arpeged Resident

 

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Both avator's mine.

There's nothing in the world that loves you

more than the space you already take up.

There's nothing in the world that won't

forget you faster than you forgot

the last person that stepped out from your life.

When the cat reaches up

one needled paw to drag down a book

from your desk, then another,

that's not love—that's dominance.

When you reach up your hand and try to wheedle

someone else's to hold it, that's love

dominating you. There's no word for loving more

than you should, just the feeling of excess,

as if your tongue burst in a rash of red sequins,

as if everyone can see your stutter in the air,

staccato love you, love you, and nothing in the world

standing in that space to receive it.

  

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Tonights project, a red barn I passed the other day while returning from an appt out of town. This time of year there is a weed or ground cover that's a bright yellow that grows in lots of pastures I've seen which was a perfect contrast to the richness of this red barn. In another life, I wanted to redo an old barn into a house. I would definitely wheedle my way into this one! Textures a combination by Kerstin Frank and PicMonkey.

 

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment!

This is a shot taken from one of Blackpools three piers, looking back at the central pier with its Ferris wheel and other attractions, nicely lit up, for a fence shot this is thrown out of focus for some more colourful bokeh.

 

To the left you can just see some of the 10 million pound Blackpool illuminations, which run for 66 nights until this weekend, so if you haven’t been this year now’s your last chance!

 

Should add this was handheld, there were literally dozens of tripod wheedling togs around, it would be nice to see what they captured if you were there on the same evening

 

As always comments, faves and constructive crit. always very welcome, graphics not so much

 

Press L to view in Lightbox

 

Have a great day, and a happy fence Friday!

  

 

We had to stop using the kitchen sink and dishwasher for a few days last week as a leak was discovered in the crawl space beneath our kitchen. Ross sussed out the problem and invited Trystan over to join the festivities. They both put on on coveralls, gloves and face masks, then lay on their bellies to wheedle through the crawl space door. A section of pipe had to be replaced, it took a few hours, and afterwards coffee was desperately needed as a reward and restorative, plumbing is dirty work, especially laying on your back :)

Georgina had got into the crawl space the first day, would not come when we called her, Ross crawled around with the flashlight looking for her, was unsuccessful, we were so worried, so I went and got a crunchy treat bag and crinkled it near the opening ... a few minutes later and she nonchalantly appeared, covered with cobwebs, what a bad girl :) So this day I kept an eye on her while they worked, and she decided to lounge in the plastic tub we put in the sink to catch the water, expressing no interest to re-explore the dark and dirty crawl space, maybe she had met a giant spider that told her to F-OFF :))

A little boy I met when I was passing through a small town in Yuksom, on my way to begin the trek.

 

He looked at me curiously, as if i were an alien. It didn't take to wheedle a smile from the boy when he saw himself on the LCD screen on the camera.

I took another turn with the monthly challenge.

I did a tribute photo from one of my own photos from 52 weeks in 2010 with my dearly departed Myles. The photo of Myles has always been one of my most popular and there are times that Owen does things that are so reminiscent of my heart dog Myles, but with his own individual personality on it. So I decided to do a tribute photo with an Owen spin. There will never be another Myles, but Owen was fortunate to have a little over a year with Myles as his mentor, and for that I will be forever grateful. Each dog has their own way to wheedle a space in your heart, never replacing your former love, but making room for a new, different part of your heart to be opened and filled with love for them. Thank you Owen, for being you and opening up my heart to a new deep kind of love.

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Dog Day Monday again, and seemingly so soon. Maybe I don't have archives that will last me through 2025, but then there have been so many canines that I keep finding so many adorable pups hidden away from before my Flickr days. Today, maybe the best juvenile, is Archie, my brother's last of four Norfolk terriers.

 

Wayback story: My brother and sister-in-law came for a visit seems like yesterday, but it was it was in 1990. My brother, the "rational one," had always been suspicious of dogs, a trait that he got from my mother who was, for whatever reason, afraid of them. My father loved dogs and having nothing to do with DNA, I was determined to have a dog. I brought some "free" kittens home one day, and I found out what a kitten fit was and having a dog of my own would take another 24 years.

 

Move ahead to 1990 when Bob and Jan visited us in Northern California. At the time, we had Max, our Norfolk terrier. Max loved two things, people and food. And, of course, the first person that he was obsessed with was my brother, Bob. The night of "The Great Visit" he spent six or more hours wheedling his way into my brother's heart by licking his head which, if it wasn't bald when he arrived, was by the next morning. (My sister-in-law, Jan, had gotten Max to sleep with them, which was the Great Dog Plot of the Great Visit.)

 

Giggling. All night long, giggling. My brother. Giggling. And Jan seeing me in the hall the next morning, beaming, and saying, and I quote, "We got him!" Two weeks later, after some research, they were back having driven 450 miles to pick up a Norfolk puppy whom my brother named "Duncan." (All four of their now four terriers have been named after Shakespearian characters or English Kings or both.)

 

How lucky that their first was an adorable, sweet-as-can-be Norfolk. Mt brother certainly had brand loyalty. The other Norfolks that followed were Richard, Arthur, and now Archie. As you can see from this photo, Archie, who is now seven, was naturally adorable. Archie, upon seeing a camera, which was daily, would assume the "Archie Pose" that you see here. Archie has been the smartest, most stylish (supposedly, he picked out his own vest), most adorable, dog that has ever lived in a Winning household. My Dad would have loved him, and maybe, just maybe, he would have won over my mother's heart.

 

(Our Sealeyhan, Perky, tried very hard to be friends with my mom when we lived in Oregon and my parents came to visit. Evidently, sneaking into the bedroom where my folks were spending the night, jumping up on the bed with a ball, and even saying "Hiiiii" was not the way to do it. When we had our first daughter whom my mom cherished, but who came with a guardian named "Perky," a truce was declared and I think Mom actually "petted him" after five years. Since Bob and I had two girls, my dad had from day one, already designated him as his "first grandson.")

This is Ziggy, who used to be busy at this time of year high in the mountains, guarding our lambing ewes from wild dogs. After we had trouble with him, and one of his compatriot Maremmas, leaving their flock and gallavanting around the countryside, we brought him to our smaller property on the coast for rebonding. Unfortuantely he wheedled his way into our hearts, so here he remains, with the small job on 40 acres looking after 3 children who adore him, their weird mob of grown up poddy lambs, our chooks and 4 horses. He doesn't seem to miss his former life as tough guy at all, spending hours in similar piles of giggling arms and squealing legs without complaint.

I seem to need three scenes for my photo adventures. Strawberry Singh's Flat Ebbe Meme is no exception. It occurred to me that the CEOs might want to pal around during their accidental tourism throughout the SL Grid, so I asked Rodvik join us on Mindwalker Beach. Ebbe was pretty silent on the subject, so I didn't wheedle for details. Wherever you've gone, may the odds be ever in your favor, Boys! ｡◕‿◕｡

 

Flat CEOs can be found in Strawberry Singh's Marketplace store.

 

Location: My Mindwalker Beach Home

Hello...!

 

Yay, it's Brickshifter!*

All gold and shiny now!

 

That's not my name! My name is Sunshine!

 

We've been through this.

Yep, you keep coming back,** and we keep calling you Brickshifter because Brickshifter is a much cooler and more appropriate name than 'Sunshine'.

 

That's it! You're getting my origin!

 

GAH!!

They're using their origins as a weapon now!

 

Sunshine (サンシャイン) is a key antagonist towards Kinnikuman, considered by General Devil as the Leader of the elite team of the Devil Knights. Years later, in Kinnikuman Nisei, he became one of the key members of the d.M.p organization, as well as the mentor of Check Mate and Rex King.

 

Sunshine debuts as a member of the elite team of the Devil Knights, and after his defeat at the hands of a mere human, he was then absorbed by General Devil. Later he return alongside Ashuraman, planning to steal the Friendship Power of the Justice Chojin, but both of were defeated in the Tag Tournament.

 

In Kinnikuman 2011, he and the Devil Knights raid the Chojin Graveyard, and he face against one of the Perfect Origin, Thingman, who he manage to defeat. He later stays at General Devil's side for the rest of the matches.

 

After this, he retired from wrestling and was not seen again until Kinnikuman Nisei, in which he trains Check Mate and Rex King, and eventually comes to respect the Justice Chojin on his defeat. It is at this point he explodes the d.M.p base and eradicates all evil chojin, except for one that miraculously survives named Scarface. He is very rarely seen again within the anime or manga.

 

Personality

Overall, Sunshine is like the rest of his comrades: a rude, brute, and merciless fighter that use brutal and dirty tactics to defeat and kill his opponents. He is particularly vicious in this, since it is said that he believes that a match is only won by knocking and opponent while he's out, thus, he never won any championship. He considers himself to not be too smart, and that he tends to forget things a lot, thinking that's the best way to advance as a fighter and as a devil.

 

Despite his brutal and rude ways of fighting, he can also show a softer, more compassionate side, like when he trained with Rollerman in the Arabian Desert, forming a good friendship with him. Or when Kinnikuman opened his eyes during their fight, and saw that the Devil Chojin can have friendship too. This makes him consider Ashuraman as his friend, rather than just his partner-in-crime.

 

Appearance

He is a giant golem-like chojin often with a yellow/golden coloration due his body been made of sand/gold dust, giving him the ability to re-shape himself in different ways, such as a pyramid or a giant top. In his debut he has a rather simplistic body design, consisting in a giant block as his body, with limbs in shape of rectangles, ending in two big hands. His faces has a rather humanoid look.

 

After his defeat at Geronimo's hands, he returns with a slightly altered appearance, now sporting a more elaborate body-design, with the special ability to summon a concrete roller in his chest. By Nisei times, his body has become more slim, as well as loosing one of his "eyes". He also tends to wear some clothing to hide among humans.

 

Relationships

Ashuraman

Sunshine has a strong loyalty to his fellow Devil Knights, but his strongest relationship lies with his friend Ashuraman as he formed a tag team during the Dream Tag Tournament arc. Before Ashuraman's match against the Blood Evolutions in Nisei, Sunshine wants to be his tag partner, but Ashuraman refuses.

 

Rollerman

After finding and spending some time with Rollerman in the Arabian Desert, they become very close, to the point of doing the same routine the same way day after day. Their bond became so strong that Sunshine travels to a near town to rescue Rollerman from some Justice Chojin that were plaining on execute him.

 

Check Mate

Checkmate has a close relationship with Sunshine, who acts as a father-figure to him and a coach. Sunshine unofficially adopts Checkmate during Checkmate's youth, rescuing him from a life on the streets, and delivers strict training to help him become a Brutal Chojin capable of fighting in matches. Sunshine is willing to risk his life to save Checkmate, before taking him to teach him to be a better chojin, after his breakdown. They later meet again during the Demon Seed Arc, where they appear civil and on friendly terms, despite their worldviews now having diverged.

 

General Devil

Although General Devil doesn't show any affection nor respect for his followers, he has said in different occasions that he considers Sunshine like his successor, and the both of them spend time together during the fights at Yggrasil.

 

Abilities

Sunshine has the ability to manipulate and shapeshift into sand. To shapeshifting into other objects, he needs to study and learn the whole object that he wants to emulate. He can also fuse with his fellow Devil Knights to become General Devil's body.

 

Golden Mask Arc

Sunshine appeared as one of the Devil Knights, a group of Devil Chojin who had supposedly stolen the Golden Mask, a sacred relic on Planet Kinniku that was once the head of a god. He fought Geronimo during the Five Story Ring battle within Warsman's unconscious body.

 

A five-tier ring appears, with each ring holding a different opponent. Geronimo fends off The Ninja on the fourth floor, while Kinnikuman climbs the spine to reach the top ring. The Ninja switches places with Sunshine, forcing Geronimo to compete against him. At one point, he skewers the mat with his tomahawks so that Terry - in the ring below - could grab a hold of something during Asuraman’s Asura Buster.

 

In his fight with Sunshine, he started off hitting Sunshine with a fury of Tomahawk Chops.

 

Geronimo lands a Flying Boy Press, but Sunshine counters by bending his legs. Sunshine uses his Sand Hell techniques on Geronimo, and Geronimo uses a Tomahawk Tornado to sweep away the sand. After being pressed into the mat by Sunshine, Geronimo attempts another Tomahawk Chop, but the damage done to Sunshine is undone by his regeneration abilities. The sweat from Geronimo is also absorbed into Sunshine and makes his sand weigh even heavier, as he crushes Geronimo from above.

 

Sunshine prepares for a Back-Drop, and Geronimo breaks his hip attempting to counter with a Flying Maier. Geronimo tries a Guillotine Drop, but Sunshine stops him with a Giant Swing, and Geronimo manages to stop Sunshine with a headbutt, but sustains great damage in the process. Geronimo believes he has won when he chops Sunshine in half, but instead he found himself trapped inside Sunshine.

 

After forcing his way out of Sunshine's body, Sunshine begins to use his most brutal Sand Hell techniques. He uses a Canadian Back-Breaker, while Geronimo counters with a Reverse Suplex, and Sunshine attempts a Mexican Stretch. Geronimo uses a Toe-Kick to shatter Sunshine's body into multiple pieces, and Sunshine uses a Hell's Pyramid. Being severely injured - after having his gut stabbed by Sunshine’s Hell’s Pyramid technique - causes Terryman to realize that Geronimo is human. Geronimo uses a Brain Buster, despite the pyramid piercing his heart.

 

Sunshine rebuilds himself with his Hell Arc de Triumphe. Geronimo smashes Sunshine again, but Sunshine uses a sun-styled key to enter his sun-mark upon his chest, and this regenerates him. Geronimo keeps fighting and eventually grabs Sunshine's chest, where he removes the key that controls the Sand Hell techniques. As the key hits the canvas, Sunshine grabs his head and screams, causing Geronimo to realize that Sunshine’s weakness is loud noises. He used his trademark Apache War Cry.

