Story time.....

I may have omitted to mention that PP and I are now grandmothers… or to put it more accurately, we’re Nanny and Ra-Ra respectively.  She's a little poppet and last week we had her for two whole days while her mummy was working.

It’s a long time since either of us was last responsible for the care of a baby, in my case 30 years, and I have to admit we’re not really match fit.  It’s a full time job looking after a little ‘un and over the course of the two days we didn’t get much done, aside from feeding, nappy changing, feeding, nappy changing, undressing, bathing, feeding,  dressing  (repeat)

It’s also a long time since I experienced the delights of children’s television.  As a child of the late 50s I well remember Watch With Mother…. Bill and Ben, Andy Pandy, The Woodentops… then later Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley.

When my own children were little they liked Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, Wind in the Willows (the one with David Jason as the voice of Mr. Toad), Thundercats, and She-Ra/He-Man, amongst many others. 

Over the intervening years I supposed that children’s programming had moved on and wasn’t wrong.  They even have their own channels, of which Cbeebies was the only one I recognised.

At lunchtime we watched The Numtums…. little characters with numbers on their tummies who go around counting things.  Diggers, flowers, cats… very little goes uncounted and GiggleFidget was very impressed with my numerical dexterity.

Then Melody, a little girl with impaired vision who loves music.  Each day featured a different piece of popular classical music and Melody conjures up pictures of what the music makes her think of.

However the stand out favourite was Bing, which she absolutely loved.  I have to admit being a bit nonplussed by Bing.  On the surface he’s just an oversized animated rabbit who’s very clumsy and a bit socially inept.  However he seems to live with a carer called Flop, who is of indeterminate species.  Bing’s friends include a Panda with ADHD who takes off his trousers at the start of each episode then runs around in his underpants. 

I’m probably overthinking this but where are the parents?  Why do they have carers?  Why has the baby (Charlie) been left on his own in the house with a bunch of weird characters?  

Obviously none of these burning question bothered GiggleFidget, who was fascinated by the troubling scenarios unfolding on the screen.  I had to switch it off.

So then it was story time.  She does love stories.  Who knew a 4-month old would be SO into stories?

I have loads of children’s books and fairy tales, but as I’ve been working on Little Red Riding Hood toys lately I decided to go with that.  What follows is a rough transcript.

Cast of characters

Me – The storyteller

Small Dog – The Wolf

GiggleFidget – Herself

Me:  Right… let’s have a story then.

GF: Mmmmwahaharr

Me: Little Red Riding Hood… a story about a little girl who unwisely lets a wolf know where she’s going and why.

SD: (opening one eye)  Thatts wolfist.

Me: Excuse me…. Did you say something?

SD: (sitting up to expand upon her theme) Thatts a vyle kalumnie on wolfs.  Ai maiself am dessended from wolfs so ai kno whairof ai speek.

Me: Hm.  Well, anyway, once up on a time….

SD: Ar we doin akshuns?

Me: *sigh* Actions?

SD: Like a plai…. Yue and me.  Ai kan be the Wolf.

Me:  Are you sure?

SD: Absewlootlie!  Ai wos born to plai the Wolf.

Me: (doubtfully) He is a very wicked wolf.  In fact if you deconstruct the narrative he is a seductive yet predatory antagonist who preys on vulnerable women.

SD: (fluttering her eyelashes and winking with both eyes) Ai kann do seduktiv.

GF:  Aaaaaaahhhhhhh   giggle

Me: Yes. Well.  We’ll see.

 SD: (incredulously) Caik?  And WYNE?  Fore a sik grandmuthr?  She neads auntie biotix.  Knott wyne and caik.

Me: (patiently) It's a fairy story.  Personally I totally approve.  What an excellent mummy!

SD: Humph.  When is it mai turnn?

 SD: (seductively) Well helloo yung ladie.  Ar yue goen mai wai.  Wokk with me.

Me: Hmm...that's paraphrasing but we get the gist.

GF: Yaaaahhhhh

SD: When do ai get to gobbul hur orl up?  And the grandmuthr.  Althew she mite be a bitt tuff.

Me: *sigh*

SD: Wate a minitt.  WHOT IS IT WARING?  Pinck frillie nitekap.  With Lorra Ashlie spriggd kurtanes and yelloe bedspred?  No wai hoasay... ai am knott waren THAT!

