This isn’t all that exciting, but I started to do some initial work on the dollhouse – which was interrupted, but more on that later.

This is called tapewire and it one of the methods used to wire a dollhouse for electricity. I was initially excited by this when I first got the Beacon Hill. But it’s been two years since then, and I’m less excited now. I don’t know if it works, I’m not thrilled by the way it was done (based on my total ignorance of the process) and I rarely light up my dollhouses. I use a few battery operated lights, here and there, but that’s about it. The advantage of wiring is that there are more styles of lighting available. You have more options. But they’re all expensive and I don’t see myself investing in them. I am going to try to do this house on a budget. I will most likely buy a few quality pieces, but really, the truth is that right now I only have a germ of an idea as to how I’m going to decorate. But there’s plenty of structural work that needs to be done first.

So I removed all of the tape yesterday afternoon,

Next up, priming the red and brown rooms with white so I can have a clean palate to start with.

I was ready to do that when we had to run outside to stop the guy on a tractor that the county employs to clean up the sides of the road. I don’t know if it’s the same guy, but one of those people chopped down my favorite crabapple last year. He had gone by earlier and much to my dismay, I saw he had cut down a lot of the roadside lilies (aka tiger lilies) that were about to bloom. Yet again, I was angry. Plus, he left all the things he had cut down, so I had to go out and clean it all up via 4 trips with the wheelbarrow. He also came very close to the ash tree, a tree in which we have invested time and money. Most ash trees around here died because of the emerald ash borer, but this one is hanging in there. A few years back when a crew came to cut down some of our trees, the owner of the company commented on the ash that had sprung up down by the road. He suggested treating it once a year – he just did that about a month ago – and we are hopeful it will stay alive.

Back to the guy driving the tractor, his cutter, which is sort of like a huge bucket on a long arm, was moving the branches on the ash and Don was very concerned. As was I. So the minute we heard him coming back for a second cut, we ran outside. I stood on the street near the edge of our property line, Don stood by the ash. As the guy came nearer to our property, he noticed me and shut down the tractor. I asked him not to do any more on our property. I explained that last year someone had cut down my favorite crabapple tree and that he had already cut down our tiger lilies and that we were also concerned about the ash tree. He nodded and said “I can work with that.” We thanked him. And he skipped over our property and moved on.

But what if we hadn’t been home? I can imagine other property owners must not be happy with all the cutting. Plus, a lot of debris falls into the culvert, which can result in a clogged culvert. That was part of my cleanup yesterday.

In the middle of it all, Don was stressed – so he made a pie.

We’re due for thunderstorms today, with ‘gusty winds’ possible.  I foresee a lot of catalpa blossoms on the ground. I’m going to go out there and take some photos before we lose them all. They’re so beautiful, I wish they could stay there all summer long.

Lily snuck into the bedroom because Pip seemed to be sleeping for a long time and she was concerned.

That’s a little planner (it really works) made by a favorite Blythe creator. And I bought the little dog from a toy shop when I was living in Brooklyn.

A reminder that a lot of my replies to comments (if you have a google/gmail account) are not getting through. They want us to add another layer of something-or-other that involves security. Since I refuse to jump through yet another Google hoop, that isn’t going to happen. So check back here for my reply.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.