New Friends and Acquaintances...

 I peaked into the top of the Rusty Needle this morning.  Tessie is explaining everything to Letty.

She is introducing her to new places and new friends now that she is a modern woman...

I over heard Tessie telling  Letty that she could have the quilt shop. "Since you like to do needlework I will let you have this one. I hate needles and pins, I will let you have it if you make me a new quilt...

Next she introduced Letty to Eskiaga and Cordelia.  She told her that Eskiaga always has a big plate of tacos and other Southwestern food on the table if she gets hungry.

I do believe that is the reason that Cordelia hangs out there a lot. She loves tacos.

Then she got just a little to free with my stuff. She offered Letty the use of MY craft cottage if Letty would paint her a couple of pictures to hang in her next house.

I will let Letty use the cottage, but I may just shrink and use that one myself, once in a while...It's much nicer and well organized than my big one!

The last place that she took her for today was to Albert's house.

Daisy, Albert and the basket maker were enjoying the afternoon...

Tessie barged in on their conversation to introduce Letty to them. 

I think that the two men liked the new addition to the community. Letty was impressed when Tessie told her who Albert was and that he was a great scientist.

About that time I told them that was enough for one day.  Letty can meet more of the people around here tomorrow.  I have a feeling that Tessie is trying to keep her away from Zar. 

I am not going to get in the middle of this.  Usually, if it is a new man, Zar gets introduced first.  Not this time.

I am going to just stand back and watch for a few days to see what happens...

Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

Daisy Eulalia Is Home!!!

"Enough messing around with cleaning and straightening!!!" That was Daisy this afternoon. She arrived with the time machine about four 'o clock,

It seems that Albert is faster than I am. He was at the door of the time machine when I went in to greet her.

I have been cleaning all of the minis and also my workroom. 

Daisy Eulalia found out and she is NOT happy. 

I quit working on her cottage and other buildings a couple of years ago. 

She kept waiting patiently for quite a while.

When Albert informed her of what was going on here, she went berserk.  I got several notes yesterday.  A couple of phone calls this afternoon and a threatening telegram a little later.

As soon as I got the telegram I jumped up and started taking stock of what has to be done on her buildings. I Didn't think that anybody sent telegrams anymore.

The library and observatory doesn't even have a door on the library side and the dust is about three inches thick on the inside of the library. In her scale... Not mine.

If I put my mind to it, I can probably have the whole thing done in about a week. Give or take a few days.

As soon as she stepped out of the time machine, I apologized and told her that I would start working on it bright and early tomorrow morning. Rain or shine! She suggested that I start now and keep going day and night until it is livable... Well we are going to have to compromise on that.  I can only  stay awake so long.  Then I at least have to have a cat nap.    Anyway, expect to see me with tools and brushes tomorrow morning.  Bright and early! See you then!!!

Taking the Day Off!!!

I took one look at Zar and Tessie, sitting around doing nothing and decided that I wanted a day off too!

Tessie is still gloating over the pink purse and I am not making more until I do something for me!

I started looking around and found that Albert and Daisy were settled in for the duration.  They were chatting about the universe and the time-space continuum. They could care less about what I was doing this morning.

I refuse to work when nobody else is doing anything. They are all just wasting away the day.  No work at all!

The last straw was Eskiaga and Cordelia. They have been sitting there in the living room of Eskiaga's home for at least five or six years.  They don't do anything but go to parties when someone has one.

I am on strike today. If they can do it, so can I.

Walter is playing golf four days this week.  I think that makes it legal if I take the day off and do something fun.

No more "Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

I am taking the day off. So there!!!

See You tomorrow.

Let the Trouble begin... Again....

It has already started! Zar started it by pullng the Clockwork Cottage down from the top shelf last night. 

We went in and rescued it this morning.  It is now sitting on my work table in the bedroom...

And the fun began as soon as the Terrible Two discovered that we had moved it to the bedroom to work on... Zar is in his workshop and Tessie is in the bathroom.  They are both pushing on the secret door for all they are worth!

