davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2023

[davidd]

...then again, I'd never be dressed like that .....  

I'm still confused by your patchy snow.  How is there none at all in the background and then your slope is covered...?

You're a pirate, ain't'cha? I bet you swing around up in the rigging in an outfit that would make Tarzan blush!

Snow "at altitude" (6900 ft / 2100 m) is interesting. Annoying sometimes, but interesting. Even when the air temperature is chilly, or below freezing, the sun at this altitude is intense... once it manages to break through the overcast. Snow facing the sun (southern eksposure) tends to simultaneously melt and sublimate (directly evaporate without turning to liquid first), so snow on sunny slopes disappears much more quickly than snow on northern-facing slopes or in the shade. As you can see in some of the pictures, hillsides facing the sun might be completely dry while opposite slopes, even if not particularly steep, still have fairly deep blankets of snow. Snow banks in shaded spots can linger for days or weeks after everything else has melted off.

The trick to clearing decks, porches, driveways, and sidewalks is to get the snow scraped away in at least a few areas to bare ground. The bare ground (or deck planking) absorbs heat from the sun and the snow melts away from the edges of the uncovered areas fairly quickly.

Not all the snow sublimates. There's plenty of marshy, mushy melting going on. The melt-water re-freezes at night, forming a treacherous layer of ice under the snow. On warmer days, the driveway becomes a stream of flowing water.

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9 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Replacing a Washing Machine Inlet Valve

Because Winter breaks Everything
As Well as Crushing the Soul

[dargosmydaddy]

Some day the Smart Dolls will get an actual vacation... right?

[Alliecat]

You're a pirate, ain't'cha? I bet you swing around up in the rigging in an outfit that would make Tarzan blush!

Well, you've seen my pirate outfit, so that would be a No.
Interesting about the snow, that there is that much difference even though everything was in the sun when you took the pictures. I have some shady patches in the yard where it lingers, but they are really shady.

Because Winter breaks Everything
As Well as Crushing the Soul

Ain't that the truth.
...and when spring doesn't bring the changes you hoped for, the winds just blow the pieces away....

Some day the Smart Dolls will get an actual vacation... right?

...hmmm, I dunno... I don't think those poor girls know what vacation is. ...one wonders whether Dolly Welfare Services should be called in....

[davidd]

10 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Monster High Alarm Clock - Still Ticking after Ten Years

[Alliecat]

Haha, does this live in your room or the guest accommodations?

[davidd]

Haha, does this live in your room or the guest accommodations? 

As a testament to my maturity level, this has been my nightstand clock for the past ten years. Actually, it is almost worthless as a nightstand clock because the hands are utterly invisible at night, not being glow-in-the-dark, and the clock not having a lighted dial. 

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11 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Triv and Janie in the Storage Shed of Despair, getting ready to face

another day of thankless toil and drudgery; or as ready as anyone

can get when it comes to thankless toil and drudgery.

Is it too early for beer?

[Alliecat]

As a testament to my maturity level, this has been my nightstand clock for the past ten years. Actually, it is almost worthless as a nightstand clock because the hands are utterly invisible at night, not being glow-in-the-dark, and the clock not having a lighted dial. 

Hahaha.... well, as long as it wakes you up when it needs to.  It's probably better to not see it at night so you don't have to calculate how many hours of sleep you could still get if you could fall asleep RIGHT NOW.
.... and for all the plushies and whimsical things in it anyone would think my room was a kid's room... so it's OK.

Oh dear, the Storage Shed of Despair.  I imagine you might have a similar problem to me in getting rid of stuff, being in a relatively isolated area?  Not very many people to buy things even if you could get them excavated to sell?

Is it too early for beer?

[davidd]

I'll pop a photo-story installment in here to get things moving again:

12 April - A Doll A Day 2023:
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[dargosmydaddy]

Ha! So this version of Benedict Cumberbatch can actually say the word penguin correctly?

(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/201...h-penguins)

[Alliecat]

Haha, I thought that too, about her not being dressed for it.
Baffin Island seems to have sprouted a lot of trees

[davidd]

Ha! So this version of Benedict Cumberbatch can actually say the word penguin correctly?

(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/201...h-penguins)

Oh! Oh, I wish I'd known about that! I'd have worked it in to the story! Oh, that's too funny!
I might have to do a re-edit!

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Playing catch-up again. I finally got a card reader for my computer.



13 April - A Doll A Day 2023:


Even the Diabolical Bad Guys have
given up hope.

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14 April - A Doll A Day 2023:


Grace in the Face of Chaos --
wish I could feel, or at least act,
so serene amidst the clutter and confusion.

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15 April - A Doll A Day 2023:


Pullip clothing, in a random plastic bag,
far from the storage tubs in which the actual
Pullip Dolls are kept. How did this happen?

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16 April - A Doll A Day 2023:


Inaction Figures

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17 April - A Doll A Day 2023:


How does a fancy Integrity Poppy Parker doll
end up in a pile of clutter beneath a garden hose?
I don't know, but the situation offers an apt
illustration of the current state of overwhelming
chaos in which I find myself as of late.

[Alliecat]

Pengwings? Srsly?? And the producers let that go?
Shees.

"Inaction figures" looks like something that should be part of an art exhibition. Just like a metaphorical reflection-on-life kinda thing...
So instead of trying to tackle it all as a huge job, what if you tried to do just one little thing every day, even if it was dealing with one single item. Tiny successes breed momentum. And you could put up a calendar on which you record the one tiny thing you did -- even if it was just chucking out a small stack of old paper or putting one item up for sale or tidying one corner. Then you can look back at the things you got done and feel a bit of success.
I may or may not be trying to do something not quite entirely similar.

[davidd]

So instead of trying to tackle it all as a huge job, what if you tried to do just one little thing every day, even if it was dealing with one single item.

Good plan! We'll start with that silly garden hose!

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18 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

T: "Why is this garden hose even here?"

J: "We used it when we tried to drain the hot water heater."

T: "Oh, right! I remember now! But the outlet valve on the water heater was broken!"

J: "Yeah, so we couldn't drain it... and we didn't put the hose away."

T: "'Cuz we were leaving. That was the last thing we were gonna do before going away for the winter."

J: "So let's put it away now, out in the shed where it belongs."

T: "Where we won't be able to find it the next time we need it."

J: "Errr... yeah."

[Alliecat]

Haha.
Yay, one thing done!
Then you make sure you are being mindful and totally present in the moment when you put something away, and not distracted, and you take a mental snapshot of where the thing is. So you can remember where you put it and don't end up rampaging around swearing about how you can't find it.
...or maybe that only works if you have a very visual memory. Perhaps you do.
Now -- do one more little thing tomorrow!

[davidd]

I can't seem to get caught up, let alone get ahead. It's one thing after another. And then another.

Anyway:

19 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Barbie in a Bag

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20 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Ernest Hemingway Action Figure