 

This reduces Sunshine to dust, but - before Geronimo can finish - his heart stops. He remembers the bravery of the chojin who saved him and his sister, and he then sticks his hand into his chest and massages his heart. He finishes off Sunshine with the Apache War Cry.

 

Like the other Devil Knights, he was absorbed by Akuma Shogun before the fight with Kinnikuman.

 

Deep of Muscles 12

After his humiliating defeat at Geronimo's hands, and the defeat of General Devil, he and Ashuraman decide to get revenge on the Idol Chojin, stealing their friendship after hearing about the tag tournament that was going to happen. Then, in order to overcome his defeat at the hands of a human, Sunshine decides to travel across the world, to train from zero. After parting away from Ashuraman, he arrives at the Arabian Desert, where, after trying to find some water for his thirsty mouth, he came across a peculiar chojin with a roller in his chest, and saw him killing and squeezing the liquid out of those chojin.

 

Sunshine fights him, and after a quick match, the chojin known as Rollerman gave Sunshine a glass of water, and then Sunshine explains him about what is he doing in the desert, and what that he wants to learn Rollerman technique. Rollerman accepts, and the two of them start living together in the desert. Sunshine realize that learning the technique will take more than he suspected, but one day, he finds that Rollerman has been kidnapped by a vigilante corps of a near by town, so he went there, in rage.

 

After destroying the vigilante corps, he challenge their boss, and suddenly, Rollerman throw him his rollers, which Sunshine absorb, and use them against their leader, squeezing all his liquid, killing him. But Rollerman was beyond salvation, and dies at Sunshine's arms. After parting from the Arabian Desert, he return in time to participate in the tag tournament, were he finds his partner, Ashuraman, and show him his new technique. But while showing the rollers, a tear fell from one of Sunshine eyes, and Ashuraman asked him why did that happened, so Sunshine answer him that it was because the Arabian sand that was stuck in his eye...

 

Dream Chojin Tag Arc

Asuraman, as a part of the Stray Devil Chojin Combo with Sunshine, takes part in the Dream Chojin Tag Arc. The two demons, last survivors of the Golden Mask Arc concoct a plan to steal the Friendship Power of the Justice Chojin by using some cursed dolls. They manage to steal the very emotion of friendship among the Justice Chojin, greatly weakening them, as a Justice Chojin can't fight without friendship in his heart.

 

As such, Ahuraman and Sunshine are able to beat effortlessly the Big Bombers and the New Machineguns, in the process turning the former friends Kinnikuman and Terryman against each other.

 

During the fight against the New Machineguns, Sunshine begins to believe in the power of friendship, Ashuraman keeps holding to his ideal as an uncaring, evil fiend, and by observing how the attempts made by Kinnikuman and Kinnikuman Great to save Geronimo and Terryman ended up in their cursed doll being broken, he claims the breaks are parts of a prophecy, and uses Sunshine's Cursed Roller to injure his foes where the dolls were broken: Geronimo ends up with a badly shattered right arm, and Terryman is forced to surrender his Star Emblems, or get Geronimo killed and himself decapitated.

 

The prophecy comes to pass in a roundabout way: Prince Kamehame, the former Kinnikuman Great, succumbs because of the strain of helping the New Machineguns and decapitates Terryman, giving him the Kinnikuman Great to allow him fight with Kinnikuman even if he lacks the Star Emblems and Kinnikuman now despises him.

 

During the fight between the Muscle Brothers and the Stray Akuma Chojin Combo, Asuraman is exposed to the Friendship power: Asuraman witnesses Kinnikuman and Terryman starting to mend their friendship, and sees Sunshine caring for him and even apologizing when the Cursed Roller ends up tearing off his right arms. Asuraman tries to still act cold and uncaring, but when Prince Kamehame's arm, who used as a replacement, rebels to his will and leads to his defeat, starts believing in Friendship too, sharing with Sunshine the memories of Samson Teacher.

 

Once the Stray Devil Combo are defeated, and Ashuraman's faces are rip off by the Hell Missionaries, Sunshine tries to stand up, but is quickly attacked by Big the Budo, who after seen that he doesn't have a mask to steal, he was sentence to dead. Big the Budo throws him against Neptuneman, who used his Double Leg Suplex to knock him down, killing him.

 

Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne

Sunshine would later appear during the Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne Arc as one of the Chojins The Omegaman captured, killed, and therefore could now transform into.

 

Perfect Origin Arc

Prehistory

General Devil proceeds to rotate the Forbidden Mortar backwards, connecting the surface world to the Chojin Graveyard. To General Devil, life and death of a Chojin should only belong to themselves and the Perfect Chojin controlling that is a grave mistake. The Perfect Chojin have grown arrogant ever since they followed that foolish custom for a 1000 years. The leader of the Perfect Chojin is a monster now. General Devil's mission is to stop the leader and make sure he'll never return.

 

When he stops, General Devil says that no one will be coming back to life. As cracks appear in the ceiling of the Chojin Graveyard, he tells his elite minions, the Devil Knights, that they can enter. With a dynamic entry, the Devil Knights appear and start attacking. While the Graveyard Demons are occupied, General Devil plunges further into the Chojin Graveyard.

 

Sunshine vs. Thingman

The match takes place at the Statue of Liberty. [10] It appears as if the Ninja has returned, but it is revealed to be Sunshine. [10] Sunshine jumps in search of his opponent, but they catch him by surprise and get him in a lock, until Sunshine breaks free and they both land on different sections of the statue. Thingman summons a hurricane of sand, which erodes the Statue of Liberty and transforms it into a statue of a Perfect Chojin. They are to fight within the ring that exists on the palm of the transformed statue, and the two finally clash within upon the canvas.

 

The two start evenly matched, until Thingman delivers a blow to Sunshine's neck. Sunshine begins to turn to sand, which allows him to return to normal, and uses his sand to counter against punches to the chest and a middle-kick to his abdomen. Thingman attempts a power-bomb, along with a Thing Demolition Wave, and the latter releases a metallic sound that reduces Sunshine to a pile of sand, but Sunshine rebuilds his body.

 

Sunshine throws Thingman against the statue, who retaliates with an Extreme Shoulder Armory, which leads Sunshine to attempt a Cursed Roller. The attack fails, as Thingman's previous attack has turned Sunshine from sand into concrete, and Thingman is able to deliver a series of blows, as he gains the upper-hand. Thingman attempts a German Suplex, but Sunshine blocks the move with one arm, and retaliates with a body-scissors, before delivering many blows and finishing with a Death Valley Bomb.

 

Thingman reveals his body is made from a meteorite, as such he cannot be easily damaged, and uses a Shoulder Armory Disc Cutter. He uses the ropes of the ring to crack parts of Sunshine's body, and his Thing Demolition Wave then breaks open the cracks and sends Sunshine crumbling to the canvas. Sunshine's head proceeds to cry, as he struggles to regenerate his body, and - begging for death - allows Thingman to reduce him to nothing but sand, after destroying his head. Thingman gathers his sand up in the canvas, but - before he can toss Sunshine's remains into the see - the canvas appears to catch fire.

 

The iron and sand in the small canvas, which is spun around fast, creates a scientific effect that leads to a vast amount of heat. Sunshine recombines into a red-hot giant key, which he inserts into part of his body and restores himself to normality with a Sand Hell. Sunshine then turns into sand and reappears behind Thingman, where he destroys his Extreme Shoulder Armory with his bare hands. Thingman tries to retaliate, but Sunshine uses a Sand Cemetery Press. This defeats Thingman, who collapses onto the ring.

 

Sunshine takes Thingman's dumbbell. After a confession by Ganman about the origins of the Perfect Origin, Sunshine smashes the dumbbell into his head, before he knocks Thingman out of the ring and returns the Statue of Liberty to its previous state.

 

Post-Match

Sunshine, alongside The Ninja, return to inform General Devil about their victories, giving him Painman, Crowman and Thingman's dumbbells. Then, the two follow their general to Japan's National Stadium, were he stays at his side, watching all the battles. After getting all the remaining dumbbells, General Devil sends Sunshine to finish his mission, and erase the remaining Perfect Origins. With Black Hole's help, he travels to the Chojin Graveyard, and with great grief, he put one by one the remaining dumbbells, but, surprisingly, none of the Perfect Origins disappear...only Psychoman, who had manipulated the mechanism long ago to erase only him!

 

And now, with Buffaloman at his side, Sunshine travels with General Devil to watch his fight with The Man. And after the defeat of The Man, Sunshine, Buffaloman, and the "spirits" of the rest of the Devil Chojin, follow General Devil out of the ring.

 

Omega Centauri's Six Spear Arc

He was hanging out with the remaining of the Devil Chojin, when suddenly, a magic barrier seal them inside their HQ, making them unable to face off against the Omega invaders.

 

Unnamed Arc

When the Justice Chojin were arguing of who would travel to the Tower of Babel to face against the Chojin, Sunshine appears in a screen, saying that he was upset that they let him out of the fights, and wants to also enter the challenge, leaving the Devil Chojin HQ, and traveling with the rest of the team to the Tower.

 

There, while the rest of Chojin were telling Geronimo that he shouldn't be the first one fighting, Sunshine was the only one encouraging him to fight, since he was one of his strongest enemies, and was angry for seen how weak he was after their fight. Geronimo, moved by his words, enters the ring to face against the Choushin. There, he stays in the sidelines cheering for him, congratulating the young chojin once he defeated his opponent. After the revelation of The Executioner about the true intentions of the gods, he and Ashuraman decide to team up and cross one of the three opened doors.

 

d.M.p Arc

Sunshine appears first on a television set, after the Tokyo matches against the dMp members: Kevin Mask, Maxman and Tel-Tel Boy. He is with two mysteriously cloaked men, who are his two proteges, and he is also in Osaka after having defeated Gorgeousman and Barbarian. He is a founding member of the DMp and head of their Akuma Chojin division. In the past thirty years, he states he has grown bitter and angry at the Muscle League, and has found two of the strongest proteges to get revenge on his behalf. He declares his proteges are The Nightmares.

 

They meet again in an izakaya (bar), where Sunshine claims that he is neither friend nor foe until the matches, and treats Mantaro Kinniku and Alexandria Meat in a civil manner. He reveals he is now blind in one eye and lost much of his power, as well as feels abandoned by those of his team who sided with the Seigi Chojin, and - due to feeling alone - he doubled down on his quest for revenge. He notices that Terry the Kid has broken in the Osaka Dome via a portable television set, and orders his Nightmares to capture him. He leaves and reappears later to catch Mantaro in an adult establishment, despite him being underage, and so he blackmails Mantaro into being the referee for the following match.

 

Sunshine announces the "Osaka Battle at High Noon", as well as that Mantaro will be acting as the referee for the upcoming match, and Mantaro acts as a strict referee and often penalizes the Kid. Sunshine obtains a yellow card when Mantaro begins to help the Kid, as he steps into the ring, but he obeys and returns to observing the match from the side. Sunshine antagonizes the Kid to gain the upper hand, but soon Rex King is defeated and he infuses Check Mate with his spirit to make him stronger, so as to prepare for the second match against Mantaro Kinniku. Sunshine announces the following match.

 

It is revealed in flashbacks that Sunshine beat and tortured Checkmate, so that he would be impervious to pain and an invulnerable warrior. Checkmate then reveals he carries a photograph of his old team, which he holds dear, and that he founded the dMp with two other members in hopes of gaining his own faction to control. Sunshine then intervenes with the match when Mantaro is unable to fight, begging Check Mate to stop, but - disgusted by his tears and emotion - Checkmate attacks him and pins him to the ropes. He is devastated when Checkmate tears up his photo, which is his sole memento of the past, and follows this by preventing Check Mate from attacking a small child, saving the child's life. Checkmate proceeds to attack him, until he loses his eye-patch, and is eventually helped up by Mantaro.

 

After Checkmates crosses boundaries in battle, he starts to cheer for Mantaro. This inspires the crowd to rally behind Mantaro and provide him invaluable strength and inspiration to continue. Checkmate is then defeated. Sunshine refuses to allow anyone else to tend to his wounds, as he runs to his protégé who he still holds with great regards and affection, but his colleagues in the dMp send an arrow crashing through the roof of the stadium to kill Sunshine. His army back at base stages a rebellion, but loses in the fight, and so one creates an explosion that destroys all of the dMp and its base. Sunshine - in his bittersweet victory - carries a bleeding Checkmate out of the stadium with the promise to train him to be better.

 

Demon Seed Arc

Sunshine appears drunk in Osaka, where he laments nostalgically for the events of 36 years ago, where there were ‘real’ Devil Chojin: the seven Devil Chojin and Six Devil Knights. He sees the Demon Seed as mere imitations of their predecessors, and leaves in a drunken stupor to Ganryu Island where the last two Demon Seed are preparing to battle the Blood Evolutions. He swims across the sea to reach the General Rib in his attempt to reach the last of the Demon Seed.

 

Sunshine arrives as Ashuraman resurrects. He offers Checkmate the chance to return to the path of evil, as he explains that Ashuraman always regretted joining the Muscle League. Ashuraman rejects Sunshine's attempt to reconcile and form a tag-team. He periodically compliments Checkmate, while cheering on Ashuraman during his match. Sunshine later weeps to see Ashuraman angry, as he reminisces about the past. After Ashuraman wins the match against the B-Evolutions, he proceeds to attack Kevin Mask despite him being incapacitated and the match over, and Sunshine stops him.

 

He states that Ashuraman never shed blood needlessly, but Ashuraman says he's changed.

