Birthday box

As I said on Saturday my birthday has come and gone.  I'm 38, one year closer to 40.  I get Mondays off so I slept most of the day with my dogs by my side, and oh man, did that feel good!  Uncle Man-Child moaned about wanting to take us out to eat, but Mama is on a cane and had just gotten off work, and I'm on a walker and hadn't yet showered, so we shut that nonsense down PDQ.  Mama and I ate leftover chicken and German chocolate cake and chilled out.  When you get to be my age just being remembered and thought of counts for a lot, though I'll ALWAYS want a cake, LOL!

On the ninth my birthday box came; Treesa always sends me something for my birthday.  First off was this teddy bear, Hal (short for Halloween).  He's one of Treesa's personal teddy bears, one with a decorated nose like Raina and Summer Daisy. 

My Newborn Nancy, from Tyco and Treesa's sister A.

Nancy runs on batteries, and she's a thumb sucker, just like I like. 

She also could suck on her bottle or pacifier, and she could be burped.  Pretty cute!  Treesa insinuated that she still works, so I need to get some batteries and try her out.

Y'all have met this next one.  She's a Wellie Wisher with bobbed hair and a sweet face.  I've chosen to rename her "Billie."

Mama insinuated that she'd like to complete the Wellie Wisher set, and that may mean another Willa since Mama likes her original outfit.  We'll see!

Now this...THIS is something I had never heard of before.  She is a Grandma's Marshmallow Baby, and she's from Playskool.  Ghost of the Doll has a forum discussion about these, but no official page.

Treesa says that this doll belonged to her, but she didn't really bond with her.  She named the doll "Marshmallow," and I think that's as good a name as any since she's soft like a marshmallow.  Here's a better look at her face.

It's kinda hard to tell in that image, but Marshmallow is a pale lilac color.  Some of the other dolls like her are blue, pink, or yellow.  Marshmallow may get a closer look in the future, just like Primrose Jessalyn and Violet did.

From the Cabbage Patch Magic Meadows, this is Sundance.

Sundance is a Crimp 'n' Curl Pony, which pleases me greatly.  I loved the Pretty Crimp 'n' Curl Cabbies, so having this throwback is fun.  Sundance will also fit in nicely with a herd of My Little Ponies.

Also fresh-picked from the Cabbage Patch is this little boy, from a Beachtime Twins playset.

He's a cute little boy, with auburn hair, green eyes, and a nice tan.

Both doll and pony are from the Hasbro era, and they're semi-in scale with one another. 

About that time Lily wanted to get in on the action.  She pouted when I made her stay off the couch.

Lily is a good girl, though.  I love having my cats in the house again!

Back on track, this one's a Sea Wee.

Kinda hard to see her cute little face, but she's got a big smile.  I think she's Seabrina, from one of the TropiGals sets.

Fun fact about me:  I've started gravitating towards tiny dolls like this, not just for dollhouse reasons, but because I can carry them in my pocket or my hand, even when I'm using my walker.

With MS being a possibility that walker may be my companion for life now.  Anyway, severe weather is back in the cards; remember that the Midwest and the South get a second tornado season in the fall.  With the Sea Wee being little she may ride in my pocket on Saturday. 

Speaking of dollhouses, this next item gave me a laugh.  See what Treesa wrote?

Y'all remember pretty well what I say!  Inside that parcel was a tiny DIY dollhouse kit, complete with house and furniture.  The pictures I took of the furniture didn't come out, but they're teeny-weeny.  The dolls themselves were tucked into this pretty little drawstring bag. 

Ooo, ooo, I bet the dolls are worry dolls!

Yeah, there are six of 'em!  I love worry dolls!  Y'know, if I ever do have room for a large dollhouse, this will make a fine plaything for the residents. 

Then there were these.  I freaking LOVE Pound Puppies!

I used to have a small collection of these.  I loved how soft they were, and how different they all were.  There were dogs AND cats, both equally adorable. 

The eighteen-inch contingent was not forgotten, and this little item came from Treesa's personal collection.  Forgive Seabrina; she wanted to have a little fun.

Treesa said that this could be used by the historical dolls, but Justine-Marie can use this too for her horse.

Then there are these bedroom items, which I think Airy might like.  I love the little nail polish bottle!

Then there's this kick-a$$ rag doll.  She's sized for American Girls, but they may not get her.  She's awesome!

The last item is something practical for me.  The picture didn't come out well, but it's a Monster High lanyard.

That's good.  I like rotating my lanyards with the seasons and with my moods.

As is often the case with gifts, I've had either Billie or Nancy or Marshmallow by my side for the better part of the weekend.  Nancy even shared my lunch on the fourteenth...while Mama took forever to come home and Uncle Man-Child asked nonstop questions. 

I guess he gets some sick pleasure out of hearing me say "yes" and "no."  I refuse to say more than that!  Anyway, the box was another hit, but unfortunately it made me want a vintage Pound Puppy.  LOL, Mama's gonna kill me!  But thanks once again, Treesa, and thank you to your sister too for her personal doll.

