Whither Shall We Wander....

On This Fine Summer's Morn....

I had a week of Vacation, Dear Readers, which seemed an endless stream of hot sunny Summer Mornings with possibilities at every turn.... and was gone before I could catch my breath and focus on any of my many projects for any meaningful length of time. What with the Holiday in the middle of the week and several time-consuming appointments on the other days.... my Time was consumed with getting there and back again and trying to stay cool in the Record breaking heat! But in retrospect I did manage to accomplish a few things... none of which were on the immediate "to do" list! The most satisfying one was the completion of the exterior wooden trim on the remaining windows of Hardwick Hall. Above you can see a picture of the attic window without the trim.... the printed crossbars on the acetate windows always bother me as being too one dimensional! I had even painted the pieces of trim ages ago... and after completing the porch trim, I decided to tackle the windows too!

The parlor bay windows also were still in need of their trim... 

making a total of eight windows needing trim.

I started with the attic ones... and then remembered

 that there was a reason I hadn't finished them....

 I still needed to paint more of the extra thin trim

 I used to make the illusion that the windows are

 double-hung and could possibly be opened!

Here you can see what I mean... 

the window on the right has been completed, 

and the trim for the lower half is much less deep....

 hopefully creating the illusion that the lower half of the window

  sits beside the upper  and could slide past it when being opened.

And the window on the left is one of the ones needing to be finished...

So I trimmed down some very narrow wooden

 coffee stirrers and painted them the silver of the trims.

This requires four coats of paint!

Then I cut and fitted them to the attic windows....

 these windows are tiny!

But you can see the lower half of the window

 is "set back" from the upper half.

(Or at least I hope it appears to be set back!)

And then I started on the Parlor Bay windows... 

and when I got to the lower portion,

 I realized the sill was poorly fitted

 and there were big gaps at the bottom 

of the window panes!

So I cut and painted slivers of trim to fill the gaps.....

The one on the left has been filled... the right has not.

Here they have both been filled....

And the trims added.....

I know.... the lighting is awkward... 

(I was keeping my blinds closed!)

Here is a better shot... a bit glaring even... 

but it shows the different depth of the window trims.
It took an entire day to complete!
And with the exception of the bathroom window,
which I added to the design...
 the windows are done!

Another day I spent a lovely morning sewing by an open window

 with the breezes wafting in...

slowly filling in the background around the blossoms.... 

before the heat of the day became over-whelming.

 

And I thought I would get to painting on the Castle Great Hall ceiling....

(Isn't it high time I finished those Patient Saints?) 

Again, it is dark in here!

I wanted to get a better look at the way

 the ceiling would connect with the walls...

 

Here it is lit with the flash

which shows the colors beautifully,

 but erases the cracks at the edges of the ceiling

 which will need to be covered with trim.... 

an added layer of "rock" buttressing the ceiling.

And as I pulled out the wood and began to prepare the trim, 

I realized that I would not be able to attach it in the right spot

 without knowing exactly where the ceiling would sit... 

and with the whole structure of the Castle still somewhat half finished.... 

I would need to do some of that structural work first!

Ah, Dear Readers, this is how I end up

 going down the Rabbit Hole and into

 I-Wonder-Where I-am-Land!

 

Because in order to do any of that larger work on the Castle, 

I would need to clear it out....

(I am shocked to admit that I have no idea

 how many years it has been since I did that!)

All (or rather Most of) the Little People 

went off on Vacations for the Summer.... 

and I packed up boxes full of furnishings 

and partially done project pieces...

 trying to keep it all organized so I could find the pieces again....

 and I really only cleared away half of the rooms....

 

Figuring I would at least finish the structure of the Lord's Tower...

 (the plywood panels are becoming warped

 since the top walls have never been fastened in place....)

 

the unfinished Council Chamber....

 

And what will be the Lord's Bed Chamber at the top of the Tower.

And each room has the front wall framework to add too....

the "Proscenium" I call it.

Here I have drilled and screwed the 

Great Hall "Proscenium" temporarily in place.

And I have been struggling since Forever with the question

 of whether or not to add Doors to the fronts of all the rooms

(To Door or Not Tudor ... that is the Question!)

And as I Dream of getting the basic framework

 all drilled and screwed together at least temporarily....

Because if I am going to attach any Doors, 

the framework needs to be done first...

And then I look at the Base....

Where the Caves are located... 

(even though they are filled with stored materials)

And somehow it becomes important to start with them.....

 clean them out.... paint them.... attach the doors... 

all pieces of plywood that were cut out ages ago

 and are stacked up and waiting.... in the way, to tell the truth!)

 

The first cave ready for the primer....

 

And the primer done.....

 oooh that was a contortionists job!

 

And the door panels too!

 

And the next morning .... 

starting on the dark gray paint.... 

because they are dark rock caves!

 

Here is one with just the primer coat.... 

you can sort of see your way around in there!

 

But a Cave is supposed to feel vast and dark and Murky...!

So I painted them dark Gray.

You can get lost in there!

And then I started on the outside frame of the Base....

because it is supposed to be the "Rock" the Castle is built upon...

 

I will most likely add more paint and colors

 to add to the illusion that it is "rock"...

And the doors too...! 

And I started adding base colors

 to the front of the Castle itself....

And then I realized that until each room

 was completed and the front screwed in for good...

 I couldn't add the paint....

 because the screws would need to be

 puttied over first before painting! 

(And isn't that bringing me right back to where I was before....?)

Okay, so I can still temporarily drill and screw the

 framework together and worry about painting later!

 

And I can test the idea of doors in each room...

Temporarily....

Won't they get in the way?

 I will be wanting to leave them open

 all the Time so I can see in there....!

 

Oh yes, and I did complete the sixteenth Lilac Blossom!

 

Ah, Dear Readers, I don't know how I got here....

 or where I am going from here... 

But I do think it was Long Overdue!

 And that is Where I wandered 

through all my Vacation days!