Small World

The "big world" seems to be getting the best of me lately. My neck pain that was bad in December has returned at almost 100% of what it was back then. The constant headaches, blurred vision, and that horrible cracking sound in my neck. I haven't written anything here in over a week and I've really been slacking off on keeping up with other people's blogs My e-mails go unanswered; my postal letters...well, that's just a mess too. I feel like escaping from the 21st Century and just stitching or gardening or cooking. Anything far away form the computer or TV or gymnastics. Just having a case of the "blaaaaas" I guess. So I escape from the big world for a while and share with you my small world..... my dollhouse collection. I first got interested in miniatures in 1975 when my uncle's cool new girlfriend shared her collection with me. I was 11 at the time and just that fact that an adult that I knew had a 'girlfriend' was an amazing thing for me. Laurie was so nice, not really like an adult at all, even though she had 5 kids. Her middle son was my very first 'boyfriend'. The fact that we never kissed or even held hands for that matter has never diminished this relationship in my mind. I will always consider John my first boyfriend. The fact that we both now have partners named Joe also gives an interesting twist to the whole thing...but I digress. Dollhouses! Laurie had two of them. One was a full-sized country-style house and the other a general store. Soon after, in 1976 my mother built a huge dollhouse from scratch. My dad says it cost more then their real house and is better furnished! I was hooked immediately. I have always loved dolls and this hobby allowed me to create entire new worlds; each house having it's own little family, it's own style, it's own history. The first house my mother built was a large Victorian-style house. Then she built a Colonial Williamsburg house, a general store and finally a dressmaker's shop. I have inherited the Williamsburg house and the dressmaker's shop. The other two are still in residence at my parent's house being enjoyed by my niece. Two year's ago I got back into this hobby in full force. Joe found an old hand-made dollhouse at a yard sale for $25. I expanded it with four additional rooms and it is nearly complete. This is a rather expensive hobby, so the building has ceased for a while until things get better financially. I do want to share some photos of it though.

This is a pineapple tower in the Williamsburg house. I made this of polymer clay. Pineapple on top, then apples and lemons with pomegranates and Osage apples on the bottom. This is a traditional colonial-style table display.The dining room of the large Victorian house WIP. The white cat is eyeing the dessert display.

Well, that's all the neck and eyes can tolerate of the computer for today. I hope to be catching up on some of your blogs this weekend.