Dreams, Doubts and Decisions

The Beads and Other Gifts.....

It was a little over a year ago, Dear Readers, that Andy of Dollshouses and Miniatures blog, sent me a gift of some lovely blue and white Chinese porcelain beads, with the hopes that I would be able to use them somehow in the Tree House! He was afraid they were too large to be useful because the Tree House is 1:48 or "Quarter scale" and the beads are about an inch tall. As you can see in the above picture, they instantly found a "Home" on the mantle in The Folly! And at the time I posted about this gift, you could see that Samuel Whiskers and Anna Maria were caught "borrowing" one of the beads!

They told me they had the "perfect" use for such a beautiful item!

But at the time I was working on the Bath Room of the Tree House,

and even I had no idea it would be a whole Year 

before we were ready to test their idea!

But Finally I have started working on the nursery of the Tree House....

And I had to agree with them, the Beads make a Lovely....

Scandinavian Style Porcelain stove!

(Well, I think so at any rate!)

But first I had to build the base with the firebox...

And test the LED "fire".....

Of course the stove is not complete 

without the beads both stacked on the base...

and the base needed painting too.....

Oh, Goodness, Pardon us, Madam Arabella,

We don't mean to intrude!

(She is inspecting the Nursery construction!)

Which Is continuing in Small sections.....

(in between the seemingly endless Photo Shoots 

with my current Cast of Characters and their constant costume changes...

not to mention waiting for the sunlight to cooperate!)

But we are slowly making progress!

But I'll bet you never Dreamed that

the beads would make such a great stove!

And while we are mentioning Dreams....

I must take you back for another installment of Daphne's Story....

(That story that is still so Far from finished...!)

It was already some time ago that Daphne had discovered 

(to her eternal surprise!)

That her Mother was a Witch, and her Father was a Gypsy....

And that he had "stolen" her twin sister shortly after they were born!

This had shaken Daphne's confidence more than she had realized!

Was Everything in her Life a Lie?

Did she have a Father and a Sister alive somewhere...?

Living the Gypsy Life...?

Her Mother had wanted to Put down roots and raise her family in one place...

But she had ended up running in fear almost constantly....

And moving at least as often as the Gypsies would!

Daphne had never known she had a twin sister!

She had always felt so alone...

And she really had been alone!

She now realized she had always wanted to be a part of a larger family!

Somewhere out there she had a Father and a Sister.... and a child....!

But she had no idea what to do about any of it!

Then One Night she had that Dream again......

That Dream where she is standing at a Fountain..... 

and there is a beautiful little girl there too...

And she watches as the child throws her doll into the fountain....

Only This time the child is not standing there....

but is lying deep in the water of the Fountain itself!

The image is so terrifying that Daphne awakes in a sweat...

 Her Heart pounding.....

But suddenly she knew with a certainty what she needed to do!

She had to return to France!

She might not know where to find her Father or her Sister...

But she knew Exactly where she could find her Child!

She was done with running away from her problems!

She knew that she had to go see her daughter....

And Somehow, she would find a way to be a part of her life.

She had been given a gift....

Now she needed to follow her Dreams!

No doubt, Dear Readers, you are weary of being 

left "hanging on the cliff edge..."

and are hoping I will Decide not to leave you here again...

Yet, what can I say but "Dream on...." 

And "Thank you"!

For the gifts... and for Friendship.....

(And comments... I do love comments!)

Visions And Visits....

What Did Renee See....?

I hope you have the Patience, Dear Readers, to put up with the slow and Suspenseful unfolding of Daphne's Story! I have promised you a Happy Ending.... and even I did not have any idea how long and tortuous a path it would be to reach that conclusion! Some of you were justly surprised to be left at such a "cliff edge" last week, and have had to wait all week for the continuation. Will you believe me when I tell you that even I did Not know the answer to that question until after it had been asked....? It was only when I stopped and looked... really looked... with the eyes of a four year old child... that I saw.....

I saw that sometimes when Renee looked into the water.... 

it would turn all smooth and silver....

And brilliant stars would Dance across the surface....

And Sometimes if she was very still......

A Lady appeared....

 as if she were floating in the depths....

But if Renee tried to touch the water.....

The vision melted away....!

And even then.... it was Not every day...

Most days the water remained clear and unchanging!

But one thing that was unchanging was 

the way Renee raced ahead of Gabrielle every morning 

as they returned home from the Park.

When Renee reached the House she ran inside 

and went straight to her Grandfather's room!

She knew she was not supposed to "bother" him too much...

It would tire him to have a child running around all day.

But Gabrielle knew how much they both enjoyed these "stolen" visits...

She always let Renee run ahead....

"Grandpere" Grandpere" said Renee,

"We went to the Park....!" she said all in a rush.

"We saw a Man.... He's there Every day..." she said.

"And I said Bonjour!" she exclaimed.

"And then He said Bonjour...!" she confided.

