THE NAME IS.......

BOND, BENJAMIN BOND.......

Yes my New Gotz boy is here and what a darling he is

.Ever since I bought him I have imagined saying the words ' My name is Bond, Benjamin bond'!! I feel  he must be a junior James Bond in the making ! He looks quite mature and I could well have an action boy on my hands only time will tell!
 He'll be a good friend and brother for Duncan who is very sporty and likes to take a risk...there could be trouble ahead...

He is settling in and of course picked the soft toy bulldog! for his own and called him Brutus.

And he is wearing his brand new Pirate jumper that arrived at the same time as he did in an envelope addressed to Benjamin!! Who knows he's here? and his name?......It's started already...

..

TOBY DISCOVERS A BOX...

Mmmm Whats this ? wonders Toby

Toby opens the box and there is Bob the monkey "what are you doing in there?"  Bob just rests his arm on side of box" Is it comfortable?" wonders Toby...

" Not too bad but could do with being a bit longer" states Toby, Bob thinks its perfect.

"Toby!" calls Mum from the kitchen " What are you doing in the new Toy box?"
"A ha!  It's a toy box Bob" whispers Toby " Now we just need somewhere to put it"

WHO STOLE MY WAGON?

WELL ! I was busy minding my own business when suddenly someone stole my wagon and off I fell!!!
I can hear your gasps of shock from here ..

I shall start at the begining...I am saving for my red haired 68/69 sasha, I know that it will take me a long while unless I decide to sell one of my daughters...but I know that whoever bought one would soon return her...they are too much like their mother! I mean Father.. ..... so I am being good and only looking at Sasha things on Ebay and elsewhere ( Some small, mini, tiny purchases do not count), when today while talking to my friend Gill on the phone ...( did  she push me off??????)
She says those bad mad words.." Oh someone as listed some dolls for sale on a buy it now or make an offer, there's a Gotz brunette Gregor " even as we end our conversation my computer is on and I'm having a look at  said Gotz Brunette Gregor with the lovely full head of hair and the beautiful blue eyes........I fight I Do... I look at the other new ones listed, I return and I look again, yes I have admired this Gotz style boy before, I'll just put him in my watching, he looks very clean and new, I'll just go round ebay sasha again, then I''m back... I'll just make an offer..... he's got days to run, the seller will wait for a better offer.

I put in my offer , turn off my computer and go and do some housework, thinking, I really do like that Boy, I should have just bought him...No you are being good, someone will sneak in and snatch him from you it's for the best you are nearly falling off the wagon but you'll be saved.......

He's name is Benjamin and he'll be arriving soon.................Has anyone seen a wagon?.........

DUNCAN AND ADAM OPEN AN ACCOUNT......

Duncan and Adam decided that they want to open an account to help mum save for their next red haired sister. They have heard talk that her adoption fee will be very high! and it will take a good while before she can come home, unless mum wins more than £10 on the lottery!!

"Lets try here" says Duncan" it says helpful banking on their sign"
"We'll have to wait while the lady finishes with the other customer" sighs Adam dropping their bag of 2p's on the floor.

"Next Please"

Duncan and Adam make their way up onto the counter.

" Good evening Sir .How may I help" asked the Cashier.
" We'd like to open an account to save for a sister" states Duncan
" She looks just like Isabella" whispers Adam giving Duncan a nudge with his elbow.
" I see " says the cashier " have you seen our savings brochure?"

"This One?" asks Duncan
"Yes" says the cashier " We have several accounts. How much do you have to invest?"
"One pound in 2p's" Says Adam.

" Thats Fine" says the young lady behind the counter" You'd best start with our first reserve account unless you pay Tax then you could have an ISA account?"
" Whats Tax?" asks Adam bewildered.
" We're only Nine !" says Duncan
" Then a Young Saver account would be best"

"We'll have one of the young saver accounts please"
" Certainly Sir. Let me just open that for you. Can I have your name and address"
after several minutes Their account is open and their £1.00 deposited. " won't mum be surprised" crow's Adam as they leave the bank.
Duncan looks at Adam with a glare" It's supposed to be a secret until we save enough! We have only got a pound ! mum said it would cost over a 1000 pounds!"
"BLIMEY!" shouts Adam " I'll be an old man by the time we save all that!"
Duncan laughs " We are not going to save it all we're just going to help"
Adam wipes his brow " Thats a relief |I was thinking a fiver would be enough!"
Duncan falls about laughing..."What? Whats so funny?" Adam asks with disgust, Duncan just carries on laughing all the way home.

