Wow! I got FIVE American Girl Dolls locally!

One often hears of people in the USA and even Canada finding great bargains and hauls on FB Marketplace, Thrift stores and the like and it is sometimes difficult not to feel a little envious!  Actually even recently a couple of people on a group I am on have found great bargains here in the UK, both having found some AG dolls for £10 each! Wow!  Well I don't have quite the same story to tell, but I did find an amazing bargain the other day, amazing to me anyway.  

Imagine my surprise when I saw some listings for AG dolls just five minutes away from where I live?  I couldn't quite believe it, especially living on an island.  Anyway I messaged the lady and asked if I could come and see them, she said sure so I did...however, on the way there the road was blocked so we had to take an alternate route, which took MUCH longer!  I was hoping no one would do a 'Buy it Now' while we were on our way.  With hubby driving it was very much like the 'thrill of the chase' round the windy roads.  

How was I to choose, just one or two?  Hubby is good at bargaining, so we got them all for what I consider a very good price, although not the bargains prices you get overseas.  But I am still thrilled with them all.  They needed some cleaning and attention, but all their limbs were firm which was good.

So here they are when they arrived and what they had on.  Some original AG clothing, and some OG.  

Let's see what they look like individually after their tlc treatment.

So this lovely lady is a JLY 28, she was released in 2006 and retired in 2020. This one I have identified as being pre 2014.  She has the Josefina mold and I find myself very drawn to this doll, she really does pose well.  

She is wearing one of the new release T shirts teamed with an AG pink skirt.

I think she is one of my favourites, although I still need to name her.

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The others all have the Classic Face Mold.

Next up we have Beth (Bethany) she is a JLY 59, released in 2013 and retied in 2021

Very cute.  She is wearing AG shorts and a top I knitted.

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Here we have sweet Jessica June.  She was named the minute I put her in the car, strange how some dolls can 'tell' you their name straight away while others take some time.

She is a JLY 27 who was released in 2008 (before that in 2006 with non removable earrings)  and retired in 2022.  This girl would have been produced between Feb and April 2017 as she has those dreaded 'permapanties' but we won't hold that against her.

She kept on the t shirt she was wearing and teamed it with a skirt I made and a fluffy pink hair band.  

Having put a hair band on the lovely doll I did up for my grand daughter for her birthday, I can see I am going to have to make some hairbands, they look so cute wearing them.  

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Next up is the lovely Rachel (I think that will be her name)  She is a JLY 24 released in 2004 and retired in 2022.  She would probably have been bought between 2017 -2020 as she is wearing her meet outfit (minus the jacket unfortunately) that she came in.  It is a pretty dress, and she decided to still wear it as it is lovely and warm out.

She came with pierced ears and her earrings, which is nice as I don't have many with pierced ears.

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Lastly we have Ashley (I think that is her name).  She is a JLY 55 and was released in 2011 and retired in 2022.  She has lovely green/hazel eyes.

She is wearing one of the dresses I have knitted recently. 

So my AG family has grown by five dolls in one day!  I had to wait a while to be able to have a look at them properly as we got them while family were down.  I am so thrilled to have these girls in my collection and look forward to their stories.  

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I am so grateful the seller let me have these dolls for the price she sold them to me.  

They will be treasured.

 

Wandering with Wren - Tapnell Farm

On Wednesday Wren had a wander around Tapnell Farm.  She saw some fun creatures.

This bearded dragon is called Brenda.  That gave Wren a giggle.

She loved seeing the guinea pigs.

This house was pretty cool

Sweet guinea pig too.

A lovely rabbit.

She liked watching the wallabies eating.

But you had to watch out for Wallaby poo!

Always loves the donkeys.

A map of the park

Must support Isle of Wight Farming of course.

 Not that the ice cream van was open.

Having a little rest.

The ponies were sweet, but we would rather have seen them on the grass instead of in a noisy barn.

Some sheep.

Some cute piglets.

There were also some Kune Kune pigs that we felt very sorry for.  They too were in the barn, and looked quite unhappy compared to a friend's that used to live happily in a paddock on her property. 

There were lots of activities for children, and there were various school groups having a lot of fun on bouncing pillows, swings, slides, bouncy castles, flying foxes etc...

 

Let's Meet the Triplets.

I am really enjoying my American Girl Dolls at the moment.  There is something very comforting about them.  Of course that also means I regret selling most of my collection a few years ago, but does mean I can buy some new to me dolls.   These three below all came at bargain prices as they were TLC dolls.  I think they have cleaned up so nicely and look great with their new dresses I knitted for them. I think of them as the triplets as they are similar, but different.

Alice, confident, Amy a bit of a dreamer and April oh so sweet. 

Two are number thirteens, one an earlier PC one who is also the tallest, and one is a number 19.

April was the first to arrive, she is very pretty with her green eyes.  She came with her ears pierced. April is a JLY No. 19

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Amy arrived next with a wonderful bundle of clothing and accessories.

She is the sweetest little girl, a bit of a dreamer.

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Next up we have Alice a JLY No. 13, confident Alice who needed a bit of work to tidy her up when she arrived.

She is an older Pleasant Company doll and also a JLY No. 13 like Amy. You can see she has what is called 'pie bangs' which is different from Amy's fringe.  She is wearing a dress knitted from the same yarn I made Amy's dress from. 

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Welcome to Robyn Emily Bennett

A friend dropped off a long awaited package for me.  Fortunately they picked it up from being left outside our house while I was away having more tests and appointments.  This package was held up in a local delivery depot for almost a month.  Such a dreadful delivery company I really don't understand why people still use them.  They were pretty unreliable before their name change, and are still unreliable, and this is in different places I have lived.  Not only that but they LIE about 'attempting delivery' when they have clearly not attempted delivery at all.  Fortunately the package arrived relatively unscathed considering how long it had been languishing in the delivery depot and possibly a van as well and the seller had packaged it really well.  It is a shame I forgot to take photos as she wrapped everything so nicely, it was like getting a present.  In fact she did include some gifts, hand care treatment, a face mask and a mini doll.

So here she is and what she wore to travel in.  She is an American Girl Emily Bennett with a hair cut but she told me her name is actually Robyn.  The little mini doll is a Rebecca with her hair cut too.

Such a cute face with the bobbed hair.

Mini Rebecca is wearing a Julie top and a handmade skirt/dress.

I redressed her in one of my hand knitted dresses.  The sun was very bright and caused reflections on her face, so her eyes look a little strange.

Here is Mini Rebecca, such a sweet little face. 

She got changed to have her photograph taken with Saffron in front of the roses.

Today Saffron had a chat with Robyn about her journey.

Robyn is wearing a knitted top I made a few years ago and a sewn skirt I made the other week.

I think this doll will go on a few adventures as I don't have to be too 'precious' about her as she has been well loved.  She has a few marks on her, and a stain on her body which I will try to remove at some stage, but in the meantime she just wants to go on with things.

While I am unable to do many mini things aka doll housing, I am enjoying the bigger dolls, and especially the American Girl Dolls.  

 

80th Anniversary of VE Day

Rose Cottage Friends celebrated the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.

It was very gentile with tea and cakes.

Peggy Sue is having a conversation with April, whilst Saige and Henry look on.

The twins have been serving the tea.

At the little table we have Bowie, Kiwi Sindy, Marie and Wren.

Lindsey and Chrissy are having a good chat too.

Something has caught Saige's attention.

I think they are having a lovely afternoon in the sun.

The twins wonder if anyone needs a top up.

Little Saffron sits with Chrissy, she is the smallest member of the party today.