In Which I Think the Groundhog Missed the Long-Range Forecast.....

 

See what I mean? It's February and we have crocuses. 

 

Last year was - this. 

Okay, this was actually February 19th of last year, and it was a snow squall, not a whole snowstorm. We got about an inch, albeit in something like less than ten minutes. But you get the idea. 

Today, however, it's both 60F and President's Day, which means our person isn't at work. The rest of the week is supposed to be less pleasant, however, and they're hinting about snow possibly for Saturday late. 

No, the whole road trip thing is supposed to be the following Saturday, March 4th. This coming Saturday is Tax Appointment Day, also known as The Day We Get All These Freaking Envelopes Off The Desk Day. 

Today, however, is a very non-manic Monday. 

Or would be if there weren't bees everywhere. I remember Sohalia telling me that elephants have a specific noise that means "There are bees here; let's leave immediately!" Why are elephants smarter than we are?

Celine: "We do have a noise like that."

Me: Really? What does it sound like?"

Celine: "Like this - THERE ARE BEES HERE, LET;' LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!"

Okay, that was not one of my finest moments......

Faye was hanging out on the front porch when we went around. She was hoping either her Dad or her Papa would be home today, despite Maddy reminding her it's going to be awhile yet. They intended to come over with her, but got delayed in London. According to Maddy, something's going down in the Up. Wherever the Up is. 

It's kind of rough on her. She's really close to both of them. She's also actually the youngest out of all of us. (Lenore being a changeling and older than she seems, that is. I was told that she's over two hundred but for all intents and purposes is more like eleven or twelve. I'm not familiar with fairies and how they do things, so I have no idea.) Faye is about sixteen. I asked Maddy again and she said she doesn't expect Faye's Dad until maybe April or May and her Papa until maybe June. That's about the time Celine's sister Seren (aka Indigo) should be back from school. 

As for why they sent her here, Maddy said it was because it was safer for her to stay with her sisters while everything was going down - or Up? I have no idea who she meant, though, given that Faye is staying with her and Celine......

Bonus pic....

In which TikTok Challenges don't always go as planned.....

 

"Remind me again. How did I get talked into doing this?"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun, Lil, did you find the vacuum cleaner?"

"Yeah, but I can't find the other attachment. Just the floor thingy."

"No worries. That'll work just fine."

I don't think Ramona was quite into this, but if this goes viral...

"Okay, so, we put the hose in here and suck all the air out and..."

"What in the...?"

"Vacuum Seal Challenge. For TikTok."

"Ah." 

I think Maddy's decided not to ask too many questions. I also think she may be taking notes.

 "Hey ladies. What's all this?

"Oh, hey Jamie. We're just doing a little TikTok challenge thingy here," Lily said. 

"Okay, guys? Get me out. Like, now...." Ramona definitely wasn't as into this as we were."

"No problem. I got this..."

"Maddy, get away from me with those things! You have no idea what you're doing!"

"Hush, I know exactly what I'm doing. Just hold still and I;ll have you out of there in a jiffy..."

"Who says "in a jiffy" anymore? And don't cut my dress!"

"I'm not cutting your dress! I'm cutting the..."

"Crap. Sorry about that...."

"This better not be going on TikTok!"

"It's not going on Tiktok. I promise!"

Lily to Jamie: "I hope you're not rethinking staying here." 

I don't think he was expecting a Time Lady, a half-angel, half-Gallifreyian and a bunch of Hittys, but he seems cool with it. 

Jamie's an Island Doll Jonas, and he arrived Thursday. Yesterday morning was an emergency sewing session because NOTHING we'd gotten in anticipation of his arrival actually fit. Well, the shirt kind of did, but the trousers - yeah, no, that wasn't happening. He was really chill and understanding about the whole thing, though, although he's glad to have some stuff that he can actually get on now. He's just really chill and laid-back in general. And yes, he's also - big. Really big. If he's standing up, Maddy's head comes about to his knee and I think his entire foot is as long as Lily is tall. 

But yeah, maybe that whole vacuum seal thing wasn't a great idea....

Bonus pic:

Lenore: Don't look now, Miss Maddy, but isn't that Mr. Fell's awful boss?

Maddy: Who? The Archangel Freaking Gabriel? Where is he? I'll....

Lenore: I said *don't* look....

In which not a whole heck of a lot is actually happening......

 

You know, if this went right back into spring, I think I'd actually like it. But hello darkness, my old friend, why are you here at 4:00 PM isn't really my thing. It's kind of a drag. You really don't even want to *do* anything. 

