Happy 2012, everybody, and welcome to my first entry of the new year!
I am not a fan of making New Year's resolutions, readers, because, with rapidly accumulating life experience behind me, I now recognize that most of us (all of us?) fail at making ourselves do things we don't like to do. The trick to changing behavior is truly to want to do it (and not just want to want), and if you already want to do it, you shouldn't have any difficulty doing so.
If that makes sense and you agree, raise your hand.
That said, I have decided to make some new rules for 2012. Some of these are only tangentially related to sewing, but I'm putting them out there anyway. This way, they're official, and if you see (or hear about) me breaking them, I fully expect you to call me on it.
1. No dogs in bed
This is a rule that has been too long in the making -- or not making. When we had one dog (Freddy), I could handle sharing my bed with a dog, since a) he's a deep sleeper, and b) he usually sleeps somewhere down between Michael's legs. But Willy, pictured up top, tends to sleep on my side of the bed and is a restless sleeper. He likes to be under the covers, that is until he decides he needs to be outside the covers, at which point he exits the bedding and loudly flaps his entire head to shake himself into semi-consciousness. It looks like this.
This is the "wind up."
This is the flap.
It sounds like a helicopter because his ears are as big as his head. Think Dumbo.
Well, I've finally put my foot down. Last night I moved their crates into the bedroom, and sent the dogs into them at bedtime. Freddy made only one attempt to climb into bed. Willy made roughly eight, till I finally locked his crate till morning. Fortunately there was no whimpering.
I will no longer share my bed with dogs. I need my beauty sleep!
2. No more sewing machines
I may need your help here and I hope I can depend on your support; I'm aware that fully half my readership share my sewing machine addiction to various degrees. I honestly don't have room in my head to deal with another sewing machine -- it's more about mental space than physical. In fact, I may be asking your help soon to decide which machines need to go. I have ten and I'd like to slim down to eight. Actually, it's the tables that are driving me crazy. They're not beautiful (Featherweight excluded) and you can't just stick one on a shelf.
3. No more dolls
Do I really have to explain this? I mean, I now share my life with a life-size plastic three year old. If I were to wake up one morning and find her gone, would I feel sorry or relieved? I have to meditate on that. Oh, yeah, I should also add, "no more wigs" or maybe just "no fake hair" regardless of what it's rooted in.
And now a few resolutions...
4. I will return to ditching -- if not daily, then weekly.
I got lax over the last few months, I know it. More stuff started coming in then going out, which is the ultimate violation of the daily ditch discipline.
5. Less coffee, less sugar
I don't eat a lot of refined foods but, like many people, I have a real emotional attachment to these two. I'm not going cold turkey or anything, but I can definitely cut back to a few times a week rather than every day. It relates mainly to sleep rather than weight (though I'm not immune to the love handle), but either way, less would be a good thing.
6. I will stay off eBay
Obviously, this relates to some of my earlier rules and resolutions. I can't help it if I happen to stumble upon some diamond in the rough on the street -- I have to walk, don't I? -- but I can certainly stop visiting this addictive auction site. It's one thing if I'm purchasing something I need, but most of time, it's things I can very well do without, even if it happens to have "Singer" in the title. I should probably add thrift stores and flea markets, but one thing at a time.
OK, readers, I think that's it so far -- I don't want to make promises I can't keep. Of course, if you're aware of some I might not have thought of, just tell me: I can take it.
In closing, do you share your bed with dogs -- the canine kind? If so, does it disrupt your sleep? Other than eliminating caffeine and chihuahuas, what other secrets do you have to getting a good night's sleep?
Have a great day, everybody -- followed by a deep slumber!
