I spent some time yesterday working on the dollhouse. I filled in some gaps in the walls with spackle. Today I’ll sand them and I might even start the wallpapering process. I also played around with the new plates and put them in the hutch. Those white eggcups that I got in Paris are out of scale, so I’m going to remove them. Or I could pretend they’re little desert bowls.
Playing with furniture and accessories is such fun. I consider it my reward for all the time spent renovating the dollhouse. There’s lots to do yet in this house, but once I finish the wallpaper in the bathroom, as well as the flooring and windows, I’ll move this to the desk and start building the Beacon Hill.
Yikes.
I have some new information about the comment we found so objectionable. Two more comments with the same text have appeared, plus one supporting the original comment. I am now convinced they are coming from bots who are commandeering IP addresses. Interestingly, almost all of them are coming from Canadian IP addresses. Anyway. This happened before during the 2016 election. I’ve deleted and blocked them all and will continue to do that, since they are deliberate attempts to spread disinformation. I deleted my original response because I no longer want to give any responses or “air” to this nonsense, because that’s what they want. Do you mind if I delete your responses, as well? If you do mind, let me know and I’ll let them stand, but they won’t make sense now that the original comment has been deleted.
Thanks, everyone.
Very, very cold here today. No snow on the horizon but it’s definitely winter!
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
Yikes is right! Yes, delete mine, too. This makes me almost as mad as the original message. I wonder if Jacquie (sp?) knows about it.
Those tiny plates in the tiny hutch are adorable, too.
I don’t know. I suspect her email was hacked at some point, but I can’t be sure. I haven’t heard from her for a while – except for that comment.
Stay safe, Shanna.
So nice, to see what you are doing with the dollshouses… Not so nice what these bots are doing. Delete them, by all means.
Thanks so much, Petra.
Stay safe.
I missed the comments. I’m glad I did. So sorry this happened.
On the way to school Thursday my car became airborne after it a patch of ice. The side of the ditch prevented the car from rolling. I have never been so frightened in my life! Good friends came to my rescue. Not only did I get pulled out, given love, but he is also fixing the car. It needs new tie rods.
As a reward for that experience on Craigslist I found a dollhouse. Already built, 1/24 scale, and move in ready. Adorable. The price? Ready? $8.00!!! I am beyond excited.
Cold here too, Claudia. Below zero with snow.
I am so glad you are safe, Trudy! My goodness, that must have been frightening!
You deserve every reward you can get but I’m thrilled that you found a dollhouse!
Stay safe, Trudy.
hej, trudy minton …
sorry you had that accident … another reason i hate ice! glad you had help. hopefully by now the car and (most importantly) you are better! and have no more scary things happen!
glad you found a dollhouse to treat yourself and at such a great price!
stay safe and well.
kathy in iowa
Those little plates look lovely on those shelves.
Glad you caught on and deleted those bots. Why a group finds the need to attack blogs is beyond me. I don’t get it. We don’t believe their lies anyway.
Have a nice weekend!
We sure don’t. But you’re right – why bother with all of this?
Stay safe, Ellen.
Hi,
Do whatever you have to do to protect the integrity of your blog.
As I was looking at your photos I was thinking how nice it would be if we could make out houses small and make home repairs then by magic restore them to their normal size.
Over 12 + inches of snow ..off to snow blow.
Take Care,
Kaye
Park City, UT
As we were dealing with a leaky roof, we were thinking the same thing!
Stay safe and be careful with the snow, Kaye.
Reminds me of how people are after a divorce
Can’t quit relaying negative info
Love the photo
Prayers prayers prayers
Thank you, Brenda. You’re right!
Stay safe.
If the bot’s intent was to sow discord here, it failed. Claudia, your response and the responses of other readers were excellent, but I understand why you have to take them down. How to handle the millions of people in this country who have been tricked into believing if someone like Trump repeats a lie often enough, it somehow becomes true? Sadly, I have no answer for that.
I have no answer, either. Very disturbing and sad.
Thanks so much for your support, Emily.
Stay safe!
I agree with Kaye… do whatever you have to do to protect the integrity of your blog.
