I apologize for the heavy Blythe content this week, but that is the way it’s been around here. We’ll get back to whatever seems to be “normal” next week.
First of all, we’re getting about 6 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow and more on Monday and Tuesday. I’m fine about it. I wouldn’t be, perhaps, if we had already had a winter full of snow, but we haven’t. So I’m looking forward to it. Since it’s late in the season, it will melt rather quickly. We moved here because we love the seasons; the Southern California weather, at least when we lived there, was very consistent, and though I loved it, I missed the seasons more. So, bring it on! I’ll be eating apple pie while it’s falling.
Yesterday: I decided to change the body on my Blythe from a licca body to an Obitsu 22. I watched a video showing the steps I needed to take. In the meantime, Don went to Lowes and had them cut a piece of 1/4″ plywood, which looked far too thin to him, as well as a piece of 1/2″ plywood. I took Mabel’s head apart, removed the licca body, and started to work with the obitsu body. The obitsus are notorious for having weak necks that can’t handle the weight of the Blythe head. So I had also ordered a neck strengthener/neck joint. That meant I had to take apart the torso of the new body, replace part of it with the new, stronger piece and then add the neck joint that allows the dolls head to tilt, etc. It was very fiddly work and when I was finally ready to insert the replacement inside the torso, it wouldn’t fit. I tried again and again and I couldn’t figure out what I might be doing wrong. I sent off panicked messages to Palma dolls (the creator of the neck strengthener and joint) and to my friend Natalia at VegaDolls, who also uses these in her dolls. Both of them are in Spain, so they were six hours ahead. It was evening.
In the meantime, Don came home, so I left the doll and came downstairs and we proceeded to attach the bookshelf to the wall. It wasn’t easy. Our floors are funky, and the bookshelf itself is wonky – I’m not sure why, as it was assembled correctly. It leans to the right. Maybe this narrower unit needs to be right next to a wider piece in the same system? I don’t know. Long story short, we attached it to the wall. (And we went with the 1/2″ plywood, by the way.)
The wonkiness drives me a bit crazy, but really, I’m the only one continually gazing at it, so who cares? The shelves are level, the girls stand up straight, so I need to let go of my need for perfection.
After lots of water and some lunch, I went back upstairs to give the body another try. By this time, both women had contacted me and given me guidance. I finally figured out what I needed to do. It took a bit of time, but I was successful! Ta dah!!! But it was exhausting.
Mabel with her new body:
You can see the many joints on this body and that is why I love it and why you can do so much with it. Mabel is happy her head feels more stable.
Having survived surgery with grace, Mabel decided she needed a change of clothes.
If only the rest of us looked so fresh after surgery!
Today? No more craziness. Rest. Reading. Puzzle. By the way, I finished all the leaves in the puzzle! Now I have to fill in some blue background pieces and finish the patterned edges and it’s done.
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
you and don persevered and can cross two things off the to-do list … that has to feel good. congrats!
glad you have simple pleasures to look forward to today … reading, puzzle-ing, relaxing. and maybe some apple pie? :)
good luck with the snow. it snowed here yesterday for many hours. the first few hours, it was wet and heavy snow that added up quick (maybe three or four inches); the rest being more like flurries didn’t add much but was still beautiful.
knitting (a dishcloth) this morning until we decide if we can walk outside. i’d like that … to walk outside. and also enjoy a slow start before getting to a very long to-do list.
happy friday to everyone. stay safe in every way!
kathy
Mabel looks terrific, but a bit chilly? Maybe a cardigan until the snow is over? Am I humanizing to a weird extent?
Apple pie sounds like an excellent idea. Have no pie fixings so maybe I will just have a bowl of home made applesauce, our current go-to home made dessert.
ceci
She’s fine – Harper has a summer dress on, as well!
I humanize these girls all the time!
Stay safe, Ceci.
Of course, we do. That’s where the fun is. Well, that and their cute little wardrobes especially the sweet shoes.
xoxo
Snow today and a possible nor’easter on Monday/Tuesday.
Stay safe, Kathy.
Very smart of Don to get both sizes of plywood.
Mabel does look fresh as a daisy in her dress. I’m glad surgery was a success.
We got snow last night…probably what’s headed to you. We only got an inch, maybe two at most. I can see the road looks bare..must have melted already since it’s now above freezing.
Enjoy the apple pie. I think you posted the recipe once and I have it somewhere. I will have to give it a try.
Take care
You must bake Don’s pie, Marilyn. It’s the best. And…the filling can also be used to make an awesome Apple Crisp. Enjoy!
We have snow – but not a lot of it. Monday might bring a possible nor’easter and that could really bring a lot of snow.
Stay safe, Marilyn.
dear Claudia/Don — you all are a good team–glad your shelves are more stable now — I think in our house, every piece of any height is secured to the wall — Nannie/Pap were very worried about our climbing grands, haha!! glad your ‘surgery’ was successful — pretty sure that is something this old girl could NOT do!! enjoy your snowy weather — stay safe/healthy
Thanks so much, Linda!
No little children around here, but it IS flush to the wall now.
Stay safe, Linda.
Love the shoes. Do they have them in size 8. The dolls bodies look so fragile. I just know I wouldn’t be able to do any surgery. I’m too nervous to be a doctor.
I’ve done enough doll surgery now that I’m not so frightened by it. I was frustrated during Mabel’s body change, but I’m always determined to figure that kind of thing out and I did.
Stay safe, Christine!
So sorry! I really can spell. I have a very distracting puppy. Someone my age has no business getting a puppy. What was I thinking? I’m thinking that I love this little boy. He was rescued from hoarders and when I saw him, I heard Sarah singing the ASPCA song that brings everyone to tears. How could I leave him?
