After foggy days, rainy nights and finally a sunny morning, Octavia Rose got up to check on her roses.

The abundance of July brought us so many flowers that Octavia Rose is running out of pencil and paper at this stage. She sits on the wet grass, sharpened pencil in hand, sketching for hours and hours. Little stamens, the curve of a petal, the hairs on a stem.

Being such a true nature lover she hopes to fill up hundreds of notebooks with her many sketches. It is a joy, truly, to see someone else as passionate about plants as I am.

Hiding under the rose bush, by fig and me.

Of course some days it gets too hot to sit in the middle of the garden, so linen hat atop her head, she either tucks under the rose bush or sits on the comfy chairs under the crabapple tree. The breeze off the lake reaches us steadily and brings a much welcome respite from the little mosquitoes, who haven’t gotten the memo that is much too late to be wandering about our garden.

Sometimes we drink lemonade, other times even lemonade is a bit too sweet and too cumbersome to drink. So cold water with mint leaves, rose petals or just a handful of bruised strawberries will do.

We dream of cream scones or cinnamon buns but unfortunately neither of us will get near an oven right now. Not for our dear life. Much too busy sketching one is. The other one is highly concerned with learning how to quilt by hand and embroidering anything that dares sit still for a few minutes. Not much is safe.

Little doll boots, made of linen canvas and woven wool, by fig and me.

Octavia Rose, sitting in the shade. By fig and me.

The best time to inspect the garden is in the early morning, or so she thinks. When everything is waking up and the promise of a new day is fresh. The whole day ahead of you, just waiting for you to turn it into something worthy to be written down.

Explorations in the woods, reading a good book, spending time under the crabapple tree, listening to the birds sing their song, collecting some roses to be pressed and some to be dried; to remember these days when several feet of snow cover the ground for months. Summers can be busy, or they can be slow. We don’t take a particular approach, we just live them.

Our busy days to others might look like lazy weeks. But that’s just the way we like it.

Octavia Rose in the garden. Natural fiber art doll by fig and me.

Roses in the morning, for Octavia Rose. By fig and me.

Octavia Rose asks many questions, mostly related to colour theory and harmony in her sketches. We both could spend hours just looking at a rose, heavy with dew, petals starting to fade.

Seeing that she loves roses so much it’s almost a miracle they are blooming in such abundance right now. Our coffers will soon be full to the brim with their petal glory.

Octavia Rose, a natural fiber art doll by fig and me.

Little roses embroidered on her clothes, by fig and me.

Octavia Rose, a Petite Fig by Fig and Me.

Now, you probably have seen us waxing poetic about her clothes. Yes, we have spend inordinate amounts of time fussing with embroidery threads, giggling at our selection of stitches and colours. Little details that make us happy.

I have to say that when offered colour choices, Octavia Rose leans for pink. Always. So it becomes a bit of a joke between us: “What colour should this be?” I ask knowing well the answer. She looks at me with her big green eyes, smirk on her face, and answers “Why? I don’t really know. Pink!”.

A dollmaker and a doll can be silly beings. Better steer away from them lest is contagious.

Octavia Rose, playing near the rose bushes. Natural fiber art doll by fig and me.

Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for you, she is ready to find a home of her own. We have tried to put this off as much as possible but her time has come. One more photoshoot to show you the rest of her clothes and that’s that. Hoping for a sunny evening so she can play by the rose bush one more time.

Thank you for coming to see her. Octavia Rose is made in my Petite Fig pattern, so very slender but tall. She measures a little over 21” tall. She’s a big girl with a big heart.