Awesome Market Finds - some of my BEST yet!

I started this post on April 7th, but I just got around to finishing it today. 

We ended up going to the Flea Market today as 2 of my party had a craving for DQ, and the only really good one (out of the 3 we have here) just happens to be by the Flea Market. And so 2 of us decided to take a quick walk around and see if anything jumped out at us. I keep hoping that the Dollhouse booth there will restock some more furniture kits, and before today, she hadn't.

I always like to approach the Flea Market the same way - start all the way to the right and make our way up and down each row. I know where the good spots are, but if you only go there, you might miss out on a randomly placed treasure. 

 I was surprised that we came across a dollhouse in the furthest side of the Market that was really cute. But with a price tag of $125, it just wasn't worth it to me. It wasn't in bad shape, but the inside had wallpaper, carpet, etc. etc. and would have all had to be redone any ways. I found a Moxy girl for a family member who has started collecting them (and her hair was an utter disaster! I'll post before and after pics of her hair repair later.) I was so excited to stumble across 2 of those big 24" craft cows made in the 90's by Wang International. I know, it's an odd thing to love so much, but I have dearly missed my beloved Sorcerer Moo since I regrettably sold him off many years ago. These cows were in dreadful shape. And I mean dreadful! Covered in layers of dirt and grime, with discoloring on the hooves and mildew stains all over the muslin body. The price was a little higher than it needed to be, but I wasn't leaving the Market without him. I picked out the one I deemed in better shape (which really wasn't by much, if any) and was feeling so pleased. I have great confidence in the possibility of cleaning anything up.

And finally, as we made a loop towards the end of the Market, there it was. I, of course initially missed it, as my focus was really on spotting Barbie dolls, so luckily my eagle eyed companion saw it. A dollhouse! This one had most certainly seen better days, and whoever put the house together didn't exactly do a stellar job. But for a price tag of $20? Oh yeah. It was coming home with me. I actually got so excited I just grabbed it and started to take off towards the check out before I even looked at the inside. 

The house was painted on the outside, and the color palette screams mid 90's. (I later found out it is the Brookefield made by Duracraft in 1992. I have no idea how long the kit was available.)  It smelled really musty, and it started to quite literally fall apart on its journey home. Not that anything was all that securely glued into place to begin with. Trim fell off. The inside wall divider fell out (and somehow ended up in a bag - I truly have no idea how!) And upon closer inspection I noticed that the outside wall is also coming apart. I think it was put together with hot glue. Never a good idea. Hot glue should only be used to hold pieces together while the wood glue dries when not even copious amounts of tape do the trick. (I had to do that with my Orchid. Just put a dab of low temp hot glue on a couple of places, and then peal off carefully when it's job is done.) 

I know they say that if a house has been put together like that, you need to take it apart and re-glue it together with wood glue. I am not doing that. I would most certainly destroy the dollhouse in the process. What I will do is go in there and carefully reinforce the pieces with wood glue. 

I'm now officially out of space for dollhouses, and getting this fella to fit is going to be interesting. But I am so thrilled to have it. I didn't have a house for the 2 little resin dragons that I got specifically for my Orchid - which didn't work out. Dollhouses have a mind of their own, after all. So this one is absolutely perfect for the Dragon lair. The dragons are the perfect scale and the plans I have are going to be epic! Now, if I could just feel like working on any of my many, many plans, I'll be a pleased panda. 

The 4 Horsemen of the Bearpocalypse

Here's a couple of my horses. Lousy shot - I'll try to get a group shot of them later

 If you aren't familiar with the Build a Bear floppy horse (they came out with 3 different types) they can actually be just a little creepy. I didn't like them at first, but then I found one at the Thrift store in Newburg in excellent condition, wearing a dress and boxed up in what had to have been a Valentines special cub box. I almost didn't get it, but something about that face I just wasn't able to resist. So my very first Floppy brown pony (released circa 2003) came home. I was a little hot and cold with it. Part of me was like "Why did I get this?" and the other part of me was like "but he's so cute in an almost disturbing way." 

I found a second one at one of the local Goodwill's. It wasn't in the best shape - nothing too terrible, just thinning mane and was the earlier release from 1999. I debated about getting him, went back and forth for a few weeks, and then finally brought him home. The employee at the check out counter picked him up, looked at him and said "Now that's creepy." And then shook his head. I sure got a laugh out of that! I believe that was when I had the ingenious (if I do say so myself) idea to have.....