Happy New Year! 1. I'm with you on no pets in bed. I no longer let my cat sleep in bed with me, as he tends to settle on my chest and suck my soul out of my mouth. 2. My yearly new year's resolution is not to make a new year's resolution. 3. After I read Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I don't feel guilty about drinking one or two cups of coffee a day. Those Swedes and their coffee! Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI know the what sleeping with dogs is like. One of ours, the larger one, likes to sleep on the bed...my side. She is a dead wait during the night and I can't move without waking up. When hubby goes to sleep he puts her on the bed. When I get home from work, I take her off. No dogs on the bed...unless of course they are not feeling well. :(
ReplyDeletePeter, Peter, Peter....those rules sound wayyyyy to hard for you to keep. No E-bay? Just saying, I'm putting my money down now. This rule will not stand for 12 months.
Having said that, I wish you all the best in the new year.
I say a loud YES to dogs on the bed, I actually don't sleep as well without a dog on the bed, fortunately my dogs that will sleep on the bed are small, 2 five pounders and a 16 pounder, the big guy will not sleep in a bedroom, let alone a bed. For a good night's sleep I highly recommend melatonin and valerian. They both work well with no side effects.
ReplyDeleteLike you I never make resolutions, except for this year, really though, they are goals. I don't even know how many I have, but the list keeps growing.
About the coffee, why don't you limit your coffee to the morning hours, that way you can enjoy it daily and still sleep?
Good luck with sticking to your rules, especially the one about sewing machines.
Happy New Year, Peter. I don't put much stock by New Year's resolutions myself, either. But you know who did? Woody Guthrie. Here's a link for you. Nothing to do with sewing but a fascinating piece of Americana.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbc.ca/strombo/Images/Guthrie%20rulins.jpg
Oh, and good luck with your resolutions. Sounds like you really mean it. Me? I'm giving up potato chips and I'm going to try to have more whimsy in my life.
Forgot to mention, about the good night's sleep, I share my bed with three cats, nocturnal creatures. It's awful, but they'll die eventually. However, I did recently buy a new pillow that has changed my life, or at least my sleep. It's all about the pillow for me. Sleep well!
ReplyDeletePoor chihuahuas.
ReplyDeleteI always have at least one, usually two, dogs in my bed whether I'm in it or not. Dani prefers NOT to touch. Chili, OTOH, has to be pretty much pushing up against some part of a human body. Chili is smaller so not a problem to slide him up or down the length of my body so that he's in the right spot.
Dani is the ear flapper of our family. And her ears are bigger than Willy's so I'm guessing she out-flaps him in volume too. Still not enough for me to kick her out/off though. That would just be mean. (Yep, I said it.)
Good resolutions! We'll make sure you stick to them ;o)
ReplyDeletePoor babies! I hope you're busy sewing Freddy and Willy comfy bed pillows for their crates. That said you're stronger than I am, I use to have a poodle terrier cross, Jenny, who always made her way under my blankets during the night. I never had the heart to evict her even when she starting snoring. Happy New Year and best of luck with the new rules.
ReplyDeleteIm a restless sleeper, so I toss and turn all night anyway. My largest doggie, Georgia, was 100+lbs so it was like sharing the bed with a person. She mainly stayed at the foot of the bed. The cat, 14 lbs, likes to sleep near my head. I often wake up with his furry butt in my face.
ReplyDeleteI put the dogs out of the bed last year because they disturbed my sleep so much. And being Boston terrorists they wanted to sleep under the covers, until, that is like yours, they wanted outside the covers. I always felt like I was sleeping in a hair shirt. They got their own little bed in the bottom of the closet with my fuzzy bathrobe and they are happy to be tucked in there!
ReplyDeleteSounds good. My only true resolution is no new patterns. I need to spend at least a year using what I have on hand.
ReplyDeletePoor, poor creatures. I'm sure, they think they did something wrong :) Kunta (60+ pounds, really flappy ears) would be devastated.
ReplyDeleteBut I accept your need for a good night's sleep, so go sew those comfy pillows.
By the way what happened to the dog coats you wanted to make a while ago?
Thank you for kicking off this new year with a little Joey Heatherton. Imagine how much better elected leaders would perform their duties if Joey were to show up once a day and clarify issues through song, dance, and her breathy patter.
