A good night's sleep
Dear Diary,
Hans: Since arriving here, I've been sleeping in my chair which is like sleeping in an airplane seat, economy class. No comfort and all bad sleep. It didn't look like anyone was going to offer me any assistance so I decided to take matters into my own hands and go out in search of a bed.
The first bed I came across was Adam's. I lay down to try it out.
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| "This bed is too hard!" |
The next bed I found was Angelo's. Again, I gave it a test.
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| "This bed is too soft!" |
This wasn't going well. There were no other beds to try.
As I was sulking about having to sleep another night in the chair, a package arrived for me. I was very surprised because no one had said anything about it and it wasn't my birthday.
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| "Ooh la la - a parcel for me from France!" |
This was indeed a mystery. What could be coming for me all the way from France? I hurriedly opened it.
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| "Wow - springs!" |
Mein Vati must have decided that it was time for me to have my own bed. Perfect timing as I had no intentions of another night sleeping in that chair.
I found some antique embroidered silk doll bedding and made up the bed. I crawled into it to test it out.
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| "Ah, this bed is just right!" |
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| "Guten Nacht!" |
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| "Imagine the hutzpah of Hans, thinking he could poach one of our beds!" |
"Good night, Angelo."
"Good night, John Boy."
Jesse: The "spring" underlay was pretty cool. In my experience, the European beds have the chain mail type underlay while the American beds, when they have anything other than wooden slats, have a more traditional style of springs with interlocking wire.
Jesse: Has this ever happened to you? You know in your mind exactly what you want and you search everywhere for it but it's nowhere to be found. Finally, you give up searching and settle for buying the second best. Now, you know what happens next: the exact item you were originally looking for suddenly appears for sale. Sound familiar? It happens to me all too often.
I had searched for just the right bed for Hans but it never showed up. During my search, I'd admired this old doll bed from France for quite some time, having seen it on Etsy. I kept it on my watch list, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. The bed is 70 cm long which is perfect to Hans who is 52 cm long. It's very, very difficult to find a long doll bed as usually the maximum length is about 46 cm and shorter. Longer beds seem to be more available from Europe. I waited, I searched. Finally, I gave up and bought the bed from France.
And, naturally, not long afterward I found the doll bed of my dreams! Well, what could I do except buy it, too?
As you can see, it is European Arts & Crafts (I'm a huge fan of American A&C and this bed is very close in style), made of quarter sawn Oak and styled beautifully. And, look at the paintings on the headboard. Anyone with a bit of Kathe Kruse familiarity will recognise immediately how close the children are to the original Kathe Kruse dolls.
Hans is chuffed and had no problem jumping from the French bed to the new bed. He says that, even without the springs, it is more comfortable. I'm glad he's happy since I'm really out of pocket for both beds!
IS IT SERENDIPITY OR FATE?
Jesse: Has this ever happened to you? You know in your mind exactly what you want and you search everywhere for it but it's nowhere to be found. Finally, you give up searching and settle for buying the second best. Now, you know what happens next: the exact item you were originally looking for suddenly appears for sale. Sound familiar? It happens to me all too often.
I had searched for just the right bed for Hans but it never showed up. During my search, I'd admired this old doll bed from France for quite some time, having seen it on Etsy. I kept it on my watch list, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. The bed is 70 cm long which is perfect to Hans who is 52 cm long. It's very, very difficult to find a long doll bed as usually the maximum length is about 46 cm and shorter. Longer beds seem to be more available from Europe. I waited, I searched. Finally, I gave up and bought the bed from France.
And, naturally, not long afterward I found the doll bed of my dreams! Well, what could I do except buy it, too?
As you can see, it is European Arts & Crafts (I'm a huge fan of American A&C and this bed is very close in style), made of quarter sawn Oak and styled beautifully. And, look at the paintings on the headboard. Anyone with a bit of Kathe Kruse familiarity will recognise immediately how close the children are to the original Kathe Kruse dolls.
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| Headboard |
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| Headboard details. |
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| Footboard |
TRUE CONFESSIONS
While I'm confessing, I'll make a clean breast of it and show this bed which I bought before I found the Arts & Crafts bed. It's still on the way; these photos are from the eBay listing.
It's the perfect size for Timothy but the others can use it too.
BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!
Moving out of the bed department and into patio & lawn furniture department, I unveil here the latest item which arrived 2 days ago. It's in anticipation of the Spring and Summer months. The colour and the fringe remind me of the patio furniture we had when I was a kid.
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| This is a real salesman sample/store display item. |
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| Angelo thinks it's the perfect size for him (which it is). |
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| Just waiting for summer! "Please bring me a lemonade." |
Next, the sporting goods department. I bought this set today after having missed its first listing. As a friend said, this looks like "the real McCoy". Agreed. As the item is on it's way to me, these are photos from the eBay auction listing.
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| The bag is 8.5" (21.6 cm) long. |
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| The clubs are 9" (22.6 cm) long. |
This set is perfectly scaled for Hans who is about to take up golf - but he doesn't know that yet. Next, he needs an Edwardian jacket & knickerbockers, shirt & tie, a Fair Isle slipover and Argyle knee socks. I'll lure him onto the green with the promise of sewn clothing. Fore!
I believe that I have successfully demonstrated that for me, playing with dolls is mostly about the accessories!
