It took over three hours to make, paint, and glue this section of the dollhouse. The stones are necessary for the look of the house but tedious in the making! Anyway, I couldn’t get to it yesterday, but I’m going to do some work today.

Doing that video of Hummingbird Cottage helped to motivate me. Through rediscovering that house, I remembered how much I love renovating a discarded and badly constructed dollhouse and I’m excited about the process once again. But I have to finish the stone work before I can move on to the fun stuff inside.

Hummingbird Cottage was a real learning experience and there is much I would do differently if I could do it again: narrower and less bulky baseboards and trim (I made those improvements when I made Don’s studio;) a different method of installing wallpaper, especially on an old, used dollhouse with uneven wall texture; that kind of thing. I learn something new every time I work on one of these structures and I have much, much more to learn. But I was taught a valuable lesson many years ago when I was a beginning quilter. I took an introductory class and my teacher made a comment that stuck with me: “You have an issue with perfection, don’t you?”

Bingo. She was right. I didn’t like to make mistakes. I didn’t like to be wrong. I wanted everything to be perfect. Some of that is just me. Some is due to control issues from being the Adult Child of an Alcoholic. That kind of insistence on perfection needs a big dash of humility. Otherwise, it’s a recipe for taking any joy out of the process. I still struggle with these issues and probably always will to some degree, but what I love about any creative endeavor is the process. And if I love the process, I’d darned well better cut myself some slack so that I can enjoy it. I thank that teacher to this day for what was the perfect observation at the perfect time.

So my quilts are beautiful, but I can show you exactly where the imperfections are and I’m fine with that. Same with the dollhouses. I remember as a kid wanting to cut and run if something I was learning seemed like it was going to be too difficult for me. That’s a very strong memory. I’m glad I’ve moved beyond that.

Don’s appointment went well yesterday – no pain, lots of rinsing, and he’s doing well. I’m glad I drove him there and back. He took it easy for the rest of the day and now – of course – he’s eager to get back to his trails and his hoe.

We had huge thunderstorms throughout the afternoon; big, loud, and wonderful. It looks like more are coming this afternoon and every afternoon except for Thursday. Big summer weather.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.