A Mysterious Delivery from California

Mrs. Flagg and Patsy are enjoying breakfast in their cozy kitchen. Bucky is close by, hoping Patsy will spill her cereal or drop her toast. Mrs. Flagg is about to pour herself some cereal when the door bell rings.


"Now who can that be?" asks Mrs. Flagg. "We aren't expecting anyone are we?" she asks Patsy. Patsy shrugs, but can't answer because her mouth is full.


At the front door they find a delivery man on a bicycle. He has a large basket balanced precariously on his handle bars.

"Oh my goodness!" says Mrs. Flagg. "Is that for us?"

"Yes ma'am," says the delivery man, "All the way from California."

"From California!! We don't know anyone in California," says Mrs. Flagg, "Who can it be from? Is there a card?"

"Well ma'am, there was a card, but it blew off the basket as I was riding over here, and it flew away. I didn't see where it landed." He just didn't want to get off his bike and chase it.

"You have a lovely uniform, by the way." says Mrs. Flagg.

"Thank you ma'am. They make us wear it. They think it makes the deliveries look more classy, but it's hard to ride a bicycle in these pants, and the buttons on the vest get caught on the packages. It does scare away dogs though, so it is safer to do my deliveries."

"Yes, I wondered where Bucky went. he usually comes to the door with us," says Mrs. Flagg.

She looks at the basket again. "Oh my. This is very exciting and very mysterious." says Mrs. Flagg. "Patsy, what do you think? A basket from California!"

Patsy isn't listening. She is fascinated by the delivery man's bicycle. She would like to try to ride it, but she isn't sure how to get on.

Besides the delivery man is ready to leave so she has missed her chance.

"You ride safely now. And thank you for bringing the basket!" calls Mrs. Flagg as her rides away.

"Thanks! Ride!" calls Patsy, wishing she had a bike.

In the living room Mrs. Flagg unpacks the basket. It contains California wine, oranges and sourdough bread.

"What a thoughtful gift," says Mrs. Flagg. "I can't imagine who sent it. What a mystery, If only he hadn't lost the card."

"Mom, can I have an orange?" asks Patsy.

"Not right now," her mother says, "You just had breakfast. Speaking of breakfast I had better clear the table. You and Bucky leave that basket alone. You can have an orange for lunch."

Yes, Mom." says Patsy says as her mother leaves the room. But she isn't really listening. She and Bucky are busy.

A few minutes later Mrs. Flagg is on her way upstairs. "Patsy," she calls, "I am going upstairs to make the beds. Remember what I said and stay out of that gift basket.

Patsy doesn't answer. She and Bucky are way too busy to listen.

I wonder if this mysterious basket has anything to do with Collette;s discovery over at My Realitty. Check this out!

Ugly Earrings = Mini Designer Tables

I stopped at the thrift store on the way home from work last night and bought some of the ugliest earrings you have seen since the eighties. What fashion sense the original owners had.

I removed all the metal earring hooks and findings and added some orphaned marble chess pieces - a previous thrift shop find.

And voila!! Old earrings + old chess pieces + a little glue = mini side tables!

These tables actually look better in person, but you get the idea.

I know the pieces sitting on the tables are really ugly, but hey, they won't look too bad sitting on a dollhouse shelf and the dollhouse people should just be happy to have any kind of decor at all. Humph.

Actually I love the black and white pointy blob. It looks soooo avante guard arty. It seems to be made out of squeezed out tear-drop shaped pieces of plastic caulking.

I don't know why anyone would wear this as an earring, but I thought it would make great dollhouse art.

The little zebra is the right scale so I had to have that set, but the wooden cone dolls are rather scary. Maybe they can go in a toy shop or a swedish modern house. Again I can't see why one would put them next to one's face and go out in public. But maybe that's just me.

The orange tables are plastic and marked Denmark on the back. I had to glue the bases off to the side because that's where the indent for the earring back was. I decided that that was what the table designer had intended so the tables would be sooo trendy and modern.

Hugs,

Susan

Tiny French Fashion doll

I won this lovely lady on eBay recently.

She is just 6 inches tall and beautifully detailed. She was made in 1982 by a talented doll artist, but I don't know the artist's name because there are only initials and a date on the doll.

I have named her Victoria after the Queen of her day. I know how I will dress her, but have yet to summon the courage to start.

She will need a delicate lace-trimmed silk gown that discreetly displays her decolletage and features a beautifully draped bustle at the back.

I have some delicate vintage handkerchiefs that would make lovely undergarments and nightgowns. And I have some beautiful light silk for a gown.

I would like to make her a whole wardrobe - nightgowns, petticoats, day dresses, capes, hats, etc. But that may be too ambitious for me. We will see.

Victoria has glass eyes, and an elaborate mohair coif with braids and ringlets. Her body is made of Kid and is hand-stitched.