The 4 Horseman of the Bearpocalypse! 

It took me awhile, but I was finally able to find 2 more horses at the Goodwill (at least one of those final 2 if not both, the same employee checked them out for me and once again commented on how creepy they were.) I ended up with 2 of the 1999 release and 2 of the 2003 release. It was perfect.

(Just a quick side note - I'm not intending to make them evil or cursed. They don't actually bring any of these things about. They in fact, bring just the opposite! A bear is not feeling well because he played too long out in the snow and got chilled? Enter Pestilence and pretty soon, poor sick little bear is feeling much better. Is there an unresolving conflict, such as a stubborn mess that won't clean up or boxes keep crashing when the bears try to organize the attic? Enter War, and pretty soon, everything is humming in harmony. A bear is hungry and can't find something to satisfy his craving? Famine will fix you right up! And Death is the best as bringing life into anything that is languishing and not flourishing. He is a whiz in the garden. And now back to my original line of thought...) I went back and forth on what to name them, trying to be a little too creative and coming up with nothing that stuck. In the end I decided to just go literal and have Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. 

I ended up getting 4 of the little dark green Christmas frog from a couple of years ago. 1 I got myself originally. 1 I inherited from a family member who didn't bond with their's and then the final 2 I grabbed on clearance. After my most recent BAB down sizing, I was able to start to group the bears that I was keeping into family or buddy groups, and that's when I had the fantastic idea to move these 4 little frogs to being the 4 horsemen's little buddies. It seemed kind of funny that each horse would have a frog - especially being that frogs are associated both with witchcraft and also pestilence. Fitting right?

Naming my 4 tiny frogs had me stumped for a bit as well. Tonight though, I finally figured out what I would call them. They are as follows:

Famine has a frog called Fames - Latin for Famine

Death's frog is called Mors - Latin for Death

Pestilence has a frog called Pestis - Latin for Pest, which I went with instead of Pestilence as  that would have been Pestilencia, which is too long of a name for a little fella. (I'm thinking the scientific name for the Black Plague is Y. Pestis, which is fitting to go with as Plague is a synonym for Pestilence.)

And War's frog is an obvious one - Bellum. (I thought about going with Proelium - which means battle as my frog is so small, and one battle makes up a small part of an entire war. And that was probably overthinking it. Bellum it is.) 

Of course, I had to go with Latin. Why not use the language you spend so much time studying any way, right? 

For their outfits, I plan to make each horse a tunic that is influenced by medieval style. Pestilence will have white, War red, Famine black and Death is pale. What color is pale exactly? I'm thinking a pale sickly green. And I know for a fact that I cannot find anything that resembles what I am picturing. So whatever I can actually find in fabric that doesn't need an explanation that it's the Pale horse is going to be one hell of a challenge. I'll probably just go with a super pale grey. Over their tunics, each horse will wear a vest - not really a vest, but more of a sleeveless doublet that closes in the back. On the front, I intend to paint the horseman's symbol. Bow and arrow for Pestilence, Sword for War, Scales for Famine and nothing at all for Death. 

(In case you are wondering like I did as to why Pestilence has a bow and an arrow, here's a quick explanation. Pestilence is also known, and probably originally known as the Conquerer who brings about Pestilence via battle. I just read that briefly on google. Interesting stuff.)

The little frogs will have a coordinating tiny romper with matching colors and matching symbols. I also thought it would be cute to make at least the horsemen masks that resemble a plague doctor's mask out of white felt. Just another one of my many, many plans!

I'm not sure how many people will see the humor and enjoy my 4 horsemen of the Bearpocalypse as much as I am, but I really, really love it! And I really, really love them. :)

The twins are here! My AG order arrived

 Wow, that was some fast shipping, Fedex! I didn't expect them today. They got here all the way from Wisconsin in 2 days. I waited until after I ate supper and loaded the dishwasher before I opened them. I also had some Wang dolls come in the mail as well, so it was quite an exciting mail day!

