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.

Still Rearranging and Making Big Decisions...

 That's according to Tessie.  I moved the weaver's workshop off of the table this morning...

In order to have some place to put it, we are going to have to do some more rearranging.  I am running into all kinds of unfinished objects...

I had Mid Century Modern in this little box... However, Tessie says it's too small.  She keeps hitting her forehead on the glass when she gets up from the couch and complains that there is no room for a coffee table or her other  Mid Century Mod pieces.  I see a larger box coming... Or a whole redo of the townhouse first floor.  I don't know which is worse.

Next we found April's Russian Cottage...

Tessie immediately told me to put it back.  April doesn't have room for it.  And it's not for Tessie.

Two good reasons not to work on this one Right now.

I do believe that this one is going to be the one that wins... Unfortunately, Tessie is under the impression that it will stay in the bedroom and she can snore away the night in there... I don't think so.

I am going to have to either make curtains to go behind the dressing table or redo the window.  I am leaning towards the curtains.

Remember the piece of embroidery that I showed you a couple of weeks ago, that was part of a bench cover... This is where the other half went. 

I designed and carved the dressing table and matching stool years ago and needed a cover.  Part of the bench cover was easier than a whole new piece of embroidery and besides, it was already done!

Anyway.  That's as far as we have gotten today.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Now We Are Getting Somewhere!

This morning I went to look for more wood to finish the half timber.  I still need to frame some windows and do some more to the inside.

Not an easy task when the wood pile is in this state.  I pulled it all out and laid it on the bed.  Then I started sorting... This could take a while, since the Terrible Two insisted on helping.

They really want the Weaver's Workshop finished.

It took me a few hours to go through it all, but now if you ask me where something is, I can find it much more quickly than before the sorting.

Tessie even knows where some of it is!

I didn't label anything.  Once it is sorted, I can find it by sight.

I put most of it back.  I threw very little away.  Short pieces come in handy.

I sent Tessie in for the needed timber.  She did well.  We now have enough to finish the rest of the framing.

I am taking out the windows for do overs.  I didn't like the way some of them turned out.

This time I will do them right.

OH!  There was an added bonus! Remember me saying that the samovar for the Russian Cottage fell down from a top shelf?

I found it at the bottom of one of the waste baskets that I had the wood in.

It was simply made from a large wooden bead, painted with copper and a lot of jewelry findings.

Now we can complete the Russian Cottage, as well as the Weaver's Workshop.

Right after Tessie finishes making the tea.

I seriously need to get back to work!

See you tomorrow.  Hopefully with the windows replaced and the wood shed finished.

 

The Russians Are Coming!

This  morning, Walter and I went to see the new Star Wars movie... No spoilers here.  Good movie, but there will never be another one as good as the first one. 

When we got back, I worked on the Russian rug for a while...

A black background is always good for showing off needlework... If it doesn't move.

I got lucky.  Kota was not in the mood to move just because I laid something on his back. We won't talk about the look of disgust on his face...

After that, I decided that it might be a good idea to see if the rug was going to work... Size wise.  It did.

I am missing a samovar that I made when I was working on this before... I have the feeling that it is on the floor behind one of the bookcases that the cottage was living on over the past couple of years.

The balalaika and the furniture are all pieces that I copied from the real thing.

The bed slides under the roof on the right side in the daytime. 

Tessie did try it out when I first made it and approved, even though the cottage is not for her.

I think that I am going to have to put a base under it.  I prefer my houses with a bit of a yard.  That makes them look more natural to me.

This house will live here until April gets a larger real house.

This and the western movie set that I made a long time ago are hers... There is just no room for them at her place right now.

Yup.  The house definitely needs a base.  Now I am going to have to go research what kind of flowers to plant in a Russian garden... I know that sunflowers are one kind...

I also have to frame the windows and build a door. 

Back to work. 

Lots to be done.

See you tomorrow.

Behaving Myself...Kind of....

Several people have told me to go into the surgery "well rested".  I am taking their advice...

