The Park Bench....

The Point of the Park.... (And More Sparrows....)

I Left you last week, Dear Readers, with only one of the tiny sparrows painted. They were quite challenging to paint! I will not bore you with the details of how many coats of paint they took, but I will say I worked on them for hours! Unlike pigeons, the males and females are colored quite differently, so I had to decide which were which before I painted them!

In the picture above, I have started the painting of three males

 (they have a black throat) 

and three females which are mostly a streaked brown.

Here is a male nearly done....

And here is a female, held in front of the pictures

 from my Petersen's Bird Guide.....

I believe this is Seraphine Sparrow....

And Suzette sparrow....

And yes, I believe this is Capt. Jacques Sparrow.....!!!

But before we get too carried away with Tiny Sparrow Tales, 

Dear Readers, I must show you a bit more of the Park....

and Perhaps Explain the Park...

And to do that I must take you back to Daphne's Story......

So Daphne's Story Continues....

Some of you who are Very Patient and have been following this "Tale of Sorrow" for a Very Long Time now Might recall that we last heard of baby Renee when she was just on the verge of learning to walk, and she had become the Joy of her Grandfather's life.

Well, it was not very long after Renee started to walk that her Nanny, Madame Durant, gave her Notice! She told Madame deMontaigne that she was not young enough to run after a toddler from dawn to dark, and she would be leaving immediately! Of course, Madame deMontaigne called on Raymond to help out while they were between Nannies. And you really do not want to know how many Nannies there were over the next few years! Madame deMontaigne was not easy to work for, and Renee was a lively child with a great deal of curiosity. Maintaining peace in the household was a challenge on the best of days. And so the years passed.... and Renee was growing up. The current Nanny, Gabrielle Saint Claire, had lasted far longer than any of the others. Her secret was her youth and her wits and her patience and her need to keep the job. Not to mention that she had five younger sisters, so she was well acquainted with the trials of young children. She had taken the job in the hopes that she could save enough money to eventually go to the University. She wanted to study Design, furniture design in particular, and she had a passion for old furniture and antiques. But that was still a Dream for her future. Her job was the care of Renee. And as you can imagine, if you are living in the city and you have the care of a child, you will probably spend a fair amount of time in the nearest Park.....

Almost every day without fail

 they headed to the Park in the middle of the morning...

It was a Lovely small Park a short walk from the Town House.

At this early hour it was almost always empty 

and there were plenty of benches....

Gabrielle's favorite spot was at one end under a small grove of trees. 

She could sit and check her emails and still keep an eye on Renee.

Because Renee liked to watch the birds.....

Sometimes they brought bread crusts to feed them....

And sometimes someone else had already fed the birds....

And Renee would run after the birds.....

And try to pick up the food.....

Just so she could throw it to them herself!

It could amuse her for quite some time!

But on this particular day, they were not alone in the Park...

After a Great deal of thinking about Daphne's story,
Will had finally let his curiosity lead him to find out where the child was living....
And then when he happened to be in Town, he thought he might just pass by the House...
And he happened upon the child who looked so much like Daphne
that his breath caught in his throat...
So he followed her... just to be sure.....

He did not even spare Gabrielle a glance......

But took a seat under the trees where he could see the child chasing birds across the Park.
He wondered if he should snap a picture....
No, that might be too much if Daphne were to see....
Then his phone rang and he took the call from one of his purchasers.

But Gabrielle could not help but notice the good looking man
who sat on the bench nearby!

Her life was lonely enough taking care of Renee
and with no time for a social life of her own.
It was harmless enough to indulge in a
Park Bench Fantasy for a moment or two....
She could not help but overhear his phone conversation....
He sounded a bit like an American...
but he was talking about furniture....
Louis Quinze settees and Directoire Armoires...
It set her heart to racing!

Surely, it was a harmless little Daydream....

 And Renee....

She just Dreams of catching the Birds....

Ah, Dear Readers,
Park Benches are for Daydreaming, after all,
And perhaps that is the 
Whole Point of the Park!
And the Sparrow Tales...?
Those will have to keep for another Day!

Hang The Curtains!

And Paint the Birds.....

Oh Those Pesky Details!
You will Laugh, Dear Readers, when I tell you that I wanted the curtains to hang on a curtain rod with rings... so you could slide them open and closed if you wanted to! So I set about making some tiny "rings" from brass jewelry wire... and stitching them to the top of the very fragile net lace curtains! It was not easy!

Can you even see them here???

(Poke the pictures to enlarge them)

(Or even better right click on them and open in a new tab for huge close-ups!)

And then I strung them on a small wire rod....

Which I bent so it would arch over the window....

And then I carefully located the holes 

where the nails would go to attach the rod....

And a wire "hook" in the middle to hold the top in place.

I used my awl to create the holes...

And pushed the tiny nails in with the blunt end of my pliers!

(Nothing else was small enough to reach in there!)

It was really Really Not easy to do!

But, believe it or not they work!!!

Can you see that Magnificent Curtain Rod???

And with the windows in place......

And if you opened the windows.... 

could you feel the breeze blowing through???

Oh, I am so happy with the way they are hung!

And lest you think I had forgotten about the birds, Dear Readers,

here you can see I have started to paint them....

Beginning with the pigeons 

because they are larger and therefore easier.

And as I am sure you are aware, 

pigeons are not all colored alike....

So I tried to vary them a little without going to extremes.

Here, would you like to meet Perry Pigeon?

And Pauline Pigeon....

(She is a little shy)

Yes, I think painting them was a good idea!

But what about the sparrows, I hear you ask?

Alas, they are not so easy.... 

they are so much smaller and their Details are more delicate....

But I made a start!

Here, would you like to meet little Sandy Sparrow???

I almost think he is the cutest thing imaginable!

But then I added the tiniest doll to the Bed Alcove.....

Just to see how it would look with a doll.....

 (She is made of wire with a bead for her head...

I bought her at the Sturbridge Fair....

But, I am sorry I don't recall which vendor made her!)

She is only 1/4 inch tall!!

And while she might not end up living in the Tree House....

She looks so sweet sitting there in the Bed Alcove!

There are still So Many tiny details 

to add to this Bed Alcove, Dear Readers,

but I do hope you will agree with me 

that it was a very good idea to 

Hang the curtains and Paint the Birds!