Star Wars! The Latest One!

I had to put another picture of the room in.  We went to see the latest Star Wars movie this morning.  BB8 figured prominently in this one.

Now I know about him... I feel like I know him a little bit better...

When we got home, Walter rented the proceeding one from Amazon.  We had a double feature.  Therefore I didn't get a lot done.

I did do a bit more cleaning.  This little greenhouse was a plain white one that I got from Walmart several years ago.  I painted the trim on it and fancied it up.

It never looks like I cleaned it. The finish on it is antiqued.  I could probably scrub on it for a week and it would still look the same.

The burglar's living room doesn't get very dirty. It is a closed box, so I have to do very little to it.

If I stay there too long, the burglar tells me to get out and stop interrupting his thievery.

This is also one that looks about the same. Clean or dirty.  I basically just use a feather duster on it, to get the big pieces. 

Zar keeps it pretty clean most of the time.

Anyway, I am going to have to make a couple of more pieces for Amare's box tomorrow and then it will be done...I am not adding anything from the movie.  It is just about full enough as it is. I am off to watch TV for a while.  Then I am going to turn in early.

See you tomorrow.

Introductions All Around...

Albert is no shy violet...

When I got up this morning, he was introducing himself to everybody in the neighborhood.

I caught the first photo when he was at Eakaiga's place.

He was getting permission to use the nine dollar dollhouse from the owner.  She seems to always be at Eskaiga's place.  I am not sure what is going on...

He left there and was on his way over to Zar's trailer. I caught him rescuing the cat that was about to pounce on the snake in the Archeologist's Office.

I guess that was his good deed for the day. He carefully tucked the kitty in the carpet bag and took him along on the rest of his visits.

I have the feeling that Albert has chosen his own pet.  I didn't have to encourage him at all.  He knew that the kitty was no match for the snake...

When he got to Zar's trailer, he stopped long enough for a cup of coffee.

The two of them are still negotiating over the clockwork cottage.  I don't think that Albert will have much trouble talking Zar out of it.  Zar has shown very little interest in it in the last couple of years...

Albert stopped at the Witches Warehouse. He seems to be very interested in fortune telling... Or maybe it's just Zofi, the fortune teller that he is interested in...

His last stop was at Daisy's cottage... She showed him the time machine.

For some reason, I have a feeling I should have hidden that, before he got here.

He is now asking how much Daisy would sell the cottage and the time machine for...

He wants to learn how to run the thing. I can see it now.  He is going to try to get more people to come back here and keep him entertained...

I think that the time machine is going to get a glitch in it's works very soon....

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Not Large Enough...

I have offered Albert the use of the Nine Dollar Dollhouse... He is not really sure about it...

He saw Zar's house that is unoccupied right now and I think that he would like to take that over "Lock, Stock and Barrel".

He already talked Zar out of a bunch of furniture.  None of it is being used.  Zar seems to like his Half Timber Trailer. 

I am thinking that Zar doesn't want the responsibility of the gigantic Clockwork Cottage.

Albert seems to be cramped in the Nine Dollar Dollhouse.

I have the feeling that, once in his new place, he is going to do some more discovering of the universe... and the small house will never do...

He is really trying to settle in, but it is really cramped.  I have to admit that I probably wouldn't be happy living there either.

Albert talked Zar out of a LOT of his furniture for the Clockwork Cottage. He got it on the condition that, if Zar ever got the cottage up and running, Albert would turn the furniture over to him again.

They have had their heads together quite a lot today and I have the feeling that Albert is winning the battle.  He may just become the owner of the Clockwork Cottage, at the rate that their talks are going... I am just going to stand back and let it all happen.

I have other things to work on right now, so I am going to let the two of them settle whom gets what...

It seems to me that Tessie is awfully quiet about the whole thing... I think that she is going to stand back and let them settle it.  Then she will move in at the right time and take what she wants out of the mess that they make. 

