I took this photo a couple of days ago – and there are even more leaves now! You’d think it was October here. I hope most of the leaves are remaining when my sister visits in October. She needs her fall-fix because she lives in Florida. It feels like fall here – a little cooler, a little more golden light. I know it isn’t officially, but if you looked at my lawn you’d be hard pressed to say it is still summer.

I have begun exploring some dollhouse shops in the area – and by area, I mean New Jersey. There is nothing in my neck of the woods. There used to be a little shop about 20 minutes from here – I went there with my husband once, long before I actually bought the dollhouse. The ladies there were so sweet and helpful. Several months later, after I’d been away working, we drove by (it was on the way to our local airport) and there was a half off sale going on. I didn’t have time to stop but it seemed ominous. It was. They went out of business.

So I am forced to travel even further south. There are 3 shops within about 15 minutes of each other in New Jersey – right in the area where my niece used to live. Today I went to the closest one – called Circus Circus.

Lovely shop. The owner was very helpful and has offered to show me how to electrify my doll house when I am ready to begin that part of the project. The dollhouse’s exterior needs some TLC – there is supposed to be trim around the roof and there is none…I want to replace the shutters, fix some shingles and repaint the whole thing. She couldn’t have been more helpful. I bought some glue and some trim and some magazines. I restrained myself from buying anything else. There were so many dollhouses around the shop that I was inspired – lots of ideas.

Yesterday, you remember, we took the dogs to the Vet’s. Scout needed rabies, a check-up, the usual. Riley, my damaged boy, needed his ears cleaned and his nails clipped, along with a distemper vaccination and a lyme/heartworm test. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Riley was so abused as a pup that he won’t let anyone near his ears, his neck or his toes. He will bite if he feels threatened or scared. Normally, he is the most mild-mannered and gentle of dogs…nice to everyone, sweet and good. We have come to accept that our boy has issues and that we are blessed to have him as a family member. Our job is to love him and protect him and give him a safe home. He has allergies and about once a year his ears get really bad. So we have to sedate him, and then the Vet has to sedate him by IV and his ears are cleaned, his nails are clipped, and he is sent home with medicine (pills – no drops – he wouldn’t let me put drops in his ears!) He also has an antihistamine this time – maybe we can avoid more ear problems next year. He was so groggy when we got him home that he could barely walk and was out of it until this morning. It took two of us to get him in the house and up the stairs. Poor baby. Today he is back to normal – but I worried about him all day yesterday. I can’t help it – I’m his Mama.