Mr. L and I have made various attempts at doll stands over the years, and while they worked fine, I was never totally happy with how they looked. We used wooden dowels and bases, and it always seemed to overwhelm the dolls somehow. Then my brilliant man came up with a totally new design which is both more practical and quite elegant-looking. They're handmade from brushed aluminium and can be custom cut for the length of your doll (the doll should be measured from the tips pf her toes to just under her arms). Much more suited to the style of my dolls, I think. I've added the stands to my Big Cartel shop. 
Another clever thing Mr. L has done recently is resurrect our orchid, which stopped flowering after we left it with a friend for a summer. (The poor dears don't like to be moved.) I had written it off entirely and, I'm now ashamed to say, told him several times should be thrown out. But he read somewhere that eggshells soaked in black tea was good for the fragile flowers so for two years he lovingly fed it with the icky brew. The man has saint-like patience.
Finally, I'm getting a lot more time to work on dolls these days. Mr. L got a new job at the NFB that is great in many ways, but the best for me is that he's only there three days a week and so I'm now able to work a few days a week while baby M. always has one of us here to dote on him. It feels strange but good to have more time to be creative and I feel very lucky to have flexible work that still allows me spend so much time with my boy.
