Easter bunny

Easterbunny1
My “Squished Bunny” bookmark

When I saw this bookmark from DROPS Design I thought about the bedtime ritual in Scotts Valley, CA. Gary reads Mina to sleep almost every night. His favourite book lately is The Rootabaga Stories by Carl Sandburg.

The first time I heard Mina’s bedtime story I wondered to myself, “What was that author smoking when he wrote that?!” But the wonderful effect of the author’s nonsense repetition and Gary soft reading voice put both me and the little girl to sleep in short order!

I have had a lot of trouble sleeping over the years. I’ve tried various remedies, but none have been so effective as listening to “Winnie the Pooh.” Again, the narrator’s voice and the fact that I don’t need to listen to the story to find out what happens next (because I know the story well) allows my mind to calm and drift off with the words. Other stories in my playlist include Peter Dennis reading “The House at Pooh Corner,” Christopher Milne’s auto-biographies, “The Enchanted Places: Beyond the World of Pooh, Part 1″ & “The Path through the Trees: Beyond the World of Pooh, Part 2″; “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, & “Dragon Tales” by Kenneth Grahame and Edith Nesbet. I’m all in favour of Gary recording his readings — it would be as effective as any of the books this playlist!

bookmark
Bunny marking a place in another Classic before heading to California.

 

Happy Halloween

Once again I had Mina send me a picture for my Jack ‘o Lantern (drawn on her iPad):

Mina's drawing
Mina’s Drawing 2014

It’s a princess, but not entirely sure what the bottom line was I decided to combine this princess with a picture of me she had drawn this summer:

My portrait
“Gramma” ©Mina
My Princess 'o Lantern
My Princess ‘o Lantern

This is the end result: I used 4 battery-run tea lights to light it. I’m quite impressed with how long they last — all night for several nights already.

DSCF3679
In her natural habitat

 

Barbie

Mina has been asking for a Barbie doll lately and her mother has been resisting. Mina has many dolls already!

Gramma has a box of Barbies at her house. They are mostly dolls I bought very cheaply at Value Village back in the days when I was running a community centre. One evening, while on FaceTime I showed them to Mina. Of course, she wants them!

In order to stay as close as possible to her mother’s good side, I decided to give one doll to Mina, Skipper – this doll was her favourite when I showed them to her. Her Uncle Simon and Auntie Chrissie will be carrying it to California for her birthday.skipper

I did a little research online and found that this model was created in 1967. She is in pretty good shape for such an old girl, wouldn’t you say?

http://barbielistholland.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/1964-2014-skipper-roberts-50-years/
http://barbielistholland.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/1964-2014-skipper-roberts-50-years/

Another special doll in my box is the one I bought myself. My parents didn’t have money for buying toys so I saved hard and finally had the $3.50 or so that she cost back in about 1967 or 8. I believe she is a “vintage standard” model – http://www.fashion-doll-guide.com/Vintage-Standard-Barbie-Doll.html.

Here is Barbie wearing the crocheted dress I made for her a number of years ago:

my_BarbieBarbie_face