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Sunday 23 June 2013

Emily to the rescue

The cloth pony my younger daughter made last year (with my help) is called Emily.  For a while my girl has been talking about giving Emily a horse birthday party, and today she finally managed to organise it.  She had decorated for a party under her bed with paper chains about 3 months ago, but decided she wanted the party outdoors, well the great British weather didn't make that possible until recently and even today we had light showers, bright sunshine and strong gust of wind.

In preparation the doll family got changed, not into party outfits but into good sensible clothes for outdoors and mucking out the stables.  Three of them changed into riding clothes, the others don't have them.  The following picture story was my daughter's plan for the party, I just took the photos and enjoyed her fun.
Harriet has the first ride on Molly the Battat horse
Samantha, Jakob, Peter and Matroshka watch at the stables
Harriet dismounts like a pro
Harriet dismounts Molly
Anna, Belle and Matilda at the stables
Jayne is so nervous about riding a horse she mounts back to front
Jayne finally manages to face the right way
but she is very scared and clings tightly to Molly
Molly goes up the ramp and Jayne starts to enjoy the ride
Jayne gets bolder and drops the reins
"Look no hands" cries Jayne
Molly decides to rear on her hind legs and Jayne clings on tightly again
Jayne is quite relieved to dismount, while Laura looks on
Emily the pony finally gets a birthday ride in the sleigh (well it works on grass),
wearing her red cape and holding the riding crop
Harriet rides Molly and tows Emily
Emily uses the riding crop to make Molly go faster
Molly comes to a sudden stop and the sleigh crashes into  her legs
Harriet loses her grip and tumbles from Molly's back
Poor Harriet crashes to the ground
"Ouch my arm hurts" cries Harriet
Emily put Harriet's arm in a sling ...
then mounts Molly while Harriet sits in the sleigh
Emily the pony wears the riding hat to ride Molly
So Emily rescues Harriet and tows her back to the house 

Monday 10 June 2013

Sasha day with Dawn

To celebrate the completion of the incredible Raffle prize of Charlotte with her clothes and accessories and to thank Dawn for organising the 2012 Sasha doll festival Rosemarie S arranged with Dawn that we'd have a Sasha gathering at Dawn's house on Saturday.  My girl and I didn't manage to get to the afternoon tea which Dawn hosted last year just after the festival, so this was our first trip through the country lanes to her lovely home.
Some of the visiting dolls
Lorraine's dolls with Henry leading the way of course
Henry
A pretty freckled toddler with adorable smocked dress and her bunny
The toddler with her big sisters
Visiting dolls
Habitat (from Homebase) bike, boys and toddlers
Batman and bicycle
Rosemarie compiled a thank you booklet of the 2012 festival for Dawn, with contributions of photos and descriptions from several of us lucky enough to attend last year, this was presented to Dawn during the afternoon.  Lunch was served in a marquee in the garden - although overcast it wasn't raining and was just about warm enough to sit outside on the verandah to eat and talk.  It was lovely to catch up with several people I met at the festival and have been in touch with via blogs and email since.

Both of us had lots of fun admiring all the dolls people had brought and Dawn's extensive collection of dolls and toys.  My girl was amazed and delighted that Dawn allowed her to hold and touch some of her Studio dolls which were wrapped in tissue paper in their own boxes.
Dawn telling us about one of her Studio dolls
My girl carefully holds a Sasha studio doll
A Sasha studio doll
In Dawn's doll room I was delighted to see a Fisher Price family camper, a beloved toy from my childhood (my sister and I shared this toy and played with it extensively in conjunction with the Triang dollshouse and wooden building blocks and lego).
My girl with my childhood toy
The dolls with their prams were brilliant - lots of colour-coordinated girls and prams (with a Caleb and his scooter).
The dolls and prams
One of the prams with baby
Bike, desk, pushchair, pram and soldier
These dolls have the housework and shopping to do
Dolls and prams, including a gorgeous no philtrum doll
Dolls and prams
A Spitfire flypast was an unexpected bonus - there was a country fair just down the hill for which the flypast had been arranged (though we all congratulated Dawn on this coup).  It is always such a thrill to see a Spitfire in flight (equally so the Lancaster which I've seen several times) and I managed to capture a tiny bit of video of the plane (not great quality though).
Sasha enthusiasts in Dawn's garden
In deep conversation in the garden
Spitfire flypast
My girl enjoyed exploring the garden and admired the pond.  Dawn and I had gardening as well as doll conversations (gardening being her other great hobby).
Exploring the garden and pond/lake
There was also a sale, about 3 people had brought dolls and outfits to sell and my girl and I had fun selecting things (including a Dollydoodles hoodie and outfit).  We got 2 hats from Hattie (who didn't come, to give her sisters a turn for an outing).  My girl fell for a mint baby Gotz (Meke) and decided to start saving up for her.
Sale in the marquee
The 2013 Festival raffle prize from the UK is extensive - the dining table couldn't hold all the items, so a sofa was also used for display.  Rosemarie, Dawn and Lorraine will have fun setting up the display at the 2013 festival which they are lucky enough to be attending.
My girl putting gym shoes and a top to the bag she made for the Sasha Raffle prize
Placing the bag on Charlotte's shoulder
Charlotte carries her gym bag
Some of Charlotte's toys, with the smocked dress I made
The gardening collection, including the apron my girl and I made
Just some of the extensive raffle prize, including the smocked dress  I made
A gorgeous outfit in the raffle
Charlotte with some of her clothes and accessories
More of Charlotte's clothes
We had to tear ourselves away eventually with great reluctance.  Thank you Dawn for hosting the day, and Rosemarie for coordinating the amazing raffle prize for the 2013 festival.