The Lake House has been decked out for Christmas. A few wreaths and a fresh coating of snow is all that’s needed.
This involved standing on the ottoman and carefully turning the house around – it’s big and quite heavy – then lifting it very gently so as not to disturb the furnishings while tucking the ‘snow’ under the house. Then the ubiquitous tacky wax to attach the wreaths. Somehow, this sweet house seems made for Christmas.
My friend Helga has corrected me on one thing – she doesn’t have a black Putz sheep yet, but she’s on the lookout. I’m going to give you the link to her IG account. Helga and I share a love of dollhouses and putz sheep and miniatures and gardening. She lives in Germany, I live here. She has a Beacon Hill dollhouse that she’s working on (jealous!) and an incredible studio space. Wait until you see how many putz sheep she has! Here’s the link to her account.
These quiet mornings with the tree lights glowing are truly lovely. A perfect way to start each day. Today, we’re supposed to get some snow showers mixed with rain, but I see no evidence of that yet. I wouldn’t mind some snow showers and some Christmas music today.
I didn’t do the things I had on my To Do list for yesterday, so today it is. It’s very cold here, but it won’t take long.
The next thing on the agenda for the dollhouse is laying the wood floor. It’s tedious, so I have to be in the right kind of mood. Then the windows and the molding around the windows.
This is Don’s recording studio. He and his friend Dan have been collaborating once again. Dan lives in Connecticut, so the collaboration is a virtual one. Don records the guitar and vocal and Dan lays in other tracks from his house. All this is done via Garage Band on the Mac. This time, they’re doing it for the joy of it, not to perform anything live or record a CD. Don says to tell you he’ll have a single out soon, and when it’s done, I’ll put the link here. It will be free.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
Good morning! Glowing lights and music are the best things about this season. I share your belief that this doll house was made for Christmas! The charming decorations put me in the mood. Hope your day is productive. You and Don stay safe!
You, too, Nora!
Thank you.
happy big and dollhouse decorating! happy when the chores are done! happy listening to don’s music!
happy wednesday!
no offense to your other choices because they are great, but this might be my favorite of your dollhouses. probably because from the outside it looks most like one i’d choose style-wise (and, as a smaller home, could afford) in real life. plus, it’s called the “lake house” … :)
please be careful when on the ottoman (or as we call it here, a footstool)!
thanks for the link to helga’s account. will check it out. good luck, helga, in finding a black putz sheep!
may everyone have all they need plus some treats.
i have the rest of this week off from work. tomorrow’s the mri appointment and long car drives. i am thinking i will need to just rest at home on friday. and today i need to run some errands (groceries and hopefully get a couple Christmas presents) … that will help my nerves.
it was 60 degrees here yesterday (more like 55 is forecast for today), claudia. hope that weather makes its way over to you soon!
hope you’re having a good start to your day!
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
ps: appreciate the offer of a free song, but if don has any more cds for sale, please count me in! thanks.
Dear Kathy, we will all be thinking of you and praying for you tomorrow. I know you’ll do well and then when you get home, you can breathe a sigh of relief!
Much love being sent your way.
Stay safe!
thanks, claudia.
i do feel that support and, along with the prayers, it’s all much appreciated!
it will be a long day … out the door by 6:00 am, about four and a half hours up, around two for paperwork and the mris and about four and a half hours home … but it will be a good day. i enjoy driving, plus answers will be obtained and mostly i have faith in God. will chat on friday.
hope you all have a good day tomorrow!
and stay safe.
kathy in iowa
xoxo
… kathy, best of luck with everything tomorrow; wishing you all good things!
hej, vicki …
thank you!
same to you, especially having to deal with the winds, potential fires, the lock-down and everything else …
hope you have a good stress-reliever. what do you like to do for that?
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
I hug my dog. Or if it’s at night and I’m brainless at end of day, I’ll watch repeats of any old TV show I’ve seen a thousand times; comfort-food ‘boob’-tube (what they used to call a television when it had tubes inside that could be replaced/repaired; the old days [and ‘boob’ meaning ‘dunce’, i.e. idiot-TV I guess]).
Hope all goes well for you tomorrow, Kathy and that you’re not in any discomfort.
