The next big thing

Happy New Year, ladies and germs!  Another year has passed and another has arrived.  I wonder what 2025 will hold?  Let's see...no solar eclipse (sad face), no presidential election (HAPPY FACE!!!), no milestone birthday for me, for anyone I love, or for Barbie.  Tornado season, tax season (the two coincide), mosquitoes and butterflies, sand burrs, planting season, harvesting season, life in the Bootheel.  A little monotonous, but there's comfort in that monotony so I won't complain.

Okay, I'll complain a little.  Y'all know that I do like to do that from time to time.  To break up the monotony a little, my newest little project, though I'm not sure how or when Imma carry it out.  I actually have been planning this since St. Patrick's Day, when I was coming to the sad realization that I'm a super-flyweight when it comes to beer (that lovely little story is told at the beginning of this post).  While I was coming to terms with that I browsed eBay for Grecon Little People.  I didn't find any that night and I'm STILL looking, but I did find some other items.  Betty is similar to a Grecon doll with her wiry limbs and yarn body.

Betty is so noodly that I almost named her "String-Bean."  Indeed, that's what she calls herself, LOL.  But I went with "Betty" because she reminds me of Betty Spaghetty.  Y'all remember Betty Spaghetty???  Betty Spaghetty sets are at a premium on eBay, but I may need to bite the bullet and review her at some point in the future.  Anyway, Betty came with a nice add-on, this vintage postcard of the old Mississippi River Bridge.  Betty's seller was located in Arizona, so receiving this little piece of local history was a delight.

TANGENT ALERT:  Time for a stroll down Memory Lane.  This bridge was located at Cape Girardeau and connected Missouri's Route 34 to Illinois's Route 146.  The bridge became outdated, dilapidated, and a little dangerous as time went by, so in 2004 it was torn down.  The old bridge was supposed to be taken out one span at a time, but the second demolition session went awry and a much larger portion of the bridge collapsed into the river, to the great amusement of one of KFVS's dumber news anchors.  No one was hurt in the mishap, but the river was blocked and the construction crew had a mess on its hands due to both the cleanup and the riverboats that were on a tight schedule.  The river was thankfully fairly low at the time, the old bridge was moved out without further incident, and a gorgeous new bridge was put in.  End tangent.

Back on topic now, Josef is a mischievous little Erna Meyer doll.  When it's not too cold he likes to play outside.

Erna Meyer dolls have an interesting story, just as Grecon Little People do.  Tam has a few of these dolls in her own dollhouse, and she relates Ms. Meyer's story here.  

Josef's best friend is this little girl, Scarlett.  She's modelled like your classic Little Red Riding Hood doll and has a few errant splotches of paint on her face.

Scarlett is made of rubber and is a German make like Josef is, but I don't know what brand.  Her joints move, but since she IS rubber they're a hair stiff.  She can sit a little, but not completely.

Scarlett is a reader, so I need to get her some books.  I had some coming last spring...but they never ever got here.

The next doll is this one, Blanche.  Blanche is pale all over, so I named her...well, "Blanche"!  She's very loosely jointed and can't stand at all.

Hey, colors!  "Scarlett" means red and "Blanche" means white.

Blanche has the famous "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker on her back, but she's modelled like an antique.  She has joints at the hips and shoulders as y'all saw above, and she sadly doesn't have a stitch to wear.  Not yet, anyway.  I don't know if there are dresses this tiny out there or not.

Next...Tam really likes these Caco dolls, so I got one for myself.  I went the hurricane route for this one and named him Felix.

Due to his tender age my little Felix prefers to cuddle.  He likes to cuddle with Betty, who is soft...

...and with his teddy bear, Penny.

The littlest one, Narcissa needs no introduction, really.  She's a little Zapf baby that Treesa sent me last spring. 

Narcissa sucks her thumb, just like I like.  She's little enuff to be friends with this bunch, and I love her balloon hat!  She's a tiny thing, but her face has a lot of personality.  

Lastly, I think I'll move Camilla, my Dolly Darling, into the mix.

So...a group of tiny dolls, but nowhere to live!  I've been keeping them and their things here, in a box.   

Josef:  It's...pink.