I fell in love with her the moment I saw her picture on eBay. I knew she had to come to Mindolton and live with me. I was so happy when I won her. I put in a high bid and won her for less than half of that. Yes. sometimes that does happen.

Mindolton is a magical village where houses of different scales and time periods live happily next to each other.

I have one house that can be done up suit her. I haven't done the decorating yet, but hope to get to it soon. It is the Apple blossom I bought from craigslist last year. It's the bottom two photos in this blog.

I think this house will make a beautiful Victorian home for Victoria. I wonder how will live there with her. We will have to see.

Hugs,

Susan

Mrs. Flagg and Patsy move in

It has been a busy day for Mrs. Flagg and Patsy. All the neighbours from the 3/4" side of town pitched in and donated furniture for their new house. They even gave Patsy a dollhouse, toys and a little kitten.

Finally the dust has settled and everyone has left. Mrs. Flag and Patsy are on the front steps waving good bye.

"Say thank you to our lovely neighbours, Pasty" Mrs Flag instructs her as she runs down the steps.

"Goodbye! Thank you. thank you so much!" calls Patsy waving both hands.

"Patsy come back here!" shouts her mother. "I want to show you the house."

"Look at our lovely living room." says Mrs. Flagg. "We even have a piano so you can take piano lessons!"

"Aw, Mom. Piano lessons are boring. whines Patsy.

"You may think that now," says Mrs. Flagg. "But you will be grateful that you know how to play when you are older."

"Sure," says Patsy, but she is not really paying attention. She is distracted by the elephants on the mantle piece and the painting of the ship that hangs over it. She has never seen such things.

Her attention is caught by a noise in the hall. It's her new dog, Bucky.

"Mom! Bucky wants to see my room! Come on!"

"Okay dear, but come and see my room first. It's lovely." Mrs Flagg follows Patsy up the stairs.

But Patsy isn't doesn't come into Mrs Flagg's room

And she isn't in the hall where her new sewing machine is.

Mrs. Flagg finds Patsy in her new room with toys all over the floor.

"Mom!" yells Patsy. "Look! A dollhouse, a doll carriage, toys and dolls! And it's not even Christmas!!"

"My Bed has a pink coverlet! There's even a kitten! Mom, am I dreaming?"

"We are very lucky, aren't we my dear, to have such wonderful neighbours?" says Mrs. Flagg.

Mrs. Flagg is still smiling as she looks at her new kitchen.

After years of neglect, dust and second hand smoke she and Patsy are in a happy place filled with love.

She knows that soon Mr. Flagg will find them and maybe then there will be more little Flaggs to join them in this lovely house.

Mrs. Flagg is so happy that they found their way to this wonderful place.

A home for Mrs. Flagg and Patsy

Thanks for all your votes and wonderful comments on a family for the Lundby house. Mrs. Flagg and Patsy had just pulled ahead of the Caco's in the votes when a new development changed the outcome.

I know Florine and CM were teasing me when they said the only solution was to buy another house, but look what showed up on Craigslist.

I think Mrs. Flagg and Patsy might be quite comfortable here until Mr. Flagg shows up from wherever he is right now. (Sorry Melvin, but she thinks Mr. Flagg is still out there somewhere and she is prepared to wait for him, as flattered as she is by your notice.)

This house is so incredible I just couldn't resist. I have been through all my books and searched the web and I can't find anything like it. Some of you may know more than I do, but I think it is a one of a kind and hand built.

Each timber and decoration on the outside is put on separately. The outside was once landscaped judging from the glue marks on the 'grass' around the house

The family I got it from said they bought it for their daughter about 10 years ago from an old woman who had it as a child. They said the house was 50 or 60 years old when they got it - so I am guessing the house is from the 1940's.

The house is in excellent shape on the outside. I can't see any missing timbers. The inside is also in great shape although some of the wallpapers are torn here and there.

The floors are wood patterned shelf paper. I don't know if they are original or were added by the family who had it before I did. They aren't faded at all.

The scale is a little confusing. Downstairs could be 1" scale, but upstairs is very low ceilinged and just fits the 3/4" dolls.

In the pictures below I have asked Mrs. 3/4" scale Caco and Miss 1" scale Caco (who came with the house) to demonstrate the scale of the house.

As you can see Miss 1" Caco looks right at home at the bottom of the stairs, but Mrs. 3/4" Caco's head is almost touching the ceiling upstairs.

You can see them together in the front hall, outside the front door and each one standing at a different door outside. The kitchen door is quite a bit smaller than the front door.

Now that I see these pictures here I am thinking that the house is actually supposed to be 3/4" or 1:16 scale with really high ceilings on the main floor, so it is perfect for the Flaggs and has an extra bedroom for Patsy.

More pictures of the inside are below. I am going to look through my furniture and see what looks good in the house. I will show you in a future blog.