The twins are even better in person than they are in pictures. I will say they are pretty photogenic because they don't look better in person - which I know is a complete contradiction of what I just said. I think what I am basically saying is that they look so good in photos that its not a let down to see them in person and then also they look so amazing in person that they look even better than they do in pictures. That still doesn't make sense, ha ha, so I am moving on.

It's been a long time since I got a brand new AG doll. When did I actually last order one straight from the company? Could it have been the Caroline that I no longer have that I got in 2015 after I heard that they were retiring her? I think so, They have definitely changed the packaging. Instead of rubber bands around the ankles, they have these sort of stretchy bands that you have to cut. And they now have a plastic piece around the neck instead of what I remember being a rubber band or elastic. The hair nets were also on there super tight. I was worried I would pull some hair out, but it worked out okay.

Now, the dolls. Their faces are so very different than each other! Amber (Isabel) has a much rounder face with fuller cheeks. She is utterly adorable. Her hair is definitely not straight across the bottom. She would have been a doll a pickier collector would have sent straight back, as the right side of her hair is about an 1 and 1/2" longer. I am not a picky collector, so I can live with it. I couldn't bear to send her back! Beyond the length issue on her wig, I see no other problems. She has the most gorgeous wig. I adore the 2 toned blonde. Her bright green eyes give her such a unique look. I love it.

Sydney is technically prettier than Amber, but Amber is cuter. (I hate to do that to my dolls, but I can't deny that that's the thoughts that ran through my head.) Her face is more petite. Her hair, OMG. I love the shade of brown with those chunky highlights. Her wig has no issues. Both dolls have thick lovely hair. Sydney's eyes are the most gorgeous shade of blue. 

I am surprised to say that I actually do not mind the "angry" eye brows and I actually like the painted on eye lashes. I wouldn't want them on any other doll. I think the fact that the only 2 I have with them are my latest in date dolls - 1990's - it really sets them apart as my only "modern" dolls. 

The outfits they come in are super cute. I adore Amber's pink platform shoes. I really hope they make another pair of those type of shoes for her in a black. I doubt they will, but I can dream! My favorite thing about Sydney's meet outfit is the shirt that is tied around her waist. It is so very much the era. Her shoes are also adorable. I do plan to get at least her meet accessories as I want her meet hat. I'd just buy the hat if I could as they rest of their accessories I can live without,

I wasn't expecting Amber to come out of her box with an entirely different personality than I had planned out for her. I had written out a quick description of her and Sydney on My AG Dolls page here on the blog. And after I opened her, she did not fit my previous description at all! So gone is the quieter Amber who follows her sister's lead and here is the actually Miss Perfection, compete until conquering Amber. Sydney is also a little different, but not a whole lot. She was always easy going, so I think for her to follow her driven twin's lead is ideal for her.

This was truly some of the best money that I have spent. I adore these 2 and am so happy to have them in my collection. They look great sitting next to my other dolls. I am so exciting to start writing stories with them! Though, now I have to rewrite in my head the first photo story that I planned out with them! I'll go ahead and add my photos, though I will be the first to say that they are not the best. I didn't take the time to set up any better lighting. I need to really figure out how to use my digital camera. At this point, I do a better job with my phone camera.....*grumbles*

America Girl Doll Nicki and Isabel are coming home!

 

I've been excited about the new 90's twins ever since I heard the rumor, how ever long ago it was at this point. I had thought - like many of the other AG collectors that they would have been the early 90's. That was such an exciting thought! And when I found out they were 1999/Y2K dolls, I was briefly disappointed. But, it was only for a brief moment. I honestly think it was a better call to go for the end of the decade than any earlier. The dolls themselves I thought were cute, but I was offput in the beginning by the so called "angry eyebrows" and those dreadful painted on eye lashes AG is now doing on all of the newly released dolls. Eventually though, the dolls, "angry brows" and all, grew on me. Like, really, really grew on me! I spent some nights looking at reviews of people who got the dolls. The painted on eyebrows didn't actually look that bad on them!

I've been doing yet another massive collection overhaul these last few weeks. Maybe its only been 2 weeks. I have no idea. But when I say massive collection overhaul, I really mean massive collection overhaul. I won't go into it all in detail right now, but suffice it to say that I now have quite a bit less of my overall possessions. It feels good. 

