Bonzai Anyone?

Now, this doll has the potential to be a special doll, for he was created by me! He was my high school boyfriend, the Turk! (That's short for turkey.)

I say he has potential to be a special doll, not just because he was my old boyfriend, but because his hidden talent lies in Bonzai! Who would have thought a turkey could develop such a talent! Here he is with some tools of his trade, greens, moss and wire.

I got to catch up on our 21 year hiatus as he was creating his art.

It has been reported that the cherry blossoms are out in south Japan, so that was going to be Turk's focus today.

Let me tell you what, he was SO excited when the UPS man brought the blossom shipment. Makes me wonder......

He made this little rock and sand garden, now all we need is sake'!

Here he took a well deserved break with bonzai!

To pass the time, he had me gluing on tiny pink flowers for a LONG time. And this is the fruit of our mutual labor.

All in all, it was really good to see him again. He brought back a lot of memories. Yet, I can imaging what you are thinking now. About the stereotypical image of a florist?  My high school sweetheart hasn't changed THAT much...Turk is married with kids!

And remarkable as it seems, he still fits into his high school track uniform!

Ya gotta love those aviator glasses and short shorts!

Grannysmith Apple Head

Grannysmith, the apple head doll, or rather... "Grandma Perky," as her backside declares,

was getting spring fever. She implored me to take her out on a walk to seek out signs of spring.
I strapped on my walking shoes, she pulled on her shawl, and off we went into 43 degrees of sunshine!


First we stepped out past a constant drip, drip, drip trickling off our back porch.

Then we took to the streets. It felt wonderful to be outside again! It took a little while, but we did find a wee bit of grass poking it's pointy head out of our frozen earth.

As we walked on, Granny spied the poor man's excuse for spring...

artificial greenery!

"Tsk Tsk," clucked GG Perky, but I told her a little green makes a body feel young again.

We saw meager melting in a bird bath:

And a busy black squirrel securing his stash of nuts!

He wasn't ready to relinquish his winter's pantry, but he did have an eye on Grannysmith's APPLE head!

I whisked her into my pocket just in the nick-of-time!

We passed many houses decorated with fluffy white roof snow and ice cycles slowly becoming stalagmites.

And then....we found it! Heaven, Nirvanna, Valhalla! We found lime green peek-a-boo day lilies right in our own front yard!

Grannysmith Grandma Perky was so tickled, she almost wet her pants! I let her dance on another patch o'green in our front yard....

 and then we had to change her diaper. 

Vern the Vet Tech

Meet little Vern, he wants to be a Veterinarian Techician. We followed him today as he took Maizy to the Veterinarian for her check up.

Since he is so short, he brings his little chair everywhere he goes. He was so surprised when had some resistance getting Maizy into the room...

And once he got her there, she wouldn't get on the scale. Women have issues about that, you know...

So little Vern got on the scale to prove to her vanity had no place in a Veterinarian's office. He was trying so hard to show his assertive side, and he was elated that his dog could come to the office and he could show her his technical knowledge!

For instance, while they were waiting to go into the Doctor's room, he rambled on and on about tick and flea preventatives.

Blah, blah, blah, is all Maizy heard. She knew all too well about ticks and fleas, and she didn't want to learn about that right now, anymore than she wanted to be at the Doctor's office.

That didn't stop Vern! He was an A++ student in Vet Tech School!  Next he implored Maizy to absorb Bute Paste!

"Some other animal can absorb Bute paste," squealed Maizy, "You aren't going near my bute with that syringe!"

Oh! Ha ha ha, Vern had a great laugh over this one. He told her he didn't mean to absorb into her, uh, well, you know...he meant absorb the knowledge!

Finally, the real Vet Tech called us into the examining room.  Maizy was a little relieved.

That is until Vern pointed out jars filled with probing items...

And long pointy things to stick in her ears!

I'm sorry to say, Maizy had all she could take when Vern asked her to bend over so he could check her internal heat!

Vern got a little heat all right, and last I saw, he was staying overnight to technically nurse his own wounds.

