Not Quite There....

Layer Upon Layer......

I am sure Dear Readers, that Some of you have been  wondering if I would Ever get back to working on the Tree House Bath Room! Well, rest assured that I have been slowly working on it.... but mostly I have been wrestling with some complex engineering challenges with the construction of the ceiling! You may remember that I showed a picture of the circular shell Dome I wanted to have for the central portion of the ceiling...

Here, I will show you again..... 

It is a shell just like the floor, only showing the curved white underside.....

and I attached a rim of the white tiles to the underside.... 

and inserted a small LED light through the hole at one side...

(but we will see more of that later...). 

The challenging part comes in because I wanted to have slender pearl pillars supporting the dome.... or at least Appearing to support it.... which means they have to be exactly the right length to reach between the floor and the ceiling..... Here below you can see the beginnings of the pillars taped in place.... (upside-down)

And then, of course, I have to test them in place to see how they will work......

This is the general idea.... each pillar is a slightly different length... 

because the ceiling is not level and the floor is not level.... 

so I have to keep track of which pillar goes where....

But then I became aware that the dome height was too high for the wooden ceiling above it to attach properly to the side walls... and the ceiling insert was slightly off in it's shape and really needed to be done over.... but I had already securely glued the dome to it..... 

But the biggest question was How to attach the pillars to the floor and the dome....?

I decided the pillars needed better feet with a better gluing surface....

 Here above you can see the new feet added..... 

which only threw off the careful length calculations.....

 Then I decided to glue a "socket" to the rim of the 

dome for the top end of the pillars to plug into....

and added the pearl trim to the dome rim too....

And of course, I have to get a bit carried away with the pearls.....

Here I am just testing the look if I also add swags of pearls between the pillars.....

And then, because we Are getting Carried Away....

I have a Vision .....

And I need to see if it will work.....

I want Gauzy curtains bedecked with pearls to surround the Bath....

And I find a Tiny scrap of netting I have saved since I was nine years old.....

And cut it into tiny curtains and glue tiny iridescent beads to it..... 

one by one...

And then we have to see if it works in place......

And can we see it with the Bath in place....???

Oh, Goodness! 

I guess we will have to wait while Mr. Rat finishes his bath....!

And while he is bathing... 

we will have a look at the rest of the Ceiling problems.....

Because the shape of the ceiling is not right for the room.... 

and there needs to be an "eyebrow" over the moon window.....

So I cut and fitted a new ceiling piece (not yet glued in place...)

And covered it with that iridescent glittery star paper I have....

(Because we Can't have an Ordinary ceiling...!)

And then I removed the Dome from the old ceiling piece 

and attached it to the new one....

And while I was at it I glued all the Pearl Swags in place....

Of course, we have to test it in place from time to time.....

Here it is with the ceiling fit, but no pillars in place.....

I still have to get them re-sized to fit between the Dome and the floor...

And not have too much pressure on them so they remain straight.....

Oh yes, and the Curtains..... and the Tub.....

But where are the pillars...?

Still just Testing.....

The actual gluing things together is going to be.....

Challenging to say the least!

We may Not Quite be ready for that yet.....

But, Layer upon layer the Vision is slowly coming Together!

Shedding A Little Light....

Oh So Little.....

It is that Time of year, Dear Readers, when it is so Dark.... Morning and Night.... that it is so hard to get good pictures of what little work has been accomplished in my Mini Worlds! You may recall that I mentioned I would be making a LOT of bricks for the Conservatory..... well I got started....

This was the total of what I accomplished on Saturday...

And Sunday I just diligently applied myself to Brick making and Gluing.....

It is surprisingly Slow work!

By Sunday night I had nearly completed the two pillars!

And here you can see them in place....

And you can also see the arched upper portion temporarily placed on top....

Still a Long way to go!

I must confess that it felt like I got nothing done!

And because you have been so kind as to nod agreeably as I bore you with pictures of Boring bricks.... 

I will add a few shots I took Early Saturday Morning of Sunlight shining onto the Folly...

The Winter sun slants low in the sky... 

and for a moment it reaches far into the room and touches the Folly....

And from the inside you can see the light shining into the Bednook..... 

which has been dressed with colorful patterned bedlinens and 

layers of wool blankets since you last saw it.....