 Zar is trying to keep Tessie out and Tessie is trying to push her way into the secret workshop. 

She has been in it before and knows that it is there.

Zar is trying his best to keep her out. It should be an interesting struggle for the rest of the day, week or year... Who knows how long they will keep pushing.

It has been a while since the rest of you have had a look. It is in need of a good cleaning out... As is my workroom.  I may just take a day or two to finish the workroom so that I can find things in there.

Albert E. had absconded with some of Zar's best furniture.

 I had to take several pieces of furniture out of Albert's house.  He seldom goes inside.  He sits on the porch and people drop by with food and to keep him company most days.

He had all of Zar's kitchen furniture.  Now he has none!

He also had Zar's bed and couch.  Now he doesn't.

I think that I got it all.  Now after I finish the clockwork cottage, I may have to re-do some of Albert's rooms. Some of it can be replaced right away, if he is not to particular about style... I doubt that he is.  His head is in the clouds most of the time.

Anyway, This is what I have to work with... I need to find some roof pieces or make new ones.

This could get interesting... Or I could run away screaming in terror after a few days... We shall see what happens.

Have a good, rest of your day.  I am off to Wednesday Witches at 12:30. 

See you tomorrow.

Not Much Mini-ing...

I have several projects going all at once. Not all of them are minis...

I am doing pretty good on the shawl.  I have been working on it a couple of hours every day, while watching the series "Iron Fist" with Walter.

As for the minis, I did none today.  It seems that when I went to check on what was to be done on the roombox, the gang was ganging up on me.

They know that this is not for them.  They were having a meeting behind my back to see how they could persuade me to work on their requests...

If they would just have the meeting somewhere else, I could finish this a lot faster...

Zar actually had the nerve to request a bookcase like the one that I am making for the room box.  He says that he needs it for the living room of the Clockwork cottage.

Again... Go away and let me finish this project. Then I can get to your requests...

I did finish a couple of pendants.  I am not sure whom these are going to quite yet, but at least I have another couple of presents done.

I am working with both hands and sometimes my feet are involved too. I keep having to run back and forth between the workspace in the bedroom and the workroom. 

How many days do I have left now?  Maybe you better not tell me.  I am working as fast as I can.

See you tomorrow.

Visions of Sugarplums....

I am right back where I started...

Tessie and Zar called a truce and Spike went along with it... They are all hiding out in the new room.  Lots of whispering. 

I am not allowed to listen. 

They seem to think that possession is nine points of the law...

Nope! Not happening.  They are about to be kicked out.

 I caught Albert and Daisy with their heads together... Discussing the trade.

Wait a minute... I thought that Albert was joining Tessie in her fight with me!

I think that Tessie kicked him out when Daisy stopped talking about trading with him for the time machine...Tessie was hoping for a few trips in the machine.

I am not sure who is talking with whom about what...

I think that Albert is playing both ends against the middle. 

He now seems to want to move in with Daisy... However... Daisy told him to get out.

Tessie also told him to leave... Poor Albert.  I think that he should just give up and go home.

All he has left is the nine dollar dollhouse! I think that Daisy and Tessie have both decided that they want to keep what is theirs. 

And me?  I think that I am about to get demands from all of them for new stuff.... Houses(Albert).
Furniture(Tessie). Zar(His Clockwork Cottage). And Daisy (wants her kitchen finished).

Right after Christmas gang! I'm busy right now!

See you tomorrow.

All Quiet, All Day...

When we got home from dinner, Tessie was finally out of bed.  She was not up  to talking with people, but she was back to talking to alligators and dogs...

She's still not talking to me. 

She's still mad that I missed yesterday... Oh well.....

Zar evidently tried to get her to make him a pie... It wasn't happening... She is still not talking to him either.

Thus. No pie.

He is not great at making his own.  He just made a mess of the colonial kitchen.

Guess who has to clean it up tomorrow. Not him.

