In which - an update!

Actually, a lot has been happening - which is part of the problem. I haven't had time to write anything down.

For one thing, I have neighbors now.

Jett's partner in crime, Spike, crossed the Rainbow Bridge a little over a month ago with a scent gland tumor that turned out to be one of the rare metastatic ones. We intended to get two babies to introduce to him as new friends - but the introduction didn't go well, to say the least.

Jett is doing well, though - getting lots of extra attention - and I ended up with a gerbil condo next to my house. Oh well. :-) Meet Pagey and Percy. Pagey is the one in the first pic - the sort of Siamese-spotted-whatever one - and Percy is the reddish one, which Maddy said was called "Argente."

This was all just before the last Mercury retrograde. Normally I'm kind of skeptical about astrological things like that - I'm an Aquarius, after all, and we tend to be - but yeah, this last one was rough. Among other things, Maddy ended up with a friend in the hospital (another slipped disc - which happened about the same time last year, too,) the "Check Engine" light on in the Rogue for quite literally no reason ("Other/Unknown Error,") a rather anxiously awaited (and pricey) package going astray for almost three weeks and some weird cold/flu hybrid making the rounds that she's almost recovered from, except for a cough that sounds somewhat like a tuberculin seal (her words, not mine!) On the doll front, Shel tried to change shirts one afternoon and ended up needing emergency limb reattachment surgery when his left hand came off along with it. (Maybe not having separate jointed hands like they do isn't such a bad thing after all....) However, all patients, human and doll, are home and recovering, the "Check Engine" light went off  on its own, the stray package has arrived and all seems to be normal again.

Well, normal for here, anyway....

~*~

Devon's fella Rafael arrived just before all of the above started. He's a nice guy - not at all like what I was envisioning. Not I that I thought he wouldn't be nice, but - if I've got this right, he's an Unquiet Spirit like JT, also from New Orleans, who was a Vodou priest (is that the right term? I need to get a book on this.) Not sure about the circumstances that led to him being an Unqiuet Spirit, but I'm sure it's an interesting story - yeah, that kind of "interesting." He is a really nice guy, though, an seems to really know his way around the spirit/elemental realm.

And this is Paisley's friend Kilbey.

There has to be an explanation for him, and I think it has something to do with the same brown acid going around the first Woodstock festival - the stuff that was apparently not so good.

He said the missing antenna will grow back. (Apparently that isn't an eyestalk?) He also said he wished it would hurry up and do so, since it was like having one - well, unlike Kilbey, I am going to keep this G-rated.

As for the fact that he is in fact a "he" - Paisley said he's related to Mystery Snails, which actually do have genders. Most snails don't. Or do - they're both at once. Which explains how one stray pond snail in an aquarium turns into one bazillon about three days later. (I suspect the same is true for coat hangers in the closet.)




And if you need more proof that this last retrograde messed with EVERYTHING, look no further than our trusty thermometer. See that inside temperature? That was also the outside temperature, according to both the Weather Channel and the working thermometer. And no, the sensor wasn't in the sun.

And yes, it was sunny that day, too.







Bonus pic: Tempest and Kilbey.






















(Kilbey is a Doll Chateau Larry. He's named for both musician Steve Kilbey of the Church and the snarky but sweet shapeshifter who was best friends with the Lady Madrigal Baker in my Doctor Who fanfic days. Rafael is a Pukifee Pio - the only human-ish male in my BJD crew.)

in which Hurricane Gail Storm (Deva) blows into town.....

"Good thing your person had Magic Erasers...." JT was saying. "Sorry about that."

"It's not the first time something self-destructed in that microwave," I said. "You're sweet to clean it up, though."

"Well, it was my fault," he said.

"Not really. You were just following instructions," Scaramouche pointed out.

"Like everyone involved in every conspiracy ever." He gave her a funny look.

"Ah yes. But smuggling plans for a nuclear bomb in your bra isn't on the same level as microwaving a pizza roll for a minute and a half on high," she pointed out.

"Until it detonates, that is," he said.

We were interrupted by a tiny little lightning bolt and an itty-bitty crack of thunder.

"Another supercell?" I looked around. "Don't let it rain on the floor. I don't think it's waterproofed."

"There's not enough humidity in here for it to rain. I'm just trying to...hey, come back here!"





"Got it!" Devon caught the wayward wannabe supercell.

"You went back to brunette," Scaramouche said.

"Yeah. A fortune teller told Rafael a dark woman would be coming into his life," she said. "He didn't believe her, but I didn't want to take any chances."

"Bad storm! You know better than that! Now sit!" I've heard people yell at storms before - heck, I've heard Maddy call them things I'm not supposed to repeat here - but I've never seen a storm do as it was told before. Leave it to Tempest.

