One Last Day of Freedom....

That was today. Tomorrow it will be back to work!

I am going to start with Daisy's Cottage. She needs a place to come home to.

Everyone else has a place to live. She has waited long enough..

I am going to finish the kitchen first. Then the bathroom.  All I have to do is get the elephant in the tub to go elsewhere while I work. 

The kitchen shouldn't take too long.  I might just use the stove from Tessie's townhouse.  I hate to see it go to waste.

The baby elephant can stay in the bedroom for a couple of hours while I finish the bath.

He could use a good drying out.

I need to mop the floor and fold the towels. The rest is in pretty good shape.

The outside is finished...

The library needs a window and a door.  Other than that, It is pretty well finished.  It just needs a bit of cleaning here and there.

Tessie and Zar have taken over the observatory. I imagine that Daisy will be taking that over as soon as I am finished with the cottage. 

Tessie and Zar will have to go elsewhere to have fun!

This sign is on the kitchen wall. You have to lean inside to see it.

It's a bit hard to see without extra lighting. 

This is what I am going to be doing, right along with Daisy if this house doesn't get finished soon!

She has waited patiently for half a year for me to do this.  I stopped working on it a little before Christmas, last year. 

Time to get back to the serious stuff!

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!!!

So many Unfinished...

I still haven't found all of the roof pieces and some missing stair pieces of the Clockwork Cottage.  Until I do, it is impossible to finish it.

I think that it is going back to the top of the bookcase in the workroom for the time being.

I do have everything but the kitchen and the library finished in Daisy's Cottage.

It is a much better candidate for finishing...

There is also the Weaver's Workshop. Pretty much finished but doors and windows. Oh! And the wrought iron brace for the chimney.

Easier to move around and work on...

Last but not least is the Russian Cottage.  It is small and the inside shouldn't take that long. 

Yup. I am thinking of changing horses in the middle of the stream, once again...

Any of these three will be pretty fast to finish. 

I didn't find the pieces of the Clockwork Cottage roof, when cleaning out the workroom.  I know that they are there.  I just don't know where.

I might as well get something done while searching for the missing pieces.

I am going to draw a name out of a hat and get to work. Maybe while finishing the workroom the missing pieces will magically appear.  Wish me luck!  See you tomorrow.

More Cleaning...

Some of these, I am just cleaning up.  I am not decorating for Christmas.

This quarter scale does not really qualify for Christmas decorations.  After all, it is in the desert and no pine trees around.

 I guess that I could put a Christmas tree in this one, but again, it is not really right for Christmas dressing.

So.  Cleaning is what it gets.

 The houses that I have that are candidates for exterior dressing get some snow and a few pine trees... nothing fancy.

I need to fix the snow on this one... Not very well done yet.

This one always gets snow.  This is the first time I have bothered to put greenery out. I may have to go and find a few of my battery operated Christmas mini lights.

I am going to have to look for those tomorrow.  Wish me luck in finding them... The last time I looked, they were in the electrical drawer... But I may have taken them out to get ready for Christmas... If I did, I have no idea where I put them.

I did finish the shawl today.

I still have a couple of pieces of furniture to make for Amare's room box.  One week and two days until Christmas... Oops. I guess I should get to work!

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.

I Know I Can Do This!!!

Albert is not going to get Daisy's house and machines unless he can prove that he knows how to use them...

He is familiar with telescopes, so that part is not  a problem... 

He proved himself worthy of taking over that part of the cottage...

He seems to  like her choice of telescopes...

He also likes the rest of the front of the cottage. He has not seen the unfinished kitchen or the baby elephant that continuously cleans the bath tub...

That part should be interesting, when he gets upstairs.

Right now, he is mainly interested in the machines...

He is already complaining about having to use a rope ladder to get to the time machine...

Strangely, Daisy always thought of that as a workout before traveling...

Albert doesn't see it that way.  I have a feeling that he is going to want a staircase to the stars...

He wants to go somewhere far away and long ago for his first trip... Daisy is trying to get him to walk before he runs...