Yesterday, I found this pattern on a Russian website.  It looks to be very old.  I couldn't find any information about it, but I am just going to assume.

We went to the pre op place for an EKG and blood test this morning.  When we got back, Walter went off to play golf and I printed a copy of this rug pattern...

I think that the best way to relax and get ready is to do something that I find most relaxing.

Since I don't need any more socks right now, that means some cross stitch is in order.

This is the first really Russian rug pattern that I have found that I like.  I need a rug for April's Russian cottage... So.... Here I go again.

That is, if I can get the pattern away from Tessie.  She seems to think that it would look good in the weaver's cottage.

Since I have three rugs in there already... She's NOT getting it!

I drew it out on #24 congress cloth... It will be somewhat smaller than the original pattern.

Actually, it will be just the right size to go on the main floor of the Russian cottage.  Maybe that means that April's cottage will be the next thing I finish.

I'm sure that she will be happy to hear that.

Anyway.  I am going to go back and sit next to Kota and relax until Tuesday morning... Just kidding.  I am sure that I will find things that need to be done before Tuesday. 

Thank you all for your kind comments and letters.  I am really amazed that there are so many people that are behind me on this. I will be better in no time.  That's why I am being lazy for the next few days. 

I wonder how fast I can do a 15,000 stitch rug?  Maybe with a bit of help from Kota I will have it done by Tuesday... If it's not finished by then... It's his fault.  He keeps wanting to be petted...

See you tomorrow.

A Bad Case of Unfinished-itis....

I have to find a cure!...

I went through the house this morning, looking at all of the things that I have done...And haven't done...

I found that I have a bad case of unfinished-itis. Any of you that follow me regularly, know this. 

Usually, I don't worry about it.  When December hits, I start.

We are in charge of having the family, Christmas day.  And I start wanting everything to look nice.  Especially the things that sit at eye level.

The craft cottage is the easiest of the bunch.  It just needs a bit of straightening and the finishing of the rug... No problem-o.

Then there is Tessie's Townhouse.  It looks like a tornado hit it a while back... That was when I moved it from one side of the room to the other.  I had it facing the wall for a while... Now it is facing out and will be seen by one and all...

Tessie is not happy.  No wonder she is trying to take over Daisy's cottage...

This will take a bit more time.  I have never finished the lighting in this one... Oops!

Problem number three, for those that are keeping track... The half inch Fairfield sits on top of a bookcase, in the workroom.  Not so much of a problem... But... I started it in the 80s and the wallpaper inside is horrible now.

It can slide down the list a ways, because I can always blanket it. 

I had a friend that used to say... People are coming.  Get out the blankets!  Then she would simply cover the unfinished items...

Then there is the Clockwork Cottage.  Also on a top shelf... To blanket or not to blanket... That is the question... It is probably the most unfinished of all of them.

The $9.00 Mystery House is probably in the best shape, but I keep borrowing things from there to put in other rooms...

No wonder the owner never comes home... She has been over at Eskiaga's Southwestern Room for a number of years now...

I think that I am going to have to go around and collect the things that other people borrowed from her house.  Then it will be in pretty good shape.

These two are not last or least, but they do need to be finished.  The one on the left is April's Russian Cottage. 

I am not to worried about that one because April doesn't have any room for it at her house yet...  One of these days...

Again, these two cottages sit on top of bookshelves.  Not at eye level.  The weaver's cottage doesn't need a lot of work.  Inside framing and a few pieces of furniture.  This will probably be the first one of the high houses that gets finished. 

Anyway, I am going to stop working on other things for a while... I will keep working on Daisy's Cottage.  That one is down low. 

I need to get the rest of these to look good for the holidays.  Somebody stand beside me and poke me with a pointy stick when I stop working.  I have a lot to finish this month... Wish me luck!  I'm going to need it.

See you tomorrow.

On the Move Again....

Here I go again....This is where the table with the Russian Cottage was when I got up this morning...It went away.

