Breaking rules, or the mourning after

Rita Cheryl accompanied me to work today, and hang the rules.  No one will see her except me and Coworker B.

The news today is not good.  A nursing home in Monette collapsed, and there were two confirmed dead when I went to bed last night (the New York Times is now saying just one dead, but we'll see about that).  I watched it go through Mayfield, Kentucky and prayed that the damage wouldn't be bad, but well...y'know how sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes He lets it rage and then calms the child?  Oh Lordy, Mayfield got hit HARD!!!  Here's a picture of the damage, shared by Amir Tsarfati, one of my mother's (and my) favorite preachers.  

Officials are predicting anywhere from fifty to a hundred dead in Kentucky, most of which were at a candle factory in Mayfield that apparently collapsed.  Factories are dangerous places to be in a tornado, kids.  Even if safety measures are in place, factories are flat-out unsafe.  Anyway, the weather experts are comparing this incident to the first Super Outbreak in 1974, when Kentucky lost 77 people (31 of them were at a little place called Brandenburg).  Also (this is HUGE news if you're a tornado buff), officials are saying that the Mayfield tornado was on the ground for 227 miles.  That's not confirmed yet, but if it truly is one tornado then the path length has broken the record set by the legendary Tri-State Tornado, which had a 219-mile damage track UNBROKEN!!!  We'll see what the officials say after the scientists get in and measure it all.  Nothing, death toll or damage path or rating, is set in stone yet.  With a tornado this violent, such measurements unfortunately take time.

As for me myself, I hugged Rita Cheryl and my animals and watched this mess go down.  Malden got a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and a fair amount of lightning, but nothing else, thank God.  Mama's fence stayed in place, and no one's roof blew off like it did in 2011.  KFVS's weather department was on this storm like white on rice, and they did a wonderful job of getting the warnings and the news out.  My prayers are now with the folks cleaning up, the injured, and the families of the lost.  It's a terrible, terrible thing anytime, but right before Christmas it really sucks.  I send my deepest love to all our readers, and I pray none of y'all were affected by these storms.

Much love to all,
RagingMoon1987

Mama's little helper

Rita Cheryl is helping me gawk at the weather.

Why?  Hmmm...y'all tell me!

The yellow is a tornado watch, and the red is a lovely patchwork of tornado warnings.  The cell between Jonesboro and Blytheville has a large, confirmed tornado already.  It has apparently hit a town called Monette and a town called Leachville, and next in line is Hornersville,  a town here in Dunklin County.  Ryan Vaughn from KAIT is predicting EF3 damage, and if this radar is any indication I figure he'll be right.

Oh dear Jesus, put your hand on my dear county.  Please protect the people there.

Yours prayerfully,

RagingMoon1987 

After-Thanksgiving-Pre-Christmas AG haul

This year Thanksgiving was pretty miserable.  Oh, the food was good, but Sally died, First Uncle couldn't make it down, Second Uncle's house was in complete disarray (it's being rewired), and Second Uncle himself WOULDN'T.  SHUT.  UP.  Chatter, chatter, chatter, about nothing, nothing, nothing.  If one subject doesn't go the way he wants it to he just brings up something else to ramble about.  So what's a girl to do?  Well, if you're a spendthrift like me you buy crap on eBay and Etsy.  Stuff like...oh, Meatloaf.

Mama HATES the name "Meatloaf," LOL.  I think it makes sense, myself.  Bulldogs are round and soft like meat loaf, and some folks think they're ugly like Meat Loaf (LOL again).  I don't think bulldogs are ugly, and while I don't like Meat Loaf's music he himself seems like a cool guy.  But I digress.  The package Meatloaf came in had Christmas doggies on it!

One of 'em is a Boston terrier!  My family has a special fondness for Boston terriers.

I also picked up Kira's wallaby care set.

Got that one mint-in-box, though it didn't stay that way, LOL.  Kailey Hopkins will be taking care of him.

Kailey is NOT part of the haul; I bought her on a whim earlier in the month.  Since Kira won't be coming home Kailey will be my resident animal lover.  Both the bug dress (top) and the beachy set are hers.

The beachy set looks a little like scrubs, so I pretend that they are.  I don't know if wearing scrubs is routine when caring for animals, but it makes sense to me.

This, on the other hand...this is for good ol' Courtney, 'cause everyone needs a Care Bear nightie!  I would've thought this getup wouldn't be warm enuff for wintertime, but the sleeves are made of fleece so it's all good.

The avocado dress will probably be for Zoe, since she looks so nice in bright colors.

I love grab bags/mystery bags/fukubukuro bags/whatever y'all want to call them.  I love them because they're a good way to flesh out a doll's wardrobe without spending a ton of money.  Now granted, grab bags are always a mixed...well, bag, with some stuff being cruddy and some stuff being great (one time I got a ballet set that is still airing out, it stunk so bad).  This stuff was/is mostly handmade, and there was A LOT of it crammed into one little sandwich bag.  I love the print on that flowery thing, and I see a pair of purple shoes!

