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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Phileas, Rain, Miniatures

May 11, 2026 at 8:24 am by Claudia

Late in the afternoon on Saturday, I wandered down to the mailbox, umbrella in hand, to get the mail.  I then wandered over to the area of the culvert we call Frog Pond and called out for Phileas. I sang a bit. Suddenly, on the periphery of my vision, something on the left leapt into the water, landing with a plop. I couldn’t see him under the water but our Phileas is still around! We were greatly relieved. Don looked for him yesterday and there was no response. We are accepting the fact that Phileas has his own life and is entitled to privacy and will not answer our questions as to where he goes. He is his own frog.

Rain all day long on Saturday, then Sunday started out as a sunny day, but turned gloomy later.

Taken yesterday morning, right after I watched a male and female wild turkey walk through our woods.

What else? I spent a few hours working on another project for the Beacon Hill. My friend Gwen sent me a 1:12 3D printed miniature cubby/cabinet a few months back. It’s the first 3D miniature I’ve modified. It came in basic white and I guess it’s made of some sort of plastic. I probably should have sanded it a bit, but I didn’t. I stained it in that walnut color and then painted and aged it. I wanted it to look like an old piece of painted furniture. I’m pretty happy with it.

Ir’s very hard to capture the color as it changes with the light.

Here it looks more green with less blue tones. I’ll try to get a good photo of it later today. That’s the wall it’s going on and it will be directly opposite the table and chairs. I didn’t want the living room to be too matchy, so I deliberately chose this color. I may play with it a bit more, but I’m pretty happy with it.

I’m not sure what I’ll choose to fill those cubbies. It won’t be books – more likely, some pottery. I had a vision of small rustic crocks, but these cubbies are rather small. I’d like whatever I display to look like a curated collection as the owners are collectors. We’ll see what I can come up with.

Last night, we watched Remarkably Bright Creatures  starring my pal Sally Field. It’s on Netflix. It’s a beautiful, powerful story and she is superb. Our friend Beth Grant is in it, as well. I cannot recommend it highly enough. You will be inspired and touched and moved to tears by the story. It’s based on a novel which I haven’t read, but I suspect some of you have.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: Beacon Hill Dollhouse 28 Comments

A Rainy Saturday

May 9, 2026 at 8:35 am by Claudia

This is my favorite time of year to photograph the dolls. The porch, the potted flowers, the natural light! It just makes the perfect background. This is little Miyoshi. Her face up just might be the most beautiful of all the girls.

Don mowed most of the front lawn yesterday. I offered to do the areas around the garden beds because I know he worries about that. So I ran outside to mow and ended up pulling some weeds in a couple of the beds, as well. I also pruned some of the rose bush (it’s not looking good at the moment and I’m wondering if it’s dying.) Long story short: I was sore and allergy ridden from the day before and I’m even more sore and allergy ridden today. But we mowed most everything on Thursday and Friday. The only part of the lawn we didn’t get to is the lilac side. Weed whacking begins next week.

It looks pretty and very green out there. Today, it’s raining.

I’m grateful for the rain because we need it, but also because it gives me permission to stay inside and rest. I’m going to clean up my work area in the studio so I can find things. It’s too cluttered at the moment.

We haven’t seen Phileas in several days. Don thinks he’s moved on. We had tree trimmers from the county doing work on our stretch of the road on Thursday and they were around for a long time and VERY LOUD. Maybe Phileas decided to vacate the premises?  I hope he comes back. Don had a sad note in his voice when he said “I think he left.” I’m sad, too.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: life 12 Comments

Friday

May 8, 2026 at 8:50 am by Claudia

Just thought you might like to see Nina.

As I’ve said before, I don’t really plan on buying more Blythes, except for a Dragonfly Blythe. Nina is a Dragonfly and so is Pru. Ola, the wonderful woman who was the customizer behind Dragonfly Blythe suddenly stopped customizing a few years ago. Her many fans were shocked. Consequently, they are now rare. My dream girl would be a redhead. But I’ve had some disappointing experiences in my search. There was a redhead that I dreamed of having and after many long chats, the woman who owned her promised her to me if she should ever want to sell. Long story short, the promise fell through and she sold her to someone else. Two beautiful redheads came up for ‘adoption’ but their owners wouldn’t ship to the US because of tariffs and customs fees. (Thanks, Agent Orange.) I have a couple of friends who are on the lookout for me. But it’s frustrating. Anyway, I’m grateful for the Dragonfly girls that I already own. And doesn’t Nina look beautiful?

I mowed the back forty yesterday and promptly had a huge allergy attack afterwards. Darn it. I’m still feeling under the weather today, so Don is going to mow the front lawn. We have rain coming in this afternoon, as well as tomorrow, so we’re trying to get ahead of it.

No groundhog sightings yet. No bunny sightings either. But it’s early spring here, so I expect we’ll see them sometime this month. I’m on a wee pause with the dollhouse as I ponder what room to renovate next. So far, the bedroom is winning out.

I’ll check in again tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: life 8 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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