Awesome

The above was set to a final music track of the outstanding “Rebound” by Mat Zo & Arty. I probably owe at least partial credit for my new half-marathon PR (personal record)* to the last two minutes of this song (starting around 3:30 below).

We really could not have asked for more perfect weather last weekend (thank you, unusually warm Vancouver May!), although hopefully our next race will involve a bit more night-before sleep.

Post-race on a beautiful & sunny race morning

*My chip time for the 2012 Vancouver Half was 2:03:07; my previous best was for the 2009 Vancouver Half at 2:05:24. Shane finished in 1:56:36, impressively still breaking two hours in his first race back from injury!

Name: Captain Quackers

Animal: Duck

Socks Used: 1 (mid-sized child)

Personality: Captain Quackers has three favourite pastimes: water sports, eating breadcrumbs and telling/collecting stories. He’s a great listener and – as one of the older sock dolls – he can offer some pretty sage advice. If you meet him in-person, ask the cap’m how his lost his eye. It’s a very entertaining and courageous tale involving a bathtub, renegade wooden pirate ship and toddler in need of rescue.

Captain Quackers

Pirate of the sink

Name: Bluebearry

Animal: Teddy Bear

Socks Used: 2 (mid-sized child)

Personality: Bluebearry is a sweet and crafty little bear who loves to make (and give) homemade trinkets. She’s always dreaming up or working on her next project, whether it be cross-stitching, crocheting or quilting. If Miss Bluebearry seems particularly well-dressed, that’s because she was headed to a wedding at the end of April. In fact, her scarf was created from the ribbon on the wedding invitation – that’s how clever this one is!

Bluebearry the Teddy Bear

Digging for craft supplies in my sewing box

Name: Teamo & Cyl

Animal: “Tween” Dolls

Socks Used: 2 (mid-sized adult woman)

Personality: Like all sock doll tweens, these twins are firm believers that loitering is not a bad habit but rather a hobby to pursue. Teamo and Cyl (there’s no ‘i’) (at least not where you’d think) take their hanging out very seriously and can often be found “practicing” in the cupboards, closets and bookshelves – anywhere it’s easy to lean back and relax. Similar to human tweens, they also enjoy listening to music (at loud levels), reading comics (at late hours) and eating an excess of sweets (which they are happy to share).

Tween twins (Teamo at left, Cyl at right)

Cyl chills on the tea pot shelf

Teamo listens to some tunes

Niece Lilly in her springtime wear

Under the cherry blossoms

Baby blossom

Sunlit rhododendrons

Yay for May!

(Note: click on any photo below for a larger view.)

1) Provide plenty of scheduled entertainment. Sock dolls love to keep busy with games and events, whether in smaller groups or one big crowd.

Friday night Farkle, a popular time to snack and chat

Introvert-friendly activities like tea time were also on the agenda

Countdown to a game of hide-and-seek

2) Enforce a daily nap (or, at the very least, quiet) time. A tired sock doll is a cranky sock doll (and multiplied by 18? = argument central).

Nap time on a sunny Sunday

3) Allow each resident the freedom to explore his or her personal hobby. Sock dolls need to be encouraged in their individual pursuits, particularly in a group setting like this.

Enjoying free time on the futon

Sock dolls loved reading your comments about them on this blog

4) Accept a certain amount of trouble-making. Sock dolls aren’t truly themselves without a bit of prankster-ism.

Definitely up to something sneaky in the shoe closet

You may be wondering why I’m talking about all this in the past tense. Well, April was Adopt-A-Sock-Doll month around these parts. Over the past couple of weeks, most of these little guys were placed in permanent homes – both in Canada and the States – where they will (hopefully) receive more individual love and attention.

A group photo of all 18 members living here in March/April

You see, as much as everyone liked hanging out together, the thing every sock doll truly desires is a home (and human companionship) of his/her own. And, lest you be sad about the parting of these handmade friends, I’ve received word that many are doing quite well! My awesome Aunt Sylvia even sent along these photos to reassure me that Jelly Bean and Mindy are adjusting to life in Eagan just fine.

Roommate Lucky offers a (reluctant) ride to tour the yard

Learning to play violin is a team effort

My sister-in-law Amy also sent along these clever images of Hops, Cupcake Doug and Captain Quackers from Cannon Falls.

Captain Quackers and Cupcake Doug negotiate monthly breadcrumb payments

Hops wishes for another similarly-named beverage

And talented young adult author Juliana Brandt tweeted me this picture of Oyama from Tennessee!

Oyama looks very happy to be in her new home after multiple plane flights

How great is that? I’d love to see how other sock dolls are doing, too! Although you should be warned: as this post shows, taking photos of these little friends can be somewhat very addicting.

He did and it wasn’t long before the tiny (approximately 6 inches high) town was all assembled. The set includes the first three, now discontinued buildings (Green Grocer, Market Street, Cafe Corner) as well as two that Shane owns (Grand Emporium, Fire Brigade).

I have no doubt we’ll be purchasing an itsy bitsy Pet Shop soon, too.

Miniature Main Street

Cafe Corner from the, well, corner

A look from the back (note the tiny "fire escape" at the Green Grocer)