Good luck tomorrow, kathy!! Will be thinking about you on your (long) journey. Glad the weather won’t be a problem. Take care and please let us know how it goes. ♡
hej, chris k in wisconsin!
thank you very much. :)
i think tomorrow will go fine … all the driving and the mris. am thinking i will be back home, showered and in bed about 26 hours from now … also relieved. :)
i sure will let you know what i learn, but that might not be until friday or even early next week.
thanks again.
hope you and your family are well and safe.
kathy in iowa
hej, dee dee.
thank you!
the drives up and then back home will go fine (helps that my sister and i used to live in minneapolis). i think the mris will, too, since they are being done upright/seated. i will be off all pain meds for about 24 hours. one makes me sleepy (i won’t drive that way) and no one can drive me up there and back home, but that just is the way it must be. all for a good cause. :)
hope you and your family are well and safe.
kathy in iowa
Kathy, Sending prayers and warm thoughts for a safe trip and mri results that bring answers to your pain issues! I hope you enjoyed you mind distracting errands today. Please drive safely tomorrow.
hej, donna. :)
thanks much for your kindness.
my doctor believes it is from fractures due to osteoporosis (been treating it for the past 22 years, since i was 40). hopefully the mris will clarify everything and i won’t have to wait long for answers. will let you know on friday.
even though seeing people in masks is a constant reminder of the pandemic, errands bring a little bit of “normalcy”. and they still have to be done. and it feels good to get stuff done.
while the last couple miles to the mri will be in a neighborhood i’ve not yet been to (my sister and i used to live up there), i’d guess i’ve made the trip to/from minneapolis close to 200 times in my life. i don’t take that familiarity for granted, though … i don’t choose to speed and i am off all pain meds now until i get home (probably about 6:30 tomorrow night) because they make me sleepy and one affects muscle strength and reflexes.
hope you and your family are well, safe and stay that way.
thanks again for your prayers. means a lot.
kathy in iowa
Prayers
thanks, brendab.
prayers for you, too.
stay safe, be well!
kathy in iowa
I would love to hear Don sing!! Might even be able to afford a CD!
Thanks, Jan. He already has a couple of CDs.
Stay safe!
Claudia, thank you for sharing the link to Helga’s Instagram account. I love her studio! I love yours as well. You both have wonderful natural light. I’ve always wanted a studio. The room I’ve set up for a “craft room” in my new home just doesn’t feel conducive to creating. I think part of the problem is the lighting.
I’m looking forward to hearing Don’s new song when it’s ready.
I think Helga’s has a lot more light than mine. I only get good light in the late afternoon. Otherwise, I work with lamps on.
Stay safe, Denise!
Oh my….Helga has quite the collection of putz sheep! I didn’t know there were so many different variations of Putz sheep.
I really like the Lake House. I think it’s my favorite, mainly because of its’ simplicity. And, those wreaths look simply divine on this house. If I wanted a dollhouse, I would try and find one as close to the Lake House as I could get.
Glad to hear Don is recording again. Stay safe! ;)
I like it, too. It’s handmade, quite heavy and I got it for $75! A steal.
Stay safe, Donna!
Your Christmas house is wonderful.
I don’t feel very Christmas-y. I’ll keep working on it.
Our last few days in SoCalif have been nothing but worry over wildfire. I’ve lost track of which days, but I opened my front door to fire two miles across from my house. Of course the fierce, fierce Santa Ana winds fueling the fires along with extremely-low humidity, never any rain, back in drought again, not a hint of moisture in the air, and we’re back to living in 80s temperatures dayside. Uncomfortably dry and hot. You can’t enjoy anything; constantly on fire watch. Having to expect power shutoff at any given moment, because the winds mess with the wires even without fire, but also because of mandatory, proactive, emergency measures by the power company in these days of now-annual wildfire anywhere in the state of Calif, i.e. prevent the sparks before they happen. (Open the frig, don’t open the frig; wanting to keep it coolest without opening the door; some people near me have now had their power off for over 40 hours. I’m aware this happens all the time for people in hurricane country; the Northeast with blizzards; we seem to be none immune.) How my husband and I have escaped mandatory power shutoff thus far is nothing short of miracle-stuff.
