I have quite a collection of dolls scattered around the house and they come in all shapes and sizes. I was out and about the other day and found this old style antique shop. It was absolutely filled to the gunnels with stock. I would say that some of it had been there for years. The first thing that caught my eye as I came through the door was this lovely lady.
Yes her dress is faded and a little tattered but she is just exquisite. She has a stockingette body and beautiful hand painted face with the most delicately curled hair with wonderful detail. I do know that a lot of this kind of doll was made in Hong Kong but I don't feel that she has the same origins as she is so fine and detailed. When I asked the seller how much she asked for £5.00 and I was just bowled over so she is now sitting proudly on my mantlepiece in the sitting room.
Another doll that I fell in love with came from Jo of Hesta hestanesta.blogspot.com , she had taken this wonderful boudoir doll to the Market Harborough Fair and she was propped up behind her stall.
You know how it is - you take lots of stock to sell and come back with something - well she was my present to myself that day.
Whilst talking of presents my hubby treated me to this wonderful 1930's art deco lady hat stand when we were in the States this year.
These are not cheap and they are not easy to come by and I have been promising myself one for years but have always shied away from them due to the cost but when someone else is treating you who am I to say no.
My cousin in the United States is to blame for my doll collection, I was purely a bear collector before but getting together with her is fatal, her doll collection must go into the 100's and she has display cupboards full of old childrens toys books and dolls. I have to say that I am not a big fan of Madame Alexander dolls but Glynis found this one for me and she so reminds me of a character from Mad Men that I have to have her out and displayed.
Her name is Cissie and she is complete with tiny little net stockings. I do have one of her black mules but I think she must have lost one whilst coming home from a dinner dance one evening as this is sadly missing. To me she is just so 1950's and again another gift which as I say is always nice.
Like most people we decided to make the most of this lovely Indian Summer weather and take ourselves off to Stowe Gardens owned by the National Trust.
The garden's are fully of Roman style follies and every where you turn there are great vistas with the follies sitting at the end of them, very clever landscaping.
I will just let the photo's speak for themselves.
I cannot ever remember kicking through leaves in my sandals before!!!
Even though the trees are still very green I found colour in the berries around the gardens.
I just hope this good weather holds for a little while longer yet as I have got lots of things I still want to do and my garden really does need me to turn my attention to it ready to put it to bed for this year.