Hugs,

Susan

I think we have a tie

The Flags and the Cacos are tied for the house.

A few votes trickled in for the other dolls but these two families were the clear favorites.

A few people wanted to get Mrs. Flagg married off and she acquired an ardent admirer, Melvin, from Texas who lives in Florine's blog.

Mrs Flagg is mighty flattered (Melvin's Texas talk is rubbing off), but is shy about the attention seeing as she has spent the last several years of her life in a dusty, smoke filled place and didn't get many compliments there. Patsy is just excited about Melvin's horse. She thinks that they could keep in in the bathroom when they are not out riding it. The bathtub could be the hay manger and the sink can be used as a watering trough - or vica versa. She hasn't shared this plan with her mother yet, thank heavens.

Mrs Flag also discovered lots of long lost relatives, like the sweet little maid on Pandora's blog.

And Melvin's two cousins over at Amy's. She is not too sure about those two. She would hate to see a deer harmed. She wouldn't even let Patsy read about them in case it upset her.

I liked Amy's idea in the comments about how all the dolls could be one big extended family and all live in the house together. There is only one bedroom though. Amy also was quite sensible when she said that Mr. Caco looked like he had a good job and could deal with the upkeep on the house. I don't know though. I am leaning towards Mrs. Flagg and Patsy myself, at least until I find another house for them.

It seems that the Cacos have family all over the place too. In Australia and California and Germany, to name at least three. In Fact on Püppilottchen's blog their almost identical cousins greet you right at the top of the page

I hope you are enjoying the comments below. I certainly am.

Which Family gets a New Home? Play Along at Home - Vote for your favorite!

So many people commented on my new (old) Blue-Floor Lundby house and wondered what family would live there. I wondered that too. So last night I dug around in the dollhouse room and found all the homeless people who were a good scale for the house.

Actually I have to admit that I took some of the people out of other houses - just to see how they would look in the Lundby.

Here they are. Tell me who should move in by choosing from number 1 - 10. I will count votes and let you know the lucky winners in a future blog.

1) First is Mrs. Flagg and her daughter, Patsy. I just got these girls on eBay (for only $9.99 + 4.99 shipping - a real deal, I thought). I love them. They have such character.

They are Flagg Flexible Play Dolls from the 1950s or 1960s. They were filthy and reeked of cigarette smoke when they arrived. I took off their clothes and soaked them in woolite. The result isn't bad, even if the clothes aren't perfect. They look so much better now, and the smell is dissipating. I hope to find Mr. Flagg and other members of the family, but for now mother and daughter would live here alone (except for pets).

2) Next is the Caco family. I love Caco dolls and have several of the 1" scale people, but this is my first 3/4" set. This is also an eBay find. It is hard to get these on eBay because so few vendors put in the size. I hope to find more of these too.

3) Then there is the Bendy family. They are not in the best of condition, and I had to put a new shirt on the father (from a scrap-booking baseball set). I think I got these ones at the antique market. I know these aren't from eBay. I am not crazy about the detail of this family. I'm not sure they are right for this house.

4) Next is the Mrs. Bendy's less attractive sister and her family, the Bend-Ables. They have pretty much the same story as the Bendy's, but are slightly different (except for the daughter who is even wearing the same dress as her cousin - again an antique market find, but a different visit.

5) I am including the soft plastic German family just to be fair. I am not very enthusiastic about these people (I have several more that I couldn't find last night), but I feel they should be included in the vote because they are the right age and size, and I had many of these when I was a kid, but these ones are from thrift shops.

6) Here is the hard plastic German family. It looks like they have their own footman. The dolls in the overalls could be children in a 1" scale house, but I was looking for a variety of contestants and they are cute, so here they are. I can't remember where I got these - possibly with a dollhouse or Barbie lot - the footman was from a thrift shop I think.

7) Charlie's Angels could move in. They look good, but I am not sure they are exactly right for this house. They are a decade or so newer. I am more inclined to move them into 862 Ocean View drive, where they have been partying recently. They look more at home there, but you be the judge.

8) The Sport Sisters look right at home in the kitchen. I love these girls too. I got them in a vintage Barbie lot (yes, I collect those too) a few months ago and was delighted with them. I just can't decide where they should live. I think they are from the late 1960s/early 1970s, but I haven't been able to identify them yet.

9) Of course there are always these out-of-focus Ukrainian dancers. They look so happy and are so beautifully costumed that I just had to have them - they are a thrift store find. I have tried them in several houses, but nothing seems to work.

10) Last, and possibly least, is this happy pirate. He is a charmer, and I know he is not old, but I think he is so cute - and another way to go. He could bring all his booty back to the Lundby house and maybe in a year or so appear on an episode of Hoarders - the Mini Version.

So there you are. Which family is worthy of this house? I can't wait to see what you think.

Hugs,

Susan