The challenge I set myself has been completed.
101 dolls in 101 days.
I feel excited ...
and deflated.
I liken it to the feeling after attending an invigorating retreat
or a stimulating conference
or reading an engrossing novel -
my perspective on life is forever changed.
And I wish it wasn't over
because the euphoria lifts my spirit.
And I feel I can do anything
but the excuses are already lining up in my head!
Possibilities abound in my thoughts
but the nay-sayers are circling the wagons -
the self-critic; the negative voices of people long dead;
the judge (and the jury); those who demand I conform.

But I have demonstrated ...
perseverance and determination,
trust in myself and in the divine,
discipline,
lateral thinking,
a sense of purpose.
All of these qualities I can apply in all life's endeavours -
creative, intellectual, spiritual, emotional, physical.

And I will.

I couldn't leave Quinn without his life-long partner...
so Doll 102!!!

Wilhemina Krautz was born in 1907 in Germany.
Her family emigrated to South Australia shortly after, in 1908.
Germans were the largest group of non-British or Irish settlers and their descendants
in Australia.
They were industrious and had a strong work ethic.
However, after World War 1,
anti-German sentiment was strong.
Quinn's mother, Constance, found it hard to accept his new bride,
as her husband had been killed by German soldiers at the Battle of the Somme.

Wilhemina grew up in a small settlement
and worked alongside the local doctor.
She quickly learnt practical skills of midwifery and homeopathy.

After her marriage to Quinn Buchanan,
Wilhemina continued her midwifery and homeopathic medicine.
She set aside a quiet room in her home for sick patients,
and another room for expectant mothers.
Her fee was one pound.

Quinn and Wilhemina were married in 1925.
They had 9 children:
Britta b. 1926
Derk b. 1926
Rosa b. 1927
Gerhard b. 1929
Johanna b. 1930
Georg b. 1931
Friedrich b. 1933
Caspar b. 1934
Catharina b. 1936.

The children helped Wilhemina look after the chickens, cows, horses and the large garden.
They helped with milking,  making butter, and collecting eggs.
These they sold to passing paddle steamers.

Quinn was the youngest child of Constance and Kevin Buchanan.
He was born in 1903.
Quinn was a masterful storyteller.
He listened to stories told by everyone he met -
parents, grandparents, colleagues,
Aboriginal neighbours, his wife's family.
Quinn gathered these
and shared them whenever he could -
as he steered boats up and down the Murray River;
as he drove visitors to and from the Port of Adelaide,
as he interacted with the families his wife, Wilhemina, treated,
with his children.
Everyone was enchanted.

Quinn and Wilhemina were married in 1925.
They had 9 children:
Britta b. 1926
Derk b. 1926
Rosa b. 1927
Gerhard b. 1929
Johanna b. 1930
Georg b. 1931
Friedrich b. 1933
Caspar b. 1934
Catharina b. 1936.

Lucy Johnson was born in 1905 in Adelaide, South Australia.
She studied law at the University of Adelaide.
This university has a long history of championing the rights of women
in higher education.
She was admitted to the bar,
but had to leave her practice after she married.
Lucy then went on to establish a practice with another woman.
They were advocates for child welfare reform and social work.

Lucy met Reagan Buchanan while studying at university.
They married in 1928.
They had 3 children:
Janet b. 1929
Kenneth b. 1931
David b. 1934.

Reagan was born in 1907,
the 4th child of Constance and Kevin Buchanan.
He was very intelligent, excelling at mathematics and the sciences.
Reagan studied engineering at the University of Adelaide.
After graduation,
he became involved in civil engineering projects on the Murray River.
The Murray River Agreement was signed in 1915.
This proposed the construction of 4 storage reservoirs in the river's headwaters,
and at Lake Victoria, Lake Hume, Lake Mulwak and Lake Dartmouth.
There was also a series of locks built on the river.

Reagan married Lucy Johnson, a graduate in law, in 1928.
They had 3 children:
Janet b. 1929
Kenneth b. 1931
David b. 1934

Lillian Mathis was born in Aberdeen, Scotland.
She emigrated to Adelaide with the parents in 1910,
who were weary of anti-Catholic sentiment in Scotland.

Lillian attended Kindergarten Training College,
which had opened in 1907.

She met Sullivan Buchanan at a Church dance.
She immediately fell in love with his amiable and caring nature.
They married in 1930.
They had 2 children:
Helen b. 1932
Kate b. 1934.

Sullivan Buchanan was born blind in 1906.
He was the 3rd child of Constance and Kevin Buchanan.
After his father was killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916,
Constance was unable to cope with 5 young children.
Sullivan went to live with his paternal grandparents in Adelaide.

When he was old enough, he began work at Gerard Industries,
producing conduit fittings at the Old Blind School in North Adelaide.

The Royal Society for the Blind was founded by Andrew Whyte Hendry in 1884.
Blinded at age 6,
he wanted to create a place where blind and visually impaired people could learn an occupation, allowing them to be active and valued members of their community.

Sullivan met kindergarten teacher, Lillian Mathis, at a Church dance.
They married in 1930.
They had 2 children:
Helen b. 1932
Kate b. 1934

Neil Gallagher was the eldest son of English immigrants.
He was born in 1904.
Neil worked in local government as a Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Neil met the outgoing and exuberant Jean Buchanan
when she came in to register her mother's death.
They developed an easy rapport.

Neil married Jean in 1925.
They had 4 children:
Alice b. 1925
Eric b. 1926
Freda b. 1928
Peter b. 1929.

Jean was the only daughter born to Constance and Kevin Buchanan.
She was born in 1904.
11 years later, her father Kevin was killed in the Battle of the Somme.

Jean was a talented and creative dressmaker and designer.
She established a reputation throughout Adelaide
for her exquisite designs.
Jean loved to use imported European and Asian fabrics,
especially silk and embroideries.

Jean married public servant, Neil Gallagher, in 1925.
They had 4 children:
Alice b. 1925
Eric b. 1926
Freda b. 1928
Peter b. 1929.

Doreen Thompson was born in 1903,
the eldest child of wealthy English free settlers.
She loved the stories of flight and dreamed of being a pilot.
Doreen wanted to emulate her heroines.

Millicent Bryant became the first Australian woman to gain an Australian pilot's licence in 1927.
Nancy Bird-Walton became the youngest commercially licenced female pilot
in the Commonwealth in 1934.
She then ran an air ambulance service to Outback NSW.
She became known as "Angel of the Outback" for her work with
the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme.

Doreen met Colm Buchanan when she was learning to fly.
They married in 1927.
They had 2 children:
Colin b. 1928
Rose b. 1931