 

And the booknook is also graced with this brief Morning Light.....

That hushed moment at the start of the day....

And the Kitchen, too, catches the brief Morning Rays.... 

reminding us perhaps how Much there still is to be done....

And even the Livingroom is adorned with this Perfect morning light...

Where Daphne still sits pondering the revelations from All Hallows Eve!

She has sat here so many times before... 

but mostly she has been accompanied by Will....

And she is just beginning to realize that she is enjoying being alone...

Free to think her own thoughts.....

And she has So much she needs to think about and make decisions about......

It has just always been so much easier to let Will lead the way!

She can't begin to understand What happened on Halloween... 

when her Mother spoke to her through a crystal ball.....

Had she Imagined that?

She was going to have to talk to her Mother and try to get some answers....

And meanwhile..... 

Will has been overseas....

On a buying Trip for his Antiques Store and Gallery.....

Roaming through all sorts of ancient Castles and Estates.....

seeking furnishings and Art worthy of his business....

He missed being at the Halloween Costume Ball at the Castle....

so he missed all the Excitement....

And even though he texted Daphne repeatedly...

She had left her phone at home....

And didn't get all his messages until later.

But after the Mysterious Vision of her Mother in the crystal Ball...

Daphne isn't thinking about Will!

Believe it or not, Dear Readers, 

it only took a few moments for the Sun to slip entirely away.....

But for a brief Time it shone fully on the Solitary Sunflower.... 

still blooming beside the porch.....

Reminding me that there is so Little Light at this time of year....

But what there is can be Just Brilliant.....

Shedding just a Little More Light on Everything!

It Gets Complicated.....

The Conservatory and Other Stories.....

Not much was accomplished this weekend in my Mini World, Dear Readers, so you will have to bear with me while I show you too many pictures of the conservatory as it now stands. I did manage to cut a new base board that will hold Both sections of the building on One base! And I glued all the acrylic panels into the roof frame and the window frames.

The piece of pink builders foam you see standing between the two sections is the beginnings of a brick chimney which will divide the Conservatory into two sections... as well as provide the flue for the heater which I consider to be an essential accessory for this free-standing "Greenhouse"!

As you may guess... I am bracing myself... 

I will be making a LOT more bricks!!!

And to further complicate things.... I am planning a few changes to the basic structure. 

To begin with I am shifting one of the end wall sections.... 

the ones that have the doors... to the side which you can see in the above picture.

The kit is designed to have the structure abut another building on the open side.... and have the doors on the opposite wall. But with placing two kits back to back, this creates a long narrow aisle running down the center of the structure, and no access on the sides. This seems to make for lousy furniture placement options! So if I move one of the Door panel walls to the side, it creates an end wall with a corner as well as access from the side wall. This shift will require a few minor adjustments to the corner joins of the basic kits.

 

The second change I am planning is Much more difficult! The kit is designed to have the roof sections lift off for access to the rooms.... rather than having a side opening panel. I want the roofs to be firmly attached.... for reasons which will become clear when I get to that stage of the construction.... and so I want the side walls to open for access to the interior! This will require making a hinge surface and cuts and supports for the hinges, as well as redesigning the supports for the roof sections! A Trifle Ambitious... you say? Well, yes. But I really want this Conservatory to function in this different way.... so I am going to give it a try!

And you may recall that I was planning to use the extra tiles from the Castle Great Hall Floor as tiles for the Conservatory floor. At first it looked as though I would not need to make too many more tiles.... but then you add another whole section of Conservatory.....

As you can see from the view in through the end wall window...... 

there is a whole lot of flooring to cover!

So I guess I will also be making a great many more tiles!

That is not the only thing that has been getting more complicated, Dear Readers,

I also must tell you the next chapter of Daphne's story. 

I hope that by now you are not so lost in all my different stories that you have forgotten all about Daphne! Well, this chapter is not about Daphne, but about Guillaume and Yvonne deMontaigne, the grandparents of her child. You may recall that they had finally hired a Nanny to look after the child and the household was finally on the verge of settling into a comfortable routine. Barely a few weeks had gone by when one afternoon Guillaume suddenly mentioned that he didn't feel at all well....