Our totally amazing and awesome human had a job interview this week. She honestly wasn't entirely interested in it, but said that it's good to do an interview every so often to freshen up your interviewing game. She was even less interested in the position after she interviewed for it. I mean, it sounded interesting, but she said she really, really didn't want to work for that particular organization. They do good work, but as for the mechanics of how they're run - I think "clusterf**k" was the term she used. So there was that. Anyway, she's good where she is, but has her eye on her supervisor's job when said supervisor retires in about two and a half years. 

And before I go any further, Happy Gotcha Weekend to our favorite Time Lady, Maddy Baker, who I think you will agree is pretty awesome in any form. In our house, Indigenous Peoples' Day coincides with Maddy's Gotcha Weekend, although yesterday was the actual anniversary of her arrival here in 2015. 

Fawn and I were thinking that mosquitoes had gone back to hell where they belong, to borrow Maddy's phrase, but were unpleasantly surprised. At least there were no unexpected acorns, though. 

Meanwhile....

Celine: "Is that a plane?"

Lenore: "I think it's a really big bird. Like bald eagle kind of big."

Celine: "We have bald eagles here?"

Lenore: "Miss Caroline said she and Mister John have seen them down near that little airport. Near the Hudson River."

Celine: "Zephyr said that one of the other dolls told her that birds are actually government drones. But that doesn't sound right."

Lenore: "Who?"

Celine: "I think she said Tori...."

Lenore: "Miss Tori also thinks the earth is flat. Kind of like her head."

Celine: "I'm still not used to pixies, Devas I get - I mean, they're just another type of angel, like me - but are all of the pixies as weird as Tori?"

Lenore: "No, some of them are even weirder. Most of them are okay, though. And I thought you were a Time Lady like your mother?."

Celine: "I'll never actually be a Time Lady like mom. You have to be pureblood Gallifreyian to attend the academy. And my dad's not from Gallifrey. He's from - well - The Up."

:Lenore: "But you're an angel like he is. You can miracle things."

Celine: "Well, yeah, but - What do you want me to miracle? I mean - I'm not going to do it if it's not going to be a good idea."

Lenore: "I - actually no. Well, maybe that we find what Miss Caroline and I did with that box with a bunch of the winter clothes in it. I'm still looking for my hoodie."

Celine: "What else were you thinking?"

Lenore: "That maybe that new doll your mother was talking about gets here soon?"

Celine: "I hope so. But I don't think it would be a good idea to miracle that."

"That's more of a summoning," Maddy said, joining them. "And no, that's not always a good idea. Like the time you and your dad summoned your uncle Crowley out of the shower?"

Celine looked at Lenore. "I warned him that next time he should pick up his phone or my dad was going to do that."

Lenore: "I've come to think you were right. About who really wants to be an only doll. And that  - well, I really should appreciate what I've always had."

Fawn: "I know I came off all wrong back then, but - after being on display in a cabinet, then getting sold because my person got bored with me and then the person who bought me putting me up for sale because she decided she didn't really want me..."

Lenore: "But it all worked out. In the end."

Bonus pics:

Yours truly.....

Lenore....

Lenore again....

Maddy, Celine, Emmie and myself.....

Fawn....

And Celine.....

And yes, we're awaiting the arrival of a *really* big guy from Island Doll.....

In which = an update!

You know, I think I'd actually like autumn if it went right back into spring. Or maybe we could have just a month on winter - like say, December - then it turns nice and warm again. Although Celine pointed out that, with global warming, I'd probably better be careful with what I wish for....

Anyway, before I go any further - I don't know if you've heard of "reshelling," but it's basically like regeneration. More common with BJDs, but it's an established character taking on a new body. Sometimes a new sculpt. Lenore was actually once a character named Eleanor who was reshelled as a larger doll, for example. Well, Maddy and Celine looked into it and decided that it seemed like it might be a good idea. If you're just slightly bigger it opens up all kinds of clothing options that aren't available when you're six inches tall, so...they went for it. 

Maddy figured she'd try it first. I think she'd just gotten back from a trip to Rhyl, Wales in 1984 here I think she met the guys from the Alarm. 

Celine and I have very similar taste in clothes. She went a bit more ginger this time around. 

Celine's other new project is is making Emmie believe she's awesome. 

That, I think, is going to take some work, but I think Celine's up to it. 

We're also awaiting the arrival of a fella who will be the biggest member of our crew to date. 

Maddy said Celine had a little bit of a "She's a woman - and she's the TARDIS!" vibe going on here. I thought it was more colonial Williamsburg chic. Celine said neither of us knew what we were talking about. 

Another shot....

