Monday, March 16, 2015

The Ovens!




Time for a Retro-fit.....

Can you Imagine a kitchen Without an Oven, Dear Readers? Well I am embarrassed to say that when I constructed the Tiny kitchen in the Tower of the Cloud Palace, I completely Forgot to include an oven! Even though my Family members will not be surprised that I did not make the kitchen of Primary importance, as they know I am not an eager cook, nonetheless, I am surprised, because when I cook, I bake! And so does Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud, who was coming to take over the kitchen duties at the Cloud Palace! As you can see in the picture above, he arrived with a suitcase full of pots and pans along with his trusty rolling pin! He obviously had plans for baking! And an oven is essential! So as soon as I realized my oversight, I hastily began to Retro-fit an oven into this Tiny kitchen! Here below you can see a slightly out of focus shot of the fireplace Without the oven.....

Where oh Where would an oven fit???
Fortunately, it didn't need to be a Huge oven....
and there was already a kind of stone lip beside the hearth....
and just Maybe there was room under the stairs....
if I cut it just right......

 
Believe me, it took some fancy cutting 
to get the glued styrofoam  off the wall 
without taking out any of the stairs.....
And then I had to construct a little 
arched chamber from cardboard....


And build out the "rock" wall of the chimney
 to surround the oven chamber...
made from egg cartons!
And while I was at it I also added a "rock" ledge
inside the hearth..... for setting pots to warm....

And then painted it all to blend in with the already built chimney.
I made the interior of the oven all black 
as it is the kind of oven you light a fire inside 
and then sweep the ashes aside to do the baking.

Here you can see it a little closer... still without the door.
And then I thought some more about what Hamish Harry might like 
to help him cook in this Tiny kitchen.... 
and decided he could use some built in "iron" racks 
over the fire to hold frying pans....

And a chain for hanging kettles over the fire.....

And here you can see the racks holding 
the frying pan and soup cauldron....

And lest you worry that the oven is too small... 
I thought we should test the muffin tin....

Aha! It fits!
And now you can see there is a door to the oven too....

Attached with leather strap hinges....
Surely you can forgive me for not using metal ones! 
They would never hold with the Egg-carton "rocks"!

And here you can see Hamish Harry is trying 
to work in this new and unfamiliar kitchen....

Wielding his trusty rolling pin....
but Alas, he has found the shelves Embarrassingly Bare 
of the necessary ingredients for baking!
But being a Bear of Great Resourcefulness...
He brought out one of the Marzipan Cakes
(These Fairy Bears always seem to travel with Marzipan cakes!)

And he quickly sliced it up into thick pieces.....

And carried it out for the Bearys to have with their tea!

Of course, there was enough for EveryBeary to have some!
Believe it or not, Dear Readers, 
I was ever so Grateful for the Marzipan Cakes!
There will be plenty of time now to get the Kitchen 
fully stocked so NoBeary will go hungry!

And Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud 
will have plenty of time to test the Oven...
And there may even be one or two other improvements 
in this Tiny kitchen before we are done!
It is a good thing I was able to retro-fit an oven into this Tiny space, Dear Readers,
because even though you can barely see it tucked in beside the hearth...
Hamish Harry (and I) will know it is there!

18 comments:

  1. Ingenious addition, Betsy. The perfect oven!
    Hugs to you,
    Vicki

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  2. Dear betsy, who knows where this all may lead! You begin with a small s\oven and soon you will need a table and all sorts of utensils, ingredients, vegetables, chairs, guests etc etc.
    How will you restrain yourself.
    Like the grill above the fire . Well done.
    Janine