Me: (exasperated) For goodness sake Small Dog... it's only a read through.  You don't have to get dressed up.  Don't be such a drama queen.

SD: (huffily) Dramar kween!.... *mumbl*muttr*grumbl*

SD: (excitedly) Oh, Oh, Oh... this is mai favoritt bit. Whott big things yue hav eckseterra.

GF: Ooooohhhh..... myahhhhh yeeeehah.

 Me: "You wicked creature!"  With one blow of his axe he killed the wolf and pulled him out of the bed....."

SD: (alarmed) Whooahh.... wateaminitt!  Whotts happnin?

Me: "Then Little Red Riding Hood's father cut open the wolf and out jumped Little Red Riding Hood.  He then helped the grandmother out.  She was still alive but very weak.

SD: (incredulous) STILL ALIVE!  Ai gobbuled her up.  WHOA!  Whott kind of storie is this fore children.  Itts unbeleevibl!

Me: (doggedly) "They put the grandmother into bed and gave her some cake and wine.  Soon she was sitting up and feeling much better.

SD: (incensed) Caik and wyne?  Mutsh bettr?  Whott abowt the poore wolf.  With its entrales spredd orl ovur the flore.  This is a stewpid storie and aim knott playen enimoar.

GF: Shhhhhssssskkksssss  *giggle*

Me: Right.... that's it.  Story time is over.  Let's have a walk up the garden.....

SD: (brightening) A wok?  Up the gardin?  Ai mite fined a skwirrl....!

The end.

Hello September......

Blimey....is it that time already?

It's all 'back to school', we're in the dog days of summer and the shops are already displaying Christmas merchandise.

Of course it's now officially meteorological autumn (September, October, November) and although this isn't my favourite time of year, I'm trying to embrace autumn as the penultimate season before spring.

I seem to have spent most of this year in a mental fug... an overhang from the debilitating illness following my hospital admission last October.  At times I've felt completely adrift and rudderless, at the mercurial whims of a perfect storm of anxiety and depression.

Just about everything has languished in the doldrums.... work, projects, this blog..... but I finally feel as though I'm on the mend and have rediscovered some of my old joie de vivre.

However, picking up the pieces again has highlighted just how far I've drifted... I'm shocked to discover that in the whole of this year so far I've written only 19 blog posts.

NINETEEN!!!

Compared to 2009, when I managed a frankly gob-smacking 284 posts, that's paltry.

This December my blog will be 10 years old, the same age as Small Dog.  It hardly seems possible that I've been doing this for almost ten whole years and have clocked up 1492 posts!

However, blogs are going to the wall in droves.  There are a handful of blogs which I make a point of seeking out and reading every week.  Of these, two have recently been mothballed and I feel a bit bereft.  

Of course, the original raison d'être for this blog was to document my projects, and provide an insight into what I do.  Inevitably, over time, it's become a bit of a confessional, as well as an opportunity for whimsical flights of fancy.  It's telling that this year, most of my posts have been purely functional, as my creative writing muse has taken a lengthy sabbatical.  I just haven't had the heart to write anything amusing.

I'm determined to make it to the 10th anniversary... I feel that I owe it to my blog, which has become a comfortable (if somewhat neglected) old friend.

As to what happens after that.... I haven't decided yet.  

 

All the world's a stage......

Yes, I'm still here.  

I'm sure my usual drivel shimmering prose has been sorely missed of late but in my defence I have been extraordinarily busy.

As well as helping to dismantle and dispose of a venerable garden shed, then acquiring, erecting and painting a new one, I've also been steadily preparing my workshops for the CMW Event in October.

Most recently I've completed a kit which will be included with the Parisian Toy Kiosk workshop and which is now available on our website. 

A full set of Fairy Tale characters

The kit also includes a storage box for the characters

Create scenes from four different Fairy Tales

Originally published in 1900 by the London firm Raphael Tuck & Sons, this wonderful little toy theatre was one of the most elaborate chromolithographed toys they produced.

My kit includes everything you need to complete the theatre, including changeable scenery backdrops, curtains and 16 different precision cut characters and vignettes plus a little storage box with illustrated lid.

