Working on the roof and the landscaping

I still haven't located my book on Exterior Finishes by Bea Broadwood, so I am doing the roof the best I can remember from reading it..  I showed you the clay on the roof in the last post.  We went to see our daughter the next day and brought our grandsons back to Sydney a day or so later.  So the roof was quite dry when we came back.  But it was also very cracked.  I've not used this brand of air-drying clay before (Boyle), I usually use Creative PaperClay and although that cracks it doesn't crack like this.

A lot of those cracks go right down to the wood, so they took quite a bit of filling with Polyfilla, an interior filler.

Once that was dry I could do the second step and here are some photos of that stage:

 As you can see, I started to landscape while the glue on this layer dried.

 I've finally decided on an autumn theme for the landscaping, but still have to get some tree frames - or make some - and do them with autumn foliage.

 The colours in these photos aren't wonderful, sorry about that but the flash kept working and changing the colours.

I really must get some sort of background too, to show up the house properly without the background clutter.

I left that layer to dry overnight and then gave it the first coat of paint.  Bea says in her book that it takes quite a while for the paint to dry because of the fibrous nature of that second layer. But it is 38deg C here today (100.4 degF) so that has helped despite the air-conditioning being on this afternoon.

 So that's the progress for now.  I need to find my flowersoft or else buy some more which is a pain, to add some colour to the shrubs.    And of course the roof needs at least one more coat of paint because there are some spots that have been missed.

I am really looking forward to seeing it finished now.  Isn't it amazing how every step makes such a difference?

Slowly but surely.....

It's been a rather stressful week since we've been home, due to some health issues with our oldest daughter.  Fortunately she seems to be improving now so we are really relieved.  But I have managed to get a bit done on Woodnook cottage.

First of all I assembled a little dresser (from Templewood Miniatures) for the kitchen, and added some decals to crockery (both decals and crockery are from True2Scale Miniatures) to add to the shelves.  I'm pleased with the way they've come out.

The drawer is filled with extra 'teatowels', and the lower cupboard door is open to give a glimpse of the extra 'dishes' and baking dishes that are stacked in there.  Annoyingly, there are only three cups to hang on the shelf, because one of them went flipping off on its own adventure, not to be found again.  Hope it doesn't get too lonely - if it does, perhaps it will come home again ;)

I also have two darling candles with flowers around their bases (from BJ Miniatures) to go on the mantlepiece in the sitting room.  You can't really see them in place so here they are before they are glued into position.

Aren't they tiny and perfect?  Just beautiful.

But the biggest progress is adding the first layer of the 'thatched' roof, which is air-dry clay.

 As you can see above, I have done the paving for the front of the house as well, so that my mini people won't get such wet feet getting the wood or going to the little seat to rest.  Or to the stairs that lead to the lower level.

 Here is the rear view, with all the lights and both fires turned on.

 There needs to be more added to the woodchopping area, and to the wood store.

 The clay is drying at the moment, and is starting to develop a couple of cracks which will need to be filled before the next layer is added to look more like thatch.

But I'm happy with the difference it makes to the appearance to have the roof even this far.  I'm looking forward to finishing that and starting the landscaping.  When I can decide between a summer or an autumn look that is!  Summer or autumn?  Autumn or summer?  Hmmmmn................

Happy New Year to you all!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve here in the land down under, and we will be travelling home from the rural town where both our daughters live, and where we celebrated Christmas with them and with our seven grandchildren.  We had 20 here for Christmas lunch and it was a great day.  I miss my mother at Christmas very much, it was always a big deal for her and her loss is felt greatly by both my brother and myself.

However, it is nearly a brand new year.  A new page to turn over, a new start for us all.  I am not making any resolutions - I just want to make more time for minis, after my long lack of mojo this year.

Are you making resolutions?  What are they?  Do please share!

It is nearly 30 hours until the fireworks on Sydney Harbour and many people are already camping out to get shore-front spots for the spectacle.   There are millions of people who will be crowding the foreshores for it.  Any wonder we don't go in to see them in person?

And for now, I would just like to say how much pleasure you have given me by looking at this blog and by your wonderful comments. I wish you joy and happiness in return.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Just popping in to wish you all a very happy Christmas, full of family, friends and hopefully of course, miniatures ;)

Blessings,
Sandie

A little more progress....

