Whither Shall We Wander....

On This Fine Summer's Morn....

I had a week of Vacation, Dear Readers, which seemed an endless stream of hot sunny Summer Mornings with possibilities at every turn.... and was gone before I could catch my breath and focus on any of my many projects for any meaningful length of time. What with the Holiday in the middle of the week and several time-consuming appointments on the other days.... my Time was consumed with getting there and back again and trying to stay cool in the Record breaking heat! But in retrospect I did manage to accomplish a few things... none of which were on the immediate "to do" list! The most satisfying one was the completion of the exterior wooden trim on the remaining windows of Hardwick Hall. Above you can see a picture of the attic window without the trim.... the printed crossbars on the acetate windows always bother me as being too one dimensional! I had even painted the pieces of trim ages ago... and after completing the porch trim, I decided to tackle the windows too!

The parlor bay windows also were still in need of their trim... 

making a total of eight windows needing trim.

I started with the attic ones... and then remembered

 that there was a reason I hadn't finished them....

 I still needed to paint more of the extra thin trim

 I used to make the illusion that the windows are

 double-hung and could possibly be opened!

Here you can see what I mean... 

the window on the right has been completed, 

and the trim for the lower half is much less deep....

 hopefully creating the illusion that the lower half of the window

  sits beside the upper  and could slide past it when being opened.

And the window on the left is one of the ones needing to be finished...

So I trimmed down some very narrow wooden

 coffee stirrers and painted them the silver of the trims.

This requires four coats of paint!

Then I cut and fitted them to the attic windows....

 these windows are tiny!

But you can see the lower half of the window

 is "set back" from the upper half.

(Or at least I hope it appears to be set back!)

And then I started on the Parlor Bay windows... 

and when I got to the lower portion,

 I realized the sill was poorly fitted

 and there were big gaps at the bottom 

of the window panes!

So I cut and painted slivers of trim to fill the gaps.....

The one on the left has been filled... the right has not.

Here they have both been filled....

And the trims added.....

I know.... the lighting is awkward... 

(I was keeping my blinds closed!)

Here is a better shot... a bit glaring even... 

but it shows the different depth of the window trims.
It took an entire day to complete!
And with the exception of the bathroom window,
which I added to the design...
 the windows are done!

Another day I spent a lovely morning sewing by an open window

 with the breezes wafting in...

slowly filling in the background around the blossoms.... 

before the heat of the day became over-whelming.

 

And I thought I would get to painting on the Castle Great Hall ceiling....

(Isn't it high time I finished those Patient Saints?) 

Again, it is dark in here!

I wanted to get a better look at the way

 the ceiling would connect with the walls...

 

Here it is lit with the flash

which shows the colors beautifully,

 but erases the cracks at the edges of the ceiling

 which will need to be covered with trim.... 

an added layer of "rock" buttressing the ceiling.

And as I pulled out the wood and began to prepare the trim, 

I realized that I would not be able to attach it in the right spot

 without knowing exactly where the ceiling would sit... 

and with the whole structure of the Castle still somewhat half finished.... 

I would need to do some of that structural work first!

Ah, Dear Readers, this is how I end up

 going down the Rabbit Hole and into

 I-Wonder-Where I-am-Land!

 

Because in order to do any of that larger work on the Castle, 

I would need to clear it out....

(I am shocked to admit that I have no idea

 how many years it has been since I did that!)

All (or rather Most of) the Little People 

went off on Vacations for the Summer.... 

and I packed up boxes full of furnishings 

and partially done project pieces...

 trying to keep it all organized so I could find the pieces again....

 and I really only cleared away half of the rooms....

 

Figuring I would at least finish the structure of the Lord's Tower...

 (the plywood panels are becoming warped

 since the top walls have never been fastened in place....)

 

the unfinished Council Chamber....

 

And what will be the Lord's Bed Chamber at the top of the Tower.

And each room has the front wall framework to add too....

the "Proscenium" I call it.

Here I have drilled and screwed the 

Great Hall "Proscenium" temporarily in place.

