A Daily Reprieve...

Life can be difficult, at times, and some days are more challenging than others. It's important to find ways to give ourselves joy.

When dark clouds of discouragement, disappointment, or sadness start to form, a hobby that we love can bring a ray of sunshine and warm our hearts.




Throughout my entire life, boredom has been a complete stranger to me. Usually, my schedule was so full, it was challenging to eek out a few minutes of free time. Today, there's a little more time but dark days still come from time to time.

One of my hobbies that brings intense happiness is doll collecting. Since October, when I started this blog, it has been my delight to share some of my dolls with you. Hopefully, some people out there share this wonderful hobby. (And if you don't like dolls, maybe you skipped that day's post and that's fine, too.)

So today, as emotional storm clouds gather, it's time to get some joy going.
The doll shown at the top of the post makes me smile every single time I look at her. She was standing on a shelf in a thrift store and when I saw her, I could almost hear her giggles. You can see her little tooth inside her warm and beautiful smile. She's a first class darling! She even has deep, adorable dimples!

While I had no intention of adding to my doll collection that day, I knew she had to come home with me. Whenever tears fill my eyes, just looking at this little sweetheart makes me smile.

The tall blonde lady with the white satin dress came from a very special friend in my life who lived with us when she was a teenager. Now she has teens of her own. She knew how much I love dolls and when she gave me this beauty, she also knew I'd be delighted. She was so right!






Sharing some other sweeties with you, too. To see any photo close-up, just click on it!








Which hobby, if any, do you pursue when you are feeling sad? What brings you joy?