And Even More.....

No End In Sight.....

I Am Certain you will get bored, Dear Readers, if all I show you are Teeny Tiny updates of the Petit-point stitching project, and endless updates on the lilac blossoms! I have managed to add a few stitches (maybe as many as 60) to the cream background, and when held in front of a dark surface, you can actually see where they are! There is a long way to go still with this project, but I enjoy working on it in little bits. And I managed to get Almost two blossoms of the lilac finished this week... I was really hoping to manage two... but real life gardening got in the way. At Last I was able to work a little more in the real garden, uncovering the beds after this very long Winter! So the mini projects were fit into the spare minutes this week, and there is not much to show! As I said, I finished one more blossom and florets for the second, but did not get it assembled.

I am gradually getting the "production line" figured out...

making the clusters all at the same time...

But still, the gluing and waiting for it to dry takes time....

 and I have yet to figure out just how much time it takes

 from beginning to end for one blossom!

So rather than Bore you with Blossom production lines....

 I thought I would "revisit" a few more of those Old Unfinished Projects.... 

because Birgit was kind enough to remind me

 that I had not mentioned ALL of them!

Well, one of them that Most of you are familiar with is Hardwick Hall....

 and my Mother mentioned that it is also

the name of an ancient House in Britain.... 

which I was aware of... 

and must say that this House is No Relation

 of That Hardwick Hall....

 or if so, is of such distant and diminished cousinship

 as not to matter at all!

 

Here it is in its current unfinished state....

But I wanted to show you more of the Kitchen.

My Mother had also recently mentioned the Fridge...

saying it was exactly like the one she remembers

 from her childhood home back in the thirties!

I wasn't sure I would be able to find a fridge

 small enough to fit in this kitchen..... 

and was prepared to try to build one...

But I really think this one is perfect!

I will need to build a small cabinet to fit in the corner beside it.

This is such a wonderfully detailed miniature... 

heavy cast metal... with working door and removable shelves!

 

And there is still room for a work table too!

(And we won't mention all the unfinished wiring

 that still needs to be done before

 the hearth wall can be fixed in place....)

And you also have recently visited Rose Thorne Cottage.....

Which sits beside my drawing table.....

(For the Winter at least....!)

Where a teeny bit of light has been

 cast into the incomplete kitchen..... 

with the discovery of the perfect hutch...!

(Who knows how long it will take to complete this...!)

And speaking of Kitchens, Dear Readers, 

perhaps the most complete kitchen I have

 is the one belonging to Sally May and Chip...

In "The Shabby Sister House"....

Which is very similar to "The Lovely Old Dollhouse"

only it needs even more work done than 

"The Lovely Old Dollhouse " ever needed!

But don't worry, Sally May's husband Chip is a builder, 

and he assures her it will not be long before it is all fixed up!

And in case you wondered, this house

 has a remarkable ability to live in two different "eras"...

 it also houses Tommy and Beatrice and Caroline's Family

 while their "Town House" (The Cupboard House) is under construction!

They are Living in 1852, in case you wondered!

I am afraid the living conditions are bit primitive....

 there is still no electric lighting and no indoor plumbing!

And let us not forget that the Glass House 

beside The folly is also still unfinished....

No hardware on the doors, no trim on the roof windows...

And I need to run the wiring for the light ....

 which is one of those after-thoughts

 that can cause all sorts of problems!

But we will leave that for another day...

Because that is not all!

Surely you remember the incomplete Gypsy Wagons!

Both still under construction.... 

because the interiors really need to be done

 before you glue them together!

 And the interiors need to be so different...

The Fortune Teller's Wagon....

And The Tinker's Wagon....

The Interiors are only just begun.... 

with the Fortune Teller's having a Night Forest

 painted on the Sleeping compartment walls.....

And The Tinker's Wagon has horses frolicking in a meadow....

Yes, there is a long way to go before these Wagons are complete!

 

And let us not forget that Pollyanna herself 

has a few unfinished projects....

Piling up in her Not Yet Finished Attic Workroom.....

And there is even a whole Wagon full 

of Teeny Tiny Ladies seeking their Homes....

They were hoping to find something suitable

 amongst Pollyanna's projects....

 but now they are not so sure...

And need I remind you that the two youngest sisters

 of Lady Evelyn de Paradise are still awaiting their gowns?

And as for forgetting (or overlooking)

 a Project or two....

 I sometimes have trouble determining

 where one project ends and the next begins.... 

So the Wizard's Cave under The Castle... 

is or is not part of The Castle Project...?

And yes... the Stories....

They seem to have No End...!

(Will Tiny Bear Ever find the Little Dolls....? 

Will the Little Dreamers Ever find their Home...? 

Will Daphne's Story Ever be finished...?....) 

(Who knows these answers...?.... Not I!)

Ah Dear Readers, I hope I have not bored you

 with this little Tour through Time!

