My Little Putz Farm - Antique Stable

 Please come and visit my little Putz farm. The word "putz" is from the German "putzen" for "to decorate, especially to adorn a church." Originally, the putz consisted of wooden, clay, or tin figures arranged to depict the Nativity, Which explains why there are so many and such a variety of animals

Although I believe the barn is German it is not a Putz building. The dolls are from my collection of painted bisque costume dolls and are not Putz either. I think the majority of items in these pictures are about 100 years old. Don't hesitate to correct me if you have some inside information.

I wrote an earlier post about the barn here. Have a look.

 Little Johnny has dropped his bucket of milk. Mother waits for him by the door on the house side of the building. It seems she hasn't noticed yet. The chickens are curious, but dubious about cleaning up the mess.

 Some of the animals had rough lives before they came to live with me. The three-legged dog is checking out the hornless bull. The dog might be saying. "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

 Behind the barn the cows have gotten in to the hay field. Mother hasn't noticed that either. She is probably tired.

 The horses are facing us instead of their mangers. Both are missing their tails, so they look better this way. besides who wants to look at a couple of horses' rear ends.

A stream runs through the farm, and the oldest sister, Juliet, is crossing the little Putz bridge on her way home from an assignation with the hired man. She has missed the milking.  I am not sure she will want to talk to Mother, especially once mother sees the spilled milk.

 Mother is calling to Jimmy to wash up for supper. Jimmy doesn't hear. He is congratulating his pet sheep on her new baby. They are both very proud.

 "Go away, chickens!" cries Johnny! Oops, he is in trouble now. Mother has noticed the milk.

 "Johnny, clean that up and then wash up for supper!" yells Mother. She knows that there is no use crying over spilled milk.

She is wondering how much mutton she can get from that sheep.

 Juliet is wary of the big goose. It has chased her many times before and she has drawn its attention. Juliet is more afraid of the goose than she is of mother.

 Oh, no, the donkeys have gotten into the load of hay!!

''Johnny," says Mother sharply. "Put the donkeys in the pasture and then finish cleaning up the milk."

 Oh oh, the goat is eying the cow. that goat has bad temper and it has never liked that cow.

It is just a another bucolic day at the farm. Come and visit again. Maybe Father will be home from the fields, then and Mother won't be so harried.

See you then!!

Susan

Treasures in unexpected places

Yesterday was a gorgeous Indian Summer day so I decided to walk back to the office from my doctor's appointment.

I had no idea what mini (and maxi) delights were in store for me - like this miniature alteration and repair shop in a Dry Cleaner's window.

I love the detail of shop. the customer is waiting patiently, holding his briefcase and his jacket. Obviously it was as nice a day in his miniworld as it was in my full sized world.

 Can you see the mini shop in the window? It is just to the right of the door.

A view from the top. I wonder if he is picking up the shirts on the counter. They look like they are ready to go.

It was a really sunny day. You can see the reflection of my camera in this shot.

I had such fun looking at everything in the room box that I almost forgot to go back to work.

But eventually I continued on.

 I know this isn't a mini anything, but it tickled my fancy. "Some things aren't meant to last forever." One of life's valuable lessons.

 A little further along I spotted this brick man. Yes, I know he won't fit in a traditional dollhouse, but think how much fun to would be to have a dollhouse his size. Then we would be the tiny people. I suppose we couldn't call it a dollhouse though.

 Brickman is an ...

As I got closer to the office I passed one of my favourite stores. You wouldn't believe the great dollhouse books (both mini and my size) that I find here. The owner knows me now and saves things for me. I have purchased several out-of print reference and coffee table books from him - all on our favourite subject of miniatures and dollhouse design.

My office is in the design area of Toronto. That is, furniture design, not clothes. I took a picture of this store's logo because it reminded me of the Reac furniture boxes.

Then came the biggest surprise of all. As I was passing the store directly across the street from my office building (Klaus, at 300 King Street East, Toronto), I noticed a display case just inside the door.

It held a number of 1:6 scale miniature chairs and sofas.

I pass this store everyday and I have never noticed this display before.

I asked permission to take pictures for my blog and was granted it.

Apparently these are the collection of the store owner and are not for sale. I asked if they were Vitra designs and was told that some were.

 I have one of these chairs in blue. I found it at a garage sale for 25¢. It had the Vitra design label on the bottom. I was quite pleased.

I love these chairs. I apologise for the reflection. The chairs were in a glass case and the sun was directly on them.

So, I had a lovely walk and I found lovely miniatures in places I would have never thought to look. What fun!


I hope you enjoyed taking a stroll with me.

See you soon,

Susan

Antique Dolls who live in my house.

 Some of my favourite dolls won't fit into my dollhouses but I thought you might like to see them anyway.

I love the little boy in blue who is peaking out from between the girls.











The China heads are all old except the little one in orange. I forgot to set up the Caco family before I took the picture.

These lovely dolls are enjoying a corner of my living room. It is hard to keep the cats off them though. Darcy and Lili (my cats) think the dolls make lovely beds. They have no idea how fragile the antique fabric is. Nor do they care.

The tallest girl at the back is a re-dressed wooden Schoenhut, as is the little blonde in blue at the front. The sweet girl with the lavender ribbon at her waist is a Jumeau. The one in the dark dress to the right of the Schoenhut is also a Jumeau. She is in her original dress.