Thank you, Cathy!
Stay safe.
Please delete if I left a comment. I think I did. Love the hutch and all the plates. Yes the egg cups are too big but perfect desert bowls!
Yes, I think you’re right. Dessert bowls it is!
Thanks so much, Linda.
Stay safe.
A BOT looks for certain words or phrases. It is not personal attacks on particular bloggers. Also, once your facebook or email is hacked, close and delete it. Don’t argue with yourself about this. My devices were stolen from my home during a break in. Homeland security notified me that my laptop was being used in Afghanistan. I was dumbfounded. No, they didn’t send my actual laptop there. But they were able to use my Microsoft account for one month. This is a common occurrence for stolen laptops or phones. Thieves sell devices to even bigger thieves. It takes about a month for them to get caught. Then the account is dead in the water and no longer usable. I also had to purchase all new software. Change your passwords frequently. Make sure that you use a double verification system to open your devices. I also have installed find my ipad or find my iPhone on all our devices. This worked. Detectives were able to locate my ipad. Don’t procrastinate about this for any reason. Stay safe and stay vigilant.
I assume this is advice for everyone. I’m quite clear about what to do if I’m hacked and I have been in the past. I use double verification. I also deal with bots all the time on Twitter and Instagram.
But good information to pass along to my readers, Nancy. Thank you.
Stay safe!
hej, nancy …
wow, that is scary. i am sorry for your home having been broken into. i hope everything stolen has been recovered for you, that you have peace.
thanks for the good advice.
stay safe in every way!
kathy in iowa
Delete away. I hate the bots — I get “boomer” ones periodically. I moderate, so they never see the light of day. (I probably would have posted the comment you did, but maybe not.) Especially if I couldn’t find a blog or contact to go along with it. Smart move — hate those bots but boy, are they smart.
I think you should put Bernie on the porch of one of your doll houses. Just because you can! (His furniture just doesn’t fit the living room!)
LOVE the plate arrangement. The plates look fabulous there. I see what you mean about the egg cups but yes, as dessert bowls, they work!
I didn’t choose to post the comment, it just posted as your comments do. But I do look at them and delete them if they’re suspicious. I also have anti-spam on the blog which eliminates 99% of spam from bots.
Thanks so much, Jeanie.
Stay safe!
I love, love, love those miniature plates!! So cute!! Where did you get those from. I love any China hand painted. It is cold here too in Phoenix, even snow an hour and a half north of us in Prescott and Sedona. Brrr! Stay warm!
I mentioned the name of the shop in yesterday’s post, Deb.
Stay safe!
You have my permission to delete mine! thanks
Thank you, Mary!
Stay safe.
The hutch display is beautiful Claudia.
Yes, please delete my responses as well.
Thank so much, Lea.
Stay safe.
Hey, Claudia. Boy, the nasty certainly are persistent, aren’t they? Wow. Just think what could be accomplished if they all put their combined nastiness to good!! Sadly, of course, we will never know.
I have to know about the plates. I have no concept of the size ratio, and I always think initially that the pictures are of “real” things. Are they like the size of a quarter, or a dime? I think the egg cups look like perfect dessert dishes! The entire piece looks so pretty.
Hope you have a good day. Very cold here and snow to come. Take care.
A little bigger than a dime, Chris. Maybe midway between a dime and a quarter.
Thanks so much.
Stay safe.
Claudia, the hutch looks very homey with the beautiful plates. Have fun doing your dollhouse “thing”!
Thank you, Wendy.
Stay safe.
Your new plates are very special.
Highs and lows for me this past week.
