Birthday box

Quick recap of the week's events.  Hurricane Milton is offshore and has been for awhile now.  Death toll as of writing was twenty-six, and the folks that came through it say it was the worst hurricane they've ever experienced.  Hurricane Helene's death toll (230 and rising) is rivalling Hurricane Camille's (259), and eleven of the dead were from the same family.  Three houses, eleven people, one mudslide.  Again, something similar happened in Hurricane Camille; thirteen were taken from one family, and three were left.  The two storms were so similar it's a hair frightening.  Milton, on the other hand, was a full-tilt freak.  I've never heard of a hurricane forming in the Gulf of Mexico and then just plowing straight east; usually they hook north or northwest and hit Texas or Louisiana.  But then again, tornadoes are my ballywick.  I've not studied hurricanes as extensively, so Milton's equal may exist somewhere in the annals of hurricane history.  As for me, my spider bite is slowly but surely healing.  It still looks ugly, but not as ugly as it did.  I even ran into someone else who tangled with a brown recluse, one of my favorite library patrons, a fellow Whovian and cat lover.  His bite looked worse than mine, but he was putting medicine on it so it should heal eventually.

Now...Treesa told me that she knows people that were in Milton's crosshairs and were having trouble evacuating.  The videos Ryan Hall shared confirmed the gridlock, so Treesa, I hope everyone is safe.  Have you heard from them yet?

Speaking of Treesa, birthday box time!  Treesa warned me ahead of time to read her letter, so by jove I read it carefully this time!  Sometimes I don't, LOL.  These two are the stars of the show. 

The Cabbage Patch Kid is named Gillian Ida...or maybe it's with a J (Treesa isn't sure).  Her papers are long gone, as are a lot of my dolls' papers.  It's not like anyone would ever want them again, right???  LOL, Treesa said that when she chucked that paperwork she thought she'd remember her Cabbies' names forever, and I admit that I think the same now.  Then I trip and call Gillian "Gilda," LOL again.  Gillian is a Hasbro Splash 'n' Tan Kid, and Treesa admits that she never really bonded with her.  She hypothesizes that it was because Gillian was all-vinyl.

Admittedly Gillian isn't the most cuddly thing, but she makes up for it with her unpretentious little face.  I love her eyes!  

Can y'all see the stain on Gilly's nose?  Just barely.  Treesa warned me that at some point in the past Gilly had been stored next to a teddy bear clad in red velvet, and said velvet stained Gilly's vinyl in a few places.  Her right arm is the worst off, but she's nowhere near as badly stained as my Ashton-Drake dolls, Red and Delilah. 

Treesa also included a humorous anecdote about Gilly's state of dress.  Hopefully I can share this without embarrassing the snot out of her.  Splash 'n' Tan Kids wear swimsuits, some of 'em were skimpier than others...and poor ol' Gilly got saddled with the skimpiest one.  Neither Treesa nor her mother liked that, so Treesa's mama tried crocheting a one-piece swimsuit for Gilly...and it didn't go over too well.  The swimsuit was too fuzzy, too drab, and the added purple bow didn't match Gilly's hair bow.  Treesa did acknowledge her mother's effort, though!  For the oncoming cold weather Treesa dressed her up in this Just Play getup that's...maybe a bit too big, but that doesn't bug me much.  The outfit is retro just like I like, and it's my two favorite colors, green and blue.  It's even got a little purse and a fuzzy jacket.  I love this!

Here's how the outfit looks with the jacket.

This is a weird little rabbit trail, but the chenille and the color of the jacket make me think of the American Girl Minis.  Do any of y'all remember those?  They were these tiny little room sets with components that plugged into a small light box and lit up themselves.  The first rooms that I remember were the purple room and the blue room, and the blue room had a chenille coverlet for the bed that makes me think of that jacket.  They were a cute concept, but I'm told that the light boxes were notorious for developing shorts or just not working at all.  Mattel also said that production costs were pretty high, so the Minis weren't around too long.  Oh, and FYI:  if any of y'all do run across one of those mini rooms, Lottie is apparently a compatible size for them, as are small ball-jointed dolls.

Right, where was I?  Oh yes, Treesa also sent Gilly's original swimsuit and sunglasses.  Told y'all it was a skimpy little number!