My storage unit is next door to a large senior-housing/senior-living mobile home park and when they evacuated those people the other day, I figured for sure this time that my storage facility wouldn’t escape the flames … but it did (I’m using up my nine lives … meow). I can’t bear the thought of what I could have lost and am again reminded that we cannot go another year without emptying that storage unit; it’s a big job we tend to avoid and we’re not ready to bring the stuff back into the house because ‘remodeling’ isn’t done although I fear it’s one of those things that will NEVER be done, so why keep waiting…
I’m just glad that now, today, for at least a couple/three days, the wind has finally stopped; there’s peace out there in the world again. And now we just have cleanup galore. The yard is such a mess of blown debris and ash. I’m tell’in ya; it wears us out now. Which is why my husband wants to move to Wisconsin. I imagine we could well be looking at water rationing again next summer if our Calif mountains don’t get any snow pack; just have to hope Jan-Feb 2021 could maybe bring us some rain, any rain.
One news channel after another, ‘Stay in; don’t leave your house unless you have to.’ And then the next glorious thing is this Calif-gov’t alert to the phones telling everybody to stay inside due to Covid. Except for the most essential business and please limit it. Is very jarring; like those alerts/alarms you get over the TV when a storm or disaster is about to hit; what do they call that, the national emergency alarm something? Public warning system. Even if your phones are off, here comes THAT SOUND. Oh well, if one stupid person not paying attention to the rules for Covid actually listens and pays heed, then it’s worth it.
On Sunday, one of only a handful remaining of my first cousins died.
So, it’s a heckuva start to December.
2020 is just a year to get rid of as soon as possible.
In the meantime, will try my utmost to somehow make the next three weeks of the holiday season both meaningful and enjoyable.
I’m finding I’m not watching anything about politics after months because I simply cannot take one more thing to have to worry about. Trump is such a fool; I just want him out of my humanspace.
Anyway, enough of my grumbling; just gotta take stuff in stride, right?
So, so sorry you are under so much stress, Vicki. It seems as if wildfire season just keeps getting worse. Thinking of you and your husband and everyone who is impacted by that threat – on top of COVID. It’s all too much. Praying for you.
Stay in, stay safe.
Thank you. And wow did I have a sinker on Weds nite/yest when I actually DID listen to more of the nighttime news shows than I usually do lately; but about the vaccine in Britain (Pfizer I think) and how a couple of healthcare workers who have allergies (enough to where they have to carry a Epi pen [I always had to have one for a dog I had who was deathly allergic to bee stings; we almost lost him when he was a puppy and even the veterinarian initially thought he was dead]), had serious reactions to the vaccine.
I listened to various health experts I’ve seen interviewed on these shows for the past nine months or so and they all said if you’re prone to allergic reactions, you shouldn’t get that/the vaccine. My husband says, “Hold your horses; they have much study yet to do on both virus and vaccine.” This, after I’d looked over at him and said with despair, “I’m not going to be able to get the vaccine.” (Well, maybe not Pfizer’s; perhaps the others will show less side effects.) But I’ve had allergies to food, environment and medicines since infancy; was run thru a children’s clinic as soon as my parents could afford it in the 1950s; and I’ve had serious reactions to drugs, not so much as a child but since my 20s.
For me now, it’s primarily reactions to prescription drugs. So that’s why a vaccine reaction isn’t a reach for me and my issues. About 20 years ago, I took one thing which shot up my blood pressure from normal and my blood pressure to this day has never returned to normal because of that drug. I took something else for bronchitis about 25 years ago and broke out in hives. I’m even allergic to novocaine which makes dental work really tricky. There’s another really important drug which is life-saving that creates, in me, very serious cardiac pain because of another problem; I’ll never be able to take it again. And I took an antibiotic about five years ago which resulted afterward in mega steroid injections/oral-prednisone ‘cure’ because my hands swelled to the size of hams (visualize baseball gloves), my lips swelled to where I couldn’t talk and I broke out in unbearable-itch welts on my neck and head (they said later that I was one step away from anaphylactic shock and should have gone to the ER, but I was just following the advice of my doctor who I’d even called at home on a weekend). I have to carry an emergency card in my wallet warning of all this stuff.