Tiny Sailor

Looming large in the doll cabinet is one of the tiniest of all. He is a little wooden sailor with pipe cleaner arms.

Standing only 1 and 1/2 inches tall, one day he bid his wife and child goodbye, and took to the open seas in pursuit of silk.

You see, somewhere in his worldly travels, he came upon a worm, weaving a beautiful thread across an osage orange flower.

 He said, "Tell me, oh little worm, what is this beautiful thread you weave, and where does it come from?"

The worm replied that it was of his own making. It was spun from his mouth to create a protective cocoon in which he would transform into a beautiful moth.

So moved was the Tiny Sailor, he decided to scour the world for these silken threads.

And find them, he did! He found spools...

upon spools...

  in the land of the wild hack-o-berry tree.

The Tiny Sailor filled his ship with spools and brought them to his studio edifice, where he began to weave and weave, like the old faithful silk worm. Not with his mouth, did he weave, but with a silver needle he picked up during his voyages to a miraculous land where the sallowrump people forge from great antiquitious silver mines.

Many an hour, day, week and month were spent weaving his beautiful silk tapestries.

And many times he was tempted by maids and mers to stay and weave for them, but Tiny Sailor knew he had but one goal to complete before all others, and that drove him on and on with his little silver needle.

For out of all the silken fabrics he painstakingly constructed, one stood out among the rest.

 And because of it, the Tiny Sailor could put down his needle and return to his wife and child.

he finally created a

 tribute

 to his 

Teeny 

Tiny

Mama....

More Miharu Fund Raising with Tadashi

Remember little Tadashi, who was heavily involved with the Relief Fund Raising Efforts in Rice Lake, WI? Today, he was back on the scene. He brought his San Francisco friend, Suzuki along for the adventure!

The went to Marketplace with their Geisha dummy board, to raise more money for Japan.

And look who they found doing the same thing!

Raise money they did! The people of Rice Lake were very generous, and thoughtful of Tadashi's little home village. They opened up their wallets, which opened up their hearts.

Tadashi and Suzuki introduced them to Japanese cherry blossom, and a Koi fish banner dedicated to Father and Sons.

The next time they get together, there will be many more delicate Japanese items to display. They are going to hold a dance and an auction for a fund raising benefit. Tadashi and Suzukii will be there. They hope you will be too!

(See facebook events under April 16, 2011)  

Dommo Arrigato Gosaimus!

Ralphy

A Hah! Not all doll's in Granny's doll cabinet are dolls. Meet Ralphy, tiny seal/otter or seal or otter or both.

No matter what his breed, I can tell you positively, that animals were harmed in his making, since he is genu-ine, bona-fide mink fur.

Wait a minute...does that make him an otter seal mink?

Well, no matter, because the thing is, he was playing around the house, with the dog....

Look closely to the right..that's not poop on the floor.

and he was playing hide and go seek on our fur throw...

See him on the white square?

He eventually got bored, as so often seal/otters do, so we took him out for drinks and pizza!

He did some seal flips over this pizza, I will tell ya. And then he started socializing. He met up with the girls cock-tailing and having a few laughs.

See him on the table center?




He was eying this glass of wine, but he really didn't want to drink it, he was looking for a cool down!

Ms. C was eager to oblige!

Then he hopped onto a passing boy's shoulder to do his balance-on-the-shoulder trick. Trouble is, he swam too long in the wine.

So he gave up the tricks, and met a couple of gents. When the conversation turned to trapping and hunting, little Ralphy was too quick to come back to us, imploring we take him home, back to the safety of his little cabinet.

(We cut off the heads here to protect the innocent...Innocent my eye...the cruel trappers and hunters who suck the life out of poor little creatures like minks, and turn them into seal/otter/mink things.)

Yet...... if someone hadn't trapped, maimed killed, stuffed, sewn and glued, 

we wouldn't have little 

Ralphy to 

play 

with!

There's a moral lesson in there somewhere, but...I'm not too sure what it is......