Spring Cleaning.....

So Little Got Done....

I am Sure you will understand, Dear Readers, that every once in a while... Especially at the beginning of Spring, the urge to Clean the House becomes too strong to resist, and overtakes all other plans and projects! So it happened this weekend in my corner of the World, that almost Nothing was accomplished in my mini projects. I say Almost, because I did do one very small thing that makes a Huge difference in the long run! Remember the Willowcrest, my Witchy house? Well, when I was last working on it, all my focus was on getting the front entry hall completed so I could Finally attach the side wall in place, and thus continue on with the construction of the shell of the house. I had painted the walls , attached the doors and window in the stairwell, added the electrical lights, even constructed the hall portieres, and I thought I was ready to glue that side wall in place. But then I had a look at the bathroom area on the second floor, above the kitchen, and realized that there was no window in that room! This lovely house is full of windows, but there is none in the bathroom, and I really don't like rooms that have no windows at all! I was going to have to cut a window in the side wall before I glued the wall in place. Of course, months have gone by and I had not decided exactly what was needed to make that window, until Saturday while I was cleaning house!

All of a sudden I knew exactly what the window 

should look like and where it should go!

So I removed the wall from the house and placed the 

blank window piece on the wall to mark where I needed to cut.

I used my exacto knife to cut 

around the window opening.

Then I put the wall back in place to see how it would look.....

That's much more like it! 

This little room really needed a window!

Here you can see the room with the ceiling also temporarily in place...

and with the door open into the front hall 

you can see the Moon Maidens windows!

So that is what I got done this weekend, Dear Readers....

that and a whole lot of cleaning!

And it seems as though Pollyanna had a similar weekend 

in the Lovely Old Dollhouse!

Believe me, after this winter, there was

 a lot of cleaning that needed to be done!

In fact, this is only the very beginning!

 

I hope you'll understand, Dear Readers,

that even with the Spring Cleaning,

So Little got done!

Very Little Progress

Next To Nothing Done.....

It was One of THOSE weekends, Dear Readers, the sort when no matter where you turned there were things that needed doing and even when projects got started with the Best of Intentions.... it seemed as though Nothing got Done! The Weather didn't help, because after what had seemed like a promising start to Spring.... we were met with more Winter on Friday.... (certainly only the Cold and Unappetizing Leftovers of what John of Merriman Park had to endure...) but still, it quite dashed all hopes of spending time digging in the Garden!

And when that Spring urge to dig the garden is thwarted.... 

it sends me into a Spring Cleaning mood....

Which fortunately only lasted Part of the Weekend....

Because, like Mole in "The Wind In The Willows".... 

there comes a point where one just Has to say "hang whitewashing" and run off to play!!!

Which is what I did around 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon! 

I realized I was Desperate to get Something done on my mini projects!

So I started in on the Ceiling of the Chinoiserie Bedroom in the Tree House....

Remember where I left off with the realization that the ceiling was too low for the bed....?

Sorry for the dark picture.... 

but here you can see I have added the gilded ceiling trim at the top of the walls....

And because the chimney is at an angle... 

I decided to "round off" the other corners of the room....

By putting more trim across the corners.....

And filling the gap with ceiling.....

Leaving the middle "octagon" open for a Domed ceiling 

high enough to fit the bed.....

Here you can see the opening from below..... 

All that was accomplished Weeks ago, Dear Readers, 

leaving me with the next step of Designing the Dome.....

Which is where I started on Sunday evening....

I will NOT bore you with the exactness of my method... 

because it is so far from exact as to be Laughable!

The Room is un-square to begin with... so all the angles are unique.....

So I cut a paper pattern and I Wing it... 

It just has to have slits cut out of the edges... 

and the sections need to be longer than the flat ceiling measure....

So when they are folded up the sides are glued together.....

And the over-all width of the "Dome" is now equal to the original flat width of the Ceiling....

And then I wanted to add some more trim.....

So I carefully cut and mitred the central "octagon"  pieces....

None of them are the same... 

but they had to fit in the oblong section of the middle....

After gluing them in place I wanted to test the look.....

But it isn't done yet.... I couldn't leave it alone....

I thought it needed gold "ribs" over the joined sections....

But, like many half grown teens... 

it still looks half finished to me......

It is nowhere near what I have envisioned....

But it is as far as I got on Sunday!

And the Other project I tried to work on this weekend, Dear Readers, 

was the stitching on the Tiny Bed curtains.....

Which you can see here below....

 

Oh, you think it looks Exactly the Same as last week???

Well, if you look VERY closely, 

you will see that I added the stitches at the Center of the Rose blossom,

as well as the darker row of stitches on the petals!

Just How long will this take to finish...?

And speaking of How Long Things Take TO Finish.....

I have just Realized that this is the Third Anniversary of this Blog!!!

And Oh, Dear, that prompts one of those 

"let's see where we are with all the Dollhouses" moments....!!!

The Book Nook is still waiting for Books.....

The Wizard is still working on potions in the Lord's Chamber of the Castle....

So far he has not succeeded in Magically finishing The Chamber....

Hazel got tired of waiting outside for a House of her own....

So she came to visit in The Lovely Old Dollhouse....

Where nobody Ever cleans up the Kitchen.....

(But Pie and Tea and interesting conversation seem to be Always available..!)

 Victor and Joanna are still entertaining themselves in the Living Room....

Playing music only they can hear......

 And in the Castle.....

The Chapel is still just as I left it..... 

Murals half done.... floor unfinished....

And Anna Maria and Samuel Whiskers 

are still discussing whether it would be a good home...

While the Tree House is under Construction....

Ah... the Tree House!

That Project begun almost a year ago....

And Sooooo Far from Finished!

And I cannot even bring myself to Look inside the Cupboard House.....

Waiting patiently in the background.....

Can it be I have Spent the Entire Year building the Tree House???

And No, I didn't even finish the Spring Cleaning!

What a Year it has been.....

The Progress has all been So Very Little...!

But Next to Nothing is Done....!