Yesterday I got my book “The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and A “Golliwogg: It was written in the mid 1800’s , this is a reprint from the original book.  I wanted it for my Golliwog.  I will some day read it to Gina and her brothers but for now it is too old for them to understand as it has many old words they would not understand. I also needed to make or find the Two Dutch Dolls before I read it to anyone. 

These are the dolls I need to get.  I do all my planning on projects while I am sewing on my present projects.  Right now I am sewing by hand on the polar bears so I have lots of time to think.  As you can see these dolls are wooden.  I used to make small wooden dolls very much like this only no jointed knees.  Then I remembered I had one left that I have put into White City to sell so I could use that if it has not sold yet. But where could I get another.  I don’t have any more of the pieces to make them and the man who made these for me is no longer with us.  But as I worked yesterday I remembered where there was another.  It took me back to when my mother was alive.  She was born in 1898.  When she turned 90 she was alone, her parents were gone, her husband was gone, her sister, who she had lived with for several years was also gone and she could not care for herself.  She needed 24/7 care so she went to Turtle Creek Nursing home.  She broke up what was left of her home and gave everything to family and friends and saved only a few things that could fit into a small box.  When she died all that was left was in this small box, nothing of value but as family historian I was given the box.  I looked through it and put the box and it’s contents was put into my keepsake pillow chest in my bed room.  Yesterday I remembered in that box was one of those old wooden dolls that I had given to my mother when she went into the home.  She had kept that with her until she died so it had new meaning for me.  I dug in my chest and this is what I found.

There was not one but two dolls.  One has lost it’s bonnet and the other has my mother’s name in the bonnet.  I guess the nurse wrote her name in it so she would not lose the doll.  These are reproductions of those old dolls and have special meaning for me and my collection,  Not only are they ones I made but they were the final companions of my mother’s. Now they will be companions for Golly. 

They are smaller than Golly, just as the tiny dolls in the story.  I will not have the big ones as in the book but that is fine, these let the kids of today understand what the dolls looked like.

I am working on my bears and because the fur I am using is so heavy I can not use my sewing machine, I use a heavy needle and light weight nylon yarn.   It is slow work but going fine.  I have to sew a while and then I have to rest my hands and wrist.  But I have two heads and four legs done.

These are all made from the same pattern but you can see they come out very different.  I got the eyes up too high on the one on the right so they look very different but that is good.  Today I will get the arms done and tomorrow I can start the bodies.  Have a great day.