Misfits (Would you fall in love with you?)

Good morning! (8 a.m.ish, as I write). Here I am after one cup of coffee showing off my favorite new thing (from the thrift store, of course)--Moose & Bear p.j. bottoms. They remind me of old shadow lampshades at a motel in Duluth.

Wildlife Report

I've been quizzing Ms Moon about wildlife in her Florida yard. Alligators?
No, but they are in a nearby creek. (!)
Panthers?
"Uh? No?" But there is an orange cat that bites and scratches.
(I looked it up: Florida panthers are almost extinct in the wild.)

I've seen a moose once in my life--in a wilderness park in northern Minnesota, almost in Canada. It walked across the trail I was on, far ahead of me but still massive and stunning.
I've never seen a bear in the wild, but they're pretty common once you're out of town--they ransack garbage cans in people's yards or campgrounds. A coworker who lives in a nearby small town sees black bears regularly.

Mostly, I see squirrels and sparrows. Very efficient life forms; like us humans, they eat anything and can live with concrete.
Once in a while you'll see a raccoon when it's dark. The storm sewers are their underground highways. But they're smart, and they keep out of sight.

Lots of animals live along the Greenway bike path between the Mississippi river and the chain of lakes in town, but a lot of them, like foxes, are nocturnal. Also, great at hiding. A friend saw a deer one night when she was biking home. Mostly I see feral cats.

Being on the Mississippi River, this city is on a migration route. Lots of bright little things pass through in the spring--you see bird watchers out with binoculars. Also big honking geese and swans and duck-like things (loons! are pretty cool)––and eagles––including bald eagles, easy to spot with their white heads--and hawks.
Once I saw a hawk swoop onto a squirrel in an alley--the squirrel zig-zagged and got away.

And that's my Wildlife Report.

II. Misfit Toys at the Holidays

Toys Recreate Paintings is taking a break over the holidays because I have to CLEAN THE APARTMENT!
They are going on vacation to the Island of Misfit Toys.

 
I'm hosting two Christmas get-togethers. Each is small, but the work is almost the same whether it's three or thirty people.  I don't mind, but I don't want to recreate a painting at the same time.

The one this evening is normally given by Sophie around Winter Solstice. She had a stroke this summer, however, and while she's a lot, lot better, she's not up for entertaining. The main event at this event is always the ginger cake, which I'll be making. It's made with half-a-cup of fresh grated ginger. I'm also making shepherd's pie (with beef, so technically cottage pie, but no one calls it that)--fast and easy.

The other is the return of my Christmas Eve dinner--until I moved in with HouseMate, every year I'd invite people over for pot roast (also easy, though not fast). Of course with Covid, I couldn't have done that anyway. Now I can again.

I've mailed my cards and mailed or handed out the 2023 girlette calendars. I don't do much in the way of gift giving. Working at a thrift store, I see lots of things for people, but I usually give them away when I find them, rather than saving for later. Because I'm impatient.

Recreating paintings with toys is an exercise in patience, for sure. I never get mad at the toys, but sometimes I do swear with frustration. Then it helps if I stop and eat something.
Yesterday's Judith took so long, I realized I hadn't eaten lunch--unusual for me.

Oh! DO check out Linda Sue's Judith--as always, she cracks me up and impresses me with her free-wheeling excellence.💓💓💓

My re-creation's challenges were mostly technical--like, dyeing cloth for Judith's gown--not so much imaginative challenges. The result looks great, but the impact comes mostly from the dramatic lighting. In photography, that's sort of a cheat.

I put a lot more creative interpretation into the Manets, and they are my favorites so far. Maybe my top favorite is the bundle of asparagus.
I feel that I would fall in love with someone who recreated a painting of a bundle of asparagus with dolls. (I'd think Judith was totally awesome, yes, but kind of . . . expectable. *)

Are there things you do that would make you fall in love with you?

I would love the things I do, but would I fall in love with me, overall?
I don't know.
I would love to know me, I'm sure, but I might find me too prickly and judgmental to fall in love with...  I adore those people who don't get ruffled by other people. (I think I've met two.)
I am not one of those people.

I really don't know. I would like to make dinner for me though, I am sure of that! And now I must get going on that.
Change out of my moose-and-bear jammies first though. Wouldn't want to get them dirty--they are now my favorite item of clothing.

Happy Misfitting!

 

* P.S. While I was writing this post, Ms Moon left a comment on my Judith recreation that made me rethink my dismissive judgement ("a cheat... expectable"). I think I may not be seeing my work objectively.
Ms Moon wrote:

"The lighting, as you said, is indeed the star of the show.
But somehow you have created magic with those girlettes. You have created and crafted the intensity and tension of the painting with these simple dolls. You have turned them into actors in this world you have made and oh, how they shine! "

Once I'd emailed someone who believes in spirits (literally), "But of course, the girlettes are me."
She'd written back: "Don't be so sure. I think you may have called down some lively little sprites."

Ever since then, I've wondered... At any rate, it's not accurate to call the work I do with them entirely expectable.