 

Sunshine later appears at the Demon Womb, as the final match commences. Kinnikuman realizes that Asuraman plans to resurrect General Terror, as he spots Sunshine about to enter the Demon Womb, and proceeds to tickle Sunshine until his stomach opens up, allowing Kinnikuman to hide inside his abdomen. Sunshine then enters the Demon Womb (unknowingly with Kinnikuman). Inside, Sunshine comments that Asuraman is even more ruthless than their time together in the past.

 

It is at this point that Kinnikuman bursts out of his stomach. Sunshine is commanded by Ashuraman to ring the bell that shall awaken the Demon Womb from its slumber. He bickers with Kinnikuman, before ordering Ashuraman to kill Mantaro Kinniku. Kevin Mask later drags Sunshine into the waters beneath the ring, where his sand merges with the electricity to gold-plate his body.

 

As Sunshine is made of gold dust, this allows him to defy the micro-waves of Voltman. Sunshine loses his legs in the process. After General Terror is revived and defeated, the Diamond Dust of Rebirth restores his legs and allows him to walk again. He swears friendship to Ashuraman, who - now elderly - is helped out of the Demon Womb by Sunshine, as they leave to safety together.

 

Kinnikuman Nisei ~All Out Assault~

d.M.p Arc

Sunshine first appears alongside Shimao and Qilinman.

 

He kidnaps Mantaro Kinniku, Gazelleman and Terry the Kid, after he kidnaps Meat Alexandria and holds him hostage within the DMp base. He reveals that they took Meat after he attempted reconnaissance at their base, and - if the others want him back - they need to fight three challengers in the base to earn him back.

Sunshine waits in the "Chess Room" of the final competitor.

He opens his jacket to reveal an Evil Chojin that bursts out from his body: Check Mate. Sunshine proceeds to watch from the sides.

 

A series of flashbacks reveal Checkmate was Sunshine's personal protégé, but treated very harshly and raised in strict conditions. When Checkmate is defeated, Sunshine cradles him on the ring. When the Justice Chojin try to rescue Meat, Qilinman and Shimao go back on their word, which prompts Checkmate - seeing the error of his ways - to dive before the Justice Chojin to protect them from an oncoming attack by an arrow. Sunshine dives in front of the arrow to save Checkmate, which impales him.

 

When Qilinman and Shimao start a self-destruct on the base, Sunshine reveals a secret exit to allow Checkmate and the Justice Chojin to escape. He chooses to stay behind, so as to not to slow down the others, and is seemingly crushed to death by the collapsing dMp base.

 

Top Chojin Festival Arc

At Yokohama Stadium, a new tournament is announced by Ikemen Muscle.

 

The tournament is between both Justice Chojin and Evil Chojin, and Ramenman acts as the representative for the Justice Chojin, while Sunshine acts as the representative for the Evil Chojin. The two shake hands on stage, but - when Sunshine squeezes Ramenman's hand too hard - the two start to fight. Sunshine goes on to announce the preliminary match to wheedle down the combatants to the eight finalists.

 

Sunshine confronts Ikemen when Mantaro Kinniku stays in the competition due to a technicality, but is ultimately placated. He sleeps at the stadium, until the finalists are announced the next day. Sunshine follows this by announcing the lottery for the match-ups.

 

He follows this by attending the match between Fiona and The Doomman, and helps Ramenman to ring the bell. After witnessing the Kevin Mask vs. Naankeeman, he proceeds to go with Ikemen Muscle to watch the Kinniku Mantaro vs. Tentacles match. Once the semi-finals are complete, he appears on stage in a matching suit alongside Ikemen Muscle and Ramenman to announce the finals.

 

Sunshine later is seen at the awards ceremony, where Mantaro is named winner.

 

💪M💪U💪S💪C💪L💪E💪

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

M.U.S.C.L.E. No. 39, "Sunshine A"

 

Painted by CM, thus losing all collectible value forever.

 

* He was thus named in his first appearance, back in BP 2019 Day 337!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49165867671/

 

** Sunshine has had continued encounters with the Bijou Planks audience.

 

In BP 2020 Day 84:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49057761652/

 

In BP 2020 Day 252:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49057759932/

 

In BP 2022 Day 18:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51829790640/

 

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

 

Lettice has not long returned from a trip to Paris which she took with her fiancée, Sir John Nettleford-Huges and his widowed sister, Lettice’s future sister-in-law, Clemance Pontefract. Lettice went to Paris to attend the ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes’* which is highlighting and showcasing the new modern style of architecture and interior design known as Art Deco of which Lettice is an exponent, however Sir John was going for very different reasons of his own. His involved him attending the exhibition with Lettice in the mornings, before slipping away discreetly and meeting up with his old flame, Madeline Flanton in the afternoon. Old enough to be Lettice’s father, wealthy Sir John was until recently still a bachelor, and according to London society gossip intended to remain so, so that he might continue to enjoy his dalliances with a string of pretty chorus girls of Lettice’s age and younger. After an abrupt ending to her understanding with Selwyn Spencely, son and heir to the title Duke of Walmsford, Lettice in a moment of both weakness and resolve, agreed to the proposal of marriage proffered to her by Sir John. More like a business arrangement than a marriage proposal, Sir John offered Lettice the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of his large fortune, be chatelain of all his estates and continue to have her interior design business, under the conditions that she agree to provide him with an heir, and that he be allowed to discreetly carry on his affairs in spite of their marriage vows. He even suggested that Lettice might be afforded the opportunity to have her own extra marital liaisons if she were discreet about them.

 

Busy in the Cavendish Mews kitchen, Edith, Lettice’s maid, is arranging a small selection of dainty canapés onto a white gilt edged plate in the kitchen to serve to Lettice and her soon to arrive guest, when she hears the mechanical buzz of the Cavendish Mews servant’s call bell. Glancing up she notices the circle for the front door has changed from black to red, indicating that it is the front door bell that has rung.

 

“Oh he must be here!” she murmurs. “And not before time too, thank goodness!”

 

Quickly whipping off the starched white apron she is wearing to protect her black moiré* evening uniform with her hand stitched lace collar and matching cap, she hurries from the kitchen into the public area of the flat via a door in the scullery adjoining the kitchen, snatching up her elegant starched frilled cap from hook by the door as she goes. She hurriedly affixes the cap over her blonde waves, pinned in a chignon** at the nape of her neck as she walks into the entrance hall.

 

The front door buzzer goes again, sounding noisily, filling the atmosphere with a jarring echo. Edith glances towards the etched glass drawing room doors which stand slightly ajar, but there is no usual call from her mistress, and her face crumples as she considers this lack of interest in who is ringing the front doorbell. Her black low heels sink into the thick and luxurious Chinese silk carpet laid out before the front door. “I’m coming. I’m coming.” mutters Edith under her breath. She pats her cap and the hairpins holding her blonde waves self-consciously as she goes, hoping that she looks presentable as she opens the front door.

 

“It’s only little me, dear Edith.” Gerald simpers as he stands on the doorstep outside.

 

“Oh Mr. Bruton, Sir!” Edith gasps as she ushers Lettice’s oldest childhood chum and best friend through the door with a sweeping gesture. “Thank goodness you’re here!”

 

Gerald is a member of the aristocracy like Lettice, and the two grew up on adjoining estates in Wiltshire. However, although also being a member of the landed gentry Gerald’s fate is very different to Lettice’s. He has been forced to gain some independence from his rather impecunious family in order to make a living. Luckily his artistic abilities have led him to designing gowns from a shop in Grosvenor Street, a business which, after promotion from Lettice and several commissions from high profile and influential society ladies, is finally beginning to turn a profit. As Lettice’s oldest friend, Gerald is usually the person she turns to in a crisis, and she telephoned him earlier in the day at his Grosvenor Street atelier, imploring him to come around for cocktails and canapés that night before supper.

 

As he shrugs off his luxurious Astrakhan coat*** into the maid’s waiting arms, he glances at Edith. “That bad, is it, Edith?”

 

“Well, Mr. Bruton,” Edith says, folding the silky fur coat over her arms and reaching out to accept Gerald’s smart beaver fur top hat****. “I wouldn’t say it’s that dire, Sir.”

 

“But?” Gerald asks, persisting with Edith, encouraging her complete her unspoken thoughts as he hands her his grey dyed kid leather gloves.

 

“Well Miss Lettice just hasn’t been herself since she came back from Paris. I am a bit worried, Sir. She isn’t behaving like she usually does.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“She seems distracted by something, Sir, and whatever it is, it’s eating away at her. She hasn’t touched her paints to start the designs for Mrs. Hatchett’s commission, even though Mrs. Hatchett sent across her portrait to Cavendish Mews whilst Miss Lettice was away, so that it would be here upon her return.”

 

“That does sound serious.” Gerald opines with an eyebrow cocked in concern.

 

“She’s quite off her food. I can’t even tempt her with one of my home-made sponges. She hasn’t taken any calls since her return, and told me to tell any visitors that she is indisposed currently.” Edith goes on. “You’re her first friend that she has contacted, Sir.”

 

“Well thank goodness for that!” Gerald replies, as he tugs on the collar of his dinner jacket. “I’d best see what your mistress is all about then!”

 

“Oh thank you, Sir!” Edith exclaims. “I hope you’ll help her in her troubles, whatever they are. I’ll be in with the canapés shortly.”

 

“Hullo Lettice darling! It’s just me!” Gerald calls as he walks into the drawing room where Lettice sits in her usual black japanned, rounded back, while upholstered tub armchair next to the telephone. “I came here as soon as I could get away, after your surprise telephone call, my darling.”

 

Gerald observes his best friend with a concerned look. Although arrayed in a beautiful rich pink salmon satin evening frock of his own design, with a plunging V-neck and an asymmetrical draping hem, Lettice’s face looks wan and pale, and there are dark circles under eyes, which usually sparkle like Kashmir sapphires*****, but tonight appear dull and almost a blueish grey.

 

“Unfortunately, Lady Bessom simply would not leave today until she had picked my designs for her daughter’s wedding frock completely apart!” Gerald leans down and embraces his best friend, who returns his hug, but as he holds her, she feels fragile in his arms. “Goodness knows why she wants to engage a couturier, if she already knows what she wants. Better she employs a court dressmaker who will make what she wants without question,” he prattles on awkwardly as he glimpses the large green bottle of Gordon’s Dry Gin****** on the low black japanned coffee table, with her glass already half empty. “Rather than me, who only wants the best for poor Edwina. I don’t want to send the mousy little creature down the aisle in a frock that not only looks out of fashion, but draws attention to every physical flaw in the poor girl’s figure.” He releases Lettice, who does not respond to his remarks, so he finishes up, “It would look bad for the House of Bruton too.”

 

Without waiting to be asked, Gerald assumes his usual seat opposite Lettice, sinking into the comfortable, thick white floral embossed upholstery of Lettice’s companion tub armchair.

 

“Well,” Gerald goes on with a deep sigh. “You obviously haven’t called me over to talk about the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes******* and how you found it. Although I hope you found some inspiration my darling.”

 

“Oh yes, plenty.” Lettice replies, breaking her unusual silence with her rather laconic and uninspired reply.

 

Gerald looks dubiously across at his friend.

 

“I’ve had Moaning Minnie on the telephone to me the last few days,” Gerald says dourly, referring to their mutual friend, London banker’s wife, Minnie Palmerston by her nickname. “She thinks she’s put her foot in it again, since you won’t see her or return her telephone calls.”

 

“Minnie always thinks she has put her foot in it.” Lettice replies without enthusiasm.

 

“That’s because she usually has,” Gerald quips. “Although not with you and I Lettice darling.”

 

“Mmmm…” Lettice murmurs, picking up her dainty glass with its long stem and draining the contents of gin and tonic – likely more of the former and less of the latter judging by the quality of the sheen of the clear liquid as it disappears down her throat.

 

Just at that moment, Edith slips into the dining room of Cavendish Mews by way of the green baize door that leads from the service part of the flat, carrying her completed plate of dainty savoury canapés. She walks across the room and into the drawing room where she stands before the fire, between Lettice and Gerald. “I thought you could do with these, Miss.” She slides the ruffle edged plate onto the table. “it might help line your stomach, Miss.” she adds in concern, turning her head slight towards Gerald with a meaningful look, who nods surreptitiously back at her.

 

“Thank you Edith, but I’m really not that hungry.” Lettice replies.

 

“Well, you’ve nothing whatever in your stomach, so I suggest you at least try a few to help sop up some of your gin cocktails, Miss.”

 

“Err, yes. Thank you, Edith.” Gerald pipes up quickly as the maid wades into murky waters with her mistress, in an effort to avoid her being barked at by an out-of-sorts Lettice, or worse. “We’ll take it from here. Thank you.”

 

“Very good, Sir.” Edith bobs a quick curtsey and retreats.

 

As soon as he knows Edith has retreated to the kitchen through the green baize door, Gerald says, “Alright Lettuce Leaf! Out with it!” He hopes that he can break her funk, at least a little bit, by using his childhood nickname for her, which he knows she hates.

 

“Don’t call me that Gerald! You know how I hate it!” she replies, admittedly not with her usual vigour, but at least with a little bit of energy.

 

“That’s better.” Gerald smiles. “So, what is it that was so ghastly about your trip to Paris that it has you looking so bloody******** and in such a god awful funk?”

 

“I’m not in a funk!” Lettice responds in a churlish fashion.

 

Gerald simply gives her a withering look as he pours them both a small amount of gin into their glasses and adds more carbonated tonic water from the clear glass syphon than Lettice has been adding to her own drinks.

 

“Those are rather over the top, aren’t they?” Gerald nods in the direction of a vase of red roses, white asters, pink oriental lilies and purple irises towering over the telephone on the small table beside Lettice’s armchair.

 

“They’re from John.” Lettice replies in a languorous fashion.