ReplyDeleteWhen are you going to start sewing for your dogs? Wouldn't they look sporty in coats (jeggings?) to match your cherry animal print pants?
Your ditching and reduction of clutter is inspirational. The whole sewing machine fixation is less documented than other forms of addiction, yet appears to be all consuming in a very short period of time. I justify my collection as sort of a refugee camp/humanitarian relief effort (is that one of the telltale "cardinal justifications"?). Kindly guide us through your weening and relapse avoidance techniques.
dollies? Really? *sigh* Well, if you must. Tell you what, send me measurements of Patty's arms, length from waist to knee, and I'll make her a bit more modernish for you! Vintage patterns, modern length! ;) Perhaps she and Bit can match....
ReplyDeleteUm, I meant neck to knee. And width of arm, wrist.... You've collected clothes for the Plastics, doesn't Patti need some too? ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm finding that reading everyone's animal sleeping tendancies very interesting :) Happy New Year, Peter! Good luck with your goals! I share my bed with two cats. One is quiet and likes to sleep at the foot of the bed and will only come up once the alarm clock has gone off. The other one insists on sleeping on me....even if I am sleeping on my side, she tries to balance on me...it would be quite funny if I wasn't trying to sleep....she's a big cat too...so similar to LinB :) ahhhh...pets!
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, i hear you on the dog/bed rule! We have a jack russell cross (with an elephant??)and he takes up a quarter of the bed, snores loadly, growls every time one of us moves in our sleep - and as for "the other" ahem, forget it - Jack's in charge on the bedroom front.... so we haven't had a good nights sleep for around 18 months. Looking forward to your posts this year, and don't get ridof that snoopy phone without giving me a heads up1
ReplyDeleteI am a cat person, though without a cat due to OTHER people's allergies. It's a big sacrifice for me, as the sound of purring when nodding off is so soothing.. I've never been bothered by a cat during night hours, but as soon as early morning creeps in, the bothering starts . . . on purpose, usually. That ear flap looks painful -- to see and for the flapper. I think I would draw the line, too. I think the ixnay on the sewing machines is a good idea. Eight will be plenty. PLENTY. You want to build a relationship with a machine . . . I only have two and that's as much of a harem as I can handle. How do you remember which bobbin belongs to which . . . and where it goes? And ebay . . . I've taken that oath myself. It's starts to feel normal after a while, especially with liberal dosing of flea markets and thrift store visits. Good luck on all of them, Peter . . . my pledge is the standard lose weight and exercise one. This time I mean it.
ReplyDeleteI love your resolutions and agree with you on all of them it's just that sorry I can't do #1 because of the love I have for our two Weimaraners. Yes they are big and they sleep with us in a Queen size bed. We did have a full but decided a king was just too big in the room. They both pull the ear flopping routine about 3 or 4 am and regroup their positions. The fact is my dear the older one gets the worse they sleep anyway so I put up with my dogs.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for sizing down 'stuff'. I look at it this way, I wanted it, I got it, and now I can let it go, fun is over move on. Take Care Nan in Alaska.
Ah, the great sleeping with dogs debate! I do allow them on the bed, but only because they are small, and not (too!) disruptive. It's not an all or nothing thing, though; the places in the house they are allowed change as needs require, and with the help of crates and gates they comply pretty well.
ReplyDeleteI completely support your material consumption resolutions; I am in need of some restraint myself! I have forbade myself from purchasing any more fabric until I use at least 1/3 of what I have. The only exception is for linings, as needed.
As for foods, I have given up white sugar and flour again. This is more an organic issue than a weight one, and something I generally consume just during the holidays. I drink my coffee with cream and my tea with honey, and am fortunate that caffeine does not bother me. But if sleep is an issue, the melatonin that an earlier reader recommended is fabulous.
Happy New Year; I hope that it's a wonderful one for you! xo
For me, NO MORE vintage photographs. I have a ton of them. I have a whole stack of 1920's brides. My husband said, they all look the same. They are not family, but they just feel so lonely out there in cyber land and Ebay. I need to keep away from Ebay as well. I have been pretty good this year.