I've mhade some progress, but with difficulty.  I had all the wiring for the lights completed and the front roof attaches - everything worked well until I put the roof in place.  Once I did that the sitting room fire, and three of the lights didn't light up.   I was not happy at all.  So after spitting the dummy for a day, I took all the connections apart and tested each one.  Finally all the lights were working but not the fire.  Acting on a hunch I bought a new battery - and it worked!  The battery I had been using was brand new but for some reason after just one day it died.  Thank goodness the new battery is working well.

And now here it is, with all the lights and both fireplaces lit:

I'm still disappointed that the nano chips aren't as bright as I would have liked in the kitchen and sitting room but that's a lesson well learned.  My mini person is very happy that the standard lamp works, and gives enough light for handwork :)

I'm currently working on a page that describes how I lit Woodnook, it might be helpful if you have never electrified a quarter scale project before.  To find pages, look on the  right at the top under the title area and you will see a title 'Pages'.

With the Christmas preparations I'm hoping to get to doing the thatched roof in the next couple of days but I am very short of time.

Mini-ing again

Several delightful cottages have been released by Petite Properties this year, and a new addition as well - quite a few of them have bases that have been designed for them, which permit access for wiring and a place to hide batteries.  What a good idea!  Landscaping packs are also available for each of them - of course these can be mix and match.

My friend Val who has moved from South Australia to beautiful Tasmania and I have started on our Woodnook Cottage kits and are doing them more or less together.  It is not as good as working in the same place of course but more fun than working in isolation.  So I am sharing my progress with you.

Usually I construct a cottage completely and then do the interior decorating and furnishing and accessorize it.  Unlike many people who dislike doing it this way I find it fine.  No, I don't have small hands or anything, I just prefer it this way. Of course I do decorate parts like staircases that can't be accessed after construction, whist building.  The problem with building first of course is that I then tend to move on to other projects while I am waiting for inspiration for furnishing or for kits I have ordered to arrive and so end up with yet another UFO .

This time however, the first step in the instructions was to  construct the staircase. I did so as directed and put it into a container along with the windows that I had painted, to keep them all safe.  I was working on the verandah of my studio and enjoying the shade there, on a lovely hot day (remember that while all of you in the northern hemisphere are moving into winter, we in the southern hemisphere are moving into summer).  A storm was building up but I was sheltered and happily working away.  I brushed a fly away and in doing so I knocked the container off the table.  Yes, it had a lid on it but that came off and the contents scattered onto the little garden at the end of the verandah. I scrambled to retrieve them and managed to find all the pieces except the staircase.  Which was quite surprising because the staircase was a sizeable object and the windows were tiny.  My darling hubby and I searched and searched but it was nowhere to be found.  The storm arrived and rain teemed down.  I kept searching over the next few days to no avail.  We had rain over the next few days, then a hot spell and put the sprinkler on that garden a couple of times.

I gave up hope of finding the staircase or at least finding it in any usable condition and ordered a replacement from Petite Properties.  But it takes around two weeks for things to arrive from the UK so I couldn't go ahead with construction apart from the ground floor because the staircase was necessary to do that.

So I was forced to do some decoration in the meantime lol.  I did the kitchen, adapting kits I had from Debbie Young.  Here is a progress photo of the kitchen.  It still needs more accessories but the basics are done:

I bought the preparation board from Merle at the Sydney Fair this year

Should have taken a photo with the flickering fire working

My mini person obviously likes cookbooks!

It looks really cozy with the flickering fire working.

I used my last precious chair kits from Pam Junk to make a lounge and two chairs for the sitting room. To make the lounge I combined two of the chairs.  There's not really room to have the two chairs plus the lounge in front of the fire so I'm not sure how I'll arrange them yet.

 Unfortunately the flash has washed out the pretty pale blue check fabric.  It's a shame because it really is sweet.  It has the tiniest, tiniest check and is a baby blue.  And yes, you will note that the staircase has arrived from the UK.

 The table is from Templewood Miniatures.  I love their kits.  This table is cut from cherrywood so I didn't really need to paint or stain it.

