In which it's a quiet Sunday night....

"I remember this video. Miri looked it up on YouTube after you were talking about it."

"So what do you think?" It was the famous "Heaven" video, of course.

"Poor guys. I bet they really regretted it. It looks cold."

"I think everyone got sick after they filmed it. It took three days."

"The guitarist is the one you like so much?"

"Yeah, that's him right there," I said as we heard an all-too familiar rumble coming up the street.

"Oh please tell me that isn't a snowplow...." Maddy went to look out the back door. I can't repeat what her reaction was when she turned on the back light, since I'm trying to keep this somewhat PG. "We have almost two inches."

"I thought it wasn't supposed to snow," Fawn said.

"It wasn't. And I'm getting really tired of shoveling. This is five days in a row..."

~*~


This is our photo entry for this week - "Shadows."

And this was last week's - "Light Painting." I think I spent about forty-five minutes sitting on that glass macaw while Maddy tried to get the shot.










~*~



And just a shot of sleeping baby gerbils to close out the night....

In which Shel thinks it's his birthday and....you know.

Insert appropriate/inappropriate language here....

By the way, we had thundersnow last night when the second wave started through. Yes, as in lightning and thunder and a huge snow squall.








While we're waiting to be plowed out....

"Hey guys, want to play?"

 "What's wrong?"

"Hey, you two know you're not supposed to be up here!"

(They're housetrained, but we're still working on the concept of "just because it's edible (like shoes, clothing, the rug and books, for example) doesn't mean it's food.")







The feline evil eye....

Now where were we?














~*~

"You know, I think today is technically my birthday," Shel was saying. He was in the sewing/dining room talking to Fawn. "I don't like to do much about it, though..."

"Why not?" she said.

He shrugged. "I'm not like Caroline. The first thing she remembers is Maddy playing "Pretty In Pink" while she was getting the final touches put on her face. The first thing I remember is my creator having a huge fight with her husband because - well, I'm not sure what he did or didn't do, but it was something involving him not getting her what she wanted on Valentine's Day. Never mind that she hadn't told him what it was; he was just apparently supposed to know somehow. After he went slamming out of the house, she got a couple of her friends to come over and sit around while she cried about how mean he was and all that because he  - whatever..."

"How was he supposed to know if she didn't tell him?" Fawn said.

"Exactly. Of course, my first boyfriend did the same thing to me. Except - you know."

"Shel, Maddy's right. Stop torturing yourself thinking about how things used to be. You're here now. And now is better, right?"

"Incoming!"

(I think she saw John-John about to pounce, but didn't say anything.)

"Happy Valentine's/birthday, handsome!"

You think Shel really needs to answer that last question? :)

In which - oh man, not again and some random photos.....

Was there ever a more inappropriately named storm than Pax here? More like Winter Storm Fuit. (Supposedly Latin for "war," but even if it's not. it still sounds like swearing....)

"What's Latin for d-bag?" Shel said. He's been sitting in the window all morning watching the snow. Right now there's not a whole heck of a lot else to watch, given that we really can't see across the street.

Hmmm. "Found a page but it won't load."

"Darn. I was kind of hoping for a new insult," Maddy said.


 ~*~

"This is what's been causing all those storms over in the UK," John-John was telling Fawn when we went back into the other room. "They form here, go out to sea and end up over there. Of course, according to one MP, it's all my and Shel's fault."

"How?" she said.

"According to this muppet - whose name I have forgotten - all the storms are punishment from God for allowing gay couples to get married. Well, not that we're married, yet, but...."

"You should tell him that if he apologizes for being such an idiot, you'll make it an early spring," she said.

(FYI - John-John's from Manchester, England. "Muppet" is apparently Mancunian for "idiot." No offense meant to the real Muppets...)

~*~


"What do you think of this print? I think it'll look nice on you." I looked around. "Hey Mad, this wasn't a fat quarter, was it?"

"No, it's a yard. I still have a lot of it." She looked at Fawn. "Do you want a dress or a skirt out of it?"

Fawn looked at me. "You don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Humans might get a little worked up over something like that, but for us dolls, it means you both have good taste.

~*~

The Icicle of Damocles, currently hanging off the back of the house. It happens to be less than five feet off the snow...

From a different angle, this morning.....



















~*~

And Fawn's first new skirt. I think Maddy has one like it. She said she's had the fabric in her stash for awhile. The original plan was to make an overskirt out of some matching purple lace, but Fawn and Maddy both decided they didn't want to cover up the print that much. I think the lace will end up being a matching jacket or blouse instead.

In which Fawn arrives!

Yes, she's here! All the way from Colorado. And just in time, too, from the looks of the weather forecast. (We're not getting the ice storm, just snow and maybe some sleet.)











John-John in particular was anxious to meet her. He was made from a pattern that was apparently inspired by the BJDs like Fawn. As it turns out, they're about the same size. She's even going to be able to wear some of the clothes Maddy made for the larger dolls.

Meeting Zaphod.

Jasper, however, was feeling a bit antisocial this afternoon.











However....

 Not all the introductions went as smoothly.

I think Cat is liking this turn of events, though.

WANT.....