"How do you get them to do that?" I don't think Devon ever entertained the idea of a pet thunderstorm, either.

"Mon amis!"

"Devon, mon soeur! I missed you, cherie!"

"Tempest, mon ami!"

"And you, cherie! Mon courageux petit wind deva. Didn't I tell you that you were more than they are, cherie?"

"I didn't know there were others like you," Zephyr said.

"Everyone, this is Gail, Devon's sister. She and Devon were the two storm devas I met after I left Oklahoma. She's the one who worked with Tempest to turn the tornado away from that little town."

"I couldn't have without Tempest and Hawthorne," Gail said.

"I was still a linden tree deva at the time," Devon said.

"One of their storms had taken the life of the tree I'd warded for almost fifty human years," Gail explained. "I was furious. But I decided I'd learn to work the storms myself, instead of waiting to be a victim of another one. That I wouldn't be like them. I'd learn to bring the rains without bringing destruction along with them."

"Then they sent a tornado right at us again," Devon said.

"Both my sister's tree and a little town called Bon Coeur were in its path," Gail said. "But Tempest and Hawthorne were also following them and trying to turn it. We didn't have a wind deva to help us, so we had to try to turn it. And let me tell you, mon amis, that was not easy. I'd been a storm deva long enough to have come face-to-face with a couple of hurricanes, but this thing - mon Dieu."

"It was what humans would call an EF-5," Tempest added. "We turned it mostly away from the town, but part of the business district, the elementary school and the church were all lost."

"But only buildings, ami. No lives. Only what could be replaced," Gail added.

"When the tree I warded reached its natural end, I decided I'd join my sister," Devon said. "Hey, is Rue coming up here?"

"Soon," Gail said. "Rue is our wind deva."

"I asked them to introduce me to Zephyr," Tempest said. "They had Rue by then. I needed someone to work with. Someone good."

"We look out for one another," Gail said. "Which is why we're here...."










(Gail is a tan Pukifee Vanilla. She's named for musician Gail Ann Dorsey and based on a character from my fanfiction days whose name was Tatiana - Tianna for short. And I totally made up the town of Bon Coeur, LA.)

In which Hitty Emmaline's grandmother isn't who you'd think.......

"Here we go - now, let me fix your scarf. Good little baby....."

"Um, Paisley?" Zephyr said. "Why do they need scarves? Don't emperor penguins come from Antarctica?"

"They're babies. They can't keep warm the way the adults can." As you can see, Paisley seems to be establishing a home for baby birds. "Now, did you eat all your krill? Good boy!"

"That was krill? I thought you were making smoothies," Zephyr said.

I wondered why my blender was soaking in the sink....

"Hey everyone!" Tempest said, coming in. "You'll never believe who's here all the way from Florida!"

"Devon?!" Zephyr exclaimed, running to hug the new deva in town. "What are you doing up here?!"

"Trying to help some of the other devas put an end to this awful weather," Devon said.

"Problem is, we don't even know exactly where it's coming from," Tempest added. "Well, we know where, but we don't know who blocked the normal atmospheric patterns or why."

That doesn't sound good.....

"And here's Emmie! How do you like it here in New York?"

"It's nice...."

"I told you it would be."

"....but I still don't know why you had to sell the farm to those pixies. It wasn't losing money."

"Sweetheart, it was time for a change. I'd done all I could working with that land. It was time for someone else to take over. And you needed a change, too. All that time with those china head dolls wasn't good for you. You're a wooden doll, sweetie. You can afford to take chances that they can't."

It took me a moment to put it all together. "Wait. Your grandmother is a deva?!" She'd mentioned her Grandmother Devon awhile back, but I'd been expecting another Hitty. Not a deva who looked younger than Emmie herself.

"I was a linden tree deva before I learned to work with storms," Devon explained. "Emmie is carved from one of the branches of a seedling of the tree I was brought into existence to tend. So in a way, it makes me her grandmother."




"Are you and Rafael still together?" Emmie seemed at a bit of a loss for what to say.

"We are, indeed. He may be joining us later this year up here. I'm going to try to talk him into it, anyway. Right now he's working with manatees,"
Devon said.






"Devon is the one who sent me to find Tempest," Zephyr added. "Her sister Gail worked with her - Tempest, I mean - to turn that tornado that those awful storm devas sent toward that town."

"I know a good deva when I meet one," Devon said with a smile. "My sister should be joining us here pretty soon, too."

Not who I would have expected, but pretty cool nonetheless.....



Note: Devon is a tan Pukifee Ante from the FairyLand Halloween event. She was ordered directly from FL, We're still waiting on three other tan Pukifees ordered through DDE.

