Mockingbird Hill Cottage

I mowed a lot on Saturday when I should have been reading this 897 page book which is due tomorrow.

It clearly isn’t going back to the library on time.

But I read a lot yesterday and I read quite a bit this morning before starting this post. I’ll keep plugging away. I did lose a big chunk of time on Sunday afternoon to the awful Mets game, in which they blew their chance for the post season.

Enough said about that.

It’s been quite warm outside; too warm for the scenery around me which is full of leaves floating to the ground, leaves on the ground, and fall colors everywhere. I’d like to be wearing a sweater right now instead of a t-shirt. Ah well, soon enough it will be quite cold.

The play has only one more week before it closes. I swear, runs are getting shorter and shorter, but this particular theater has the shortest runs I’ve ever seen. They had 5 preview performances and a 2 week run. In the ‘old days’ at the Globe, we had a week of previews and a 4 week run. But in the intervening years, regional theaters have decreased rehearsals by about a week and performances as well. It all comes down to money, of course. Part of the challenge, and the fun, of a longer run is finding your rhythm, learning more and more about your character and the cast and the audience as you get a chance to really explore the play. It’s sad that it’s changing. Don and I talk about this frequently. We miss the way it was. Professional theater is very different than it was 20 years ago.

I posted this on IG yesterday and captioned it “Watching the world go by.”

I have no desire to work on this dollhouse, it seems, but it does work well as a backdrop, especially for the smaller girls.

Obviously, more reading on the docket for today!

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Okay. This is what I spent the entire day on yesterday. The face up for my new Landoudou doll – purchased so Ruby can have a sister. The rule here is: if I buy another doll that is not a Blythe, eventually she has to have a sister. See: Wren/Lily and Jessie/Audrey.

And now, Ruby and Gilly.

I worked on this like a madwoman – all day long. I didn’t shower until 4 pm. Don, bless him, was a great source of support. I often stopped to get his opinion. This was HARD. Her face is so tiny compared to the Little Keiko dolls. I felt very clumsy and had to redo the mouth a few times. She’s not perfect, but I’m pleased with the way she turned out.

As is often the case with me, I finish a creation one day and when I look at it first thing the next morning, I don’t like it. Then I drink some coffee and, in this case, redress the doll and take better photos, and I’m happy again.

She is named Gilly for a reason. In one of the gothic mysteries I read as a teen, there was a character named Gillyflower, or Gilly. And she was ethereal and almost otherwordly. I believe she had white blonde hair. I remember her all these years later and her name came immediately to mind. Pronounced (I looked it up) as Jilly. (I know there was a Gilly in Thornyhold, by Mary Stewart, but that isn’t the book I’m thinking of.)

Found it: she is a character in Mistress of Mellyn  by Victoria Holt.

When I ordered the head, I had the option of two wigs. One was much like the one I have for Ruby, so I went with the blonde wig. When I opened the box, the net that had been on it had created a mark/crease in the hair, so I spritzed it with distilled water and let it dry. The I lightly brushed it out. I like the result. I also chose the green/blue eyes, though I do have darker eyes in my stash.

The girls:

I’m very happy with her. It’s a learning process and I doubt I’ll do a whole lot more face ups. You never know. These Landoudou dolls are awfully adorable, and I like the idea of having a group of them. The heads are very inexpensive and the wigs are beautifully made. I just have to supply the body and do the face up.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

We had lots of rain on Wednesday and Thursday. Very welcome, of course. Wednesday morning, we spent time dealing with leaves in the gutters and cleaning off the roof because we knew rain was on the way. I am going to have to nudge Don to start raking leaves this week because they are everywhere! He likes raking. I do not.

It’s always surprising how quickly the seasons change. Too quickly in some ways, though I love autumn. We live on property that is filled with trees, at least a hundred – maybe more. For the most part, we just let the leaves fall and stay where they are. But we do clean up the front lawn and the corral area. I leave them in the garden beds as they protect the plants and provide shelter for all sorts of critters.

I’ll be mowing this weekend, but not today. It’s still too wet out there.

Yesterday, around mid-morning, Don went outside. He was going to run to the grocery store. As he looked across the yard to the shed area, he noticed that some trash bags were ‘loose’ – the trash can had been toppled. He immediately assumed it was the work of raccoons. As he walked the few feet to our car, he realized there was a bear going through our trash! The bear was nudging bags with his head, trying to figure out if there was anything worth eating. Needless to say, Don was staying very still. Then, in the blink of an eye, the bear disappeared. Don couldn’t believe how quickly he left and that he could completely disappear. These sightings are so rare and they’re really magical. I was upstairs after having taking a shower, and I missed the whole thing. Don didn’t have any time to alert me and he sure wasn’t going to make any noise.

I wonder if some of the previous visits that we attributed to raccoons were really bears?

This package finally arrived from China. It’s a doll head, a wig, and eyes. The doll head matches Ruby’s, which is why she is trying to see inside the box.

What a saga this was! I pre-ordered the head about 7 months ago, and when it was finally ready to ship in August, the creator suggested we wait until after September 3rd because there was going to be some sort of military parade in Beijing and the post office there said customs approval might be especially tough during this period. I was busy coaching the play, so I agreed. She had already wrapped it as a gift with a charming personal note in English. That was her brilliant idea. Then, when we reached September 3rd, we were both concerned about tariffs and China was no longer shipping small packages to the US. So she found a forwarding company and they shipped it to America. It landed on the west coast and Fed Ex delivered it. The box had a Singapore airlines sticker on it, so I assume it was forwarded to Singapore.

To save money, I decided to do the faceup. This one will be tricky, because it’s much smaller in size than the Little Keiko heads I previously painted. I suppose I’ll be starting in on this project on the weekend. Wish me luck!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.