throwback Thursday - "dramatis personae"

in which our plucky heroine reintroduces the cast and tidies up some loose ends...

Back in May 2019, I first experimented with Ann Wood's Tiny Rag Doll pattern, which has brought me so much delight and the company of assorted tinyfolk in the years that followed. I am always amazed and amused at how such scraps of fabric and fluff become little personalities with definite likes and dislikes, with strong preferences for what their names will be, and with stories I am surprised to learn

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~ Nandina ~
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Nandina was the third of the tinyfolk here, after her older sister Zinnia and pal Hazel left for parts north. In June of 2020, I wanted even imaginary company in the still raw isolation of that year.

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~ Hazel and Zinnia ~

These two were the very first of the tinyfolk, and brought me a renewed pleasure in the miniature world, which had been my hobby as a girl. I'd been following the blog of the artist Ann Wood for some time, the source of all these small things and how to make them. After being drawn to make the clothespin doll bed for Rafny, I then had to make some of the tiny rag dolls, though these two soon told me that they really needed to go live with Young Kestrel instead of here at Acorn Cottage.

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~ Xanthy ~

By October, Nandina was eager for a friend her own size, and as part of the 100 day creativity challenge, Xanthy arrived at Acorn Cottage. From the start, that one had a very definite persona, and while we enjoyed her company, before too long they decided that life would be more fun up at Mud Bay, and trekked off for life with Hazel and Zinnia...

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~ Almandine ~

In the summer of 2021, after some interesting experimenting with the spun cotton technique, a fox head gradually became the fox-girl Almandine...

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~ Opal ~

Opal got her start in life as part of a diorama of Viking grave goods! For a long time after that, she sort of drifted around Tansu Terrace like, well, a nameless ghost... without clothing of her own, or even much of a facial expression. Finally, inspired by the 13 week Mini Doll Wardrobe challenge, I embroidered her face, and have been having a good time making a coordinated wardrobe mostly in shades of bluegrey, with a few bright accents such as this tiedye top

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~ Kenya ~

Kenya Ogidni former Berkeley radical (and mother to Zinnia and Nandina) now manages a cooperative gallery space at one end of Tansu Terrace. Raúl (not seen here) is the father of both her children and remains a deeply committed intersectional justice activist. They met on the picket lines for the NFAW strikes and have been together ever since.

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I will often joke about sunspots when zoom or other media connections work poorly or freeze up... but there really are sunspot storms a-happening...

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Last week I finally sorted out the elastic straps on my P100 mask... ever since I started using it, the adjustable straps were much too long, so I wrapped the ends around the adjusters to keep them from loosening, which left the ends waving out from my face like oversize cat whiskers! An additional goofy addition to the already peculiar looking though very excellent mask.

Last month when Mikki was here, I noticed that her mask had the ends of the straps neatly stitched down. Why I never before thought to do that I will never know, but I finally took needle and some button and carpet thread in hand and now the mask more tidy and easier to wear!

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	a dozen tetras	porch valance	plum logs
2	tiny doll shorts	mask elastics	oldest pinafore
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. elastic mask straps are now stitched in place
2. so far, my imagination has never failed me
3. The electricity has held steady so far today, with only one very short wobble. This means that I can stay indoors, safe from heat sickness. It is over 100F on my front porch right now, but the heat should begin to moderate tomorrow...

Time of Isolation - Day 1516