Once he got up there, he started complaining about running the time machine with a Ouija Board. 

Daisy explained that it was the easiest way... Just don't lose the planchette....

That's the key to the whole thing.

I have a feeling that there are going to be some arguments before he takes over.  And I am going to be the mediator and fixer of all of the bugs in the system...

Hey! It worked for Daisy.  I don't see why Albert can't adapt.

I am going to go somewhere, that isn't where they are, and watch Korean TV until they settle things...

Back to business. See you tomorrow.

Running Away From Home...

 First I went to Walmart this morning for a  few groceries...

I came home with this strange little pair of scissors.

You simply unlatch the orange part by sliding it forward. Then you press down on the orange part, with your thumb to cut things.


I have never seen anything like these before.

They are advertised as being extremely accurate in their cutting... We shall see.  So far, I like them.  I have only cut a piece of paper to see if they were sharp.  They are.

I still have to do something to see if they are as accurate as the makers claim... We shall see.

The next thing I did was listened to the little voices in my head that told me I should go to the Twenty Second Street Antique Mall...

I think that I am officially going to listen to those little voices more often.

Look what I found!  These are hand carved stone.  About 2 1/2"from top to bottom...

I am going to have to see if I can find out what kind of stone they are. Maybe some kind of jade?

I suspect that they are both the same kind of stone.  The first one is natural. The only thing wrong with it is there is a small piece missing from the tail of the bird on the left side.  I think that it can be covered within the design that I do.

This second one has a stain of some kind in all of the carved parts.

Anyway, I paid $5.00 a piece for them and I think that they will be good candidates for wire wrapping or beading...

Those little voices have been getting me into a lot of trouble lately, but I like what they are saying.

I have to go now and see how Albert is doing with his pitch to get the time machine away from Daisy.  He is trying to tell her that she works too hard and should retire from all of the time travel...

He has generously offered her the Nine Dollar Dollhouse in trade for her cottage and the time machine... Whom do you think will win this round??? I am betting on Albert, so far...

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.

Do Not Disturb!

Kota has made it official.  He now owns our closet.  He found an old cat bed in there, stored with a blanket inside... He has been there for the past two days. That's only when he doesn't want to be disturbed... He comes out when HE wants to. 

Me?  I have the first wall finished... Three to go.  Maybe another one this afternoon.

We also moved Daisy's cottage into the family room.  There is barely room on the table for the observatory, so Daisy opted to leave it in the living room.

Reggie is taking it over.  It doesn't go with the Forest Fantasy Cottage, but he is borrowing it for the time being...

Daisy doesn't care.  She is away, more than she is here.  She drops by for supplies. Right after I took the above photo, she grabbed some cookies from the kitchen and took off.  I have no idea where she was going or when she will be back. 

It will probably be when the cookies run out.

As for Tessie?  She's in the basket maker's cottage pouting.  No crown yet...

I am holding off as long as I can...It is going to be miserable around her when she comes to power...

See you tomorrow.

Still Celebrating...

We almost stopped the party and then April and Amare arrived.  More celebrating.

Amare brought me a dragon to protect the fairy garden.  I will show you the piece that April brought me as soon as I decide where it is going to stay for good.  It is wandering from place to place right now. 

Meanwhile, the Terrible two are trying to get my attention.  They want me back on the job NOW!

They want the Weaver's Workshop finished.  But the problem there is they don't want to move out of the upstairs portion so that I can work on the downstairs.  The woodworking shop may have to wait.

They are also fussing about me not finishing Daisy's kitchen.  Daisy doesn't care.  She is still at the party at the Clockwork Trailer.  It still seems to be going strong.

Zar and Tessie were measuring in the kitchen the last time I looked.  I can't figure out why they are so interested... Maybe because Daisy refuses to take anybody for a ride in the time machine until I finish her house.

I think that Spike has the right idea.  He has his eye on Daisy's favorite sign.  That seems to me a better idea than the usual "Keep calm and carry on!"