I looked in on Albert.  He is still trying to make a deal with Daisy for her house and time machine.

So far, I think that he is batting 0. 

Daisy one! She doesn't want to trade the time machine for anything.

Albert zero! I imagine he is going to keep trying... Good luck, Albert!

I can tell him that it's not going to happen.  Daisy likes her day trips to Tombstone.

As for me, I am just going to stand back and watch things happen... Don't hold your breath, Albert.

I am going now and  try to get a few minis done before bedtime.

See you tomorrow.

A One Day Vacation....

OK.  I missed yesterday!  I am going to consider it a one day vacation...

I woke up at 4:30 AM.  Sat bolt upright and grabbed the I Pad.  I checked yesterday and sure enough, there was no post!

I got up and started searching.  I found Zar asleep in the Colonial bedroom.

 Then I started hunting... I found Tessie awake, but a bit bleary eyed.  She said that it wasn't her fault that I didn't do the blog.  Then she turned over and went back to sleep...

Albert was a bit harder to find. Until I remembered that he covets the time machine...

He was totally out of it on Daisy's bed.

I don't think that the dogs knew what to think of the situation...

Anyway.  I missed doing the blog and I am sorry, but this is only the second time in almost ten years.  It will be ten years in February.

I apologize! I will have the regular post up later today. 

We are going over to April and Seth's for Thanksgiving about noon.  I will do another one when we get back.

See you then!

I Got the Best of the Trade!

Tessie didn't use her head... So what else is new?

I started building furniture for the room box that I am working on today... I decided to start with the small bench that sits under the window in the room box.

I cheated and used pre carved corner posts.

They were perfect for the height, carving and look that I wanted.

I first put together the ends and let them  dry in the magnetic jig.  It took a couple of hours.

Then Zar turned the bench upside down and assembled the rest of it. We will let it dry overnight in this position.

We want it nice and strong.

In the morning, I will put a finish on it and then make a seat and cushion for it.

April and I both have real sized ones of this kind of bench.  Very handy to have on hand and they move around easily.

Zar seems to be working out well as a partner in crime.  He is pretty good at standing for hours and watching the glue dry.

I have never been very good at that. I always want to rush things.

Let's see if Tessie and Albert can do as well... They were still sitting on Albert's front porch the last time I looked...

One point for Zar and I.

Zero for Tessie and Albert! So there!

See you tomorrow.

It Should Have Been Purple....

Today I had three friends come over to learn some purse making...

We started out with the simple ones... These are made of foam core cut to the right shape and covered with thin batting and then fabric and leather...

They can then be trimmed however you want to do it.

The second group were made with old fashioned cardboard Tam-Pax tubes. 

Those aren't made anymore. 

The one that I made today is the red one.

This is one of the more complicated ones.  the base for it is poster board.  Then it is covered with fabric and I left this one open to display leather gloves and a scarf..

Of course, Tessie showed up and claimed the new purse.  Then she had the nerve to complain that it should have been purple.

The red didn't match either her or Albert's clothes...

Now she thinks that I should make her a new apron and Albert a  new sweatshirt...

Not going to happen... She has plenty of red aprons and Albert doesn't carry a purse.

I am going back to doing other things and I am taking the purse with me.  I'll show her!

See you tomorrow.

Mission Accomplished

I Found another ball of the rainbow colored yarn. Now I can finish the shawl.

It seems that Zar is actually working on the rug... I think that he has done about nine stitches in the new row.

It is a bit difficult working upside down...

He has to have something to keep him busy.  Tessie fired him from the Terrible Two team...

She replaced him with Albert... HELP!!! 

One of the rooms that I am working on is for someone that likes Star Wars now...

We won't mention any names...

And the new Terrible Two? The Terrible Two is now Tessie and Albert...

I am not crazy about going up against Einstein and Tessie on the same team... but, I have a secret weapon... Now that Tessie has fired Zar, I am talking him into working with me.