In its place is the embroidery/tool chest.  Not much in the way of jewelry in here.  It a burglar tries for valuables in this, about all he is going to find is needles, thread and a few assorted half done rugs.

There is also the odd mini tool in a couple of the drawers.

This is how it's going to be for now.  We are having Christmas here this year and I have to do a little baby proofing here and there.  There's still a long way to go.

 

You may be asking where the cottage went...Well, maybe not, but I am going to tell you anyway. 

I moved the nasty, mean, sharp tools and the top heavy table into the workroom.  It is sitting in the corner by the closet.  That door never gets closed anyway.  I am thinking very seriously of removing said doors  they are just in the way most of the time.

There is a good sized space behind the table, so that I can still get to the stuff behind.

See the Terrible Two?  In the course of moving, They found some Christmas items...Zar immediately put on the Santa hat and refuses to take it off.  To quote him, "Santa needs all the help he can get with this crew!"

They had to test the twig/root stools, so they set out to make "Naughty and Nice" lists for Santa.  The stools work nicely.  Being three legged, they are hard to tip over.  I still think I would like a more generous seat, although they don't seem to mind.

Tessie has the "Nice list"....It is very, very short...
She just announced, "I only have one name.  Spike is at the top of the list...and the bottom."

That dog gets away with all kinds of mischief.  He just doesn't get caught.  He blames it on the neighbor's(my) cats.

Zar made the mistake of volunteering to enter names on the "naughty list".  He has been writing for more than an hour.  I do believe that everyone I know is on that list.  He's not very original.  On the gift side of the list he wrote at the top(by my name), "Big bag of coal!".  After that, he just kept putting in "same".  Then after he got tired of that, it was " " " " " " " " " " ".

He had better watch out!  I am going to sneak in tonight, after he goes to sleep, and put his name above mine and in the gift part, I am going to write....Coal Mine!  I'll show him!

See you tomorrow.

Preliminary Sketches...

OK...Here I go again.  I have started with just rough sketches of the pieces that I want to do for the cottage.

You saw the photo of the trunk yesterday.  This sketch is mainly to get the idea of how everything fits together in my little pea sized brain.

I am going to do it with a stain of steel wool and vinegar to make it look old.  It will take a day or two to make that.

Not sure about the straps.  I have a thin black metal sheet around here somewhere.  It was meant for scrap booking, but I think that it will work. If not, I may resort to leather strapping.

This chair came off of the same website.  Very primitive.  Again, I am drawing it to make notes of how it is put together.  I may change it a bit, but not much.

I am going to re stain the table that I made earlier.  I don't really like the color of it...

The chairs will or will not match that.

My favorite out of the stuff that I found is the stool made from tree roots.

This will be a "flying by the seat of my pants" kind of project.  I am hoping that I can find a suitable rosemary branch to simulate the root part.

Lastly, I found this basket on the Larusse site this morning.  Turn of the 20th century. 

I definitely want to make something similar for the cottage.  The weave is interesting in that it is the same weave that is used in a lot of Chinese baskets.  I have also seen it in African baskets. 

Interesting that people all over the world come up with the same way of doing things, even though they are far away from one another. 

I have one basket made with this pattern, but I have no idea where that one was made.

Anyway, that's all I have to report for today.  I am having fun with allergy eyes, so I don't plan to do a lot of fine detail work today.

See you tomorrow.

Thank You, Larusse

This morning I cleaned my closet out completely.  Even arranged the garments on colored hangers.  One color for pants.  Another color for shirts.  A third for jackets.  And so forth... This is just another way of being lazy. 

With this system, if I keep it up,(and I do for the most part)  I don't have to dig through the whole closet for a certain shirt or pair of pants.  I only have to dig through the orange hangers for shirts and the teal ones for pants.

I got everything changed over from summer to winter.  I am ready to roll now.

After that, I started looking on the net for things for the Russian cottage.  I found this. http://larusse.com/

It is a site that sells Russian antiques mostly.