Yes, Josef, it IS pink, with gold polka dots.  The other box I had is even pinker than this.  You'll have to deal with it for now.  Just for shizzles, here's how they all look when tucked into said box.  They've all got leg room, but Josef isn't loving the pink.

Of course I have other small dolls that can live in or visit a dollhouse.  Dolls like the Quints, or like Longlocks and Heather, or like Sheerena and Graham.  Anyone under a certain size is fair game.  LOL, by now y'all have probably figured out that I want to own a dollhouse.  I did have one at one point, a little Fisher Price dollhouse that would've suited this bunch nicely, but I gave it away to someone who needed it more.  Hobby Lobby offers kits, but they're mondo expensive, WAAAAY too big for my current living space, and my favorite model (the log cabin) apparently got discontinued years ago.  I really liked the log cabin.  It was the smallest house Hobby Lobby had to offer (and still wasn't cheap), but it had a lot of neat little things that were designed specifically for it.  There was an OUTHOUSE, for crying out loud!  I don't know why that tickled the soup out of me to see that tiny outhouse, but it did.  Hey, pioneer dolls need to go too!

At the library where I work there is a child's book called This Is My Dollhouse.  The book deals with a little girl and her very unique family of dollhouse dolls, and how she uses her imagination and ingenuity to create games and items for her dolls.  The house itself is a cardboard box with brick-printed paper on the exterior, and DIY rooms fashioned within.  The girl loves her dollhouse, but is a little self-conscious about it until her best friend comes over to play.  It's a cute book, and one that gives me an idea about fashioning my own dollhouse.  Hey, who said a dollhouse had to be Trump Plaza???  Comfort takes priority over luxury in my book.  But...I don't really have room for a dollhouse.  We're in the process of clearing out the back bedroom at Uncle Man-Child's place, but I'll need room for Shirley's birdcage (Laverne died in November) and my old toybox.  No room for a dollhouse there, not right now!  But that too could be in the future.  I just gotta wait...and waiting is not something I'm good at.  I've learned from a very reliable source that patience is for wimps.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Two little gifts

My friend Jessica (the same lady who gave me this doll) paid us a visit at the library today, and she brought these young ladies with her.

These little girls are music box dolls, not terribly unlike one of my Walda girls.  I received one similar to these from my grandmother; I was graduating high school then, and she played "Pomp and Circumstance."  The young lady in the flowered dress plays "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music (which I never liked).  These dolls don't have names that I'm aware of, so the song earned her the name "Maria."

The doll in dark blue plays "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  Mama and I heard that and simultaneously named her "Dorothy," even though she doesn't look a thing like Judy Garland.

Indeed, Dorothy looks kinda like she's seen something that freaked her out!  LOL, that's par for the course with porcelain dolls, especially the mass-produced ones.  Their eyes can be intense, and thus I can see why some folks would be creeped out by dollies like this.  But...well, I like 'em.  And as always, I send my deepest gratitude to my friend Jessica for these little gifts.  They'll join Diana on her shelf and keep her company.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Another doll named Diana

"Oh no, not another damn doll," Mama groaned as Uncle From St. Louis pulled the box from his car.  Yep, my uncle had indeed procured another porcelain doll for me.  This is her; Mama thinks she's ugly...or she did before I took her out of the box. 

According to her paperwork this doll's name is Diana (just like this doll), and she dates from the 2003 Christmas season.  I...actually don't remember what doll I received for Christmas that year, but it sure as hell wasn't Diana!  That may have been the year Grandma gave me a Nutcracker-themed doll.  But ANYWAY, here's a better look at Diana's face.  She's not the most beautiful doll I own, but I wouldn't call her ugly either.

Admittedly Diana does have a bit of a pucker that throws shadows, kinda like Kat the Time Explorer does.  Keep in mind that I don't find poor Kat particularly attractive.  

Since Diana has a holiday-flavored outfit she's got a lot of gold in the mix, but I was particularly pleased to see that her boots were gold.

Most of my porcelain dolls have black, brown, or white shoes, so these gilded boots are a pleasant surprise indeed.

