I know I have been falling behind on posting lately...I am sorry.  Things tend to get really busy around here.  I promise to be better at this from here on.

I am still working on the giveaway dolly, I have a few custom things to wrap up and some birthday things but hopefully, I am crossing my fingers here, I should have something more detailed to post by the end of the week :o)

That's it for now, I will keep this updated more regularly...promise :o)

Back to Business :o)

Lisa's Dolly 

We're back!

Well, it was an awesome trip.  The weather held out for us and made for a great time.  These are a few images of the trip.  We went to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas.  

For more go and check out my Flikr page...if you haven't had enough here :o)

Cedar Falls

There were mini falls all over the place on our way down into the canyon
Digger and Brandy loved being with us...even in the wilderness, they are giant floor pillows :o)
This is a view of the overlook over at the gravesite of Petit Jean.  Very pretty.

I am still trying to get my bearings so give me a bit.  I am hoping to get all caught up and ready to go by this weekend.  I'll keep you posted.

Nancy

Going on a trip....

This will be my last posting until the 2nd.  We will be gone until the 1st.

The weather doesn't seem to want us to leave so we are altering our plans to work around the rain :o)  We're all very excited.  

I will post images on Flikr of our trip when we get back and possibly some here.

Until next time,

Peace,

Nancy

Monday 23rd

We are getting ready to go out of town for a few days so we decided to wait until the beginning of April to kick off the giveaway.  It just makes more sense to hold while we are actually around :o)

We've been quite busy lately...but busy is good.  I have a couple of more positing in they shop before we leave then I will be offline for a few days.

We had some folks inquire about our TV experiment.  Its been a while now and I can honestly say we don't miss it.  Whatever we want to watch is at our finger tips whenever we want it.  What's funny, is for the most part, we end up not being motivated enough to actually put it on so we end up doing something else :o)  Its a great change to see in such a short period of time.  Do I see us as going back to the old way ?  No.  There is no reason.  Like I said, everything we want is at our fingertips.  With it all put in our control, we have noticed how passive it is to watch TV.  

Anyway,  all in all, a success.  I would highly recommend it to everyone...you will be surprised :o)

Until next time,

Peace,

Nancy

What's new?

OK, so it's been a big week...busy too.  I have finished up one more doll, she's listed already, and have about two more to go to get caught up.  I am working on a boy who should be listed tomorrow morning.  Then I hope to have the time to sit and work on the giveaway doll....I did say I wanted to have her done by the end of the weekend :o)

Another note, we now have a website...yup...the URL is  

www.Dragonflyshollow.com

Its still a work in progress thanks to DH for putting his extensive IT experience to work for me :o)  I am not sure which direction I really want it to go in now...there are several that are really appealing to me :o)  Oh well, I'll just play it by ear.  At any rate, the site is ours and its all up to us as to what we do from this point...yeah :o)  I will definitely keep you posted.

Tomorrow,  Dr Jane Goodall is speaking at the Memphis Zoo...we decided we are gonna try to make it...we'll see...as much as I would love to hear her speak, it all depends on the morning :o)

Have a great night, and if you have the inclination, check out the new doll.

Enjoy 

A Day at Home

Our 7 and 5 year olds spent the other day making a fort out of our dining room table.  I thought I would share these...Remember when we were young and did this?  I can remember taking over the kitchen table just like this :o)

Underneath, a world of their own :o)

I love kiddos :o)

Earth Hour

Well, since its getting closer, I thought I would post a little something about it.  Earth Hour is happening on Saturday March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 pm...wherever you are...local time.

Here is a link the website ... Earth Hour 

Sunday....

Well, its been a long week and a not so wonderful weekend.  I think after giving once a week listing a try, I am going back to my regular way of doing things.  It was easier for me and though it was a bit of work, it still worked fine for me...so tomorrow, I hope to have a giant red gnome I have been knitting ready to post in the shop, and pretty much daily list something from  there on.  

Now on another note, I just received my first negative feedback.  Its upsetting because the customer never even contacted me about any issue they had. She ordered clothing for a 12 inch Waldorf Doll...the doll was a Peppa doll. I don't know anything about those dolls or their measurements.  She also left a scathing posting that was rather uncalled for.  Especially the part about the mass producer being better than homemade :o(  It was all rather mean for someone who had never given me a chance to help her out or anything.  I am a bit perplexed because I have not had an issue with negative feedback, nor with any items.  What I gather from other Etsyans, is that it is bound to happen eventually and that you cannot please everyone...some folks will just be unhappy.  

To be perfectly honest, I am a bit angry about her viscous tone and frankly more than a little hurt that she did not contact me.  I really wish she had, you all pretty much know I am workable and bend over backwards for my customers...this just hurts and its mean.  I gues the world is just full of angry, hostile people these days.

Anyway, that was just a wonderful ending to a wonderful weekend...Let's hope tomorrow is better.  

I hope you all are doing well. I will spend the rest of the night hanging out with my gang watching Heroes :o) and try to forget about this for a while.

Peace.

Friday.....

Wow!  What an incredibly long day!  Its taken a bit but I uploaded all my new listings for the day as well as some new Wee Fuzzies :o)  Drop by the shop and check them out when you have the time...let me know what you think...