Whatever they wind up doing, I am just going to stand back and not get in the middle of the squabble.

I am going back to work on other things.  See you tomorrow.

The Skeleton Crew...

Here they are, in all their glory!  I put Zar and Tessie in charge and left the room... OK.  So I sneaked back and took photos.  Don't tell them. 

They had their hands full.

First, Tessie tried to teach one of the males to cha cha.  It was really rough going.  She had a couple of bandaged toes before it was done.

It didn't help that the rest of the skeletons were snickering and making comments.

Then Zar took over and tried to teach one of the ladies to "dip". 

She kept complaining that her bones hurt. I think that was just because she didn't have anything else left to hurt.

It didn't take long to see that they were not going to co-operate for dancing lessons.

 Zar and Tessie bundled them all up and took them to the Clockwork Trailer. 

That seemed like a safe place to keep them out of the way, until Halloween.

They took to that like ducks to water.

Zar got three of them up on the roof.  It seems that one was a rock star in a former life... He grabbed the chance to play the Steampunk organ.

Another just wanted to sit and chat with Zar about what was happening since he left the world.

The third one just wanted to stop and smell the roses...

Tessie  entertained a couple of them by explaining what had happened in the food world since they left.  No Scooter Pies where they were from.

Another just sat on the couch petting Spike and enjoyed being back in real life, if only for a little while.


We already discussed the guy on the roof.  "Smelling the roses.".

The other two were more original.  One just crawled onto Zar's bed and started snoring to beat the band.

And the last one, swore that he hadn't had a shower or a bath in over a hundred years...

He smelled like it was more than a century, for sure!

By the time he got out, his bones were starting to melt from all of the wet and heat.  We are going to have to get him dried out before Halloween!

Anyway.... I doubt that any of them are going to be doing much dancing. All eight have better things to do now.

See you tomorrow.

Spit and Polish....

I have been moving things around and cleaning all day long... Very long...

Tomorrow, the Wednesday Witches are coming here and I have to be on my best behavior.  Remember?  We have two perspective witches joining us. 

I have to behave... No.  I am not going to get into any trouble.  And Tessie has promised to behave herself too... I will believe that when I see it.

I really did spit and polish lots of stuff today. 

I also moved a lot of things around.  No.  The Tudor Trailer didn't go anywhere.  It just got polished somewhat...

No.  I didn't spit on anything.  I just used Old English Lemon Oil on everything. 

The nice thing about taking photos is, I can see some of the things I missed.  Back to the oil and the brush!

I did move some books out of the bedroom and put one of the breakaway boxes on the bookshelf instead. 

I am trying to do that in all of the bookcases.  It looks better than a gazillion books stuffed into the shelves.

I know that you are asking yourself, "Did she clean in the workroom?"

YES!  I have it looking almost decent.  Almost... You will notice that I didn't include a photo of the beading shelves.  They are straightened, but not necessarily orderly. 

I may have time to do some more tomorrow morning... I have until 1:00PM to get the food ready and finish clearing the clutter.

Wish me luck!  I am going to need it.

Back to the grindstone.  See you tomorrow.

Let's Party!!!

 I have a surprise party going on.  It's in the Clockwork Trailer, but I wasn't invited.

Sooo I am happily petting Kota and watching my nails dry...

The party started at five this morning.  It was to celebrate my last day of radiation!  However, I was not invited because I wouldn't fit.  Oh well...

I can observe. 

It looks like they have already divided up the bug beer.  Two cans per person... I imagine that they are waiting  for me to leave for the treatment... Then the party will really get going. 

Speaking of getting going, I have to run.  The appointment is at 3:40 and it takes 40 minutes to get there.  It sure will be nice... I won't be having to interrupt what I am doing and leave at three.

Tomorrow I am FREE!

See you then!

Upstairs, Downstairs...

 I went into the kitchen a while ago and noticed that Tessie and Zar were having breakfast on the roof of the Clockwork trailer...

