Be STILL! My Hearte~

I just couldn't wait to share this early quilt block with you all! The second I saw it, my hearte skipped a beat....it was one of those moments when you see something so spectacular, so special, something that just makes your whole body melt away. Perhaps like Howard Carter felt, as he peered thru the small hole he had chipped into the door of King Tut's tomb back in the 20s or whenever it was.

What a treasure! I go crazy for early prints, so it is really no wonder I am in love with this c1850 single, hand pieced block~ its big! 16" across. Isn't the red block print just wonderful? The blues in the leaves once over painted with yellow, to make green~ now all long faded away save for a few scant spots here and there.

Must have been made from dress scraps~ see how every lil bit was used to piece it in? I could totally see this fabric as a dress~ its the perfect print and shade of red that I am on the hunt for for my big Abby a new dress. It is very hard to find this shade in modern fabrics~ it is just never right~ either too orangy, or to brown.......

I knew if I liked it so much, you all would too~ I hope it inspires you as much as it does me!

Dollys for sale... D o l l y s ....... f o r........ S a l e!



Dollys and I are having too much fun! I hope you'll stop by my Mercantile pages this Friday to see what the ol peddler ladye has brung to sell~ I will have some of the dollys from the Stampington Premier issue for sale too, please do stop by and say hello!

More on Early Grodner Tal Wooden Doll Bodies.........

Here is Holley just wearing her kid shoes. A lot of times, these early dolls will be stitched into their clothing, so it truly is a treat to get to study and admire the craftsmanship that went into making them. Here you can clearly see what sets my Holley apart from so many other Grodner Tal dolls~ she has original gesso to the knee (typical), on her head and shoulder plate(typical), but this extends down her arms, including the entire upper arm, and even the joints(not typical). Usually just the parts of the doll that were to show were gessoed, and this is reinforced by her original wardrobe, including a pretty short sleeved gown.

Her gesso is well crackled as you can see~ she is showing her age to be sure....but this gives us a wonderful opportunity to see what lies beneath that thick layer. Many collectors and institutions shy away from keeping early wooden dolls, as they are so very fragile. They are made from an organic, living thing, that still, to this day, 200 years after being made, breathes and moves underneath that gesso. Joints swell and contract along with the body of the doll with changes in air temperature, humidity and pressure. The most important thing when keeping early woodens, is that whatever environment they are kept in, it remains constant. constant. constant! The lighter 'painted' areas you see is where the hair-thin varnish layer has peeled away(giving us a peek at her original, brighter paint colors.)

Wooden dolls were painted with gesso as a way to seal the wood, and provide a smooth, hard, non porous surface for the paint to adhere to. Many of these dolls, especially ones made from the 1830s on, have smooth heads~meaning the only way the hair is defined is by painting it on. The carver of this doll intentionally left the individual carve marks in to define the hair. A detail so small as that, makes such a huge impression & effect on the look of the doll~ in fact, it also has aided in another little 'discovery' when her original bonnet was removed.....

Holley was originally a 'Tuck Comb' style, with a tall comb centered at the top of her head~ I have no doubt it was an elaborate one. The outline can clearly be seen, and since the area is so thick, this leads me to believe that hair was also part of the carving. It was either removed by the original maker, for whatever reason....or more likely, closely there after by the lucky young owner's father perhaps~ because little miss didn't want a grown up dollye, but a baby to play with. The majority of dolls like this were made and sold without clothing~ so the owner could dress as they liked

Above the museum accession numbers on her back is this mark, burned in. I wonder what meaning it had? Was it the carvers 3rd only doll he made? Was she number 3 of that month? Was it made by the traveling peddler, in order to keep track of his stock at market?

Love this shot of her hips and knees. The little pegs you see inserted just above the knee hold the bottom part of her legs on within the joint. If these break, off goes precious little limb~ one of the many reasons these dolls are so very fragile. These ball joints allow for a full range of movement~ not only up and down, but 360 degrees around as well....A ball jointed doll can be positioned in just about any human pose you can think of

A beautifully carved hand. The fingers deeply carved, tho not separate, are very graceful and elegantly posed. Holley was my very first early wooden doll....just over 17" tall. I thought I would never find another as precious as she....until about 2 weeks later, on the opposite side of the world.......