You will notice, I have changed things up a bit.  I am trying to figure out what way to photograph the items.  I have used a white board background, but I almost prefer the natural setting of our backyard...though with the weather lately, that would not be very picturesque.  Look at them and PLEEEAAASSSEEE give me your input.  Seriously, I am playing around with it to see what works best, so your input would be appreciated :o)

On another note....

As I was working earlier today, I was thinking, as all of us homeschoolin' moms do at one time or another, that maybe we need to do more :o)  (you know we always wonder whether or not we are doing right by these guys)  As I continued working I overheard the four younger children playing in the boy's room.  They had built an entire city out of legos (not the kit ones either) they had a diner, bank, store, houses, police station and fire department (OK that one was a kit) They had a whole city all set up.

They were acting out an entire economy :o)  The 10 yo needed more bricks to add on to her building, she went to the bank and ended up having a long conversation about lending...way too long to note here, but suffice to say there was a lot of chatter about interest rates :o)  The 5 yo decided she needed more customers in the diner so she went about "advertising"...if you would call grabbing people and putting them in her diner :o)  Yep she was kidnapping patrons :o)  Look out for that one...Well ultimately she was fired :o(  but she eventually became the owner of the local bank....hmmmm it all makes sense now :o)

Needless to say, while simply sitting and listening quietly, I heard talk of interest and principal (yes, that word was used...once) as well as supply and demand (the 7 yo had all the bricks and was seriously overcharging for them :o)  a whole bunch of adding and subtracting, discussions on structural integrity and ultimately good neighbors (the fire department donated some bricks to rebuild a damaged home :o)

All in all, I think they are all doing just fine :o)  We'll let it be for now :o)

I am off for the night, enough computer time for me for one day...enjoy the dolls, and don't forget feedback...

Peace,

Nancy

The Latest Duo

Well we had a good weekend with a b-day party with lots of our friends.  It was great fun and the weather was nice.

This new mindset of making time has allowed me the freedom to actually get into some things I have wanted to do for a while but did not have the time.  

These two little guys have been floating around in my head for months now...I finally was able to make them and they turned out every bit as awesome as I imagined they would :o)

Both are made of amazingly soft cotton velour and stuffed with wool.  Their wings are made from cotton fabric and have decorative stitching.  Their wings are securely sen down and there are no removable parts.  Their eyes and mouths are hand embroidered...

They will be listed in the shop on Friday...

This little guy is 15 inches long and his wing span is 18 inches

This little one is 15 inches long with a wing span of 15 inches

More Snow Day images

Snow Day!!!!!

I skipped a couple of days, we had been so busy lately we needed to slow down a bit.  Thankfully, we had a snow storm to help us out :o)  Here are some images of the back yard early in the morning...before the kids got out in it :o)

Internet TV...week one, in review

So far, so good :o)  Seriously.  We have spent the week watching nothing but what can be received via regular broadcast HDTV and the internet.

Broadcast TV has a lot of bugs to work out.  Reception is sketchy at best but it is livable.  Sometimes though its like watching satellite TV when a storm is coming thru.  The images gets really pixally and it freezes a lot.  I now know why the decided to postpone the permanent switch.

Internet TV has way fewer hang ups.  It stops rarely, only when its buffering something.  We have not missed anything we would have watched on TV.  I have to say, the best part about it is that we can watch what we want when we want it...its like TiVo only completely FREE :o)  Complete seasons of various hit TV shows are available on Netflix and Hulu or the network stations sites themselves have the rest available.  The caveat, many shows only become available to watch over the internet after they were originally aired.  For us, that is no problem.  The thought of waiting a day to watch a show is no bother at all...especially since its free :o)

Its not all advertising free.  There are the occasional commercials (one per break) and some networks have a mini advertisement logo at the bottom of the screen...if you are used to ignoring the station identification, you will be fine with this.  

The image quality is great.  I have absolutely no complaints about this...its excellent.

The kids have taken to it with ease...as kids tend to do so easily.  They know where their shows are and where to find them and they just go to it :o)

All in all, I would have to say, so far, so good.  We are still a bit overwhelmed with all the choices we have at our finger tips but we all seem to be enjoying it :o)  

Happy B-Day Meagan!

My fourth kiddo is 10 today.  I honestly cannot believe that she is getting so big.  I know its a cliche but seriously, it was just yesterday that she was a toddler roaming around trying desperately to keep up with her two crazy, older brothers while intermittently hanging with her older sister playing dress up  :o)  

She now is an amazing 10 year old who can be as feminine as girls can be, but is strong and confident enough to take on any boy and win :o)  Its so funny watching her out on skate ramps with her pink bmx bike :o)  In minutes, she ends up with a flock of kids around her trading tips.

That's our Meagan :o)

Our tradition is that the B-Day kiddo gets to dictate the family schedule for the day of their B-Day.  If they want to hang out, go out, play games whatever, it is their call.  Meg has decided that she wants to play video games with the gang today....until its time to go to lunch with mom & dad...alone :o)

The Great Television Experiment

We have decided to test out whether or not it is possible to replace our regular TV (we currently have satellite) with only using our internet.  With sites like Hulu.com and Netflix.com as well as the fact that every channel out there seems to have their shows available online, it would seem as though one could...on the surface...simply use their TV as a monitor and watch the shows that way. 