 

“Was it Sir John?” Gerald asks directly, returning the syphon to the tabletop, before setting back in his seat languidly with his glass in one hand, and one of Edith’s canapés in the other. As he bites into the dainty puff pastry decorated with tiny herb sprigs and a tiny cherry tomato he adds, “Edith is right you know, Lettice darling. You should have one of these, they are delicious, and have a rather delectable creamy cheese filling.”

 

Encouraged, Lettice snatches one off the plate and grabs the stem of her glass. When she pulls a face after tasting the gin and tonic in her glass, she puts both down again, and reaches for the bottle of Gordon’s to add more gin to her glass.

 

“Ahh-ahh!” Gerald replies, snatching the bottle away quickly before she can reach it. “Not until you tell me what is going on.” He persists. “So, it was Sir John then!”

 

Lettice sighs. “No, it wasn’t.” She sighs more deeply. “Well yes it was, but not entirely. There are a number of things that have come to light,” She huffs. “Or rather haven’t come to light, that have put me out-of-sorts.”

 

Keeping the bottle out of harm’s, and Lettice’s way, by slipping it onto the seat beside him, Gerald goes on, “I’m listening then.”

 

Lettice takes a bite out of the canapé in her left hand and chews her mouthful rather indolently before explaining.

 

“Well, in one respect it was John who upset me.”

 

“What did he do?”

 

“Well, when I agreed to marry him, he promised me that he would never do anything to shame me.”

 

“And he did?” Gerald asks. When Lettice nods shallowly, he presses, “What did he do?”

 

“Well, Clemance organised the most marvellous picnic in the Tuileries Gardens********* for us. She wanted me to meet some of her Parisian friends, the Duponts, who were lovely.”

 

“However?”

 

“However, John also invited that woman, Mademoiselle Flanton, the actress from Cinégraphic********** to join us, along with some of her ghastly and gauche theatrical friends.”

 

“But you knew that Sir John was going to meet this Mademoiselle Flanton, whilst you were in Paris. He told you that he would, right from when you first mentioned going to the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes at the Savoy*********** months ago.” Gerald says before finishing off the rest of his canapé.

 

“I know he did.”

 

“For all his faults,” Gerald defends Sir John. “And god knows he has many of them, he’s never tried to hide them from you. In fact, from all you’ve intimated to me, he’s been very up front about them right from the very beginning.”

 

“Knowing about them, and having them flung in your face are two quite different things.” Lettice retorts.

 

“Ahh yes.” Gerald opines, reaching for another canapé. “I did notice how piqued you were at Sylvia’s house party at ‘The Nest’ when he arrived with Paula Young, even after he’s told you that she was going to be there.”

 

“They played handies************ right there in front of me!”

 

“Who? Sir John and Paula? I thought they did much more than that, that weekend, Lettice darling.”

 

“Don’t be so obtuse, Gerald!” Lettice snaps. “I meant John and that awful, vulgar Mademoiselle Flanton! They entwined fingers like lovers right in front of me on the picnic rug! Goodness knows if Clemance or the Duponts saw it. I doubt Clemance did, but if the Duponts did, they were at least too polite to pass comment.”

 

Gerald raises his half drunk cocktail, “God bless the Entente Cordiale*************.”

 

“This is no time to be glib, Gerald darling!” Lettice scolds. “It was most embarrassing and distracting.”

 

“I’m sorry Lettice darling.” Gerald apologises. “I didn’t mean for it to come across like that. I’m as horrified about the business with Mademoiselle Flanton as I am about that of Miss Young. At least Miss Young and Sir John conducted their affair behind closed doors as it were, at Sylvia’s, with probably a very understanding and accepting select group of people. Behaving that way in public is atrocious! That must have been quite awful for you, poor darling!”

 

“It was Gerald darling! Quite awful!”

 

Lettice drains her glass and holds it out to Gerald to replenish.

 

“No, Lettuce Leaf!” Gerald replies, moving protectively between Lettice and the bottle of gin nestled on the seat beside him. “I told you, not until you tell me everything that is upsetting you! If you have any more, you’ll get tight**************, and when you get tight, you get nonsensical, and I can’t make out anything you say properly. If you want me to help you, or my advice,” He wags a finger admonishingly at her. “You’ll not be like your errant fiancée and hold to your promise and tell me all!”

 

“Oh Gerald!” Lettice mewls as she sinks back into her seat deflatedly. “You really are beastly sometimes!”

 

“Don’t be a spoiled young flapper and tell me what else happened.” Gerald persists.

 

“Well, besides the hands incident at Clemance’s picnic, and the fact that John did what he told me he was going to whilst we were in Paris, and left Clemance and I at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts together, bold-faced lying to his sister about where he was going, whilst he pursued a secret tryst with Mademoiselle Flanton, he also subjected me to an evening of cocktails at her Parisian apartment.”

 

“But I thought Sir John had been clear about both of those things at the Savoy too, Lettice darling. You told me that was what he was going to do.” Gerald shakes his head with a lack of comprehension. “I don’t understand.”

 

“Well, it wasn’t just the evening that was tiresome and humiliating for me.” Lettice goes on, taking up a small canapé of sauteed and honey glazed carrot cut into a heart shape. “I’m sure everyone there knew about John and Mademoiselle Flanton’s history together, and the rekindling of their acquaintance,” She shudders as she utters the last word with vehemence. “And I was seen as just the poor little unsuspecting wife-to-be, an innocent jeune fille à marier*************** plucked from the British aristocracy, with no idea about who was who, or what was what.”

 

“Well, if it wasn’t that alone, what was it, Lettice darling?”

 

“It was Mademoiselle Flanton herself.” Seeing Gerald’s look, imagining the French actress throwing herself flagrantly in front of Sir John in Lettice’s presence, Lettice quickly elucidates, “Oh nothing like that Gerald darling! No, it was what she told me!”

 

“What she told you?”

 

“Yes,” Lettice replies laconically. “During the evening, Mademoiselle Flanton appraised me of some things that now have me wondering.”

 

“Wondering about what?”

 

“After Mademoiselle Flanton learned, or rather read, of John’s and my engagement, and she reconnected with John on this trip to Paris, he told her about all that beastly business with Selwyn and how he had dissolved our understanding after proposing to Kitty Avendale, the diamond mine heiress.”

 

“Well, I think that is rather beastly of Sir John! Such pillow talk!” Gerald retorts hotly, quite forgetting that not all that long ago, he and his lover, West End oboist Cyril, were involved in pillow talk revolving around Lettice and Sir John’s relationship. “I would be most offended too!”

 

“No, it wasn’t that, that upset me, Gerald.”

 

“Then what was it?”

 

“Well, after he did this, Mademoiselle Flanton told me that out of her own piqued interest, she had her secretary do some minor investigations into the alleged engagement.”

 

Gerald chokes on his mouthful of gin and tonic, spluttering and coughing violently. Struggling to regain both his breath and composure, he manages to ask, “Alleged engagement?”

 

“Mademoiselle Flanton made me question what I have been shown by Lady Zinnia. Mademoiselle Flanton’s secretary did some digging around and she noted something I hadn’t even considered. Apparently there has been no announcement in The Times, or any other British newspaper about Selwyn’s engagement. Don’t you find that a little odd?”

 

Still catching his breath, Gerald takes another slug of his gin and tonic before saying, “I do. The Duchess, Lady Zinnia, is a woman of many pretentions. There is no way that she would let such an advantageous match pass by unnoticed, especially considering her original idea had been to marry Selwyn off to his cousin and join two powerful British dynasties.” He pauses and considers. “But how do you even know that what Mademoiselle Flanton claims is true? It isn’t like either of us have been reading the marriage announcements.”

 

“I know, Gerald, and I certainly haven’t, but I know someone who reads them religiously.”

 

“Not Sadie?” Gerald asks, referring to Lettice’s mother, Lady Sadie.

 

“No,” Lettice elucidates. “Margot’s mother, Lady de Virre. She never fails to find out who has become engaged to whom, so when I came home from Paris, I telephoned her, and she told me that she hasn’t seen a thing about the engagement.”

 

“Intriguing.” Gerald remarks, taking a deep breath, as much out of shock as to help him regain his composure.

 

“But wait, there is more yet to tell, Gerald.” Lettice says, her voice rising with excitement, her body pulsating with a sudden energy that has been lacking before now. “What Mademoiselle Flanton’s secretary also told her mistress, was that based upon her investigations, Kitty Avendale only arrived in Durban last year not long after Selwyn did. No-one had ever heard of her o seen her before that time, anywhere. For the heiress to a diamond mine, that seems a more than a little odd too, don’t you think, Gerald?”

 

“I do.”

 

“I suggested to her that perhaps Mr. Avendale had only made his money recently, but then Mademoiselle Flanton told me that there is apparently no father with a diamond mine!”

 

“What?”

 

“Exactly! Her secretary found the only Australian man with a surname of Avendale was a jockey of some kind who was caught race fixing**************** when he deliberately lost the Durban Handicap*****************. There is something decidedly fishy going on here, and I suspect Lady Zinnia’s hand in it.”

 

“But you said that Lady Zinnia showed you pictures of Selwyn and Miss Avendale tougher, with an engagement announced beneath it, Lettice.”

 

“Well, Mademoiselle Flanton made me question what I have actually been shown. She made me wonder whether I have been shown the whole truth, or only a half – something redacted – or worse yet, something fabricated by Lady Zinnia.”

 

“Well, she was always a vicious viper, that one,” Gerald gasps. “Selwyn always told me that what she wanted, she always got in the end, by hook or by crook.”

 

“Tell me, do you ever hear from Selwyn any more, Gerald darling?”

 

“No, Lettice darling, but I just assumed that he stopped writing to me because he knows that you’re my best friend, and it would have been indelicate for him to write to me after breaking your heart.”

 

“What if it was the other way around, Gerald darling?”

 

“Whatever do you mean, Lettice?”

 

“What if he stopped writing to you because I broke his heart when he read about my engagement to Sir John, and he didn’t want to talk to you any more because you are my best friend?”

 

“Do you suspect Sir John’s involvement too? You could break your engagement with him you know. It’s your prerogative.”

 

“I know I can, but… well… no.” Lettice admits. “I don’t suspect John’s hand in this anywhere. Mademoiselle Flanton is very protective of John. I think if he had done something nefarious, she wouldn’t have believed it, and she certainly wouldn’t have told me what she did that night. I don’t suppose you could get Selwyn’s current address from your club? You once told me that you two were members of the same club here in London.”

 

“We were,” Gerald says, blushing as he speaks. “But I’m afraid I’m not a member of the club any more, Lettice darling. You see, I was banned for not paying my membership and letting it fall so far in arrears. At the time I was rather short you know, trying to set up my atelier in Grosvenor Street, which wasn’t cheap, so I rather let it go, as I had to so many of life’s little pleasantries. Then, when I had enough money to pay my debts, I saw no reason to rejoin a club that is only for men, and more sporting men at that. I’d met Hattie and Cyril by that stage and made more friends through her than I ever did at that damn club, that I just simply never paid. I doubt they would let me even try and contact Selwyn through them. I am sure I am persona non grata****************** to them now.”

 

“Oh Gerald darling! What am I going to do? I don’t want to break my engagement to John, and hurt his pride or the feelings of Clemance, particularly if I have no call to withdraw from our arrangement. Also, it would only enrage Pater and Mater would be fit to be tied.”

 

“But you said that they were lukewarm about the engagement.”

 

“Initially yes, but lately they have come around to it, and seem quite happy. If Mater was willing to come up to London to help me shop for a wedding frock.”

 

“Direct more like.” Gerald quips disgruntledly. “Considering she won’t consider me as the designer of it.”

 

“Well, you know what I mean, Gerald darling, and I’m still chipping away at her on that. Anyway, if she was willing to come up to London, she can’t be against it.” She wrings her hands after depositing her empty glass on the tabletop. “What am I to do, Gerald darling? You’re my best friend, my oldest chum! You’re the only one of my close friends I’d dare turn to right now who doesn’t have an invested interest in me breaking it off with John. You’ll be honest with me, and give very sound advice.”

 

“Well, I’m flattered you think that Lettice darling. Let me think.” He then fishes out the bottle of Gordon’s and holds it across the table between he and Lettice for her to take.

 

She shakes her head in return. “I need a clear head to think, Gerald darling.”

 

Gerald fixes himself another grin and tonic, this time with more of the former than the latter as he allows all of Lettice’s revelations sink in. He sists in silence, sipping his drink for a while, and the room becomes enveloped in a thick, yet anticipatory and charged silence as Lettice sits opposite him. At length he speaks.

 

“How willing are you to go, regarding this investigation into the truth, Lettice darling?” he asks seriously.

 

“I’ll do whatever it takes, Gerald.” Lettice says with resolve.

 

“Even if it may take a few months or more?”

 

“I don’t care how long it will take if I can discover the truth. I won’t be able to sleep properly until I do.”

 

“Well, I hope that isn’t quite true, Lettice darling,” Gerald remarks, giving her a doleful look as he does. “As it may take six months or more, and you’ll have to do some manoeuvring and procrastination of your own that may take a bit of effort.”

 

“I told you, Gerald darling,” Lettice reiterates. “I’ll do anything.”

 

“Then, would you get Leslie involved?”

 

“Leslie? As in my brother, Leslie?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No. He’s against John’s and my engagement, even though he pretends to the contrary. He doesn’t think I know he’s lying when he tells me how happy he is for me, but he is. I’ve known him all my life. Besides, he is Mater’s favourite, and she would wheedle anything I confide in him about all this out of him, and then she’s be off to attack Lady Zinnia, which would only make things worse if it turns out all to be for naught.”

 

“Hhhmmm…” Gerald muses. “That’s probably quite wise, Lettice darling. A clear heard is good for your thinking.” He taps the edge of his own partially empty glass. “Then are you willing to get your own hands dirty?”

