In which Zephyr tells her story.....

And another happy customer. John-John has worked some serious makeover magic on Zephyr, I must say. When he said he had a new look in mind for her, I didn't think it would be this new.

And as for what she's doing here, well - as they say, it's a long story....

"I was brought into existence in what your human friend calls Oklahoma." she said. "I left  about a year and a half ago because - of the other storm devas."

"They weren't picking on you or anything?" I said. I'd always had the impression that devas mostly got along.

"No...." Zephyr admitted. "It was because of what they did. They liked to make things really bad for everyone. Like they knew how unstable the atmosphere was this one day last spring. but instead of leaving things alone, they decided to see who could call up the biggest tornado. There were several, but the biggest one went out of control and went through that town and killed a lot of humans. It also destroyed most of the town. The worst part was that the deva who did it was bragging that she'd done it before, years ago. She was really proud of herself."

It took me a minute. "You mean Moore, Oklahoma? That one?" That really big one. I remember it going from zero to wedge in about ten seconds flat.

She nodded. "And that wasn't all."

"What was?" Tempest had come over. "See, this is why I don't like the older storm devas. Some of them forget that there are other creatures - not just humans - affected by what they do."

Zephyr looked even more ashamed. "A couple of weeks later in human time, they did it again. Same place, same atmospheric setup. Only this time they decided it would be funny to run a tornado across the big interstate road just as the truck from the weather station was coming. They wanted to see if they could hit it. I tried to stop it, I really did. I tried to turn the wind back against the storm, but I couldn't do it. It was just too big and they had it right in the jetstream. All I could do was make the car land right side up. I didn't see it hit the other car until it was too late."

"The El Reno storm...." Tempest said slowly, realizing it just as we did. "Listen. Don't blame yourself for what they did. It's almost impossible to stop one of those supercells, as the humans call them, once you let it get out of control. I only managed it once, and even then it took some help from another deva who had experience managing hurricanes. And we couldn't turn it around all the way. All we could do was force it though an unoccupied part of the town. It still wrecked half the town, but didn't kill anyone."

"That was you?" Zephyr looked amazed. "I heard about that. The other devas were so mad. They'd been aiming for the town."

"I know that. Bloody old-school idiots." Tempest couldn't hide a smirk. "So I made them mad, did I? Good."

"I know there have to be storms, but still..."

"You can do what you need to do without harming anyone. Since when did letting a storm get out of control become a good thing?" Tempest shook her head.

"Could you teach me how to turn a storm?"

"Girl, I can teach you everything you need to know," Tempest said. "And using the wind to stop that big old Yukon from rolling? That took skill. I wondered why it ended up upright."

So here she is - the reason we have Mike Bettes around to totally OWN Bill Belichick: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2255688-the-weather-channel-calls-out-bill-belichick-for-attack-on-meteorologists

I don't know about you, but I like this girl.

Bonus shot:

"Stop that. No exterminating in the house!"

In which - just some random photos

In a straw maze. Did I mention that my hair seems to be a magnet for straw?













Rats!

Actually, this guy only looked scary. Rats are, in fact, pretty cool.

"There's a ship......the Black Freighter....."

If you haven't Nina Simone singing "Pirate Jenny" then go check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7awW5nrDHk

The Pumpkin Queen.

Just a seriously cute sparrow, presumably not named Jack.

Why taking photos under the gerbil cage is a bad idea.

On the other hand, Spike should kick for the NFL.

A deva and her spider.















"That's not a carrot, mate. THIS is a carrot!"

The paring knife is as long as Aura is tall, so yeah, that's a whole lotta carrot.

Daisy with the perfect Christmas tree, courtesy of Norm's Dollhouse. Yes, that is the dollhouse from downstairs. It's upstairs now and in the process of being renovated. More on this to come...

And finally - Happy Halloween, everyone!

In which - some autumn pics.

We drive by Fahnstock State Park all the time, but haven't really ever had time to stop there.

So we decided to make a point of driving over there today.

Hmmmm......

Looks like this is the way to the great views....

Okay, turned out it really wasn't. It was the way to the picnic shelter, which was reserved.

Maybe the other way?

Uh - make that the OTHER other way. This pic doesn't capture the sheer steepness of the trail. Yes, it is a trail, but I think rappelling gear would be essential.

 Here we go. Much more like it.

 This is the picnic area by the lake.

Not too bad.

 Autumn would not be a bad season, really....

If it went right back into spring, that is.

Okay, okay, we can have one month of winter. ONE. Uno. That's it. Winter does have a way of wearing out a welcome pretty quickly.

 Then we could have a whole lot more of this.

I did suggest it to the devas. Paisley said she'd talk to Aura about it, but not to get my hopes up. I think she might have been humoring me. Oh well....

Daisy in some new threads from Spampy Stuff.

Scaramouche....














I do have some pics from our drive over to Cold Spring yesterday, but I'll save them for another entry.

In which it's a quiet day.....

The butterfly bush is making a comeback.

It's nowhere near its former glory, but it's coming back, at least. The butterflies and hummingbirds are happy.

And both Maddy (my person) and Aura are glad that this eyesore will be going away tomorrow. We have tree trimmers coming to trim up some trees, remove some dead and overhanging branches - and remove this dead pink dogwood. You'd think I'd like this thing, being that it's pink and all, but it hardly bloomed when it was alive. According to Aura, it should have been taken down a long time ago.

"I don't know why your father was so bent on saving it," she said. "It was diseased. Even a deva could see it had to come down, for the sake of the trees around it - not to mention that it's growing into your electric line going to the house."