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  3. Hi Betsy! I think that your resourcefulness has triumphed! You have been able to squeeze a necessary oven with a working door, into a very tight corner and make it appear that it has always been there! WoW, I am Sooooo Impressed! :D I love the additional details that you have cleverly included into the fireplace; the hanging pot is perfect as is the grill over the lovely fire that is happily blazing beneath. How you manage to retrofit all of this into this sliver of a kitchen, is simply Fantastic, Betsy.
    Take a bow!:D

    elizabeth

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  4. From the first picture I was thinking 'You'll never fit an oven in there' and contemplating wether fantasy creatures lived on take-out food. Not only have you managed to put an oven in but one that looks in keeping with the surrounding wall. It looks fantastic. Any muffins cooking?, I'm peckish =0)

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  5. Betsy, you are a genius, because you've put in an small oven (even with a door!!) in this small fireplace and small corner of the kitchen. Harry will be so grateful that you have thought of his cooking skills ;O! The hanging pot and grill are wonderful additions and I'm sure that Harry will use them in the future.
    Yes, Birgits bearies are always travelling with sweets, like the delicious marzipan, just in case....;)! And you'll never know if the journey to their new homes will take much more extra time, so they always have an extra portion of 'food' with them ;)!
    I see that they are amusing themselves, it's so cosy and nice that they now are with so many members of their own BiWuBaers family in the Cloud Palace :D!
    Wishing you a nice week! Hugs, Ilona

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  6. Such a lovely little story and the loveliest little oven. Love the pot rack and cauldron hanging over the fire place. Wish l had a kitchen like that in real life :). Pam x

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  7. j'aime beaucoup cette ambiance onirique, belle composition

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  8. Hello Betsey,
    It is amazing how something as simple as an oven can tell a story. It looks beautiful. Bravo for thinking about the area under the stairs. It looks perfect and with the fireplace it is such a charming nook...I love it! The iron rack is also a fantastic idea. I'll bet Hamish Harry will love to cook in this lovely kitchen...that is, when the marzipan cake is finished ;)
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  9. How relieving! Now there is an oven, ingeniously fixed into a little nook, for Hamish Harry and his rolling pin. I love to see all the bearies comfortable having their tea and a yummy piece of marzipan cake. The bearies will never go hungry.
    Hugs, Drora

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  10. I like the idea for the oven and the meeting of the bears.

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  11. The oven is great and it looks as it has been always there. :) The last photo is charming and the whole Bear's family together looks fantastic!

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  12. Woohooo!!! Now Hamish Harry is the happiest fairy beary cook in the whole wide world - what more could he ask for! It's absolutely brilliant how you managed to add the perfect oven into this teeny tiny space, fantastic work. And all the other additions for the kitchen are clever solutions to use any space and make cooking fun. Btw - I swear here in public that I had never seen the pots' colours before when I was painting that trusty rolling pin! *LOL* And I can see that Harry's cooking knife is also welcome for cutting marzipan cakes in slices... who would ever have thought that one piece of marzipan would make such a delicious cake?! Seeing all ot them together for their first "Kaffeeklatsch" (sorry - we don't have the word "Teeklatsch" (Tee = tea) in German *grin*) really made my day. Nevertheless it made me start to wonder - you will need to build some more chairs... *teehee*

    Hugs
    Birgit

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  13. Ah, Betsy - there's a dormant cook in there somewhere - how else would you know just what is needed for a primitive, old-fashioned oven? Very cool. It looks as tho it has always been there - beautifully done! (Wish I'd had a fireplace to bake on when my oven was out of order for six whole months!)
    Carry on, my dear -
    Love
    Mom

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  14. Una cocina pequeña, con un precioso horno donde van a pasar fantásticos ratos cocinando deliciosas comidas.
    me ha encantado la idea, es de palacio con encanto.
    Un abrazo
    Maite

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  15. What a fabulous little kitchen. Love it. It tucks in that space perfectly.

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  16. That is just perfect and so very clever.

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  17. I didn't know before, but the kitchen really did need an oven :-) I think it's very ingenious you managed to fit one in! And the racks over the fireplace are very clever also!!! I'm sure Hamish Harry will be very happy in his new workplace!

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  18. Beautiful creations. Everything is perfect.

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