I was astounded when I saw this one. She was sold to me as 16"...but when she arrived, she was nearly exact to Holley in size and proportions. Could she be a sister returned home? I am inclined to think so, comparing the two side by side, there are so many similarities, it just must be so.

This is her back view~ and her burned in number is a 5...or perhaps a 57....later than Holley's, which makes sense, as her features, while still unique and very detailed, are just a smidge more hastily made. Perhaps our carver had grown so much in popularity, and demand for his dolls had risen to require him to carve at a more quickened pace. Note the wooden pegs at the joints~ elbow, hip & shoulder

Her arms are narrowed at the shoulder just as Holley's are, for ease in dressing and movement

She cant stand being tickled behind her knees :)

And these feet! hehehe I love that she has black shoes~ not as common as the red or green ones most have. But look close~ am I the only one that thinks they are on backwards? As in, right foot on the left, left foot on the right? Charming!

This is what originally made my hearte swoon~ just look at the intricately painted curls.

Comparing the heads of both dollys, Holley on the top, Precious on the bottom~ so nearly identical, even the ears are carved the same and in the same placement on the head. Both have inserted wire loops for earrings, and little dimples carved in the sides of their mouths....kind of like they are persing their lips. If you click on the picture and enlarge it, do admire the bare carving visible on Holleys head where her gesso has fallen away

Twins. Just think of it~ traveling the world over for hundreds of years, and finally being reunited again. What stories they do tell each other! At the time these two dolls were made, we could probably count the master carvers in this region of Germany on all our fingers and toes....could 2 different men have carved 2 dolls this alike? I don't think so. Eyes, nose, cheeks, lips, ears~ even the ratio of where the face is placed on the head is nearly identical.

Their arms together~ Holley on the right~ Precious' hands are a bit more spoonish, without the graceful curves, but there is a hint of fingers carved in. Just a bit more hasty in the carve. Detail has been given most time on the face

Hips joints. Nearly identical.

I love this picture! This shows the progression in fashion of the times~ Holley is on the right still, her waist a bit narrower than her sisters, but both show the high waist fashionable in the 18teens and early 20s. You can see Holly's fully gessoed upper torso and arms~ surprisingly, the gesso does not hinder the movement of the joints at her elbows or shoulders at all.

I hope you have enjoyed this little peek~ I do apologize for taking so long to get it posted!

Welcome Little Friends!

Today our most anticipated little workers finally arrived! My husband has been pacing and looking foreword to his new colony of Honey bees since last fall, and today,they're here! He & Tressa put together this hive super, should be well big enough for now. We have taken half the stretchers out to welcome home the new colony

When you order honey bees, this is how they arrive, in a screened in box. The tin can looking thingy on the top, is the container that holds their sugar water feed so they can eat on their trip home

So to get them out of their shipping container, and into their new hive body, first they are sprayed with sugar water~ this serves 2 purposes~ the first, it makes their wings sticky so they cant fly as well as usual, and second, gives them a little treat to eat and keep them preoccupied while your dumping them into the hive

So once they are sprayed, the feed can is carefully lifted out. tacked onto the top of the shipping container, is another little rectangular box, and this holds the Queen

She is larger than the others, and her body is colored, naturally, so she can be easily seen in the hive. There is a little 'candy' plug keeping her in there for now

So her little container is taken and hung in the center of the hive body~ the worker bees will eat the candy plug thru, to release her into the hive...pretty cool huh!

So with the Queen already buzzing her orders, we just dump the bees into the other half of the hive~ they instantly flock to her

The reason we really wanted our own bees is to pollinate our orchard and the garden. We have cherry& peach trees, several different kinds of apple trees, grapes and berries that the bees will pollinate for us. We as a people, are very dependant on the work of bees for our own survival, most folks don't realize how much they do for us. For instance, any dairy product you can think of, would not be on this earth, if it wasn't for the bees that pollinate the hay and grass and grain that the cows eat to produce that milk...and meat, that we eat every day.

The wax combs are replaced, carefully...

And the top is placed on the hive~ that's all there is to it!

Not as romantic as a bee skep, but we are happy with our new bees. The little feeder you see on their door, is a sugar feeder to keep them happy until the flowers bloom. We have strung an electric fence around this hive to keep the bears out, and Lumpy too, since he just needs to be in the middle of everything!

