The Hobbit was delightful

Delia's stomach settled down this afternoon (thank goodness). She and Fiona had a happy afternoon playing The Prisoner of Azkaban computer game on the laptop, while I made a big pot of Bilbo's Underground Stew. Man, I love that recipe. I am the only one in the family who does. I made a delicious salad for dinner: watercress, mandarin oranges, chicken, toasted pecans, with vinagrette dressing. Delia tried the watercress and wrinkled her nose dubiously. "It tastes sort of like how fireworks smell."

Hmm.

Anyway, she was obviously fit to go out in public, so we went to the Hobbit. I had seen the Children's Theater's previous production (was it sometime in the 80s?) The two things I remember best was that the scene with Gollum took place in the dark, and the only illumination came from the lamp-like eyes in the Gollum mask. And Smaug was represented by an enormous dragon head that rose, unexpectedly, from the orchestra pit.

This production was wonderful. I have seen, oh, I'd say a half a dozen productions at the CTC over the years, and this was definitely one of the best. ( Cut to protect locals who might want to see it from spoilers. )

Highly recommended.

It was not meant to be

I got all excited when I saw this lovely little playhouse in the newspaper.



Not in pink, probably, but they also carry it in white, cream, tan, clay, brown, grey and blue. Hey, Memorial Day sale. Maybe we can get a deal. So I called the store.

Um, no. 6' x 8' without the porch is $2,000.00.

6' x 8' with the porch is $2,600.00.

I am very glad I didn't show the pictures to the girls and get their hopes up. As it was, it was bad enough that I got my own heart broken.

(Oh, they would have loved it so . . .)

Anyone have any idea on where I could get a nice playhouse that a mere mortal could afford? One that doesn't cost as much as a used car?

Edited to add: Rob has been promising to build one for years. But I know my husband, and I know that Mr. Procrastinator will never never never do so. It makes me kinda mad that he has been stringing the girls along on promises, and I don't want him to do that anymore. I want to get something for them this year--they're getting old enough that they wouldn't enjoy it much longer. I certainly don't have time or energy to attempt something like this myself when I'm clueless as to how to do it.

Edited to add again:: My neighbor found this site, which has the house available as a ready to assemble kit. Cuts the cost, but not enough.