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They headed into the stable to warm the horses after their long trek through the snow...  I't's nice to be here again."  Willie went to get some carrots and apples...  ...while the Wizard unsaddled the horses and put them in their stalls.  Then Cinnamon offered them to the horses....  My sister and I were in the process of turning the story from 2018 into a book, but it needed several new additional scenes photographed, so I decided to post them here interspersed along with a short synopsis of the original story as needed. Heading to the North PoleCinnamon, one of the elves from the North Pole, along with Snowball, the polar bear cub, had gone to fetch the Wizard  and escort him up north to resume his seasonal job as Santa.   The Wizard had invited Willie to come along...  It was quite some journey through the snow....  but they eventually arrived at his winter residence at the North Pole.  I'd been eyeing the raised stone garden at the corner of a nearby subdivision, wondering if it could pass as a 'castle'. But it's full of flowers all spring and summer, so I was keeping an eye out for when the plants would get ripped out for the winter. And in the end of November they finally were, so we headed on over. I had to go up into the raised garden to pose the dolls.  Baron was supported by a poke-in-the-ground wire stand in a 'running' pose...  I took the photos down on the sidewalk, so had to ask Jan to make any adjustments....  I thought it worked really well, although it was a pain to remove the subdivision name in the background from every photo. The kingdom in my stories doesn't actually have a name, but it's definitely not 'Enclaves of Pine Creek'. So, it had to go.  I'm thinking I may just have to go and use that spot again some time.
Taking a look behind the scene of some of the recent photo stories.... Bathing Babiesfor the baby bath time scene I just needed part of the set, so moved the cradle and all the prop bags out of the way ..  I used the 'wash tub' for the babies' bath and used soft bubble wrap and clear beads for the bath bubbles...  Training CampI wanted to take photos of Baron training to regain his strength, and thought I'd set up a training camp for the knights. It needed to be really big, and would be easiest at home in my own backyard. It was mid November and all the plants had been removed from the garden for the winter, so it was nice and bare, and suitable for background. We moved the patio table down onto the grass below the golden bridal wreath spirea bush, about 18" away from the rock wall so I'd be able to squeeze in between to set up and pose the dolls in the background. We put an old counter-top on the table for maximum width, and covered it with a tarp. I rolled out two moss mats I'd bought at Michaels and sprinkled rough sand in-between.  Then I started by positioning everything in the background in the upper garden, placing some of the flowerless million bells plants strategically as shrubs.  I used almost every available guy I had, and all the standing dolls were supported by wire poke-in-the-ground supports. I made a quick 'jousting dummy' by stuffing Jamie's KID size armour with raffia and supporting it on a dress form. The archery targets were made of painted corrugated cardboard with hot-glued sisal rope edges, supported on art easels.....  Then I posed the dolls in the foreground, hiding Rex and Baron's stand behind their legs, and covering the bases with sand. Jude and Lawrence's stands were hidden with locust leaves. I also used more million bells plants as shrubs on the edges of the set.  Then after taking the sword fighting photos, I changed to the archery series....  Everyday life became so much easier now that Naomi had Lisa to help her. The twins were starting to sleep through the night, so Naomi was getting much more sleep herself. And with Lisa there she could help with them whenever they were awake.  Bathing the babies would have been impossible before without any help, unless Naomi left one screaming in their cradle while she bathed the other.   But now, with an extra person to help....  ...things seemed so much easier...   ...and she could just enjoy being a mother....  A few days later, Bianca and her girls came to visit Naomi and her babies...  Bianca's niece Lisa was very taken with the babies. Before her mother sent her to live with her aunt in hopes of finding a position at court, Lisa had been a huge help with all her younger brothers and sisters back home, and she was missing them very much.  The other girls were more interested in the babies' toys, but Lisa was totally focussed on the babies....  Naomi was surprised how good Lisa was with them. She may have been young but she had a lot of experience back home with her younger siblings, and she was a natural with the babies.  When Baron returned home, Naomi told him that she'd found the perfect help.  She had offered Lisa the position of live-in nanny to the babies, and Lisa was more than excited to accept.  She was so good with the babies...  Especially with helping to entertain them when they were both awake. So Naomi could finally just relax and enjoy the time she spent with them, knowing both babies were loved and given the same attention....  The twins were finally both asleep, and Narae had agreed to keep an ear out for them should they wake, so Naomi decided what she wanted more than anything else, was a warm relaxing bath....  She was so tired....  She had known that looking after one newborn was going to be a lot of work, but she wasn't prepared for how exhausting it would be looking after two.
She lay relaxing in the bath, and didn't hear Baron come home ... "You look exhausted." he whispered.  "I know you wanted to look after our babies by yourself, but I think it might all be a bit too much."  "You are doing an amazing job being a mother, but you can't do everything yourself, and especially not without any sleep. It's wearing you out. I think we should consider getting you some help. You could still continue to feed them yourself, but get someone to help with all the other things, so you can at least rest between feedings."  "I think you're probably right." she agreed.  Meanwhile, Naomi wasn't getting much sleep. Her twins needed to be fed every three hours or so, day and night.  And it took almost an hour to feed, change, and put just one back to bed.   And no sooner was she done feeding one, but then the other wanted something too....   Another exercise for Medieval knights to build up strength and endurance, was to chop wood, again in full armour.  After suiting up, Baron headed over to the wood lot with Jude...  "I know you've done this many times in the past..."  "...and the goal is to try and fill this cart as many times as you can in one day."  "No problem."  "Fine. But you haven't done this for a while. So don't overdo trying to prove something."  So Baron set to work...  He actually used to enjoy chopping wood, although it would be a lot easier without the armour.   Then he'd load the cart with the split wood...   ...and it wasn't long before he had filled it....  So, he took a little lunch break....    He eyed the piles of logs....'Well, it's not going to do itself,' he thought, 'so I better get back to it.'   |
AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll artist and costumer, who enjoys photographing, and coming up with stories, featuring her vast collection of ball-jointed and artist dolls. Archives
August 2026
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