Treesa also included the hair bow, but being the dodo that I am I dropped it in the floor and didn't photograph it.  The bow IS alive and well, though!  Life is better with a bow.

Gillian's friend is a doll that I have never, repeat, NEVER heard of.  Here's a good look at her; her brand name is at the bottom of the image. 

She is a Blooming Doll.

Treesa named her Violet, and I'll keep that.  Violet and her blooming buddies are cloth hand puppets that morph into flowerpots...or they're flowerpots that morph into dolls, one or the other.  This is what Violet looks like when she's folded up.

Indeed, Violet is an African violet...or a flower that looks like one.  Treesa named her well.

Here's a closer look at Violet's face.  Her eyes are pink, her hair is blue, and her lips and freckles are...green.  I have exactly one other doll with green lips, one of my O.M.G. dolls, Sways.

Well, Violet DOES have a flower growing out of her head!  I figure her blood and her skin pigment have plenty of chlorophyll.  It surprises me though that I'm a fan of the Ghost Of the Doll website, but I've never seen Blooming Dolls.  Their entry is here;  the dolls apparently came in two different sizes and could have either plastic or painted eyes.  The characters had no individual names.  Apparently these were extremely poor sellers, so much so that their holding company (CapToys) darn near folded.  Treesa apparently loved hers though, enuff so that she and Violet did some brief ventriloquist work.  Treesa admitted to me that her skills as a ventriloquist weren't great (nor are mine), but it sounds like she and Violet had a lot of fun anyway.  They did a piece from The Sound of Music.  Based on that anecdote I'll take good care of Violet.  She'll make a fine companion for Talia and Zlata...and Gilly.  Gilly and Violet will always be friends, Gilly swears.

Of course no box of Treesa's is complete without at least one Build-a-Bear item.  First, the stuffed animals.

From left, a polar bear in knockoff pajamas that fit him perfectly, Read Bear, who was available in McDonald's Happy Meals, and a pink sloth in a blue skirt.  Pink Sloth will need to be stuffed, but luckily that's easy.  My closest Build-a-Bear store is eighty miles away, but commercial stuffing will work too.  There's also a lace-edged tank top, which Flaxie and Summer Daisy will have to bicker over...if I ever find Flaxie.

This thing...It's a scrunchie, I know that much, but I don't know who it's for.  It's SO SOFT, though!

Might make a nice headband for Kiara or...maaaaaybe Geneva?  Geneva's head is pretty big.  Kiara could wear this easy-peasy, though.  I need to get Kiara in her winter clothes, by the way; she's still wearing her crayon dress, and that's more late summer/back-to-school than mid-fall.

Next...these very pretty crocheted booties.  I don't know yet who's gonna get those, but SOMEONE will.

These other shoes are for my mini Furskin, Hattie.  Remember how she only had one shoe?  Treesa sent some replacements which are greatly appreciated.

I don't dare unwrap these, because they're doll eyes and I have no good place to put them, but those may come in handy very soon.  From what I can tell they come in a number of nice colors.

Treesa says that this jacket was in a thrift store lot.  It'll fit American Girls, and since Doremi loves pink she'll probably be the one who gets it.  Again, it's wonderfully soft.

Blythe sewing patterns!  I knew about these ahead of time and was excited for them to arrive.  I've GOT to get my sewing machine fired up and try some of these!

This last young lady would've made nice fodder for my mishmash box.  She has an adorable face, but I don't know who she is.

She's not this dour in real life, I promise!  Little dolls with Mona Lisa smiles can be tricky to photograph.  She's about the same size as some of the blind-box ball-jointed dolls I've got, and she's got joints like the old Kelly dolls.  She's sweet.

As usual, Treesa, I appreciate the box, and I appreciate the stories behind Gilly and Violet as well.  That makes them feel all the more special.  I own plenty of nice dolls, plenty of them secondhand, but I don't know the stories behind them.  I don't know why Danica, a customized Create Your Own American Girl, ended up on eBay.  I don't know why where she came from or what her old name used to be.  Same is true with Salome, my golden-haired golden-eyed My Twinn, and her red-haired friend Angela.  So I appreciate it big time, Treesa.  Thanks!

Cheers, 

RagingMoon1987