Mystery...Wickedness....Mischief & FUN

    Yes! It IS that time of year already ~ our 5th annual Halloween in July Celebration is just around the corner~   grab your woobies and talismans...things may get a little out of hand.....

Colorado Wildfires & a Jack in the Box to cheer~
     
Thankyou to all of my wonderful thoughtful readers who have sent thoughts our way~ we are still here!  There currently are nine fires burning around us as of today, the closest is the East Peak Fire at the north side  base of the East Spanish Peak.  I can see it from the gallery window here and it is most disturbing, but not as much so as the huge West Fork fire that, at last we heard, will burn thru and take the entire town of South Fork.  My prayers are with them to the west of us, I hope they all got out OK.  Trying to get info on the fires is very difficult.  The evacuation zone for the East Peak fire is close, but I'm not to my freak out stage yet.  Not to worry, my fire video and insurance papers are in hand, as well as an updated evacuation list and plans to pack and get the dolls & textiles out as soon as possible~ I can move pretty quick when needed.  To say the fires have pre~occupied my time is a gross understatement. It is hard to think and keep my train of thought for long before I go and check the window to see if the winds have shifted our way....  I have been working on dollys like a mad woman trying to keep sched for my Hallowe'en in July Celebration....and was really thrilled to get a particular email this morning from a Dear friend who gave Lady Woodhaus & lil Sprout a home.....just look at how she has them displayed on the wall~ perfect!   The old mirror frame sets them off beautifully~ and is so very simple......just my style!

  Even more fun and it cheered me up SO much, was getting to see Master Jack digging thru the box for his little bag....

  You just cant have a big sweetie and not have a treat for them in the box too!

I bet it didn't take him long to sniff them out :)  A perfect 'Jack in the Box'~ 

 Thank You so much Phebe for letting me share him with everyone!

New Patriotic Queen Anne on eBay~

  In remembrance of our Fathers, and our Father's Fathers~ A gorgeous  one of a kind Patriotic girl on eBay this week!

  Her name is Pumpkin, and you can find here here~ on eBay

Playing Lotto....Colorado Country Style....

  OK, so not the typical Lottery you are thinking of probably.....but around here, with such weird weather all the time,  we Kinnison's oft play the Colorado Lottery.....and usually are LOOSERS!  Getting anything to grow here is terrifically time consuming and just plain hard!  It seems to never fail, plant new flowers, new trees, they just start to bloom and the hail comes and wipes them out. Or my chickens devour and rip out my prized peony.... rabbits eat my only hyacinths about a day before they open.....there is always something...and every time I say~ NO MORE!  I have had enough, I'm not planting another blasted thing outside.  Of coarse I always do.   We have tried several times over the years to plant raspberries and blackberries, and they never survive.  This year I found two blackberry plants that looked so precious and so full of promise, that I bought them....in yes, January.  We usually get snow until April here, so I kept them indoors,  babying them and playing them peaceful music to grow by~ and they loved it!  I'd say they grew to nearly 3 feet tall here in my window, so tall that it pained me to have to take them outside for their sun each day.  Its been so strange and cold this year, we had killing frost to the end of May, and it wasn't until just this past week I felt it was safe enough for them to go in the ground. My babies!  

 What a chore. We have so much adobe clay in the soil here, it took soaking the ground and many attempts over 2 days to get two peasly holes dug for these things!  Josh wouldn't even dig the holes for me....he said "Mom, its like digging thru DIAMONDS"  ....HA!   But it was.  It was horrible.  I finally got them in the ground and a little wire strung to hold them up, and then......the wind came.

  One literally got snapped in two poor thing, I tied it back up but am not expecting  it to  last. The other one is doing OK, tho its leaves are horribly sun & wind burnt. Every morning, I trek out to see how they are doing and give them a half bucket of water each.  The other morning how surprised I was to find....:::::::GASP::::::  a bloom!  

A little bloom coming on my precious little plant!

So I have been watching it every day,  thinking, today???? Will it open today?????   For the longest time it seemed to no be doing any growing at all.....above picture was yesterday....

  And this one this morning! Slightly unfolding~ I thought, cant be long now! I cant believe its going to open!!!!!  I had an appointment this morning, and when I got back a bit after noon....I looked over from the driveway and could actually SEE it! It opened!!!!

Such a little victory, but not for me!  I suppose actually getting a berry to set would be more like winning the Lottery....but nope, I am happy as a pig in mud just to have the little bloom actually stay on long enough to open!
    I love how its so fresh~ the little petals are still all wrinkly from being folded up~ Isnt it beautiful!!!


                                       ~Don't forget to take time to savor the little things~

An early 19th c Flip Toy Reproduction

The simplicity and quint nature of early 19th C children's toys and amusements have always captured my attention~ I adore them. It wasn't until I made my first reproduction of a little pop up cone doll a few years ago, that I realized how involved and utterly confusing they can be to make.  I especially like the early optical toys, made from paper with simple hand colored engravings, that by a twist of the wrist or flip of a finger, they move and in turn make something 'magical' happen.   Many of these toys began their lives in the early 19th Century~ before that time, it was a rare occurrence in the 18th c to have toys specifically made for children, as a 'childhood' of play and learning was still yet unknown to the majority.     A while ago I ran across an original Victorian era flip toy, still in its original paper sleeve~ it was a highly coveted thing for sure, hardly ever played with, with a different hand colored engraving to each side. Once the handle is rotated, the images changed from one to the other. Simple enough I thought.....

 I couldn't have been more wrong.   It is always amazing to me how things so simple and plain, are so difficult to reproduce!  I think if I had a Master's degree in engineering I still would have been pulling my hair out trying to figure out this little toy. Its taken me weeks literally to get this one made, but I think you will agree, the final product is quaint and cunning and well worth the effort.  Do enjoy this little video of it, as I am quite proud of how it came out.   Ill add the link to the eBay auction later on today if you would be interested in purchasing it~