Unsettled Times...

 

Capricious Climes...

It was Not a glorious Autumn afternoon, Dear Readers, as Pollyanna and Arthur set out for their afternoon walk, but was really rather chilly and dreary and almost unpleasant! The sky was heavily overcast and rain was threatening to add to their discomfort at any minute. But then again, it had been threatening for hours but had so far failed to start, leaving them to feel as though time was wasting and they had better just go for their walk anyway. And so they set out rather later than usual. Pollyanna was wearing her new cloak, but still could feel the chilly wind, giving her goose-bumps on her arms and legs. 

 

"Brrr....! I didn't think it was this cold out!" she declared.

 "Maybe I should have my scarf too!" she added.

 

"I don't think it's that bad!" said Arthur, a bit surprised. 

"After all, it's only October!" he added.

 

"Well, that's because you're a Guy!" retorted Pollyanna.

 "You have hardly any exposed skin... so of course you don't feel cold!"

 

 

"Ah, of course!" said Arthur meekly,

 as if it was all his fault Pollyanna was wearing a dress. 

"Well, at least it's not snowing yet...!" he said cheerfully. 

 

"Don't even mention snow yet!" cried Pollyanna. 

"If you even think of it, it might decide to show up!" she declared, laughing.

 

 "Ah, but Not thinking about it 

won't keep it from coming either!" replied Arthur cheekily.

 

"But I might feel warmer, if I'm 

Not thinking about snow!" said Pollyanna decisively.

 

"Well then," said Arthur "Maybe we should be thinking about

 what we will wear for the Halloween Party at the Castle instead."

 

"Aaarggh..." said Pollyanna, grimacing

  "I have no idea what to wear for the Halloween Party...!"

 "Maybe I should be a Princess or something..." she added...

"Maybe I just need to be something different... 

maybe I just need a new gown..." she said wistfully. 

Arthur just smiled to himself and said not a word! 

 

 

And You might just expect, Dear Readers, 

that they were not the only ones to feel the urge

 to go outside in spite of the fitful weather.

 

Not very far away, but not at the same time at all, 

the Little Dreamer Beth was feeling restless.

 She and her sister Amy had spent what felt like Ages and Ages

 inside their little room in Rose Thorne Cottage 

on the Distant Briar Moors. 

"Let's go play outside..." she said to Amy suddenly. 

 

 

"I don't want to go out.." said Amy in reply.

 

"Why ever not...?" said Beth, surprised. 

(She was the older sister and was used to

 making the decisions for both of them!)

 "I just don't," said Amy. 

"Besides, I'm reading.." she added defiantly.

 

"Well, fine!" said Beth, annoyed. 

"I'm going out!" 

"Maybe I'll find the ponies!" she said,

 as if that would make a difference. 

But as she turned to go,

 she noticed the Tapestry on the wall... 

with the beautiful tall tree at one side. 

There were no trees to speak of on the Briar Moors... 

she thought as she went outside alone.

 

 

It was Not a lovely Autumn afternoon at all. 

It was overcast and gloomy and maybe even threatening rain.

 The air smelled moist and earthy, like decaying leaves...

 but there was a feeling in it of barely contained energy....

 as if it too was alive... and might suddenly burst forth

 with gusting wind and pouring rain... 

or maybe just a gentle enveloping mist..... 

it was that unsettled. 

But the electric feeling sent tingles down her arms!

 She just had to go somewhere.... 

she knew not where! 

 

So she set out...

 

And she remembered she had dreamed of a forest... 

or had she been there herself... 

she did not remember for sure.... 

 

 

But she could feel the sense of the trees,

 huge and old surrounding her... 

and she knew the sound of the brook burbling over the rocks

 and splashing over the roots of the trees...

 and the moss coating the rocks

 and the roots making magical little doors.....

 she knew she had been there before...

but did not know where or when...

She had been enchanted...! 

  

 

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, the Seasons have been changing

 and the Hour is approaching for the

 Annual Halloween Party at the Castle!

 Kendall, the host has been making preparations....

 

The Witches have rolled back the carpet and moved the trestle table into place.

