BEARING IT ALL

SHOOTING BEARS

You'll be glad to know that this will be short but hopefully

sweet.  As long as I can remember, I've never been into dolls.

A parade of Barbies, a Chatty Cathy, and a Cabbage Patch Doll 

named Emily, that I dearly loved, but that's another story.  

Teddy Bears.  Big, small, any color, it didn't matter.  Teddy Bears.

Throughout the years, I've had many.  As time went on, I would

periodically  "cull" the heard.  For whatever reason, these

are now my favorites.

My most cherished bear is from Mama.  It's a necklace

she got me for Christmas in 1975.  I wore it everyday  and

lost it once in the sauna room at European Health Spa.

I put up a reward and got it back.  It made me mad that

the woman who found it would not have returned it had

it not been for the reward.  

I wasn't able to wear it in Hawaii because everything

swelled up.  My feet size, my ring size, and my neck.

I'm able to wear it again, now that I'm back in Georgia.

And I didn't lose a single pound. 

A friend made this for me out of fabric scraps

I got this one from a shop on River Street in Savannah

This brooch came from Harrods in London

This needy little thing came from a Luau gift shop in Hawaii

No history,but I love him anyway

This was a special edition Millennium Bear from Hawaii

He's from Georgia but found fame in Hawaii.

I created magnets with several of my bears and sold

them to gift shops.  A also did magnets for Dole

Pineapple.

I had them doing typical tourist stuff

I rescued this one from a Salvation Army here in Georgia

He was the most popular of the bear magnets

Just look at him.  He's a keeper

This brooch/necklace has moveable arms and legs.

From Mama

This is the last Stuffed Bear Mama gave me

I got a bear from Mama every Christmas since 1975.

This one came from Jay and Kay.  The tradition continues.

He's an FAO Schwarz 150th Anniversary Bear.

In 2002, on our way back to Georgia from Hawaii,

we stopped in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and picked 

this guy up.  We were driving back in a 1993 Ford Explorer.

It was packed full with things we didn't trust with the movers.

Oh, did I forget to mention there were 2 dogs with us?

I got him from one of those chainsaw carvers.

As you can see, he is big and heavy. About  200 lbs.

worth of bear.  From Colorado to Georgia then back 

to Colorado and back to Georgia.  That makes him

about 800 lbs. worth of bear.

Group shot of the family

My great nephew James, from an earlier shoot

One of these is not a bear.

Our "Bearby Sitter"

Sometimes he can be unbearable

Two of these aren't bears...

But we've all been stuffed.

2013

PS  Any collection is more valuable with memories.