 

“Dirty? How do you mean, Gerald?”

 

“Well, I was only mentioning Leslie because before he took a more active role in the estate as the heir to Glynes, he worked for the Foreign Office, and I thought he might have had some sleuthing contacts.”

 

“I don’t want him involved, Gerald. Only you know, and I intend to keep it that way.”

 

“Then we two are going to have to hire a Pinkerton*******************.”

 

“A Pinkerton!” Lettice gasps. “Is that really necessary, Gerald darling?”

 

“I’m afraid so, Lettice darling.” he replies. “No-one else, outside people in the Foreign Office, will be able to sleuth out the truth for you. It won’t be cheap. Pinkertons are expensive.”

 

“I can afford it.” Lettice replies with steely resolve.

 

“And as I said, they may take a few months or longer before they find out what is what, and who was involved, so you are going to have to buy time.”

 

“Buy time?”

 

“No matter who pressures you, you are going to have to drag your feet about getting married, and it seems to me that with Sadie and Clemance Pontefract involved now, things are moving a little faster than they were before their involvement.”

 

“Well, I should be able to convince John. He’s in no hurry to get married, but Mater and Clemance won’t want too long an engagement. Clemance has already scolded both John and I about being glacially slow in making our plans.”

 

“Then you are going to have to steel yourself against the pressure, Lettice darling. If you really want to know the truth, and make sure that you aren’t making a mistake by marrying Sir John, when Selwyn may yet be waiting for you, you will have to stall for time.”

 

“Then if that is what I’ll do. But how?”

 

“Throw yourself into your work. Edith tells me you’ve done nothing about the designs for Dolly Hatchett’s Queen Anne’s Gate******************** townhouse redecoration. That will be a good start. If you are too busy to make important decisions, then even at their most fervent, neither Sadie nor Clemance can progress without you. Put your foot down about Sadie’s decision not to let me make your wedding frock. We all know how stubborn she can be. That will give us time too.”

 

Lettice smiles at Gerald, a beaming and genuine smile. “Thank you for helping me with this, Gerald. I knew you were the only one to assist me.”

 

Gerald holds out his hand to Lettice, who grasps it firmly in return. “Of course! You’re my best and oldest chum! I’d do anything to help you and support you!”

 

*Moiré, is a textile with a wavy (watered) appearance produced mainly from silk, but also wool, cotton, and rayon. The watered appearance is usually created by the finishing technique called calendering. Moiré effects are also achieved by certain weaves, such as varying the tension in the warp and weft of the weave. Silk treated in this way is sometimes called watered silk. Rayon moiré was a popular choice for the black evening uniform for female domestics between the wars, as it gave the elegant appearance of silk, and looked very smart with the white lace cuffs and collars of such uniforms.

 

**A chignon is a classic, versatile hairstyle characterized by a low bun or knot of hair, typically worn at the nape of the neck, though it can also be a more general term for hair wrapped at the back of the head. The name "chignon" comes from the French phrase "chignon du cou," meaning "nape of the neck," where the hairstyle is traditionally positioned. This elegant and refined style has been around for centuries.

 

***An Astrakhan coat is a fur coat or jacket made from the tightly curled fleece of the newborn Karakul lamb. This distinctive, looped material, also known as Persian lamb fur, creates a glamorous, warm, and luxurious garment often in black, grey, or golden yellow. Astrakhan coats were worn in London during several periods, most notably as part of Victorian and Edwardian high fashion, in the 1860s and 1870s, again from 1890 to 1908, and into the early Twentieth Century, with renewed popularity in the 1920s and 1930s and again in the 1950s and 1960s. The luxurious fur was used for full coats, as well as collars and trims, fitting with the ornate aesthetic of the late Nineteenth Century and the trends of the early Twentieth Century.

 

****Old top hats were historically made from animal products, most notably the felted underfur of beavers, which was the preferred material for early top hats. As beaver fur supplies declined and alternatives became available, the high-quality, shiny material known as silk plush replaced beaver fur as the favoured material for the best top hats. Other animal furs used included camel and vicuña, and later, the fur of rabbits was used to create a material called "Melusine" for some modern top hats.

 

*****Pale blue sapphires from India are known as Kashmir sapphires. They are very rare, and are known for their velvety, cornflower-blue colour, not typically a pale hue. Whilst the term "Kashmir" refers to their origin, the characteristic colour associated with these precious stones is a rich, intense blue, not pale.

 

******Gordon's London Dry Gin was developed by Alexander Gordon, a Londoner of Scots descent. He opened a distillery in the Southwark area in 1769, later moving in 1786 to Clerkenwell. The Special London Dry Gin he developed proved successful, and its recipe remains unchanged to this day. The top markets for Gordon's are (in descending order) the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece. Gordon's has been the United Kingdom’s number one gin since the late Nineteenth Century. It is the world's best-selling London dry gin.

 

*******The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts was a specialized exhibition held in Paris, from April the 29th (the day after it was inaugurated in a private ceremony by the President of France) to October the 25th, 1925. It was designed by the French government to highlight the new modern style of architecture, interior decoration, furniture, glass, jewellery and other decorative arts in Europe and throughout the world. Many ideas of the international avant-garde in the fields of architecture and applied arts were presented for the first time at the exposition. The event took place between the esplanade of Les Invalides and the entrances of the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and on both banks of the Seine. There were fifteen thousand exhibitors from twenty different countries, and it was visited by sixteen million people during its seven-month run. The modern style presented at the exposition later became known as “Art Deco”, after the exposition's name.

 

********The old fashioned British term “looking bloody” was a way of indicating how dour or serious a person or occasion looks.

 

*********The Tuileries Garden is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the first arrondissement of Paris. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in 1667 and became a public park after the French Revolution. Since the Nineteenth Century, it has been a place for Parisians to celebrate, meet, stroll and relax.

 

**********Cinégraphic was a French film production company founded by director Marcel L'Herbier in the 1920s. It was established following a disagreement between L'Herbier and the Gaumont Company, a major film distributor, over the film "Don Juan et Faust". Cinégraphic was involved in the production of several films, including "Don Juan et Faust" itself. Cinégraphic focused on more experimental and artistic films.

 

***********The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by Carte's family for over a century. The Savoy was the first hotel in Britain to introduce electric lights throughout the building, electric lifts, bathrooms in most of the lavishly furnished rooms, constant hot and cold running water and many other innovations. Carte hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as chef de cuisine; they established an unprecedented standard of quality in hotel service, entertainment and elegant dining, attracting royalty and other rich and powerful guests and diners. The hotel became Carte's most successful venture. Its bands, Savoy Orpheans and the Savoy Havana Band, became famous. Winston Churchill often took his cabinet to lunch at the hotel. The hotel is now managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It has been called "London's most famous hotel". It has two hundred and sixty seven guest rooms and panoramic views of the River Thames across Savoy Place and the Thames Embankment. The hotel is a Grade II listed building.

 

************The phrase "play handies" to mean couples holding hands started around 1910. An earlier related phrase, "playing hand," referring to holding a hand of cards, was documented in the 1890s. In 1936, a different meaning emerged for the term "handies" as a word for a charades-like game played with hand gestures, a usage documented by the Chicago Tribune.

 

*************The Entente Cordiale was a set of agreements signed by France and the United Kingdom on April the 8th, 1904, to resolve colonial disputes and foster a closer working relationship, marking the end of a long history of imperial rivalry and isolation. While not a formal military alliance, the agreements paved the way for future cooperation and helped form the Triple Entente, which played a significant role in the dynamics leading up to World War I.

 

**************To get tight is an old fashioned term used to describe getting drunk.

 

***************A jeune fille à marier was a marriageable young woman, the French term used in fashionable circles and the upper-classes of Edwardian society before the Second World War.

 

****************We usually think of match or race fixing as a modern day thing, but one of the earliest examples of this sort of match fixing in the modern era occurred in 1898 when Stoke City and Burnley intentionally drew in that year's final "test match" so as to ensure they were both in the First Division the next season. In response, the Football League expanded the divisions to eighteen teams that year, thus permitting the intended victims of the fix (Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers) to remain in the First Division. The "test match" system was abandoned and replaced with automatic relegation. Match fixing quickly spread to other spots that involved high amounts of gambling, including horse racing.

 

*****************The Durban July Handicap is a South African Thoroughbred horse race held annually on the first Saturday of July since 1897 at Greyville Racecourse in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Raced on turf, the Durban July Handicap is open to horses of all ages. It is South Africa's premier horse racing event. When first held in July 1897, the race was at a distance of one mile. The distance was modified several times until 1970 when it was changed to its current eleven furlongs.

 

******************“Persona non grata” is a Latin phrase meaning “unwelcome person.” As a legal term, it refers to the practice of a state prohibiting a diplomat from entering the country as a diplomat, or censuring a diplomat already resident in the country for conduct unbecoming of the status of a diplomat.

 

*******************A “Pinkerton” is a private detective, and refers to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, founded by Allan Pinkerton, known for its historical role in labour disputes and spying. For decades after Allan Pinkerton's death, his name became a slang term for any private investigator, regardless of whether they worked for the Pinkerton Agency or not. Today, the agency (now simply called Pinkerton) focuses on risk management, intelligence, and security services.

 

********************Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early Eighteenth Century houses as “the best of their kind in London.” The street’s proximity to the Palace of Westminster made it a popular residential area for politicians.

 

This 1920s upper-class drawing room is different to what you may think at first glance, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures.

 

Fun things to look for in this tableau include:

 

On Lettice's table are two glasses which are hand spun artisan pieces made from real glass which I have had since I was a young teenager. I bought them from a high street shop that specialised in dolls and dollhouse furnishings, including miniatures. They are amongst the first real artisan pieces I ever bought. The bottle of Gordon's Gin is another artisan piece made by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire, with so much attention and detail paid to the period lable. For this scene, I have taken a piece of Lettice’s tea set, which is a beautiful artisan set featuring a rather avant-garde Art Deco Royal Doulton design from the Edwardian era called “Falling Leaves”, and turned the sugar bowl into an ice cube bowl. The glass comport is made of real glass and was blown by hand is an artisan miniature acquired from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering. The ice cubes, the soda syphon and the savory hors d'oeuvres on the plate also comes from Beautifully handmade Miniatures.

 

The very realistic floral arrangement to the right of the photo is made by hand by Falcon Miniatures who specialise in high end miniatures.

 

Lettice’s drawing room is furnished with beautiful J.B.M. miniatures. The Art Deco tub chairs are of black japanned wood and have removable cushions, just like their life sized examples. To the left of the fireplace is a Hepplewhite drop-drawer bureau and chair of black japanned wood which has been hand painted with chinoiserie designs, even down the legs and inside the bureau. The Hepplewhite chair has a rattan seat, which has also been hand woven. To the right of the fireplace is a Chippendale cabinet which has also been decorated with chinoiserie designs. It also features very ornate metalwork hinges and locks.

 

On the top of the Hepplewhite bureau stand three real miniature photos in frames including an Edwardian silver frame, a Victorian brass frame and an Art Deco blue Bakelite and glass frame.

 

The fireplace is a 1:12 miniature resin Art Deco fireplace which is flanked by brass accessories including an ash brush with real bristles.

 

The carpet beneath the furniture is a copy of a popular 1920s style Chinese silk rug, and the geometric Art Deco wallpaper is beautiful hand impressed paper given to me by a friend, which inspired the whole “Cavendish Mews – Lettice Chetwynd” series.

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

I seem to need three scenes for my photo adventures. Strawberry Singh's Flat Ebbe Meme is no exception. It occurred to me that the CEOs might want to pal around during their accidental tourism throughout the SL Grid, so I asked Rodvik join us on Mindwalker Beach. Ebbe was pretty silent on the subject, so I didn't wheedle for details. Wherever you've gone, may the odds be ever in your favor, Boys! ｡◕‿◕｡

 

Flat CEOs can be found in Strawberry Singh's Marketplace store.

 

Location: My Mindwalker Beach Home

Nurses are angels in comfortable shoes.

 

Author Unknown

 

I spent a few days in hospital and I am well!!!!!!!

 

88010 'Aurora' nearly at Craigenhill Summit at the end of the long climb from Motherwell with the Sunday afternoon Mossend-Daventry 'Tesco Express'. 16th February 2020. One's mini-chariot has managed to wheedle itself into the picture. Apologies to Deltic Fan with whom I interrupted a telephone conversation to get this when the sun popped out!

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

I am in that gushing taste of rust

and haemoglobin. The first hound

tore him down of its own accord;

the others came afterwards, lapped

at the spreading pool that steamed

and congealed, and their eyes glazed

with a reddish film as I entered them.

 

That was when the frenzy descended,

and dogs that would have wheedled

and cringed, had their master raised

his hand, transformed in an instant

into a flurry of foam-flecked teeth

as he turned tail in a bulging gush

of entrails. It's not that I mind

men looking with lascivious eyes:

it's when they do it casually, after

killing. The dogs sidle, yelp, rip.

My hair melts, swirls, turns to butterflies.

 

Poem by Giles Watson, 2013

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

An ebay tintype. Did you ever read Lady Audley's Secret, the Victorian novel by M.E. Braddon? This woman reminds me of the wheedling, child-like and treacherous Lady Audley.

This is a screengrab from "of indian origin" an influential and beautifully designed publication brought out by Nisha John Rao currently based in UK.

 

Of Indian Origin

 

This is a ferment house of ideas, creativity, design and all that originating from India or Indians now spread all over the world. Go see for yourself - the designwork and the content is simply wonderful.

 

An interesting aside here. I have known Nisha briefly from my time in Cochin from 2005 to 2008, as she is the daughter of a friend of mine. When I read the email requesting for high res pictures of the photographs, a few days ago, I knew straight away who Nisha was but she could not place me. Good for me. Who wants to obtain publicity by wheedling and scurrying favors from magazine editors and media personalities ( they all do right ;-))) ). Nah Not me !

