Pond Cleaning

Henry helped clean out all the dead leaves from the pond this morning.

Once finished he surveyed his work and rested a while.

There is probably quite a bit of sludge on the bottom he thinks, but there might also be some wildlife too so he is going to leave it. 

Upon having a wander around the garden he discovers the Camellia has buds on it.

He wonders how long it will be before they start flowering.

Henry comes across NZ Bear and they stand and chat a while.

Skip Filling!

Henry has had a busy day today filling the Skip (dumpster?) at the Sailors place.  So much rubbish to clear from the garden and garages, long overdue.  

It was amazing just how easy it was to fill it.

After half a day's work it was getting there.

By the end of the day it was pretty much full.  

You have to have it relatively level, so Henry was making sure nothing was sticking up too much.

I don't think he had ever seen so many plant pots, plastic bags from years of gardening (the house used to belong my Father in Law and he was an avid gardener.)  He was of the war generation when they never threw anything away in case it came in handy.  I think we will need another skip in a few months time to clear the rest of the stuff!  But the garden looks much better now and one of the garages is clear.  

Creative 2020 - Week 1

I've decided I'm going to continue recording my creative endeavours on my blog for this year as well, as it was a good record of what I made last year.

So to round up Week One, I made some things for a Hitty Swap I am taking part in, so actually can't post pictures yet - just in case...so once I know that they have been received I will add the pictures to this post.

Daffodils!

Henry and his NZ Bear friend (who is still waiting on a name!) were delighted to find some daffodils already sprouting when they went out for their nature watch walk this morning.

The New Year - The Year of Twenty!

The Year of Twenty!

Last year was a Creative Year...this year I want to somehow have the focus on 'twenty'.  I have had various ideas so far... some good and probably some impossible...so currently in the thinking process.  

Perhaps I could see if I can focus on twenty dolls (insert manic laughing here!) ...  with a view to eventually refining my collection significantly.  Of course this could be doomed to failure, especially knowing how sentimental I am!  There is a big part of me that would like to do this however, as I often feel very overwhelmed by my doll and prop collection and find it difficult to focus on just where I want to be headed and what I want to do. Jack of All Trades (or Collections!) springs to mind.

Of course I could use 'Twenty' in other ways...perhaps creatively....make twenty dresses, knit twenty items, animals, etc...  who knows the ideas could be endless?

I could sort out some groups of dolls with a maximum of twenty per group - which seems a lot, but if you think about my Sasha & Gregor doll family for example, it would be very easy to have twenty in the group as I am sure other Sasha collectors could relate to.

At the moment a lot of my dolls are still packed away, and probably will be for a while yet...so in a way it will be easier to focus on the few dolls I have out...I wonder just how many that is?

These are the dolls and two bears who are currently not packed away.  They conveniently add up to twenty! Although Romeo and Romeo Jr (my two monkeys) and Hilda Lawrence (Howard's wife) are not in the group and they are out.  

Some creative ideas are...

Finish carving my Hitty doll (who I think will be my 10th) and make twenty items of clothing for her.  I am optimistically hoping to finish carving her this month as there is a 'Carve a Hitty in January' Challenge on at the moment...and then to slowly work on her wardrobe of twenty items.

Make some Tiny Rag Dolls for my Etsy Shop - I know this probably won't happen until later on, perhaps March time... If I do, I think the maximum I will probably make will be twenty, and I don't suppose I will manage that in one year...but it is food for thought.

Visit twenty different places with Henry or my other travel companions and blog about those places.

I'd love to know what my friends and readers of this blog are doing this year with their dolls, collections etc...  so please feel free to share.

The Pond!

Henry is horrified at the state of our nature pond.  It definitely needs cleaning out.

He wonders whether we will get a chance this weekend to do something about it?!

A Quiet Walk

Henry and a friend enjoyed a lovely walk this afternoon.

Henry found this bear in Rotorua, New Zealand, in March last year (gosh was it really last year?!)  They are good friends, and hoping to spend a bit more time together this year.