I am a great collector of nick-knacks, y’all.  And I don’t mean “nick-knacks” as they are defined in the Urban Dictionary, because then I might possibly be carving this post on the wall of my jail cell.  I’m talking about junk charming little items that I find in antique stores and thrift shops.  If I come across something that I find interesting and it’s bargain-priced, then I usually end up bringing it home with me—much to the dismay of GR and the local fire department (i.e. my house is fire trap).

So, my mystery this week is more of an Antiques Road Show kind of dilemma, and it involves these pretty nick-knacks:

Item #1:  Creamer and possibly a sugar holder?  Both of these items are approximately 3″ tall (quite small) and sort of look hand painted.  There are no markings on the bottom of either piece.  Tiny, raised gold-flecked flowers (I think that they are flowers) run across the front of each piece, as well as raised, green leaves.

Item #2:  This is a very small cup, also approx. 3″ tall, with a raised flower-like design on the front, which is accented with gold paint.  This cup also looks hand painted and is very similar to Item# 1.  However, I bought both items at different shops.  Again, no markings on the bottom.

What I would like to know is—does anyone own anything similar to this?  If so, do you know if these items are manufactured, or are they some kind of popular handiwork from a particular time period? 

My life totally hangs in the balance.

If you would like to participate in Mystery Theater Thursday, click here to find out how.
 

I have a slight confession to go along with my mystery today.  And actually, I have more of a mystery quiz than an actual mystery mystery.  But I made the rules, right?  I can totally do a mystery quiz!

Here’s the confession part.  When I was 11-years old, I was a hugely obsessed fan of a certain daytime television show.  Now, I know that 11-years old is probably a bit young to be watching steamy daytime TV, but to be completely honest with you, I began watching this show as a toddler while sitting on my mother’s lap sucking my thumb.  At least that what she tells me.  Forget Big Bird, mama; give me my damn drama!  And to this day, I can clearly remember certain summertime storylines that I would just live for.  I could be outside roller-skating in the driveway with friends, but when it was time for my show, the skates came off and the bag o’ snacks came out.

Anyhow, there was a particular love triangle storyline on this show that completely enraptured my budding, pre-teen, unromantic nature.  The story affected me so much, in fact, that I actually took pencil to pretty pink stationary and wrote to one of the actresses involved in the plot.  Truly, I haven’t a clue as to what I wrote in that letter; however, I do remember that I wrote the letter on this exact stationary, which I found in my now infamous attic:

Lulu is obviously a very strange bird if she can remember the exact stationary that was used for the letter.  But I was very proud of that stationary.  It was a very grown-up thing to own.  Nevertheless, several weeks after I mailed the letter, I received a reply in the form of a glossy, picture postcard from the actress herself…with a short note in her own awful, squinty handwriting. 

This is the front of the card (I pixelated the name because that is part of the quiz. Pay attention, people.):

And this is what she wrote on the back of the card.  In all-caps:

Dear Lulu,

Thank you for watching <show, underlined> and most of all for writing to me.  I enjoy playing the role of <character> on the show.  The cast is great!  I would like to know more about you.  So write again soon.

Best –
<actress>

I’m thinking that it’s probably not a good idea to ask an 11-year old girl to write back with more info about herself, because in all likelihood she will, and then you’re stuck in a pen pal situation that you probably don’t want to be involved with in the first place, because you have an actual career.  And stuff.  On television.  And what is an 11-year old doing watching steamy daytime TV anyway?  What this actress should have said is that that daytime TV is nothing but trash, and that I should be writing to my congressman.  Or Big Bird.

So, I dutifully wrote back to her with God knows what information.  And then, many weeks later, I received another reply.  Clearly, this woman was bored, or else I was her only fan:

Now granted, a large portion of the postcard is pre-printed drivel.  But if you’ll notice along the sides, she wrote some personal notes in the same awful, squinty, all-caps handwriting:

Dear Lulu,

Thank you for the picture.  You are most attractive.  Keep up the good work in school!  <Show> is #1!  It is so exciting!  I just filmed a segment for Love Boat.  Watch for me this Fall.  Let’s keep in touch!

Fondly,
<actress>

Oookay.  Obviously I sent her a picture of myself (why?), and she thinks that I’m attractive.  Not cute, as in little girl cute, but attractive.  Even in my adult life, I don’t think that anyone has ever said that I was attractive.  Interesting word choice, but whatev, because I obviously rocked in school.  At least that’s what I told her. 

And I love the fact that she’s plugging her guest appearance on The Love Boat to an 11-year old, which I totally watched, by the way.  And finally, you’ll notice at the end of the letter that she urged me to keep in touch, which I did.  Twice.  But she didn’t.  Hence, the end of our relationship.