 

 They will guard the Portals and keep the Evil ones

 from creeping in uninvited...

And they will surely keep an eye on the Refreshments too! 

 

 

Kendall is still waiting for some of the special effects decorations to arrive,

 and has hired the favorite party band the Deadly Nightshades....

 

But of course, the Night would be no fun at all

 if it weren't for the guests in their costumes 

ready to dance the Night away,

 and perhaps fall under the Spell.... 

of All Hallows Eve...!

 

So in Spite of the Unsettled Times 

and the Capricious Climes... 

He hopes you will come too!

(To be continued....) 

 

Tree House Nursery...

 

Looking Up... 

Every Now and Then, Dear Readers, I have to stand back and take a good look at the Tree House project in relation to its close neighbor, The Folly. It is so easy to get absorbed into the minutiae of building the current room or current door or current ceiling and forget that it all needs to work together with the Original Property! It has gradually grown tall... nearly to the height at which it Must Stop before it outgrows the land it stands upon. Yes, there will be one more floor... the Attic level which will be mostly a "Studio" and "Storage" place. And the inevitable upper branches of the tree itself, of course. But I constantly need to rein myself in and keep the spaces "realistic" at least in terms of how a tree should be shaped. That said, every time I do step back, I notice another small detail that needs attending to! In my haste all those years ago, (I freely admit I have been "winging it") there were many parts I just didn't have all figured out... so I just rushed on by and left them for later. Much later! Chief among these tasks were designing the method for keeping the opening wall doors closed. 

 

The Tree House leans gracefully out over the little brook (intentionally!) and thus the front wall is slanted and all those doors just love to open all by them selves! A couple were fitted closely enough to the opening that friction held them shut... but for the most part, not. And at some point along the way... I don't remember when, I decided magnets were the method... but how and where the magnets would be placed was already a problem of afterthought... no, not even tiny magnets could be inset into the doors... because they would have to meet the walls too. I came up with a method after much thought... and that is to put the magnets near the opening and a wire loop on the door itself which could then be bent to touch the magnet for closure. The wire loops will eventually be disguised as stubs of branches so they look "natural" sticking off the tree trunk. You can see in the above picture, the closer wire for the Kitchen door has finally been attached. And I slowly added closers to most of the so far completed doors, some of them requiring much fidgeting and finagling. In particular, the Little Loo and the Dressing Room were quite the challenge!

 

There was so little room for the magnet

 and it needed to work for both doors. 

The wire positioning was hard to figure out....

 but I got it done!

 

Believe me, this has been a long time coming! 

And while I was thinking of doors and closings,

 I decided it was time to get the doorknobs on

 the Nursery and Nanny's Room doors.

 

These are made using a large-ish clear bead,

 I am not sure of the size, and a small brass nail. 

I pre-drill a fine hole and add glue 

and push the nail in with my pliers. 

 

And the reverse side...

 because these little doors do open and close!

 When they are open you need to be able 

to see the doorknob on the other side.

 

Of course, The Nursery level is still

 too incomplete to attach the closers... 

the walls are still not attached,

 only the hinged opening wall doors are in place.

 

But when all the walls are carefully propped in position 

and the ceiling (The Attic floor) is temporarily removed,

 we can get a great bird's eye view of the two room's layout. 

 

And while I had the ceiling removed,

 I figured it was the right time to stain and paint it

 in preparation for the eventual top floor construction,

 which even now has to be taken into consideration

 as we complete the Nursery level.

 Everything is so connected!

 

And if you know me at all,

 you can probably predict what happened next... 

a blue sky appeared...

 

 

and clouds formed around the edges ....

and then the cherubs arrived.... 

 

But wait.... 

those looks distinctly like little rodents.....!

 As well they should in a house inhabited by Rats! 

 

And in the middle of the night I realized

 I had painted them from the wrong direction!

 The Nanny's Room opens on the side of the Tree....

 

The angle was all wrong for the Cherub-ratling

 on the side opposite the door 

as you can see when testing in place.

 

 I needed to get my viewing angle right!