Now that Diana is out of her box Mama admits that she's pretty sweet.  We both plan on using her as a Christmas decoration when the time comes.  I do hope though that my uncle doesn't bring me too many of these.  I'm already trying to offload a large quantity of porcelain dolls, mostly the ones that I bought myself and WEREN'T gifts.  So hopefully receiving more of these will be a rare occurrence.  That said, I do appreciate the sentiment behind Diana.  Uncle From St. Louis has always been that way.

Regards,

RagingMoon1987 

A nice little surprise

My mother and I have recently befriended a young lady who comes into the library.  Said lady is close to me in age and is taking college classes after hitting a rough patch in her life.  So she's in the library a lot and we've gotten pretty tight.  This afternoon she brought me this.

"A little bird told me that y'all like dolls," she explained as she handed this little one to me.  This poppet is about the length of my birdie finger and is all-bisque like those little dolls Hobby Lobby used to sell.  In truth she's a Christmas ornament, but I'll be using her as a regular little doll.  I think I'll name her Jessica, after my friend.  Thanks, Jessica!

In other news, my area made it through the storm in one piece, though I understand that at least one reader's neck of the woods didn't fare as well.  Setsu-P tells me that she's okay and her loved ones are okay, but apparently it was still not a pleasant experience.  Sigh...I don't guess any storm really is, unless your area is really desperate for rain.  My area's had a bit too much.  

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

So random

When you're a single thirtysomething with a nine-to-five job and no social life, you find other ways of entertaining yourself.  When I'm not hanging out with my mom, or playing with my animals, I'm usually oot and aboot with a doll or two (or rarely three).  Thus was the case this past summer; inevitably when I put a post together I have two or three outtakes, and if the picture comes out particularly well I just hold onto it, waiting for a rainy day.  

We'll start on January 1st of 2021.  Justine-Marie was the new kid in town, and for reasons unknown, I never showed her in this getup.

Knitted pants are usually ugly as sin, but these aren't so bad.  From a distance they look like corduroy slacks like I like to wear during the winter, but trust me:  they ARE knitted.  Mama was not thrilled when she found out (apparently the Etsy pictures weren't that great), but it was good enuff for Justine-Marie and me.  Oh yeah, I remember know why I took her out of this!  Another knitwear set arrived in the mail, and Justine-Marie looked even cuter in that.

Courtney Moore moved into the Moon House right around the same time that Justine-Marie did.  I showed this outfit in her introductory post, but I didn't take a picture of Courtney wearing it until February third, and I NEVER shared it.

Sort of a combo between the modern and the retro.  Courtney the historical, in a modern dress with a vintage icon on it, and a JoJo Bow to boot.  She needs some bangles to pull it all together; Courtney's accessories came with bangles, and I like to layer 'em on her.  I can remember harping at the time that it was impossible to find anything with Orange Blossom on it, and two years later that holds true, as poor ol' Orange was not included on Courtney's Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag.

February 10th, 2021.  I don't know why I never shared this particular image, but...well, I never did.

Here Justine-Marie is modelling a Valentine's Day set that my mother got for...well, for whoever I assigned it to.  She looks cute enuff in it, but it didn't really look like her style to me.  Indeed, when I trotted this outfit again, Luciana was the one who wore it.  Justine-Marie wore a full-skirted getup and ended up looking adorable.

The next picture I found was of Barbie's long-lost friend P.J., whom I think is adorable.  This is the younger of my two P.J. dolls, from one of the many Malibu lines, and I presume that the dress is a Best Buy dress.

This picture was an outtake from a fluff post I did in March of 2022, comparing the faces of Barbie's friend P.J. with Maxie's friend Ashley.  The two favor each other a teeny-weeny bit.  Interestingly, the picture itself dates from fall of 2021.

December 9th, 2021, days before the atmosphere exploded.  This is Kailey Hopkins, clad in a dress that I had for an aborted "who wore it best?" post.  

I forget who else has a copy of this outfit, but I've got two of 'em.  Maybe it was Lindsey???  LOL, I genuinely do not know, but either way my mama and I both like this outfit.  I bought it and she bought it simultaneously, and then a year later she tried to buy me a third one!  It's one of those outfits that will look cute on whoever has it, but the retro cut of the skirt would suit Lindsey's flip hair.