With my AG dolls, I had had it whittled down to 18 dolls for a little while, so AG wise, my collection didn't change all that much. I did bump off 4 dolls, intending to keep my number at 14. I was very pleased with the extra room on my AG shelf, where I could space my dolls further apart and I still had some room leftover over. That just wasn't meant to be. 

Friday night, around 11:30 or, I placed my order for both of the twins. :D It wasn't an impulse buy. I thought long and hard on it. And I figured, why not? I have the space. The money from things I will be selling will more than pay myself back. The dolls just came so vividly to life that not having them would have been sad. I have them renamed and their personalities, styles, etc. are all mapped out. I cannot wait for them to get here!

Hopefully AG will get my order out tomorrow. I might not have them for a week plus since I didn't want to pay $20 more dollars to speed up the shipping. I can be patient and wait for them though. They will be so very worth the wait!

And while I am waiting, I can plan more. I've already spent time looking at late 90's fashions. I'll be setting up a pinterest board for inspo pics for each dolls. Sydney (formerly known as Nicki) and Amber (formerly known as Isabel) will have styles like their cannon dolls. Alt/skater for Sydney and preppy for Amber. Already I know I have to make cargo pants and those wide leg skater pants for Sydney. Amber is a little less developed fashion wise, but I will have a lot of fun planning out extra clothing for her too. 

While I normally would have been worried that a later historical (1999 is historical, lol) period wouldn't quite stick with me, I have no worries with these. I thought I would have jumped at the 80's collection and gave it the best effort I could, but it just didn't stick. I had a doll put into that period a few weeks ago, and I just could not attach to it. The latest I have (or had, hee hee) is the 50's. But these dolls hold so much nostalgia for me that I know I will absolutely love them. And will have a hell of a lot of fun with them! 

Now, I am off to pinterest!

Newest Barbie thrifted finds!

The week of Christmas has finally arrived. Most of the shopping has been done, but there's always that last hurrah to ensure you have everything you need for Christmas dinner. The last thing I honestly wanted to do yesterday was brave the 39 degree weather (I know, I know. It wasn't that bad.) and the pre-holiday crowds and traffic but we all gotta do it. The trip wasn't going to be too terribly demanding - just Wal-Mart, Meijers and Hobby Lobby. Goodwill is right next to Wal-Mart, so I wanted to quickly run in there to see if I could find some little treasure.

The toy aisle there is pretty much 2 rows of toys, and then the stuffed animals have been moved to an idiotic corner where you can't actually find much. Which is better because I am OUT of Build a Bear room! They keep the barbies in one or 2 big plastic totes on the bottom shelf. The last few stops in there have been a bust, but the sight of them overflowing with dolls was promising! Most of the dolls you will find are the recent dolls from the last few years, a great deal of Disney princesses and some knock off sort of dolls. Yesterday, however, I unearthed some goodies. :D First I found the 1997 brunette Christmas barbie. She had her crown and jewelry and seemed to be in pretty good shape, even though she had some spots on her face that I was doubtful as to whether or not they would come off. I've always preferred the blonde version, but seeing her then, I had to have her. 

Next, I spied the Tropical Splash Barbie from 1994. Her earrings were broken off and her hair was messy but other than that, she was in good shape! Next I unearthed a Pearl Beach Barbie with a broken neck. Her head was shoved down low on the neck, which is always quite a sight to see. I knew I could switch the bodies if I could find a suitable replacement. I have a serious weakness for the 80s/90s (especially the 90s) beach barbies, so when I find them, I have to grab them. Her hair was a fright - ratty and tangled, but her face was clean and she still had her earrings. I set her on my growing pile of To-Get dolls and went back to searching through the containers. Lo and behold, there was a second Tropical Splash barbie! Perfect match. Finally, I found a Scarlett O'Hara doll in the burgundy dress. My final find for the day was an unexpected non Barbie find - an early release brunette Bitty Baby, for a whopping $1.79! Yay!