So, now that you’ve totally lost interest in this so-called mystery, I’m wondering if anyone knows the name of the daytime show on which this actress appeared in 1981, her character’s name on the show, and her actual name?

Oh, and while you’re thinking, I have another quick confession:  I TiVo this same daytime show every freaking day.  It’s a sick, mindless obsession, I know.  But I find it hard to break a 37 year addiction.  I blame it all on my mother.

P.S.  When you’re done here, go check in on the mysteries over at Madame Queen and Full Hands Mom.  They are both looking for some much needed advice.  Also, if you missed Alpha DogMa’s mystery last week, go check it out, y’all!
 

If you don’t want to be semi-grossed out, step away from the computer. This ain’t gonna be pretty, y’all.

I think that my little Bindi-boodles has contracted leprosy.  Or the mange.  Or possibly a parasitic fungal infection of the epidermis of the canine paw.  I’m not sure.

A little over two months ago, I started noticing small, red bumps in some areas around Bindi’s hind paws.  After a couple of days, the areas increased in size, and she started losing hair in those areas.  At first, I thought it was a rash, so I treated the areas with a gentamicin topical spray that is meant for itchy, rash spots on dogs.  And social deviants.  And when that didn’t work, I took her to the vet. 

The vet instantly thought it was the mange.  I was mortified in the same kind of way as when the school nurse tells you that your child has lice.  Thankfully, after a scrape test, she found no trace of the mange.  So, she sent us home with an antibiotic, some helluva-expensive medicated shampoo made especially for social deviants, and a different brand of dog food.  And after two weeks, the redness was still there.

After another trip to the befuddled vet, Bindi is now taking a round of steroids (user!) and another round of antibiotics.  However, in four days, she will be finished with her meds, but her sweet, baby paws still look like this:

Up close, personal, and painful-looking:

Actually, the funny thing is, I don’t think that these red spots even bother Bindi.  She doesn’t limp, nor does she bite or chew at them.  The vet said that they kind of look like burn marks, and I’m wondering if she’s gotten them from playing catch with the tennis ball in the back yard.  She always seems to skid on her back paws.

Needless to say, next week I’ll be taking her back to the vet who will undoubtedly order some type of $400 test to determine what’s causing this ailment.  Unless of course, you, my faithful readers reader has ever seen or experienced anything like this before with your precious mutt and can give me some advice.  Because at this point?  It’s a medical mystery, y’all. 

If you want to participate in Mystery Theater Thursday, just click here to find out how.

UPDATE:  If you’re intersted in partipating in Mystery Theater Thursday, click the nifty little badge on my right sidebar to read about it!

I was searching my attic this evening for an item that I’m planning to write about in a post, and I came across these sweet little treasures from my childhood:

Okay, they’re not really Spice Girl dolls, because

a.) Sporty Spice, the coolest one of all, is missing.

b.) Scary Spice does not have blond hair or blue eyes, nor have I ever seen her wearing a vest.

c.) Posh would not be caught dead in that pink and white, eyelet get-up…mainly because it would cover her orbs.

d.) Were those girls even born in 1975?

Anyhow, I don’t have many keepsakes from my early years, but somehow I have managed to hold on to these little dolls even though I’ve moved 15 times in my life.  And printed on the tag of each doll is the year, 1975—the year in which little Lulu turned five and came into owning this rowdy bunch of dolls.  And while the made-in year is disclosed on the tag, the brand name of the dolls is not.

So, if anyone knows the name of these dolls or happened to own the same set, would you please leave me a comment and let me know? 

Each doll is around 5″ to 6″ in size, and they all have soft bodies with Velcro hands.  I’m guessing that the Velcro was used so that they could all hold hands and sing, “Slam it to the left if you’re havin’ a good time, shake it to the right if ya know that you feel fine…“.  I believe that there also used to be a white dog with black ears that was part of this group.

Hmm…a mystery, no?

BTW - I’m thinking of making this Mystery Theater Thursday a regular on my blog.  I seem to have some mysterious items around my house that could make for some interesting blog fodder.  And I’m not talking about GR, people.  That would entail Mystery Theater every day of the week. 

So, if you’d like to join in with your own Mystery Theater Thursday, feel free.  I might even come up with a nifty little icon for the event.  Just give me a couple of years days…

Update…case solved!  No less than an hour after I posted this, the brilliant AlphaDogMa (aka Jessica Fletcher) has solved the mysery.   These dolls are part of Mattel’s Honey Hill Bunch, and I think that I found Scary Spice: