Day3 #bloganuary A childhood toy
Do you ever look back at that favourite toy ? Can you picture it still in your mind and remember what it means to you.
As the middle daughter of 3 girls most of our toys were bought to be shared and believe me being in the middle is not an envious slot in the hierarchy of choosing first. You always seemed to be in the least favoured spot, so many of those toys I hardly recall. The little pram was used for everything except what I wanted it for and the doll just a thing they tossed around like a football. I recall making the doll a blanket and trying hard to stitch it but before it adorned the doll swaddling style it was tossed upwards and stuck in the apple tree for months.
Did my parents notice I preferred books as the others never did and I was the one who could read first. I recall being asked to read to them for the length of time they were interested.
A special birthday day arrived and my Daddy gave me a long narrow box and said ‘here treasure her she is just for you‘ Inside lay the most beautiful doll I had ever seen with not a stitch of clothing on,her dark hair curling around her sweet little face.
Sally Anne I called her after my two friends at school and along with a wee pram my Grandmother bought me along side a strange little tin with a label on for ‘Mints ‘
Only no mints now just a small lining of lint which was wrapped around a reel of cotton and another piece of lint with 2 needles fastened onto it. A little note saying
‘Life is a series of stitches (just one after another )remember you can make anything you want from them’
I adored my doll, my pram and that little tin. My mother would cut my dresses down slightly for my little sister after I grown too tall for them and I would ask for a small piece of cloth. The size never mattered as I stitched them all together, first making a blanket for my pram then various little strange dress ideas.
The summer after my birthday and Sally Ann’s arrival I spent my time knitting a little vest and pants with a bonnet whilst my Grandma made the dress with a beautiful lace design. I stitched a pillow too filled with more old bits of cloth and my life was complete along with them doll and pram and wee sewing kit I felt like a Queen.
Skipping Ropes for all three of us arrived at Christmas and I could dream away whilst skipping. Sally Ann and I became inseparable she knew all my dreams, my hopes and was carried along on many holidays at the bottom of my suitcase.
A favourite toy or was she a favourite friend and ally? who always made me remember
‘One stitch at a time ‘ can make anything How true my Grandmother’s words are.