Monday, June 23, 2014

Baby Steps....




Learning As We Go.....

Where To Begin this week is the problem, Dear Readers, because I have so many tiny little things I could show you.... and I am only afraid Some of them might seem a little Boring to look at! To begin with, I have Finally made a little more progress on the Tree House! Do you even Remember where we left that project? Well, I had mostly completed the bathroom (that does seem to be a theme lately!) and had partly finished the Dressing Room ..... but it was not done enough to attach the floor for the next level up! What you see in the above picture is the Beginnings of the Door for the next Room level.... and the floor temporarily in place. And if you look Closely at the door to the bathroom below, you will spot a wire loop on the side of the door... and a magnet on the door frame! It took me Months to decide how to attach the magnets and the door "latches" for the upper doors to the Tree House. Left to their own devices they tended to swing open and I had used masking tape for ages.... but that didn't work very well and could not be the permanent solution. The wire loops are very attracted to the magnets, and they are bendable, so they can be formed to the correct shape when I put the "outer skin" on the whole tree.... a Long time from now!

I have added one of these wire loops (made from a bent paperclip) to each of the upper doors along with a magnet... which I sometimes had to carefully cut away the walls in order to make it fit! (This was because I had not decided on the latching mechanism at the beginning of the project!) So we are learning as we go!
And another little detail that has been waiting for me to accomplish 
is the inner layer to the door on the Spiral staircase.......

This will not seem like much, 
and you might not even be able to see what I am talking about in the picture, 
but it was really very necessary! 
The door fits more closely to the stairs now when it is closed.....
And we wouldn't want any little Baby Ratlings 
to fall through cracks in the walls!
And Another small thing that has been holding up progress on the Tree House 
has been the Lighting for the Dressing Room beside the Bath.
I was originally hoping to make one LED light work for 
Both the toilet room and the Dressing Room...
(This was because the batteries support 10 lights each 
and I had reached that number for this battery 
and I wanted the next battery to light the rooms above, not this level!)
But I finally decided that I had to make a separate light for the Dressing Room....

I used a gelatin capsule for the "glass dome" and a sequin for the base....
And glued the LED inside....
And then I had to paint a piece of ceiling to match the room.....

It is not very big......
And attached the lantern to the ceiling.....

With the wires run through to the upper side.....
And then we see how it looks.....

Do you even remember this room???
With the wild Sea Horses in the waves.....

Well now you can actually see them!

And you can see the ceiling.... 
if you get down on your knees and look up..!

Here you can see it with the other light lit as well.....
I think the battery is running low on that one....
But now we are one tiny baby step closer to starting the next level up, 
because once the wiring is in place I can attach the floor above!
And what is that level going to be, I hear you ask?
Well, it is going to be the Nursery and the Nanny's Room.....

Here you can see the view looking down from above......
I had to extend the floor in several places.....
The Nursery is on the left and 
the Nanny's Room will be on the right of the dividing wall.
When we get there....
One Little Step at a time!

But That is not All, Dear Readers! 
I find that I Must tell you the next installment of Daphne's Story....
And this time we Begin with Guillaume...

Some of you Might recall that he had suffered a terrible Stroke shortly after the Baby was delivered into their care....


And Yvonne found it necessary that she learn to take over the 
management of the Family business and all their Estates.
As Guillaume slowly gained strength she would sit by his bed and tell him all she was doing and learning....

But in spite of the best medical care, his healing was slow.
And Yvonne needed to be away from his side to see to the Business.
They hired a Nurse to tend to him.
 Jean Paul was large and strong and kind.
But Guillaume did not always think so, 
especially when he was being told to try to walk...

They did not seem to understand that his body did not listen to his mind any more....

He was not at all sure that "practice" was going to make it better.
As the weeks turned into months and he could not manage to do the stairs in the Townhouse, 
they made the first Floor parlor into his own room, adding a bed....
And his meals were wheeled in on the tea trolly....

Guillaume was happier to eat alone, 
he felt so ashamed that he needed help even to eat!

And even worse, his words did not return at all!
When he thought "dog" it  came out "pig" or sometimes even "cabbage"....
There did not seem to be a connection any more in his brain and his voice....
so he said nothing at all.

He could not understand why his life had dwindled to this one room....
He thought it would have been better if he had died.
But sometimes in the distance he would hear the baby crying...
and then he would remember that there was one thing to look forward to.

Sometimes Raymond would come to see him and would bring the child.

At first he had no interest. 
He really felt that it did not matter what became of him.
But while the baby slept in his arms, Raymond would talk to him.... 
about the household, about his work, 
and about the baby and the progress she was making.
As the weeks went on, Raymond and the Baby's visits 
became treasured moments in his empty life.

