Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Thanks!

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Didn’t have a new photo, so this is what you get!

And it sort of looks like this at the moment because I cleaned it up after working on Jessie.

Oh, wait a minute! I do have a new photo:

Jessie and Derek are walking Bertie.

As you can see, we still have some flowers on the porch. I have another week to enjoy them. The week after Thanksgiving will bring really cold temperatures and there will be no saving them then.

I had a lovely birthday. Very low key, just the way I like it. Much time was spent answering Happy Birthdays on the blog and Instagram and Facebook, all of which brought a smile to my face. I heard from childhood friends, high school and grad school friends, former students, family (Z sent me a happy birthday message on his very own phone,) neighbors and lots of theater colleagues. It brings an awareness of the crazy quilt of my life and how blessed I am.

Don made breakfast yesterday – french toast and scrambled eggs. And then he made a spectacular dinner. I requested crabbiless crab cakes (something we have only once a year, on my birthday.) Oh my heavens! DELICIOUS!

He spoiled me, as he always does. My only request was a new bottle of my favorite perfume (Amazing Grace by Philosophy) and he came through. It should last several years.

Oh, and I actually put on makeup.

Thank you for all your birthday messages and for all the kudos on the creation of Jessie. They mean so much to me!

Don whispered in my ear yesterday: “Don’t tell the others, but she’s my favorite.”

It rained all day long yesterday! And it’s raining today. In fact, just down the road, friends of ours got some snow! We didn’t. Go figure. There are lots of little microclimates around here. Anyway, we thrilled about the rain.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

A “Proud of Myself” Post

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I’m still on a little bit of a high after my latest artistic endeavor.

Let me explain:

I won a blank doll’s head in a giveaway on Instagram. It’s one of the dolls, “Freesia,” designed by Little Keiko dolls. They are BJD (ball jointed) dolls made of resin. This particular line of dolls is very popular among Blythe aficionados. I was thrilled to win and knew I would have to find someone to do a faceup – the painting and sometimes carving of the face. In this case, there wouldn’t have to be any carving. Just painting.

The head arrived here on September 19th.

I had been slowly collecting the materials required for a face up: pastels, watercolor pencils, white gloves, Mr. Super Clear – a sealing spray, a mask and goggles for using Mr. Super Clear, which is quite toxic, Magic Erasers, foam wedges, paint brushes, and makeup brushes. I gathered all of it because I had been pondering doing the faceup myself and a good friend on my feed gave me a list of what I’d need.

But I was very fearful, so I was about to have the face up done by a wonderful artist (recommended to me by my friend, Gwen.) But, after our initial conversation, she didn’t get back to me when I asked for a price quote. To be honest, money is very, very tight, and that’s why I was thinking of doing it myself. I finally wrote to her and thanked her and said I was going to do the face up. Turns out she’s going through a painful divorce and there’s too much on her plate. So the universe seemed to be saying “Do it!”

So, I started in on the project on Monday. I finished yesterday. Every little step I took was scary. I was so afraid I would screw it up. And it’s not perfect, but since she’s my doll and I’m not selling her, it doesn’t matter.

Here’s the blank head. (I’m not using the eyelids.)

At the end of my first day, here is where I was:

Every layer of work has to be sealed with Mr. Super Clear. You spray MSC over the blank head. Then, you start with the base – in this case, a flesh-colored pastel and then the cheeks and lips. More MSC. (I sprayed outdoors.)

Then you add more layers; the area around the eyes, the eyebrows, and other additions to create the final look. Then, two final coats of MSC. I purchased the eyes and the wig from Little Keiko. I attached eyelashes (which was very tricky – it’s much easier on a Blythe) and inserted the eyes, secured the wig, swore a lot, and – drum roll – here is Jessie!

I can’t tell you how tickled I am about the way she turned out! She’s on the same body I use for my Blythes, so she can wear Blythe clothes. Of course, Don was cheering me on and was seriously stunned by the final look.

I did this! I customized a doll!

One side benefit was that I was so engrossed that I barely thought of the clown show of cabinet nominees.

My birthday is tomorrow. I’m going to be 72. Trying something new at this age can be a bit frightening. But I pushed myself and this sweet girl emerged from all of the worry and trepidation. On my first try!

I think it’s the perfect birthday gift for myself.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Drought

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It’s not enough that we have the fallout from the election and the very real fears that go along with it, but we’re also in a drought here. It’s estimated that normal rainfall level is down 10-12 inches. That is shocking. Yesterday, we stopped in at the library and then took the back roads home. This road runs along one of our rivers.

All of what you see here, except for the areas with trees, is normally covered with water. The small rocks are the river bed. The brown area in the center is always completely covered. Except for now.

Right by where we were standing. This brown vegetation has been exposed as have all the brown patches – normally covered with water.

The width of the river would normally be from the branch in the foreground to the edge of the trees in the upper part of the photo. We saw geese sitting in the water, but the water didn’t even cover their bottoms. It was as if they had deliberately perched on a rock, but they hadn’t. I wonder how the fish are doing.

We have two rivers right by our house and it gets even more shocking across the street from us. This is our 20th year here, and we have never seen it like this. We’re supposed to get rain on my birthday – which is Thursday. I will be grateful to see it, but it will be just a drop in the bucket. We need so much more.

We’re trying to stay positive, but let’s face it, it’s almost impossible to stay in that place longer than a moment or two. Yes, we express our gratitude – we’re both very big on saying what we’re grateful for out loud – but sometimes the stupidity of the vile sh*tshow going on right now is too much.

So we work at maintaining some sort of balance, trying to occupy ourselves with chores and creative pursuits.

I know all of us are attempting to maintain some balance. Let’s help each other as we move forward.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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