dollhouse — Page 45

Discombobulated

January 3, 2020 at 10:41 am by Claudia

Gone.

That gorgeous Christmas Tree was so dry after having been here for over a month, that it had to come down yesterday. On top of running errands, we added the dismantling of the tree as one of our chores for the day. It took longer than I thought, but eventually, Don carried it out to the woods, propped it up against another tree and thanked it. We both said thank you repeatedly as we were taking down the ornaments. I do have qualms sometimes about trees – living things – being raised only to be chopped down for our temporary use during the holidays. I have to be honest and say that I go back and forth on that one, just as I do on a number of issues.

I missed seeing those lights when I came downstairs this morning. But I do like the clean look of the house.

Does this ever happen to you? You look everywhere to make sure you haven’t missed some decoration that needs to be packed away. You do it more than once, and finally, satisfied that you have corralled all of the Christmas stuff, you pack it away.

The next day, you notice something you missed. In my case, as I was sitting on the sofa having coffee with my husband this morning, I focused on Stella and saw the two bottlebrush trees that are sitting on her shelf. Whoops! I’ll have to find some place to put them until next year.

Did any of you notice that I closed yesterday’s post with “Happy Monday?” Yep. It wasn’t until we were in the car running errands that I realized it was Thursday, not Monday. The first thing I did when we came home was edit the post to the correct day. I swear, it seemed like a Monday! I’m discombobulated.

I’m working on Dove Cottage. I added some missing window sills and a window frame the other day. I’ll do a bit more today. And I’m deep into Jane Eyre, which is beautifully written, isn’t it? I have to finish it, then read the script for the play, then do some work on the dialects – all over the course of the next 4 or 5 days. I’m starting 2020 off with a work commitment and that makes me happy.

Happy Friday.

Ready to Go

January 2, 2020 at 10:04 am by Claudia

Well, here we are in 2020, me in my flannel pajamas and my husband’s socks.

It’s a new year and we’re ready to go!

New Year’s Eve was quiet, as is our wont, and we had a lovely dinner and watched more of Unbelievable. We were in bed well before midnight, but I was awake for a while and heard the beginning of fireworks at midnight.

Today, some errands and, sadly, the Christmas tree has to be taken down. It’s very, very dry, so it’s time. And thankfully, I’m in the mood to take it down – I wasn’t before today. We’ve really loved this little tree, it’s been a beautiful beacon of wonder and light for over a month and we are so grateful for it. We’ll take it outside and place it in the woods for all the birds and animals.

And then I’ll vacuum for hours.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and Day.

By the way, I added to my Dollhouses/Minis section on the navigation bar. I realized that I only had Hummingbird Cottage and Don’s Studio up there, so I added some info about the Modern Dollhouse, Dove Cottage, and the two vintage dollhouses, which I’ll add to as I work on them. I decided to name the white vintage dollhouse in the den The Cabin, because I think of it as a slightly rustic retreat. I don’t have a name for the newest vintage dollhouse as yet – that will come in time – or the Modern Dollhouse – again, in time. Anyway, Barbara, one of the readers of this blog, asked me to post pictures of all the dollhouses and you can find them there.

Can you tell I’m in dollhouse mode?

Happy Thursday.

Dove Cottage & The New Year

December 31, 2019 at 10:05 am by Claudia

It rained (and even sleeted) all day yesterday, so I went upstairs to the office and worked on the dollhouse. I’d had an idea that painting the roof – even a preliminary coat – would help to define the stone exterior and that by doing so, I might like it more.

I have lots of photos of English stone cottages and they seem to have roofs that are dark in color – they may be some kind of slate for all I know. I hoped that I had some sort of dark color on hand, gray or black, that I could use without spending any money. Thankfully, I did.

I spent about 4 hours painting the shingles and I have to say, it’s the best thing to quell anxiety. I was in my happy place. This photo shows you a solid dark gray, but there are traces of the brown of the shingles showing through, which is what I wanted. I may age them more, but for now, here it is.

Painting it accomplished just what I wanted. The contrast shows off the stonework and I’m happy with the look.

We’re watching Unbelievable on Netflix. I sought it out because Barack Obama put it on his personal best of 2019 list. It’s based on a true story involving a serial rapist. I can’t say enough about the quality of the production. There are 8 episodes and we’re halfway through. Excellent.

What do we have planned today? I’m cleaning a bit, working on Dove Cottage. Don will no doubt practice his guitar. And Don is making the dinner we were going to have on Christmas but were too tired and full to make. I think we’ll appreciate it more tonight; it’s a calmer day all around. We’ll watch more of Unbelievable and then, I can guarantee it, we’ll go to bed early.

Happy New Year, my friends. I hope the coming year brings peace and joy and an end to the ongoing attack on human rights and civility and a new beginning on the path to healing and tolerance and good.

Happy Tuesday.

Discombobulated

Ready to Go

Dove Cottage & The New Year

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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