What do you do when your back & eyes hurt?

....you prepare some hospitality of course!

And that hospitality is in the form of an hotel, a restaurant and a bed and breakfast.  In miniature that is.  

The cataracts in my eyes are only small as yet but they have made a huge impact on my ability to do mini petitpoint.  Light, whether artificial or bright sunlight, is quite a strain and so is using any magnification.  By last Sunday I found that I simply had to give the eyes a complete rest for a few days, and now have to severely limit the time I spend stitching.To add to that my back threw another tantrum on Sunday.  Though not as bad as the recent problem,  I have been hobbling around bent over and standing has been very painful, even long enough to shower. Thankfully now it is pretty good for walking a bit, so I am grateful for that. 

But it has all meant that I couldn't keep stitching nor could I go digging in the miniatures still packed from our trip,  I had left them because I wanted to concentrate on the stitching.  The two new kits from Petite Properties waved at me and said 'We're here you know' and being one who finds it impossible to sit and do nothing, and being more than willing to give in to temptation, I promptly did just that.

So out they came, and here is a progress report.  I am just concentrating on the exterior mainly for now, but thought I'd share them with you since it's a while since I posted.

First is The Railway Inn.  This is the second colour scheme for the ground floor.  The first one was more a caramel theme but it looked rather washed out.  You can see that there is a lot to still be done here, but this is it so far:

The paint needs touching up and the pavement hasn't been done with clay yet.  The door section also will be glued into place at a later date.

Here is the inside.  The walls are painted in typical Georgian colours, to go with the era of the building.  The floor tiles on the ground floor are typically Georgian too, but obviously haven't been glued down yet.  The other two floors haven't been glued in permanently because I am still considering the lighting.  The fireplaces still need their surrounds and mantlepieces etc.

I haven't glued the tiles down because I am working on a border effect for them - might not work out but I'll give it my best try.

Next here is the Traveller's Rest. I just love this building!!!  First a view of the exterior.  

You will see that the paving in the open section is white - that's because the Creative PaperClay is still drying and can't be painted yet.  The floors of the left and right section are also done from the same clay.

For this one I decided to make the timberwork a bit more 'weather-worn' than I did for Candlewick House.  These are the colours I used - a mixture of greys and dark brown 

Here is the interior.  Again, nothing is glued permanently yet because I haven't done the lighting.

The left section of the ground floor is, I have assumed, a cellar.  So I have done the walls with Spakfilla, a brand of spackle, a plaster-like material that you use to fill holes in walls.  It dries quickly and can be sanded, filed etc.I've plastered the three internal walls of the cellar with it, and the two walls of the open section.  Here is a view of one of the walls done with the spackle.

I love the way it lets me give it a nicely rough surface.  After it was dry I distressed it, dirtying it up by using the dry-brushing technique.  I used the same technique to age the exterior of the building.  Here is a view of one of the sides before ageing, and the other one after using the dry-brushing, plus a view of the front, to show the ageing on it.

Here is a view of the inside of the roof section. Aren't the trusses or whatever they're called great?

Lastly, here is an update on progress with Candlewick House.  The roof still isn't finished, but it is a good chance to show you how I've put some Creative PaperClay on the ridge of the roof to give it a nice wavy outline, like I learned for Barnacle Cottage.  It wasn't in the instructions for this cottage but I thought it would be good for such an old house.  If I don't like it, I will sand or chisel it off.

And now here's the interior, with the floor just sitting in there.  It is painted and ready to glue in place once the lighting is completed.  I'm really pleased with this flooring, I think my painting of it is one of the best effects I've done.  I'm improving - perhaps one day I'll get there vbg.

I will be changing the interior.  I think I'll be painting over the wallpaper with white paint, and adding beams.  

The brown part wall in the rear of the hallway is where the stairs supposedly come up from the ground floor.  In case you are wondering, I added an extra wall to the first floor - one wall came with the kit.

I also added the panelling on the ground floor.  As you can see, the doors need to be done or finished, the architraves for the doorways done and a lot of other things are to be completed but I'm so pleased with the progress so far.

In fact I'm delighted with the progress on all three of the kits, and love each of the buildings.  I have always loved both Georgian and Tudor styles and even though The Railway Inn has departed from Georgian style with the colour on the ground floor, I am happy to add it to my Georgian structures.