Netflix has full downloadable "watch instantly" DVD's and Hulu has a ton of shows available. We have wondered about it for a while so we decided to give it a try and see if it was possible and what, if anything, we would be giving up.  So far, we have realized its not as passive as the TV.  You do have to be more interactive in that you have to actually choose what you will watch rather than have it fed to you.  It took us a bit to get used to it...we still kinda are not...the first time we tried it, there were so many choices to choose from we could not decide on anything so we just turned it off :o)  Not really a bad thing if you think about it :o)

We officially started this past weekend, and so far, so good.  Today the kids watched several shows on Cartoonnetwork.com that they usually watch on TV.  The best part...no irritating commercials :o)  and no ridiculous teen queen pop videos...yay...that alone would make this worth it :o)

We are beginning this exercise using nothing more than a regular PC hooked up to our TV.  I will keep you all updated as it goes along.  

Rale

This is Rale, my oldest daughter's pet corn snake.  I had to show off this picture because it turned out so well.  He has won me over completely.  When we first got him, he was so small, I had strands of yarn that was thicker than he was :o)  He has grown quite a bit since then.

Three Guys and a Shovel

DH got home and got to work. He had the boys help him out...actually, the boys spent much of the time watching as Dad did most of the work :o)  They did provide a whole lot of comic relief though.

The fix cost a total of $13.00 ...most of which was consumed with purchasing the glue needed to adhere the pieces together.

In the end, it took almost no time at all to fix and everything was set to right again...yeah

Is Everything OK?.....

That's how it started yesterday afternoon when a friend came over to visit for the afternoon.  I opened the door and she immediately asked me if everything was OK.  My response...sure...what do you mean?  She then pointed out to me that there was all sorts of water in front of my house.  I casually brushed it off to her saying.."That's probably left over from the rain"  she stood there patiently waiting for me to realize it hadn't rained recently.  

Needless to say, a water maine broke (or at least a small plastic part of it) in front of my house.  Water was seeping out and pooling up in the gutter in front of our house.  It was flowing down the road right into our neighbor's from yard creating a nice reflecting pool :o)  On the upside, we realized that our house sits on the highest point of our hill :o)  On the down side, their house sat slightly lower...it has also been for sale forever and finally found a buyer...in this market, no small feat...

We called the water company and they sent out a crew who subsequently went about turning off our water to stop the flow at least ( we had already established that it would not hurt us at all but our neighbor probably doesn't have flood insurance).  The plastic part that broke was on "our side" so we had to fix it.  No worries, DH can take care of it in a snap...oh, I forgot to mention...he was out of town.  Yup, the first time he goes out of town in MONTHS and this happens.  So, no water until DH gets back to replace the tiny plastic part...urrrrggg

The kids and I took it all in stride...what exactly would getting upset do?  

Now due to the water in the front of the house, the side yard...where the dog's pen is...was a mud bog.  Or at least a portion of it was muddy.  That would be the very same portion they could NOT resist going into and out of repeatedly...at least it seemed because they had mud all over...and they got it all over.  So, no water and two muddy dogs who were getting mud everywhere.  

We went out and dropped off DD at her friend's home and picked up some bottled water (lots of bottled water).  We got home, let the muddy dogs back in and called it a night.  Well, not before spending a few hours being followed around by Brandy (the teenage dog :o) who was frankly upset that DD was not home ( the two of them like to get...or rather NEED to get their beauty sleep together) so she felt compelled to follow me around and at every opportunity, sit in front of me, stare and growl or moan at me.  

Needless to say, its all OK.  The pipe piece will be fixed soon and as of this moment, the neighbor is not burning effigies of us :o)  and I get to have two days of no cooking...yeah!  That alone almost makes it worth it :o)

Just another day :o)

New Month....

Well, surprisingly enough, its been a busy month so far. Not complaining, just stating the facts. Its great to be so busy. Needless to say, I have been forced to put some things I wanted to get going on hold for a bit...not so much on hold as pushed back a week or two. I am working feverishly to get my instructions finished for both my gnome families and giant gnome. I am also working on the patterns for clothing as well as my own set of doll body patterns. I have completed the full step by step instructions for making the dolls. I am giving them away free to anyone who orders doll making supplies.

Whew! all that aside :o) These are the things I was able to get done...

I listed a bunch of new items today as well as some things from my daughter...drop by and check it out.

I just got word that the CPSIA was voted unanimously to be put on hold for 12 months...its not over, it just gives us all 12 more months to fight it and make sure it uses common sense :o)

Beginning this week, I will post a special here on the blog. I will not say what day, or even what it will be so be on the look out :o) my own version of an online scavenger hunt :o)

I am now officially a member of the Etsykids team...yeah. As soon as I have the time and the will to sit and play with it, I will put a link to my Etsykids profile here, like I did the link for the sheteam.

That's it for today...I will see you all tomorrow :o)