Don't Wake the Baby

What have you got there Mary?

Shhh... don't wake the baby.

Aw, so sweet.

 

A Pie-Rat Play Date

It has been a long time since we have had a Sasha 'Play Date' with another Sasha friend.  This week there was much excitement among the Rose Cottage Friends as they had been invited to go and see 

It seems someone else was excited as well.  Yes that is Captain Fred-Eric

Henry meets the Captain who gives him a little gift.

Henry is thrilled and thanks him.

Henry shows his puzzle and stickers.  Of course if features a pirate!

Thank you for the puzzle and stickers Captain FredEric

They have a little chat.  There was lots of Pirate (or Pie Rat) speak going on!

The two proud Pirates pose together and Henry was allowed to wear FredEric's pirate hat.  

I think they are going to be good friends!

The rest of the gang enjoyed having a good ol' natter and play together.

Peggy Sue attended as well, but she was engaged with our host - they seemed to really hit it off together and I forgot to take a photo!

All good fun for sure.

Thank you for a lovely morning.

Trendon Babies on Thursday

I re-introduced my Gotz babies in the 'The Gotz Gang' post, but haven't yet re-introduced the Trendon babies so thought I would do so here, as they don't often get the attention that my other dolls do.

I have five Trendon babies three of whom have been with me since 2011, one since 2012 and lastly one arriving in 2015.

Baby Alfie has been with me since 2011.  He is an early sexed baby boy with raised eyelids.  Alfie is wearing an outfit I knitted him.  Babies in the first five years of production (1970 - 75) had raised or moulded eyelids. 

Amelia has also been with me since 2011 and is an early sexed baby girl with raised eyelids.  Amelia is wearing her little Festival outfit gift we were sent this year.

Baby Grace is another early sexed baby with raised eyelids.  She has a very tight head of curls.  Grace is wearing an outfit we got at last years Festival I think it was.  She would originally have come in a 'White Suit' and dates from 1972 - 75.

Baby Ginger George is one of my 'Sailor Gang' .  He is from 1985 - 86.

This scally-wag gave poor Peggy Sue the runaround when he first arrived in 2015, and has continued to do so ever since...rarely seen with clothes on, his name is Baby Barney Bam-Bam, or often simply just 'Baby'.  He is an early sexed baby boy with raised eyelids.

The babies very much like their Winnie The Pooh toys, playing with the beads and on the rocking horse.  As you can see Baby B BB has clothes on here, a little romper suit that I knitted him...but for how long who knows!

Sasha Festival 2017 - Thank you.

I was probably/possibly one of the first to book for the Sasha Festival that was held this year, it is the highlight of my year.  So you can imagine how devastated I felt when I had to cancel not long before the festival due to terrible pain issues that have got worse since April and are currently still under investigation.  Thanks to the joys of the internet, I enjoyed watching and reading the posts about the Sasha Festival, but couldn't help feeling sad that Henry and I were missing it.  So I was delighted to receive a little package in the post last week.

Henry proudly shows the package.

Inside the box was the Sasha Festival booklet, a pattern, and some cut outs, plus a sweet little outfit that baby Amelia has claimed.

It is such a sweet little outfit.  This lovely outfit was made by the talented Karen W, and I am thrilled to have it!

Amelia is especially taken with the little toy that came with it.

To all who took the time to sign the card, a very big thank you.  It was very special to receive this and to know we were missed as much as we missed all of you.  

Boys and Dolls

For those who know me, they know that I have a special affinity for boy dolls.  I am not sure how this came about, perhaps because I had two boys of my own, or maybe because I taught predominantly boys, or maybe because I used to like to climb trees, ride on skateboards, go tramping and hunting with my Dad when I was a child.  I also played with dolls - there was no 'right or wrong' pushing towards one thing or another  - I was given a choice.  Whatever the reason, there is something special about boy dolls, but also dolls in general and people should be free to play with them, enjoy them as they wish, without being made to feel that they are being childish, or whatever.  Women playing with or enjoying dolls can often be ridiculed, but boys and men can often experience this even more! Dolls can be good therapy, they can be calming, they listen to your troubles and worries without passing judgement, they can be a good source of historical interest, inspire creativity, whatever and wherever your interest may lie.  

Both my boys were allowed to play with dolls as and when they chose as well.  One enjoyed playing with them more than the other and he enjoyed playing with them right up until he was about 10 or 11 years old. This may be in part because he was home-educated until this age, so didn't have the peer pressure of 30 other children his age in a classroom that told him it was 'wrong'.  Other home-educated children seemed to be much more tolerant of one's interests and games.  I have fond memories of him dressed up in his great grandmothers felt hat, pushing a push chair up the street with 'Baby' his cabbage patch boy doll in it.  Him and a friend of his used to play with dolls in the garden - both action man and barbie type dolls - they used to get up to all sorts of adventures and imaginative play together and I remember the excitement on his friend's face when for his tenth birthday we gave him a girl doll - dressed in safari clothes.  He had never had one before and was thrilled.  

Yet when my son was asked by my husband's friend what he would like for Christmas one year and he said a doll, my husband's friend was horrified.  'I am NOT buying your son a doll!' he exclaimed. Of course whatever he did end up giving our son for Christmas is forgotten as it wasn't what he really wanted, so wasn't as memorable.  Very sad to see that he was so prejudiced and of course this was carried through to his own son when he had one.  He was not allowed to play with dolls and pushed very firmly in one direction.  Now his son  may never have wanted to play dolls, or 'home corners' (another of our son's favourite games) but the important thing was, he was never given a choice to make that decision himself.

My friend Jesse in New Zealand who has the blog 'A Boy Doll Diary'  which features Angelo and his friends, wrote a brilliant post on this subject with links to videos as well and it is worth reading and watching. You can see it here:  'More about boys playing with their dolls'

I must go through my photo albums and see if I actually took any photos of my son and his friend playing when they were young.  I don't think I did, as the focus was them enjoying themselves and the camera often wasn't to hand like it is now.  Most of his dolls and teddy bears are currently packed away in the loft, but 'Baby' and Brian'   stay down and sit together on the top of my wardrobe.

My son's 'Baby' as he called his Cabbage Patch boy.  I made him a load of clothes, which we still have packed away somewhere that include little cloth nappies and various outfits.

I introduced 'Brian' his Waldorf boy a few days ago.