Until I looked at the photos I didn't realize how much dust and sawdust etc was on the floors.  My mini person obviously needs to do some housekeeping!

Heather Drinkwater kindly sent me a lovely printie of flames for the fire but I couldn't get it in behind the LED chips and the logs so I'll have to do without it :(.  I guess it will just be a gentle glow instead of a flaming fire.  But the chips do give a lovely flickering effect.  I have used the smallest size and at first wasn't impressed with them but now that it's all finished I am pleased with the effect.  It was very tricky trying to get it all together.  I pulled the wires through and constructed most of it on the floor of the sitting room, then moved it back into the fireplace and added more 'logs' until it looked right.  I used super glue gel on the logs and held them in place until it 'grabbed'.

I have glued the floorboards onto the first floor bedroom, covering the wiring for the ground floor lights and have painted the tiles for the bathroom floor.  These were transparent and I dabbed cream paint onto the back of them then dabbed blue paint onto them and they came out nicely mottled.  I wasn't sure how it would work when I put the glue on to attach them to the flooring but it was fine..

Once that dried I could put the ceiling on the ground floor. To do that I had to put the partial end wall in place which now makes it harder to access some of the kitchen, especially the annexe part. Here are some progress photos:

I've glued the fittings in place and made a door to the room to give my mini people some privacy.

I followed Heather Drinkwater's example and added a wall and door to the annexe.

The table still needed a tablecloth and I've added a saucepan and kettle to the stove but I'd like some more accessories.

I wanted a working standard lamp for the sitting room,  and made up a Jane Harrop kit.  It was non-working so I needed to adjust it a bit by adding the chip LED and running the wire down the back of the stand.   You can just see the wire in this photo.

Here's a close-up of the firedogs and fire tools from Gayle Baillargeon of Petworth Miniatures.  But with the lamp and the chair in place the fire tools couldn't be seen so I levered them off - not easy since I had super-glued them in place :)

Here is an overview of the house so far.  If you think the bed looks different from the photo 4 above this one you are right.  Since this one was taken I have repainted the bedroom furniture and the bedroom chair and re-covered the bed.  I thought it looked a bit washed-out before, and am happier with it now.

Since this photo I have wired up the lights for the first floor so the bedroom, bathroom and stairway are no longer in darkness.  I am waiting for glue to dry to hold the roof securely in place.  Then I can take off all the bits of tape that are holding it together and take more photos.

Hope you like progress so far.  I am looking forward to starting the landscaping after I do the thatched roof.

Hello again!

Well here I am again, after such a long absence.  Thank you for being so faithful my friends, I see from the figures that many of you are still popping in to see what is happening.  Sadly, the last year has been a difficult one in real life, and both minis and the blog have suffered.  So I appreciate all the more that you have persevered with me, it means more than I can say.

Not only have so many of you been checking in regularly but there are actually new followers! wow!!  The warmest of welcomes to Roeli (La Petite Sofie); Esther (Mi mundo de miniatura; Los collares de Esther); Susan (Susan's mini homes); Amary (Amary miniaturas); Paky (two blogs but by invitation only); Idske de Jong (Idske's miniatures); Ray W (no blog listed); Becky (A bee in a bonnet); and Sharon Goldsmith (no blog but runs By Sharon Miniatures with delightful kits).

The welcome is belated but truly sincere.  Thank you so much for visiting this blog and even more for becoming a follower.  I hope you will visit often and leave a comment to let me know that you have been here and how you feel about what I post :)

Happy Australia Day

 Today, 26th January, is Australia Day.  This is a very special day for Australians and there are heaps of activities in most towns and cities throughout the country.

In Sydney the major celebrations centre around the gorgeous Harbour of course.  From inflatable thong races (in the US they call them flip-flops, don't know what you call them in Britain)

 to the annual Tall Ships parade down the Harbour, and vessels ranging from maxi-yachts to small pleasure craft throng the waters.  There is even a ferry race.

 People get into the spirit by dressing for the occasion.  Some with face painting

Some with temporary tatoos

Some with their dresses, teeshirts, shorts and hats

Even the family pet is likely to score some patriotic sign.