Bad thing: Vicious Santa Ana winds, the worst being Mon-Weds (and, now, today, drizzle). The power company shut off power to our entire town of 30,000; for how long depended upon where you were in the grid but, for my husband and me, no electricity for 21 hrs. Couldn’t even make hot water on the outdoor propane grill because the wind kept blowing out the flames. It was hard for a human to stand upright. And this was a cold wind, so we were uncomfortable in the cold house (we have electric-ignition furnace and a non-working fireplace). Lost most everything in our two frig/freezers. I can’t even describe the anger and despair I felt. I can become the bitter and melancholy ‘victim’ all too easily. (And they make it difficult to put in a claim, but I don’t even know my tally yet; at least a loss of $500 in food [will prob be more] as we were so unusually stocked up for the continuing pandemic, trying to stay home, be self-sufficient, and stay out of stores.) Also, the amount of damage outdoors was surprising, yet not: Our next-door neighbor lost his entire roof of a large covered patio; my neighbor across the street lost her front-yard tree (I will mourn the loss of this beautiful tree; I know she can’t afford to replace it); the neighbors across from her lost three tall palm trees, and palm trees rarely break, but these were near-hurricane-force winds. And it was sustained wind that went on for hours and hours and hours and continuous hours. There is debris everywhere. We were in Santa Barbara County earlier this morning and the beach is a mess up and down the coast road, the roads in many areas south are a mess, trash all over the place. Big signs and other odd siding, bent and laying at the sides of the road. Work crews galore. Downed trees being cut up and removed. Really-big tree branches blocking driveways and other entrances/exits. I saw palm trees completely denuded of fronds; just a vertical stick in the ground. We grow a lot of tomatoes in these north counties (adjacent to L.A.) and they grow in rows on stakes with big canopies over the rows, like muslin stretched over a frame (reminds me of a the old whalebone hoops for ladies’ skirts in another century) although I think the fabric is heavy canvas; well, we drove by acres of this a few hours ago and all that cloth cover is in shreds from the wind (so much xtra expense for a farmer, to clean it all up and then to also have to replace; it’s a lot of human labor and cost of supplies). But life goes on; the workers were in the fields picking strawberries. I saw another farm where they were plowing a bare field.
Good thing: OUR old roof of this old house held on with the gale, and no wildfire, and that’s the point of the mandatory shut off. Also, the power went back on just as the coverage on TV started for the Weds inauguration (5am PST) so at least I got to see the swearing in after too long without television and internet; and what a massive relief to see the start of a new administration at the top. Also, I had a good tele-med with my doctor so that I can get some medication relief for this food poisoning plaguing me for four weeks now, and she brought the good news that after much research on her part, I am cleared for the Covid vaccine, when it ever is available (they’re still in the over-age-75 tier and running out of vaccine), whereas it wasn’t looking favorable with my allergic past and also sensitivity to the antidote for a reaction, but I will have to be injected in a medical setting with a doctor and can’t go to these big vax sites like a fairgrounds or even a drugstore. Also, we finally got our stimulus money, so it’ll be helpful as I have a lot of food to replace and no wallet otherwise for it. We also have to replace tarps on outdoor feral-cat shelters and outlying buildings (we get leaks) in our rear yard/hillside (and immediately; rain is forecast for today and the next week; we need it, but we just aren’t quite ready for it here at my house!) and this is the third time in two months that these winds (it’s global warming; nothing like the winds of my youth which weren’t at this velocity and so damaging) have ripped our tarps to ribbons, $150 each time we have to replace. As well, our batteries-stash is now depleted (for flashlights, lanterns, etc.), so that’s another expense of having no electric light for quite a long time. (Although I’m well aware we are lucky when I recall people on the Gulf Coast, in heat and humidity and rain, coping with loss of power for weeks-on-end in hurricanes. At least we had flushable toilets and good, clean water to drink.)
But it seems like it’s taking a lot of money to ‘live’ these days … as retirees, we need supplemental income in the worst way, but my husband works in a leg of your industry (Claudia and Don) so of course any freelance work dried up with Covid.
But we’re alive. When we felt like Dorothy before she landed in Oz in her swirling house caught up in a tornado. I was already getting fed up with affirmations and the gratitude list, before the winds, because I’m suffering from extreme Covid fatigue, realizing I’ve probably shut myself indoors too severely in 2020 due to so much virus fear and my multiple underlying health issues, just too close to ‘breaking out’ and saying ‘the heck with it, I’ll take my chances’ when we need to double-down more than ever to be safe from this huge Covid escalation in SoCalif, but my healthier attitude has come back to me, in no small part due to the wisdom and calm of my husband, so I’m back to ticking off the gratitudes.