 

So till the time this article went up I kept the information that I knew her to my self.

 

Nisha John Rao is originally from the field of advertising. The aim of her site in her words

"" is to celebrate the explosion of creativity that is widespread in India and the Indian Diaspora. Being a land of multiple cultures, it is exciting to find different kinds of work created by various designers and artists linked to India by body, mind or soul. I hope you enjoy the site and exploring the creations as much as I am going to enjoy finding and sharing them. """

 

The exact url of the story is as follows --

 

Anoop Negi of stocks-and-shares and photography

 

The photograph visible in the screen grab is that of Badami situated in Karnataka, India and not in Tibet as some other hallowed publication mentioned while including this in their list of 18 amazing photographs from Tibet -- Now that is another story . ;-))

  

I have six Operettas now! They are all the Claudin sisters with their unique personalities.

 

Far left- Katherine: Probably the one I've photographed the most. She was Loki's moll for a long time until she married the Hot Toys Loki and had a daughter by him. She even briefly became a Lady Loki. She struggles with her borderline personality disorder and being a teen mother, the first of his sisters in fact to have a child. Introverted and sensitive she tries now to undo the damage she did to herself and everyone who loved her when she was a Lady Loki. (named after Katherine Hepburn)

 

2nd left-Lauren: A newer one, she owns the bar and grill and has her only employee, Draculaura working for her as part of paying off the blackmail Lauran has on her. Quiet and unassuming she knows how to wheedle secrets out of people and keeps a large collection of them. She is one of the few sisters still affectionate towards Katherine and acts sometimes as a mediator between her and Joan. (named after Lauren Bacall)

 

3rd left-Joan: A night club dancer who spent most of her money trying to help her sister Katherine in the early days before Katherine became Loki's moll and was involved with the gargoyle gangs of Paris. Joan is a bitter pessimist who hates Katherine, having given up on her having (as she perceives) wasted all her money and love in trying to save her that Joan ruined herself. Joan has a violent temper but a strong religious core and a deep love for the sisters she does see as redeemable. (named after Joan Crawford)

 

3rd right-Norma: The latest acquisition, Norma is the oldest and as she sees the most loyal to their father. This comes as odd considering the Phantom did the sloppiest job in burning the treble clef pattern in her face and burned out one of her eyes which is why her mask is more of an eyepatch (like the Herbert Lom Phantom). Imperious and narcissistic she considers herself the sisters' leader and model of decorum even if only Scarlett and Bette think so. (named after Norma Sheerer)

 

2nd right-Scarlett: The only Claudin sister with a southern accent, a flighty shallow diva who only follows along with what her sisters are doing to be popular. Though not as bossy as Norma, she is spoiled to the core. She even has eyes for Katherine's husband whom she considers too handsome to be kept all to Katherine. Scarlett is wickedly jealous of Katherine because of this though she isn't as violently antagonistic as Joan. She typically does everything Norma tells her to do. (named after Scarlett O'Hara, played by Vivian Leigh in 'Gone with the Wind')

 

Far right-Elizabeth 'Bette': Bette is unique because she isn't as selfish as her other sisters. The youngest of all of them she is the sister all the others try to protect. She is very sheltered, shy, sensitive and with a strong sense of propriety. She dislikes change and holds to the traditions set by her father. She is the only one who still loves Katherine after she became the queen of the Loki lair. (named after Bette Davis)

Jane Brown2022All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without explicit written permission

 

Stellas was born on 1st November 2021. Abby and Elsie went to collect her and her sister, Missy from a breeder of hunting dogs near Bristol, Bath and Trowbridge(!) They saw the pups' mum, a Jack Russell and a photo of their father a Parson Jack Russell. The breeder also had a 12 year old Patterdale who, apart from a white bib) was the image of dear old Stan (Abby took a photo) with white hairy goggles round his eyes!

 

Stella is a sweet little pup - feisty - and she has already wheedled her way into everyone's hearts - she has a lovely temperament and seems very well suited to fitting in with family life. Everyone has claimed her as their dog, but I have no doubt that she belongs to Abby!

 

I'm sure we shan't be hearing any more about kittens, rabbits or gerbils . . .

 

So now moving on to some Marvel stuff, here's the X-Men.

Top:

Angel

Bottom L to R:

Chamber:

Kind of a minor character, but I like him anyway. Pretty basic parts, and a custom coat.

Gambit:

I noticed a while back that the old Power Miners hips have an "x" belt buckle, so any X-Man with just pants now has those. Also the Batzarro torso makes for an excellent Gambit IMO.

Jubilee:

REALLY proud of this one. The gloves and boots are electrical tape, and she has a custom coat. The head is from the Ghostbusters firehouse set, and it's what makes the figure for me.

Angel:

The wings are custom, but the rest is mostly copied from someone on Eurobricks. I still need to wheedle my brother out of his Flash head for a day.

Banshee:

The head is far from perfect, but otherwise I really like this one. The cape is custom, and the torso is one from World Racers backwards.

Nightcrawler:

Pretty simple. NRG Jay head, Ninjago torso (I forget which wave), City diver legs.

Rogue:

Pretty close to what everyone does for her. The coat is custom, and the torso is from the Riddler.

Storm:

Just the Lego one with Ursula's hair from the Disney CMF.

 

I still need to make a decent Cyclops, and a wheelchair for Prof. X. Any suggestions are appreciated (my current one is basically a brick and some cheese slopes).

 

Questions and comments welcome!

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Yes, she is one of those Lennon Sisters. I'm dating myself by having even heard of them. In my mind, the Lennon Sisters were big around the time of the Dionne quintuplets, but it turned out I was off by a matter of decades.

 

Wait. Was I thinking of the Andrews Sisters?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

IMDB says:

 

Janet Lennon was born on June 14, 1946 in Culver City, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Love, American Style (1969), Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters (1969) and Pro Bowlers' Tour(1962).

 

She has been married to John Bahler since September 25, 1976. She was previously married to Lee Bernhardi.

 

Strange as it may seem, this tome was never reviewed in its day or, if it was, the review didn't make it onto the Internet.

 

Hence, we'll have to make do with a reader's assessment of the work on Amazon in 2007:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2007:

 

Being a fan of the Lennon Sisters, I wanted to get this book as part of my collection. I really enjoyed reading it.

 

I am an adult, but I enjoy reading children's books sometimes because of the good values that underline many themes in these books. I found this one to bring out these good values as well.

 

As you can figure from the title of the book, [??] this book focuses on Janet and her last summer vacation before "growing up".

 

The other family members are just referenced briefly at the beginning of the book.

 

Good values dealing with diversity, consideration of others, friendship, and thoughtfulness are shown throughout the readings of this book.

 

If you enjoy children's books as I do, are a Lennon Sisters fan, or are a child yourself, I think you will enjoy this book as much as I have.

 

I also have bought the other Lennon Sisters books in the series, but I have not read them yet. I will write reviews on them as I complete them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you're still reading this and if you enjoy games and puzzles, re-read the "review," look closely at the book cover, examine the illustration, and write a 10,000-word short story titled "Janet and the Angels II" that incorporates all the elements and characters in them into one hilarious story that's fun for all the family!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

No piece about this book would be complete without a mention of its place in the 1954-1975 TV Whitman Book collection:

 

Whitman Books: The TV Tie-Ins That Bind

Smack Dab In The Middle: Design Trends Of The Mid-20th Century

 

February 14, 2020

 

What was Lassie up to when she wasn't fishing Timmy out of that well? Where did Annette go when she wasn't wearing her mouse ears, and did the Lennon Sisters ever get a day off from the Lawrence Welk Show?

 

The answers to such burning questions came courtesy of Whitman Publishing of Racine, Wis. During the 1950s and 60s, Whitman's Authorized TV Editions filled the bookshelves (and filled in the imagination gaps) of many young fans.

 

Couldn't wait a week for the next episode of Lassie? Well, you could probably wheedle Mom or Dad into springing for Whitman's Lassie and the Secret of the Summer. (Spoiler alert, Lassie's secret has her finding a valuable stash of old recordings).

 

Pining for more of The Mickey Mouse Club? Curl up with Annette as she puts on her Nancy Drew detecting hat for Annette and the Mystery at Smuggler's Cove.

 

And oh, those Lennons! With a hand-drawn map, they discover The Secret of Holiday Island and reunite a shipwrecked boy with his long-lost father.

 

If the storylines sound familiar, it's because they're relatively interchangeable with the type of stories found in other popular Whitman book series (Donna Parker, Trixie Belden, The Bobbsey Twins).

 

The difference is that the TV editions featured TV stars. And the more popular the star, the better the chances of a continuing series (Annette made her mystery-solving way to such locales as Moonstone Bay and Medicine Wheel).

 

At just under $2, your folks could justify the cost. After all, these were books. You weren't sitting there staring at the TV. You were reading. (Even if you were reading about TV).

 

Celebrities sell, a fact that Whitman discovered early on. Beginning in 1932, its Big Little Books put comic strip favorites (Dick Tracy, Popeye), between the pages of tiny books just four inches high. Simple stories and black-and-white illustrations made these must-haves for the younger set.

 

Later in the 30s, Whitman branched out into standard-sized hardcovers with pop culture tie-ins.

 

Many still celebrated funny paper favorites (Smilin' Jack and the Daredevil Girl Pilot, Blondie and Dagwood's Secret Service).

 

Others brought real-life movie stars into the mix (Betty Grable and the House with the Iron Shutters, Ginger Rogers and the Riddle of the Scarlet Cloak).

 

Each Whitman book promised the newest, up-to-the-minute mystery and adventure stories for girls and boys, featuring your favorite characters!

 

When TV surged into prominence in the 1950s, Whitman was ready. Exciting, breezy, 200-page tales were headlined by faces who were tops on the tube, including Fury, The Real McCoys, and Gene Autry. (Autry had been the subject of past Whitman books, but 1951's Gene Autry and the Badmen of Broken Bow was the company's first official TV tie-in. Gene's TV show premiered in mid-1950.)

 

Noting Whitman's success, Walt Disney visited the library as well, with books based on popular Disney flicks such as The Shaggy Dog.

 

That trend hearkened back to the 1940s, with books-into-movies re-releases of such box office draws as Now, Voyager.

 

Dr. Kildare, Leave It To Beaver, Annie Oakley, Maverick--How did you know when your TV show was really a hit?

 

Why, when you'd made it onto the glossy cover of a Whitman book. Just about 100 official Whitman TV tie-ins were published.

 

The series ended in 1975, with a half-dozen volumes starring The Waltons.

 

Today, collectors can find Whitman books at bargain prices. Almost all are under $10, with the exception of such rarities as 1968's Mission to Horatius, the first original story based on the Star Trek series.

 

Patience is required to find Whitmans in collectible condition. The laminated covers have a tendency to peel (as do the spines). The line-drawn endpaper illustrations often brought out the crayon-obsessed among young readers.

 

But for those of a certain age wanting to relive a certain age, Whitman TV books were, as promised, 'delightful, intriguing, never to be forgotten.'

 

Donald-Brian Johnson is the co-author of numerous books on design and collectibles, including Postwar Pop, a collection of his columns. His favorite Whitman book is Fury.

antiquesandauctionnews.net/articles/Whitman-Books%3A-The-...

 

Last but certainly not least, here is a list of 45 of the books in the series:

 

Leave It To Beaver. Fire. 1962

 

The High Chaparral. Apache Way. 1969.

 

Dr. Kildare The Magic Key. 1964

 

Dr. Kildare. Assigned To Trouble. 1963

 

Hawaii Five-O. Top Secret. 1969

 

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Affair of The Gentle Saboteur. 1966. David McCallum and Robert Vaughn pictured on the cover.

 

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Affair of The gunrunners' Gold. 1967

 

I Spy. Message From Moscow. Bill Cosby and Robert Culp on the cover. 1966

 

Bonanza. Treachery Trail. 1968

 

The MOD Squad. Assignment: The Hideout. 1970

 

The MOD Squad. Assignment: The Arranger. 1969

 

Garrison's Gorillas and The Fear Formula. 1968

 

Star Trek. Mission to Horatius. 1968

 

Patty Duke and Mystery Mansion. 1964

 

Combat! The Counterattack. 1964.

 

Voyage To The Bottom of The Sea. 1965

 

Ironside. The Picture Frame Frame-Up. 1969.

 

The Rat Patrol. The Iron Monster Raid. 1968

 

The Invaders. Dam of Death. 1967

 

Mission: Impossible. The Money Explosion. 1970

 

Mission Impossible. The Priceless Particle. 1969

 

The Munsters and the Great Camera Caper. 1965.

 

The Munsters. The Last Resort. 1966

 

The Rebel. 1961

 

Sea Hunt. 1960

 

The Beverly Hillbillies. The Saga Of Wildcat Creek. 1963

 

The Real McCoys and Danger at The Ranch. 1961

 

Lucy and The Madcap Mystery. 1963

 

Tarzan and the City of Gold by Edgar Rice Burroughs. 1954.

 

The Three Musketeers. C. 1956

 

The Big Valley. 1966

 

Rin Tin Tin and The Ghost Wagon Train. 1958

 

Janet Lennon Adventure at Two Rivers. 1961

 

Janet Lennon at Camp Calamity. 1962

 

Janet Lennon and The Angels. 1963

 

Lassie The Wild Mountain Trail. 1966

 

Lassie and The Secret of The Summer. 1958

 

Annette. The Desert Inn Mystery. 1961.

 

Annette. Mystery at Medicine Wheel. 1964

 

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. 1964

 

Mary Poppins. 1964. Julie Andrews on the cover.