Well, hang in there. With puppies, you think they’ll never settle down or stop moving and chewing on stuff when all of a sudden they just stop dead in their tracks and take a snooze. One day, they’ll be even calmer, with age/maturity; the snoozes will get longer. Just like that, you’ll note the change.
You couldn’t leave him. Just like we couldn’t leave (last year) our Number One Pain in The Tush rescue dog either. Ours is no longer a puppy like your dog; still, he’s a young adult at age 3-ish, active, not content to not play, and he has to be walked A LOT every day to tame his too-high energy. The walking has to happen, rain or shine.
This is my day in the life with him. He’s on some longer-term steroid treatment for a lingering infection. It makes him drink and pee constantly. We’re in pretty-heavy rain all day today. Every hour he has to be let out of the house to relieve himself; we can barely get on his raincoat in time. He’s a large-breed dog with long hair; his double coat still gets drenched; it takes three big bath towels to dry him off (he has huge paws). And then we do it all over again in about 40 minutes. On repeat. We’ve had about ten hours of this continuous rain so far today although he had a good night which, fingers crossed, will happen tonight too (since all three of us getting wet at 4am is no fun). We currently have a pile of wet towels in our ‘service porch’ ready to go in the washing machine (it’s getting a workout) and we’ll just hope we don’t have a power outage tonight with all the storminess.
I think I can almost remember a calmer life in 2021, before we had this young animal that we seem to center our life around now! I just know in my heart that eventually all will be well with him. Christine, I guess you could say that these guys are keeping US young (certainly on our toes!).
Best of luck; puppies are the cutest!
Bless you for adopting that puppy, Christine!
xo
The change of body sounded pretty intricate…good that you had several sources for help. Glad the cabinet was able to be attached to the wall. Nice to have those tasks checked off the list! Rest, reading, and the puzzle sounds like a good plan for today…with the addition of apple pie even better! Enjoy your Friday!
Thank you, Barrie!
Stay safe.
I really like that puzzle and the shelves. I don’t have high shelves in this condo…the grandsons would be fine, but I gave my books to family, friends, and donated. I am no longer a collector of anything, so I live minimally. This seems to come with age as most of my “old” friends are doing the same…lol…enjoy your reading and your puzzles…you and Don make a great team.
I don’t know about that…most of my friends are eliminating some things but aren’t minimalists. I think it’s appropriate for all of us of a certain age to go through everything and donate or throw away or sell. I’ve been doing that for a few years now, and I need to do more of it this spring.
Stay safe, Brenda.
We got lots of snow today, more than forecasted and it came early. I was having issues with my iPad so spent an hour at the Apple Store this morning. I also popped a wee package in the mail to the Hill-Sparks girls. So glad to get home out of the weather. Mabel looks pretty happy after her surgery, Claudia. Kudos to you for figuring it out. Hope you’re not snowed in. Stay safe. Hugs, Elaine
It’s always so nice to get back home and feel safe from the weather. Glad you got your iPad issues taken care of. The girls will be watching the mail, Elaine!
Stay safe.
Mabel is cute in her little dress at the end of your post! But, man, when you said, ” I took Mabel’s head apart…” SERIOUSLY makes me cringe for some reason. Brave woman, Claudia!
I feel better to know you attached the new IKEA piece to the wall. I know you don’t have earthquakes like we do in SoCalif but I just feel it makes the unit and the girls more secure.
Speaking of SoCalif … you get snow, we get rain. Lots and lots and lots of rain although, of course, it never rains in California. Ha. If anybody would have told me we’d be getting this much rain a few years ago, I probably would have laughed in their face. It’s probably been raining now, nearly nonstop, for twelve hours; clearly, though, varying degrees of intensity. Pouring at 6am. Pouring and I mean pummeling, sideways rain from about noon to 3:30pm.
Couldn’t contain ourselves; so, when it started raining lighter after 3:30pm, we went out to scope out a few views in town. Didn’t stay out long; curiosity just getting the better of us. River under one of the bridges where it meets the creek is bank to bank. Swift, muddy water as well up the canyon where the creek spills southward (I find this so exciting; we’ve been dry a lot of years). I just don’t want to lose any more trees around town. The ground is too saturated; however, at least in the current, we haven’t gotten the big-big/wild wind with the rain.
We’ll get a break Sunday and Monday but then the rain is supposed to be even heavier on Tues/Weds next week. Really something, this far into March. But I analyzed the second drought map which has come out and my area is now completely-widely out of the drought, which is such a relief to the worried mind. We have two oversized barrels FULL of clean rainwater which allows us to dip buckets into it and nourish our potted plants. Wasn’t so many years ago that we were under water restriction and could only ‘water’ our landscape at home on a limited basis twice per week. We lost a bunch of plants and an apple tree, newer ones just getting started; made me heartsick, for them and also my pocketbook.
In today’s storm, I don’t know yet if L.A./San Diego got as much as us in rain so far. The bigger rainfall totals are north of Santa Barbara. My location is the southern end of the Central Coast which includes Santa Barbara although I’m also technically L.A. metro. My husband and I definitely think we’ve gotten more rain than was forecasted; is interesting to see just where this ‘atmospheric river’ blows in (it’s a new term for me; I don’t recall in other years that meteorologists/climate scientists would speak of an ‘atmospheric river’ but then I also hadn’t remembered these words which have plagued the other parts of the U.S. such as a ‘derecho’ (Midwest last year) or ‘polar vortex’ (2019; Upper Midwest/New York); bomb cyclones (which actually was Calif in January); it’s an education!
We’re due for a dreaded nor’easter on Monday/Tuesday. That is worrisome. It could bring high winds and lots of heavy, wet snow. I’m hoping the forecast changes.
Stay safe, Vicki.