The Life of Mrs. Miles

My friend JanMary has invited and encouraged me several times to join in the Friday Show and Tell and I've always hesitated. Till today. It looks like fun so here is my little addition. Thanks for inviting my JM! (don't forget to check out JM's VERY interesting family history show and tell on her blog by clicking HERE.) If you would like to join in the fun of Show and Tell Fridays, just click HERE sign up at Kelli's blog!

I'm going to share about dolls. These are not ordinary dolls. I know of no store you could ever purchase one of these for they were all handmade by my Grandmother. She and her sister, my Aunt Margret (who was also my Godmother) made these dolls for many years. I really don't know where they came up with the idea for them, or got the pattern from.

credit: Judy Forsyth
(my sister in law - you can visit her blog HERE)

Grandma made two types of dolls. The first ones were these adorable clown dolls. They came in two different sizes. They had vinylette shoes with elastic sewn in so children could slip their feet in them and 'dance' with the doll. The hands had little 'mittens' as well, with a tab of velcro on each, so that the doll could 'hug' or hang on for the dance! I had many happy dances with these dolls!

I think in their lifetime Gramma and Aunt Margaret made several thousand of these dolls, all the money going to charity.

Red Riding Hood Doll

This is MY doll. I had a clown one once upon a time, but lost it somewhere along the way. I love the Red Riding Hood though. Grandma didn't branch off making these till later on. I suppose that after a thousand or so dolls she may have wanted a change.

Turn Riding Hood UPsideDOWN and ...

The sales of these dolls were completely by 'word of mouth' only. Someone would tell someone and then Grandma would recieve a letter and cheque in the mail. The dolls went all over the world, eventually. I remember one time there was one ordered from Japan!

There's GRANDMA!

There were always several bodies in various stages of being completed sitting on her couch when we would come to visit. She always took care to cover them up with a blanket if their bodies did not have 'clothes' yet. Too funny! She would chuckle and ask how we would like it if someone came to visit and WE had no clothes on...

Notice the little wire frame glasses too! The clown dolls all got a touch of real 'blush' on their cheeks too.

The BIG BAD WOLF!

I washed wolfie and some of his felt teeth fell off - I must take him to the 'dentist' one day soon.

I shopped with Gramma a lot when she would buy yards of material. I can still see her sitting and trying to decide which color/pattern of material for each doll. There was a tremendous amount of work in each doll too - I'm sure each one took several weeks.

She made black, white and ... well pinkish or tan colored dolls too, something for everyone.

Memories of Grandma

Gramma passed on December 4, 2005. I miss her more than ever. I'm so glad I have one of her dolls as a sweet memory.

Thanks for allowing me to share with you!

*****

I also want to share a ministry I've become involved in. My friend Amalia came to Canada many years ago from Argentina. We became neighbors to her about 10 years ago and became fast friends.

Each year Amalia and her husband travel back to Argentina to visit family. They come from a small villiage in an impovrished area about 16 hours out of Buenes Aires. Each time they travel back they help the people there. They give food, clothing and help. They take people to get medical aid. They help build. They personally see that every penny, every item gets DIRECTLY to the children and families in need. They also have a heart for these people to know Jesus as their Savior - so this is a faith based ministry as well.

They also gather and send many, many items from home here. I've donated some things in the past, but this year I was able to come help package items up, VERY inspiring. I've assembled a slideshow of the process.

From Movies

CLICK THE BLACK PRESENTATION SQUARE TO VIEW

You will have to hit your BACK button after watching the movie to return here.

If you would be interested in helping this ministry you can contact me for more information.

It was amazing, but after I decided to post about this ministry, for this area, I was thinking of putting some information together about the region - what the culture is like, the plants etc, and lo and behold, I came across a blog that can give you a good overview of what its like. BETTY is a transplanted Canadian who is in ministry in Paraguay - thats the state next to Argentina and its very similar. Betty would love for you to visit and she's invested a good amount of time into putting together a terrific presentation.

It sounds like you are making a difference where you are, Betty - and I will be lifting you and your family in prayer!

You can visit Betty and see her presentation by clicking HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today - I'll be back next Friday, if not before!

If you are looking for some DELICIOUS downloads (free of course - but leave some love) both KimB (click HERE) and LouCee (click HERE) have some lovely things to play with!