The brightly colored flowery thing turned out to be this bodysuit, which will look cute on one of my darker dolls like Zoe or Marina or Luciana or Rita Cheryl.

The pink plaid babydoll top has Doremi's name written all over it.

This flowered cardigan...I'm not sure who will wear that.  It has a hippie/upcycled vibe that screams "JULIE," but the soft pink brings Doremi, Zoe, and Kailey to mind.  The cardigan is nice and roomy, meaning that it would fit my Pleasant Company dolls (Denise, Silver Bird, and Amanda) nicely.  It's been awhile since I got something new for Denise, so she may get this.

There were also two skirts in the mix.  One is pink and purple plaid, and the other one looks black but is really navy blue.  I may sequester these for Silver Bird, even though she's not big on skirts.

And the purple shoes?  Those are totally for Silver Bird!

Some grab bags are good and some aren't, but that grab bag was a good one.  I can use all of those pieces, though I'm not sure who with yet.  Now the next few items I know who I want to go to.  This is another Girl of the Year item...

...but it's Lea's (pardon my beat-up old pillow) rather than Kira's or Kailey's.  Justine-Marie will wear this when spring comes.

Rita Cheryl is a child at heart and loves kids'  shows, so I got her a Dora the Explorer dress.

Now she'll need some pink boots to go with that!  I think in the original show Boots's boots were red, but they're pink on the dress, LOL.  I'm more of a Blue's Clues fan myself, but I enjoyed the few episodes I saw of Dora the Explorer.

Of course good dollies gotta eat, and these food items are a little special, as they're those blind bag items that were available recently.

I positively love blind bags, and yet I had no idea that these were available until...a week ago, was it?  There was a line of hobbies and school supplies, a line of food items, and a line of...snack items???  Food and more food?  Actually the line of food items was called "What's cooking?" and had kitchen utensils along with foodstuffs, so it makes sense.  Anyway, the papayas and the cocoanut drink came from the snack line, and the snack line is interesting because all the pieces...were rehashes.  Yep, every single item came from some other AG set that was available or is available.  According to the wiki the papayas came from Nanea's luau set, while the cocoanut stuff appears to be from Lea's beach picnic set, though the luau set has these too.  

The chocolate tart (torte?) came from Grace's pastry cart, and I can remember Miss Emily saying that it's huge in comparison to the dolls' hands.  She's right, of course...if this thing is indeed a tart.  Since it's made of chocolate and has layers and decorations I think this is actually a torte.  The other item is a cup of hot chocolate, perfect for this chilly weather we've been having in the Bootheel.

The hot chocolate came from the Let's Smile Accessories in the Create Your Own series.  Miss Emily's CYO doll Eliza had these accessories, so I knew to take off the lid and see this.

I don't think this is the secret heart that Robert Peter Tristam Coffin spoke of, but it works for this modern day, when humanity is cold even in summertime and a nice warm drink feels good, and when a chocolate fix is welcome anytime.  I'm almost always ready for chocolate, for example!

Mama has been having some fun too, LOL.  She got a Scottish-type outfit for Molly (left), an autumnal-themed outfit for Rita Cheryl (center, I hadn't supplied the boots yet)...

...plus this camo set for Marina (left), and a plaid outfit for...oh, I may give that to Rita Cheryl too, since she has nothing for winter yet.

Then there's this Alice in Wonderland getup.  If my boss hadn't put the kibosh on keeping dolls at the library, I'd declare January Kiddie Lit Month and dress Doremi up in this.  With her blonde hair she's a born Alice.

Less fairytale and more like something I'd wear is this set that Mama got.  I haven't decided yet whether I want Doremi or Silver Bird to have this...or maybe Zoe, since she looks good in pink.

Whoever gets it, I'm thankful for the blue jeans.  One can never have too many pairs of blue jeans.  So that's it, largely.  I've got a few more things on their way, but they're not here yet and I didn't want to wait longer to post this (LOL).  The main thing that I'm waiting for is a tie-dyed shirt for Lark.  I love tie-dyed shirts for myself, but I don't have any for my dolls...not yet, anyway.  It'll get here pretty soon.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Awww, hail!

Isn't every day that we get hail, especially in December!  But here it is, the first day of a month more commonly associated with snow, and we had hail.  And yes, since I'm fairly cavalier when it comes to photo ops, I darted out into the downpour to get these pictures.

Now granted, the hail was NOT large hail.  The biggest pieces were the size of lima beans (ewww, I hate lima beans) and melted quickly, and most of the pieces I saw were about pea-sized.  About what the forecast called for, in other words.  Yep, NWS issued a significant weather statement at the top of the hour warning of mild thunderstorms with possible small hail, and I thought "Yeah, right.  The radar looks fine."  LOL, never look at the radar just once!

