The old Lady....

We really enjoy the story of the Little old "lady who swallowed a fly"... and it's gazillion versions. Our favorite version will follow, at the end of this post. Recently, we were at the library for story hour listening to another rendition of the story and my daughter loved it. I was hit (thunk!!!) over the head with idea for this doll and merrily started making it a week or so ago. I thought I was so clever with the design - her mouth opens and there is a little pouch for the things she "eats." She upchucks them at the end, with the puppeteer pushing everything out of the pouch and through the mouth. She's cute in her own way...but rather disturbing looking really. :)

Apparently, someone beat me to this idea - as I saw a doll designed in a similar fashion in the most recent edition of Signal's catalogue (that I received a few days after I started this doll). I hate it when that happens. This doll looks so different from Signal's version. But, still - I like it best when I think an idea is truly original. :) I still need to make the felt critters that she'll feast on....

As promised: Our favorite story version:
There was an old woman who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly…Perhaps she'll cry.
---


There was an old woman who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly….Perhaps she'll cry.
---
There was an old woman who swallowed a bird,
How absurd! to swallow a bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly….Perhaps she'll cry.
---
There was an old woman who swallowed a cat,
Imagine that! to swallow a cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly….Perhaps she'll cry.
---
There was an old woman who swallowed a dog,
What a hog! to swallow a dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly…. Perhaps she'll cry.
---
There was an old woman who swallowed a goat,
Just opened her throat! to swallow a goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly…. Perhaps she'll cry.
---
There was an old woman who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly…Perhaps she'll cry.
---
There was an old woman who swallowed a horse,
& then….Well, she upchucked—of course!