We’ve have the new frig and the old frig. Only due to xtra food for Covid and the ‘staying at home’. So, when the power came back on, any food we could salvage was still in both appliances as they drummed up to get their ‘cold’ back, but it wasn’t until hours later that we realized, despite the old frig going and going, it was NOT getting colder and the stuff was even thawing MORE, so what happened is that the old frig just couldn’t recover when it got plugged in again; so, we not only lost the food, but we’ve lost the back-up frig. My husband took it apart and it’s outside for recycling now; ready for the junk heap. But I definitely wasn’t counting my blessings when we lost this frig which was doing JUST FINE if we simply hadn’t had the interruption of the power. If I ever hated Santa Ana winds, imagine how much I hate them NOW. As I’ve said before, there are a host of reasons/causes which are making it absolutely inhospitable to continue to live in California.
I think one of my biggest problems is lack of sleep. No one can sleep in a week of wind. Not wind like THIS. And you don’t dare put in earplugs because you have to stay attuned to fire danger. Sigh. Maybe our rain will be mild and thus lull us to sleep like babies so that we can catch up on our rest this weekend.
Wishes for more and deeper sleep, Vicki. You deserve it.
xoxo
I’m sorry, but what is a frig? Do you mean a fridge?
It’s obviously a typo. She means fridge.
Refrigerator. The larger kitchen appliance that is part freezer, and part refrigerator.
hej, vicki …
I hope you are feeling better … no more food poisoning.
so sorry that on top of having high winds (annoying and often scary to me), you lost power, food and the fridge … ugh!
on a brighter note, i am really glad that you can get the vaccine!!!
here’s to better days. they’re coming!
stay safe and well.
kathy in iowa
Thank you, kathy.
I’m so sorry, Vicki. What a week you had! Dangerous winds, no power, loss of food stock, and so much damage. I remember Santa Anas and they were never that intense, so you’re right – global warming.
I’m glad your healthier attitude has come back, my friend. It’s hard to maintain some days especially when you get walloped they way you did. Much love. And happy to hear you can get the vaccine!
Stay safe.
Thank you for your support, Claudia. I’ve been pretty bummed. You’re always encouraging to your readership and I’m sorry you’ve been troubled by the bots of late.
The JD puzzle was even more beautiful that I thought it would be; the blue is so deep as the ocean. It must have been pleasurable to complete.
Although I’ve watched very little TV since Weds, have you noticed how the various on-air news commentators’ faces have visibly relaxed? So much of what they have to cover and report upon is still so dire, but I’ve felt that they must also feel a new ‘lightness’ (lifting of a burden) with the change in our national leadership.
(PS: It’s a good word you’ve used for this particular type of wind [and then I’ll stop talking about it!!] … INTENSE. I’m not usually fearful of wind in these years except in how it relates to fire. But the intensity of this wind, especially Tuesday [reminiscent indeed of wind we had in the 2017 wildfires], had me scared because, even with my sturdy old house, the gusts at times felt like they could take the house; I’m not exaggerating. There’d be a second or two of eerie quiet and then we’d get clobbered loud and hard. The gusts, clearly, were very, very destructive and I feel badly about all the ‘broken’ trees. [Also for all the dear animals outdoors who had to endure it for such a long period. My poor dog was uneasy {inside with us of course} and she usually isn’t with the Santa Anas. But this, for us, was our worst Santa Ana wind EVER. We’re all glad it’s over. {Til the next one.}])
You know I don’t like strong winds. We’ve had a few hurricanes in the time we’ve lived here and that one event – the microburst – that brought down one of our trees and all the power lines in the neighborhood. Very, very frightening.
Will insurance pay for the loss of your food?
xo
We don’t know yet. But my experience with it in the past is that they are sticklers (the power company) of knowing exact info such as the precise date you bought the item, how much it cost, at what specific store, brand and weight, etc. We’re haphazard with grocery-store receipts. (Not so after THIS!) So, I dunno. I think in a natural disaster per se, you prob can’t put in a claim. In this case, they prompted the problem because THEY turned off the power. We’ve been so exhausted with the whole thing that we tabled it for a few days although I made a list of each ruined item. It’s a long list.
