A Garden of Virtues

She does not have a pedigree. She has no identifying markings. I guess she is probably a supermarket or drugstore mass-produced porcelain doll from the last ten years. But for some reason her face and her coloration called to me through eBay. When I unboxed her I was not disappointed. I found she really is special-looking. So this morning (in the motel) I am straightening her hair. When I get home I will trim the uneven ends and recurl it. I have been trying to decide if I should make her a Snow White character doll or let her be a Victorian girl as she is. I have washed her blue dress, stockings and pinafore. I am just waiting till I am done with her hair to dress her.

I awoke this morning to my new Paradise Galleries girl. I am completely amazed by Linda Mason's dolls. This little girl has such a beautiful presence and scale. It's sort of something you sense in the proportion of the face and hands.

"The wind was hard and fast, howling against the immovable keep. Within lights glowed. Like beacons the panes of illuminated glass dazzled my eyes, so cold I thought surely they had frozen open. I knew not myself. I knew not my hands, which hung as exanimate wraiths from my arms. My clothes, dull rags, twisted around me, and it seemed they made no difference against the ice and the wind. I felt myself drawn into the warmth of the keep. I was past gratitude-nay, not past-but I knew that I had been reduced to a bestial state. I was too ashamed of myself and my imposition to look my benefactor in the face."   It was thus that we found "Caroline." I saw her in the St. Vincent de Paul resale shop and was captivated by her forlorn looks. I gathered her limp body in my arms, and Leslie and I brought her home. In the sewing room I removed her wig, dismantled her limbs, and after eyeing her stuffing decided to discard it along with the wig. I took her body pieces ap...

    Today we . - drove around Austin all day ! - shared a margarita cupcake at Sugar Mama's - met some nice people on the sidewalk who thought he was a girl - shopped at Secret Oktober - tried to see St. Mary's Cathedral, but it was closed It is so much easier to be with Leslie when I am in ophelia-wear (Victorian/vintage/gothic). Somehow when I am dressed "normal" I feel super-awkward. My goal is one day to never be dressed normal . ! I don't even remember anything about yesterday or the day before. My memory has gotten so short. It's shortening every minute. All I remember is writing poetry in my journal in the Indian restaurant. I remember holding lace in the antique stores. I remember walking along the streets of Austin with Nathan and Leslie. Nothing else . matters . at all.

I have not been spending much time on my computer at all lately . not even to write my story. I have been preoccupied with studying fashions of times past, and unfortunately I have no boundaries and no particular preference. Well, that's not true. The fashions from the 1840's must be my favorite, because they sort of make me grow still and stare with awe. They are not much studied, very early Victorian and post-Regency - but the hairstyles are what I love so much. That and I associate this look with Mary Shelley and many early Romantics; in fact, it is commonly called "the Romantic look." So when online I have been collecting fashion plates and information . that is it. I have not been writing my story or even buying things from eBay really. I think this particular fashion plate is immensely stylish. The woman in the white lace waist and green skirt . well, I am going to have that outfit. I adore the look of these women. It makes me think of things like small dos...

365 bjd - fading light , originally uploaded by blacsylc . We watched it get dark. I pretty much can't get home in time anymore to do an outdoor pic. >:( I have been overwhelmed ... I am still doing the project every day, but I won't upload every day, and if my pic is bad I'm not advertising it... So that was yesterday's. Here's today's... The cockatielier.

bjd pic - Wish book , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Today we got the wish book ... er ... American Girl catalog in the mail today. Leslie is browsing ...

bjd pic daily - so many choices , originally uploaded by blacsylc . We got four new wigs in the mail today. I love the random pack I got -- it's in Halloween colors. We are still waiting on one more fancy wig though.

  Henry: Zzzzz. Leslie: Hey! What are you doing in my room? Henry: .   Leslie: Hey, kitty, will you let me pet you? Henry: I'm not sure about that.   Leslie: Nice kitty. Henry: Er.   Leslie: There we go. Nice kitty. Henry: {twitches}   Henry: Mommy, is he going to hurt me?   Leslie: See, this isn't so bad. Henry: No, it isn't.   Henry: Purrrr...   Henry: Zzzzz..

bjd pic daily - Leslie and Henry hang out , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Today I made a short photostory... to follow this post.

bjd pic - some days we are uninspired , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Or we think we are uninspired. We think and dream and write nothing down, and do nothing, and it seems like things are just getting more undone, and the dishes pile up. And maybe tomorrow we will start living the dream.

bjd pic daily - tomorrow morning's coffee , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie is helping me make tomorrow morning's coffee. He knows how bad I will need it.

bjd pic daily - October reverie , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie glimpses the last rays of the sun, which sinks ever so early.

bjd pic- the beginning of something , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Uh oh, Leslie has powered up his microscope and is figuring it all out. I can't wait to see what he decides to do. I have a feeling he is going to have me buying antique slides on eBay. I don't know where I found the courage to plug in and turn on this antique microscope. It's one of those old timey plugs. I don't know if I am more surprised that it works, or that I am not electrocuted. The things I do for him.

bjd pic - The biologist , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie learns the ins and outs of his new microscope.

bjd pic - Halloween tree , originally uploaded by blacsylc . We finished the Halloween tree today! Complete with the bittersweet garland, bows, and black and orange cookie ornaments.

bjd pic - morning meditation , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie sits for a moment by a stone on our morning walk. Location: Canyon of the Eagles

bjd pic daily - The paddleboats , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie explores the abandoned paddleboats in the woods by the lake. Location: County Road 134,Burnet,United States

1 bjd pic daily - the biologist , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie finds a bleached backbone on the lake shore. We are near an eagle's nest. Location: Ellen Halbert Dr,Burnet,United States

1 bjd pic daily - Leslie and the black cat , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Is it unlucky to encounter a sleek black cat on a fine October day? Unfortunately I did not make it through the outing without a rooster "encounter." Yet he leaves the cat alone, I don't understand.

1 bjd pic daily - kaffeeklatsch , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie had the coffee brewing-- we had a kaffeeklatsch when I got home. Hazelnut coffee with crunchy strawberry cookies for dipping. Happy Tuesday!

1 bjd pic daily - capriciousness and refusal , originally uploaded by blacsylc . A purple carnation implies capriciousness, and a striped one indicates refusal, according to the language of the flowers. But to my thinking, both things can make for an interesting relationship.

1 bjd pic daily - in the barn , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie hangs out in the old barn on a crisp fall day.

1 bjd pic daily - finishing the cookies , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie finishes baking the ornaments. All the moisture has to come out of the cookies before we make them ornaments.

1 bjd pic daily - Baking night , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Leslie and I made cookies, but they aren't to eat. They will be ornaments for our Halloween tree when we are done with them.

1 bjd pic daily - I feel strange , originally uploaded by blacsylc . I should not have eaten that mushroom.

Magic mushrooms , originally uploaded by blacsylc . If I eat one, will it make me small or tall, or... ?

1 bjd pic daily - perfect day , originally uploaded by blacsylc . The weather is beautiful today, an autumnal turning. I am just so glad and grateful for the seasons' change, the chance to begin again.

Hot Looks Stacey , originally uploaded by blacsylc . Hot Looks Stacey as she came to me in white outfit.

The family gothic , originally uploaded by blacsylc . 1 bjd pic daily - Leslie and Violette pose with Frau Lester, one of the egg babies I made last weekend. I am coming up with use for all these eggs. ;)