dollsoutofthebox

Dear diary – let me tell you about the last part of my holiday.

On Monday Mommy had a terrible idea – Let’s go to the Aran Islands… by ferry – she said.

So we did that. Equiped for a long day, with rain jackets and some food and drinks. At first everything was OK. It took us 1,5 hours by ferry to Inis Mór, the biggest of the three islands. The sea was quite rough and towards the end, Mommy didn’t feel very well, like many other people on board. She could see now, that it had been a bad idea.

But on the island everything was OK again. Lots of fresh air and wind. We drove around in a mini bus, but also walked quite a bit.

We walked up to the fort and then visited the seven churches.

The way back to Galway took 2,5 hours by ferry. The sea was very rough and everyone was very sick. Wondy was sick, too, inside our doll bag. Mommy had wanted to see the famous Cliffs of Moher, but when we stopped there, she had no power to take me out of the bag, so I had to stay inside and got no picture in front of the Cliffs.

We all felt ill the rest of the day ….

On Tuesday we went back to Dublin. We had no breakfast. Mommy was still ill.

We had a short stop in Tullamore, but didn’t have much time there.

In the late afternoon we were back in Dublin. Handed over our rental car and went to our hotel where we spent the last night.

On the last day we started with breakfast … finally… I was starving. As you can see it was only a bagel because our humans still could not eat much ( I think Mommy will not have a trip on a ferry in the near future).

We walked about Dublin … Saw a few statues…

… they are great for climbing …

… passed the Whisky Museum, but didn’t go inside. I was a little worried that Wondy would like to have drink again, get drunk and start singing (embarassing!!!) .

Then we passed the Bank of Ireland (I could do with some extra cash – the holiday was expensive – But how to get in?)

Could it be that easy?

We spend the rest of the day in parks – St. Stephen’s Green (which was quite crowded) and Iveagh Park. (which was very quiet)

We had fun in a Labyrinth which gave me Harry Potter vibes.

But in the middle there was no portkey only a sundial.

Wondy liked the rose garden.

In the late afternoon we went to the airport by taxi and flew home. We arrived home very late at night and were tired the whole of the next day. But we had enough energy to unpack the souvenirs.

On Friday Mommy said, that both Wondy and I had to take a bath as we were quite dirty.

Next weekend I will give a party for my DCSuperhero friends. I have to order fish and chips, beer and whisky and then I will tell them about our adventures and show them all the nice pictures of Ireland.

Dear diary. I’m back again after one week. Many things have happened in the past few days, so let me tell you about them.

Last Tuesday we left Kilkenny. The weather was a little windy again, but not too cold. We stopped at the Rock of Cashel. It used to be a castle, then a cathedral, but now it’s a ruin. It was quite interesting to explore, but I got bored after some time as I had already seen enough ruins. Hopefully we will visit sth. else during our next stop.

There was a thing that looked like a well, but it was not a wishing well as it was filled up. I still made the wish to visit other things than old ruins.

Our next big stop was in Cork.

We visited an old fort. It was a …. ruin, but at least there were more interesting things to see than old stones.

Statues…

… guns …

…walls…

… cut off heads.

But Wondy liked the city more. We went shopping and stopped at the English market. After that we ate a burger in a pub.

The next day we went to visit an old house – luckily not a ruin.

Muckross House and gardens.

The house was impressive – outside and inside, but you are not allowed to touch anything.

They didn’t say that you are not allowed to slip down the handrails, though.

We enjoyed the gardens.

The weather got rainier later, so our stop by the Tork Waterfall was quite short.

On our last day in Cork we visited two museums – no ruins, yeahhh!!!

The old Cork Waterworks Museum. A nice place to explore, full of old engines. People saw us playing around. It’s not really allowed, but we said it was for instagram and that was OK then.

After that we went to the Old City Gaol – I liked that.

That’s me in a cell – I liked it, but I was happy to get out again.

On Saturday morning we just had a little walk across the campus of Cork University…

… and then left for Limerick. It is a little busy town. We didn’t spend much time there. We were impressed by the mighty river Shannon ….

… King John’s Castle …

… and street art.

You know how much I’m interested in art.

In the evening we arrived in Galway.

Today the weather was quite fine, so we walked around Galway.

We visited the Latin Quarter, the Spanish Arch and other places.

Wondy was attracted to Guinness again – I’m a little afraid she might get addicted to beer.

Now, in the evening, I ate some pizza and took time to write about my adventures of the past week.

Wait for my new adventures tomorrow and in the following days. I will write again as soon as I have time.

Hello there. Wondy and I are on holiday again. As it has been raining a lot today and I have a little time to write about the adventures of last week.