The rest of the trip went as expected. Busy aisles, annoying traffic. But we got pretty much everything we came for. Gifts were completed, food and necessities acquired. Well, except for the over bags. Darn it all, I finally found some and didn't bother to notice that they were only for 8 lb turkeys. 8 lbs is not going to suffice for our 19 pound turkey. It was all Wal-Mart had, but if I had just paid attention, I could have gotten the right size in Meijers. It's always something though, right? :)

I was really excited to get my dolls cleaned up, so after dinner I got out the kitchen Lysol and Magic Eraser and wiped my dolls down. This is a winning combination. Just spray the dry sponge with Lysol - it is second to none for removing grease, grime and surface stains. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to completely remove the 2 small stains on my brunette Barbie's face, but it's okay. They aren't bad. I was really nervous to remove the second Tropical Splash barbie's head to do the head swap. I heated the head up with a blow dryer and with much trepidation, went through the process. What I discovered was that there is a time to be careful and then a time to just pull hard. Otherwise, you can run the risk of splitting the neck or breaking the ball joint. The head swap went well. After that, I decided to take off my other Tropical Barbie's head so I could take the broken earrings out. With both dolls put back together, it was time for the hair treatments!

First, I washed them with shampoo and then slathered on a good amount of condition. And then, I combed. My first project was the Pearl Beach barbie. It took some time to carefully comb it all and untangle the tightly coiled hair from around her earrings. Once I felt pretty good about my initial comb through, I got out my flat iron. The lowest setting on mine is 100 C and it is perfect for doll and pony hair. It took me awhile to get through her whole head, going 1/4" wide and very thin sections at a time. But once I was done, wow! She looks almost as good as new!

My Tropical Splash Barbie's hair was okay, but I figured I would go ahead and use the flat iron to tame any remaining frizzies. I haven't decided yet whether I want to put her hair back in its original style, or curl it. 

My Christmas Barbie's hair was such a horrible rats nest I thought I would have to use the flat iron on it. Surprisingly though after several reapplications of conditioner and lots of vigorous combing (I really couldn't be gentle - it was that bad) it seems like it'll be okay without the flat iron. Which is better, as I hated to lose the original curl (which is now more like a gentle wave) and I don't quite feel confident with curlers as I know I will be with more practice.

Right now, all 3 dolls are waiting for their hair to dry before they can meet the other dolls in my tiny collection. I set Scarlett aside for another day's spa, as her hair is going to take a different approach to clean up. 

Strawberry Shortcake Berry Happy Home

***This was actually last week's post. But between being sick and then being very busy with orders, I never got around to adding the pics so that I could publish this post. So here it is, better late than never.**** 

Today I went and bought myself the Berry Happy Home that my local Flea Market had for sale. I first noticed it a few weeks ago when I was there buying Monster High dolls. It was pretty exciting to actually see one of these houses again in person. I had only seen one in real life before - this was years ago at a dollhouse shop in a nearby town. Naturally, I felt the immediate impulse to buy it, but I told myself NO and went off and forgot about it. When I came back to the flea market to pick up some more MH dolls,  I was once again checking out the Berry Happy Home. It was up high on a shelf, a little hidden by the merchandise around it. 

For awhile, I kept myself convinced that I had no space for it. I really used to want that house. What SSC collector doesn't? It is just so darn cute and the furniture that was made for it is just adorable. I ended up putting it pretty much put it out of my mind. Mostly. And then last night, I got to thinking about. Not just "sigh, how neat is that house and wouldn't it be neat to one day have it." No, it was more like "I have to have that house." I started thinking of everything that I could do with it. Decorating it for the holidays. Making clay food and other paraphernalia. And the price was definitely something that I could justify! 

There were 2 concerns in front of me. 1, was obviously, where the heck was I gonna put it? And 2, was is it still there? After much debate and mental arguing with myself, I let myself believe that there was a good spot for it, though I worried that it was too tall. But, by the time I went to bed I had talked myself out of it again. This is where it is important in every collectors life to have the supportive enablers that enrich your collecting experience to talk some sense right back into you.

So I found myself heading to town the following afternoon. Luckily, the house was still up there on the shelf, half buried by plushies. The house was too large to sit in the cart, so it rode on top. The house was definitely faded and the color turned. It was dirty, but appeared to have most of the basic house parts. It was missing the front window, the chimney, the mail box and the greenery. That's not a big deal as replacement parts are relatively easy to find. (You just have to find the best deal. Prices vary from "hey that's a great deal!" to "eek, I can wait.") After setting it on my cart, 2 different people stopped to ask about it. I got the feeling that they both would have grabbed it themselves if they could have. I felt pretty darn lucky that the house lasted as long as it did so that I could buy it!