 

And did you want to see the fourth completed lilac blossom?

 

These tiny blossoms might be taking up all my Time, Dear Readers,

But I can promise you there will be More and more... and more!

And There's no end in sight!

(Because I wouldn't want you to be Bored!)

Pollyanna's Problem.....

Disorganized.....

It was one of Those weekends, Dear Readers, when very little got accomplished in my mini worlds, and there was really no excuse other than Dithering and perhaps more Daydreaming than Day-doing! I was trying to put a little bit of order into many parts of my life and not feeling successful at most of it. And so as a last moment attempt to feel productive, I decided to (finally) help Pollyanna with her workroom in the attic of The Lovely Old Dollhouse! From the start she knew it would need some attention to make it into a space that could be used for more than storage. And being optimistic, she was sure it would not take very much work! Fortunately for me, she doesn't measure the passing of Time quite the same way that I do.... so it was surely only a short while ago that she began to make her list of what would be needed...

Chief on her list was more work tables 

for all those dollhouses that had suddenly appeared!

But I knew that there were some more serious building "upgrades" 

that needed to happen before any more tables were added! 

To begin with, some of you might remember almost a year ago 

when I re-positioned the walls in the attic area, 

moving them closer to the stairwell 

and giving more room to the rooms on each side.

Because this is a retrofit on the old dollhouse 

and the walls could not be routed into the floor, 

I needed to support them with sturdy bracing at the ceiling and floor.

I had simply moved the bracing from the previous position 

to the new one, as you can see in the picture above, 

but I had not added the bracing along the floor

 at the rear section of each wall.

 

 

I decided that if I got nothing else done, 

I could at least attach that bracing!

It meant clearing out the furniture...

 and doing a lot of fidgety drilling 

and tightening screws in tight corners.... 

I used the last remaining pieces of bracing that I had removed last year... 

that way it matched the bracing already in place. 

I know these braces look large and rough and out of scale.... 

but this is supposed to be an old house with rooms tucked into the attic!

And you might notice the electrical "outlet" there in the back....

 I might have to upgrade the electrical too....

That is the only power coming up to the attic! 

But more on that another time.

Once I had added the wall bracing....

 I decided there was still time to start on the knee walls.

You can see in the above picture that the eaves are so low 

that the space is wasted and the furniture has nothing to lean up against....

The solution is a knee wall at the back of the room.

This is still not attached... I need to decide 

whether to leave access to the space behind 

in case I need to fiddle with the wiring which runs behind it... 

 

 and for the moment works.....!

I think the answer is yes, I do!

But meanwhile, the space is so inviting... 

it is irresistible to try out the new furniture arrangements!

 

Look at how much space there is here 

once the furniture is pushed against the wall!

Pollyanna has been borrowing tables from everywhere she can.....

really just to see what will fit and what is needed...

Of course, she keeps bringing in more projects.....

And while she is busy with arranging her room,

 I am building the knee wall for the bedroom across the hall....

Here you can see it has the same problem with the low eaves....

the furniture can only go so far back....

This wall is also not attached.... 

the electrical issues will have to be addressed first!

Here you can see it with the furniture in place.

It is barely noticeable but it does make a difference!

Oh look! Pollyanna has found another table!

This way she can have space in the middle of the room

 to work on her current project....

I can tell she has lots of ideas....!

Well, Dear Readers, I may be Disorganized....

but I managed to make a little bit of progress

helping Pollyanna with her Problem!

Done and Not Done....

The Circle of the Year

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you don't mind being presented with the Annual Christmas Card drawing so late that it is already well into 2017! Late is so late this year, it could almost be early for next! But alas, I know that by November of this year, I will be well into the process of trying to "capture" the year in yet Another card. Some years are just not easy to organize into any sort of pattern, and this year's composition was a struggle for me! And to top it all off, the subject was not easy to draw and then paint....! You are all familiar with the Real subject, The Lovely Old Dollhouse. Above you can see my rendering, flawed though it is. And with it, I wish you All (again!) A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (Don't forget, you can poke the picture for an up close view! Or better yet, right click and open in a separate tab for a real zoom-in...!) And now that I have that task accomplished..... Perhaps I can get back to whatever it was I was doing before..... hmmmm.... what was I working on? The Tiny Secret Christmas House? It is still nowhere near finished. Especially if I insist on adding so many tiny trims and mouldings to each room....

But if I work diligently on it now.... after Christmas..... 

it might just be ready by Next Christmas!

After spending the Weekend trying to put away 

all the Christmas decorations in my RL house 

and the mini houses, I had a tiny bit of Time left.....

So I glued on the roof papers for the Secret Christmas House.

I couldn't remember what order I needed to follow with the windows 

and the exterior wall papers for the left side 

of the House pull-out section! 

I almost goofed and put the wall paper on 

before gluing the windows in place!

So the exterior wall papers are still not glued onto the left side.