The first photo is definitely going in the cottage or maybe on the outside somewhere.  According to the information on the site, it translates...."Do not leave the sticking out nails!".  I think that is a good warning for everyone.

Next, I found some ancestors from 1864.  They are a definite decor item. Everyone has ancestors of some kind...

This piece was from another site, but they didn't have much else in the way of Russian items, so I won't bother to put down the URL for the site.

I think that this chest will go well in the bedroom.  They have to have somewhere to store clothes, blankets and all.

After I leave here, I will be drawing up plans for this...It should be fun.  Notice the dovetails on the corners.  They are really crazy.

 

This is one of the oldest items that Larusse had on the site.  It is a stool made from a tree root.  At least that's what they say.  It looks to me as if the legs had been added into the center on the right side.

I kind of like it anyway.  Now all I need is a miniature tree with roots in that exact same shape...

Last, but not least, a page of samovars.  Just what I needed.  I still haven't found the one that is suspected to be behind a seven foot tall bookcase....And no.  I still don't want to unload that thing!

April and Amare are coming over in a bit, so I have to run now.

See you tomorrow.

Moving Right Along...

Yesterday, Walter brought home a present...He said that he bought it for my benifit... He neglected to add that he would have to drink what was inside.(rum)

He found this case at Costco.  He needed a gift for the Christmas party exchange at Raytheon.  Then he decided that we needed one too.  He knows what I like.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to get him to choose his own gift at the exchange and I will have two.  I wonder if that's legal?

For some reason, this reminds me of Doctor Who's Tardis.  Now, if I could only figure out how to make the inside larger than the outside...

Zar is trying to talk Tessie into trying it out....Notice his hand firmly on the lock...Notice her hand securly on the knob that the lock will have to go on....Complete standstill in negotiations.

I spent the morning finishing the trim on the backside of the Russian cottage.

I cheat a lot.  I cut the wood to size and paint it before applying it to the house.  It saves a lot of touch ups.

What did we do before the invention of painter's tape?  Love that stuff.

 I "watched" six episodes of "Castle" on Hulu, while working.  They are a lot shorter without all of the long commercial breaks, so they don't take as long as you would think.

Anyway, the back side is essentially finished.

It's a good thing.  I was running out of lace for trim.

All I have to finish on the outside/inside is the two windows and the door.

I did a bit of finishing on the fireplace alcove.  I am going to have to start making furnishing decisions soon. 

I need to hunt up the Russian cottage websites that I found when I was originally working on this.  I think that the URLs  for them are in the original entries about the Russian Cottage. 

You will have to entertain yourself whilst I go look.  It may take a while.

See you tomorrow.

Miscellaneous Endeavors

The first thing this morning, I made a run to town and came up with this!

I bought those little round containers that you see in the photo, in the craft department(jewelry) at Walmart.  Each one hold six different kinds of whatever you want to store.  I started putting jewelry findings in them.  they work great, however, when it came to storing them, I didn't like the container that they offered to put them in. It would only hold six.  It was made of heavy cardboard of some kind.  You couldn't see what was in each of the little round things without lifting them out of said container.  So....I have been looking for a way to stack them.  I thought of putting them on some kind of rod, maybe like a paper towel holder....They were too thick.  This morning I thought of the little towel stands for hand towels that people keep on their counters for guests...I am not that fancy.  And besides, as tall as they are, they would only hold about six, too.

These toilet paper holders were standing right beside the little towel thingies.  The light bulb above my head exploded.  This holds twice as many thingies as the one that the craft department does. I can see what is in each one, without taking them all out.  And the price was half of the fancy one in the craft department...Made of metal and will probably last forever...  Can you tell that I am a happy camper?

We went over to April and Seth's for lunch yesterday.  A week from Monday will be Amare's first birthday.

April is dressing him in hand me downs!

This shirt is one that I embroidered for her when she was three years old.  I kept some of her baby clothes and this was the prize.  It is only a little big on Amare. 

It had girly hearts for buttons.  Her name was on the pocket. 