We came to Ireland by plane. We had to travel in the rucksack – it was a bit cramped, but luckily the flight was not so long. The woman at the airport looked into the rucksack – must have been because Wondy made noises. She thought it was funny to see us in there. Well, I don’t know what’s so funny about two dolls travelling in a bag. It’s the most normal thing.

We went directly to the hotel and had a rest while our humans went to the pub to have a drink and listen to music.

The next day after breakfast

we had a tour of the Jameson distillery. We had a free drink at the end of the tour.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café.

… then walked around the city.

I had to take a picture with the famous statue of Molly Malone.

Thank God the cockels and mussels are not alive anymore – imagine the smell!

On the second day we had a tour on a Hop-on-Hop-off-Bus to see as many points of interests in the city as possible.

Of course works of art are interesting to me as always and I have to pose on them.

Mommy wanted to go to different toy shops … Danger!!!

She didn’t buy anything at the first one.

… but she bought someone at the second one. You will meet her later…

We saw the famous Ha’penny bridge.

… and Dublin Castle.

On the third day we had a tour of Guinness.

… and a free drink again.

On Friday we picked up the rental car and went off to Kilkenny. Daddy is driving and he has got a bracelet to remind him to drive on the left. Of course I could drive, too but he won’t let me.

We stopped at Carlow to eat some sandwiches and look at the castle.

Duckett’s Grove near Carlow was more interesting- a great ruin to explore.

In the late afternoon we arrived in Kilkenny. The hotel is a little bit outside the town so it’s a walk of 20 minutes to the centre – in a bag with Wondy again.

On the first day we had a tour of the brewery … with a free drink again. They drink a lot in Ireland and I think our humans only go on tours of breweries and distilleries because of the free drinks.

We visited the Castle and spend some time in the gardens.

… and we also looked at the town walls.

On Sunday we went to the beach at Tramore. It was quite windy so we couldn’t take a swim although we had our bathing suits with us.

We only went for a walk in the wet sand.

I fell over into the wet sand and got dirty. I had to wash and let the wind dry me. Mommy didn’t want me dirty in the bag.

Wondy didn’t get dirty of course as she kept away from the wet sand – coward!!!

We ate some very fatty fish and chips. I think I need to serve sth. like this to my DCSuperhero friends when we get back.

On the way back we visited Jerpoint Abbey – there are lots of old buildings and ruins here.

Today is our last day in Kilkenny. It’s raining, so there are not many things to do outside. But we went to a shopping centre to buy some things. Daddy bought some reading glasses – he always loses sth. during the holidays. Mostly it’s the sunglasses, but as there was not a lot of sun it was the reading glasses this time. Mummy always buys clothes or jewellery – luckily there was not toy shop.

We crossed the famous Green Bridge – I don’t know why it’s called like that, it’s not really green.

Tomorrow we are off to Cork. I’ll write about that in a few days.

Finally the story goes on. It’s not easy to find out something about the elves in the forest – they are very secretive. So it took me some time.

After many months of adventures – walking through deep forests and dangerous places and fighting against fierce dragons and other fantastic creatures…

… the Elves had found … nothing – no answer to their questions about why the weather and the seasons were going crazy and nothing was normal anymore.

The High Priestes decided to send out her little magical dragon, because maybe from above he could see more.

The little dragon returned after a few weeks. He had found a deserted elf village. In a tower of the village there lived a half-breed elf who could see things in the stars.

So the Wizard Elf was on her way again to find the tower and consult the half-breed who could interpret the constelations.

The half breed was living peacefully in her tower with her three dwarfish helpers. But despite her isolated way of life she had also noticed the changes in nature and the weather and was worried, too.

The dwarfish helpers were very happy about the visitor. They welcomed the Wizard Elf and offered her food and drinks.

Suddenly a huge white owl flew into the tower through an open window.

The owl accompanied the wizard to the half-breed astronomer elf.

They talked about the problems and the astronomer looked through her telescope – she could see that the stars were in the wrong positions.

So she called her third dwarf – a grumpy dwarf who was in charge of the library – to bring her a huge antique book.

She looked into the book and saw the answer to the problems.

The four elements were not in harmony anymore and this had a bad influence on the weather and the stars.

Well! That was the answer, but not the solutions. So the astronomer advised the Wizard to go and see the White Seer who lived in the misty mountains. She could help her find a solution.

The Astronomer and her dwarves said good bye. They gave the wizard a bag full of food and drinks and a map to help her find the way to the misty mountains. They wished her good luck and also said that the two sisters Day and Night would help her and guide her on the way. They would send out the white owl with a message to the sisters to say that the Wizard needed assistance.

We are in the middle of the European Soccer Championship that is taking place in Germany this year. The German national team has reached the quarter finals and will play agains Spain on Friday. The dolls are very excited about this.

