December is such a busy month, but here we all are again bringing you some fabulous blocks all about toys.

As a child, I had (and actually still have) a set of Baboushka dolls. The biggest doll is now very faded, but they are all still there and were one of my childhood treasures. They were a gift from a travelling relative and were at the time very uncommon. i don’t think I ever saw another set.

As an adult , a couple of years ago, before COVID stopped travel, I was luckyy enough to go to the Quilt Show in Suzdal, Russia, We also did quite a bit of touristing one way and another. One day we were taken to a smallholding and given lunch including shots (i.e. more than one shot) of homemade horseradish vodka. After this, back at the hotel, we had a workshop on painting Baboushka dolls. Believe me, our concentration and silence (as we tried not to make a complete mess of the whole thing) was total.