And yours truly filling Fawn in on the hot music news. *Big grin*











Thank you again, Wendy and Miri! We already love having Fawn as part of our family!

In which it's my birthday and we try designing another pattern....

Didn't it do this last year on my birthday, too?

However, last year was unexpected and didn't really hang around. This year, however - let's just say that I think "Nika" translates roughly to "cold gray dreary bucket of suck."

(John-John, BTW, keeps calling this one "La Femme Nikita." And why the heck was I thinking Nastassja Kinski was in that movie?)



"Uh, Maddy? Seriously?"

"This is supposed to be how most doll designers draft patterns," she said.

"Okay, so does this mean I have a doppelganger somewhere made of paper towels? Please say no..." For some reason I was thinking of Alien Resurrection, when Ripley finds out that not only is she now a clone, there are a whole bunch of other Ripleys that didn't quite turn out right floating around in jars.

"Clothing patterns," she said. "I already used enough of the pink batiste on that first version that didn't come out right."

"It wasn't that bad." Trimming a circle skirt with satin ribbon at the hem had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"For a Frisbee," she said. "Try that on. See what you think."

"Ummm. Hmmm. Well----" She looked somewhat unconvinced. "Hmmm. Turn around. Let me see the back."

"Okay..." That didn't sound encouraging. "So how come I can take a clothing pattern and do just about anything with it, but I can't design one from scratch?"

"Didn't you design the pattern you made me from?"

"Yeah, but - dolls are easier. I can make you guys no problem, but dressing you is another matter sometimes."

So we went back to a pattern we've used before, raised the waistline and - look, someday it WILL get warm again and I will be able to wear this, okay? You can't hang around here forever, winter. Mark my words....

In which it wasn't supposed to snow and we will soon have a new member of the family.....

Aw, man......just when you have plans, THIS happens.

This, according to the Weather Channel, is Maximus. Although they haven't exactly been forthcoming about it, I have it on good authority that this dude's first name is Gluteus.







~*~

Meanwhile....

"Oh wow. John-John, this is bad. Look!"

"What? Did you miss another tiny pig again?"

"No, this. Look. I have to go talk to Maddy. Where is she?"

"She's at the sewing machine. What is - Shel, wait! She didn't - we were - Shel!"





"Maddy! Maddy, listen, please, you've got to help someone!"

"Shel, calm down. What's going on?" Insanely enough, she was in the sewing/dining room working on a short-sleeved spring dress for me. We went through my clothes last night and realized that most of my dresses are winter dresses. Long sleeves don't cut it in a heatwave.

"It's Fawn, you remember Fawn, I don't know the whole story but she's got to leave and Maddy, please, we have to help her, you know what she went through ending up in that shop with nobody wanting her and now it's going to happen all over again and..."

"Shel....."

"And she's like I was, she doesn't have anywhere to go and I know what it's like and...."

"Shel...."

"We have to help her somehow and...."

"Sheldon Dean Baylor!" Maddy had to resort to John-John's tried-and-true method of putting her hand over his mouth for a moment. "Sweetie, calm down. Everything's fine. I talked to Wendy last night and it's all taken care of. If everything goes as planned, she'll be leaving for New York tomorrow. She should be here probably by the end of the week."

"Who will?"

"Fawn," I said.

He looked at us. "When did all this happen?"

"When you were in the other room yelling "Yes! Home run!" every time someone had the football." I pointed out. (Note: Shel is anything but stupid, which makes his occasional bouts of extreme cluelessness all the funnier.)

"Really?"

"Really, Shel. It's going to be fine. And for future reference, it's a touchdown." Even John-John, our resident Brit, knows that.

~*~

Yes, it's true - one of the residents of the Wylde Kingdom will be joining our little family! We were going to wait until she arrived to let everyone know, but we're all a little too excited. So we wanted to extend an early welcome to Fawn, who hopefully will arrive between all the snowstorms we're getting. (Today, Wednesday, and now we have to watch out for Sunday/next Monday. That groundhog wasn't kidding around, was he?)

Thanks, Wendy and Miri! 

In which....Cold Spring and a few random photos.

The problem with being a travel doll in winter is that winter usually screws up your travel plans.

However, since Maddy was in dire need of a trim and shape, we headed down to Cold Spring today.

Main Street....

From the muni lot we parked in....

At 21F, it was really living up to the name. That is the Hudson River somewhere under all that ice.

We just missed getting an Amtrak train in the background of this shot. Talk about your bullet train.

I will spare you any "train song" jokes....

Cold.....

Super pretty.....

But super cold.....

Really should have remembered my coat....













~*~

This is the walkway leading up to the theater entrance at the local mall. (Taken when we went to see The Desolation of Smaug. I thought it was a two-parter, not three. Oh well, just means more hobbit to look forward to!)

This pic really doesn't capture the scale. When you're in the middle of it, you really feel like you're in some weird dystopian future - or else in the City on Camazotz, walking toward the building where the Man With The Red Eyes awaits amid all those mainframe computers, ready to sentence you to reprogramming via IT....

A little better, but the camera doesn't do the overwhelming scale justice.












~*~

A rock star Hitty such as myself only drinks the finest Rock Star Tea.... :)

This was taken at New Grace Chinese in Kent, NY. Best Chinese place around here.