STAYCATION 2018, DAY 6 (TGIF)

I awoke at what I thought was 6:15, but by the time I made it into the kitchen, it was 5:30. Great! No, I mean it. It will be hot today, and I must exercise Bess and also water the drought-tolerant beds. So, I drank my hot chocolate, got dressed, and went out to open the kennel. Both dogs were ready to get up. I saw to Nellie’s needs, then put her in the house and took Bess for a walk.

 “You might have to water while I’m gone,” said Mike as he was leaving. “If you put the two hoses together blah blah blah nozzle blah blah blah, it will reach across the front.”

“Whatever,” I said to myself.

The spring has been cool enough – and wet enough – and the garden is well-enough established – that we haven’t needed to water yet. We gave up the drip system years ago because it was difficult to maintain, and now we just water once a week or so. But I will have to set up the hoses, and / or carry water, and for that, I deserve another staycation gift.

After yoga, I headed out for some shopping. I bought a 17.5-pound bag of dog food for $9.98. Naturally, a 50-pound bag would have been a better deal, but I didn’t want to wrestle with it. I also bought groceries – and a bottle of dark brown acrylic paint and a paint brush. 

Before

Work in progress

Once the groceries were put away, I tackled Bitty Baby’s “hair.” I didn’t know how to start, so I just smeared the paint over her head with the brush. The paint covered the bare spots well, but the edges looked awful!! I wished for a talented artistic person to show up and help me, but alas! – I was on my own. At that point I thought of the old antiquing process my dad used to use – rub it on and rub it off -- and was pleased to find that the paint could be rubbed off. I moistened a rag and began to rub that paint off along the

edges. Then, I dipped the moistened rag in the paint, wiping the thinned paint on and off until the effect was improved. The doll is much cuter now.

Another great staycation gift arrived today -- My Doll, My Style, by Anna Allen (here). Anna is one of my favorite doll clothes bloggers and this is her first book. I didn’t expect delivery until late this month, but to my delight, it was released early and arrived today.

A good walk does much to settle a dog, but an afternoon walk didn’t happen. We had just passed the neighbor’s house when Bess ran back home. And Nellie wasn’t going with us anyway, preferring instead to mosey around in the neighbor’s yard. Thankfully, they seem not to mind that we’re regular visitors.

Mike called tonight. It was a long, hot day for them, and he sounded tired.

Oh! – and when I went to bed I discovered my clock was off more than an hour, which explained why I thought it was 6:30 when I got up this morning. KW