 Having a barbie (barbecue) and going to the beach are traditional activities.  And the grand finale after all the fun, the ceremonies, the awards of Order Of Australia to people who do special things in the community and the rest of the celebrations is a wonderful fireworks display over Sydney Harbour and in lots of communities.

 So wherever you are, I wish you a happy......

New babies in our life

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that the new year will bring you good health, happiness and lots of love.  I haven't blogged for a while because I have been recovering from two surgeries in five days in early December.  I am fine now, just get tired a lot.  I think it will take me a while to get over having the two general anaesthetics but I'm grateful that I am not in pain any more.

Our family has increased by three more.  We are now owned by four gorgeous cats: Max, who we got in June and who turned one year old in December, and three babies from Max's parents in the next litter.  Here they are

On the left in this photo is Sapphire, named by our neighbour (the parent cats belong to her) because of her vivid blue eyes when she was littler.  Of course they aren't blue now, they are turning green because the kittens are 8 weeks old.  On the right is Sophie.  We can tell Sophie and Sapphire apart because Sapphire has a black smudge beside her nose, Sophie has a pale ginger smudge beside hers.  Sapphire also has a white patch on her back and her colouring is a little more muted than Sophie's.

And here is Sam.  He is a lovely cream colour with the faintest of ginger tabby markings, and light ginger tips on his ears.  Curiously, he still has blue eyes.  His colouring is deepening a bit as he gets older, at first he was whiter than he is now and I worried at first that he might be deaf as some white cats with blue eyes are.  But he's not deaf, that's for sure.  Because he has the genes for colour he escapes that.   He is the most laid-back of the three.

Sam is the friendliest of the three, and Sapphire is almost as friendly.  Sophie is coming around now that we've had them for a week, and they all have got to the stage where they enjoy - and ask for - pats and stroking.  They even enjoy being cuddled now whereas they didn't like being held at first.

Over the last few days all three of them have learned to climb the cat tree, and Sam has even made it up to the top level.  It's six foot high and it took them a while before they could manage it.  Because we want the cats to stay indoors for a couple of months, and to come inside at night, we have provided them with plenty of toys and I have also ordered another climbing tree for them.

After Chloe, our gorgeous tortie who was Max's sister disappeared, Max fretted for her for some time.  He and his other sister Cindy used to play together all the time, even before Chloe disappeared, and then Cindy disappeared too.  Max and his brother Cuddly, who is a pale ginger fluffy cat are great friends now and Cuddly likes to come into our house and steal two toys that he really likes.  He takes them to his house next door and our neighbours find them and return them.  We think that Chloe was stolen by someone who really likes tortoiseshell cats.  And that when they discovered that she had been desexed, they came back for Cindy.  So I am concerned about the welfare of our two new girls too.  The kittens might end up being kept totally indoors though I hate to think of them not being able to enjoy the back yard and garden.

 At first Max was totally affronted to find the kittens had taken up residence and he sulked for a couple of days.  He had visited them often when he went next door, but having them invade his own territory was different.  Then eventually he started playing with them and now he greets them nose-to-nose and grooms them.  All four of them bounce madly around the house chasing each other and having great fun.

He still likes to sit on me for a cuddle morning and evening as this very unflattering photo of us shows.  Max doesn't sit on my knee, he likes to lie on my arm and nuzzle into my shoulder.  He was distracted by the camera here so moved his head.

But he won't sit on me if one of the kittens is on me too.

The kittens also seem to think that as soon as I turn on my laptop it is the signal for them to come and sit on the keyboard.  I have to fight to keep them off so that I can type, though I can still play my solitaire with them on it - until they move and press different keys, with interesting results :)  I must say that having the three of them adds a lot of fun to our lives.

What do you mean, you want to play solitaire?

At the moment they sleep a lot but the length of time they do that decreases by the day.  They will be nine weeks old this Thursday, and have already grown a lot since we got them a week and a half ago.

So, being a mad  cat lady, I finally have the four cats again that I wanted.   The last time we had four was many years ago.  I am very happy.  It's a shame that cats calm down as they get older, they provide a lot of pleasure witht heir antics.  Mind you, I'm glad that I haven't replaced my curtains (I have the fabric ready to make new ones) or bought our new lounge suite yet ;)