IT APPEARS GRACE IS NOT ALONE....

" SURPRISE !!!" Grace looks back in shock as all the others suddenly appear from where they were all hiding, Duncan is even in a flower pot!. " Your face" giggles Hattie.."Your temper! " states Ginnie. " come on " says Duncan " get in position so I can take a photo"

Mathilda,Evangeline,Grace,Maisie,Virginia and Harriet all pose nicely for Duncan, then he shouts that he'll just take another one and suddenly dives in front of camera as the auto shutter releases...

The girls all laugh at Duncan's antics.happy faces all round until someones says " but what about George and Elton Ron?"........................................................"OH NO"..........

GRACE ARRIVES FOR HER PHOTO....

"Hattie ! Tilly! Girls! I'm here for the photo!! "

" Where is everyone?" she throws her hat down in anger " I bet they did not wait for me!"

Grace is sad and bows her head " I'm a RiB Too........."

To be continued....

THE RED HAIRED SASHA'S

I have added a picture of my Redhaired Sasha girls to gether , they were very upset when they saw Gill's girls had a 'family' photo and they did not....

Here we have Harriet(Hattie) Maisie,Mathilda(Tilly) Virginia(Ginnie) and Evangeline (Evie)

Hattie has escaped from this photo, she is always on the move and hard to pin down.

CLOSE UP OF THE SMOCKING PATTERNS..

Well I tried to take some close up photo's of the smocking and they were still blurred , so DH stepped in with his all singing all dancing camera and these are the results.

You can see that Leslie as used both red and white cotton for the smocking.

A lovely design in green.

The blue design stands out against the brown of the dress but links to the blue in the pattern.

It's a little harder to see on this picture but between the red smocking is also green smocking but such a good match to the dress colour it's harder to see unless you are holding the dress.

Well that is just some of the lovely Leslies smocking. I may have to buy myself a camera that can sing and dance but just a bit of dancing, you know more a Fred Astaire than a Michael Flatley ! Who I can hear any younger readers saying is Fred Astaire? Well he could dance the hind leg off a donkey as the saying goes but in an elegant tap dancing way....Tap?...yes tap.....I could be here all day....look him up on youtube?internet? amazon? You may also be happy to hear that I have found the picture editing place on the computer ,so can now trim the pictures which will make them easier to load. Ahh this technology stuff is quite useful, now what happens if I press this button?................................Ooops

IN PRAISE OF SMOCKING.....

On the Sasha-L group site there has been questions on smocking, how to do etc and lots of helpful answers from lots of Sasha people. One of the people who answered was Leslie who sells her beautiful smocked dresses on ebay under the special delivery name. Leslie said that she would love to pass on her skill but her daughters are not interested. Which is a shame as talent such as Leslies will become a lost art. I have been fortunate enough to win some of Leslies dresses and this Sasha discussion made me decided to dress some of my girls in Leslies beautiful dresses and load them on to my blog for all to see. And should Leslie ever decide to come to uk she can visit me for a few days and hold a master class in smocking!!

This is Hermione wearing the first ever Leslie dress I won , in a paisley print. You will see from these photos that not only is Leslie a talented Smocker she knows how to pick beautiful prints for her dresses.

Kirsty in a deep pink multi print.

Violet wearing green with red diamond pattern and red smocking.

Claudia in red with blue berrys and blue smocking.

Dusty in white with brown mix pattern.

Phoebe in brown with blue pattern and blue smocking.

Miriam wearing a beautiful flower print dress with red smocking.

Sophie-Elizabeth in a pale green paisley patterned dress.

Lara in red check with red smocking.

Annie in peach check.

Grace in Blue and white floral.

Evie in purple my latest from Leslie. She also does smocked tops as shown by my next photo.

Sapphire in blue and white check smocked top and jeans.
Now from the photo's you can see the lovely work done by Leslie. My DH has explained how to get my close up photos in focus, so I will go and try to take some close up shots of the smocking.
There also several others on ebay who have started putting smocked dresses on , so maybe the art of smocking will survive like all fashions coming and going with the times, one minute in the next not but for me and my Sasha's always in fashion...

A FEW EXTRA PICTURES

My friend Gill kindly sent me some more pictures of her red haired Girls which I have put on below

Ruby and Scarlet, her two Angelas.

Emily a Sasha Re wig.

All of her red haired girls, Emily, Mathilda,Ruby and Scarlet
I love looking at pictures of Sasha's and hope you all do too.

A TOUCH OF RED..