 

 

Here you can see the adjusted Cherub-ratling.

 

And while I was doing the ceilings, Dear Readers,

 I wanted to test the Nursery ceiling... 

how would it look if I added the leafy paper to the ceiling too?

 And constructed a "trellis" of branches....??

 

I liked the look right away,

 so I added the same paper scraps

 to this ceiling as are on the walls.

 

In fact, I love the way it looks... 

even before we build the trellis part! 

And while I am finishing the papering... 

I realize that the inner side 

of the outer opening wall frame 

still needs attention!

 

 Both the Nanny's Room and the Nursery frames

 needed the matchstick paneling added.

 

And I started adding the trellis structure..... 

more of that rope twist that looks a lot like woody vines or saplings.... 

along the coving of the ceiling and the corners of the walls.

 

And the bunkbeds wall too.

 

And here this opening side door frame is also papered. 

This is not technically necessary... 

the only way it could be seen once the ceiling gets attached

 is from the bunkbeds windows....

But I will know it is there!

 

This is the interior view with the outer opening door closed...

the frame will be firmly attached to the tree

 and you will not be able to see this view.... 

but the Ratlings will! 

I think it makes the bed-nook so much cozier!

 

And that is as far as I got, Dear Readers, 

Opening and closing doors 

and dreaming about ceilings... 

But I think things in the Tree House Nursery

 are finally Looking Up!

 

Small Steps....

 

 Tree House and Leaves....

As I was finishing the windows for the Nanny's Room, Dear Readers, and the Dressing Room in the bath, I began to mentally count the windows still to be made for the topmost attic level of The Tree House. And that level was probably only going to need one or two at the most. Was I almost done with the windows? But then I remembered the stairs! On the bottom floors the stairs went up in the walls to each new level. But when it came to the bedroom level, I realized the inhabitants would want privacy, and so the stairs needed a different route upwards. Thus I built the little winding staircase on the back corner of the tree trunk... and realized that it would be invisible unless I added an opening door on the outside wall...

 Which you can see on the left at the bathroom level.

 

Here it is open and you can see the staircase is wallpapered too! 

But the window itself was not yet constructed... 

and in order to build it I was going to need to remove the door from its hinges...

 and in order to do that I needed to move the entire Tree House out of The Folly base

 because I could not reach the hinges with my screwdriver otherwise.

 

It is a very delicate and tricky operation 

to lift the Tree House out of the base... 

It has to tilt forward to bypass the living room window,

 but mustn't tilt too far.... 

and then it must stand alone... 

tall and just balanced enough that it won't fall...

unless bumped!

 But I was able to remove the staircase door from the hinges!

 

 It has a chevron shape to the wall 

in order to "curve" enough around the stairs...

 

And there is very little clearance on either side of the window for the frame.

 

 

 The window pieces were made the same as for the Nanny's Room...

 

 

Then the door needed to be balanced over another piece of wood

 so the window could be weighted while the glue dried.

 

 Here is the finished exterior...

 

 

 And the interior too! 

But this side still needs the frame attached...

 

Like so! 

The clearances are very tight! 

And then it needs to be reattached to the hinges...

 

Which you can see here.

 

 

And the open view!

 But I was nervous

 with the Tree House out of the base...

 so back it went!

 

Here you can see it is so close to The Folly

 that it is hard to see that it even opens!

  

 

 And it needs the flash to see inside...

 I might have to put a light in the stairwell... 

 

Because I still need to build the walls around the stairs

 as they go upwards to the top floor....

 the Attic level!

 

And as for those leaves I mentioned, Dear Readers,

 they are the final leaves of the Chinese Dragon Carpet central area.

 

If you recall, I had rearranged most of the kit pattern

 throughout the central area when I added the Dragons to the center.

 I stitched as much of the rest as I could according to the original design.

 But at the end I had to rearrange leaves on the ends too.

 Here I have begun the final leaves for this end...

 

And finished!

 (Except for the designs in the border... 

and the gold border... 

and the background....)

 but hey, the central section leaves are done!

 

So Step by step, Dear Readers, 

those Small Steps are

 making good Progress!