dollhouse — Page 102

A Bit of Everything: Snow, Dollhouse, Scout, Don & PBS

January 6, 2014 at 7:54 am by Claudia

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Even though snow can be a pain in the tush, it sure looks pretty on a sunny day.

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There are always fresh tracks on our front lawn and in the back forty. Usually the tracks are from the deer that share this property with us, but I often see tracks from other animals.

Unfortunately, yesterday and today have brought rain, then freezing rain, then rain again, so the landscape isn’t looking nearly so pretty. Our neighbors who have been away in Aruba (we shoveled their driveway the other day so they could pull in when they returned) just messaged us last night to say they were stuck there. I’m sure it’s due to cancelled flights and icy runways and all that sort of thing.

I’m thinking it wouldn’t be at all bad to be stranded in Aruba.

Dame Scout (she insists we call her that) had a wonderful birthday. There was a candle to blow out, a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday (with harmony) from her parents, and a plate with special treats that was actually placed on the carpet in front of her and no one interfered or said “No, Scout!” She kept looking at us as if to say “Is this for real?” Then she went for it. Licking peanut butter off a plate? A little bit of doggy heaven.

Thank you for all the wonderful birthday greetings. Scout has a big old smile on her face and she thanks you, too.

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A faucet and handles arrived for the dollhouse bathroom. I installed them in about two seconds. If only real-life plumbing was this easy.

Speaking of the dollhouse, do you remember this photo?

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It’s the finished craft room/office for the dollhouse. Whenever someone pins something from my blog or repins something I’ve pinned, I get an email that informs me of that. Over the last few days, several people have pinned this photo, not on a miniatures board or a dollhouse board, but on real-life decorating boards. I’m getting such a kick out of that! Do you think they know it’s from a dollhouse? Of course. They have to know. I assume the planked walls are the draw, but who knows? Whatever the appeal, I’m getting a chuckle out of the whole thing.

Okay. Heads up. Tomorrow night at 8:00 pm, Don’s episode of American Experience, The Poisoner’s Handbook, airs on PBS. Check your local listings, of course, but this starting time seems to be pretty consistent around the country. It’s two hours long.

Now remember, American Experience is part documentary, part interviews, and part re-enactment. So Don will not be in every moment of the show. But he’ll definitely be there, playing Dr. Charles Norris.

We’re are really looking forward to seeing how the producers have put the whole thing together. It’s been nearly a year since he filmed in Prague. (Why don’t I get gigs in Prague?)

The Christmas tree is still standing. I’m just now beginning to get a tiny urge to put everything away. It’s not strong enough to act on yet. Maybe tomorrow? Or maybe after The Poisoner’s Handbook airs?

I have to order a headboard and a bed frame and a mattress pad and sheets for the new bed. I’ve got all sorts of possibilities bookmarked. Today is the day to make a decision. Wish me luck!

Happy Monday.

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Snow, A Table & A Party

January 3, 2014 at 8:20 am by Claudia

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Brrrr. There’s nothing like waking up at 6 am, grabbing a coat, hat and gloves and shoveling a path for Scout. Up the little hill, all the way around the dog corral and back down the hill again. Barely awake, coffee yet to be consumed, no bodily strength whatsoever. Like a wet noodle.

I came back in the door, ordered Scout outside, and collapsed in the chair.

I am just now coherent enough to start to write a post. There’s clearly a lot of shoveling on the docket for the day. I have no idea how much snow fell – several inches, for sure – but thank goodness it’s powdery. It wasn’t the heavy, wet kind that is so tough to shovel. It’s windy and cold here, with a wind chill that is taking the temp down to the zero mark. Tonight’s low will be 7 below zero. Yikes.

This is the time of year that I go into my fantasy world and pretend I’m back in Southern California with the warm sun on my face. A girl can dream, can’t she?

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This arrived yesterday. It’s my work table for the Craft/Studio/Office room in the dollhouse. Isn’t it perfect? I haven’t decided whether I’m going to stain it or paint it. I may stain it, simply because so many pieces of furniture in the dollhouse are painted. Then again, I may paint it.

I want to tell you about two things. The first is a neat idea that my friend Dawn of Creative Cain Cabin came up with. Lucky me – Dawn asked me to co-host the party with her. It’s the Christmas Critter Felt Along. We’re going to be making 2 felt Christmas ornaments each month. Early in the month, we will post photos of the two ornaments, along with patterns and directions and a list of materials and then later in the month we will host a linky party where we can share our creations. So, by next Christmas, you can have 24 new ornaments. You can give them as gifts, or save them for your own tree. Here’s the neat thing: these are so quick and easy to make that you will be able to put them together in no time at all.

And you can make each one for about 20 cents. It’s that inexpensive. Dawn has written a great post about it today. Go on over and visit her post, and you’ll get an idea of what we will be making. So simple, yet so adorable. We will be posting the first two ornaments on January 8th, with directions and a list of materials, along with our own versions of each ornament.

I’d love to have you join in. I think it will be fun. And it takes very little time, which is a big plus for me!

I’m extremely late in posting this, blame it on the holidays, but the winner of a copy of The Seduction of Miriam Cross is Gina! I’ve already contacted Gina. I have some more reviews coming up in February, so there will be more opportunities to win.

Happy Friday.

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It’s Still Christmas Here at the Cottage

December 30, 2013 at 9:17 am by Claudia

In a small act of defiance:

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Another Christmas photo. Because, for us, the Christmas season is still here. Try as I might, I can’t understand removing all traces of Christmas as soon as that particular day ends. What?? It seems so abrupt, like pulling a rug out from under someone’s feet, or dangling a beautiful treat in front of someone’s eyes and just as it gets close enough to be fully experienced, it’s gone. Poof!

To me, the Christmas season lasts until New Year’s Day. To others, it lasts even longer – until Epiphany. And last night, as we were watching the Kennedy Center Honors and admiring our beautiful tree, we decided it will stay up until at least this Friday, which will be January 3rd. I’m in no hurry to get rid of the tree. I’m in no hurry to get rid of Christmas. This is one of the reasons I wait until the second week of December to decorate. I want to experience the holiday season fully and if I chose to decorate too early, I’d run the risk of getting tired of it all much too soon.

Of course, I know very well that everyone has different traditions. But, to me, the holiday season doesn’t end abruptly at 12 am on December 26th. I can only remember a couple of times in our almost twenty years together that we took down our decorations before the New Year and that was because we had to leave our house for work out of town.

Didn’t like it.

Though I am tired of all the Christmas decorating posts, however beautiful, that have been going on since right after Thanksgiving. So I promise to post only this one photo!

We had a lovely visit with our friend yesterday with stimulating conversation and lots of laughter. It ended much too soon. As always, when someone we know and love sees the house for the first time, it was dark and rainy. Go figure. When we first moved into the cottage, we were treated to a visit by Don’s brother and his wife. We were so excited to share our house and our beautiful property with them; they had been such a source of support for us as we made the move into home ownership. They drove up here from NYC, where they had been staying on business, and it rained torrentially. A rain the locals ended up dubbing ‘a hundred years rain.’ You could barely see anything for the rain. It didn’t stop until they had left to return to the city.

It’s happened repeatedly since then. What can I say? It’s strange, but true.

Practicing some close-ups of the dollhouse (forgive any specks of dust you might see):

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