He and Yvonne had just returned from a luncheon with old friends..... he thought that perhaps he had eaten "something" that didn't agree with him. Yvonne was concerned and helped him sit in the nearest chair, saying "perhaps a short rest is what you need... too much walking right after eating...?" She was a little concerned... she didn't like to mention it... but he was so much older than she... and she didn't want to think of Time ticking past...!

 But he didn't seem to improve ..... 

he just became quiet and stared into the distance.....

"Are you alright, Dear..." she asked.... 

and when he couldn't answer she became terribly alarmed and called for emergency help!

He was rushed to the Hospital. It became clear after a while that he had suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed and unable to talk at all. Yvonne was terrified she would lose him too.... and was grateful when he was no longer in danger. But it was more weeks before he was home again...

And Yvonne had to hire a Live in Nurse to attend to him.

They found a young man who was strong enough to lift him and help him as he slowly regained some of his abilities. The Doctors feared he would not speak again.... even if he learned to walk with help.

Yvonne spent much of her time at his side.... but she gradually realized she had to accept that she had not quite lost her Husband... but in some ways she had.... he had always told her everything.... and now he could not tell her anything at all! And as time passed.... the pressures of the outside world began to intrude.... their Estates and Businesses could not run forever without someone at the helm.... and that had always been Guillaume's work. And now they were beginning to come to her with questions....

And she had to make a decision on her own.... 

could she pick up the reins that Guillaume had let fall...?

Could she manage to learn enough to keep the Estates and Businesses running until Guillaume could resume control? They had been training Andre to fill that position... Andre who would never.....

No, she must not weep any more! Guillaume needed her to be strong now.... he had always confided in her and she had always listened... perhaps she knew more than she thought she did..... perhaps she could talk to Guillaume ... tell him what her ideas were... and somehow.... she might know ....

She might know what he would have done.... 

what he wanted her to do....

Someone had to take charge.... or they would all be lost!

She could only try.... it would be an enormous challenge....

But she had to try!

Yes, Dear Readers.....

Whether its the Conservatory or the Story....

It gets Complicated!

Epilogue

Do We Know Where We Are Going....?

When I was six years old, going on seven, Dear Readers, and my sister was just turned five, our Mother made for us Princess Dresses for Halloween costumes. She was very creative and frugal, and made them out of old maroon brocade curtains she found in the attic of our house. And she used old fashioned lace doilies for the collars of our gowns. I am not sure there are any pictures of us wearing them, but I can remember the dresses as though it were just yesterday. They were not quite identical, the lace collars being different, and though people often asked if we were twins, we don't look really exactly the same! Have you guessed, that these two Little Dreamers are my Sister and Myself as little girls... come to play in my Mini Worlds?

My Mother recognized us Instantly when she saw the blog, saying 

"before I even read the text I recognized the costumes on the little girls and time disappeared...." And my sister said "What masterful renditions of the fragments of memory! They are more perfect than real!"

But I must confess that it was a last minute project, making these gowns in miniature.... because I had begun to tell the story before I had figured out How the Enchanted Seed would be returned to the Wizard! I had not intended the little girls that are my Sister and Me to enter into the story this way.... but something happened.... and I realized that the two Sisters needed to be costumed in those Princess Gowns from long ago! So I was rushing against Time trying to get the costumes sewn in Time to get the Story posted before Halloween was over and done!

But I had not thought through the consequences 

of setting us loose in this mini world.... 

are We now Stuck in Time?

Having joined in with the other little Princesses at the Castle Ball.... 

having rescued the Wizard..... 

having Eaten the Enchanted Seed......!

Having ended up at Rose Thorn Cottage on Distant Briar Moor.....

Are we Doomed to Dreaming Forever....?

Do we know where we are going.... 

Do we even have a home???

Questions that have no answers.... 

even as the Dawn light shines on the Cottage...

Chasing the stars from the sky....

And the Little Dreamers join Great Aunt Agatha outside....

In this Haven Between the Worlds......

In this place that is neither Here nor There.....

Neither Now nor Then....

Where even Time is Free to stand still....

And even if we choose to look into the Magic Well....

What will it show us if we don't know what we are looking for....?

Well, I have to admit I have no answers...!

Nor, do I even know where We are going, Dear Readers....

But perhaps..... just Perhaps it explains why I am Dreaming still!

Epilogue