No More Facebook

The beautiful brick Federal Farmhouse, pictured above, circa 1820's, is the home of my mother, who turned 88 on Monday. Pictured at the fence is yours truly from a few years ago. One of my four brothers, who mows her lawn these days is standing nearby. One other dear brother, Tom, died two years ago. He used to live with mother. He maintained the yard and did all of her cooking. Although she had eight children (four boys and four girls), she never really enjoyed cooking.

This picture of serenity is what I gravitate toward, rather than the people filled, albeit friends, mechanisms of Facebook. As I was approaching 1,800 friends on "FB", it occurred to me that I never have time for it and yet daily I receive countless people coming to be my friends. I don't like to turn anyone away, but at last, I simply closed down my Facebook Account yesterday, so that I may strive more towards a serene existence where maintaining my home and enjoying my art prevails.

Mother seems to do just fine in the countryside of southern, Ohio, where she moved to in the 1990's, from here in Oregon. After my dear father's death, that which called her was that same love of olden days and beautiful old things and especially her beautiful house. She still hops into her car daily and heads to the antiquing realms. Her love of beauty rules her, and I am precisely the same way. Now to my dolls...

Dolls Getting Dressed

Here are a few of the dolls that I am in the process of dressing. Thus far they are wearing pantalets, petticoats, painted on shoes and stockings, and the Queen Anne has her panniers under her petticoat.

Since I tend toward "early" dolls, and as early is regarded as pre-1850, I use the maché because it preceded porcelain dolls. Otherwise I love to make cloth dolls, and am working toward woodens, one-of-these-days!

I enjoy making their stands. As our 1888 home has a lot of old wood in the basement, I use that. This batch was made from a piece of the original siding. We still have the same style siding, but from time-to-time, a piece or two has been replaced, and they frugally did not throw them away. I am so delighted to have this attractive and old wood available for some of my doll stands.

My blonde is my latest doll in history, because she was created in about 1870. This makes her not early. I do fudge occasionally, don't I? I call this model, Amy.

This smaller brunette doll is one that I call Claire. Claire is an M&S Superior from the middle 1800's. I regard her as early enough.

Here is my beautiful Emma, an 1820's "milliner's model", a term that I recently learned is not a correct one for any dolls. She was simply a lovely toy. The original has wooden limbs. My doll's limbs are made from maché.

Maggie is truly my very favorite of all of my maché head dolls. This doll originated in the early 1800's and had the beautiful, pupiless glass eyes. She is known as a doll's doll. She is a "pre-Greiner" and was the doll to one of the larger Greiners. Some purists do not believe that all dolls called "pre-Greiner" were that early, but I just don't know. I am not a purist. I simulate with paint the glass eyes.

My new Queen Anne with actual glass eyes, is a one-of-a-kind. She isn't named yet. I learned that pantalets and bloomers were not even considered for ladies until the 1850's, and so, the early styles really offered nothing of this sort. The ladies wore shifts and many petticoats under their dresses. My Queen Anne does not have pantalets or bloomers. I've given her some panniers under her skirt.

These are only a small handful of the dolls I have in progress.

I hope to have a few more uploaded soon.