Grandpa and Grandma Crayshaw Come to Dolly Mixture Lane.

I had a dolls' house as a child. It was one of my most treasured possessions and I was so very sad when my parents gave it away. Only my Aunt Jean and Uncle Roland sympathized with my feeling of loss and, over forty-five years later, I inherited Aunt Jean's own little house, another 1:16 house of the type that has become known as a Dolly Mixture.

Not realizing how special they would become, I asked Robin Britton, of Coombe Crafts, to make two little residents and Grandpa Roland Crayshaw and Grandma Jean Crayshaw came to live in the house. Though the first house, having been stored for decades in a damp garage, turned out to be so riddled with woodworm and affected by damp that it could not be saved, these two little people have taken on lives of their own and this blog is to tell the story of the renovation of another home for them and perhaps the growth of the little community of dolls in their respective homes down Dolly Mixture Lane. Number 1 Dolly Mixture Lane is gone, but a new house to be refurbished hs just arrived and the old couple are keen to begin work on their new property.

 We hope you will join us as we try to work our way up from blunderers to reasonably accomplished builders, renovators and interior designers of  1:16  and 1:12 houses. We know it will be a long, slow process but, with Grandpa's boundless enthusiasm, Grandma's sensible approach to life and me just following along and doing as they tell me, we think there might be very few dull moments!

 As Grandpa says, the joy of being a doll is that, unless one falls into the hands of a less than gentle human child, one stays the same age forever and time is not a problem. Though I may be less fortunate, in terms of  aging, I hope to have many years to work as their jobbing builder/decorator. We would be honoured if you would keep us company.