The theatre allows you to create scenes from four of our best loved fairy tales

Red Riding Hood

Sleeping Beauty

Puss in Boots

Cinderella

The characters are magnetised and can easily be moved around the stage without falling over!  Perfect in your 1/12th scale nursery, playroom or toy shop.

To complement my Everything Alice workshop session on the Friday, I have also created a Wonderland Toy Theatre Kit, complete with 20 different precision cut characters and scenery vignettes.  This wooden theatre is illuminated and features a storage drawer in the base to store the characters.

Illuminated Wonderland Toy Theatre Kit

Cast of 20 precision cut characters

I only have a few of both these kits, which are now available on the website.... HERE! 

I still have a few places left on each of my workshop sessions which can be booked via the CMW website.  Bookings received before the end of August can have a choice of colours for both the Parisian Toy Kiosk and Jumeau-Style Doll in Trunk with Accessories.

If you need any further information, do contact me and I'll do my best to help! 

Dog Tales......

Our post arrived late today.  1.30pm, which is late by anyone's standards, especially if you're expecting a package.

As with most things to do with Small Dog, there's a story behind this particular package.
Some time ago, my friend Sue Newstead, who is WFT aficionado (that's Wirehaired Fox Terriers to you and me) requested I make a set of my miniature picture blocks featuring WFTs.  

So, I set about sourcing vintage illustrations to supplement the ones which Sue kindly sent me......

Eventually I finished the blocks, which were duly despatched and arrived safely to be thoroughly investigated by the Medlar House Hounds......

.... who declared themselves delighted with them!

So delighted, that Sue decided to make a Thank You gift to mollify Small Dog, who had overseen the creation of the blocks, muttering all the while about the lack of a set of Yorkshier Terrior blocks, seeing as how she was 'Hedd of Markitten and Komewnikashun' and it was a 'dyabollickle libirtie'.

Sue made a likeness of Small Dog, entirely from pipecleaners!  How wonderful is that?!

Here she is meeting Smallest Small Dog, Archimedes (the operatic rat) and Peter, who seems to have cracked the art of Hide & Seek.  Putting two ratting terriors in the mix with a rat and rabbit was something of a trepidatious task but I needn't have worried as they're all getting on like a house on fire.

Incidentally, if you are of a doggy bent, feel free to request a set of miniature dog blocks.  Thus far, as well as several sets of WFT blocks, I've made an Airedale Terrier set and am working on one featuring Poodles, as well as a very special Yorkshier Terrior set for a certain small canine who shall remain nameless.

The blocks are wooden, measure just 1cm square and are decorated with a selection of vintage illustrations of your chosen breed.  The blocks fit neatly into a little cardboard box with illustrated lid and cost £12 plus P&P.

I'm making these to order only so for further information please contact me direct.    

That Friday feeling........

Considering that Monday was a Bank Holiday, and therefore the working week has been foreshortened, it's somehow felt longer than normal.  Which perhaps explains a sort of 'end of term' feeling in the workroom today.

See what I mean.....?

My creative muse has 'done one' and been awol for the past while so I've been tackling a selection of non-creative tasks which require no great concentration, inspiration or dedication to complete.

Such as...

I've had a pile of boxes of dolls and doll limbs awaiting assembly for ages.  Dozens and dozens of assorted tiny, wee dolls, armless and legless.  The stringing process is both time-consuming and relatively mindless.   Over time the mechanical, repetitive motions become calming and soothing.  

Thread, pull, tie, cut, pull, seal.
Thread, pull, tie, cut, pull, seal
Thread, pull, tie, cut, pull, seal

Like a balm for the troubled mind.

I've been a bit down in the dumps lately. 
Feeling blue
In the doldrums
Dose of the glums
Dispirited
Despondent
Dejected
Doleful
Disordered....

.....Depressed

It happens.  
To almost everyone at some time or other I expect.  
Having been here before I know that the feelings will pass and I will eventually emerge into the sunlight again.

Until that time I'm taking small pleasures in being able to complete tasks which require no great effort of thought while I await equilibrium.

Meanwhile, my newly strung dolls take advantage of their mobility to get up to high jinks with Smallest Small Dog, Archimedes and their new friend Peter. 
Perhaps their exuberant shenanigans might just pass that Friday feeling on to me! 