Added bonus? I get Spike's services in the deal...I think that the three of us will be a match for anything that Tessie and Albert can think up.

Spike is a VERY smart dog!!!

See you tomorrow...

I Can't See the Forest...

For the trees....

Yesterday at Witches, I started something that I meant to start about this time last year.

I got sidetracked and I couldn't find the lycopodium to do the job.

I want to get all of my mini Christmas trees covered with the greenery in question. I ordered it from HBS miniatures on line. 

It came in the mail and I immediately put it away with the green landscaping material and forgot about it.

It is $16.99 a bag, but you get a LOT of green stuff for your green stuff.

That bag that you see has covered several trees already and there is enough to do a lot more.

The method is simple if you can find plain green Christmas trees. You simply pull the lyco apart, put glue on the end of the branch and poke it into the tree.  After you get them all covered, they usually need a bit of a haircut. 

This stuff is the same thing that you sometimes see in fish tanks.  Unfortunately, that can't be used.  It needs to be dried and colored a dark green, before using on minis.

Anyway, I have three covered and another one half done.

Albert and Tessie managed to zap one to Albert's front yard.  I have a feeling that a few more are going to disappear as I do these. 

As the word spreads, everyone is going to want a Christmas tree.

This is going to be a fruitless venture.  As soon as one is finished, I imagine that it will disappear into somebody's house or yard. 

I'm going to let it happen.  That way, I won't have to do the decorating. They can do it themselves.

Back to stuffing green stuff into bottle brush trees. One branch at a time.  Then everybody gets a haircut. There is a more detailed blog entry on doing this.  Just push Christmas Tree Tutorial in the sidebar.

See you tomorrow.

Ready To Go!

Albert got to go to Wednesday Witches this afternoon...

I took his photo when he started waiting... It was 6:36 AM when I took the photo.  He was there until about 12:15PM, when we left.

As soon as we got back he headed to his favorite spot on the front porch with Tessie.  Tessie is an old hand at Wednesday Witches.  She has gone a number of times.

Her advice? Close your ears and take a nap while the witches chat... It's boring!

When I came in here to write the blog, he followed.  Dragging his chair and capturing one of the animals from the top of the computer screen... It seems that he is a "Peanuts" fan and held the Woodstock bird all of the time I was writing. 

I don't think that he trusts me not to leave him somewhere that he doesn't want to be. 

As soon as I finish this, I will carry him back to his front porch.  Tessie hasn't taught him to zap yet and the time machine doesn't work for inside the house trips...

So, we will now say "Goodnight" and be on our merry way back to the front porch for him, and the bedroom for me.

See you tomorrow.

Second Thoughts...

Albert got a look at what he would inherit with taking over Daisy's home, time machine and observatory...

He doesn't seem as enthusiastic as he did in the beginning.

We started at the top and worked our way down, since he was the most interested in the time machine...

On the  second floor, he got a look at the baby elephant that spends most of his time in Daisy's bathtub. 

Not really Albert's cup of tea...

Then, in the bedroom, he got his first look at some of Daisy's dogs.

All together, she has four.

He is not to crazy about inheriting her zoo.

They eat better than she does most of the time.  She orders out for them...

I think that the jaguar that lives downstairs is the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back...

Albert sat down in the basket chair and didn't even get his feet off of the floor before Mick, the jaguar went into attack mode...

He spends most of his time curled up asleep on the couch.  In a flash, he was up and half way across the coffee table before I stopped him...

He's a good guard cat...

Lastly, the kitchen really broke the camel's back...

It has never been finished.  It is in a state of disrepair that will take a while to fix...

Albert would prefer move in ready.  I have a feeling that, at this rate, the Nine Dollar Dollhouse is beginning to look pretty good to him...

Do you suppose that Daisy had this in mind when I caught her this morning making a bigger mess of the kitchen than it was already?

Again, I am staying out of it.  Sooner or later they will settle things.  Until then, I am just relaxing and enjoying the entertainment.

See you tomorrow.