Walter, April and Amare went to the park and to pick up lunch.  I guess I should get to work and do something before they get back... Maybe I will install a sink or stove. Or maybe, just for fun, I will "Freak Out and Throw Stuff!"

See you tomorrow.

Late Again...

OK.  It is still officially the sixth.  Yes.  It's a little late, but I didn't scare anybody this time. 

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  Tessie had the lights on in the upstairs of her townhouse almost the whole night... Sitting in her chair reading and chomping on cookies. 

It's hard to sleep with all of that going on.

April, Seth and Amare came over this afternoon and I had Walter and Seth put a stop to the nightlife in the townhouse... Well at least as it was in the bedroom.

Please notice the empty table... almost...  Tessie still refused to move. She will be moved before I go to bed. 

I didn't have any place to work when the townhouse was sitting there.  Now I can get back to reality and start doing things that need doing.   

I had Walter and Seth move the townhouse back to the living room.  It is back where it started, by the kitchen door.

If Tessie starts keeping lights on all night, it won't bother Buffy and Spike.  They never sleep anyway... At least Spike doesn't.

And if Tessie gives them any trouble, I am sure that Spike will take care of it.  He's about the only one around here that she is scared of.  All he has to do is turn Vamp on her and she runs.

I moved the Observatory earlier and Walter moved Daisy's Cottage for me. They now sit where the townhouse and Casey's Craft Cottage were.

I am going to have to find something to hang on that wall.  It looks a bit bare.

I am thinking that there needs to be a path from the house to the observatory.

That should be easy enough to do with ceiling tile and movie trays.

I still have to finish the kitchen for Daisy too.  It's just a good thing that she doesn't cook.

The kids just went home and I am officially done for the day.

See you tomorrow.

Do Overs and Refills...

OK... Our family room is going to look like a jungle for another two nights. 

It was supposed to be 24 degrees last night.  It was 30.  Tonight and tomorrow night are also supposed to be below freezing...

Thus the jungle!

This morning, my friend Judy came over for curtain lessons... Thus the do overs in the title...

These are the curtains for Daisy's kitchen.  I took them off of the pin board to make room for something else. 

While Judy was learning the pin method of pleating, I was using these to demonstrate.  They needed repining anyway.

We needed white glue for hemming... Non of my glue syringes were working. So I taught Judy the fine art of refilling glue bottles.

These are Elmer's School Glue bottles.  They come three to a package. They are very cheap just before school opening every year.  They are handy dandy, but not with school glue.

I discovered that you can simply twist the nozzle the wrong way and it will come right off.  Then you can dump the school glue into a bottle. Rinse out this container and refill it.  Twist the nozzle back on, again in the wrong direction, and you have a handy, dandy carry around glue bottle with a fine tip.

With a bit of practice, you can get an extremely fine line of glue for hems and trims.

OK.  So these lines aren't perfect.  I was in a hurry.  Anyway, that's the tip for the day.  I have to get back to the Weaver's Workshop now.

See you tomorrow.

Anybody Got a Pencil?

 I cleaned up the desk this morning... There actually is a top on it... And a mat on top of that for cutting...I also found 79 pencils... No... Make that 83...

Four of them were in another pot.. Partially beaded.

I didn't count the artist's brushes that I found... Those also filled a jar. 

I went back to the clear containers.  It is easier to find things in them. 

Anyway.  Photo proof of cleaning.

I then went outside and did some cleaning on the back porch.  I won't show you that.  It's still not done.

I then came indoors and watched it snow on Daisy's cottage.  I installed a light in the observatory.

I like the eerie color of the little disc lights from Dollar Tree. 

Nobody is going to lift off the dome of the observatory.  That's the only way you can see where the light is coming from.

For the curious, I stuck it to the inside of the rim.  You can see the light if you wish to stand on your head.  Otherwise, you just see the weird blue glow.

I am now going back to work on the room or the porch... I guess I will have to toss a coin to see which one wins.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.