So Many Steps....

So Little Time....

I Left you last week, Dear Readers, with a partially painted first floor of the Guard Tower for the Cloud Palace. And even though I need to complete the painting of All those egg carton "stones" on the interior of the Guard Tower Entry before I can attach the floor for the Bunk Room and build the next level with the beds for the Fairy Beary Guys, it was such a busy week that I had no Time for painting! But that did not stop me from starting to build the structure for the upper part of the Guard Tower, in particular the Steps needed to get to the Top of the Tower, which must run up the outside of the structure! (I apologize for the dark pictures, it has been raining heavily here for the past two days and the light is positively dismal, making it difficult to photograph anything.)

Here above you can (sort of) see 

the interior of the Tower Bunk Room area,

 with the exit to the steps on the right side...

And here you can see the Tower with most of the steps attached.

(The Tower has been removed to the work table)

And a different angle showing the steps going around the corners.

(I still need to build the buttresses that will support the stairs at the corners.)

Here you can see I have marked where there will be a window....

(and changed my mind and lowered the location...!)

And here you can see I have cut the openings!

(Foamcore makes it so easy!)

Here you can see the window placement from the interior.

There will be a window at each bed level....

Here you can see the temporary placement of the stair wall and the loft floor.

There will be two bunks below the loft, 

and one bed in the loft itself.

 I have not put the divider between the lower beds yet.

The loft will be Brother Beorn's area 

and will have places for him to store dried plants 

and keep his plant records.

Once again, here is the Tower with the Cloud Palace.

(Sorry it is so dark...)

I will try not to think about how many MORE egg carton "stones" 

I am going to have to make!

And paint!

So Many many steps!

I hope I have not Bored you, Dear Readers, with all those Steps...

 when I know that you Really want to learn more 

about the Travels of Buttercup and Marmalade

as they try to find their way to the Cloud Palace!

Well, when we saw them last, they had just arrived in the Year 1852

and were visiting with Beatrice.

Beatrice had no idea where the Cloud Palace was.... 

or even that there Was a Cloud Palace...

but she thought her brother Tommy might know,

and was trying to think of how to ask him without alarming him.

(Her family didn't like it when she said she was talking with animals!)

But before she could think of anything to say 

there was a sudden loud noise outside the door....

"What is That?" demanded Marmalade.

"Uh oh," said Beatrice...

"Here comes Snowy..."

It sounded like a loud scratching and growling noise....

"What is a 'Snowy'?" asked Buttercup...

(she was only a Little bit alarmed...)

"'Snowy' is our dog" said Beatrice, sounding worried...

"Maybe you should....."

But before she could even finish her sentence....

Buttercup and Marmalade disappeared!

Beatrice blinked, a little confused...

but then Snowy rushed through the door....

He was barking and growling!

Beatrice almost thought she had "imagined" the two Fairy Bearys...

but then Snowy stopped right where they had been sitting 

and snufffled around and whined and scratched at the rug....

Before he jumped up onto the bed and looked at Beatrice....

as if to say "I saved you from them, didn't I...!"

But Beatrice just stared into the distance.....

wondering if she would Ever see the Cloud Palace...

and wondering if she would see the Fairy Bearys ever again.

Well, Dear Readers, I am sure you must be wondering 

where they went To in such a hurry?

Well, I can assure you that Buttercup and Marmalade 

had no idea where they were going, 

just that it was a good idea to Go!

And so they found themselves landing at the nearest dollhouse...

 at Rose Thorne Cottage on Distant Briar Moor!

A Place that is neither Here nor There,

In a Time that is neither Now nor Then....

Where every Lost Traveler is Found....

and every Weary Voyager can find comfort...

It only took them a moment to realize they were not alone!

"Who are you?" asked Beth. 

(She had never seen Fairy Bearys before!)

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you will Bear with me while I leave you here...

Once again hanging on a cliff..... with no end of questions!

It's just that  there are still so many Steps to this Journey...

And I have run out of Time!

Cutting Corners.....

The Tower Stairs......

It was another one of those Busy Spring Weekends, Dear Readers, where the RL Garden was needing nearly all of my Time and energy, so Very Little was accomplished in my Mini Worlds. But in spite of all odds, I did make some real progress in the Guard Tower for the Cloud Palace! In the picture above, you can see the basic configuration of the Towers in relation to the Main Palace rooms, this time from the "Front" side of the Palace! The Guard Tower is going to be square and not as tall as the Spiral Tower. In theory this would make it easier to construct, but I am not sure it is working out that way! For one thing, it also needs to "notch" up against the corner of the Main Palace building. And for another, it is also requiring Stairs to the upper levels! If you have not already figured it out about me, I like my houses to have stairs to the upper floors! Even though the Fairy Bears can easily Fly up and down.... Visitors, like Peregrine, would need to use stairs! And Stairs almost Always use up a lot of Space! In the Guard Tower I am placing the first set of stairs in the interior of the Tower.... naturally this would make access a little more defensible

(If one really needed to worry about such things... 

but it is A Palace... so I am trying to be authentic!) 

as you can see here....

The entire Tower structure is going to be built from foam core 

with paper (Most likely egg carton) stones added to both sides. 

I am trying to keep the structure as light as possible... 

(it being a Palace in the Clouds... we want it to Float easily!)

The difficulty I was having was with the stairs upward 

from the next level to the Tower Roof.

If I placed them inside the Tower, 

it left almost no room for the Beds needed for the Guy Bears.

So I decided to make them go up the outside of the Tower from this floor on....

Here you can see the way the Tower "notches" against the Main Building.

The progress I made this weekend was that I finally Cut the Corner 

off the roof of the bay window so the Tower Front wall could be fit in!

(There is no turning back once the Corner is Cut!)

I also cut the floor of the Sleeping level,

Which I am calling the Barracks, Dear Readers,

(Otherwise know as the Bear Racks, 

because they will be bunk beds stacked three high!)

and you can see the floor here....

You can see what I mean about limited Space with the stairs coming up

and a door needed on the side to access the outer stairs to the Roof!

There will also be an interior wall along the side of the stairwell,

It defines the sleeping area and keeps the stairway safe.

And you can sort of see the beginnings of

 the exterior stairs through the door to the right....

And here you can see them from the "Front" side of the Tower.

I haven't made many steps yet.... 

but they will have to go around the Corner, Dear Readers!

It will require a whole different kind of 

"Cutting Corners" to get these stairs built!

 The stairs will need to climb up the outer wall,

much like the stairs for the Spiral Tower, 

to reach the Tower Roof.

But while we are waiting for me to Find More Time....

The Beary Gang is Happily having their Sunny Morning "Kaffeeklatch"!

So as you can see, Dear Readers,

It's only a Little bit of Progress.....

But I have been Cutting Corners

In order to build the Tower Stairs!