Guillaume still didn't speak to anyone. 

He was afraid he would sound foolish.

Sometimes he replied with a quiet "Ah"...

And sometimes he would whisper a word or two .... 

just to see if the words came out right....

And only to Renee... 

because she would never think his words were wrong!

"And I played with the Birds..." she continued....

"There is one that Likes me and wants to play...."

"She is brown and pretty....." she added...

"But I couldn't catch her..." she explained.

Guillaume was Enchanted by her stories....

He loved the very sound of her voice.

But Gabrielle knew they must keep the visits short.....

"Time to go, Renee" she said.....

"Pretty".... he whispered as they left.

But they were not the only ones to go visiting that morning, Dear Readers.

When Will left the Park, he had an appointment with one of his many local acquaintances.

A man he had known for many years, one who knew everybody and would give Will tips on where to find furniture and Art for his business, and often helped him with the business end of the sales.

Monsieur Louis Davenant was a charming and witty man.

Will had no reason not to trust him with a question of a confidential nature.

"I wonder if you would be able to help me with a legal question..." Will said.

"It has to do with the laws of adoption."

"Adoption?" questioned Louis, with a surprised grin. 

"You are thinking of adoption?".... 

"Not just of the usual Art works...?" he added with a chuckle.

"No, it is not me.." said Will. "A friend of a friend... you understand."

"The child was left with it's grandparents because the father died...." he explained.

"but the Mother never signed the adoption papers." 

"It is just a question of what the Mother's rights are," he added.

"I wondered if you could point me to the best law firm to deal with this sort of question?"

"Ah!" replied Louis. "That would probably be best handled by the Pelletier Brothers," he replied.

"They have offices down town and deal in social issues. They could advise you, I am sure,"

And lest you think we are straying too far from the Park on this Summer Day....

I must show you the other visitors who stopped at the Park....

Look! It is three Blackbirds!

"What are they doing here?"

Well, I confess, Dear Readers, 

if I had Time tonight, I could tell you much more....

(But with Blogger being so difficult... I have run out of Time)

So that will have to be all I say...

About Visions and Visits.....

For Now at least!

Playing In The Park...

Daydreaming Again....

I Hope you will Forgive me, Dear Readers, if I bring you back to that Lovely Little Park for another visit on a sunny Summer morning. Will was already there the next day when Gabrielle and Renee arrived. He told himself that he just needed to be sure about Renee before he decided if he would say anything to Daphne or not. He knew it wasn't really any of his business, but he felt he needed to make it his business, because he cared for Daphne, and he was concerned that she would not find her happiness without her child. But he really hadn't decided if he would say anything or not.

As the child and her babysitter walked past him on the way to their bench, they passed through a ray of sunshine and Will could not help but notice how it cast them in a golden glow that startled him with its beauty. He had the oddest feeling that it was a moment he would always remember.

He had not really noticed the babysitter yesterday.

Today he thought she was very pretty.

And very young! 

He thought she couldn't be much older than twenty.

Just then he realized the child was staring at him, 

boldly curious, as only children can be.

He was astonished again at how much she looked like Daphne!

There was a moment of awkward silence. The babysitter was ignoring him.

He watched as the child turned and whispered something to her sitter.

Then she turned back and gave him a cheerful wave.....

"Bonjour, M'sieur" she called....

"Bonjour, M'amselle..." he replied.....

 

But before he could say any more, 

she just giggled and ran off to chase the birds!

Will had not expected that he would have a chance to speak with the babysitter.

But he could not let such an opportunity pass without saying something that might gain him more information. He turned with a smile and said...

"She is very cute! Surely you are not old enough to be her Mother?"

It was not very original... but it got the conversation started....

Gabrielle shrugged. She didn't like to be thought so young. 

"No, I am just the Nanny," she replied.

"Ah", said Will, "her parents work, I suppose?"

Gabrielle just shrugged again. She did not contradict him, 

but instead she asked him if he was American.

"Only half American," he admitted.... 

"the other half Swiss. But I live mostly in the States."

And while they discussed his life and his business, 

Renee chased the birds.....

They all flew off to a safer distance but one....

Suzette wanted her breadcrumbs!

All the other birds were calling from their safer perches....

"Suzette, Suzette, Beware.....!!!"

She had a moment of doubt... and retreated to the fountain rim......

Renee thought she could just reach out and touch them.....

But Seraphina did not like that idea.....

She made her escape in the nick of Time!

But Suzette was not giving up so easily....

Everybody else had abandoned the breadcrumbs....

At the last minute she dodged Renee and swooped down to the breadcrumbs....

Victory was hers!

And she jumped on the one she had been eying for a while!

But Renee seemed to forget all about the birds as she gazed into the fountain....

what did she see there?

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you will forgive me 

for spending so much Time Just Playing in the Park....

It was such a beautiful morning......

I think we are all just Daydreaming Again!