December 21st, 2021.  I think it was Share Your Pet Day or something like that on one of Failbook's American Girl groups.  I acquiesced with pictures of Samantha and Jip...

...and Doremi with Moochie and Coconut.

January 4th of 2022 brought some more seasonable temperatures, so I decked Z and Kailey out in their winter garb.  Kailey sparkles and Z...is cozy.

RIP my filthy box fan, by the way.  It died this past summer.  Thank God I had another one crammed into the window.

From January 11th, we get another shot of Princess Doremi, wearing splashes of her favorite color.

Very small splashes, apparently, as only her necklace and her hairbow are pink.  I didn't leave Doremi in this too long because her little knees looked cold, but it's tucked away in her wardrobe, waiting to see daylight again.

May 2nd, 2022, after a long night in the emergency room.  That was the beginning of Mama's woes with her gallbladder, but I didn't know it right then.  The doctor had diagnosed it as a kidney stone and sent us home.  We were both were so glad to be out of that freezing cold E.R. that we took what he said at face value.  Short on sleep and in a devil-may-care mood, I shoved Rita Cheryl into my beloved mystery tree, the one that has the knothole that looks like an eye.

Rita Cheryl likes pandas, both the classic type and the red type.  It explains a lot.  May 2nd was the first day it had been warm enuff for her to go without a jacket, by the way; note that in this post she was wearing a jacket.

Same doll, different day.  May 6th, Mama's pain was back in full force, and...oh, I think someone on Etsy wanted a picture of Rita Cheryl in her Kuromi necklace.  I obliged.

I understood completely on that day why Sasha Morgenthaler hated dolls that smiled.  There was Rita Cheryl in her innocent little dolly bubble, while I was worried sick.  There is a reason why I pose my dolls looking away from the camera when I'm sad, scared, angry, or worried (examples can be found HERE and HERE), and this is so that the neither the viewer nor I can see that goofy smile.  But in this case I had to show her face-on, so that the Etsy seller would know that Rita Cheryl received her necklace.  For the record, it IS a cute necklace.  

September 9th, 2022.  I was anticipating a possible purchase of Claudie Wells (which never happened), and while I waited for her release I bought some cloche style hats.  Here Luciana and Justine-Marie are modelling them.  

Luciana and Justine-Marie are polar opposites, and yet they never pass up an opportunity to spend time together, even if it's just to be silly or cute.  I dunno about y'all, but the hats kinda suit them.  

November 27th, 2022.  Rita Cheryl comes back into the picture, both to show off her favorite dress and her then-new doll.

Rita Cheryl didn't stay in that blue dress long.  We had more of a normal winter last winter, without all the tornadoes, so I put her in something that could be layered.

December 13th, 2022.  Luciana modelled her new Christmas garb, which was Grinch-themed.

Ah yes, once upon a time Luciana could've stayed at the library and showed off her cute little getup to the world, but God forbid that I do that now.  Luciana wore this the whole month, though...including during Christmas Eve, when Mama's water pipe exploded.  We're STILL dealing with the fallout from that mess, by the way.

January 9th, 2023.  With Christmas over and Malden experiencing a warm snap, Luciana traded Dr. Seuss for Doctor Who.

Oh, look!  Rocks!  LOL, Luciana dabbles in geology in addition to her million other hobbies (or at least I pretend she does), and she'd found a pretty pebble to show me.  She still has that pebble in her backpack, by the way.  Like all of my dolls, if Luciana finds a trinket she likes, she keeps it.

January 13th, 2023.  Rita Cheryl popped back in for an Etsy shot, this time to show off her new batiked polka dot shoes.

Rita Cheryl likes polka dots almost as much as I do, and these just happened to match her new shirt.

April 16th.  Speaking of polka dots, I wanted to wait until summer to put Rita Cheryl in this, but the rapidly warming weather dictated otherwise.  Rita Cheryl donned her new peasant blouse and introduced me to her new pet.