Homeowner’s insurance claim? We have a large deductible, so this seems to be a dead-end road for a spoiled-food claim. Coincidentally, on Friday, after the bank teller mistakenly entered our stimulus payment as a debit and not a credit which necessitated two trips inside the bank which we’d rather have not had to do for Covid exposure, we opened our street mail to a notice from our homeowner’s insurance carrier that they are non-renewing us because we didn’t replace our roof. We’d been down this route with them last year, for 2020 policy renewal, with the whole explanation that the roof had been inspected TWICE and we are ‘good’ til 2024 and probably beyond (most composition shingle roofs are 30-year and we’re at year 23). We haven’t even needed repairs and we’re having no problems with the roof. We have the same roofer now as who put on the existing roof (he’s very professional and has been in business since the 1950s; very reputable; was happy to vouch for our roof in writing), so there’s continuity and archived info, plus he even took photos when he was up ON the roof a year and a half ago (at our request, simply to get for us a gauge on condition and see if we needed to do anything; just part of home maintenance and planning). My point is that we’re very unhappy with this company/insurer and I can try to imagine what putting in a claim would be like with them. Our broker is searching for another carrier for us; of course, we have a deadline with a looming cancel date now. All added stress we don’t need.
After reading you just now, I’m relieved the wind didn’t pull down power lines here. Definitely would be scary. The weather service, just three hours ago, posted a wind advisory (but not a warning) that we’re in for 45 mph winds today but I’m not ‘hearing’ or feeling them yet. Mostly what we have upcoming is a 30-degree low for tonight (we had a lot of frost Sunday morning [has been in the high 30s for two nights already]; looked like snow on cars and roofs; remember this is SoCalif and we don’t often get ‘colder’ like this) and what could be ‘heavy’ rain for three days starting Weds. At least it’s beginning to be more like a historically-‘usual’ SoCalif January. Can’t ever complain about rain here; nice if we can see some water again in our creeks and rivers. (Just don’t overdo it.)
xoxo
Hello Claudia, I talk to my husband all the time about your blog and the current issue you were dealing with the negative commenter and he told me all about these bots (I had no clue). So I just read him your comments today and he said he wouldn’t put it past it that the IP address was being passed from somewhere else making it seem like it’s coming from Canada. I mean I get phone calls from towns over, but they’re really coming from other countries (I just block them😉). Anyway love your blog, passed it onto a friend❤️Stay safe and be well❤️
Yes, that may very well be. So far, nothing to block today!
Thanks so much for the information, Michele.
Stay safe!
Had the first injection this week…next one first week of February…then two weeks…then perhaps see family in person with mask and distance…Isolation since last March has not been easy but necessary…when my son can get his vaccine, he will come to Indy and help me move to Florida…it is bittersweet. I have had three years here with family…but time for me to go and be with the little ones now…I am blessed to have family in both areas who really want me…it is nice…the ones here will fly down often when flying is safer, and knowing them, they will drive until it is…taking the vaccine was easy and professional…I couldn’t get in the hospital next door to me or any near…went about 15 miles or so…daughter masked and took me even though we are not together during Covid…at my age, better to have some one waiting on me…went in…went through security…had the vaccine…then a wait in the auditorium of the hospital for side effects…they called me few days later…texted me the next day though for side effects…I urge all who can safely do this…won’t be back to doing whatever until more have been vaccinated. I am thankful Indiana is going by age and doing it right…in my home state, they are vaccinating everyone but the elderly it seems…my friends having a time…in a couple of other states also-same thing with friends…this has been almost a year of not normal…will will be back to almost normal this year? I hope and pray. Will I get to move this year? I hope and pray…the little boys want Nana there…your blog has helped all of us get through a difficult time, and for that, I thank you so so so much…you are such a dear and have touched my heart with your blog…prayers to you and Don…
We’re going by age here, but they’ve run out of vaccine.