I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Hugs,
Susan

You can build this doll house of plywood - in 1937

It is amazing what one can find when surfing the web.

I hope I am not violating any copyrights by showing you a couple of pages from a 1937 magazine.

I love this house. If anyone actually makes it please post the pictures and send me the link, or email them to me to post.

And, please make me one too.

Rebecca of Rebecca's Collections blogged about this house and the plans a couple of years ago. Visit her post here.

Enjoy!

Susan

Craigslist caper = troubled trauma

Can you say "Scam"? How about "Bait and Switch"?

You know how your mother always told you that if something seems too good to be true it probably is?

This morning I checked my local Craigslist to see if anyone wanted to get rid of an old dollhouse today.

This is what I saw. Newly listed for only $100.00.  Sure, it looks like a museum piece, but I have had some good luck finding dollhouse on Craigslist, so I emailed immediately to see if I could come to see it. I admit I was a little suspicious. I didn't say in my email that I wanted to buy the house. I just said that I wanted to see it. Something just didn't seem right, but the seller emailed back immediately and the adventure began.

I had to rent a car, as the seller was about 30 miles north of the city, I Google-mapped the directions, I stopped at the bank for cash. It took me 45 minutes to drive up there.

When I arrived it took four or five tries ringing the doorbell and banging on the door and about a ten minute wait for someone to come to the door. That gave me plenty of time to enjoy the fake flowers and the plastic cats that decorated the flower pots there.

Finally a young woman came to the door and took me upstairs. I wondered if I was going to be murdered, as I still didn't believe they had the dollhouse in the picture there.

Items were piled high along the route to the upper room, making me hope that Hoarders might show up to film a show there and save me from the fate that might be coming.

But no, the young woman took me into a large room and showed me a 30 year old tab and slot dollhouse that had seen better days.

It was not quite as nice as the one shown here, but much dirtier, and full of really bad broken furniture.

"What about the one in the picture?' I asked her. "That is the one I wanted."

"oh, that one," she said. "It is already sold, but I can give you this one for less than the ad said."

"No thanks," I said. "I wanted the one in the ad."

"Oh, sorry," she said. "Everyone wants that one. It sold really fast. I hope you didn't have to come too far."

I know I should have been happy to escape with my life, but I was thoroughly annoyed. I realized I had been scammed and I had paid well for the privilege. That rental car was not cheap.

When I got home I searched Google and, though it took me a while, I found the house in the picture. It was built over a period of 15 years by a man in England. I had read about it before, I realized. No wonder it had looked familiar. It sold to an overseas buyer for approximately £50,000, yes, £50,000. Not $100, and not on Craigslist.

 You can read about it here.
 And at any of the links below:

http://www.luxuo.com/most-expensive/doll-house-peter-riches.html

http://lost-myheart.blogspot.com/2009/10/omg-i-love-dollhouses-and-im-so.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/5495150/50000-for-dolls-house-that-took-15-years-to-build.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=Peter+Riches+dollhouse&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=TWk&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivnso&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=ZWllTpr6NYK80AHJh_2tCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=610

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1192284/What-property-slump-Intricate-DOLLS-house-sells-50-000.html

But . . . then again . . .


What if . . . 

What if the overseas buyer lived north of Toronto?

What if the overseas buyer had recently passed away?

What if the young woman wasn't a liar and a cheat?

What if the overseas buyer's heirs are trying to clean out the overseas buyer's house?

What if I was just an hour late to make the dollhouse deal of the century?

Scammed or scorned? Which am I? And, which is better?

Is this the one that got away? Or the one that never was?

What do you think?

Susan

Daphne goes to a wedding: Part three

 Daphne and Colette are late for the wedding, but they are finally at the church.

"I told you that wasn't a shortcut," says Colette.

"Well we are here now. Let's go in." says Daphne.

"Okay," says Colette. "Stop pulling me."

"Are you sure we are supposed to sit here?" asks Colette. "I can't see a thing."

"You are right," says Daphne. "Let's find a better spot. Now, be quiet."

"This is much better," says Colette. I can see everything now. Doesn't the bride look beautiful!?!"

"She is so gorgeous," says Daphne. "The groom is a lucky fellow."

After the ceremony the bride and groom pose for pictures with their small attendants.

The bride and her mother, CM, share a moment.

CM's two beautiful assistants.

A perfect wedding day! Colette and Daphne dry their happy tears and go outside to join the party.

Congratulations to the older assistant and her groom. May your life be filled with happiness and laughter.

From two tiny wedding guests.

Daphne goes to a Wedding: Part Two

 Daphne and Colette are so excited to see each other again!!

"You look lovely," says Daphne!!

"So do you!!" says Colette as they hug.

 "Relax and have a glass of wine and tell me all about your trip from the left coast," says Daphne as they settle down on the sofa.

"It was okay," says Colette, "but I didn't get my own seat like you did, I had to travel in a cardboard box inside a suitcase. I am exhausted!"

"Well, that's over now. Just relax and tell me what's been going on. We still have a few hours before we have to be at the church." says Daphne

"Sounds good," says Colette. "Please hand me a glass of that wonderful looking Rosé."

"We also have  bottle of champagne on the table behind us if we run out of Rosé." says Daphne.





Will the girls finish both bottles of wine? Will they make it to the church on time? Will the have to travel in a purse? Will the bride be frightened by two tiny and unsteady guests?

Stay tuned and find out in the third episode of Daphne goes to a wedding!