davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2023

[davidd]

Except for the rearview mirror it almost looks at a quick glance as though they're in a small plane 
Ya gotta wonder at our disconnect from nature, when we have to buy firewood at a store.

Ha! You're right, it does look like an airplane! Now I wanna remove the mirror!

Yeah, well... I haven't had time lately, and Janie and Triv have been too busy fixing other things, to trek up on to the hillside where there's lots of downed wood to pick up. Also, the neighbor who borrowed my 2-wheeled wheelbarrow that I use for gathering firewood managed to run over it with a backhoe tractor last summer. – because neighbors and heavy equipment, right?    This dry and seasoned store-bought firewood is easy for guests at the holiday rental to light and get a good fire going without a lot of fussing around. And... I had a hardware store coupon that made it too cheap to pass up.

---

18 May - A Doll A Day 2023

Triv and Janie undertake a "simple repair" on a leaking outdoor water spigot.

There's absolutely nothing ominous about the vulture circling overhead, right?

"This bolt... seems... kinda... tight!"

.

"Son of a....!"

.

Janie teaches Triv an entirely new set of vocabulary words after a rusty bold head twists off, rendering the faucet, now blasting away at full bore, impossible to shut off.
.

"And there we go – all fixed! Ya just gotta use the right 'magic words!'"

.

The lesson? There are few problems that the right words and a sufficiently large hammer won't take care of!

[Alliecat]

Haha... this series made me laugh.
How do you shut off an unshutoffable faucet?!
Indeed, the right words and a hammer is a good way to approach the whole day, sometimes.

I know, they sell firewood for campers/tourists everywhere... and we like the convenience of not having to spend a ton of time foraging for things. There must be a balance between living off/with the land and still being comfortable...
Bummer about the wheelbarrow! Um, didn't they offer to replace it?!

[davidd]

How do you shut off an unshutoffable faucet?!

Bummer about the wheelbarrow!  Um, didn't they offer to replace it?!

By fixing it... while getting wet!     

Yeah, they made one of those half-hearted offers to replace it, but I didn't take them up on it. A new one costs over a hundred bucks now. Mine was old-ish, but still fully functional.

---

19 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

Amelia Inspects a Potential Ærodrome Home

I managed to clean out another diorama. This used to be my primary "multi-purpose" diorama space, usually serving a variety of purposes for Bratz doll photostories and as a generic background for photos. Now the Ameliæ Escadrille are considering commandeering the space for ærodrome purposes.

Seeing this room box "empty" again is reminding me why it ended up being set aside: the walls and windows are too reflective and are prone to distracting glare spots. I've tried coating the walls with "matte" sealer a couple of times, with little effect. I'm not sure what to do about the windows. I might remove the plastic windows and replace them with paper. I don't know if I can buff down the walls with wire wool to reduce the gloss. I might try a few things, and if they don't work, maybe it will be time to retire this space.

On the Amelia front -- a nice example showed up on eBay last week for $350. I added it to my eBay "watch list," and the seller soon offered a much better price, about a hundred off. However, my hobby budget is "below water" at the moment, so there was no way I could take advantage of the offer... and now she's gone.

[Alliecat]

They absolutely should have replaced it!

Would be nice to see some adventures of the Ameliae.
Maybe matte house paint for the walls…? Could you take all the inserts out of the windows, leave them open and then just stick a scenic picture behind them?

[davidd]

20 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

Gnatalie Imagines She's Living in 1923

A little book of tips for healthful living distributed by an insurance company in 1923.

[Alliecat]

...and are they helpful?
C'mon, you can't post that and not give us some tips!

[dargosmydaddy]

Ooh, that sounds like it could be unintentionally hilarious!

Professor Happy would be an interesting doll's name, for the right character...

[Alliecat]

I found it!
https://archive.org/details/professor_ha...ew=theater
Not quite what I was ex-pecting, but good for a bit of a chuckle.

[davidd]

I found it!
https://archive.org/details/professor_ha...ew=theater
Not quite what I was ex-pecting, but good for a bit of a chuckle.

What an amazingly cool find! 

Yup, that's the book!

---

21 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

Robot Standing Guard in the Storage Shed
(Or maybe its batteries have run down.)

---

22 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

A Decade in the Dark - Forgotten Hula Doll
Re-discovered After nearly Eight Years in Storage

---

23 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

Window Workers

Triv and Janie remove plastic windows from a doll-scale diorama room box. The windows are too reflective and shiny for photo purposes, and need to be either replaced with a different material or somehow "dulled down" to reduce glare issues.

---

24 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

A light sanding to reduce the surface gloss on the windows

---

25 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

A misting of satin grey paint to tone down the walls

---

26 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

"As long as we've taken it all apart, we should put lights in it!"

[Alliecat]

Oh definitely, put lights in it. I'd love to string fairy lights up everywhere in MY house.
...I'd love to have a house where that sort of thing would look good...

[davidd]

I'd love to string fairy lights up everywhere in MY house. 
...I'd love to have a house where that sort of thing would look good...

Fairy lights always look good. Or at least interesting.

You usually need a lot more of them than you'd ex-pect, though.

I'd say go for it!

---

27 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

T: "Is that Nelly?"

J: "Yeah, I think so. She looks kinda... sad! I wonder what's wrong?"

T: "Maybe she doesn't like the colored lights we put in the doll house windows."

J: "Admittedly, the lights are somewhat garish, but I doubt that's the problem."

J: "Ermmm... Nelly? Are you okay?"

T: "Are the gaudy colored lights giving you a headache?"

J: "Gaudy? The lights were your idea!"

T: "The idea was much cooler in concept than in implementation."

[davidd]

28 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

Triv and Janie Figure Out How To Fix Something That Needs Fixing

[Alliecat]

Great perspective on this one! What a fun shot.
Are we going to find out what's bothering Nelly?

[davidd]

Are we going to find out what's bothering Nelly?

I'm not sure yet.

---

29 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

1/6-scale Tiki Bar Project – Work in Progress

[davidd]

30 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

Doll House Project Detail