Show & Tell Friday

"Show & Tell Friday! Do you have something special to share? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, or a treasured collection. Look around your home for something to share; dig through those boxes in your closet if you have to! Share photos and the story that goes with your special item."

This fun posting is organized by Kelli at There is No Place Like Home. If you are interested in participating, go to Kelli's blog and follow her instructions. I know she would love to have you join in. This is my first time posting with her. I hope it works :), especially since I typed the whole thing out on Patti's homeschool blog by mistake and am now re-doing all of it :(.

For those of you who don't know me, my dad passed away a couple years ago. Shortly after that, my mom was seriously injured and as a result Mom moved into an assisted living place. For her - that meant a lot of change. For me - that meant a lot of work, clearing out 60 years worth of memories and possessions, and readying her home to be sold. In that cleaning, I came across this little porcelain doll. I am afraid to try very hard to clean her. She has no markings to identify who she was made by, nor when. Mom said she belonged to her mother (my grandmother) when mom was a little girl. She thought it might have come from her grandmother (my great-grand), which makes this doll very old - in the vicinity of 100-120 years. It looks possible. I found it interesting how the legs are attached - just simple pieces of cord strung through the legs, out the sides of the skirt, and tied into knots. Very fragile looking. Isn't she still very pretty?

This last little doll - oriental in nature - has been promised to me since I was 6 or 7 years old. A long time ago :). An aunt on my dad's side found this doll in a house she and her husband bought back in the late 50's. Again, there are no markings to date this doll. He has a cloth body, with porcelain head, hands, and feet. I like how they painted the hair on like a cap, and painted the bottoms of the feet - I guess to simulate shoes??? My Aunt Frances used to let me play with the doll when we went to visit. I have no idea how my mom came to have the doll, but I found it in a china cabinet at her home. This has always been my absolute favorite piece from my childhood.

As an interesting side note, you'll notice the above photos were taken on my picnic table. After I finished taking the shots, I looked up to see this lovey snake on the wall about 3 feet from my face. I about had a stroke!!! I'm thinking "pygmy rattler", and steadily backing up without dropping my camera. I have my priorities. (I just totally abandoned my dolls on the table.) Then I set my zoom, took a couple shots of the snake, then got a shovel and relocated the little buddy. Whoo! My husband thinks the snake was a type of rat-snake, not to panic, but that does little to relieve my mind. A snake is a snake. LOL.

Thanks for looking and thanks for sharing my memories :). I look forward to reading yours. Please feel free to go to Kelli's page here if you would like to join in the fun.