Revisiting The Tree House....

 

Revisions, Repairs and Rocks.....

I Will not bore you, Dear Readers, with every tiny alteration I have made to the Rocky foundation upon which The Tree House sits, but suffice it to say that progress has been very slow! This is partly due to the very hot weather we have been having this summer, which saps one's energy and causes the need to keep the windows and blinds closed making visibility a struggle inside even in the daytime, and mostly due to the indecision about exactly what shapes I am trying to create in these rocks. And even the local Geology has to be taken into consideration... because I need the landscape to look somewhat natural. And in this part of the World, we have some very interesting geology! I am not a geologist, but the simple explanation is that the Connecticut River Valley (in which I reside) is formed by the ancient collision of two tectonic plates on the Earth' surface... when North America collided with North Africa long Long LONG before anyone was calling them such. The North American plate went under the North African one, and then when the land masses decided to split up and move apart (what a divorce that must have been!) the North American Plate took a large chunk of North Africa with it! The evidence of this happening is in the rocks to this day... on the Western side of "the divide" ie The Connecticut River Valley, the rocks are largely Shale and the mountains are waaaay older than the ones on the Eastern side of the Valley, which are mostly Granite of a type that is only found in North Africa! The collision formed what is now the White Mountains, the tallest mountains on the Eastern half of North America, with Mount Washington standing at approximately 6000 feet tall and only about 100 miles inland from the coastline. And all this is the reason I will tell you that the Bedrock at The Folly Garden is made up of the shale type of rocks, a dark gray multilayered and flat type of stone. It is used often for making slate roofing shingles because it can be so easily split into smooth flat layers. In the above picture you can see my "extended" base is trying to look like this sort of bedrock. The "real" rock you can see next to it is attempting to help me match the colors right.

But that is only Half the story! The other half is all the boulders that were brought in to support the foundation of The Folly house which are made from the Granite which is so prevalent just across the Valley from here. Granite is a much harder rock less inclined to erode and is mostly a much lighter gray tone, but can be found in tan and pinkish colors too. The structure allows it to be quarried in large blocks or chunks. And those are the grayer boulder shaped rocks in this small setting.

So while the rocks get endlessly fiddled with and altered and primed and painted and varnished and re-varnished and painted all over again, Dear Readers, I am also beginning to find my way around The Tree House again. One of the dangers of leaving a half-finished project for so long is forgetting what you did.... to make the various parts.... where you put the materials.... and what you intended to do in the first place. And what all the "not quite right and need fixing" parts there were already started and you would get to fixing someday when you had the time. Well.... those are completely forgotten now!

So I am searching high and low for the same type of wood that I used to make the stairs.... so I can complete that half finished staircase to the top floor (dare I say it will be the last floor?) and surprise of surprises, I found the already cut sections of wood!!! I almost didn't recognize them!

I had been looking for strip wood in the right thickness... in this case 3/16ths of an inch, which is fairly thick for strip wood. It turns out I had made mine from sheets of basswood cut to the right width (1/2") and then divided into squares for the steps. Yes, this makes for very narrow little staircases running up through the walls, or in this case spiraling up through the side of the tree trunk. (Remember, this is a 1/48th scale project set into the garden of a 1/12th scale project.... just to be confusing.)

But meanwhile, one of the very first fiddle around and fix it steps I accomplished was adding a tiny strip of wood to the bottom of the Nursery outer opening door. Can you see it in the picture below? 

 

The repair is not perfect... 

but it makes the bottom of the door actually meet

 the floor of the Nursery  at one edge, 

and helps the door stay closed even without the magnet to hold it.

 (For how many years has it been annoying me

by swinging open and needing to be taped shut......?) 

And when I could stand on my new step ladder

 and actually see into the Nanny's Room from above, 

I noticed a big hole where the floor did not meet the support post accurately....

 

Can you see the tiny patch   I put in place....?

 Oh, Dear.... time for the flash again.....

 

There.... now you can see it on the left by the post... 

as I said, not perfect, but much better!

And another small thing I had noticed was that

 many of the outer opening doors I had built

 stood "outside" the edge of the floor of the room they were closing.... 

so those floors needed small "extensions"

 to make the structure more "finish-able" 

when I get to adding the outer tree bark!

 

 In particular the Tree House Toilet Cubicle

 needed the floor extended.... 

you can see here the "before" picture....

 

And the "after" picture with the increased floor structure.

 

And the little Bathroom Dressing Cubicle too.... 

which still is not all completed. 

It needs the window panes and the furniture at the least!

 These doors both need the magnet closures,

 even though they don't swing open on their own.

 

And yes, the little spiral stairs are continuing upward now...

 I had to straighten the support wire a little bit first... 

This is how far they had reached twelve years ago.....!

 

Now they reach just about to the level of the next (and I hope final) floor!

And while I am revisiting all these doors, Dear Readers,

 there is the Bedroom Door with the "promise" of

 a "Juliette Balcony" overlooking the brook below....

Do you remember me mentioning this "Someday" Balcony? 

 

Here I have added the first layer of the balcony "surround" 

to the floor that has been there since the beginning.

 

And the rest of the "surround" structure.... 

it is another place where a tree limb was cut off long ago

 and left a big scar..... and a hollow ...... 

it will eventually look much more "tree-like" 

when I get to adding all the outer bark to the Tree!

 

And this morning, I surprised Lady Arabella

 out on the Balcony for a moment of fresh air!

And did she look down at the Rocks 

and wonder if the brook would ever run past below....?

 

The bright morning light reveals so much about those rocks....

Can you see the "real" rocks up front for help with the painting....?

 

Oh, yes, and with the Final Rock... 

The "Balance Point" of the Brook.....?

 

And shall we have the Rhododendron in its place... 

showing how much it hides the Tree House from view....?

And can you spot all my "Pet Rocks" in the picture....?

 

And yes, you can rest assured... 

Mr. Gnome is keeping a watchful eye on all the "Rock Business"!

 The Balance Rock is not yet complete and will blend in better soon...

But I make no promises about the Brook for now....

Some things just will not be rushed! 

I am really Loving, Dear Readers,

 Revisiting the Tree House

 and Finding little things to

 Repair and Revise

And even if the Rocks take Ages to make.... 

They are finally becoming Rocks!