 

Ripcord. 1962.

 

The Waltons. The Puzzle. 1975.

 

The Waltons. The Penny Sale. 1975

 

The Waltons. The Treasures. 1975.

The story you're about to read is based on a real event. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. Locations have been changed to protect the curious.

 

A Secret Shack

 

"Why are we walking so much?" complained Seth.

 

"Because it's a hiking trip," explained Erebus.

 

"You said it was a backpacking campout," countered Seth.

 

"Backpacking is hiking," enjoined Teddi.

 

"Using tricky language isn't fair," grumbled Seth. "And you said it'd be safer than the other time. How is this safer? We had the truck before."

 

"We'll have something else, this time," Erebus assured him, leading the way uphill on a well-worn footpath, through thick evergreens.

 

"An underground bunker with armed guards?" asked Seth, stopping beside Erebus at the top of the small hill.

 

"No. Lots of company," said Erebus.

 

Spread before them was a tiny cove covered with pale sand, and tanned bodies. Two or three dozen adults played volleyball, built sand sculptures, swam in the surf, or basked on the beach.

 

"We died on the way up that hill, and this is heaven," declared Seth.

 

"No, it's a private beach," clarified Erebus, pointing at a sign that read;

PRIVATE BEACH - ADULTS ONLY - CHECK IN HERE and just to the right of the sign was a comfortable looking booth where a man in board shorts with SECURITY printed on them waved them over.

 

"Daddy got me a beach!" Seth happily declared to Teddi.

 

"Don't...don't call me, daddy," said Erebus, sighing unhappily when Seth gave him a bearhug before bounding over to the security booth.

 

"Aww, it's so cute when he's happy," teased Teddi, patting Erebus' shoulder. "You're such a good daddy."

 

Erebus groaned. "I'm just trying to make up for the last trip."

 

"This should do it," observed Teddi, watching Seth take selfies with the amused, muscular guard.

 

Seth left Erebus and Teddi to set up their tents in the tidy little campground nestled in the forest on a bluff that overlooked the beach, which was accessed by descending a zigzagging wooden staircase. After they were satisfied with their campsite, Erebus and Teddi strolled down to the beach where they discovered a bohemian bar constructed from driftwood, as well as a couple musicians playing acoustic versions of beach-centric songs. Erebus and Teddi settled back on umbrella-shaded beach chairs with their colorful drinks, and watched Seth dashing around like a Golden Retriever, and they threw amused looks at each other.

 

As the sun set and the cove darkened, small bonfires were lighted, and the fun continued late into the night. Erebus and Teddi retired to their tents after midnight, and Seth crawled into his tent shortly before sunrise, which is why Teddi had to arrange a breakfast-in-bed tray for him. They chatted about what they wanted to do that day, and Seth immediately voted for the beach.

 

"I was hoping to take a little hike. The woods are so beautiful," put in Teddi.

 

"And the beach is so ... beachy," Seth pointed out.

 

"Why don't we do both?" Erebus offered a compromise. "We can hit the beach until lunch, come back to the campsite, and after we eat, we go for a walk? It'll be cooler in the woods."

 

"And these aren't proper hiking trails," Teddi told Seth. "They're just walking paths, nothing strenuous, and plenty of other people taking strolls."

 

"Well ... okay," capitulated Seth. "But after the stroll, back to the beach, right?"

 

"Back to the beach," agreed Teddi, grinning.

 

Later in the afternoon, while the three friends strolled along the well maintained path, Seth admitted this was a nice idea.

 

"Now, this is what I call hiking," proclaimed Seth. "I'm not even breaking a sweat."

 

"Where does the trail end?" asked Teddi.

 

"It doesn't," replied Erebus. "It just loops back around to where we started, so you can't get lost."

 

"Good thing," commented Seth. "I couldn't trailblaze my way out of a, Teddi?"

 

"Is that a simile, or a metaphor?" asked Erebus, chuckling.

 

"Neither, I was saying, Teddi," clarified Seth, bringing Erebus to a stop on the trail.

 

Erebus turned around to discover Seth had already stopped several feet back, and beyond him, he could see Teddi poking through the brush on the right side of the footpath. He walked back along the path, Seth following as he passed, until they reached Teddi.

 

She looked up at them, grinning. "I found a game trail!"

 

"What kind of game can you play out here?" asked Seth.

 

"I bet the two of you are related, somehow," drily observed Erebus.

 

"Animal trail," explained Teddi. "Deer, rabbits, all kinds of animals create these paths, usually to watering holes, or meadows." She pushed aside the bushes a little, pointing out the moderately worn, thin trail meandering into the woods.

 

"Cool," said Erebus. "Good eyes."

 

"And I have learned something for my scrapbook," added Seth, taking a picture of the game trail.

 

"Let's see where it goes!" suggested Teddi.

 

"Because getting lost and eaten by a wolverine sounds like so much fun," put in Seth.

 

"There aren't any wolverines around here," stated Teddi.

 

"Maybe a bear," offered Erebus.

 

"That's not helping," Teddi told Erebus. "C'mon, just a little ways?" she wheedled.

 

"We'll get lost," said Seth.

 

"It's broad daylight, and the trail is obvious," countered Teddi.

 

"To you, but what if you're the one who's eaten by the bear? How do we find our way out?" asked Seth, motioning at Erebus and himself.

 

"Okay, how about this; you and Erebus wait here while I take a quick peek?" suggested Teddi.

 

"Okay," agreed Seth.

 

"Not agreed," disagreed Erebus, giving Seth a faux punch to the shoulder. "She can't go wandering around out there, alone."

 

"Because she might run into a bear?" asked Seth.

 

"Because she might run into a man," defined Erebus.

 

"Ouch," said Seth, putting a hand over his heart.

 

"I think he means, not a nice man, like you two," inserted Teddi.

 

"Aww," crooned Seth, wrapping an arm around Teddi's shoulders.

 

"Seth can stay here, and I'll go with you," Erebus told Teddi.

 

"But then Seth will be alone, and what if he runs into a bad man?" worried Teddi.

 

"Ooo, do you think I might?" enthused Seth. Erebus and Teddi both gave him simultaneous faux shoulder punches to both shoulders. "Ow," complained Seth.

 

In the end, the two men followed Teddi on her game trail quest to find where the animals were going, and they'd only walked about 15 minutes before Teddi came to a sudden stop, turning to the two men with a "shush" finger to her lips before anybody said anything, then pointing into the woods.

A few yards from the game trail stood a small, nondescript shack. Covered thickly with fir needles and a few fallen branches, the roof nevertheless seemed intact. Wooden shutters covered all the visible windows, suggesting the glass was probably unbroken. Some sort of plant life was poking up between the wooden steps, and the overall appearance was that of abandonment.

 

"Think anybody's living there?" whispered Seth.

 

"Looks deserted," whispered Erebus.

 

"Yeah, for a long time, I think," whispered Teddi. "Hey, let's check it out!"

 

"Are you crazy?" both men whisper loudly, grabbing either of her arms as she takes a step toward the shack.

 

"So much ow at the masculine appropriation of my limbs," complained Teddi, and they released her.

 

"Sorry," they both apologized.

 

"But it's crazy to go over there," added Seth. "Maybe a homeless person is living there."

 

"If someone is living there, they're not homeless," Teddi pointed out. "I'll knock first, but I don't think anybody's been near it for a while. Look around, nothing's disturbed. This game trail is more walked on than anything close to the shack."

 

"What if it's booby-trapped?" asked Erebus.

 

"After this much time, an animal probably would have tripped anything external, and I'll be careful, going in," Teddi assured him. "You guys can stay here. This isn't going to take long."

 

"You're not going over there by yourself!" exclaimed Erebus.

 

"And I'm not staying out here by myself!" exclaimed Seth.

 

"Great! Then, we all agree we're going to check out the shack together." Teddi smiled and started cautiously for the shack while Erebus and Seth exchanged looks.

 

"Did she just trick us?" asked Seth.

 

"No, we just changed our minds," Erebus assured him. "Come on."

 

The the three friends approached the small shack like it was a grenade that might go off. When Teddi stepped on the first wooden step, and it gave out a long, loud creak, they all jumped back, waiting for -- something to happen. Nothing did. Teddi cautiously climbed the few steps, and with equal caution, crossed the porch to the front door. Standing to the side of the door, while the guys waited on ground level, she knocked on the door. The knock seemed to echo into the quiet depths of the surrounding forest.

 

"Get down," Teddi told them, as she crouched beside the door.

 

"Why?" asked Seth.

 

"In case the door has a shotgun booby-trap," she explained.

 

"Get down, up against the porch," Erebus instructed Seth, pointing. And the two men huddled low, against the porch.

 

"Here goes," warned Teddi, as she turned the handle of the door, which was more difficult than expected, due to corrosion, but the knob finally turned, the door swung inward -- and nothing happened. "Huh," remarked Teddi, rising and peeking inside. "Coast is clear," she told them. "The place is almost empty."

 

The trio slowly entered the dim, dusty interior of the shack. Surprisingly, except for a thick layer of undisturbed dust, and some cobwebs in corners, the space was tidy and well preserved. There was a small desk in one corner of the single room, but nothing in the few drawers.

 

"Well, as far as weird adventures you get us into, I'll take this one," proclaimed Seth. "Dust and cobwebs I can handle. Now, how about that beach?" he asked, clapping his hands together, and rubbing them like a stereotypical evil guy with nefarious plans.

 

"Beach blanket bingo it is," agreed Teddi, starting to follow them toward the door, when a small dark shape on the floor caught her eye. "Hang on." She went into the farthest corner from the door, crouching, and fiddling with something.

 

"What have you got?" asked Erebus, leaving Seth in the open doorway and joining Teddi.

 

"Padlock," she told him. "Looks like a trapdoor."

 

"Too bad it's locked," observed Seth. "Let's get to that beach."

 

"People always think about the locks, not the screws," said Erebus, producing a small pocket knife. He set work unscrewing the bolts holding the plate with the loop through which the padlock was threaded.

 

"Neither of you have seen Evil Dead, I'm guessing?" asked Seth. "Nothing good comes out of trapdoors in backwoods shacks."

 

"You're not at all curious to know what's down there?" asked Teddi.

 

"Not in the slightest. Either it was dangerous, because there's a lock on it. Or it was valuable, because there's a lock on it."

 

"This cabin's been empty for years," observed Teddi. "If there was something dangerous down there, it's dead. If there's something valuable down there, nobody's come back to get it, so I call finders keepers."

 

"What if it's a zombie?" queried Seth, his worry growing with each screw Erebus freed. "Or a demon?"

 

"If it's a demon, shouldn't there be crosses holding this shut?" argued Teddi, smiling.

 

"Could be a holy padlock," countered Seth. "Maybe it was dipped in holy water, or blessed by a priest."

 

"Let's hope it's a zombie," put in Erebus, setting aside the last screw. "Everybody ready to run?"

 

"Ready!" replied Teddi, with an eager grin.

 

"Like I have a choice," complained Seth.

 

Erebus slowly lifted the heavy trapdoor, its rusted hinges complaining at being used after however long it had been since it was locked. The dark rectangle showed nothing until Erebus used his mobile phone to illuminate the area. Dust filtered down the short shaft, revealing a wooden ladder in the shaft.

 

"I'll go first." Erebus volunteered before Teddi could climb in. Teddi made a disappointed sound, but allowed the tall man to climb down first. His head was barely a foot below the surface when he reached the bottom. "There's a door down here. Just a deadbolt on it. Hang on." There was a squeaking sound, then a sharp clack. "Got it open. Going inside."

 

"Me too!" Teddi started into the the hole.

 

"Hang on," Erebus stopped her. "Let me make sure there's room in here, and that this hole isn't going to collapse on us, okay?"

 

"Fine," grumbled Teddi, standing on the ladder, waiting. She looked over at Seth, still standing in the doorway. "Aren't you coming?"

 

"Oh, hell no," he retorted.

 

"What the hell?" came a query from Erebus, his voice sounding strange.

 

"What's wrong?" asked Teddi. "You okay?"

 

"I'm fine. It's just, this room. It's ... weird. Seems solid enough, though."

 

"I'm coming down," announced Teddi, descending the ladder and stepping through the door into -- a living room! "It's a living room!" she exclaimed, looking around at the mobile phone lighted room.

 

The space was as large as the shack above it, also heavily laden with dust, clearly untouched for years. If the space had been above ground, or in a modern daylight basement, it would have appeared perfectly ordinary, with its wallpaper, carpeting, sofa and easy chair, and even a radio and television on a stand. But here, under this shack in the forest, it was creepy.

 

"Wait, go back a little," directed Teddi, as Erebus was shining the flashlight around. "What's over there? Against that wall?"

 

Erebus slowly panned the light back to 3 shapes on the floor. "Looks like ... mattresses, I think?"

 

"What's down there?" came Seth's voice, clearly from right above the access shaft.

 

"It's a living room," Teddi told him.

 

"What?"

 

"You heard me, a living room. Like, for a regular house," she explained. "But there are mattresses down here, too. Three of them." As she spoke, she and Erebus moved closer to the mattresses.

 

"Sounds like someone was living out here," remarked Seth. "Must have put the padlock on the trapdoor so their stuff wasn't stolen."

 

"Maybe," allowed Erebus. "What's that stuff on top of the mattresses?" he asked Teddi, who crouched beside the uncovered mattresses.

 

"Cloth," she replied. "It's not bedding." She brushed at one of the piles. "Clothes!" she exclaimed. "It's a nightgown! And there's one on the next bed, too. And pajamas on the last bed! These are all kids' pajamas!"

 

"Oh, crap," said Erebus. "Do you think --?"

 

"They're brand new," interrupted Teddi. "They still have tags on them, and they're just laid out. Like they were set up for someone to wear."