There is something about the Red haired Sasha's and Gregor's that just appeals to me that little bit more than the others. I have no red haired friends and the only red haired person in my family was my material grandmother who I called the Wicked witch of the North! and it was not with affection!! But when I see a red haired Doll on Shelly's site or elsewhere, I have to stop and study her/him and see if they 'click' with me.

 My search for George, my redhaired baby, stemmed from seeing him on Shelly site and I was not going to have a baby sasha/gregor! But His red hair and blue eyes sucked me in and we all know what happened then!!

This is a picture of Mathilda my first red haired Sasha, who came wearing the white dress. It took me a while to warm to her and if I thought I had too many Dolls she would alway be near the top of the list to sell on but now she nowhere near top of list.

My second Redhead was Duncan who came in the blue cord suit. Of my boy's Him and Toby I would never sell.

Next came Grace my limited edition Kiltie. When I received her I was really not sure if I liked her face and she was top of my list, if needing to sell. But One day I changed her clothes and suddenly she looked a lot better and her face appeared much sweeter , so she is sliding down the list.

Then I was looking for an Angela but every time I found one it was either the wrong time or I dithered too long and she was snapped up by someone else! My friend found one and she loved her so much she bought a second one. She kindly said I could use her picture of them althought both Angelas, they have a slight differance in their faces.

They are called Ruby and Scarlet. My next red haired Sasha is my OOAK kelly  girl Virginia who I received for my birthday this year. I fell in love with her beautiful  Pre-Raphelite red hair which gives her such a differant look to my other Sasha's.

While looking for my Angela I came across a red haired Marina and she joined the family.It has taken me a while to decide on a name which is not good because un named dolls tend to find themselves sold on. But I have finally decided to call her Maisie but still undecided if she's staying but she is growing one me......

 Now I have finally managed to get an Angela, she is still wearing her original oufit and I am waiting for a dress I ordered for her to arrive. Then she will be changed and named , I had settled a name but suddenly yesterday a new name came to me so she is now Evie.

So now you would think my collection of red haired dolls would be complete BUT I love the 1968/69 red haired girls, I always have and when I say about Dolls on my selling list, it's because I have seen a 68/69 girl and I start to work out how I can have her!! If I sell this set of Sasha's would I have enough?Then I decide I like my Sasha's too much to sell them ( they always suddenly look beautiful when I'm Holding them and deciding if to sell them!! I think they know and turn on the Sasha charm!!!) Then the doll I have seen someone will purchase her or if on Shelly site she will have  sold or sale pending and I can just go and look and press my face up against that window..... If you want to see some lovely pictures of 60's red haired Sasha's have a look at vintage Sashas Blog where there are some beautiful dolls.

And all this from a person who was never going to buy a 60's Sasha at them prices!!! However I am not to be defeated and have started my red haired 60's Sasha fund with 50p, four balls of wool and a cunning plan.........

FIVE HAVE FUN IN THE GARDEN....

Today was just right for some of the children to go and play in the garden after all of yesterdays rain.

Toby,Mitzi and Lara play hide and seek, Toby is it!.

While toby is hunting for the girls, mini comes out and decides to climb up the big step!

Looks like she's going to make it!

'I'm the queen of the castle' crows Mini from her high perch.

Adam has joined Toby and Mini, Toby says he's looked everywhere and he cannot find Lara and Mitzi decided she was not playing any more and as gone off to get her skipping rope!

Adam and Toby continue to discuss where Lara maybe.....

The boys are talking so loud that they do not hear whats happening above them.......BOO

Startled Toby jumps forward as Adam turns to look up at Lara...' Ha Ha ' laughs Lara 'that made you jump'

'If mum finds out you climbed up there , you'll be for it! ' Adam tells Lara as she climbs down the gargoyles side.'  You'd better not tell her then' argues Lara '
' I'm no snitch!' states Adam angrily

Mitzi who has been happily skipping, decides to try and keep the peace by asking Adam and Lara to turn her skipping rope for her, after a bit more bickering they agree.

They all play happily for awhile watched by Mini, toby is off searching for ants..
After a while the girls decide to go in and do some colouring, leaving Adam, Toby and Mini outside.

For a while the boys play on the space hopper but then start getting bored. 'Lets go and watch a dvd' says Toby' Pirates of the Caribbean' ' You always want to watch that! Lets watch Despicable Me ' argues Adam, the boys are just about to walk away when Mini crys out 'Help! I'm is stuck'  so the boys help her down from high 'castle perch'..

Then they all head indoors still arguing about which film to watch ,forgetting that they still have to get mum to agree....