Some have put on typical outfits.

Others are even playing and trying to score a goal.

The fans all hope that Germany will win. „Go team!“

In spring, when nature comes to life after a long, cold winter, the Enchantimals also wake up. After some spring cleaning I think their house is ready to be shown to everyone. They live on a shelf in my Dollroom in a self- made house – and I think they are quite happy there. I do not often play with them, so they live a quiet life. I hope they don’t feel neglected.

Here is their house – it has got different floors with different rooms and it even has a roof top terrace that they can use in summer. Of course the house is full of plants because the like living in the middle of nature.

On the ground floor there is Pettia Pig’s cafè and a little shop run by Bree Bunny where the Enchantimals can buy all the things they need.

On the first floor there is the living-room – they even have a fireplace for cold winter time.

There is also a balcony.

On the top floor there is the bedroom.

They have got a small garden, too.

And of course there is a bathroom.

In summer they can use the terrace.

Now meet my Enchantimals collection. I stopped collecting after some time because the house was full although there are still some other interesting characters .

It’s Easter time again and the girls were very excited. Most of all the Liv Dolls – they are big Easter fans. So, a week before Easter they started decorating their room in the doll house.

And they started looking for the Easter bunny in the garden.

I think they found him.

Bunny was very busy because she had to hide all the eggs for the Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday.

And then finally it was time – Happy Easter !

Luckily on Easter Sunday the weather was OK – not sunny, but at least it didn’t rain. So the girls could go on an Egg hunt.

On Easter Monday it rained almost all the time, so we spent all the time indoors eating chocolate eggs.

Someone jumped out of the Easter basket. Marilyn, my first Barbie Looks doll joined the collection.

The past weekend has been a very exciting time for the dolls. There were many fancy dress parties and parades. I think they had a lot of fun.

We made a little trip to Augsburg over New Year – so there were no big parties in Dollietown this time, but we had two little companions with us – Lucy and Beverley- I think they quite enjoyed the trip.

On the first evening we went to Winterland – there we enjoyed spiced wine and country potatoes.

On the second day we went on a tour of the town. Behind the girls there is the „Kälberhalle“ – the restaurant where we celebrated New Years‘ Eve.

As the girls didn’t go with us to the party, they insisted on having some champagne before.

On the first of January we enjoyed a long walk along the river Lech. The weather was dry and sunny although quite windy.

Like every year Christmas is a big thing in Dollietown. The preparations normally start two weeks before the 1st of Advent in order to get everything ready in time. During these two weeks the doll room is in a terrible disorder as it is a lot of work to put up the Christmas market and dress all the girls and boys in suitable outfits. Every year I realize that I don’t have enough outfits and have to order or sew new ones.

But then, when everything is ready, Dollietown is magical.

Now let’s look at some details.

There is a big stage, where the dolls can perform Christmas songs.

Some prefer to perform off stage.

There is a Christmas circus where you can see magical performances.

And of course there are Carol singers.

Have you ever heard Christmas carols sung by a cat choir? Well. it’s quite an experience.

You can go on sleigh rides.

Or go ice skating.

And of yourse you can buy Christmas trees.

Quinn is having a lot of fun. Let’s scooter towards Christmas!

While Harley bough a snow globe.

The two new Draculauras are having fun,too. It’s their first time at the Christmas market as they joined my collection this year. They got new outfits suitable for the cold weather.

The kids are having fun in the snow – there is always snow at Christmas in Dollietown.

There are lots of things going on inside the doll house, too.

There is a toy store ready for the kids at Christmas.

The shop assistants put on suitable outfits.

Poppy also got a new outfit, which is more suited for indoors and looks great under the Christmas tree.

Cookies are very important.

So are presents and drinking hot chocolate in front of the fire.

On Christmas Eve – Santa came to town with his two little helpers.

Now let’s have a look at the bigger 1/4 and 1/3 scale dolls. They like Christmas, too. Here are some of the new outfits they got this year. The Minifees like ugly sweaters, but always stylish ones.

While the Evangelines prefer more elegant outfits. They dressed as Victorian Carol singers.

Someone is always a Grinch.

Or at least wears a Grinch outfit.

The highlight is always the Christmas show underneath the tree on Christmas Eve. It’s become a tradition that the BJDs that joined the collection during the year have to perform in a little show. This year we had an elf choir singing „Five little Elves“, Brooklyn insisted on presenting a Dinosaur poem and we had the story of the Christmas Bunny.

After the show the new Christmas dolls come out.

On the left Pixie – she is a Lydia Studio head on a Minifee body – bought second hand. She needs another wig and the body is not in avery good condition, so she will need a new one. On the right is Daisy – a Myou doll.