Dolly Mixture Smile

Today's image was taken combining the last thing a saw in my kitchen (the cloth doll - no idea where it came from or why it is in our kitchen!) with the first thing I saw when I stepped outside into our garden (a pink hoodie hanging on the washing line).
For some reason the first thought that popped into my head once I had taken this shot was dolly mixture sweets (a bit tenuous I know - I think it was just the colours!). They are a British confection consisting of multi-coloured fondant shapes, such as cubes and cylinders with subtle flavourings and sugar coated jellies.
The origins of the name are uncertain - one version that has been passed down through family history is that the name came from the daughter of one of the salesman, Mr Charlie Clayton, who managed to secure a large order when they were being shown to a prospective buyer - with "Dolly" being the pet name of his eldest daughter Dorothy.
An alternative version speculates that it originated around the time of the British Raj in India as dal (or dhal) is a dried mixture of beans, peas or legumes of different sizes and colours and that over time the name dhal mixture is thought to have led to the name dolly mixture. Nothing like a bit of confectionery folklore! :-)
They were certainly on my list of childhood sweet consumption which also included flying saucers, jelly babies, liquorice all sorts, pear drops, fruit pastilles, pineapple cubes, sherbet dips, wine gums...and many, many more!