"I think it was just to spite my mother. She wanted it to come down, too," Maddy said. "He was like that."

"You warned the tree trimmer about all the concrete and steel pins he put in it?" She looked around.

Maddy nodded. "I told him to watch out for all the junk in the trunk and he laughed and said he'd make a note of it."





"I thought we were supposed to save every tree we could," Daisy said.

"Within reason. Sometimes they need to come down not only because they can't be healed, they could infect other trees around them. At the very least, the energy sent out by an ill plant isn't good for the ones surrounding it. Once they're weakened, they attract all sorts of insects that do further damage - things healthy plants can ward off with ease." Aura looked around. "Most times, if you correct the conditions that are stressing the plant, the insect problem will be resolved without the use of poisons."

Ask a deva. They know.

~*~

Speaking of devas, Paisley is trying out the blonde look. Kind of cool to be able to change your look on a whim like that. I think it makes her and Aura look even more alike, but I don't know. It kind of makes her look like one of the Olsen twins. I don't want to tell her that because I'm not sure I mean it as a compliment....






Meanwhile, Scaramouche got our resident stylist. John-John, to blow her hair out straight. The humidity the past few days was turning it into something resembling a Brillo pad.

Val and I.....














Scaramouche and JT apparently know each other from back in the city. From what Val gathered, she knew him when he was still  - not sure if "alive" is the right word - maybe "corporeal?" - and in a band. She didn't say which band, though.

Interesting.....






We haven't heard back from Azalea yet about the whole Tori thing. She did promise to let us know, though.

In which we're summoned to a meeting....

So - yesterday we received a message by Sparrow Post (I didn't think they were still around - I thought they'd been taken over by Airborne Express!) requesting our presence at a meeting with a member of the Faeire Court in regards to the "incident" on the 31st.

We arrived at the rock on the verge of the woods a little ahead of time. Scaramouche was a little suspicious, but said she didn't think they'd try anything funny in the presence of the devas.

"Pixies and fairies never have gotten along well," she explained. "And we devas have our own problems with them."

"Why?" I said.

"One of the few absolute rules devas have is that you never harm an innocent third party to get back at someone else," she said. "If we have a problem with you, we'll take it up with you directly. We won't harm your animals or your family to make our point. But fairies  - well, some of them won't hesitate to do stuff like lead all your sheep off a cliff to their death or chase your horse into a bog and cause it to break a leg in order to strand you. And then there's the whole business with changelings. If you're going to take another into your care, that means you care for it - you don't just forget about it when you get bored with the joke and abandon it - whatever it is. You take responsibility for your actions and don't harm others."

"Not all of them are like that. Not at all," Aura said. "It's just a few. But you can't always be sure who you're dealing with."

"Like the Firefly fairies. They're good fae," Scaramouche added. "Plus they're a blast to hang out with. Never met one of them I didn't like...."

"Somebody's coming!" Paisley said.

"I'm Azalea, Adjunctator of the High Faeire Court. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

She sat down with us. "First, I want to apologize on behalf of the Court for Toriena's actions. She's been placed in custody and will be charged with assault and violation of an Order of Restriction. I needed to get a victim's statement from Daisy and witness statements from each of you regarding what happened."







"Not to start an argument with you, but Tori did start it." Aura said. "We were just minding our own business when she came up and started with all her garbage...."

"She did. And your actions were entirely justified," Azalea said. "In fact, Scaramouche showed more restraint than I would have under those circumstances."

She took statements from each of us, but said we would not need to be present at the sentencing. She also said she would keep us updated on the outcome.

Paisley said that sounded like it would be the end of that, but Aura and Scaramouche weren't so sure.

"I think we can trust Azalea," Aura concluded after she left.

"She's cousins with the firefly fairies," Scaramouche agreed. "She's fine. If I'd known it was her, I wouldn't have been so concerned. But Tori's family is from those old-school backwoods fairies you just can't trust. I doubt we're heard the last from her...."

Note: Azalea is a Resinsoul Mei in Light Tan. She's been part of the doll family for about two and a half months, but only recently revealed her name and character to me.

In which Scaramouche makes someone else do the fandango......

So anyway....

We were hanging out getting some fresh air and talking when....

This happened.

"IT'S ME, LOSERS!!!!"

"Look at all you little loser babies playing with humans! You think you're so hot---"

"Tori, go away. You're not welcome here. The Faeire Council even said..."

*SMACK*

""I don't think so, you stupid little pixie punk! Nobody tells me what to do..."

"Oh?"

Mind you, this all happened in about half a minute at most....

"Uh - Scaramouche! How long have you been...?"













"Long. Enough."

"All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going! Don't tell the Council on me...."

"You're going, all right. And if you ever show your ugly little face around here again, you're going to wish it was the Council you were dealing with. Now get out of here!"

"You okay, girlfriend? Nobody messes with a New York devas friends. No-freaking-body."

Daisy was fine. Mad more than anything. I think if she'd had a chance to get to her feet before Scaramouche arrived, Tori would have been the one who needed saving.

"Missed you guys so much...."

"I don't usually make that kind of an entrance. But she shouldn't be back. She knows she's not supposed to leave the Seelie Court unescorted. It's that bad."

One New York doll to another - I like this deva. A lot.

New York dolls - and devas -  always know how to make an entrance.

















Note: Scaramouche is a Pukifee Shiwoo in Beautiful White. And she was totally worth the wait. She's even more stunning in real life.