The house did come with a bag of furniture. Unfortunately, I will only be using 2 of the pieces. 1 is the Rose Petal Place vanity (I already have it, so I will most likely sell it) the toilet, (which I do not need. I will sell it as well as I don't enjoy bathrooms for my dolls)  a hutch (yay!!!) and a yellow mirror. I did glance on eBay after I bought the house to check out furniture prices. I found the kitchen set for an excellent price that I could not resist, so I did go ahead and order that. The kitchen is the most important place in the house!

I decided to start cleaning the house around 6 that evening and the best place to clean it ended up being the kitchen. I placed trash bags on the floor and got to work. Now, I admit that I didn't inspect the house super closely. I saw it was faded, yellowed and dirty. But it wasn't until I sat down to clean it that I saw how it wasn't just dirty. It was filthy and smelled HORRIBLE.  Let me say that these pics do NOT show just how dirty this house was.

There was no doubt in my mind the house had mold. The best way to kill mold is white vinegar. I poured some into a bowl of water and mixed in a little kitchen Lysol. I ended up using a wash cloth to clean it. I felt it was best to deal with the various shapes of the house. And I was right, except when it came to getting into teeny tiny spaces such as the base of the porch railings and that adorable wood texture, which proved to be quite hard to get clean. I had previous gotten a set of cheap tooth brushes for such a job as this, but where are they after the move? Who knows. Q tips were the next best option. They were pretty good at getting into all the areas that I needed to clean, though I really think a tooth brush would have worked much, much better. I still need to go back over a few places.

The more I cleaned, the more I recognized the dreadful rodent smell. Wherever this poor dollhouse had been stored, it was definitely a play area for rodents. :/ I honestly was really gagging at one point trying to clean it. It really wasn't as bad as it could have been, but for some reason, it was really getting to me. At one point, some hour later, I was starting to feel concerned that I wasn't going to be able to get it clean and clear of that dreadful smell. It was when I was cleaning the bottom of the house, with all of those nooks and crannies and areas cut up by plastic to give it a secure base - you know what I mean - that I concluded that there was simply no good way to clean it, even after I switching to the foaming bathroom Lysol. I finally decided to haul this massive house to the bathroom and stick it under the shower head while I scrubbed on it. This was actually a really good idea! I l hauled it to the bathroom and into the bathtub. I turned the shower on warm to hot temperature and let it just sit under the water for a few minutes. Then  I reached in with my gloved hand, trying to hold the shower curtain as best as I could to keep the water off the floor (it didn't work real well - a section of the rug got soaked. As did part of my pants) while I scrubbed. I kept rotating the house, hoping the water would get into crevices that I couldn't reach with any cleaning tool and would flush out all that disgusting grime. It was at this moment I have to admit that I was feeling - just for a moment - buyers regret. It did pass pretty quickly.  I'm really not sure how long I did this step. I finally decided at one point that that was the best that I was going to be able to do, and shut the water off. 

It would have been a good idea to simply let the house drip dry there in the tub. But, at that point I was pretty much done with working on it for the night (it was after 8) and since I needed to clean the bathroom after what I just put it through (it was covered in grime) and the kitchen floor, for that matter, so I just wanted to move it out of there. I made the great decision to just haul the dripping wet house down the hallway, through the living room and back into the kitchen.  Mopping all the floors and cleaning the tub went quicker than I expected. Once that was done, I took a towel and dried my house inside and out. Talk about relief when I didn't smell any more of that foul odor! Maybe it was saved! The real truth would be revealed once it was moved to its final resting place. Where it was going, we keep that door closed to keep the cats out of there as it's my sewing room/doll room and no furbie needs to be let loose in there unsupervised. My fear was that the door would be closed all night and would wreak to high heaven in the morning.

Now, before I get ahead of myself, there's a few more issues that my house has that I need to go over. The floors. They are in dreadful shape. I'm not really sure if the house originally had flooring - from pics it appears that the kitchen and bathroom did. My house has the remains of grime stained glue all over the floors. The exception is the bathroom ,which has a nasty floor still in place. 

