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Monday, January 24, 2011

A New Friend....

He won't be a friend when he grows up, but for now I won't chase him away. I looked out the kitchen window and saw this baby roadrunner. Right now he is about the size of the doves that hang around here. When he grows up, he will be about three times the size and have the doves for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Poor little guy. The doves were rolling on the floor laughing at him. Nothing ferocious about him.

I am being obstinate this morning. I got out this little hanging shelf unit and started messing with it. I was all ready for a big argument with Tessie. I assumed that she would want me working on the travel trailer, so I decided to face her if need be.

I started staining the front edges with a Minwax Early American stain pen. Love those things for tiny places that need stain.

She showed up after I finished staining and started pulling out quarter scale paper for the insides.

I braced myself for the fight.....Nothing happened. In fact, she started helping find papers for each room!

I held my breath and asked in surprise, "Tessie, you're helping me?"

She replied, "Of course. I don't have anything else to do until I decide what style I want in the new travel trailer."

I just about fell off of my chair.

Then she said, "I am going to take my time and not rush into it. I am making a list of changes and additions that I want." and then, "By the way, I kicked Zar out of the townhouse, so you had better find him a place to be."

Nice. Now poor Zar is without a place to sleep and I'll bet that she cuts off his cupcake supply, since she doesn't need to be nice to him anymore.

Actually, the bedroom bathroom and workroom in his Clockwork cottage is livable, so I guess he can go back there for now.

I am beginning to see a pattern here....I tend to start at the top and work down on dollhouses. Then I get bored and go on to something else. Everything gets finished eventually. It just takes time and regaining interest in a project.

I am working on the quarter inch thing just for today. I really don't have a specific plan for it, so I am not in a hurry to finish the wallpaper.

I am doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen and specifically the refrigerator this morning, so I probably won't get much more done today.

While I am thinking about it though, I wanted to show you a handy tool to have if you are into quarter inch.

This is a plastic template made by Charvoz, a drafting company based in Germany. Evidently some of their stuff is made here in the states.

This piece is a template for different pieces of furniture in quarter inch scale. Decorators and architects use it to lay out floor plans.

It is great for us mini people, because we can instantly figure out what goes in a room, using a quad rule tablet to lay things out.

I quite often use it when doing quarter scale rooms to mark off the actual furniture. Beds, chairs, tables and even a baby grand piano are on the sheet.

I got this one many years ago at an art store that carried drafting supplies, but I imagine that they are still available....Anyway, if you are into quarter inch, this is an invaluable tool to have.

Since Tessie is happily picking out wallpaper and I can't even get a good argument out of her, I am going back to housework...Bah Humbug!

See you tomorrow.

6 comments:

Kathi said...

What a cute little "house" you've started. Love the wallpapers.
I'm going to look for one of those templates. It sure would make teeny tiny easier.
I really NEED to do some cleaning myself...

Claudia said...

I'm fascinated by roadrunners - they seem so exotic to me, and I've never see one in person. That baby is adorable!

xo
Claudia

Caseymini said...

Claudia, they are cute at this age, but they get just plain mean as they get older.

Merri said...

I didn't realize RRunners ate pigeons! I thought they ate toads and snakes! Hm...has Zar ever had a girlfriend? Zar needs to find himself a girlfriend, so when Tessie boots him out of a house, he'd have someplace to go.

Jollie said...

Good that Tessie takes her time with the trailer and that she figures out first how she wants it to be! :)
You two have fun building this cute little house!

Warm hugs, Jollie

Kiki said...

Those are most definitely still available. You can get them at a lot of art supply stores where they sell architecture and drafting supplies. It seems like they are almost always that bright color green. You can usually get several different sizes as well!

I'm actually going to an art supply store later today so I can tell you for sure if they are in a certain store.