Beastly Botanicals

A couple of months ago I read about a competition Dolls House Emporium were running. You had to take their dollhouse kit, The Cabin, and transform it.

Wanting to get back into serious mini making this was just what I needed as a challenge. I didn't tell anyone as I wasn't sure I could do it. 

But I did.....and I came 2nd place :-)

I never thought I stood a chance of winning anything. Aside from messing about with a couple of things this was the first house I'd made. Just making it was enough for me so I was over the moon when I heard I'd come in second place. I still haven't stopped smiling.

Beastly Botanicals

….a fantasy plant laboratory owned by Dr Morpheus T. Seedbender PD (Plant Doctor)

 

Dr Morpheus T.Seedbender P.D is a botanical geneticist. 

 

Due to the highly controversial nature of his work he lives high atop the mountains. This location was picked, not only because of its remoteness, but because he has access to all the weird and wonderful flora and fauna that has been left untouched by people who never venture so far. 

 Unfortunately, the lack of oxygen at this altitude, the absence of other humans and the foraged wild mushrooms he eats has slowly sent him somewhat deranged

Having lost his mind he is totally fearless and will fuse all manner of plant life never knowing what, or how dangerous the final result will be.  

Growing up the outside of his lab you will see a Hysteria tree.

A wisteria with the added bonus of screaming banshee flowers 

which alert him to any intruders.

 

 

Protecting the front entrance to the lab are 

Papahi and Peyton Pumpkin. 

Papahi, although mischievous, is incredibly smart and partnered with Peytons’s reputation as the village warrior they make formidable guards.

  

 

 Inside the lab are some extraordinary specimens.

 

 

  

 

 Inside the cage he keeps the Pyromandible plant. 

A most dangerous example of science gone wrong. With the ability to unhinge their lower jaw they are able to bite with a force able to break bones. This plant must be kept constantly sedated.

A near miss while changing the drip feed recently left the professor with a bleeding hand and broken thumb.

In the window you will see Amanita. A beautiful red and white petaled plant. Created using Fly Agaric mushrooms to forcefully induce a symbiotic relationship  with the Pyromandible.  The drool of Amanita has psycotropic properties used primarily for the sedation of  the pyromandible. 

Sitting next to her is Marley the Rastafarian plant. 

Strategically placed that his deadlocks are out of reach of the Pyromandible but that the smoke from his cigarette is not. This also has a sedative effect on the Pyromandible.

 

The 2 plants under the round window are part of the genus Floozy.  

Floozies are an impish breed, which have a tendency to torment and tease. With their huge toothy smiles the professor finds them hard to resist and rarely chastises them. 

 

The professor claims that the 3 headed plant in the corner is a distant relative of the mandrake.

 Or was it an experiment gone wrong ?   

 

Whilst a true mandrake will scream when picked all this plant is capable of is singing constantly. In the absence of any electricity the professor  lets him stay for entertainment.

  

  

The fruit tree in the corner is a Carrow tree. 

Bred primarily to provide food for the professor, 
the marrow and carrot fusion apparently makes a wonderful soup.

The professor has a head full of ideas so I am sure this won’t be the last we hear from him, 

 or his creations :-)

2 years on....where to begin......

How do you follow the hardest blog post you ever had to write ?

Every time I thought about blogging again I just couldn’t do it. The words just weren’t coming. I am struggling now so apologise in advance for this jumble of thoughts.  I can’t think on it anymore and just have to take the proverbial bull by the horns and jump back in. 

Until this morning I have not logged on to blogger, my email or Facebook since I got back to England. I can see there are loads of messages and did start to read some. I am sorry that I haven’t replied to anyone, I do very much appreciate everyone who was thinking about me but it is just too upsetting for me to go back and read them now. Grief is a strange thing and everyone handles it differently. My personal coping mechanism is to tuck it all away into a corner of my mind. Probably not very healthy but the only way I have been able to deal with it.  One day, when I am ready, I will revisit it.   This is not to say I don’t think about Mick…I think about him all the while…but only the happy memories and not the events of that day 2 years ago. That part I still can’t deal with very well.

My life with him in California seems like an eternity ago now. Looking back I have no idea how I coped but I guess your survival skills just kick in. I was alone; things had to be done so I did them. 

In retrospect, moving back to England was a panic reaction. Could I have stayed there alone? Who knows. I try not to dwell on ‘What If’s’. 

But I didn’t. I moved back ‘home’. I went back to work and was working crazy hours doing 2 jobs. I didn’t want to go out. I hated the dismal weather.  I missed sitting in my sunny workshop making miniatures. I was living in one room and had no way of even thinking about making minis. I was miserable.

A dear friend of mine told me to keep putting one foot in front of the other and remember to breath…..that is what I did. 

But it got better.  And I discovered a lot about myself. I found out I could do it, I would survive and knew one day I would be back blogging and making minis. And that day did come, just as I hoped it would. 

I am now settled in a lovely village near Lichfield in Staffordshire and have met lots of new friends. 

Unfortunately I am no longer working, I lost my job 3 weeks ago but something will come up I am sure. 

The upside of this is that I now have the time to blog and make minis. And have been doing so :-)  Tallulah Belle is back in business. Especially now I have no other job !

I just wanted to get this post up to let you where I was at. I will shortly post pictures of a pretty big project I just completed. 

I am doing well, I am back and I have found my new normal.

Jayne xxx