Could Spring actually be here????



Dare I to hope such a thing?! I am feeling a little better each day, thankyou so much for the get well wishes! I really do still feel horrible that I was not able to have a new dollye update this month~ the first time for me ever, since I have been on the web, that I missed one. I will have many new faces for you in May tho, so get excited, cause they're gonna be A-W-S-O-M-E!

I think, I am safe to say, spring has finally come to Colorado. We have the startings of green grass showing....I have a hyacinth that has 2 buds on it I keep peeking at each day, waiting with baited breath for it to open before the rabbits eat it! The Bloke is getting huge....this picture is about 3 weeks ago~ we have since moved him to a larger pen so he can zoom around. He gets so absolutely frisky~ just silly wanting to play, and he doesn't realize his strength of coarse, so we thought it best to find him a friend to keep him company. My husband, who seems to know everyone and their brother and their brothers uncle here in Colorado....said we should get him a goat. I was not to keen on the idea, until we got to Rainbow Ranch, just a canyon over from us, and I layed eyes on Ilona & George Eubank's cunningly sweet little goats! OHHHH MY~ I am so smitten with them!

Please meet 'Kate', the white one on the left, and Meisie, the black one on the right. Sweetest little girls you ever did see, they are 4mo. Meisie is a Kiko/Boer and Kate is a Boer cross. The adults aren't much bigger than this. Their coats are very wooly now, kind of like a sheep's~ and soooooo soft. (and to answer your question....YES~ you may indeed see some Meisie & Kate hair-do's on my dollys!)
I actually got Meisie first~ the black one....got her home and she just looked at me and her eyes were saying~ 'Where did everybody else go? Where are all my buddies?? Was I a bad girl?' ....well I just couldn't stand that look, and to hear her bleating for her friends, so went went back the next day and brought home Kate. As soon as Meisie saw her, she zoomed over to the crate and was SO happy! They been side by side ever since, and are getting along just fine with the Bloke. Perhaps we may have kids next spring :)

Ohh....and here is Lumpy.......being a lump! He has gotten as big as Yetti, our Great Pyrenees. They grow up so fast!

And Mr P.....the pappa pheasant. Mrs P was in sitting on her egg. Isnt he so gorgeous! Cant believe its nearly May already~ the children have the countdown to the end of school going~ 19 days I think it is. We get out pretty early here. I hope all of you are well, and enjoying all the gifts Spring has to offer!

Good Bye Marbles.......

Thankyou all so much for your very entertaining guesses in the Prims Mystery Giveaway! Some were really out there, but once I added the hint, it was quite easy to see, that poor little Fleur not only had her poke bonnet upside down for her photograph in Prims, but backwards as well!! Who would play such a horrible, nasty trick???? If you guessed 'Gilly', you were right! What a naughty girl! Well, what to do with such a willful sprite? Having 4 children, I have learned that to get anywhere with punishments, they must be in the right currency, specific to the child~ and Gilly, well, as you can see, I have taken away her precious marbles. What she held most dear to her heart, she has had to forgo.....perhaps she will be able to earn them back, we shall see

No more tomboy....no more playing in the fields with the boys....nope. As part of her punishment, she has had to trade her marbles for more ladylike pastimes~ we have already had lessons in taking tea with Fleur and the other girls, and each afternoon she will sit quietly, posture erect, countenance peaceful, and make lace. I have tasked her with 12 yards, enough for her to trim her new spring ball gown...oh yes, she will be a girly girl weather she likes it or not.

Now, Time for a Winner!

Donna Timms of N.C. woo hoo!!!! I have already emailed you about your pin dollye, so check your email box~ THANKYOU to all of you who played!

Keep on Guessing!!!

Ohh so many wonderful and insightful guesses have come in for my "Prims Mystery Giveaway"!! But, I hadn't realized that most are not so fully aware of proper Victorian fashion as I am, hint hint.....so I have decided to add a little hint here on the blog. Most have the culprit pegged completely....but her awful trick has gone by unnoticed to some~ look to the sidebar for an innocent creature, study her picture well, and then go back and look at the article, you will realize straight away what she has endured! Just email me your guess, and I will let you know if it is correct or not! I am a bit behind as I have been quite ill this past week, but am feeling much better now, and playing catch up~