So, although caution is in order on my emotions and everything is premature, it seems, at least for now, that I’m an unlikely candidate for at least the one vaccine in Britain which has to be further studied (as to why the people got the bad reactions) although I’d be in an early grouping, I think (after healthcare workers and nursing home residents) due to my high degree of co-morbidity for complications from the virus.
Oh well.
I’ve had allergic reactions and I have bad allergies. But I’m not too concerned because it’s early days and we’ll find out more about whether these reactions were aberrations or something consistent that is happening. And fortunately, there is at least one other vaccine and there will be more. Don’t worry too much, Vicki.
xoxo
I had a reply to your comment right here but it went to the bottom of the page; I’ve got some kind of gremlins going on with my computer …
xo
So sorry to hear about the fire danger, yet again. All of this is more than most of us can bear. Then throw in the Pandemic and it is a wonder we are functional at all. Take care Vicki. One day at a time. ♡
Thank you, Chris K. It’s a lot of anxiousness and I’m trying to keep a handle on my anxiety level, but it seems like a lot lately, doesn’t it. Me, you; everybody. A stressed-out nation/world. (If my husband has his way, probably 2022, I’ll be Vicki in WI just like you’re Chris K in WI.)
Vicki, I pray for your poor state and all the inhabitants and exhausted fire fighters! They are truly a heroic group of people! My heart clinches when I see the images on TV, so I just can’t imagine being up close to all of it. Know that we are all thinking and praying for you.
same from me … prayers and a hug.
be safe in every way!
kathy in iowa
… kathy, thanx as always; we’re in the clear now; they put out the fire really fast but I was darn scared …
Thank you, Donna. All of you readers are so indulgent with me; kind to me. I appreciate it. And Claudia lets me run on, so thank you Claudia.
Yeah, California is really in a mess right now. Our Covid numbers, particularly in Los Angeles, are SO bad. L.A.’s public health director (who is now so familiar to all of us with her daily TV briefings on Covid; local news) broke down in tears on ‘live camera’ yesterday when she was running down the numbers (she’s never done that before, but the numbers of sick and dying have never been this bad before either); it’s all so horrifying and we’re running out of hospital beds AND healthcare workers. My husband and I keep thinking to ourselves, “Don’t get sick with anything else; there’s no room for you at the hospital now.”
And then, of all these frontline/essential workers; healthcare workers and the paramedics and police, etc.; you do indeed have the firefighters and they are HEROES all (we’re surrounded by heroes); I can’t believe how fast they worked to put down this latest wildfire too near to me; they were all over it; I so appreciate their skill and heroism and dedication. They were able to throw everything at it, i.e. enough firefighters on the ground, the tanker pilots with the retardant; the helicopters with the water buckets. So many other times they’ve been stretched, fighting multiple fires in the area at one time.
The thing that is so scary about dense smoke and fire is that you can’t really tell, on the ground, exactly how close it is or where it’s going. The smoke is disorienting. You lose your markers. It’s hard not to panic. My husband drove up a bit into the hills to try to look down on it but it was when the TV-news crews did their aerial shots that we could finally see from where the fire emanated and how much it would maybe veer away from us. The wind was carrying the fire and smoke from east to west (our small valley is like a tunnel/funnel for it), making its way down the nearly-dry riverbed to the coastal plain/sea; we literally burn right down to the ocean in these SoCalif hills/canyons.
This is not the SoCalif of my youth; things are diff now. It’s climate change. I don’t know how they’ll reverse any effects of it in my lifetime. We’re thinking this is just the way it is going to be, and worse. (And so she says again [me], it’s why the husband has chosen Wisconsin as THE place to live and not endure the problem. He’s not budging much on Wisconsin although we’ve ‘surveyed’ the whole U.S. He just likes Wisconsin!)
The dollhouse looks festive and full of Christmas cheer! I love the lights on the tree and the quiet or softly playing Christmas music. Being calm this year is my goal. Hugs!
Mine, too. Some days I do better than others!
Stay safe, Linda.