ReplyDeleteOne dog sleeps in a basket and the other dog sleeps on our bed. They are both dogs we got at the SPCA in October/November. The last of our elderly dogs died in June/October 2010. We have never had dogs that slept on our beds, they never wanted to.
I only have two sewing machines, so no problem there.
If you want to sleep well, diet and exercise are the key I strongly recommend starting with Mark Sisson's help he has a blog - www.marksdailyapple.com & webite - http://primalblueprint.com/products/The-Primal-Blueprint.html
ReplyDeleteYou never know you might project your addictive behaviours from one kind of diamond in the rough to another ;')
Every animal that entered our household came with a caveat of some sort or other, often, 'not on the bed'. That never lasted more than a few hours anyway and besides they do a great job warming up the bed.
ReplyDeleteI shall never give up coffee. There's been a lot of fun stuff I've given up already, take my coffee and people will die.
However, I'd like to trade several sewing machines to get a better serger - the one I have scares me.
I'm also cool with: be more selective in pattern purchases. My collection is out of control so I can afford to be pickier.
At this stage in my life I know better than to make resolutions I know I won't keep: get up earlier! get in better shape! wash the car!
Honestly. Life is too short to get hung up the small stuff. All I really want to do is have fun, so that is my resolution.
Thanks sounds like excellent advice, Lorena!
ReplyDeleteI sleep with my Chihuahua, Sweetpea (named after Elvis Presley's mother's dog). Like Freddie, she curls up next to me and sleeps soundly all night. I find her presence comforting. But if she were as restless as Willie, I'd kick her out too. Sleep is too important.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! I used to let my golden retriever sleep in my bed back when I was single, but when we got our current dogs (as puppies) my husband put his foot down (boom!) and said they aren't even allowed on the sofa, let alone the bed. They are brother and sister Rottweilers, so although this seemed terribly overstrict at the time, I suppose I'm glad now that I don't have two hundred pound furbabies hogging my bed.
ReplyDeleteI did a double-take on your "NO MORE SEWING MACHINES" and thought, good God -- surely he doesn't mean to do all his sewing by HAND this year?!
For a good night's sleep: Dim the lights a couple of hours before bed time, and do quiet wind-down activities like reading, TV or a bath. I am not giving up caffeine, ever -- they can drag me out of Starbucks kicking and screaming. There are worse drugs than caffeine, after all!
I've been thinking about making the no dogs on the bed rule. Plus mine are approximately 6x bigger than your two. The lab likes to sleep up on the pillows between my husband and I with his smelly breath right in my face. The Catahoula prefers to snuggle up next to my legs with her head pinning me by the knees. Add the cat, Ozzy Prince of Darkness, lying on my chest sucking my soul out through my nostrils and I get less than restful sleep. (I didn't even mention husband's loud snoring, I can't get him to sleep in a crate in the dining room anyway.)
ReplyDeleteI can support you in the dolls and ditching. Dolls always kind of freak me out anyway. But you're on your own with the machines and ebay. I'm still trying to devise a way to get the machine(s) of my dreams in 2012. Plus I have a couple acquisitions of '11 that still need work to get them running.
My main goal of '12 is to get my sewing room organized and maybe even a little bit "cutiefied". It is barely utilitarian at this point and needs a major purge and a trip or two to Ikea and the Container Store.
Poor Willy & Freddy. I can't believe you kicked them out of bed. Hope they get used to sleeping in their cage without too much trouble. I have a chi, Romeo, and he sleeps in bed with me under the covers and usually pressed against either my back or the back of my legs. Romeo doesn't usually move around during the night-he shifts position when I do and his being there doesn't bother me. The cat sleeps elsewhere-Romeo doesn't allow him in bed with us.