Maddy getting nautical.....

Maddy: "Earthlings....."

In which Howard gets schooled....

"Here it is," Lavinia said. "This is what I was looking for."

"Bizarre Plants?" Howard, aka HP Lovecraft said, looking over her shoulder. He's looking for a more "appropriate" body, but we haven't found one yet.

"Yeah. Maddy was asking about something - Gum Axtraxicia, I think. Something like that."

"Where is she?" I said.

"She and her sister went somewhere - I know, not a lot of help, right."

"In that time machine thingy?"

"The TARDIS? No. I think they took Aura's little car."

"I hope they got back before it started raining." It's been raining on and off - and more on than off - since Friday morning. We need it pretty badly, though. Everything was turning brown.

"Just made it!" That was Maddy. "Hey everyone, meet Bowie. She's the middle sister of the bunch."

"Sister?" Howard said.

"Yes. There are five of us," Maddy replied. "Myself, Sigourney, Bowie here, Swan and Alcyone."

"But she's...." Howard started.

"What? Black?" Lavinia stood up. "Oh for the Goddess' sake, Howard, don't start with that crap!"

"But - sisters? When they're....."

"That doesn't have a ****ing thing to do with it!" Since I'm trying to keep this somewhat PG, I'll leave some of Lavinia's language to your imagination. "When are you going to come to your damn senses and realize that we're all human beings, huh? It doesn't matter what color you are. I can't believe I even have to explain this to you. This is the twenty-first century."

"In our case, all Gallifreyians," Bowie said. "From the House of Jade Dreamers."

"We're sisters. We're all from the same genetic loom," Maddy added.

"Loom?"

"Our people lost the ability to bear children years ago. There hasn't been a womb-born child on Gallifrey for thousands of years now," Bowie said,

"And we're all the daughters of Cassilda, so shut up or else," Maddy added.

He seemed rather taken aback, but didn't say anything else about it. I think he has a lot to learn.....

Bonus pic - Maddy, me and Bowie.



















~*~
Note: HP Lovecraft's racism is pretty well-documented. I could only imagine what he'd make of Maddy and her sisters being such varied skin tones. And I can imagine Maddy ripping him a new one the instant he said anything ugly about them.

The reason I picked the four I did is because of the resemblance - and the fact that they were the ones of my crew who either didn't have backstories or didn't have well-defined ones. I think they look quite lovely together.

Bowie is a tan PKF Luna, BTW.

In which - Dalek!

"We should sit on the lawn. It's probably cooler," Paisley said.

"No way." Aura looked over her shoulder. "That bloody dog next door is out again. And he doesn't know to stay on his own side."

It sounded like a party next door - I don't think barbecue, since I couldn't smell anything barbecuing.

"Pardon me, ladies - has anyone seen Maddy?"

"You mean your Maddy, right?" I don't think he and my person have met yet.

"Of course. She said something about..."








"We're back!"

I don't know if it's that a Gallifreyian accent sounds British, or a British accent sounds Gallifreyian. And I seem to remember Fawn telling me about someone else who had a pet fox.

And what the heck....

"Everyone, this is the Eternal Dalek...." Maddy started, but the Doctor cut her off.

"Maddy, what are you doing? Don't bring one of those things here!"

"Doctor, stop! I'll have you know that he's my friend."

"You can't make friends with a Dalek..."

"I did with this one. If it weren't for him, we would never have gotten off of Cassinus."

"The other Daleks abandoned me. I was of no use to them," the yellow - whatever - said in a grating electronic voice.

"Really?" The Doctor looked at it - him, whatever.

"I had been captured by the Mogul. He sent me to exterminate Maddy when her TARDIS crashed on Cassinus. But she promised to rescue me instead. I had no other choice." The Dalek lowered its eyestalk a bit. "I discovered that she was my friend.


"He rescued LaMarr and got her back to the TARDIS. She was the one who knew how to evade the Mogul's defenses. I wouldn't have gotten off Cassinus without her - or him."

The Doctor's eyes went even wider. "You escaped his Time Lock Beam?"

She nodded. "LaMarr knew how it worked. It locks onto your dematerialization frequency and overrides it. But if you randomly hop between frequencies, it can't lock on, and you can escape."

"I didn't think you could do that."

"You can. You aren't supposed to, but you can."

"I'm just glad you're all right, old girl. We're the only ones left."





















"She hasn't told him?" Paisley said.

"Not yet," The Dalek replied. "I don't think she can yet. She said something about a fixed point in time."

I hope she decides to tell me, though.

















Bonus pic: Maddy and Tonio, her pet fox.