What I missed

What we don't have at the Calcondo are comfort toilets. It was very comforting to return to the Concondo and get reacquainted.

Tomorrow, bright and early, Mr. Gadget and I will drive to Brooklyn to help Big City Girl set up her new apartment. I know for a fact that the new place doesn't have comfort toilets, so I'd better be sure I go before I leave.

Back in July, soon after we arrived at the Calcondo, BCG called to say her landlady had phoned with news that she planned to sell the apartment (in Manhattan) and asked if BCG could please find a new place to live before the end of the month. After a few tears, she sprung into action and found a place in Brooklyn. And because apartments in Brooklyn are slightly less expensive than in Manhattan, BCG now has her own place--although she tells me she really misses the aroma of curry that was a constant in the old place she shared with her Indian roommate.

Mr. Gadget has been busy all week assembling a tool kit for BCG so she'll be able to do simple repairs, electronic hook-ups and whatnot.

"Do you think she'll need a level?" he asked me.

"Are you kidding?" I snickered. "Men use levels. Women just eyeball things. If it looks level, it's level enough."

"I suppose I should nix the drill press idea," he said.

"All we women need is a hammer, a screwdriver and a roll of duct tape," I assured him. "In fact, the duct tape is usually sufficient."

So while Mr. G. has been loading up the car with tools, I've been preparing a couple of BCG's favorite food items in the kitchen. I'm taking chicken parmesan so she won't have to cook for a few days, and pumpkin muffins for breakfasts on the subway. I came close to adding a pinch of curry, but then thought better of it.

Coffee, stat!

This is what jet lag will do to you. I felt better today and was able to make more progress on DML (disheveled morning lady). She needs a little more color in her face, but not too much. Maybe a touch of blush. Or maybe just more red around her eyes.....like she really tied one on.

She'll eventually have lovely pink rollers in her hair, so maybe that will be all the color she needs. I've been fretting over how to do the rollers. I wondered if I could find real pink foam ones in a small version. Then I considered small lengths of painted dowels. I think I've hit on just the right solution. The wooden handles on those little black foam craft brushes are just about the perfect diameter. Mr. Gadget says he can cut them into the lengths I need, and he can also drill a very small hole through them so I can sew the rollers right on the head--sort of like giant beads. And I'll paint them bunny-slipper pink. She may be slovenly, but she'll be color-coordinated.

I'm curious about whether she'll sell at the craft fair. Where would a person display a doll like this? Maybe on a bedroom dresser? Possibly on the bathroom counter? Not in an office, I'm pretty sure. And certainly not in the kitchen. Maybe in a back closet hidden from view?

I'm not sure why I'm using gray hair for many of my dolls now. Probably because I have such a big bag of it. What was I thinking when I was shopping at the sheep and wool festivals? Have I become an elder-dollmaker? I guess soon I'll have to give them all turkey necks and Medicare cards.....

Pink elephant

Mr. Gadget and I are back at the Concondo after a great flight yesterday, and a not-so-great drive home from the airport. I will just say that Mr. G. decided not to wait in a long line at the bridge we usually take (lanes closed for construction) and he set off on an odyssey instead.

But now we are home, and here's what appeared outside our windows this morning in the daylight:
It's quite festive here in the Treehouse. I'll let you know if they put up a circus tent.

I couldn't wait to get back in the Treehouse. I guess it's like people who can't wait to get back in the saddle, but I wouldn't know. I haven't been fond of horses ever since Daisy, the one I rode long ago, decided to gallop.

I have two pilgrim dolls--a special order--that should be on the front burner, but the disheveled morning lady has been demanding attention. Today I made the collar for her jammies and started a crocheted edging.

I'm not thrilled with that big panda print on the small collar, but decided to go with it since it matches the rest of the jammies and I couldn't come up with a better alternative.

While I was in SoCal I received my invitation to the annual Columbus Day craft fair at the old hotel--the one I took part in last year. It's always nice to get invited back again because I'm usually my own worst fan. So I'll be gathering up the characters I have on-hand, and making a few new ones. This will give me something to look forward to and will distract me from dwelling on the appointment for my annual physical where I'll be expected to present my Medicare card for the very first time. What a sobering thought.

Well, gotta run. I think I hear clown horns.

It's a wrap

Mr. Gadget and I are tying up loose ends here at the Calcondo in preparation for our departure tomorrow. In the process, we decided to try out the scanning feature of the new printer we purchased during our stay.

This is a picture of my dad's side of the family. If you know me there's no longer any doubt about where all of my hair came from. That's my grandfather at the top left with my grandma Ferna to his left. My aunt--my dad's older sister--is in front of grandpa in the white dress. She's my role model. Earlier this month she turned 93--just after returning from a two-month trip to Singapore. The travel genes must be attached to the hair genes. I can only hope the longevity genes grabbed on too.

