Best wishes for the New Year

On behalf of all the Gregors and Sashas Henry wishes you all a Happy New Year!

Looking forward to more adventures!

A Year in Review post was done earlier this month here.

For Sale - Trendon Brunette Sasha

Hopefully the last of my Sasha dolls being offered here for sale.

Lovely Brunette Pumpkin string girl with hook and bar mechanism in neck.  She has non-falling hair, always a bonus with these brunette girls.  She has her original stringing and can hold a pose well, although her left arm can be a little loose in some positions.  She is in good played with condition.

Oh Mum, please wait until I am dressed first!

She has a lovely expression and her eyes are gorgeous.

Very gorgeous girl reluctantly looking for a new home.

£180.00 plus postage.

I will sort out a pretty dress for her, so she doesn't have to go to her new home naked, unless you would prefer her this way.

I will also list her on my sale page, where there is a lovely 1971 Blonde Ginghan girl looking for a new home as well.

A thank you & Rory the Frog!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply yesterday, it is much appreciated.  It is interesting to know whether there are problems or not.  I know the new word verification can be problematic and virtually impossible to read at times...I tend to press the refresh button until I can read both the numbers and letters!  It seems some people with wordpress accounts have difficulties, which I'm not sure why, I thought that you could still leave comments, even if via the anonymous route.

If you've never commented before please don't be shy, I try to reply to all comments left, either personally, or via the blog if you are a 'non-reply' blogger.

If any of your would like to see something in particular on my blog, or ask a question, then please ask and if I can show or answer, I will. :-)

Now on to the final Christmas gift... just for those that know about Rory's fascination with frogs...

Yes he got a little frog for Christmas!

However, this was rather a sneaky frog and went 'missing' and hid for a few days...

Fortunately though we found the frog and now Rory is the proud owner/caretaker of another frog.

He shows Henry and tells him about how this frog is a bit of an escape artist!  Rory is thinking he will have to design a special pond for his froggy friends.  He has quite a few now!

Yes Henry is still in his cowboy outfit. :-)

Wondering about Comments...

I don't usually look at statistics as on a whole I blog for me, and if others are interested that is great, but the lack of comments has left me curious, is anyone looking at my blog?  Well they most certainly are...The last week or so my blog has averaged around 200 - 300 page views, and yet for some reason this is not reflected in the comments left, which in some ways is a good thing, could you imagine having to manage/moderate that many comments?  However it is rather discouraging to have no comments left, or very few, I think the average is about two comments at the moment...anyway I was wondering...

Are people not leaving comments because it is too difficult to with the word and number verifications? Although others have this on their blogs and don't seem to suffer from quite the same absence of comments.

Is what I write or show not worth commenting on?  I can perhaps understand this as I have found it very difficult lately to be motivated in all aspects of life and this is especially reflected in my other Balancing Kiwi blog, but I have tried with this blog to post regularly.

Have I upset people in some way?  This does worry me as some who used to comment regularly now longer do so.  I would certainly hate to think I had upset someone in some way.  

Well just my morning mutterings...as I am curious.

On another subject a New Year is approaching fast and hopefully things will pick up and I will feel less lethargic, more inspired and I can take a fresh approach, I am certainly going to be trying that is for sure.

Secret Santa Swap Gifts Revealed - Part Four

Dollmum has blogged about the gifts she received

The post and pictures can be found here.

I was Secret Santa for Ginger and I she had written to tell me that she had a new arrival, Drew, so I thought it would be nice to send her an outfit and toys especially for him.

First up I made him a shirt out of the New Zealand Koru fabric I had and a pair of needle/pin cord trousers to go with it.  These can be seen below modelled by my lovely blonde boy Peter.

Of course being winter he would need a hooded jacket so I knitted one in a grey which I thought would match the other items well so he could mix and match as he liked.

I then set about collecting some little toys for him.

A Christmas stamp and stocking, a London bus and Windsor Castle guard, a Macbook (all boys seem to like computers nowadays) and of course a teddy - a little elephant.

I forgot to photograph all the gifts I sent to Carol S as her Secret Santa, but I do have some as shown below.  I also included a stocking and stamper, a Queens Guard badge and a pair of cord trousers.

Tilly Rose is modelling the New Zealand Red Koru dress.  Carol had bought a green sleeveless summer dress from me, so I thought it would be a nice idea to send a winter dress in the same fabric, but a different colour.

I sent this Pop Up Pirate Game for her lads to play

and a knitted cardigan jacket as seen below modelled by Rory.

I am in the process of making a photo album for Carol of Harry's Holiday with Henry, which should hopefully be ready in the next week or two to send to her.

Please if there are any more photos of gifts received or sent  that I could share with people that would be lovely if you could email them to me.  Thank you.

Secret Santa Swap Gifts Revealed - Part Three

Dollmum has just blogged about the gifts she sent Erica in New Zealand

The post and pictures can be found here.

Secret Santa Swap Gifts Revealed - Part Two

I haven't had anymore photos from people of their gifts received so thought I would post the second of my swap gifts.  I ended up sending to two people as I miscalculated the number of Secret Santas.

The second gift I received was from Carol S.  To say this gift was/is amazing would be an understatement and the Sasha girls and I were simply overwhelmed by it.  It is so very special and is something I will treasure forever.

It was addressed to Sasha, and as I have four blonde girls with Sasha as their middle name I thought it best that they all get to open the gift.  The girls are very good at sharing and playing together.

Alice bends down to start opening it while Sally, Victoria and Meredith watch on.

Look, Meredith says...There is a letter attached.

Meredith opens the letter...

and starts to read it...

