see my toy group posting last friday:
http://365project.org/365toygroup/365/2015-01-16
i had to find a miniature cake that i could include in my photograph and my search led me to a dollhouse store northeast uptown. (the miniature pretend cake was a lot cheaper than if i had bought a small real cake - seriously!) upon entering the store, it was like i stepped inside wonderland. and it brought to mind a memory of a long ago Christmas when i was five years old.
i opened the gift that 'santa' left for me (which was my father actually and that was also the time i found out santa wasn't real, but that's another story) and it was a living room suite - large sofa, a two-seater, two armchairs and a centre table, painted in avocado green with white trims. my father made them from scraps of wood, that was why i was forbidden to go in his workshop underneath our house (which i did anyway and i saw the thingies before they were painted). then my mother handed to me the 'china' set she won at the store the day before - little cups, plates, saucers, teapots, spoons, etc. all made of plastic in the colours mimicking the designs and patterns of pink depression glass.
i played with those for quite a while but my choice of toys really was sling shots and i preferred climbing the guava tree in front of the house or jumping over the tombs in the cemetery which was behind our house. that of course dashed my father's desire to build a dollhouse for me, even though the toys were handed down to my three younger sisters.
back to the present, at the dollhouse store. it brought back vivid memories of my mother, her radiant smile, sparkling brown eyes as she handed me the paper bag with the little cups etc inside. i remember the two of us sitting on the floor of our house, as she showed me how to set the plates, where the fork, spoon and knife go, the glass on the right, and she made an imaginary line on the floor for a placemat.
looking at the unfinished dollhouses on display suddenly brought to mind my father's smiling face as he showed me the dollhouse, with intricate little window shutters and hinged doors. then his dismay when i said i hated dolls. perhaps that's when the animosity between us started. while i liked playing with the tiny cups and saucers, i rejected the dollhouse that he was making for me. as i said, he never did finish the dollhouse although he had three more daughters after me.
thank you for your kind visits and comments; know that they are truly appreciated.
a fav.