And I have been struggling since Forever with the question

 of whether or not to add Doors to the fronts of all the rooms

(To Door or Not Tudor ... that is the Question!)

And as I Dream of getting the basic framework

 all drilled and screwed together at least temporarily....

Because if I am going to attach any Doors, 

the framework needs to be done first...

And then I look at the Base....

Where the Caves are located... 

(even though they are filled with stored materials)

And somehow it becomes important to start with them.....

 clean them out.... paint them.... attach the doors... 

all pieces of plywood that were cut out ages ago

 and are stacked up and waiting.... in the way, to tell the truth!)

 

The first cave ready for the primer....

 

And the primer done.....

 oooh that was a contortionists job!

 

And the door panels too!

 

And the next morning .... 

starting on the dark gray paint.... 

because they are dark rock caves!

 

Here is one with just the primer coat.... 

you can sort of see your way around in there!

 

But a Cave is supposed to feel vast and dark and Murky...!

So I painted them dark Gray.

You can get lost in there!

And then I started on the outside frame of the Base....

because it is supposed to be the "Rock" the Castle is built upon...

 

I will most likely add more paint and colors

 to add to the illusion that it is "rock"...

And the doors too...! 

And I started adding base colors

 to the front of the Castle itself....

And then I realized that until each room

 was completed and the front screwed in for good...

 I couldn't add the paint....

 because the screws would need to be

 puttied over first before painting! 

(And isn't that bringing me right back to where I was before....?)

Okay, so I can still temporarily drill and screw the

 framework together and worry about painting later!

 

And I can test the idea of doors in each room...

Temporarily....

Won't they get in the way?

 I will be wanting to leave them open

 all the Time so I can see in there....!

 

Oh yes, and I did complete the sixteenth Lilac Blossom!

 

Ah, Dear Readers, I don't know how I got here....

 or where I am going from here... 

But I do think it was Long Overdue!

 And that is Where I wandered 

through all my Vacation days!

 

Leaves and Other Little Details....

Looking Closer....

I thought it was Time, Dear Readers, that I experiment with making leaves for my Lilac bush(es) so that I could get a better idea of the work that lay before me for the Summer and Fall versions of my bush. (Remember I am planning to make a bush for each season...!) I have done very little in the way of flower making and plant kit assembling, but I have watched several other bloggers accomplish great things with the making of plants both large and small... so I have hope that I will succeed! Above you can see a sample of my second or third attempt at making a branch with lilac-looking leaves.  The lilac leaves are roughly heart shaped and have one prominent vein down the center of each leaf, with finer veins that are almost unnoticeable to the casual observer, spreading off of the main vein. Here, let me show you.....

This is from the lilac in my yard.... 

and the leaves are set in opposing pairs along the stem, 

every other pair turned at 90 degrees from the previous one... 

thus maximizing exposure to the sun!

For my mini leaves, I had experimented with ways

 of attaching the "hearts" to the stem...

 and decided that I must use wire in order to

 be able to control the position of the leaves along the stem

Maybe you can see the stem with the shorter wires being glued on here...?

I was not being careful about the pictures I was taking.....

 because I was just experimenting...

It is the same process as the "twigged branches"

 I was making for the shrubs to begin with... 

only many more twigs on each branch!

Then I attach the "heart" leaves to each twig.

Then I paint the leaves with my acrylic paints... 

hoping I am coming up with a color

 that is close to the lilac leaves in RL.....

 

Adding the veins down the center of the leaves...

Testing the look with the mini blossoms.....

(adding the crease to the leaves too...)

Then trying to compare the mini with the Real thing.....

My green is a bit too blue... 

but I think that is partly the lighting...

(it doesn't look blue at all indoors!)

Here is a closer shot... and the color even looks closer to the lilac color! 

Clearly, I will have to pursue the color equation more closely!

And how about seeing what it looks like on the mini shrub....?

I think it looks pretty sweet!...

And terribly lonely...!

Look at all those branches.... 

each one needing how many leafy twigs???