A calico, which she knew I'd love because I love calico cats myself.  This one is Ginger, from back in the days when AG sold the pets with names.  Kyle's dog Meatloaf is another example, as is Sugar, whom I'm sizing up as a pet for River Song.  Heck, I just like AG-sized pets; I could collect all of those very easily.

May 12th.  Oh, how I wish the summer had stayed as mild as it was right then!  I took this picture in preparation for this post, in which several of my American Girls modelled some new Etsy duds.  Sunset was not far off, and I loved how the golden light filled the background behind Danica.

Alas, the golden hour was fleeting and my dolls were recalcitrant.  By the time I'd wrestled Rita Cheryl into a standing position, my own legs were aching and the light had shifted.  But I captured Danica back-lit and without a ton of obnoxious shadows on her face, and I'm glad for that.

June 17th, still pleasant outside, but slowly warming up.  Here I had Lady Diana propped against a bookshelf.  She's very pretty in profile. 

Diana is porcelain, and I was terrified that she'd do a mondo faceplant, but she didn't.

June 26th.  It was hot by now, but that didn't stop me from dressing Terri Lee up.

I don't think ANYTHING makes Terri Lee happy!  I guess having puffy, "mumpy" cheeks doesn't help.  I have to admit though that I think blue is my particular Terri Lee's color.  The dress is an Etsy find, by the way.

Fast-forward to August 19th, when we got a taste of fall.  It was a Saturday, and Carol Kasey fancied a romp in the grass.

The grass was covered in dew and felt wonderful on our feet.  Yes, our.  Both Carol and I went barefoot in that grass, and afterwards our legs were covered with grass bits.  It was worth it, though.  I also got a picture of this unfurled morning glory.  I almost never see these open.

September 3rd.  Random picture of Owen Presley, Carol Kasey's friend.  He's got such pretty eyes!

September 4th, shortly before I moved Owen and Suzie home.  No, I've not moved home full-time yet, and I've been shuttling various dolls back and forth between my house and Uncle Man-Child's.  I don't remember why I had Owen and Suzie, but they make a cute pair, and as usual Suzie is enthralled with Owen.

Inevitably there will be more randoms to come, as I almost always have a doll with me and odd or cute situations will crop up.  But for now that's all I've got.  With the passing of a fairly stout cold front, hopefully I'll get to go home for good this week.

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987

Thank you, Treesa!

This is Lydia, so named because she's kinda like the doll that Samantha Parkington loved (and ultimately gave away).

Okay, so she's blonde and dressed in pink, while Samantha's first doll was dark-haired and dressed in blue, but Lydia sounds like as good a name as any.  Treesa needed help rehoming her and remembered that I like porcelain dolls, so...well, here she is!  She's very similar to both Walda and her cousin Amoreena.  Her coloring is radically different from Amoreena's...

...but the aesthetic is the same, and if it's one thing I love, it's Walda dolls and cousins.  Indeed, Lydia looks so much like Amoreena that I palpated her torso for a music box, but Lydia has none and that's fine.  She has the same soft leather shoes that Amoreena has (I really like these).

My favorite thing about Lydia is her pearl necklace.  It looks like somewhere along the way somebody gave her a necklace to wear, and I always love little personal touches like that.

The trip from Treesa's home to mine was a short one, but Lydia was still tuckered out.  After arriving she settled in at my workstation and sought comfort from my dolly tumor, Rita Cheryl Lassiter.

Lydia:  Sorry, stranger, but I'm about beat!

Rita Cheryl:  Well, you'll have a good home with us.  

Later, Rita Cheryl told Lydia what might be in store for her.

Rita Cheryl:  I'm tellin' ya, there's a lot of us.  A lot of American Girls, a lot of Barbies, a lot of porcelain dolls, one REALLY BIG BOY...

Lydia (very sleepy):  Mmm-hmm...any bullies?

Rita Cheryl:  Uhhhh...just one that I can think of...

Don't worry, y'all.  I'll keep Doremi corralled.  So now my Walda family is up to three!  I haven't introduced Lydia to Walda and Amoreena yet, but I have no doubt that they'll get along fine.  Waldas are a fairly tight-knit bunch.  

Thank you, Treesa, for sending Lydia to me!  She will indeed have a good home here.

All of my love,
RagingMoon1987