 

"Creepy," said Seth, from directly behind Erebus, causing the man to jump, and the light flashed around for a moment.

 

"Don't DO that!" cried Erebus.

 

"Erebus, shine the light down here," commanded Teddi, pointing at the first nightgown. "There's something stuck on the front of it." She brushed at the area. "It's a nametag. You know, like when you're at a party, so people know who you are. This one says, Aurora."

 

"What about the others?" asked Erebus.

 

Teddi moved to the other mattresses, brushing away the dust. "Sneewittchen," she read, slowly sounding it out. "That can't be a name." She moved to the last mattress. "Rip VW," she read.

 

"Death of a Volkswagen?" asked Seth.

 

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Teddi, jumping up. "Fairytales!"

 

"What?" asked Erebus.

 

"Look at the nightgowns!" Teddi grabbed his hand, directing the light. "The first is pink, and the name is, Aurora. That's the Grimm fairytale, The Sleeping Beauty! The next one is a yellow gown with blue trim!"

 

"Sneaky Witch?" asked Seth.

 

"No, Sneewittchen. That must be the name of another princess."

 

"And the dead VW?"

 

"Rip VW," she told him. "Rip van Winkle, the guy who slept for a hundred years! Don't you see? These are all fairytales about people sleeping! I'm not sure about Sneewittchen, but it must be another sleeping princess"

 

"But, why the kids' jammies?" asked Erebus.

 

Teddi slowly looked around the room. "I don't know. I can't tell if anything ever happened here, but I think somebody was planning something. Something horrible."

 

"And we are leaving now, right?" asked Seth, backing toward the open door.

 

"We are leaving so fast," agreed Teddi. "We need to report this." She laid a hand on Erebus' arm. "Please take pictures of everything. I want to make sure they believe us, and just in case someone moves anything before the cops get here, I want them to see this."

 

The three friends closed everything up again then fled the silent, anonymous shack.

They reported what they'd found to the beach security guard, and he contacted local authorities.

The little cove lost its appeal to them, and the friends returned home.

They followed the story about the mysterious shack in the woods, and they were happy that their names were kept out of it. They also noticed that the resort so close to it wasn't named.

Police determined that, although the setting was suspicious, nothing seemed to have happened there. No children were reported missing in the area.

They also cleared up the mystery of the name, Sneewittchen. Apparently, that was Snow White's original name.

 

Teddi closed her laptop and looked across the table of their favorite bar, at her friends. "Let's hope something terrible happened to whoever set up that shack, and that's why it was never used."

 

Erebus raised his glass. "To bad things happening to bad people."

 

"Here, here," agreed Seth.

 

And three glass clinked together.

 

(Special thanks to Bailey for my outfit and hair! I look cute while I'm terrified thanks to her! lol)

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

It's a common perspective to frown upon toy companies competing with one another. In the doll world, this particularly rubs collectors and children the wrong way. I'll admit, I was always frustrated as a kid when toy companies "copied" one another. It always seemed like a childish rivalry whenever one doll line was designed with the specific intent to mimic another. This dates back to the beginning, when Barbie first came out, and the market became saturated with clones. These imitators, often spark needless controversy and spats within the doll community. It's easy sometimes to take dolls too seriously, when they mean so much to us. I for one have been guilty of this time and time again over the years. I can still recall my frustration when I first saw My Scene dolls in stores, and it was very apparent to me that they were supposed to be the Barbie version of Bratz. Being obsessed with Bratz dolls, my allegiance at the time was sworn to them, so I remember vowing to myself that I would "boycott" these new Barbie knockoffs. It's similar to how I felt when MGA fought against Monster High's popularity by releasing Bratzillaz...that was also an instance when I couldn't help but roll my eyes with annoyance. The ultimate irony though is despite the initial bad taste left in my mouth by this sort of rivalry, I always end up coming around and enjoying the "copiers." It didn't take me long to crack and purchase a My Scene doll after the line hit stores. In fact, my first My Scene doll was the original Madison...and I had only seen her at Wal-Mart a handful of times before I could no longer resist the temptation. What can I say, I have always been taken with African American dolls, and dollies with super unique molds. And of course, I can't forget to mention how bonkers I went for Bratzillaz after I finally decided I had to buy Victoria Antique. My Bratzillaz collection has just about every doll made in it since the line was so short lived. Now that I'm older and a little wiser, I've learned a valuable lesson--never be too quick to judge a new type of doll.

 

When My Scene dolls began popping up in stores, my doll collection was growing at a rapidly quick rate. After my mother passed away in 2002, my dad's only way of consoling my sister and me was to buy us oodles of toys and dolls. Since he was emotionally unavailable most of the time, it seemed that spoiling us with dolls was a good way to compromise and make it up to us. I'll admit, those first few years without mom were the reason I became an emotional shopper. Dolls were the one highlight of that dark time for me, and whenever we'd go out shopping with Dad, it was the only moment during the week I could forget about my troubles completely. Allowance was no longer a term used in our household. Instead, Dad always willingly bought us whatever we wanted. This made it so much easier for me to sample new doll lines or to just buy whatever I felt like on a whim. That is exactly how my first My Scene doll came to be. I remember being in Wal-Mart one afternoon with Dad and Colleen. He left us in the Barbie aisle and said we could each pick out a toy. I'm pretty sure Colleen went for a Kid Kore Katie doll (although I really cannot remember for sure). I on the other hand was willing to put aside my initial bitterness towards the My Scene dolls--I just HAD to get my hands on that beautiful first edition Madison doll with warm, brown skin and amazing curly hair. Madison actually impressed me--while she wasn't the same as a Bratz doll, I still felt an immense fondness for her. I remember playing with her quite a bit. The best part about Madison was that she could wear all the same clothes as my 1999 mold Barbie dolls. Unlike Bratz, My Scene dolls didn't have specialty bodies, and they had real feet. This was a perk that I did not take for granted. I was so pleased with Miss Madison, that I plotted about which other My Scene doll I wanted to add to my collection next.

 

I didn't buy a ton of My Scene dolls when I was younger, mostly because I was so easy to please when it came to dolls, that I usually settled on a random Barbie doll or playset. But that's not to say I didn't fantasize about owning more My Scene dolls. I ended up getting several over the course of the next few years. I'm pretty sure that my second gal was Chillin' Out Madison (she was my favorite character), but I was torn over getting first edition Chelsea instead. Poor first edition Madison took a beating--I didn't know how to care for her curly hair, so she ended up half bald and with a hair cut. It's really a shame I didn't know about the boil wash back then, or I'd have been able to salvage my Madison (I'm still searching for another one to this day). But I am grateful that my two most sentimental My Scene sets have survived all these years. I liked how Mattel produced My Scene guys--I was very curious about how they compared to Ken dolls. Colleen at the time was a Ken doll fanatic, and she too wanted a My Scene dude to add to our collection. I remember one afternoon, we found the Jammin' in Jamaica Cruisin' the Boardwalk set at KB Toys. It was a pack containing two African American My Scene dolls, dressed in amazing beach clothes, and equipped with an adorable plastic dog. Dad bought us the set that day, and I remember opening it up in the car. Sutton and Jai were dubbed "Ruben" and "Polly," and the little dog we called "Ridalfo." We were pretty darn obsessed with the movie "Along Came Polly" at the time, so we thought it would be most fun to name some dolls after the characters. I still remember with perfect clarity toting our new, amazing My Scene dolls around the hardware store later that afternoon, talking about our wild plans to play with the dolls when we got home. Each time I look at Sutton or Jai, or should I say Ruben and Polly, I can't help but be fondly reminded of that moment in time.

 

My favorite, most special My Scene doll of them all has to be my Jammin' in Jamaica Nolee doll. It's unintentional that both my favorite sets of My Scene dolls happened to be marketed for the same line! It's a day that I'll never forget, and one that has cemented Miss Nolee as one of my most special dolls in my entire collection of all 2,800 plus dollies. That year, in the spring of 2004, I got my braces. Before I could get the braces put on, I had to have five of my baby teeth extracted. I was able to wheedle out two of the five teeth before my appointment, but the other three had such huge roots, there was no way I would have ever gotten them out on my own. I know it sounds like a traumatizing, painful experience having a bunch of teeth pulled on the same day, but honestly I think it bothered Dad more than it did me. My mouth was so numb, I couldn't feel a thing once the shots of Novocaine had been injected into the roof of my mouth. Dad watched from a chair in the room as the dentists ripped out my three teeth. The cracking noises my teeth made, coupled with the fact that I kept digging into my legs with my nails out of anxiety, really bothered my dad. As we left the office, he felt even more sorry for me as blood dribbled out of my mouth, since I still couldn't feel a thing. Dad had to stop at Wal-Mart on the way home. The only reason I went into Wal-Mart with my blood stained, blue striped shirt was because I was promised a doll. Dad felt so sorry for me, that he wanted to get me a new doll, and I was not about to miss out on the opportunity. I was in the toy aisle by myself for a few minutes (Colleen was in school that day), while I chose what doll I wanted to get. I was torn between getting the black Bratz case with the country names on it, a Bratz accessory pack with earrings (which I could use on my Wild Life Safari! Nevra, aka Dakota), or the beautiful Jammin' in Jamaica Nolee doll. Nolee was most appealing--I was in love with her jet black crimped hair, cheerful makeup, pale skin, and colorful beach clothes. Plus she came with an extra outfit, and I've always been a notorious doll clothes hoarder. When Dad returned, he not only said I could get Nolee, but under the given circumstances, he thought it was appropriate to get me the black Bratz case too! When Colleen came home from school, I was eager to show her my new goodies--she too thought Nolee was a total babe. Despite the fact that Dad bought me tons and tons of dolls over the years, Nolee is one of the ones that most reminds me of him. I can still remember the way he smiled at me, and the way his warm brown eyes glistened in the car, as he asked me if I liked my new toys, on our way back home. I've always loved Nolee just as much as one of my Bratz dolls. Even a five year hiatus from dolls couldn't make me forget all the love I felt for her. If I could only pick a handful of dolls, I know that Nolee would be one of them.

 

I'm really glad that I was the sort of person who could never resist a new type of doll. My sister was always better at maintaining a stubborn boycott against a type of doll than I was. But at the end of the day, I think that made me the luckier of the two of us. Holding grudges never got anyone anywhere, especially when it is over something as silly as dolls. I've truly come to understand the true meaning behind doll collecting these past few years. At the end of the day, no matter what types of dolls you collect, how many you have, or what kinds of things you do with them, I'd say that most of us love dolls because they make us happy. It was so easy for me in my younger years to lose sight of that basic fact. It was something I struggled to grasp for a really long time, which often led me to needlessly worry, stress, or complaint about dolls. Does it really matter whether Bratz or My Scene dolls came out first? Does it really matter which type of doll is better or higher quality? Does it matter who is more rare and valuable? My personal answer to all of these questions is no. When I look at my dolls, I don't see any of those things. When I hold my beloved Nolee doll in my hands, and I look into her purple and brown colored eyes, I'm not thinking of that petty grudge I once held against My Scene dolls. Instead, I feel this powerful sense of love--even though Dad bought me Nolee more than a decade ago, and even though he's been gone now for over four years, it still feels like yesterday that he was smiling down at me in the car as I cradled Nolee in my hands. That's what I hold onto, that is what resonates with me about dolls, and that is what I have to strive to remember everyday. My dolls have taught me so much about life and about love. Dolls are always evolving, and as long as there are new dolls on the market, there will be imitations of them too. And that's okay with me. I see this competitive rivalry between toy companies as a good thing these days--it means more variety in the doll aisles at stores, and more opportunities to fall in love with dolls all over again.

 

Collection video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZoRufWo6uw&feature=youtu.be

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Jane Brown2022All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without explicit written permission

 

Stellas was born on 1st November 2021. Abby and Elsie went to collect her and her sister, Missy from a breeder of hunting dogs near Bristol, Bath and Trowbridge(!) They saw the pups' mum, a Jack Russell and a photo of their father a Parson Jack Russell. The breeder also had a 12 year old Patterdale who, apart from a white bib) was the image of dear old Stan (Abby took a photo) with white hairy goggles round his eyes! Missy has gone to live with Rachel in Suffolk - not only did Stan die last year, but also Lulu, Rachel 's Bedlington.

 

Stella is a sweet little pup - feisty - and she has already wheedled her way into everyone's hearts - she has a lovely temperament and seems very well suited to fitting in with family life. Everyone has claimed her as their dog, but I have no doubt that she belongs to Abby!

 

I'm sure we shan't be hearing any more about kittens, rabbits or gerbils . . .

   

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

"The Roman Church commends this day to us as the blessed Lawrence’s day of triumph, on which he trod down the world as it roared and raged against him; spurned it as it coaxed and wheedled him; and in each case, conquered the devil as he persecuted him. For in that Church, you see, as you have regularly been told, he performed the office of deacon; it was there that he administered the sacred chalice of Christ’s blood; there that he shed his own blood for the name of Christ."

– St Augustine.

 

My sermon for today can be read here.

 

Pope Innocent II (1130-1143) rebuilt the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere (thus he is shown holding the church), and he is depicted in the apse mosaic alongside the martyred deacon of Rome, St Lawrence. The mosaics date to the lifetime of Innocent II, but St Lawrence died in 258.

 

Our newest addition. She's about 5 weeks old per our vet. A pharmacist friend wheedled me into taking her - like it was difficult. Thankfully my husband was sitting there when I said I'd take Number 5. Her back story is that a woman and her kids found Ruby and her brother, who was named Bo, in their yard, they live out in the country, no mom around. Once they got it home they realized Mom's significant other was allergic to cats - extremely. So here she is.

 

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...

Some more pictures from my old fotopic site, randomly selected and dumped on here. There are probably duplicates but I'll wheedle them out when I get a chance...