The time passed very slowly for Guillaume.....
They moved in a large TV to give him some entertainment...

But he could never remember how to run the controls....
and he didn't understand what was on the screen anymore.
Travel was impossible for him, so they never went to the Country House.
Yvonne spent every evening with him, reviewing the work of the day....
But he had lost interest and had nothing to say. He was afraid to try to speak to her...
He was sure his words would make no sense.
It was the Baby, little Renee, who gave meaning to his days.
She was growing so quickly!

One day she was just an infant, and the next it seemed she would talk any day!

Or Walk!

Can it be she will take her first steps....?

Just for Grandpa?

He had not realized it before...
His heart had been stolen....
But suddenly he knew This child meant Everything to him!
He wanted to live many more years... to watch her grow!
Yes, Dear Readers,
It all might be just Baby Steps...
But we're all learning as we go!

18 comments:

  1. Hi Betsy! Thank you for sharing your baby steps! It's an interesting and motivating concept! I enjoyed reading the present installment of your story and I am hoping that the baby will reawaken Gillaume's will to survive and to start taking baby steps towards his recovery! I want to add that your work is so alive with colour and charm that it makes me feel like I'm entering another world when I visit your blog. A very good thing!

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  2. The progress in the tree house is fantastic.
    I like your nice story.

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  3. Lovely story!
    As for the tree house, it looks like a strange machine at this point! Details, details - I'm sure you'll have it looking beautiful when finished. (Finished?)
    Lots of love,
    Mom

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  4. I don't know what's better - to see you working on the tree house again or to read the next chapter of Daphne's story... anyway, you can never have enough of the good stuff... *grin* As always you're thinking of any detail... maybe with tiny baby steps, but step by step. And how good to learn that baby steps bring back hope to a Grandfather!

    Hugs
    Birgit

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  5. Tree House!! Yay!! Great to see it again! the light works really well, and reminds me I must get my lights in the pub working properly! I must have missed the post previously featuring the sea horses, I love sea horses, nice to see you use them in the Tree House!

    Great to see the baby take it's first steps too!!

    Hugs
    Andy x

    (sorry, I just realised I am one of those people that calls babies 'it'!!)

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  6. Love the tree house. It is a wonderful project. Your lights look great. Every dollhouse needs a story. Thank you for inviting me over to see this.

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  7. Betsy my friend,
    I have not commented much but please know how much I admire your talent and creativity!
    You have an eye for smaller things that I do not possess......and I love your work! Tree House......amazing!
    Hug from Ray

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  8. Oh...so nice to see that marvelous tree house again! Personally, if I had a baby (I don't/won't) I would ship it off to Finishing School until it could talk intelligently about art.

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  9. What a story! I missed it a lot as well as I missed the Tree House, so it is good to see and read about them. :) I love the lamp in your Dressing Room, great work!

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  10. Nice to see the tree house back on the screen and your little light is amazing - to even think about using sequins.......! I wasn't as up to date with your story as I should have been but enjoyed catching up. It's a lovely tale.

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  11. Hello Betsy,
    The amount of work you get done is amazing. I love the light fixture! It is just lovely and thank goodness we can see the amazing detail on the wall and ceiling. It is superb! I am happy you are doing a nursery. with your skills I know it will be a room any child would love to be in.
    As for the story, I must admit I was very touched! I can't wait to read more about it and to see more of your work.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  12. Hi Betsy! Baby steps, huh.........for baby's their steps are big steps :D LOL, so I think you have done a lot of work at the Tree House! Love to see the light there, thanks for showing.
    Hugs, Ilona

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  13. I love this story Betsy. It is something that I can certainly relate to having a good friend who has suffered a stroke. It is a very hard existence and yet there is always hope isn't there? You never know from which direction it will come but how wonderful that it has come in the form of little baby Renee.
    Your tree house ceiling fixture is a small wonder! The capsule makes the perfect glass shade and the way that you have finished it and hung it up is Perfect! It is amazing just how much light it emits! Well done Betsy on both the light fixture and your oh, so interesting story.:))

    elizabeth

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  14. I think you have done so much. So, I think it's great children step. All you're doing is so thoroughly nice. Beautiful pictures.
    Hugs
    Wyrna

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  15. what a wonderful story, thank you :)

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  16. Hi Betsy
    I love your blog. The tree house is amazing, but the surprise story was very touching, and making me want more..... Lovely work all round.
    All the best
    Vivian

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  17. your baby steps always look huge to me :-) The new lamp is wonderful, now we can see the beautiful painted walls! And thank you for continueing the story, I hope Guillaume will get beter now he has found a wonderful reason to live!

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