Cheers and joy,
RagingMoon1987

They love you and they dump you

Another birthday has come and gone.  I'm 38 now, turned 38 on October 6th.  For gifts I received a set of I Survived... books, an anthology of Ray Bradbury stories, a birthday box of stuff, and the news that the twelve-year EF5 drought has been broken.  Tim Marshall and the other big guns utilized forensic methods to determine that this tornado was indeed at the top tier of strength, meaning that the tornado at Enderlin is

A)  The U.S.'s first EF5 since 2013, when Moore, Oklahoma got hit the third time, and
B)  North Dakota's first F5/EF5 since 1957, when Fargo got hit.

The past few days since have been...well, I won't say they were hell, but they've been about fifty shades of crazy.  Some of the people I meet are crazier than sh!thouse rats.  Nice, but incredibly crazy.  I don't want to go into more detail than that, but take my word, it's been nuts.  And then...oh, dare I say it!  John Lodge, the bassist for the Moody Blues and my favorite member of the Moodies, died.  I mean, the guy was 82 and had had at least one stroke in the past couple'a years, but it was still quite a shock.  I told Mama (semi-joking) that I needed to put on my ashes and sackcloth.  So John, if you can hear me, thank you very, very much for the music.  You wrote some of my favorite Moody Blues songs, and I look forward to the day I can thank you in person.  Nineteen people also died in a factory explosion over in Tennessee, and a kid in Fayetteville, Arkansas turned up with whooping cough, a disease that can be controlled with vaccinations.  If you're pro-vax, better get a booster if you haven't done so.  Hopefully my sister will.

So yeah, it's been an interesting week.  On the eighth the aforementioned birthday box from Treesa turned up in the mail, and I'm working on an extensive post about that, but today I want to focus on just one item.  It's this little girl.

That, kids, is a Wellie Wisher.  I have Camille, and now I have this Willa, who has a serious chop to her locks.  I would say that this was a salvation haircut, done because Willa's hair was irreparably mangled (kids can do that), but it's incredibly even all the way around.

Kinda reminds me of Crissy's foundation hair.  Anyway, I got strong Homeward Bound vibes looking at Willa, particularly that scene where Chance accuses humans of being untrustworthy.  "They love you and they dump you," were his exact words, which sadly rings true for many pets.  In Willa's case I got the same vibe; someone bothered to cut her hair and make her look nice, and yet she ended up dumped at a secondhand store.  My gain, though!  Despite the lock chop and abandonment Willa smiles, and dang, do I love these Wellie Wisher faces!

Treesa correctly assumed that since I love red hair and freckles I'd love this doll.  Indeed, the only reason why I initially chose Camille over Willa was because I liked Camille's blue and green meet outfit better.  Camille, of course, is delighted to see her friend.

I think I got two that share a head!

Now...with her haircut Willa looks pretty different than she normally would, more grown up.  So I ask y'all:  should I keep the name "Willa," or should I change it to something else?  Since her haircut sets her apart from other Willa dolls I think this little gal might need a special new name or nickname.  But at the same time I like "Willa."  So I turn it over to y'all.

And now I'm going on a Moody Blues bender; "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is calling my name!  John Lodge let it all hang out for that one.

All of my love,
RagingMoon1987

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 

The big three-seven

Yep, it's that day again!  Since it's a Sunday Mama and I are gonna chillax and lay low.  Uncle Man-Child wanted to go out to eat, but the last time we did that it was a hundred-mile round trip of nothing but him chatter-chatter-chattering.  I'm not in the mood for that, and neither Mama nor I were in the mood to go out, so we opted to...well, NOT go out!  It's a good thing we didn't too, because I woke up in a significant amount of pain and am having a hard time moving.  So we stayed home and ate pizza and exchanged the few gifts we have.  My present to Mama isn't here yet, but I know she'll like it.  It's a wooden cutting board, and it's got a pattern burned onto it using a very dangerous technique. 

As for me, my gifts consist of some wearables, plus one doll.

How the sam-hill Mama knew I'd like this one, I don't know.  I've been vocal about my fondness for Asian Cabbage Patch Kids, but I never told Mama that I had my eye on this specific outfit.  This doll is a Jakks Pacific Kid, and she's a "Preppy Girl."

I knew that this line had a lot of cute ones, but my favorites have always been Preppy Girl and Skater Boy.

Regarding my doll, her name is Margot Madeline, and she also just had a birthday.  Please ignore the fact that I put the birth certificate in the envelope the wrong way. 

Included with Margot is this little card, stating her favorite things.  It surprised me that she likes to paint, seeing she's not Artsy Girl.  She also apparently likes playing sports and scary stories, which I can dig.

Now here's Margot Madeline out of her box and looking VERY pleased about it.  She still smells faintly of baby powder.

Look at that smug little face!  She reminds me of Coleco #15, who also has a huge smile.

I love Jakks Pacific and Play Along Kids!  All Cabbies have their merits, but dolls from these two eras have the best faces.

And as far as I know, that will be my birthday for now.  Nice and quiet without a lot of hullabaloo.  I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head and clothes on my back, particularly when so many to the east don't have those.  Helene's death toll keeps rising, and there's ANOTHER storm in the Gulf of Mexico, predicted to track right over Florida!  Y'all down there, I'd be getting outta dodge if I were y'all!  Be safe!

Love,

RagingMoon1987