Lots of furniture for Dandelion Cottage

Yesterday was very exciting.  A sizeable box arrived by courier containing two orders of furniture from Herdwick Landscapes (http://www.herdwicklandscapes.co.uk).  What fun unwrapping each of the beautifully labelled and wrapped packages.  Everything is so well packed that there is no problem with mailing all the way to Australia.

Now the cottage is full of furniture.  All I need is another set of shelves or a cupboard to go beside the dry sink.  The potboard dresser is larger than the chicken dresser so there's no room for the settle on the back wall.  I might try and see whether it fits on the front wall, otherwise I'll have to leave it out.  That's a shame because the little hedgehogs now won't have anywhere to sit ;)

For quite a long time I was put off 1:24th scale because the furniture often was so squat and out of proportion and I didn't like it but the Herdwick furniture is delicate and in proportion, catching the feel of the real life items so well.  They are extremely well made too, and the photos don't do them justice at all.

So here are photos of the lovely things. First of all the potboard dresser.  I have a teaset with blue flowers on it that I will display on here after I find my wax to keep them in place - they keep falling off at the moment.

Also downstairs is the cupboard with shelves above it.  This is a neat little cupboard.   I did order it unfinished wood because I was going to paint it blue like the sink unit but I really love the look of the finished furniture, although it's a lot of brown in the cottage.

The two rocking chairs are just darling, aren't they?  I think that Mr & Mrs hedgehog will be very comfortable on those at night after a busy day when  the children have gone to bed.

Some accessories for the downstairs area are the water butt that should sit outside the door.....

....the ash box with ashes for in front of the fire..................

....and a bread cart to string up somewhere.  I didn't realize this would be quite so big in the house but I'll fill it with different items and work out how I'm going to hang it and where.

Then there is a griddle and a kettle to go on the stove.

I already have a set of pots that need to be treated to get rid of their very silver look.

Upstairs there is this wonderful cupboard bed.  I fell in love with this bed and it is quite large but lovely.  Here it is closed, with the bed steps in place.

And here it is open.  It has little cupboards underneath too.

I'm sure that Mr & Mrs Hedgehog will be very cosy and private in their darling bed.

I haven't forgotten the children.  They have a double bed with a trundle bed underneath.  It's all properly strung just like a full size one.  When I can locate my fabrics I will make bedding for all the beds - I'm looking forward to doing that.

A chest of drawers and a mirror give the hedgehog family some more room for their clothing and also a place to make sure their spines are nicely arranged.

There is now a basin and jug on the washstand so they can all have a good wash and of course they have the towels on the towel rack that I showed you before, to dry themselves with.

I also bought this darling lamp from Chris (www.midiminis.weebly.com) at the online show last month.  She made it especially for me, doing it with a lovely white lustre finish.  I'm looking forward to getting the wiring connected and seeing the effect in the cottage.

And here is everything in place, more or less.  First downstairs....

And now upstairs.....

That's pretty much everything that can fit upstairs on the first floor, but on the ground floor I still need to get something else to go on the other side of the sink.  Not sure whether to order another cupboard or maybe a small table to go there.

With all this brown furniture it needs colour.  The blue and white china will help, as will some nice soft cushions on the chairs and pretty bedding and curtains.  Probably a mat on the floor in front of the stove. And of course some food and such.

 I have made up a phoenix kitchener stove to go instead of the fireplace, which I was considering moving upstairs but I'm not sure now whether there'll be room for it to go up there.  I hope there is because I really love the fireplace and grate that Carolyn had put in the cottage.

So now the cottage is nearly furnished and I want to get going on those extras.  But of course I'm still all packed up except for the few tools I've managed to dig out.

The studio is coming along though.  Peter has nearly finished the top shelves across the back.  He is working lots of 12-hr night duties at the hospital at the moment so it's hard to get to the shelving.  And my brother is flat out busy and can't help at the moment.  So it's a case of waiting.  Still.

A dream come true........

Way back when Fiona (Bea) Broadwood started putting out her half scale houses and I saw them in a miniature magazine I fell in love with them.  I wasn't even on the internet then and when I was finally connected and found the online Petite Properties group called The Miniature Beehive I was delighted.  By this stage Bea was just starting to release her quarter scale kits for buildings along similar lines, and I started to buy these.  I had no chance of visiting the UK to buy one of her wonderful halfscale creations, which are sold at fairs on a first-come-first- served basis.  But I have always continued to dream that some day, some how, I would manage to find a way to actually get one.

And now - that dream has come true!  One of the members of The Beehive, Caroline, has to downsize her collection and posted that she was selling 'Dandelion Cottage' made by Bea herself and bought by Caroline at Miniatura in 2012.  It comes with a greenhouse complete with potting bench, both also made by Bea. 

Isn't it gorgeous?  Bea added some flower pots to the front of the house.

 Inside, Caroline has added doors and skirting boards, a fireplace by Sue Cook and a fire grate.

Inside the greenhouse there is the potting bench by Bea, gardening tools by Willow Crafts, Flowers by Jan Southerton, the Flower Lady and two plant pots and window boxes by Clive Brooker.

To the side you can see a watering can and lawn mower by Willow Crafts and a water pump by Little Homes of England.

 I am delighted to have these treasures as well. There's no way I have access to some of  these craftspeople or even knew about them. I gather Caroline probably bought the items at a fair, so they are extra special too.   I'm so pleased to be able to obtain all of the collection and to keep it together, and Caroline is also pleased that it won't be split up.  It will be collected by the courier tomorrow and I will be counting the hours until its arrival.  It isn't cheap to have something sent from the UK but well worth it to obtain one of Bea's masterpieces.

Happy, happy dance going on here - such a happy miniature collector I am!