Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Miracle....

 

 


 Of Modern Mail....

Some of you Will understand, Dear Readers, the steady dwindling of hope that a certain package sent from over seas a Long Time Ago would ever reach these shores, let alone my personal porch. Yes, I was losing Faith. In fact, I will confess, that on Wednesday the 24th of February at 10:30 AM I looked out on my porch where no package was to be seen and finally admitted that it was getting a little Too late to still be hoping, and maybe the box was really truly lost. (If this is giving up... I gave up...). And so you will understand my Utter Amazement when I looked out at 2PM the same day.... to collect the mail that had been left in my box.... and there was that package leaning up against the wall beside the door....!!! What???? Really??? REALLY???? (Can you tell how amazed I was?) It only took 103 days to cross the ocean and reach my door.... which given the hardships of this past year is probably not remarkable at all. And yet again, I am amazed to think that we take the mail system for granted and think nothing of the Daily Miracle that it is. The very idea that you can put a bunch of carefully wrapped Treasures into a paper box with a few words scribbled (or typed) on it and hand it over to a complete stranger and a few days or weeks later (or months in hard times) it is hand delivered to another very specific door half way around the world... This is truly a miracle of faith and cooperation on a huge scale! Well!... and we take it for granted that it works.... which it usually does!

I was so shocked... it took me a little while before I was ready to open it!
And in case you don't know the sender of these Treasures...
Birgit is the most amazingly creative mini-maker 
and sends awesome Christmas packages!
(Yes, this was intended to be a Christmas Package!)


These little guys are so Wonderful....
But I don't blame them for looking a bit confused...!


It takes a while to open all the little parcels...
There are so many treasures!
Thank you Birgit!!!!!

And in another topic altogether, Dear Readers,
 I spent part of my weekend repairing the doors to the Dollmaker's Studio.
You may or may not have noticed that when I painted the frames,
 I had removed the opening doors. 
The hinges were hand made and quite small
 and a couple of them were not aligned properly in the frame.


When I went to put the doors back in,
 I added some tiny shims to the hinges on the left side.
The notches had been cut a tiny bit too deep
 and it stressed the hinges when they were closed.


Here both doors have been reattached.
They fit perfectly and hinge smoothly.


This is the interior side.... 
you can see the hand-made hardware.


Sorry for the dark picture...
Here I have fitted it back into the opening... 
still not glued in because the outside
 of the structure will need to be painted.

And because I am trying to get to the outside of the structure...
 there are a few details that need to be done on the inside first.


Like adding the curtain rods for the curtains....


Here I am adding lace to the bottom hem.
Testing the fit....


Both of them are done.
And then knowing that these doors will be drafty
They will need "portieres".....


Here I am testing the cloth.... 
still a long way from done...
But I do love velvet curtains!


And I needed to attach the overhead ceiling beams....
You know how it goes, they are never exactly the right length....
(Hand cutting is not reliable...!)
So you get three in place
 and the fourth one is a hair too long
 and causes the rest to fall!
I ended up gluing and shimming one at a time...
and waiting a good while in between each one!

And then I needed to test the ceiling paper I want to use....


It's a sparkly glittery textured scrapbook paper...
I want to pretend it is pressed tin ceiling tiles....
But I do love the shiny look... 
and any reflected light we can get
 in here will be a good thing!

And because I have my lace scraps out
 and am adding window hardware....


I find a scrap of beautiful old lace
 that is crying out to be used in this room...


I added a bottom hem of lace too.


Here it is in place.
I will make matching ones for
 the two little windows on the opening wall doors.


And trying to see how it will work
 with the sconce light I want to put on this wall...
Bit by bit I am starting to see this room come together...
Although it is such a small room... 
I am sure I will not be able to fit everything I want to in.

And that's all I accomplished last weekend, Dear Readers,
But it leaves me feeling optimistic!
With this progress
 and the Delivery of the Mail...
My faith is restored!


10 comments:

  1. Que bueno que el paquete de Birgit llegó por fin hasta tu porche! Las navidades se alargaron unos meses, pero siempre es una alegría recibir el cariño en forma de pequeños paquetes de la gente de nuestro mini mundo.
    Las puertas se ven perfectas, encajan y articulan, las cortinas le darán mucho encanto y ese terciopelo rojo es muy bonito! Al igual que el pequeño encaje que me parece maravilloso para hacer de cortina en la ventana!
    Besos.

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  2. That lace is so beautiful. I remember sending you an antique lace hanky. Was that the source? That hanky was either "something old" or "something borrowed" at my wedding. As for your "Christmas" present taking 103 days, the miracle is that it survived. Pat points out that the period of its limbo was during a fierce spike in COVID in Europe.
    Much love,
    Mom

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  3. Las puertas están fantásticas y las cortinas se ven geniales.
    Celebro que el paquete de Birgit no se haya perdido.
    Un saludo

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  4. ¡Que maravilla que ya tengas el paquete de Birgit! disfrútalos. Perfectas las puertas y muy bonitas las cortinas. Besos

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  5. Oh the mushrooms are charming and magical! That Birgit sure knows how to make us feel loved!
    Bravo with the hinging! The curtains are darling, and that beamed, tin ceiling is wonderful! I am loving this cottage more and more with every detail!

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  6. Merry belated Christmas!

    I LOVE those doors. Gorgeous!

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  7. WOOOW, so you finally received Birgit's parcel for Christmas, well, what can I say, just like you: it's a true miracle the postal services have found your house/porch. Dear Betsy, lots of enjoyment whilst unwrapping each one of the treasures Birgit sent you so long ago. I also love these funny faced guys you show us here, these are sooo Birgit ;).
    And I also must say that this year our dear friend Birgit is very early with sending her Christmas parcels......as March has just began and it's not yet December ;O), just joking of course hahaha!!
    You did a great job at the hinged doors, the beautiful old lace and the red velvet curtains and the ceiling beams.
    The sparkly glittery textured scrapbook paper can be a source of reflecting light indeed, I hope it will become how you want it to be.
    Stay safe, take care, dear Betsy, have a nice weekend.
    Hugs, Ilona
    PS I now see that your blog post one hour ago is appeared on my blog roll, can you imagine my asthonisment that I now see that you already posted it on yesterday..?? So I'm still having Blogger issues, I know it's boring to read but for me it's very inconvenient for getting these late (or no) updates and therefore I am so late in commenting every time. Sorry, Betsy!

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  8. I'm still so glad that the package finally made it to your place. But the most amazing thing is that I've sent 3 packages to the U.S. at November 13th - and all of them arrived last week aka the last week of February. That's what I call a miracle of miracles! *LOL*

    I've enjoyed that close look at the door and the entrance area very much. And hooray - hinges!!! The next level - handmade! *grin* And it's great to see you start decorating with these fabulous curtains, so nice that you're able to use this special piece of lace you saved for so long. But what I loved the most was the ceiling, the beams add to the rustique and inviting atmosphere... and this paper you've chosen for the ceiling is spectacular!

    And before I'm saying goodbye for now - my very best (belated) birthday wishes! May your next life year be a good one, a healthy one and a very creative one!

    Hugs
    Birgit

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  9. Beautful gifts from Birgit. It's always nice to open a friend's gift.
    The door is beautiful with the elegant curtains.

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  10. Getting Birgit's Christmas no matter how late brings Christmas back which is a very nice thing by itself.
    The door is beautiful and so is the little piece of lace. This project already looks fabulous.
    Hugs, Drora

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