I was ready to add ornaments to the tree yesterday, but Don wanted one more day with just the lights. Fine with me!

It’s been lovely seeing the tree with little white lights. Nevertheless, today is the day. We’re adding the ornaments later this morning. I’m debating whether to add my big white bottlebrush ornaments, like I usually do. I’m not sure. They provide great filler and they’re striking. Hmmmm….

We’re due for a “wintry mix” this afternoon, but it doesn’t sound as if it will cause any problems. I just want to be able to return the big ornament bins to the shed when we’re done decorating the tree. They take up a lot of floor space in our small cottage. Other than that, we don’t have to be anywhere other than here today.

They don’t look too excited, do they? I’m sure I’ll learn just what’s ticking them off soon enough.

My friend, Little Keiko Doll, who designed the face molds for Jessie and Audrey, came up with a new mold for a smaller head, like the size of Ruby and Gilly (designed by Landoudou dolls.) You know that I am quite taken by the look of Ruby and Gilly on an Obitsu 22 body. I love those girls. So I ordered the new mold a few months ago, along with a wig and eyes. It arrived here on Monday.

. The mold is called “Bunny.”

First of all, isn’t this box beautiful?

I changed my wig choice at the last minute because the one I had opted for looked too much like Ruby’s bob. I decided to go for long hair and this wig is lovely. She has pale green eyes. And she has teeth, which I’m nervous about painting. I can’t start a faceup for a while because when I do one, I have to go outside several times over the course of the work to spray Mr. Super Clear to protect each layer of the faceup. Mr. Super Clear is toxic and I only use it outdoors. I’m pretty sure the temperatures are too cold right now for the spray to be effective. I have a body on hand, so when there’s a warmer spell, I’ll start working on her. For now, she is Bunny. When she’s finished, I’ll come up with another name.

What do we have in use at this point?

Nina, Sophie, Imogen, Gilly, Ruby, Wren, Lily, Rosie, Prudence, Harper, Amanda, Chloe, Jessie, Olivia, Pippa, Madeleine, Audrey, Miyoshi, Lucy, Maeve, Ella, Holly, Zoe, Katie, Mabel, and Ling.

Yikes. They’ve all come into my life during the past 4½ years.

Let’s hope I get some bolt of inspiration when I’m working on her.

Okay. It will soon be time to put the ornaments on the tree. You’ll see it on Friday.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

A very, very cold Monday morning! And it’s going down to 4° tonight. It’s been a long time since early December has been this cold and snowy.

As I was making coffee just now, I watched a squirrel go up and down the black walnut tree right outside the kitchen. He was clearly looking for something. He jumped down, dug in the snow – nothing – then dug in the snow two more times. Finally, he found it. A black walnut! He carried that large nut off in triumph. Squirrels are amazing.

We put the lights on the tree yesterday, with a delay in the middle of the process when we realized that 3 strings of lights were no longer working. Off I went to Lowes to buy some more. I ended up buying an extra box so we’d have them on hand. Back home, then lots of adjustments to the previous placement of the lights as the new strings were longer than normal. Finally, we finished.

There it is.

We love it.

We’re going to leave adding ornaments until tomorrow, as we always waiver at this point. Do we want to ruin the beautiful simplicity of a tree adorned in pretty white lights? So we’ll sit with it for a couple of days.

Plus, we’re tired today. And we have to go grocery shopping.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Our reward on Wednesday evening for shoveling snow. Isn’t that glorious?

Shoveling wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated. The snow was not heavy and wet, thank goodness. We ended up shoveling and didn’t need the snow blower. It took us about an hour and a half to clear the driveway and the parking area, as well as shovel paths to the shed and the porch. My back was complaining, but I felt just fine on Thursday. No lingering side effects. We were quite proud of ourselves.

It is frightfully cold (6° as I write this) and will stay that way for a while, so no melting. Because it got so cold last night, the porch plants that were still hanging in there have finally surrendered. I brought the pansies indoors last night in case I could save them. It didn’t work.

The pansies get an award this season – they are the first flowers I potted in early April and they hung in there until this morning. They are real troupers. I just love pansies.

Today is the day we get our Christmas tree. But we’ll have to wait for a few hours – it’s too darned cold right now. I like to get the tree during the week because the nursery gets too crowded on the weekend.

Oh, and we had to deal with a couple of unknown purchases made on Don’s card. The bank was incredibly helpful and the card has been cancelled. He’ll get a new one next week. The “purchases” have been credited back to our account.

My hands are still cold as I type this! It’s taking a long time for the house to warm up.

Remember that series of photos I took last Christmas with the girls wearing a crown?

I added another. Audrey had to have her very own Queen for the Day photo.  Miyoshi will be up next.

Okay, my friends. I’m off to make our second cup of coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.