 

And then I realized that there would be a strip of the roof edges 

that would not be covered by the papers,

 and needed to be painted as close a color as I could manage 

to the greens of the papers, Before gluing on the paper!

 

That was all I managed to get done!

 

 As for all those other projects, Dear Readers,

 half finished or just begun.....

 

Like me, Pollyanna is eager to get busy!

She even received some new Kits as Christmas Gifts......

(Thank you again, Dear Birgit!)

Can you see them there in the plastic sleeve.... 

those wonderful little laser-cut furniture kits?

Oh, those will be fun to assemble!

But there might be a little problem......

It seems that, like Me, Pollyanna might have a shortage of Space 

for working on her one two three or is it four dollhouses!

I guess One of the tasks for the New Year just might have to be 

making some Progress on Pollyanna's Studio!

 

So there you can see, Dear Readers, 

the way it works around here.... 

Something always needs to be done 

Before something else can be done!

But whether it is Done or Not Done,

As we go round the Circle of the Year

The Doing is the Fun!

'Tis The Season....

Decorations.... Visitors..... Gifts.....

The Time had come, Dear Readers, for me to get my RL Christmas trees decorated! I had put them up last weekend, with only the lights on them, which I dearly love at this dark time of year, but I also love the trees fully loaded with beautiful shiny treasures.... which takes hours of unpacking and arranging. It is a task I love to do and don't like to feel rushed, so it needed the full attention of weekend days. Saturday I adorned the upstairs tree in my Little Studio, all in white lights and snowmen and birds with a few Santa's and reindeer too. This is the room where I have my drawing table so this tree keeps me company while I work on the Annual Christmas Card....(still in the sketching stage...)! Having the tree done definitely helps with setting the mood. And Sunday was the day to decorate the larger tree in my Living room downstairs.... really it stands in the large doorway between the Living room and what would be the Dining room, but is really my Dollhouse workshop!

I always put the colored lights on the downstairs tree.... 

and all the brightly colored glass ornaments 

and all the decorations made over the years by myself and my children.

This way I have a tree nearby whether I am working upstairs or down!

I had almost completed this tree when I got a call from my Sister.... 

she was in the area and hoped she could stop by for tea!

(She lives hundreds of miles away... so this is a Rare Event!)

She wasn't traveling alone.....

Look who came with her....!!!

Buttercup and Marmalade!!!

(They left their wings in the suitcase for safe-keeping on this Journey)

Of course, they had to visit in the Cloud Palace.....

Where Blue had Just put up the Silver Tinsel Christmas Tree 

with all those gold wishing stars....

(Sorry it is so dark and difficult to photograph...!)

Everybeary was so excited to see Buttercup and Marmalade!

And while my Sister and I drank our tea....

Buttercup and Marmalade made friends with the gumdrops!

In case you did not know, all these Fairy Bearys

 are the handiwork of Birgit of BiWuBaren Blog.

 And not only is Birgit marvelously talented, 

she is also amazingly generous!

She sent me a Box of Christmas goodies.....

Full of mini gifts and beautiful cards and ornaments and Marzipan!

(Now we know Nobeary will go hungry in the Cloud Palace... 

as if Hamish Harry would ever let that happen... 

but at least we now know there is enough Marzipan 

to keep us all happy!)

Thank you Birgit!!!!!

Alas, my Sister's visit was very brief, Dear Readers, 

a snowstorm was threatening and she needed to return 

to her daughter's home before it started. 

Once she left, I continued with my Christmas Tree decorating....

I pulled out the little tree that goes in the Lovely Old Dollhouse.

Here you can see it close-up....

It has dozens of tiny ornaments, 

glass balls and metal snowflakes, 

resin figures and lace hearts.... 

icicles and star garlands....

And a beautiful angel at the top!

It always goes in the same corner 

of the Living room of the Lovely Old Dollhouse.

The angel brushes against the low ceilings.....

Charles has taken charge of setting it up again this year.

Helen just likes to watch while he arranges everything and plugs in the lights!

Oh, I never tire of seeing those tiny colored lights!

But where is Pollyanna, I hear you ask? 

Isn't she the one who loves to decorate the Tree?

Well, Pollyanna has become a bit distracted....

She wanted to make a Mini Tree for the little dollhouse....

But when she tried it in the little house, it was too tall! 

It barely fit into the medium dollhouse,

 but Pollyanna has so far to go on this property, 

she was not ready to decorate it just now!

So she made another tree... a little smaller....

And added some golden garland and red ornaments.....

Can you see it...?

This time it does fit into the Smaller house!

Pollyanna is so pleased with the way it looks!

But before she could even blink, 

Salome came to have a look....

"I need one in Gold or Silver...." she said.

"The green one doesn't go with my gown..." she added.

Well! thought Pollyanna.... 

a silver one would be fun too...!

Ah, Dear Readers, 'Tis the Season

For decorations.....

For Trees and visitors....

And Gifts....!