Lake House looks so real, Claudia. It’s the sort of house I would imagine in Little Women.
Can’t wait to hear Don’s vocals.
Thanks, Dee Dee!
Stay safe.
That cottage is so charming, and yes — it looks perfect for Christmas.
Our mornings sound much the same. Pretty lights, quiet, just easing into the day. I like easing in and out with these pretty lights. I have a feeling they won’t be down for rather awhile!
I know. We’ll do our best to keep the tree up until January but since it’s a real tree, you never know!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
Thank you again, Claudia! You are simply incredible!
Germany will have a big Corona lockdown before Christmas. Stay safe!
You too. Germany (and Merkel) is wise. It’s time to have a major lockdown here as well but that won’t happen until Biden takes office. Trump simply doesn’t care.
Stay safe, my friend!
Thank you Claudia for introducing us to Helga’s Instagram. It is a delight! You both are an inspiration.
You’re most welcome, Julie!
Claudia, I love all the detailed, intricate work you do on the houses. That you take the time to photograph everything and share them with us, is truly a kindness that is so appreciated. Wishing you peace and joy!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Donna!
Stay safe.
P.S. Wondered already, why the number of my followers went through the ceiling!🤗xoxo
Hurrah!
xoxo
Me again. Just going thru emails and saw an online estate sale in Waltham, MA that has miniature doll house contents listed. I’ve sent the link if you would like to look at it. https://estatesales.org/estate-sales/ma/waltham/02451/a-collectors-dream-minatures-dollhouse-1851059/gallery?utm_source=eso&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=saledigest
Thank you, Donna!
I am praying for a vaccine so I can be with my family here and those out of state. The little ones have a hard time and so does mom/nana.
Yes, we all are, but I’m afraid getting the actual shot is going to take time. Fingers crossed for you, Brenda!
Stay safe.
Thanks. On CNN this afternoon, Dr. Gupta was saying it’s reactions to other VACCINES at issue and I’ve never reacted to vaccines and I’ve had a lot of them. Because I used to travel quite a lot in my 20s and 30s (overseas; tropics), I always updated, as an adult, my diphtheria (I don’t know how that’s spelled) and other stuff; I had a ‘regular’ international travel card I carried about all my recent booster shots. I still got exposed to hepatitus in South America and had to quarantine, but I think the vaccine kept me from getting really sick. You name it, I think I’ve gotten vaccinated for it in my past, not the measles’ and chicken pox because I actually contacted all three, but certainly for mumps, polio, tetanus, diphtheria as mentioned, whooping cough (my dad had such a fear of whooping cough because he’d had it as a child and almost died); hepatitis A and B as mentioned; typhoid; yellow fever; cholera; meningitis. I’ve had recent pneumonia vaccine. I always get a seasonal flu shot. I’ve had a slew of tetanus shots over the years, and recently. So it’s a lot of vaccines throughout my entire life and no bad reactions. So, I’m encouraged at least by this angle. (Of course I was a LOT younger and healthier when I received a lot of those vax back in the day.)
But I’m currently immuno-compromised and they didn’t even test Pfizer’s vaccine on the immuno-compromised in the trials. Just have to wait to see what they come up with, but I think it’s as yet a long way out there for me and my husband (he’s figuring for himself, he’ll be lucky if he gets vaccinated by next Fall). In the meantime, what can you do, but just keep living how we’ve been living since last Feb-Mar, wear the damn mask, don’t mingle, keep your distance; wash up/disinfect/sanitize. We can’t afford to travel this coming year anyway, so …
… it’s just that we all miss doing our ‘normal’ activities without the threat of death by virus … I’d like that monkey off my back …
Me too. xo
It’s either gremlins or ‘me’ but I had ONE more comment and now it’s not showing up so I hope you don’t get this twice (maybe I got distracted from hitting the ‘send’ prompt), but I just wanted to say that my vaccine comment here is on the wrong place on the page as I’d meant it as part of the conversation further back; also, grrrr, typos, or is it the auto-correct, that I CONTRACTED, not contacted measles and chicken pox. Sigh; time to go for the day … I’ll admit it, this week so far has left me rattled!
No problem, Vicki!
Stay safe!