That was a bit unusual... They have been spending a lot of time in the Forest Fantasy Cottage.

I had to stick my nose in where it didn't belong... I should have known better.

Yesterday, Reggie came to me and asked to have the trailer cleaned.  To use his exact words..."It is a filthy pigsty."

I knew that the Terrible Two wouldn't do it, so I got the mop and dust rag out and went to work.  The thing is, I didn't stop to think what he was wanting it cleaned for...

Now I know.  I looked into the trailer.  Reggie was asleep on Zar's bed.  The couch was empty.

I went up to the roof and asked what was happening... Then I noticed that Zar had rearranged things so that the Steampunk Organ was directly above the head of the bed, downstairs...

I do believe that revenge is being taken...

Zar explained that he uncle was known to take advantage of any situation that he could...

I don't think that he will be staying where he is for long.  I heard the organ a couple of times during the night... It wasn't very loud where I was, but I am sure that Uncle Reggie was getting the full concert vibe! 

Tessie pleaded with me to start fixing the house for him.  I will as soon as we get it moved to the worktable in the bedroom.  Until then, I have a feeling that I am going to be refereeing a  few arguments. 

Tessie is sleeping at  Cordelia's place.  On the couch.  Zar is sleeping in the Forrest Fantasy Cottage on the pull out bed... And Sir Reginald is not sleeping well at all. 

Zar told me that the Terrible Two plus One are planning to stay up all night tonight.  They will take turns at the Steampunk Organ... I am assuming that Spike, as a loyal plus One, will be howling his little lungs out.  It's just a good thing that I have a nice fluffy pillow to put over my head! 

I am going to try to at least get a bed in the bedroom of Sir Reggie's new house by tonight.  Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

Dazed and Confused...

OK... Yesterday, Reggie seemed to be OK... Today, he came around and didn't really remember buying a house yesterday. 

We went through the whole thing with him.  It seems that he has lapses in time here and there.  The trip that he took was long and taxing. 

For one thing, he was a half a head shorter than he was when he left.

After questioning and reviewing his notebooks, we figured out that he had a concussion and was wandering around for a while.  No.  He wasn't playing football. 

It seems that he got into trouble in South America whilst looking for a lost city...

Personally, I think that he tried too many of the native drinks and such.  Not enough rest and it didn't help that he made a witch doctor mad at one point.  I think that's when he shrunk about six inches...

This morning, when he came to his senses, he insisted that, in order to move into the new house, he would need new muscles and new clothes. 

I got as far as starting on the body and looking for some fabric or leather for pants and he decided that was enough for one day.  He is spending the night in Zar's Clockwork Trailer, on the couch.  That's the best we could do for him.  We wouldn't want him wandering off, when no one was looking.


Tessie is holding him to the agreement to buy the house.

She washed her hands of the situation and decided to nap with Kota for the rest of the afternoon.

I am not sure that that was a good idea... He looks to me like he might bite her head off for laying on his leg.

Anyway, I am going back now to try to find something for Reggie to wear.  He seems to be getting better and remembering more all of the time.  The sooner we get him dressed, the better.  It is embarrassing to have him wandering around in his cotton muscle suit.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Two Heads Are Not Better....

Especially when both are yelling at me at the same time! 

Daisy made a surprise landing this morning.  Went straight downstairs and started ranting about the fact that I hadn't done a single thing to her cottage! 

To quote her, "You didn't even dust the living room!" 

In fact, it is quite dusty, but I never contracted to dust!  Or clean! So I don't feel guilty. 

Besides, she wasn't supposed to arrive home until I sent a message  by carrier pigeon, asking her to come.

Meanwhile, back at the Forest Fantasy Cottage, Tessie was yelling at me for not finishing the mirror. 

Never mind that I did adjust the plans for the mirror.

OK.  So I hung the drawing of the frame too low on the wall. She just assumed that was where it was going and she couldn't see anything but her chin this time!

