An exercise studio for the imagination

Another study of the Tailor of Gloucester, with Pensive Bear. I like it, but it's not what I want for the final image. Will try again.

BELOW, Beatrix Potter's watercolor and ink original:

Mine fell apart several times, each time in a different way.
It's tricky to get all the elements in place--and my stiff old fingers fumble with little things.
Also, I lack technical skills. How to attach things to one another?
Luckily, it's not rocket science--twist ties and hair bands work great.

Mostly, this sort of thing is an exercise studio for the imagination. I like it, and I'd like to get better at it.
I'm thinking about how to set up & stock a toy photography "studio"--- a dedicated place on my table. 

What do I need?
Not much--mostly stuff I have or can get at a hardware store (or work):
A box & standing screens to control (block) light--cardboard, tin foil.
Lights (candles, LED lights, a flashlight).
A selection of attachers and stands, from dental bands & blu-tack to C-clamps and mini-tripods.
Maybe a mini-fan too, to move stuff like fabric, hair, smoke. (How to make smoke?)

I googled it, and, yep, that's about it--get a few toys, a few basic tools, and bring the imagination and patience.  Here's an intro:
Toy Photography Basics, by photographer James Gibbs.

"I want to choose."
 

I'd like to get a better at baking too, even though I want to eat less bakery. I can take it to work.
Everyone liked the peach cobbler I made for Mr Furniture's birthday yesterday. (Secret ingredient: butter.) Most importantly, Mr Furniture liked it. He didn't say anything much––he's not about praise––but I could tell he was happy.

I'd told Big Boss I'd bake him something for his birthday this month too. What did he want?

He didn't know.

Pie? Pudding? Cookies? Cake? Fruit salad?

Cake.

Fruit? Chocolate? Vanilla?

Chocolate.

"Okay", I said, "I can choose a recipe myself or find a few recipes for chocolate cakes and let you choose one."

"I want to choose."

There it is. This is so elemental, don't you think? Even if we don't know what we want, we want to learn our choices and then choose.

I sent him five cake choices:
Black Forest (with cherries); banana chocolate; chocolate caramel (with caramel frosting); vanilla (yellow) cake with chocolate buttercream frosting; and Classic chocolate cake with chocolate  frosting.

Some of these are spendy. I'll skip the kirsch, if Big Boss chooses Black Forest, but cherries and whipping cream...
I like doing it though, and it's a nice thing to do. We get day-old bakery donated from corporate grocery stores, but my coworkers appreciate a homemade cake.
I wasn't sure if they'd care, but they do.

Things at work are better since the City cleared out the fires across the street--twice now. The air around work had been toxic--literally toxic, from "our neighbors" (street dealers & friends) burning garbage in grills the past few cold weeks.

The chemical stench of plastics in the fire was frightening, on an animal level. Also, open flames roaring near a wood fence and not far from a wood house...
I started to dread going to work like I never have before.

But I guess the City does take the fire hazard seriously, and have legal recourse, in this case. After two clear-outs, the fires have not returned (yet?).