Christmas Preparations

Every Little Bit Counts.....

The days are Flying by, Dear Readers, and the Christmas Countdown has begun in earnest here in the States. I am sure you have heard of "Black Friday" when everybody goes Christmas shopping all at once.....well, not Everybody, as I absolutely avoid shopping on Black Friday! But that does not mean I have done No Christmas shopping. I was at Michaels two weeks ago and spotted the lovely miniatures shown in this picture! The cakes were separate from the cake stand.... but they all were begging to come home with me! I keep telling myself I will learn to make tiny food..... but I have yet to do it.... and the little people in my houses are at risk of Starving unless I give in and Buy the food!

In my defense, I will point out that I am Rather Busy trying to just get the Houses built..... 

(don't remind me that I keep adding to the list of unfinished ones.....)

And the Real Life decorating and Christmas shopping has to be done too!

So I grabbed the goodies and brought them home!

 

 And while the Conservatory is still Far from Finished.....

I have made some progress!

As you can see, the side wall on this end swings open....

I apologize for the Darkness of the photos.....

It is very difficult to catch the sun these days!

Here you can see the end that is nearly complete...

And here you can sort of see the entire structure, 

with Both sides open!

The roofs are not yet attached, 

but the walls are all completed and glued in place!

But the part I am the most excited about is the windows.....

Here you can see them (on a Sunny Saturday morning)

from the outside looking in.

Believe it or not,

I wanted at least Some of the windows to be able to open and close!

If you have ever been inside a conservatory on a sunny day 

you will know that it is essential that there be some means to Ventilate the room!

And with all the windows in this structure.... 

only the smaller ones would work to add hinges.

And even then, the way the walls joined at the corners 

did not allow room for the hinges.

But I was determined to try on the end wall!

I succeeded with the hinges once the corner "posts" were 

"strengthened" by adding strips of wood. 

This was necessary in order to build the framework 

that allows for the side to swing open.

And then, once the windows were successfully hinged, 

I was in need of a latching mechanism to keep them closed!

But they needed to be functional latches, not pretend ones!

So I decided to try using wire.....

Here you can see my latches in the open position.....

Here is a close-up view....

the wire pivots on a nail......

Here it is in the locked position.....

the "catch" is a piece of painted cardboard and a tiny bit of plastic 

from a clothing price tag (I am sorry I neglected to take a picture.)

And here is the window opening....!

The latches really work!

And the remaining door hardware has been attached too.

These are commercial lever-style door openers....

(but they don't really move or latch!)

Here you can see the completed end wall glued in place....

but the roof framework is still not finished.

There is a small amount of warping in the end wall 

that I need to solve before I can complete the roof framework.

It may not look like much, Dear Readers, 

but it is a Very Satisfying Little bit!

Oh, and just to reassure you that I have made a start 

on decorating the Real Life home....

The trees are up and have the lights on!

Here is the little tree in my upstairs studio...

And the bigger one in my downstairs "living room"....

really the corner of my "dining room"......

which is really my "Workroom"! 

So you can see, Dear Readers,

Christmas Preparations have begun in my Worlds,

Big and Small.....

And while not much has been done, 

Every little bit counts!