You’ll get to see your little ones soon, Brenda.
Stay safe!
Bots…really? Don’t they know they won’t get anywhere with you! Or, with any of us?
Love the dishes, I’d love that in my own home…it’s lovely.
Waiting for snow to arrive…supposedly. It’s really hard to tell…the forecasters tell you one thing,.,but radar looks like it’s dissipating. Hope the radar is right. Stay safe! ;)
I hope its much less than predicted, Donna.
Stay safe!
Hi, Claudia – please feel free to delete my post. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. Chris
Thanks!
Stay safe.
Yes go ahead and delete.
Thank you, Julie.
Stay safe.
lovely set-up in the dollhouse. i love ladder-back chairs. and those teeny little plates are perfect in that cupboard!
i don’t know why anyone would hack into blogs or any other kind of account. beyond theft, i mean. disgusting. i think of what the world would be like if all that time and effort were channeled into positive things!
been a long hard week … snarky boss (over my choice to use vegan soap, something she’s known for more than 20 years). also being lectured to by someone at my doctor’s office (was told yesterday i waited too long to possibly get those cement injections in my back – after i’d already said i wouldn’t have them – as they can only be done in first six weeks after fractures … not that i would have chosen those injections, but i didn’t hear about them until six weeks to the day that i sought help for my back and it took them four of those weeks (after x-rays) to tell me that my back was fractured and another week to tell me the results of the mri (not just one fracture and another possible one, but four compression fractures). and to top it off, the woman who called from my doctor’s office to say my “doctor recommends vertebroplasty” (the cement injections)? when i asked her what vertebroplasty was, she said, “i don’t know. i’m looking it up as we speak”. ugh. and thursday my boss told me “so-and-so called … said she thinks she’s had a stroke” and (my boss) just walked away. i didn’t walk away. i went to the person and stayed with her until help arrived, staying as far away as i could … and learned friday she tested positive at the hospital. ugh again.
thanks for listening.
glad that today i found everything on the shopping lists, got to see some of my family (from a distance, of course). :)
we are to get an inch of snow tonight, then freezing drizzle overnight, around four inches of snow tomorrow afternoon and somewhere between five and ten inches of snow on monday. over it, also glad we’re stocked up!
hope you all have a good night. stay safe!
kathy in iowa
kathy, it was very kind of you to stay with the stroke victim – – I recall when my mother had a stroke and she was so confused and scared – – my friend had a cousin who died last week after recovering at a rehab/convalescent facility (after surgery in a nearby hospital; temporary situation) where she got exposed to Covid; the virus was apparently just too much for her in the weakened condition; otherwise, she probably would have been fine and would have, after a week or so, continued to recover at home from the surgery (I didn’t quite get all the details, but a couple of CNAs who were attending to her at this ‘in-between’ facility had tested positive) — I’m glad that you have antibodies, such that with trying to also keep your physical distance with the stroke victim, you’ve got some protection from the virus – – how does it work from here for you, i.e. will you still get the Covid vaccination even though you’d some months back contracted the virus itself?
thanks, vicki.
turns out she wasn’t having a stroke. that’s good news.
i’ve read antibodies last around three months so whatever i had would be long gone. i will get the vaccine, but that seems to be months away. :(
hope you’re well and stay safe! happy sunday!
kathy in iowa
Oh, Kathy. What a week you had. I’m so sorry. But you were so good to stay with the woman until she got help.
Life can be overwhelming and people lecturing us or being difficult does not help. Especially in this stressful time. I’m sorry people were rude to you.
Stay safe.
The little plates are adorable, and they look prefect in the hutch. I didn’t recognize the egg cups for that function, they could totally be fat candle holders or desert dishes.
As for the OM post – whether it was a bot or a human (and I’m leaning towards bot too because it’s so easy to get an AI to do your dirty work these days), I think the best thing to do is to delete everything. Should something like that pop up in future, I would remove it without further comment. I think it’s time to fix your eyes on what’s happening going forward. It’s not going to be an easy time for America and you will need to channel all your energy into good things to make them stick.
Thanks, Megan.
Stay safe.