The daily fig

Dear ol' dad's fig tree has kept me supplied with a sweet, ripe fig-a-day for the last week. I'm feeling rather smug about my ability to stay one step ahead of the birds. I'm a sharing kind of person though. After we depart the Calcondo on Saturday, they can help themselves.

Mr. Gadget and I will be going out to our favorite sushi restaurant tonight, and I'll probably be ordering my own beer--rather than sharing his, as per my usual. The sale of our old house closed today, so we have cause for celebration! It's bittersweet in a way. We spent lots of years there while TG and BCG were growing up. We went from a sandbox in the backyard to a swingset to a gazebo. We called the latter the foagy fort because it's where Mr. G and I escaped when the teenagers in the house got too demanding and nasty.

Soon the old house will have a new family, as the new owners are expecting a baby--just as we were waiting for BCG's arrival when we moved in. I'm not going to give them any advice, except maybe I'll tell them not to get rid of the gazebo because it will be a godsend one of these days.

The other day I spent a few minutes surveying and assessing my west coast craft supply stash and I embarked on a simple yet inexpensive project.

I made small books out of scrapbook papers given to me by a friend who no longer needed them, and some pastel-colored paper I found at the dollar store. The books are 4-1/2" by 6" and contain 20 colorful pages. I cut the 8-1/2" x 11" paper in half and stitched it, along with a slightly bigger cover, down the middle. I will put them in a basket on the table at my next craft fair and call them stocking stuffers. I'll do the same with beanbags, which I make out of novelty fabric scraps. It's always fun to put a sign in front of those that says "No batteries required!"

I decided to make some clay hands to go with my clay witch head. They're very primitive; I don't know how those sculpting geniuses make individual fingers, but maybe that too will come with practice.

I put some pipe cleaners in the arms so they'll be slightly bendable. I have an idea for a new style of doll that I will try out with these body parts when I get back to the Treehouse. If it works well, I'll be able to use it for some of my other characters as well.

I'm really looking forward to that sushi dinner tonight. I don't know why, but I've got a real hankerin' for a spider roll....