Again, I'm not sure if that flooring is original or not. It's not staying either way as it's just gross. Ideally, I would need to spend a great amount of time outside with Goo Gone to clean all of this up. That's something to deal with later. Another small issue is that the turned beigy orange base of my house is stained in places with mildew. There's no active mold. It's just staining. But it looks pretty bad. At one point, I need to paint it a color to match the original. 

Now, the place that was determined for my house to fit is, as I said, in my little sewing room. The intended place would be under the BJD shelf and partially behind the storage bench that sits under the window and holds my hoard of knit/denim/suiting fabrics. The houses ended up being a good fit in width and depth. But.....it was too tall to fit. Which was exactly what I was worried about. The good thing is that we can simply raise the shelves for it to fit as planned. :D :D :D

The happy news is that upon opening the door to the sewing room today, after my house was in there all night, there was no bad smell! The house smells a little old, which is totally fine by me. Old I can handle. Moldy and rodenty, I can't. My biggest fear has been assuaged. 

The fun is going to start soon as I plan out how to fix up Strawberry's new house. She can pick out flooring, maybe even wall paper, and brain storm furniture. I'm really excited and I honestly cannot believe that I have my very own Berry Happy Home!

NFL Week 2 thoughts and musings

 I used to blog after every football weekend  - so either on Monday or on Tuesday depending on what games I wanted to watch. It was just a fun thing I enjoyed doing that I could look back on. I miss my old blog and so I decided to bring back that tradition. 

Let's start with the Bucs/Saints game. I unfortunately missed the first few minutes of the first quarter, though honestly, I didn't miss anything. I knew it was going to be a tough game. It's always rough when they go down to NOLA and Brady hadn't beaten the Saints since joining the Bucs. All of that being said, I was not prepared for it to be THAT ugly. OMG. 3-3 through what, nearly the entire 3rd quarter? (I meant to blog sooner when the games were fresher in my mind, but just didn't have the right moment to do so.) The Buccaneers offense looked pretty poor (I'm not concerned) and I was surprised and delighted when they finally scored a touchdown. And then won. The Saints offense, fortunately, was even poorer with 3 interceptions and a couple of fumbles. Both defenses had a sound game. And when both defenses are shutting down both offenses, it's just never as pretty of a game to watch. For me, the best part of the game was the fight! (it hasn't gotten old yet, ha ha.) Here's a link to watch it.  I'm not happy the NFL suspended Evans for 1 game. I suppose it was because he turned around and came back, as only he got suspended. (And seriously, the NFL is investigating Arian's involvement? Sheesh. The stupidity never ends with their moral sense of inconsistent justice.) That's really going to really hurt the Bucs when they play GB next week, which is probably something Evans should have thought about before throwing haymakers.  

And speaking of GB....

I was nervous going into this game after the Packers got walloped by an unexpectedly good Vikings team. I didn't panic (R-E-L-A-X. Who remembers that Rodgers press conference? :P) but I was still a little nervous. The Bears came out of the gate looking pretty darn good. The Packers though were even better and they soundly beat Chicago. There's just nothing like watching the Packers play at Lambeau Field. Being able to watch the game on the TV in my own living room was magical. I feel like this Packers team might really go far in the play offs this year. I know its a long season and a great deal can happen - like losing half your offense to injuries at the end of the regular season. I'm still very excited!

And now to the Monday Night game that I was looking forward to. The Bills and the Titans. Ever since the Brady/Belichik divorce, I have been a Bills fan. Even if I never got to watch any of their games, I was strongly rooting for them. This year, I intend to watch as many as I can. They are GOOD on pretty much all levels. Their defense completely shut down TN's force of nature Derrick Henry (I love watching him play, even if I am not much of a Titans fan. I've also got a soft spot for Coach Vrabel.) Josh Allen has turned out to be a really good QB.  And, you know, I think Buffalo deserves some football enjoyment after spending so many seasons as the perennial cellar dwellers. One of these days, I know I will be able to move on and go back to being a Patriots fan, but these things take time. And in the mean time, it's Buffalo all the way!

That's pretty much it for my Week 2 review. I'm excited for next week - the Packers and the Bucs will stand to be an interesting game. My prediction? Packers victory. I hope the Bucs can get some offensive rhythm as I would dearly love to see Tom Brady get one more Super Bowl victory as his career will most likely end after this year. Haters can just keep hating, but he is the GOAT and nothing can take that away from him.