She's named after a pilot we saw on "Hurricane Hunters" whose first flight was through Hurricane Rafael (the one just before the infamous Sandy.) I do wish I could remember her last name, because she was totally awesome.

In which it's stormy - inside....

"That's weird. I thought I heard - thunder?!" Much like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody expects a supercell thunderstorm - at least, not in the dining room. "Tempest, what are you doing?"

"Okay, please don't let that thing rain on my sewing machine...." Maddy added, coming in.

"Don't worry. It's under control. I haven't let a storm get away from me yet," Tempest said. "But could you open the back door for a moment, please? Just the glass. We need some cooler air in here for this to work."

She did. "For what to work?"

"This," Tempest said. "Okay now, Zephyr, we've got some cold air for the rear-flank downdraft. Pull that into the circulation...."

"Little bit more...."

"And perfect!" She looked apologetic. "It's far too cold to raise one outside. I needed warm air."

"That's what I tried to do back in El Reno." Zephyr looked sad. "But it didn't help. I thought it would do what it did here. Isn't that how you break a vortex?"

"It is - provided you have any cool air to work with," Tempest said. "Which you didn't. You can't work with what you don't have."














Just for the record....

That tornado exploded to just over two and a half miles wide in about thirty seconds. Radar-estimated winds at the base were 296 mph. Right at that moment, it was the strongest force on the planet - and Zephyr was trying to make it play nice and not go across the interstate.

"That's it," she said. "Even I couldn't quite see the outer circulation. The other devas had made it transparent. And it was going so fast. I thought I could dissipate it or turn it or something, but then it was on us - and I saw the truck get picked up. I tried to stop it, but it still rolled. And it was so big. I wasn't close enough to the other car..."

"And you saved everybody in the Yukon," Tempest pointed out. "That was very quick thinking."

(I think Tempest is happy to have a wind deva to work with who thinks the same way she does.)







Bonus pic:

Christmas dresses!

In which - Happy Birthday, John Ashton!

A very, very happy birthday to our favorite Psychedelic Fur/space cadet, John Ashton!

We were going to make cupcakes to celebrate.....

And will, if Maddy ever finds the muffin pan,

One would think it was in the obvious place, but nope,,,,,

Or the other obvious place....

And no, the dishwasher actually isn't used for washing dishes. It's merely for storage at this point. Maddy isn't even sure it's still hooked up to the water lines.

But cupcakes or no, we hope your birthday's a great one!

So, is THIS the year I get to spank the birthday boy?

Maddy: CAROLINE!

At least she wasn't drinking anything this year...


Speaking of Maddy, she was planning to do a new dress tutorial to celebrate my Woodstock fella's birthday again this year, but - well, she kind of didn't realize that November 30th was, in fact, THIS Sunday. So she's hoping to put up a belated birthday dress tutorial sometime soon....

In which - Happy (snowy?!) Thanksgiving!

From everyone here - Happy Thanksgiving! And if it's not Thanksgiving where you are - Happy Thursday!

As for the snowy part - well, this was the back deck before Maddy cleared it.

The railing is going to have to stand in for the ubiquitous "ZOMG LOOK HOW MUCH SNOW IS ON MY PATIO FURNITURE LOL!!!!!!!" shot.

It's not a s pretty as it looks - it's heavy and wet and caused a lot of power outages. Ours threatened to go out a couple of times, but so good, so far, it hasn't. Right now it's just cloudy, but the sun is trying to work its way out.




Someone on the Weather Channel compared the consistency of the snow to mashed potatoes. Not to sure if I'd want to try mashed potatoes in that case......

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving (and Thursday!) is warm and snow-free!

Bonus pic:

Tempest  - taken before Winter Storm Cato decided to go all gangster on us.

In which my nemesis and I meet again.....

And so it begins......

Away, thy foul white demon! Away with thy polluting filth, thy wint'ry perversion....



Or, to quote Scaramouche: "What the #$&%!, Tempest!"

Tempest pointed out that this one wasn't her doing She isn't responsible for what happens when a storm deva in the Pacific decides it's time for a super typhoon and whoops! There goes that polar vortex again.

Yes, this outbreak was indeed triggered by a super typhoon in the Pacific wrecking havoc with the jetstream. And there's always a polar vortex. It's just when Polar doesn't keep its Vortex to itself that we have problems

Kira hasn't seen this before. She said she wasn't sure she liked it. Where she comes from, they don't see snow, Just rain in the winter.

Hmmm. Wonder if Maddy would consider a move to the Land Down Under?

Tempest, however, is used to it - although she insists that this isn't where Snowdonia, Wales got the name from. (It's from Lord Snowdon, she said,)

















All I can say is it better melt or else I'm getting John-John's nuclear-powered jet-engine turbo-charged blowdryer and taking matters into my own hands.......

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!"