Dashing Through The Snow!

Oh, What a Ride!

It all began MANY years ago, Dear Readers, when I came across this little Santa Sleigh Christmas Decoration (pictured below) and Could NOT resist purchasing it! It didn't come with a Santa or Elves or even a Reindeer...... but it looked like Just the right size for a Dollhouse family to use for Sleigh rides! At the time I wasn't even building any Dollhouses..... and I wouldn't admit I was Collecting bits and pieces for my Someday Dollhouse.....and I was even a little Embarrassed that I had bought such a Useless little trinket that wasn't even a good Christmas Decoration..... so I hid it away in the Cupboard... for Someday. And every now and then I would think about how much Fun it would be to find a way to use it!

It is really rather excessive in it's ornate impracticality......

but, Hey, this is the mini world.... so I held onto it and kept on Dreaming...!

Then, much more recently, I came across this little sleigh.... (Another Christmas ornament!...)
at the local store that specializes in Baskets of all kinds...... and I could NOT resist buying it! (You see it here already altered by the wooden harness block I lashed to the front runners....) It is only about four inches long and is Ever so Sweet! Perfect for little Children to be pulled around in.... um, Doll children that is...!

So Really, all we were missing was the Perfect Snow....

Because here in the North, Sleigh Riding is an old and necessary means of travel in the Winter. When I was little we had an insurance Company that gave Calendars with pictures of the engravings by Currier and Ives, those Artists of the Quintessential American Life of the mid-Nineteenth Century, and I always loved the ones with horses the best... such as this Winter scene... a VERY New England farmhouse and the horse-drawn sleigh.

And even Better these Sleighing Parties.......

Or the ones showing the Breakneck Racing Sleighs.......!
Just so you can see what my Daydreams were inspired by... all those years ago!

So is it any wonder that when we Finally got some snow...

not just Any snow, but some PERFECT Snow......

not too deep...... soft and fluffy........ no wind....
(AND on a Weekend!)

It was TIME to go for a Sleigh Ride!
Are You Ready?
Beatrice and Caroline have put on their NEW Matching Red Riding Hoods.........

Even Tommy is wearing his New Winter Cloak AND his Hat........

But ONLY because Papa is wearing his Stylish new Many-caped Driving Cloak.....!

The Hitches have been carefully checked for Security.....

And the Pony Prince has been Harnessed to the Little Sleigh......

While the Mare, Dancer, is being harnessed for the Christmas Sleigh......

She really is Such a Sweet Goer... she pulls like a Dream.....!

Prince is Eager to be going too, in his Lovely New black leather harness......

Clarence is overseeing the arrangements....

it takes an amazing amount of work to get Everyone Ready!

At LAST, they are all prepared....

just like in the Currier and Ives Print.......
Are YOU Ready?

Off we go!
Out into the SNOW!

In the Crisp Clear air.......

Oh WHAT FUN it Is....!

To Ride.....

In a one-horse open Sleigh...!

O'er the fields we go.....

Laughing All the way!

Okay,..... no bells or Bob-tails......

But, Oh the Spirits are BRIGHT!

Beatrice has never been Sleighing before.....

The afternoon is fading quickly......

as it does at this time of year........

Their shadows long upon the snow...

they head for home....

An afternoon they will Long Remember.......

Oh, WHAT a Ride!

Dashing Through The Snow!

Charlotte's Story

Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-Two

Dear Readers, Some of you may remember meeting Charlotte early on in this blog. But I believe I have not yet told you her Story. Let me begin by saying that I have no idea how old she really is. I found her in a chest of old clothes in the attic of my former In-Laws home when we were cleaning it out prior to selling the house. She could have been there for forty years or one hundred and forty years! She has a china head and lower limbs with a cloth body. She is a little over 6 inches tall. It is very possible that she is a twentieth century reproduction, even though her costume is from the early Victorian era.

I have decided that her gown style dates her at the year 1852..... because she has tiered ruffles on her gown, medium width sleeves, not too bell shaped, and her petticoat is crinoline without any metal hoops. The reason I am suspicious that she is a reproduction is because her costume is entirely MACHINE stitched! This would have been unheard of in 1852 as the sewing machine was only barely invented.... and the early versions used chain stitch.... which this gown is not. But whether or not she is a reproduction does not matter to me..... she IS living in the life of 1852 in my doll world!

