I’m getting neighbors!

For the two and a half years I have been living here in the duplex, the other half has been vacant. Three weeks from today, I will have neighbors. I was stretched out on the couch last night with my knitting and a movie, when I heard the other door open and close. I popped up, hit the porch light, and opened the front door in time to see my wonderful landlord heading out to her car.

This will be a nice change. Young family, daughter about BittyBit’s age, temporary living situation. (My best guess is that they are probably waiting to close on a house. I was standing on the porch barefoot and in my jammies, thus not inclined to linger.)

Had a great weekend. Cooking mojo appears to be back from her extended stay at Club Med. I will not need to cook for the better part of a week.

Fourthborn and Fiancé came to dinner last night for my take on one of Firstborn’s specialties, Texas Skillet. I had put the serger manual, four cones of thread, another book on serging which was my mother’s, the slightly crazed Nutcracker, and the ornament from 1999 on the table in a nice, neat stack.

Still there.



But I’ll give them all that when I see her again tomorrow night, to look at doll clothes I might want to acquire for the doll which I’ll buy from her shortly after the clock ticks over into 2011. We’ve agreed on a price range, depending upon how many outfits I may want. I have three paychecks this month, the last on the 31st, with only taxes and my 401K coming out of it.

Depending upon how high my utilities are with the gas fireplace running, I may do it all on the first, or I may do half then and the other half when I get paid again on the 14th. By mid-January she will be paid for, and Fourthborn will have cash for her new sewing machine. We did a little research online for an upgrade to the one she has and talked about the fact that she may eventually want an industrial machine.

But for now she will do well with a good mid-priced machine and the serger and some hand-finishing. We both have an eye on the doll couture market, and we may do a mother-and-daughter Etsy site. She’s read their rules; I haven’t.

It will be a little weird to have a fully-human doll sitting on top of the dresser with my goat-girl, my vampie, my unicorn, and my fairie. And I will not be able to make her a sweater and skirt that suit her personality until after I have completed Willow’s socks (which may be done by Christmas), Lark’s shawlette/scarf, and little Faith’s silk duppioni altered-for-modesty harem pants. Which I can do after 1BDH’s Christmas stocking, which I can do after I finish the bags for Night in Old Bethlehem, which will happen tonight and/or tomorrow night.

Fourthborn was amazed at how much better the studio looks and how much easier it is to get from Point A to Point B in there, after all the puttering and pitching I’ve been doing. (Me, too.)

I am going to allow myself another doll purchase in 2011. Not sure if it will be Hope or Charity or Joy. I will not order her until I get my bonus in April or May, and I may put her off until 2012 in favor of a Lendrum spinning wheel. But for now, I am putting her in the budget.

If I do buy the Lendrum, I would probably sell my Louet S-10 wheel, but not until then. The sale of this wheel would give me roughly the cost of a doll Chutzpah’s size plus shipping from Korea.

Life is good. My living room is (mostly) tidy, the kitchen is under control, the bathroom is amazing, the studio is coming along, and I just shut the door to my room when company is here. I start at the temple on January 6th. My goal is to have the ongoing organizational push done by then, so I can start the new year off properly without the necessity to gag down black-eyed peas for good luck.

Southern tradition. I totally don’t get it. I will probably go for a nice pan of cornbread washed down with a tall glass of milk, instead.

Ms. Ravelled, signing off for now.