ReplyDeleteAfter buying a couple of machines last year, my buying is on hold. I have 5 machines-more than enough. Though a featherweight is still on my wishlist. Good luck with your rules and resolutions. I don't make them since I never manage to keep them.
OH MY GOD! That doll looks like she is going to sneak up on you in the middle of the night and strangle you. Yikes. I'd send her packing but don't tell her I said that.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Peter!
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for kicking the dogs out of bed. Getting a good night's sleep is hard for me, too. The cats are not allowed in the bedroom at night, I wear an eye mask to block all light, I use a noise machine to sooth me and it's still a challenge.
I love coffee, but I try to drink only one cup in the morning.
When it is bed time, I rely in deep breathing techniques to relax - same type of breathing we do in yoga class.
Happy New Year and I look forward to following your struggles with eBay, dolls and sewing machines. ha!!
Seriously, I look forward to enjoying your funny posts in 2012.
Peter, I had to go back and look up older posts of yours - the ear flapping keeps coming back as a recurring theme. Do you realize that even back in Aug of 2010 you were suffering from insomnia due to ear flapping? Kick the dogs out the bed. I know a lot of people keep saying - "Poor Dogs!" But I keep thinking, "Poor Peter!" The dogs will get over it and sleep is so important to your health. I am a total animal lover, I had three cats sleep in my bed for 18 years. But I was able to sleep with them there. If it makes you feel better, I kicked my own husband out of bed last night for snoring - off to the guest bed with him! ;) After all, don't we all need our beauty sleep?
ReplyDeleteThese all sound like good ideas, but I know 3 dachshunds that have very different feelings on it. Maybe if I let them play on eBay they wont sleep on my head.....
ReplyDeleteMy felines Must sleep in another bedroom because they get up way too early but the Min Pin insists on sleeping with us. I hardly know he's there.
ReplyDeleteI give staying off EBay about a week....
I sleep with 2 cats who are pretty good about keeping still most of the night. I do have to move them off my feet part way through the night. But at 7 am or thereabouts, they begin knocking things off the desk and galloping across me to wake me up. And then they start walking on me until I give up and get up and give them their breakfast.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your resolutions. I'm a firm believer in making only 1 or 2. Gonna try hard to keep mine this year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR Peter!
ReplyDeleteI hear you re the sharing a bed with the dogs. With a 7 month old Labrador Retriever puppy bordering the 30kg mark i'm nay to sharing a bed with him...a queen sized bed will only take so many bodies and OH and i are limiting it to us two.
As for the dolls, if i could get my greedy mits on a Patti Playpal without being quoted $500 for shipping, i'd have one in my home for sure!
Sewing machines....mmmm well, i have always wanted a Featherweight 222 so I'll still be looking for that one at a reasonable price. I will however sell my Janome sewing machine with the 2 thread serger on the other side and one of my class 15 Japanese Clones and then i'll be done, dusted and happy.
My only resolution is to start selling some of my unwanted things on Ebay rather than only buying on Ebay LOL
Wishing you a fabulous 2012 xx
Regarding sleeping: valerian worked beautifully for me for a while. Then it stopped working, I don't know why. Melatonin works well for me now; but a caveat on the side effects--both my husband and one of the three kids get nasty nightmares from it (the kid had a nasty Sophy's Choice one about the cats, shudder). The other two find it useful to snooze too. OTOH, instead of nightmares, I get very vivid and interesting dreams; one recent one was of being in the most wonderful secondhand store with all sorts of goodies. I can't remember more than that now, but I have a feeling of glowing wood and gold tones, with deep bright blue and green colors flowing here and there.
ReplyDeleteWe have two cats, one always sleeps with my eldest, while the other migrates around and usually comes and demands to be petted around three in the morning. I like cats in bed; but not dogs, dogs just never seem to fit as well; and our last one was so claustrophobic she would only stay in the house for an hour at a time. I can't imagine what she would have done if we'd tried to keep her in a single room...
