Secrets & Lies.

"They" say, 'When all around you looks dark- look up!' One Teddy praying? One Puppy begging?

This was the grim scene lower down. And it might look cold, but it definitely was not!

Which has nothing to do with what I intended blogging about! Haha.

When I first found out I would be able to actually make my own Porcelain Dolls, I was so excited, & made my 'date' for my first lesson.

I wondered why my family seemed to be lukewarm about the idea- they are usually so supportive of me in my endeavours.

The 'secret' there was, GOM had booked me a surprise trip to Auckland to visit my mother, & family, & so didnt want to spoil the surprise by telling me. And it clashed with the date for my first lesson.

So I had to postpone my Doll classes until I returned from another lovely holiday.

I met so many lovely people doing the doll classes, & the lessons were always fun filled affairs, with a lot of laughter. And there were students of all ages, ranging from 80-something to girls of 15.

Making dolls could be a very costly business, with wigs to buy, eyes to buy, the greenware, the firing fees, the paints, & the actual classes to be paid for. Then of course, there were clothes to be made or purchased for the dolls, to say nothing of very expensive leather shoes & handmade socks. I know a lot of the students told 'lies' to cover their expenditure on the dolls.

And new & inventive stories would be discussed, about ways to hide the fact it was somewhat costly. And justify the expenditure for said items. Much as we quilters do, with our fabric stashes!

I was lucky, I had some skills in assembling the dolls bodies, & a lot of the students loathed that particular task, so I earned enough from my 'bodybuilding' for the studio's other students, to continue making my dolls. Without having to resort to too much dececption!

One of the elderly ladies who attended the lessons on Saturday afternoons, was a joy & a 'scream'. She was a small lady, called Bonnie. She drove a huge Jaguar car, & she always had very expensive jewellry, & clothes- even though some of the processes of making dolls can be quite messy!

Bonnie just loved dolls, & she loved to go to the Shows, & at one Show she purchased a very large German Antique Doll. She was terrified to tell her husband about this purchase, she told us, so she kept the doll with her at all times she could. The doll had cost a small fortune, & being so very large, it was no easy feat to 'hide' it.

Bonnie would arrive at class, with the doll strapped into the seat next to her. How we laughed to see them arrive. She told us that when she got to within a few 100 meters of home, she took the doll out of the seat, & laid her in a box in the boot of her car. Then once home, she would sneak the box into the house, & under her bed. She said she couldnt bear to leave the doll at home in case her husband found her, so she would always sneak the box out & into the boot. Then would stop to get her out, & place her in the car, with seatbelt securely fastened of course!

This all went on for some months, & was the cause of much hilarity among other students. Bonnie knew we all laughed about it, & she joined in. She had a wonderful sense of humour, & always had us laughing with remarks about her dolls she made.

One Saturday, we all turned up, but no Bonnie. Which was most unlike her. Next Saturday, still no Bonnie. Our teacher decided she had better ring to find out if Bonnie was alright.

Imagine her shock when she was told that Bonnie had died. She had died suddenly in her sleep, the Friday before her first missed Saturday. We all felt sad to think that Bonnie had suddenly gone.

But we couldnt help laughing when we imagined her husband's surprise when he found her 'Secret Doll'! We wondered if the doll had been in the car, or under the bed. And we were sure her husband probably wouldnt have really minded her having it, after all.

I havent got any such secrets stored away. I figure after almost 41 years of marriage there are not many 'secrets' left between us. GOM knows all about my fabric stash- & though he shudders with horror if he sees it being added to, it is more a mock shudder, than anything real.

And my dolls are no secrets. Some of them are hidden away, but only because their 'mother' has still to get around to dressing them!

I have just tried to edit this to RE SET the paragraphs. I had them all there, but once it published they vanished. Hope they stay there this time!!

Blogger! are you listening!!