My great grandparents are seated in the rocking chairs. The chair that great grandpa is sitting in is now in our guest room in Connecticut. I have plans, and a pattern, to make a couple of elderly lady dolls to sit in it. All in good time. My father is standing to great grandpa's left. Isn't it interesting that people rarely smiled in old photos? I guess back then having one's photo taken was serious business.

So now that we're done with the scanning, the real wrapping-up business can begin. Mr. Gadget has a checklist--thank goodness. It works well, but we've found what works best for certain tasks--like turning off the water and locking the front door--is for me to state out loud that a certain chore is being done as Mr. G goes through the motions. It has saved us from having to make U-turns between here and the airport.

One of our tasks involves bringing the outside patio furniture in. This includes 2 plastic chairs and a small table from the front, and 2 chairs, a table and a chaise lounge from the back. Oh, and now the rock turtle. After this is finished we close all of the drapes. If any unscrupulous characters are lurking around, this is their sign that we've flown the coop.

You may be wondering about the ants. They don't like it when we leave, so they leave too. It would be so much nicer if they'd just come in and use the place while we're gone, but apparently there's no such thing as a timeshare arrangement in the ant world.

Stayin'-in-town weather

It's just another boring forecast for SoCal from the Weather Channel. Things are never quite this boring in Connecticut, which is where Mr. Gadget and I will be headed on Sunday. At least there should be no delays gettin' outta town.

This morning, as I approached my computer table, I noticed a congregation of ants milling around and intruding upon that particular pile of interest. I don't know where they came from. There was no visible trail of ants. But I'm pretty sure I know why they were there. I'd very recklessly forgotten to discard an empty granola bar wrapper. I must be more careful.

So, for a long time I've been threatening to design a new doll and now I'm finally getting around to it.

For those of you who are interested in the sewing particulars, I drew a pattern on newspaper, then traced around it on a double thickness of muslin. I stitched around the whole thing, leaving an opening for turning. But before I turned it right side out, I stitched across the bottom corners to make a "paper bag" bottom. Then I filled the bottom with enough rice to give it a nice weighted base, and stuffed the rest of the piece with fiberfill.

I painted the front of the head with gesso in preparation for applying clay. This will be a clay-faced doll.

This afternoon I had some time (while the ants were on a coffee break) to apply some clay. If you're thinking witch, you are correct. Witching season is fast approaching. I like making witch faces because witches are not beautiful people. I can pretty much apply the facial features any old place and it's OK. I still have more clay work to do, but for now I'll let her dry so she can ride in my suitcase.

I heard a cute story yesterday. Last winter while I was in town I met one of my high school friends at a coffee shop. As I waited on the sidewalk for her to park, I noticed some commotion and realized that, sadly, she'd had a small fender bender with another woman who was also trying to park.

They did what most women do--they wrote down the pertinent information so that later their husbands could deal with the insurance companies. Oh please. Of course I'm just joking....

But here is the cute part of the story. The ladies began to email each other and soon they became friends. Earlier this week, one drove to pick up the other--so as to make sure there would be no further fender benders--and they went out to lunch.

I love happy endings. So sad about the ants.

Piles of Interest

Sometimes when you're watching the news you'll see a police investigator who's trying to solve a big case and he'll refer to someone he's pretty sure committed the crime as a person of interest.

Mr. Gadget occasionally looks around the Calcondo and frowns at all of my accumulating clutter. (Follow me here....I'm going to draw a parallel, or whatever the heck you call it.) I always tell him not to think of it as clutter, but to look upon it as my piles of interest.
Here's my computer table where I handle all of my blogging needs, and a ball of yarn in case I'm carried away with a desire to knit a pair of socks.
Here's most of my fabric stash on the guest bed--easily moved in the event of an unplanned sleepover.
Here's my sewing machine and sewing supplies--always at-the-ready in case I get the urge to stitch up something.

This is my clay station on the dining room table. I always move it far enough out of the way so it isn't mistaken for a carbohydrate.
Here's my current reading material---that's a very good book, by the way.

Finally, I think, here's the spot on the fireplace hearth where I pile up my knitting and crochet projects--completed and in-progress.

Mr. Gadget has been spending a lot of time out on the back patio lately. He's getting a nice tan. Did I mention we've been together 24/7 for 6 weeks? Sometimes I have to think up devious, I mean creative ways to handle stiffling, I mean difficult situations. Maybe it's time to tidy up and invite him back in.

Pajama party

I haven't done as much sewing and crafty stuff as I had planned during our SoCal stay, but I did make some jammies and feet to attach to the bunny slippers. Oh there I go......I've given away one of my dollmaking secrets. My dolls don't have actual legs. Just insinuated legs.

The rest of the doll will have to be imagined, since I won't be finishing it until I get back to the Treehouse.
I had hoped to get my clay out to do a few things, and I may still do something. My plan is for Disheveled Morning Lady to be holding a coffee cup and that should be easy and quick to do. I also want to make a larger-than-my-usual cloth witch doll with a clay face. Maybe a monsoon of motivation will blow through. I can't imagine what that would be like. My friend, Arizona Barbara--who moved from SoCal a few years ago, tells me once or twice a year they get ready for monsoon season and I'm usually relieved to be in Connecticut taking my chances with blizzards.