There are also some good decaf coffees around now, try some of those. Or become a tea afficianado, I have a box of many teas now, 8x10x6 white cardboard. You can have quite a few and they don't take up *nearly* the room that sewing machines do. I like culinaryteas.com; been a customer there for five or more years now. There are other good tea sites out there too, catering to people who are far more knowledgable than I about tea.
And coffee is also very good for you; protective against various cancers, strokes, alzheimers, diabetes...
Can you tell I like coffee and tea? Not picky about coffee at all though, *hangs head* I drink instant.
Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteI'm not one for resolutions and with you on the 'If you really want to' bit. Just do it, why wait till the new year? Life's too short for waiting - Live Now.
Absolutely hating violence in any way - don't touch my coffee though.... Not sure, but that might tip me over.... ;)
Sounds like a good list and I am with you on a few of these. NO eBay- period! We look after dogs so it's a new bed experience each week. Beds-yes. Under covers-no.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for the new year Peter!
happy new year Peter and everyone! I need to finish my PhD thesis this year - that's my only resolution. Good luck with keeping the doggies off the bed!! My Honeymonster is a small blond german shepherd cross and she likes to spoon. Thankfully there is room in a kingsize bed. The ear flapping is irritating tho, and if it happened more than once a night I'd definitely banish her from the bedroom. As for no more sewing machines - good luck with that one too!!!!
ReplyDeleteGee I laughed out loud at a few of your comments - yes you do have to walk! Suddenly I have 4 machines! I picked one up on the street today ... I don't have your luck however ... when testing it to see if it worked ... took me a while but I worked out it was sewing in REVERSE! How do I fix that!
ReplyDeleteOh Happy New Year to you ...
ReplyDeleteSummer, if you email me (peterlappinnyc at gmail dot com) with details, maybe we can figure it out (if you haven't already).
ReplyDeleteHand Raised. I agree. Good luck on the ebay and sewing machine. I'm trying to stay off ebay and fabric.com since I'm up to my ears in fabric and patterns, work full time and have nine grandkids (number ten is due in May) so free time is not something I have. My dreams far outway my time.
ReplyDeletePeter, I'm so happy I ran across your blog for the first time last week. Despite my name, I am male and love sewing clothes. I've literally met ONE other man who sews, so its great to see your blog!
ReplyDeleteI don't normally go in for new years resolutions either, but this year my wife and I have made three:
1) No buying of clothes this year (except socks and underwear maybe). Whatever we need we will sew, preferably from fabric already in my stash. To facilitate this, I'm selling my serger, selling or putting in storage my electronic sewing machine, and I'm going to try to move to only using a lovely Necchi BU Nova in a treadle table.
2) Household budget set to 2X poverty level for a family of 5. Obviously lots of people do this (or indeed live on a lot less), but it will take some adjustments on our part like going out to eat less, etc.
3) No buying of bread; we'll bake the 2-3 loaves a week we eat. Maybe we'll make the tofu and almond milk too, but tofu takes a fair amount of time and doesn't have good shelf life...
None of these are too far from where we are now, and we both want to do it, so new years seems a good time to start.
Anyway, good luck with your resolutions, and I'll certainly be keeping up on your blog in future.
My website is http://www.positron.org
Although I have not updated it since shortly after I started having kids, so it is pretty dated!
-Holly Gates
Welcome, Holly! There's a lot of sewing for men going on -- boxers, pants, and shirts in particular. You'll find these all in the archives over in the right column.
ReplyDeleteNo resolutions here! Happy New Year to you, Michael, and the dogs!
ReplyDeleteHappy 2012! I do better with positive resolutions/goals (eg: drink more water, eat more fruit, run 30 minutes without feeling like I want to die...) rather than restrictive ones (no this or that). I think your point about having to want it is accurate - no one wants to eat fewer brownies, especially me! So, that resolution will never ever work out for me. C'est la vie!
ReplyDeleteAre you having trouble sleeping? I'm not a good sleeper. What works for me is to exercise regularly, keep consistent hours, no coffee after noon, and to give myself an hour-ish without tv or computer or hobbies to wind down and get ready for bed (ie: nothing to activate my brain). When all else fails, meditative/yoga breathing sometimes helps.