Even though it wasn't big hail today, it was my first opportunity to photograph hail and I grabbed it.  I'm still hoping to be a storm spotter...well, someday, and as a result I love stuff like this.  Now having the family car out in golf ball-sized hail...that I'm not too excited about.  Oh well, take the bad with the good, Moon Girl.

What's the biggest hail y'all have ever seen???  Share your stories if you've got any.  Hopefully I'll be back to sharing dolly stuff soon.

Hugs, kisses, and ice pellets, 
RagingMoon1987

The ballad of Mustang Sally

WARNING:  this is not a happy story.  Approximately two weeks ago my mother found this little goober running around in the road and brought it to me.  The kitten was a young, purring female, and on the spur of the moment I christened her Mustang Sally, after the Wilson Pickett song that I love.  

Sally quickly made herself at home, purring and happy on my stomach.

Meeting Allie, the younger of my two calico cats.  Allie wasn't thrilled, but in time she got over it.

Zzzzzz!

Charcoal paw pads!  I've never owned a cat with white feet and dark jellybeans!

Kneading Mommy's tummy!  She's not sleepy here, just shielding her eyes from the flash.

NOW she's sleeping, with her paw as a pillow.

Enjoying head scratches.

With Tommy.  Tommy acted tough at first, but he eventually warmed to Sally.  I suspect that these two may have been related since their markings were similar.

Here I left the flash off so that I could get a picture of her open eyes.  And yes, my pajama pants have cats on them.

Washing her butt.  I don't think she was too happy with having her privacy invaded.

Saturday evening I noticed a downturn in Sally's health, but it was too late by then to get her to the vet.  I upped her food and gave her extra cuddles.

Please get better, little one!

Early this morning, before I went to work.  She ate only a few bites of her meat, and I had a vet appointment scheduled for 2:15.

2:15 came, I came home, and I found Sally in a puddle of her fluids, gasping for breath.  My first thought was that one of the other cats had attacked her, but it turned out not to be the case.  I took her on to the vet and requested a euthanasia, knowing that there was no way to save her, and then I watched as she slipped away unassisted, before getting the shot.

I am absolutely heartsick.  Sally was never a big eater to begin with, and beginning last evening she began to act like swallowing was choking her.  I have no idea what hastened her end, and since I couldn't pay for an autopsy I likely never will know, but I feel horrible knowing that I could've done something and waited too long.  Anyway, that's just another lesson learned:  keep a close eye on your cats while they're eating.  If you've got pets give them an extra squeeze tonight for Mustang Sally.

Love, 
RagingMoon1987

The doctor's visit

So today was D-Day for both Mama and Second-or-Third Cousin.  Mama and I visited the oncologist today, and even though we both kept saying it was nothing we were a bundle of nerves.

Of course we didn't just go to the doctor.  We got to Sikeston super-early and had time to eat and swing by Goodwill, which I always like to do.  Mama needed a restroom and I wanted to look at any dolls they had.  Dig this funny-looking thing!

She was made of rough, cheap porcelain with a stiff cloth body and hot pink yarn hair.  Yep, YARN hair.  Yarn hair is not uncommon for rag dolls and not unheard of for dolls from the second world war, but this one was a weird one.

Speaking of rag dolls, Madeline toned the weirdness down somewhat.

Most Madeline dolls have removable clothes and visible appendix scars, but alas, this Madeline had her dress permanently attached.  Madeline's closest shelfmate was this Irish girl, Maggie. 

Maggie is ready to compete in a feis...or she would be if she could stand up straight.  Rounding up the items that caught my attention was this very pretty teddy bear. 

I'd have named him Cranbeary, LOL!  I didn't need any of these items so I didn't buy them, though I have to admit that I liked that first gal with the weird pink hair.

Then, of course it was time to go to the doctor.  Mama had been told that the doctor was more of a blood doctor than a cancer doctor, but the sign in front wasn't reassuring. 

The good news is that Mama doesn't have cancer.  The doctor said that though her hemoglobin levels were a little high they were still in the normal range.  He diagnosed her with secondary polycythemia, stated that the leading cause of this is sleep apnea, and scheduled Mama for a sleep study.  He also wants her nurse practitioner to keep an eye on the hemoglobin levels over the next few months.  So that's it!  Mama will probably be okay, and if she gets treatment for sleep apnea then she might even feel better than she does now!

While we were waiting for Mama's doctor we learned that Second-or-Third Cousin came through his surgery fine.  He'll have to lie very, very still for a time, but as always he's putting his faith in God and in his physicians.  So today started off nerve-wracking but ended on a positive note.  I'm thankful to our good Lord above for taking care of us all, and I pray that he'll continue to do so.  Thank y'all for the prayers, positivity, and advice!

Much love,
RagingMoon1987