So after I wrote my last post--wherein I mentioned giving away my cooking pots--I was reminded of a time when I created a mnemonic device to help Tech Guy remember the names of the Central American countries for a Social Studies test. Unlike Mr. G and Big City Girl, who can both read and remember just about anything, Tech Guy and I usually require silliness.

Many Grasshoppers Have Nice Cooking Pots

I don't remember what we did about Belize and El Salvador. They were the two rebellious countries that refused to get in line with the others. Maybe Tech Guy had to memorize those the old-fashioned way, you know, by writing them on his hand.

Nature study

Lookee what crawled up out of the pond.

I was going to name him Yertle, but then I remembered....well, the truth is I needed a little review....that Yertle wasn't so nice. So I'll have to come up a new name, but I don't think there's any hurry since he's 100% rock and rocks aren't going anywhere.

Although, there is a chance he'll wander away, or, even worse, follow someone home. I'm pretty sure he'll hang around though as he's very fond of my guacamole.

Mr. Gadget and I have done very little for the past few days except warm our lounge chairs on the back patio. We've gotten up a few times to observe the construction progress on our next-door neighbor Dolly's cactus garden.

It looks like a nice habitat for a turtle, so I hope "not Yertle" doesn't decide to take a hike. I was puzzled by these big cactus leaves stuck in the ground.

But I was assured they would take root and grow bigger. We shall see. Seems like a real stretch. Those big thorns will certainly keep stray dogs away and may even deter the midnight skunk. I can only hope Dolly's grandkids behave.

So earlier today I advertised more stuff on Craig's List. I had some cast iron cookware that was old and, shall we say, well-seasoned. I offered it for free as I usually do with most everything I'm willing to discard. In very short order I had over 30 hits.

I always enjoy reading the responses because sometimes one will tickle my funny bone and that's usually enough to make them the lucky winner. Someone offered me a dozen fresh, free-range chicken eggs if only they could have the pots. Another said they would love to have the cookware and promised to cherish them like I had.

In the end, I gave them to a lady who lived nearby. She said she could come right over. I like that in a transaction. By just after noon the pots were gone, the morning fog was lifting, and my lounge chair was in the full sun.

A handy household tool

I'm probably one of the few human beings on the planet who hasn't signed up for Facebook. I know lots of people love it, but I rarely hear about much good that comes of it. It's a major time-suck I'm told. Sometimes "friends" are catty. Divorces happen.

But I think I've just stumbled on a worthwhile purpose for it, although I'm still not planning to sign up.

Mr. Gadget and I receive many telemarketing calls here at the Calcondo. They mostly come from people who want to remodel our home, and the caller usually asks for me.

The telephone rings and Mr. Gadget answers. "Hello?"

"May I speak to Marcia please?" the caller asks.

"Who's calling?" says Mr. G politely.

"This is Mike from Acme Home Remodeling," says the caller.

"Are you the Mike she met on Facebook?!" asks Mr. G. Then he bumps up his volume and I notice a little steam coming out of his ears. "Because if you are, you'd darn well better not call again because I have a sledge hammer here with your name on it!"

Consider this a public service announcement.

Sealevel: my altitude of choice

Mr. Gadget and I are back from our trip to Lake Tahoe--back where the breathin' is easy. The lake was beautiful and the scenery majestic, and the whole experience was just.....breathtaking. When I'm up at 5,000 feet I find myself sitting a lot with my feet up and wondering how all the hikers and bikers manage not to fall over in a faint.

As expected, we spotted many trucks headed north loaded with tomatoes...which made me feel indeed fortunate to have found a few this morning at the local farm market.

I didn't buy any souvenirs. Now that I've reached the ripe old age known as senior citizenhood, I'm more into expelling rather than accumulating. But I did pick up a few freebies.

A few rocks to use for turtle-building. The body and head are lake rocks; the legs and tail rocks were stolen from my neighbor's yard, but she's out of town and I can't imagine she'll miss them. Besides, after she sees my festively-painted turtle, she'll be wanting one of her own. Did I ever mention Big City Girl has a turtle? She named him Shelby...

I've made some progress on my cloth stash basket.

This should be easy to pack when I return to the Treehouse. Here's a closer look at the print:

Stacks of fabric. I had no idea what I would use it for when I bought half a yard, but it was so whimsical I couldn't pass it up. The basket could hold a variety of things.....fabric remnants, balls of yarn, ribbon spools, Snickers bars. The pattern calls for a medium weight Pellon stabilizer to help it stand upright. If I make this again out of quilting fabric (as this one is), I'd probably go with a heavier weight stabilizer. But the medium would work well if using a heavier fabric, like a drapery weight or similar.

So tomorrow Mr. Gadget and I will throw our chairs in the car and spend a couple of hours at the beach. There's no place like sealevel. Where the breathin' is easy.