Super Cute!

I forgot how much I loved my Ringo until I got her out and made a new dress for her. She's just too cute.

Etsy update

I made a second copy of the dress I made for my Effner girl, but I embellished it more and put it on etsy. Hopefully someone will enjoy it for their Beige or similar-sized doll. I particularly enjoyed the embroidery on the petticoat (closeup below). I used an embroidery pattern from one of the Japanese craft books that I got in Seattle in July. I'll also be putting a cute little green dress for Ringo on etsy later on, too.

Coop Interior

The coop is insulated for the winter and I made the girls a new perch. As funny as it was to see all of them trying to crowd onto the top rung of their ladder-style perch, it didn't look comfortable at all. And two were roosting nightly on top of their food bin, and one on top of the nest box. Now they have a long roost that extends the length of the coop, and I made a ramp to it from the sunning shelf by the window.

April Cottage has walls!

April Cottage has walls and a partial roof so far. I have just placed an order for beadboard for the kitchen and wainscot for the living room. You can see my Edwardian House Style book sitting there in the someday-living room. I realized the other day that I have wanted a BIG dollhouse like this for such a long time! It's going to be great to finally have one. This one comes with pre-drilled holes for the lighting, too, so I have absolutely no excuse not to light it. And it's front-opening, so the cats can't get in, and hopefully that will also keep the dust to a minimum. I realized that another advantage of front-opening houses is that the wiring is pretty easy to do--you can put it all on the back! Fiddlesticks--I just realized I should have ordered the "slate" shingles while I was ordering the other supplies. Oh well--I think Earth and Tree will have more than one order from me in the near future.

For the kitchen floor, I am making flagstones, using the egg carton method. There's a great tutorial here: Victoria Miniland - 'Egg Carton' Stone Wall or Floor

I also plan to use similar "stone" to cover the outside of the house. Now, the only problem is that I have been re-using all of my egg cartons to hold eggs from my chickens! Anyone have any spares?!

Shiny Fall Day

Today is cold, a little windy, and very shiny and bright and sunny. The sky is perfect.

The leaves are changing and are fast blowing down to carpet the lawn.

The chickadees and all their friends have returned to my feeders. This one is waiting, eying me warily, for his turn to snatch a sunflower seed. They'll eat out of my hands sometimes.

Rosy and all her pals are foraging in the now-dormant garden. There is no better weeding/fertilizer combination than a hungry hen!

The little Orpington chicks have grown into big pullets, bigger than the Reds and getting ready to lay, probably in a few weeks.

It's nice to have a few minutes in a busy day to reflect on the changing of the seasons.

April Cottage Beginnings

I have this fabulous vision for my April Cottage by Dolls House Emporium. It's going to be a turn-of-the century (1900) cottage in Britain inhabited by a country veterinarian and his family: a wife, baby boy and little girl. The cottage was built in 1600 and was recently redone when said country veterinarian married his wife and started his family. Doesn't look like much yet, does it? It's lying on its side in the above photo. It will eventually have "stone" on the outside and a cute front door. I'm planning to electrify it, a plan made easier by the fact that the kit comes with all the holes pre-drilled and a plan available in the back of the instruction book. There's lots more to do yet, but I will try to periodically photograph the progress.

Tea Party and Dogs!

April is having tea with her toys.

And posing with Toby the felted dog.