March is a fickle month. Last week it was in the sixties and now it’s thirty degrees colder. Gray skies, snow showers…sigh.

Some additions to the English Cottage (aka Dove Cottage):

A miniature oil painting from Weston Miniatures on Etsy. I’m not sure where I’m going to place it. All will be revealed.

I’ve had this one for a while. Yesterday I decided to hang some pictures and I decided this one should be on this wall. It’s a Japanese print from MiniMyEye on Etsy. She often uses postage stamps for artwork.

Also new is the thumb latch on the door, from Weston Miniatures. I already had one on the outside of the door but it went on back order, so I had to wait for this one.

Also new is the painting on the other side of the front door, which you can see here. I briefly considered aging the frames but I like the pop of gold in this somewhat darkish room.

A closer look:

I’d have to look it up but I think these women are Muses. Another stamp art piece from MiniMyEye.

I received the baseboard trim that I want in yesterday’s mail, so the next step is to finish the windows in the last room – both the acrylic inserts and trim – and then I’ll start painting the baseboards to add to each room.

Don and I check in with each other every day about the studio space. He can record anywhere as his equipment is portable, but if I’m not going to do anything with the dollhouse, he goes upstairs. Not sure what today will bring!

I’m reading The Sentence is Death  by Anthony Horowitz, one of my favorite writers. We’re still watching A French Village, which is stunningly powerful. The acting is superb.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

We have snow coming later today, somewhere from 2-4-6 inches, depending on the individual forecast. It starts during the day. We’re looking forward to watching it fall. (The last snowfall occurred during the night.)

Drum roll. Don’s present arrived yesterday after 3½ weeks of going nowhere. So we wrapped our presents to each other – we each had one late package – and opened them in the evening. I gave Don a book that he wanted. He gave me a miniature side table for the English Cottage. (I just so happened to send him a link and he took the hint.)

I took these this morning and it was still fairly dark outside. I’ll get better photos for you later.

Isn’t it lovely? I believe the seller found it at an estate sale. I don’t know how old it is, but I suspect it’s from the 80s or 90s. It’s handmade. It’s actually prettier in person than it was in the photos on Etsy.

I’d like a real-life version of this table. The scallops and curves are beautiful.

A view from a little further back:

Note how you can see one of Don’s Big Boys through the window in both photos – and an old black and white photo of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. That makes me laugh. A lot of miniaturists use backdrops and I suppose I should – eventually. But when something is in process, I figure you understand.

I also received a thumb latch door handle, which I’ve already installed on the exterior of the door. I tried to get a photo of it, but it was too dark in the room to get a good shot. I’ll share that with you tomorrow, hopefully.

It’s taking shape, my friends, it’s taking shape.

Also, our neighbor brought over some eggs for us. Her chickens have finally started laying.

Aren’t they beautiful? I love those soft pastels. I guess chickens often stop laying eggs in the winter but these guys are obviously on a different schedule.

They’re almost too pretty to eat!

17 days. Ignore the shenanigans from the Republicans in the House and Senate. It’s bad performance art. Seditious bad performance art, but bad performance art, nonetheless.

Okay. Time to go. Have to do a little prep for the upcoming snow.

Stay safe.

I plopped this Santa in my piece of Russel Wright china and Don said it looks like Santa is traveling by boat to his studio. When you add in the blue-green color of the table, it makes sense! Santa is bringing a big star to the studio. Isn’t he thoughtful?

Today we do a little prep for the big old storm headed our way. There’s still some question about how much we’ll get – our local guys are saying 7 to 14 inches, which is a big spread, but it depends on where the storm is when it veers eastward and moves out to sea.

So. At least 7 inches. More likely 12. Oh boy. Most of it will happen overnight on Wednesday into Thursday and there will be winds and snow drifts. Oh boy again. I would have preferred about 4 or 5 inches. The snowblower will get moved to the porch to plug it in so that it can be charged. I’m going to empty the remainder of my porch pots and move the antique pots in the secret garden to the porch, as well as that outdoor furniture. Then I’ll cover the former kitchen island with a tarp, as I do every winter.

Yesterday, as I was putting in this floor, I had a message from my friend Kaliswa saying that someone was posing as me on Instagram. So grateful she tipped me off! Instead of claudiahillsparks, this account had my same photo and hillsparksclaudia as the account name. Shockingly, over 200 people had already followed it, people that were taken from my list of followers. Kaliswa reported and blocked it and I immediately reported it, saying the account was posing as me. I have to say, I’ve never seen IG work so fast, that account was gone within about 15 minutes.

The same thing happened to Don a few months back. In Don’s case, they copied a lot of his post photos as well. I reported it, as did several others, but it wasn’t deleted until I made Don sit down and report it himself.

Which begs the question, do these people have nothing else to do with their time?

Just as on Facebook (and I’ve made this mistake myself) make sure ‘follow’  or ‘friend’ requests are legitimate before you automatically click yes.

And consider using two-factor authentication. I’ve had that on IG for quite a while. It makes it virtually impossible for someone to steal your account (I’ve seen two cases of stolen accounts just this week) because the verification goes to your phone and you confirm who you with a special code. I believe Facebook has it, too.

Okay. Not that we didn’t already know it because we’re sane people who deal with facts, but the Electoral College confirmed Joe Biden as the President-elect. I’m sure there will be more shenanigans. I have no time for them. January 20th is going to be a holiday in our home!

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.