Here I have sacrificed her modesty to give you a glimpse of the petticoat and pantaloons she is wearing. The metal wire is a doll stand that she came with that helps her to stand up straight and not crush her petticoat.

When I found her, my FIRST thought was that she would make a lovely dollhouse doll.... even though I was not building any dollhouses at the time. I brought her home and put her in a cupboard along with other items I had been collecting for my "someday" dollhouse. You can read about that in my earliest posts on this blog. She collected some children along the way...... which you can imagine would be a problem for a proper Victorian Lady if there were no HUSBAND in sight! Eventually I decided she could either be a Widow.... or I could FIND her husband! But he would need to be the right sort of fellow.... from the correct time period, and made with a china head and cloth body like Charlotte's. So you can imagine how pleased I was when I spotted Clarence in one of the doll house supply catalogs! He looked just about right! And when he arrived I knew he was as good as I could expect given that antique Male dolls are extremely scarce!

His costume is of EXACTLY the right era, right down to the checked trousers.....

and he has a kindly expression on his face.

So you will forgive me, Dear Readers, if I step back in time a little bit further and tell you the tale of how they met........

Charlotte's family is French.... Accadian French, living in Louisiana, in the deep South of the Very Young United States of America. Clarence is from an Irish family, but he has been a sailor since he was fifteen and went to sea on a whaling ship. Now at the age of twenty six, he has worked up to being the First Mate on those new merchant ships the Clippers. It is 1843 and he is ashore in Louisiana for a brief time and he meets Charlotte out walking in a park. He is Smitten by cupid's arrows and asks for her hand in marriage. Her family accepts his suit, even though he is just an Irish sailor.... because Charlotte is already Twenty years old and has not yet married! She is rather tall.... and just a tiny bit round-cheeked...... but the fashions do change.... and Clarence thinks she is beautiful!

He really does!

And so they go forth into their world.... a young couple, newly married....

Dreaming of a bucolic life together.... just like in those old engravings by "Currier and Ives" who in 1843 were just beginning their historic productions of images depicting life in the New Country!

With images such as this one of a young Family........

And you can imagine that that child is Tommy when he was little.......

But Clarence is a sailor..... and he was more often than not at sea on one of those Magnificent Clipper ships....... the fastest sailing ships ever built.... shipping tea and spices from the Orient.... and passengers on the California Gold Rush........ Eventually owning his ship.....

While Charlotte and the children waited for him to come home.........

Never knowing WHEN that would be................. or IF............

And they had to move to the new house with me......

And I confess that I turned their cupboard house into a storage cabinet........

so they are sort of homeless......

And the children are growing up..... waiting for a HOME.......

So, recently, Clarence has decided to sell his ship and stay ashore! He has made a great deal of money with his ship.... and he has his eye on investing in those new Iron Horse Railroads that seem to be the newest thing.......

But now that he is ashore for longer periods of time..... Clarence is wanting to build his HOME for his family. Time is passing. He has just read that newly published book about whaling.... "Moby Dick"...... and it reminds him of his earliest sailing days.....

This Beautiful copy is made by the talented Caterina......... of Le Minis di Cockerina blog.......

And she even sent this tiny cigar and the impossibly tiny post cards.......

The cover is so beautiful........

But even more so the illustrations inside!

The story was first published in America in 1851......

Tommy says "Papa, will you tell me about the whaling voyages?"

But Clarence has to stop and think..... he doesn't want to remember those voyages.... they were not really the stuff to entertain a young child with....
Besides, he is a Forward thinking man..... he would rather talk about his plans for building their future.....

Dreaming about the Home he has promised them for SO LONG.....

Ever since he first met Charlotte....

Will it be a many gabled farmhouse in the country........

Or a solidly brick porticoed Manse......

Or Perhaps one of those new Italianate stone Mansions....... YES that is what he would like......

And the WINDOWS are already chosen.....

(notice how these kit windows resemble the ones in the "Currier and Ives" print above)

And I have FINALLY started the process of staining them ALL!!!

So, can you forgive me for feeling the need to BEGIN yet ANOTHER dollhouse when I have not even completed any that I am already working on? Well, then YOU try explaining to a seven year old why you have to keep moving from shelf to table to attic to shelf.......!

And I will get this beautiful Door ready for it's new position in the old Cupboard.......

Because THIS is really just the Beginning of

Charlotte's Story!