To my dear little Sasha

(That's us! she exclaims  Although I am the eldest)

If your mum has given you this trunk then you are old enough to take care of its contents.  

This trunk belonged to my nana.  When I used to visit she would let me touch the things inside.  

I remember when I was a baby I would drag Shaggy all over the house.  Nana would read to me for hours.  The tea set was hours of fun with Nana.  

She would send me a calling card and each time I got one I knew something special was going to happen.  The first thing she would do is let me go to her bedroom and put on her powder and spray her perfume.  She had the most beautiful bottles.  

Finally my Sasha, The baby doll was so very precious.  Her name is Sasha too.  Nana's mum was also named Sasha.  You are the 5th Sasha in our family if you include the little baby doll.  that name is so precious.  

So my little Sasha, I hope you have hours of fun and take good care of Nana Sasha's trunk so you can pass it down to your little girl one day.

I love you dearly...

Nana Sasha.

Meredith finishes reading the letter as Alice finishes taking off the tissue paper from round the box.

Oh my, look at this! They all exclaim.

A simply wonderful trunk with 'Sasha's Trunk' written on the front.

They carefully open it and Sally immediately takes out the baby to hold.

Will you just look at all these wonderful things.  Meredith says.  I'll put Shaggy the dog down here, isn't he cute?  These must be the little letters and calling cards. She tells the other girls as she shows them what she is holding.

Sally has eyes for the baby only, it is so very sweet.

She starts to sing a lullaby to it, to reassure the baby that she is now safe and sound in loving arms.

So many wonderful things to look at, play with and do.  Puzzles, books to read, and so much more.

Dressing up dolls to make, sewing patterns, all so very delightful and perfect for little girls.

Meredith has a look at the little box with fabric and sewing notions in it.

A lovely little tea set, perfume bottles and letters.  There is even a packet of seeds for the girls garden.  Such an amazing gift that will keep the girls (and their Mum!) busy for hours.

Thank you so much Carol for your wonderful gift, it is just so special and we feel very privileged  to have received it.

Christmas Day Fun!

The big surprise for the boys this Christmas was a bike.

Henry had asked for one earlier in the year after getting to ride one when he went to visit both Kendal and Sarah P.  I don't think he really believed he would get one and as such he was very surprised indeed and can't wait to have a ride on it.

I think the bike seat my have to be lowered slightly for them, but I can see the boys having a lot of fun with this bike, as long as they don't squabble over it and take turns.

Henry, of course like it especially with it being red, as red is one of his favourite colours!

Christmas day saw the boys having lots of fun.  My husband got a desk train set...which he set up on the floor around the Dinosaur Advent Calendar scene and Father Christmas...I think he better be careful though or the boys might lay claim to it!

Dinosaurs, trains, bikes and cowboy outfits...what more could they want?

Secret Santa Swap Gifts Revealed - Part One.

It is time to start  the grand reveal of all the wonderful gifts received from their Secret (and not probably not so secret) Santa.  I am still to hear if some gifts are still to be received, but everyone has sent their parcels so I am just hoping they have been delayed in the Christmas post and not gone AWOL.  I think everyone did really well and I hope all have enjoyed the experience and fun of making/buying something special for someone else.  I know I have, and can only hope my recipients are pleased with what I sent them as their Secret Santa.  

I will make these posts as and when I hear and receive from people photographs of their gifts.

I thought I would start with what Henry received first, as after all he really has been my inspiration for everything Sasha and Gregor and has so much become part of our family!

A lovely package was received from Norvell and we waited until Christmas Day to open it.

Henry looks at the packages, not knowing which one to start with!  However, like any little boy, it doesn't take long to start ripping them all open.

Wow, look at all this!  A cowboy outfit!  Henry exclaims!  He takes off his Christmas hat and clothes and gets changed into his new outfit.

Hey, it even has a toy gun, am I allowed to keep it Mum?  Of course you can Henry, it is part of the outfit.  Henry thinks the outfit is going to look pretty great when he rides Stratford his horse, and can't wait to visit the stable and go for a ride all dressed up!

Doesn't he look the part?!

Thank you so much Norvell, Henry absolutely loves his outfit and the amazing work that went into making it. I'm not sure I will be able to get him to change out of it for quite some time!

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Next up we have the wonderful story blog post by Rosie in the UK who received a wonderful package from Catharina in Sweden.

It was an exciting time - there was a Secret Santa parcel in the post. Amber and Marc volunteered to keep a look out for the postman.

One magical Saturday the parcel arrived. The kids looked at it through the glass door. 'But how will we get it?' asked Ursula

Luca came to help 'Amber, climb on my shoulders and see if you can reach the door handle'

'I'm a bit closer but I think someone else will have to stand on my shoulders - we'll be like the Spanish Castellers who build towers of people'

Eventually the parcel was reached and taken into the sitting room to be opened - there was no way these kids were going to wait until Christmas!

Just look at all the little packages with their cards and decorations. One of the Sweet Peas crawled inside the parcel just to make sure nothing was forgotten.

One of the little cards said 'To the Boys and Girls, Merry Christmas from Lucia, the Twins  and Hedwig.

The packages were quickly opened and everyone grabbed what they wanted. These kids really needed some shirts for although their Mum knits her sewing isn't great. These lovely new shirts and waistcoat are exactly what was needed. And just look at all the little ginger biscuits for stringing to hang on the tree, a little reindeer cookie cutter and a super felted Gnome for Mum. It was just like having our own Christmas Market.

So we just wanted to say a REALLY BIG THANK YOU to the Swedish Sashas and Catharina

Wishing everyone a Lovely Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.

From Amber, Marc, Luca, Ursula and the Sweet Peas

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Keep checking for further posts over the following days...