Friday, 18th June 2010

I had a lovely surprise today

Sitting here in the armchair in my jamies, doing the Church Bulletin for tomorrow on the laptop and the Courier arrived.  He always seems to catch me in my jamies - probably thinks I live in them vbg!  Today his delivery was totally unexpected - an envelope from my dear friend Jan in Bundaberg, Queensland.  It contained a magazine with an article about Miss Marple's Cottage  - a far more extensive and satisfying version than the little one I have been doing.  And it also had a little container full to the brim of the teeniest, tiniest shells and other beach-type things that I've ever seen in my life!  How thoughtful of her - I appreciate it soooo much!  Give Mummy Jan the biggest 'thank you' lick for me, Zoe!  How lucky am I?!!!

Sadly I haven't had a chance to put them on the sand around the Sea Shanty though.  It's been a matter of tidying up my mess after all the flower-making, and packing for the weekend.  So rather than mess it all up by rushing, I've left it until later.

However I have decided to post photos of where I'm up to at the moment with the Sea Shanty.  First of all, here's a view of the front.  And no, the seagulls on the wharf haven't dropped dead, lol - they are waiting for one of them to have a hole drilled in it's tummy so it can be pinned on a piling as though it is about to fly off (like the one on the roof).  Sounds painful, doesn't it?

I did the pilings at slightly different angles - it started off by accident and then I liked the look and kept them that way.  It sort of adds an appearance of age, yet they are sturdy and solid and don't look as though they will fall down.  Unfortunately as usual the true colour doesn't come out in the photo, but it's all a sort of grey-brown, with dry brushes of different colours in places.

I'm not happy with the sea yet - places need touching up so that the white foam isn't coming down the back of the waves, except for where there is back-flow around the pilings - I'm really happy with that part.

This closeup of the front introduces the ginger cat and you can see the 'Welcome' sign beside

the front door.  I'm glad I did the front porch too - I think it gives a great effect, and I prefer it to just stepping straight down to the wharf.  The tubs with the flowering shrubs in them look good I think, too. And I really like the way the fish sign moves on its chain.  The striped cushion on the bench under the kitchen window isn't sitting down properly in this photo but adds some bright colour to the front too.

Here is a view of the left side, showing a rusty anchor leaning against the side of the Sea Shanty, and  the vine that climbs up the side of the buiilding.  After a lot of thought and some discussion with my friend Richard I decided that there were enough flowers and the vine looked good just as it is. 

At the corner of the building you can see the calico kitten and a watering can.  Those tubs need watering to keep the lovely flowers blooming.

Further below on this left side are two more seagulls on the sand, one sitting and one standing.  I would like to put a larger group here, but the shop only had one packet and that packet only had one sitting and one standing.  I might check later on and see if they have more in.  Also, I would like to see if I can work out how to make tiny little 'birdprints' in the sand too.  A small rowboat is also pulled right up on the sand, safely out of reach of the tide, and I have some oars to add as well but keep forgetting to put them on!

Moving around to the right side, there are piles of lobster traps and a pile of barrels on the wharf.  Two pelicans, Percy and Peter, are perched on the lobster traps, hopeful of some tidbits perhaps? 

Now looking inside, and there's not a lot more that's been done in the bathroom.  It's still waiting for the shelving unit to be completed, bottles and jars added, a bath mat etc. 

In the bedroom I've added a wedding photo and dressing table set from Grace Shaw to the dresser.  More pictures for the walls are somewhere waiting to go up, I have a mat for the floor and there needs to be a perfume bottle on the dresser and somewhere the little clock for the bedside table has disappeared.

Here's a close-up of the top of the stairs.  I cut off the top of the bannisters, sadly, because I didn't like the effect of them crossing over the railings around the top of the stairwell.  I have kept it however and might still use it because I really like it.  I cut the bannisters so that they go in under the trim for the stair well.

Going downstairs now, and the lovely little aga stove is in place.  I bought this from Grace Shaw and it's by Jenny Wren.  I know I've shown it before, but here it is again vbg.  And on the wall is the chalkboard.  I see now I look at the photo that the shelf is on the floor instead of on the wall - isn't it funny how you notice things in the photos?

Next photo pans slightly to the right, showing the corner cupboard in place.  It now has a plant in a pot on top of it, cascading down over the side.

  There are display plates on the shelves and I keep forgetting to order that metal sailing ship ornament that I thought I'd ordered before and hadn't.

And lastly here is the sitting area, with the  pot belly stove, rocking chair and comfy lounge and armchair in place.

  As you can see, downstairs needs more detail as well.  There is a picture on the wall here but more are needed, a mat that I have needs to be reduced to go down in front of the sofa, and probably other little bits as I think of them.

So that is as far as I have gone for now.  I really need to get back and finish off those little details but with the move from the caravan to the house and all the dissarray in my workroom with things not being packed away and organised yet, I have no hope of doing it at the moment.