I had to plan where I was going to put the swirls in the design and
with her yelling at me, I rushed to get it in place... To low...

I did solve the problem with not a lot of  difficulty.  I am now thankful that the never ending party is still going on in the Tudor Trailer...

I grabbed the two of them by the scruff of the neck and transported them over to the happening...

It didn't take long for them to get in the mood.

All is forgiven and forgotten.  Chocolate cake and champagne will make up for a lot of things.  That includes things that have not been done. 

I may have to encourage Zar to keep that party going for a while longer, I actually got my dishes done and my clothes washed this morning! Yup.  Perpetual parties are a good thing!

Back to reality. 

See you tomorrow.

All Quiet on All Fronts....

OK. I decided to see if I could find the wandering party goers... I kept hearing noises all through the night... They seemed to far away to be in Eskiaga's Southwestern Room Box...

Just to be sure, I checked different places all along the way..

Nobody home at Nellie's Embroiderer's cottage...In fact, I don't think that the bed was even slept in.

I Then went to Eskiaga's place... He and Cordelia were quietly munching tacos and talking... The claimed that they had not been to a party or had a party in his place... I had to believe him.  The floor was still looking freshly mopped...
I then stopped at several other places in the bookcase. 

The Archeologist's office was really quiet... Strange... Then I remembered.  There was never an archaeologist in the office... One of these days I might just have to do something about that..

Next stop?  Zar's Tudor Trailer... That's where things were happening...

Strangely enough, the premises looked pristine.  Yes, there was food and drink... But very tidy food and drink... They claimed that the party moved straight there from the one that they had in the craft cottage...

Then I made a big mistake...

I decided to go get some things out of my workroom...

This is what I found.  Lots of mini food and drink missing and the biggest mess that the workroom has been in for a while...

As I walked back to the trailer to complain, I noticed that Tessie's Townhouse, The basket shop, Daisy's cottage and Cordelia's house were all in a shambles!  This must be the longest continuing party that the gang has ever had... And guess who gets to clean up after them? 

This could take a while.  The first thing I am going to do is lay down a new set of rules... Rule Number ONE!  IF you party, YOU clean!!!

Back to work. Where should I start?

See you tomorrow.

One Little Table...

My morning was a blur... April and Amare were here and that kid never stops!  He does everything at a mile a minute pace!  I couldn't even get a photo of him standing still... He, Walter and April are now at the park. Maybe that will slow him down a bit!

 The one little table I was referring to in the title is this one.  I am now the proud owner of an Eastlake style plant stand/table.  I found it at Goodwill this morning for a great price and couldn't pass it up.  It is perfect for the music room tower.

When April and Amare arrived, I was rearranging all kinds of furniture.  It was all that little table's fault... It needed a place to live.

It settled into the corner of the front hall and refused to move... Well, in truth, I did try it a couple of other places, but it kept wandering back to the same spot on it's three little legs.

After several other places, it refused to move from this spot.  Here it will stay.

As a result, I had to find a place for the little round table that used to be there.  It landed in the corner of the family room, next to the Tudor Trailer.

Since I decided to put the three shelf unit on top, I had to find a place for the little white pavilion to be.  It got a half table that I wasn't using.

By this time, I had the two shelves that I keep the 1/4" trunks and other small scale scenes standing out in the middle of the family room... 

They finally ended up on either side of the table in the bedroom.

I have decided to make this a display for all of the smaller scale items that I have made.

I have two more 1/4" scale houses to find.  Then that will be complete...

I will probably move the rum box somewhere else. 

This could get serious!  Every time I think that I am finished moving things, I displace something else.  Then I have to find a home for whatever I just moved out...

Sooner or later I have to run out of places to move things... I hope.

Round and round I go... Somebody stop me!!!

See you tomorrow.

It Was All a Ploy...

I started looking for a place for the observatory to be this morning...

