Another frigid morning here at the cottage. I’m currently covered in an afghan, with fingerless gloves on, waiting for the temperature to rise. But this will be a walk in the park compared to Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon, when we will have dangerous wind chills of 25 – 35 degrees below zero. As in almost immediate frostbite if you go outside.

Are you kidding me??

I am trying very hard not to wish away the present. As I age, time seems to go by much more quickly than it did when I was young. HOWEVER, I am ready to move on from this winter, which has been nothing but a pain in the tush.

At some point next week, it will be warmer than it has been. I cannot wait.

So today I’ll run to the grocery store for any last minute items we need, as neither of us wants to step outside on Sunday.

Speaking of a pain in the tush, painting this little sideboard has been exactly that. It’s a piece of cheap dollhouse furniture with a glossy finish that the former owner sent along with the house. Since the Beacon Hill is so large, I figured I’d keep it and use it in the third floor hallway. I had a can of primer on hand, but since it has been at least 3 years since I have used it, it was in bad shape. So I sanded the wood as best I could and painted over the finish with a brown color as the base coat. But I clearly didn’t sand it thoroughly because paint wasn’t adhering everywhere. I added another coat – same problem. My vision for it was a cheery yellow color. But again – same problem. I finally hauled out the primer and mixed it with some water, painting it late in the day yesterday. That is what you see in this photo.

I’m all about saving money as I work on this house – I have to! – and I know I have to order wallpaper soon, so I was trying to get by with what I had on hand. I get some points for that, don’t I?

Lesson learned. Buy some fresh primer and use it.

Today, I will make some decisions about what wallpaper I want to use in a couple of rooms.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Anyone need an icicle?

It reached 37 degrees on Monday. I went outside for few minutes and it felt positively balmy. Funny how it’s all relative, right? That’s when I took this photo. Honest to God, for a moment it felt like I’d been freed from captivity.

That’s what the days have been like here. Unbelievably cold. Endless snow. An extremely dry house. (Yes, we have a humidifier. It’s still way too dry.) Both of us feel lethargic, which I suppose is the universal urge to hibernate. And that 37 degree temperature is an anomaly. We’re back to below freezing.

It’s been years since we’ve had a winter like this one.

So I’ve been reading off and on, playing Solitaire on my phone, working on the puzzle (which just might take all winter to complete) and doing the usual chores. We won’t mention the news, except to say that it also consumes a lot of my time.

It’s a surreal world that we’re living in now. Thank goodness for Don, who helps keep me sane. I believe I do the same for him. Thank goodness for “Best in Show,” which we watched the other night in tribute to the late, superbly great Catherine O’Hara. It still makes us laugh and we’ve probably seen it 10 times. Thank goodness for moments when we allow ourselves to be silly and giggle. Thank goodness for Don’s music, his voice, his gift. Thank goodness for “Slow Living” videos on YouTube, which I now am addicted to. Also videos about living off-grid in Alaska. Also old SCTV episodes. Seek out the funny, the things that, for a moment, take you away from the horrors we’re living through. Or the peaceful, like those “slow living” videos.

I hope you’re all hanging in there.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

It is so frigging cold this morning, We’ve been dealing with frigid temperatures for over a week now and it looks like it will be continuing through February. I have about 3 layers on as I write this and I’m wearing fingerless gloves. The wind chills this morning have resulted in a dangerous cold weather warning from the National Weather Service.

We’ve already had to order more heating oil, which is quite expensive.

We work at it, but it’s real hard to stay positive these days.

I have been wondering if a brown scalp would look good on Harper. Her hair color is so distinctive that it sometimes limits how I can dress her. This ensemble is perfect for her of course, along with anything in red. Anyway…I was going to remove her scalp (which is usually easy as it’s just attached with a small screw) and at the same, remove Zoe’s dark brown scalp and switch them out just to see if I liked it better. Side note: a lot of Blythe collectors switch scalps or wigs on their girls all the time, but I really don’t.

Well, the screw was stripped and try as I might – and I did for a couple of hours – I couldn’t get that screw out of there. I remember that the young woman who sold her to me had tried several scalps on her so I imagine the stripped screw was a result of all of that. I posted on the Blythe feed asking for suggestions as to how to remove the screw. One suggestion involved buying a little kit and drilling into the screw. I didn’t want to do that because I was afraid I might damage the doll.

The next day, I had the thought that a tiny bit of vaseline around the screw might do the job. And, much to my surprise, it did. At the same time I was removing the screw, I was realizing that I really liked her hair the way it was. And I remember that young woman saying that after trying different scalps, she came to the conclusion that she looked the best in this one.

She was right.

She’s a Ferro Doll and that particular customizer does exquisite face ups. I can tell she took the hair color into account.

I decided to take a picture of her and just happened to plop her on this quilt which is on the sofa in the den.

Perfect!

That quilt was made by my grandmother and I had it on my bed in junior high and high school. I love it. Gram made her quilts very heavy so it’s perfect for cold winter nights.

I’m working on an inexpensive miniature piece. It came with the Beacon Hill and I’m painting it. It will get another coat today. I’m also looking at wallpaper for some of the rooms. I seem to either have an inspiration piece, like the sofa, that inspires the rest of the room, or I find a wallpaper pattern that inspires me.

I’d like this house to be elegant and cheery.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.