Archimedes regales the company with songs from HMS Pinafore

Peter struggles to get the hang of Hide & Seek

Pier pressure......

Another piece of Hastings history unfolded this morning with the re-opening of our iconic pier.  With the official opening a month away, it's still a work in progress, and the main Visitor Centre and several of the kiosks will be opening over the next few weeks.

PP and I were down there before the early, as we had special access in order to install our display shelf in the newly opened Hastings Handicraft kiosk, on the west side of the pier.

It was the culmination of a fairly frantic few days, trying to design and build an easily removable perspex front to deter small, sticky fingers and protect the miniatures from being scattered to the four winds by any strong gusts, as the kiosk front is open to the elements.

Who knew there were so many different types/grades/specifications of clear plastic sheeting?  Not to mention fixtures and fittings for attaching it to things.  Then of course it had to be painted then prettified.  It went right to the wire last night in advance of the opening this morning, and we heaved a huge sigh of relief when our protective front fitted perfectly into the shelf opening with micro-millimetres to spare.  It shouldn't blow over and will hopefully provide protection whilst allowing easy access.

I'll be refreshing and updating our display each week and completely changing it every month, so if you're in Hastings over the summer do pop along to the pier and have a look.

Tower House Dolls display of diminutive dolls and tiny toys

From the west side of the pier towards St. Leonards

Reclaimed wood from the old pier has been used to clad the Visitor Centre

BBC film crew and interviewer

Rickshaw rides round the pier and along the promenade

This may take some time...... *sigh*

Try to think of the most soul-destroying task in the entirety of the multiverse.

The one thing that you would rather walk over hot coals whilst juggling an anvil, a goat and a ninja death star to avoid.

It's obvious isn't it?

Changing your primary personal email account has to be The. Worst. Thing. EVER!

I've had the same personal account for forever.  It's a btinternet.com account from way back in the day when the ONLY choice for landline/internet access was the monolithic British Telecom company.

Over the years a plethora of alternative providers have sprung up, and a few years ago we moved from BT to Plusnet.

So far so straightforward.

At the time, BT, in its munificence, allowed departing customers to retain their btinternet email addresses, which was fine and dandy.  After all they'd been fleecing us royally for all the years of their monopoly and we felt we were owed at least to continue using the email addresses we'd had since time immemorial.

Then a few years ago, they instituted a monthly charge of £1.50 in order to keep a BT email account if you weren't a boney fido BT customer. This was a bit galling, but faced with the prospect of having to change to a new email account most of us bit the bullet and kowtowed.

However, last month, I received an email informing me that the monthly fee was rising from £1.50 to £5.

FIVE POUNDS.

FIVE POUNDS!!!!

This was the final straw.  A blatant attempt to blackmail us to change back to BT and a step too far.  As a result, from next month, we are cancelling our BT email accounts and will never darken their door again.

So.

*sigh*

I've set up a new Gmail account and am in the process of changing my email address.

Have you any idea just how many online accounts and subscriptions you have?  
How many newsletters and email updates from individuals and companies?
How many online groups and forums you're a member of?
Ditto official bodies and agencies, banks, financial institutions, insurances, healthcare providers etc etc etc.... all of whom contact you via your email address.

It's mind boggling.

I have spent the best part of TWO WHOLE DAYS moving accounts, changing email preferences, going through the ridiculous rigmarole of having pin numbers sent to my mobile phone in order to access and change account details....

It's driving me mad.

MAD I tell you!

The progress I've made so far is the tip of the iceberg.   I'm trying to do it logically and I'm making careful notes of what I've done so far.  But I'm sure to miss a really important notification and Bad Things Will Happen.

Also, for the next month I'll be running both the old and new email accounts side by side, which is a recipe for chaos and confusion if ever I saw one.

So, here's the thing.

I will be emailing all my personal contacts to let them know of the change.  If YOU regularly contact me via email and haven't heard from me in the next few weeks please contact me to request my new email address.

My business email will remain unchanged, and if push comes to shove, and you need to contact me, use that.

Alternatively, you can reach me via the Tower House Dolls Facebook page if you're not on my personal FB 'friends' list.  Or via the Tower House Dolls website where there's a Contact Us form on the home page.

From now on I'll be using my new email, although I will continue to check the old one until it's deleted.  

There.

Let us never speak of this again.