April and I tried it on him to see if it could be made more boy like. 

It already had Oscar the Grouch on the back.  Yes, I did every stitch from scratch.  Oscar was her favorite when she was little.

Amare, on the other hand is more of an Elmo kind of guy.  Not at all grouchy.

It was decided that the girly heart on the sleeve would be Amare's first tattoo...I embroidered "Mom" over the heart.

Then I crossed out April's name on the pocket with yellow Xs. and embroidered AMARE above that.  I am now in the process of changing the buttons.  Instant(almost) boy ready shirt. It has held up pretty well for thirty odd years.  Maybe when Amare has kids, we can give it another makeover...

Yes.  I did minis this morning too.  The trim is around the windows of the Russian cottage. 

As soon as I get off of this infernal machine, I am going back and work on it some more.

Tessie and Zar are helping, so it is taking twice as long to do everything.  I don't have the advantage of sending them to clean up the workroom now....Maybe cleaning up wasn't such a good idea after all...

Gotta get back to work.

See you tomorrow.

The Basket is Back....

I know...I said that I wasn't going to bring the laundry basket back in the workroom.  But...It is so much easier to distribute the little things from that, than is is from the floor.

Good news!  I found all of the supplies for the Russian Cottage last night.

See the jar to the left?  That's it!  It has all of the lace and wood needed to finish it.  I was a bit worried, because I couldn't remember where I had hidden the filigree fan blades.  No problem now.

Yes!  That's actually the floor.  I moved the desk back to it's former position in front of the window.  It makes the room look huge....The only problem?  The Terrible Two can sneak up on me now.

To the right, you can see the overrun of all of my jewelry making supplies. 

I have most everything in the right area now.  I just have to put everything in its place.

Here's proof that I will be able to walk around the room with ease now.

New Rule:  I can only drop things by the door "to put away later", if they fit on the eight inch square table by the door....Let's see how long that rule lasts.  Three pieces of fabric on top now....They are on their way to the fabric closet.

You were probably wondering about the infamous laundry basket.  Here it is, in all its glory.

I piled books on the shelves to be sorted into categories later today.  The object of the exercise was to see the floor....I did that!

Now I have to refine the sorting.  So far, I am very happy with the results. 

I am going to quit for a while and start working on the Russian cottage immediately.  I am thinking window trim will be next.

Did you notice Tessie's new tuffet in the first picture?  You may have to poke the photo to see.  Her new title is Spider Tamer Extraordinaire.  She put him on a leash and is stuffing him with dead flies every time he opens his mouth to complain.  Hey!  It works!

See you tomorrow.

Two of the Russians are Missing!

Not only is the samovar missing, but the Russian antique rug that I started ran away too.

Could it be that it didn't like where it was living?

I thought it was in one of these four drawers or the little attache case....Nope.  Nowhere to be found.  Neither the started rug or the pattern. 

Luckily, I knew where the pattern could be found.  I went and printed another copy.

If you are at all interested in antique cross stitch patterns, this picasa site is great.  There are both Russian and Sajou French pattern books.  
https://picasaweb.google.com/collectionofmotifs

All of the patterns that you see here are Russian ones from the site.  The one that Tessie is holding is the one that I started....

All of the drawers in the first photo are full of fabric to do rugs on and fabric with partially finished rugs.  Sooner or later they all get finished.  It just depends on which one I need.  I am sure that I will be getting a lot more done on them after the new glasses come.   I can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, I made the Terrible Two clean off the mess on the work table this morning.  Yes.  There actually was a table under there!

Now it looks way to neat and tidy.  I need to go get to work and scatter some tools and wood around.  Then it will at least look like I am working...

No.  I really am going to start working as soon as I get off of here.  Honest.

There really isn't all that much to do now. Except for cleaning up the mess of fabric that I scattered whilst looking for one tiny piece with the start of a rug on it...

Well.  At least I have more fabric and thread.  I can always start all over again.  I am very good at starting...It's the finishing that I have trouble with.

See you tomorrow.