's a closeup of the print.  It makes me giggle because I can hear Mickey enthusiastically whooping "Oh boy!"  I love Mickey Mouse!

I kinda wish Kyle's shorts had white buttons like Mickey's do, but then I can always add that myself.

Overall I can't complain about these outfits.  True, they're simple little getups that are a smidge tight in places, but I love the colors and I love the themes of the Mickey set and the constellation dress.  Overall these outfits are an easy way to flesh out a dolly wardrobe, and they go for...well, I think keeping Miss Peggy occupied during a cancer battle is a good cause. 

Now, Luciana is off to celebrate her birthday.  No stargazing will be done as more rain is in the forecast, but she did receive a box of her favorite cookies from Rita Cheryl and Courtney and Z.  I figure they'll eat those and binge-watch some TV.

Love, 

RagingMoon1987 

Sunday randomness: Jaylin is finally ready for spring

Jaylin is more suited to fall and winter, but because I'm kinda the boss of her I threw her in a spring getup.

One sitting down on Jaylin's favorite rock, and one standing up so y'all can see her kittens!

That outfit came from Playperdoll on Etsy and I thought it would never get here.  It was worth it in the end, though; the shop even sent a little outfit that I'll probably use as pajamas.  The shoes came from DreamlandGallery, and they're a hair fiddly because there's only ONE lace and it spiral-laces the shoe instead of criss-crossing.  But they fit Jaylin just fine, so that's really all that matters.

So my attempts to build Jaylin's wardrobe back up are moving slowly, but they are moving.  Soon she'll have some summer things, which is good.  After a cool, rainy, at times violent spring, the Bootheel is finally starting to warm up.  I hope it takes its time though, because my A/C is still on the blink.

Cheers,

RagingMoon1987