No, I have not done the math....

I am simply going to start making them....

 and keep on making them for as long as it takes!

(For two entire shrubs....!)

But the good news is that the leafy twig

 takes nowhere near as long to make as the blossoms do!

(Which really is a big relief!)

And while I was busy sporadically working on

 these leafy twig experiments, Dear Readers,

 I was also adding tiny details to other ongoing projects.

I can't tell you how many times I have cast my eyes

 on the porch of Hardwick Hall and

 noticed the incomplete trim at the base...

In particular the corner where those pesky tabs show....

(I apologize for the dark pictures... 

it has be excruciatingly hot here this weekend (97 degrees F)

 and I have my blinds closed....)

And the view along the front where the tab for the construction shows.....

It was two years ago already that I added

 the lattice panels to the porch... 

(which led me on an interesting migration 

through brick-making to the Folly landscape

 and the Glass House construction...!)

And all along I knew I needed to finish the trim on the porch!

 I even painted a suitable piece of wood trim ages ago!

It was such a simple task to complete it!

And the other pieces too....

So Simple... and so satisfying to have it done!

Now all I need to do is finish the steps... 

and the railings..... and the landscaping....

and we won't even look at the list of what still needs doing here!

 

Because I was also adding a little bit of detail to the Gypsy Wagon...

I wanted to paint the bars of the cages before I attached them...

 but I couldn't decide on the color.

As you can imagine, when these wagons are finished,

 they will have quite a lot of colorful painted trims... 

and I needed to be sure of the colors I planned to use.

I have painted them a lovely sky blue....

 but the lighting in this picture doesn't show that well...

I will have to get better pictures.

And lest you think I am forgetting the lilac blossoms....

I completed blossom number fifteen!

And here it is with all the others...

Maybe I am a quarter of the way through making the blossoms....?

We shall see!

So that is what I accomplished this weekend, Dear Readers,

Lots of looking closer at the Details of the Leaves 

Along with several other little things...

I do Love those details!

.

Three Little Things...

Adding Up.......

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, but the month of June has flown by and I feel as though I have accomplished almost nothing in my Mini projects. This is always a disappointing feeling.... because I have so many projects and always am planning the next steps for them in my head... and not always managing to find the Time to make it happen. So in an attempt to not be too disappointed by the teeny amount I accomplished last weekend, I will instead proudly proclaim that I added to Three of my ongoing mini projects! Above you can see that I have made quite good progress (depending on how you are measuring it, of course...) on the petit-point stitching that I began last Winter. The background has been slowly filling in with the cream color that is so difficult to distinguish from the mesh cloth threads.... it is so easy to skip stitches...! But it is nearing the point where I must decide whether I will be leaving it a "work-in -progress" with a few stitches left undone as if the mini person is still working on it.... it comes with a lovely sewing stand to mount it in, which I still have to assemble.

So really, this project is progressing nicely!

The second little thing I accomplished

 was to attach the tiles that make the top surface

 for the base of the Gypsy Wagon cooking hearth.....

 nine whole tiles glued to the cardboard surface!

 

You can see it above... 

I know, my picture is quite dark, 

even with the spotlight shining on it....

(You would think that on one of the Longest Days

 of the Year I would be able to capture it in sunlight.... 

but that did not happen...)

Here, you can see it a little closer..... 

these tiles are so wonderful.....

I do love the patterns! 

I will still need to trim the front edges to the right depth....

 and the base still needs to be textured to resemble stucco....

 None of which I had time to accomplish last week.

But the base now looks more like a

 part of the hearth which is what I had hoped!

 

And the Third little thing I accomplished, Dear Readers,

 was the fourteenth Lilac blossom!

Here you can see All the little florets lined up

waiting for their paint color to be added.....

And much much later, the assembled blossom!

And here you can see it added to the collection in the Safe Box....!

Fourteen blossoms completed!

And even though this might be the Shortest Post

 I have ever posted, Dear Readers,

And all I have to show are Three little things,

They are Adding Up to a whole lot more!