First I tried it atop a room box... thinking that the room could be the library with a staircase leading to the observatory on the outside. 

The Terrible Two didn't like that at all... In fact, they refused to even get in the photo.  Turned up their noses at it and walked away.

Then I tried making it part of the roof garden on Zar's Tudor Trailer... Nope.  Not having any of that either. They said that it would interfere with the party atmosphere on the roof.  No place for the Steampunk organ.  Stop the music!

With that, they left the room.  And they took Spike with them.

I looked high and low for them...

But I didn't look high enough...

I went in the workroom, when I heard voices coming from there.

Tessie had zapped the rum box to the top shelf.  The two of them had shoved everything off to the floor.  The mess just grows and grows...

They insisted that "we" should make the foundation of the Clockwork cottage a foot or so longer... The only problem with that is, there is no place in the whole house that a longer foundation would fit. It dawned on me that this was what they wanted me to work on all along.

Meanwhile I went and tried every instrument of destruction known to man to cut the dome for the thing.  I tried my wire cutters.  Those got the hanger off of the front of the dome.  I tried my keyhole saw.  That got the handle off of the back.

By that time, I was really getting worried about how I was going to get the hole cut in the dome.

Tessie and Zar took pity on me and lead me by the hand, out to the garage. 

Trying to be funny, they formally introduced me to an old friend.  "Casey.  Meet Mr. Dremel."

That was all it took.  I dragged Mr. Dremel into the house and sat him on the counter and plugged him in.

Thanks to the Terrible Two, I had the rest of the job done in nothing flat!  Even sanding the edges was easy.

Whilst cutting, we had a serious talk.  It has been decided that I will work on the observatory intermittently, while finishing a few other projects and then I will start Zar's Steampunk store...

Get ready for this... He has decided on a name.  So far, I haven't been able to talk him out of it...

He wants to call it, "Zar's Bizarre Bazaar".  Oh well.  I have a lot of time to talk him into something else. He informed me that there is already a Steampunk Emporium and he doesn't want to use the same name.  Bizarre Bazaar???  I have to think of something else quick!

See you tomorrow.

Still Plugging Along...With the Terrible Two in Tow...

I am still doing the decorating for Christmas a little at a time.

I found the ingredients for this bowl when I cleaned out the laundry closet this morning.

The bells and other stuff has been around for a few years.  All I had to do is put them all together.

I got to thinking about the ingredients... The pressed glass punch bowl was from a yard sale a few years ago.  Our family never had anything as fancy as that as far as I know.  The people that I bought it from just weren't interested in stuff like that.  I got it for three dollars.  I don't often use it, but when I do, I thank the people that didn't want it or appreciate it.

The table centerpiece in whitework was going to meet a similar fate.  I got it at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago.  For fifty cents!  This piece is beautifully done and that is all the people thought it was worth.  There are many hours invested in this piece.  Whenever I see something like this going for a pittance I grab it.  It is sad that families don't treasure the work that went into something like this.  At least it has found a good home and April treasures handwork  as much as I do.  It will be handed down.  Maybe not in it's own family, but it will at least be appreciated for a few more generations now.

Stepping down from the soapbox and trying to take the wee gifties away from the Terrible Two.  First they tried hiding them in the centerpiece.  I pointed out that even I could see them from across the room... So much for that idea.

Zar insisted that it should be snowing on the trailer... So it snowed on the trailer... Then Tessie wanted trees.(I knew what was coming next) Christmas trees equal Christmas presents... Yup.  All of the gifts that they were trying to hide before went under one of the trees.  Then I took a look at the tags... They ALL said, To Zar, To Tessie or To Spike.  All said From Santa...  At least they shared with the plus One...

Report on the Poinsettias... They are doing fine... 24 hours. The white spots are only drops of water...

Only 17 days 'til Christmas... I'm not holding my breath... Yet...

See you tomorrow.