We have cats, so it's a no-go on them sharing the bedroom with us. Their sleep habits are adorable until they decide to become feline tornadoes at about 3 a.m. (Also, the batting-your-face-'cause-it's-time-to-play! thing is ill-timed if I'm not awake, too.) For the best sleep for me, I keep off caffeine later in the day, don't overdrink of the alcohol variety, make my bed before I get in it, force myself to get my face and teeth clean (regardless of whether or not I just woke up from the couch and am going to bed amazingly groggy and just want to hit the sack), and lay out my clothes for the day ahead. The last one seems out of place, but it's the smallest thing, and it makes me feel prepared just enough to not fret about tomorrow. Good luck with your resolutions, especially the eBay bit ;)
ReplyDeleteAfter 26 yeard of having Golden Retrievers and one Greyhound, who all slept on their own beds in the bedroom, I am now allowing an 8 year adopted cat to sleep on my bed. She's pretty nice and sleeps well, fortunately. The Greyhound had blankets and to be covered throughout the night when she moved about and uncovered herself. Her very loud ear flapping always woke me up; I automatically reached over, recovered her and went back to sleep. But no dogs on the bed - I had a waterbed for 30 years.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on giving up eBay - I can do that for awhile and then find myself back.
my 50lb dog sleeps on the bed. she wakes me up many times a night, and i do not appreciate it! However I'm a softy and love to cuddle so all my attempts to keep her off the bed end up with the invitation to rejoin me :( it wasn't so bad when i was single, but now the man and our cat makes 4 total on the bed! I dream of a California King size bed... at least the cat is light and never wakes me up!
ReplyDeleteThat doll looks like a reissue of the 1950s Patti Playpal. Check the back of her neck for a maker name, then sell her on eBay. If she's made by Ideal, she'll sell. Might have a mark like G35, which I think is how Ideal marked the first models. What does the tag say? She fits a 50s size 3 children's pattern. Yes, I collect dolls - older than Patti ones. My resolution is no more dolls until the doll room is sorted out and everyone is properly dressed. Your Patti looks redressed except for the shoes.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Her neck says G36 and Ideal. Sadly, she has a cracked upper thigh which needs repairing, though it doesn't show. That may be a project for January...
ReplyDeleteYour dog looks sweet. I sleep with my two sweet Westies every night. They keep me warm and safe.
ReplyDeleteOh, my goodness! I had tears streaming down my face from laughter while reading this post. The loud flap of Chihuahua ears is very familiar to me – in fact, it serves as my alarm clock each morning! Thankfully, ‘Tino is not a restless sleeper, and he usually waits until a decent hour before he starts in!
ReplyDeleteAnd when I needed a break at work today, I had to re-read this because I knew it would cheer me up – no tears this time, but I was laughing out loud at the computer screen.
Thank you for the pick me up - and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! Congratulations on moving the dogs to their own sleeping area. I got my mother a dog bed so she could sleep instead of having her Pom ask to get up into the bed and down from the bed all night. I'm so happy for you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was wondering what all materials have you sewn with your straight stitch machine? -Laleilou
Dogs in bed--never (and no tv in the bedroom, ever).
ReplyDeleteGood night sleep, assuming that consuming large amounts of alcohol are out of the question (not that I would know anything about that), exercise. Zyrtec also works awesomely. Hey! I have allergies ;).
. . . however, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around "no dolls." Those words simply do not compute. Whats next? No air, no water? Dolls are a little piece of perfection that you can hold in your hand. Maybe its a hairstyle, lip color, or or fashion that evokes an emotion similar to any other art forms.
ReplyDeleteMaybe just try to focus your doll collection, and only acquire what you really love. Though-- I know how difficult it is for me to walk by a filthy, ratty 1960's bubble cut barbie lying in a garage sale shoe box without rescuing her ;).