Another Point of View...

I am going to need a bigger pot and a fluffier plant in the middle... This one was just to see how a plant would look here.

I am unimpressed with this one... Needs to be bigger for sure!!!

 It totally disappears when you step off of the porch.

I am not impressed!

I came back in the house to get the camera and this hit my eye.  I am now debating if I want to sacrifice this to the outside world.  I am sure that it will get ruined if I put it out there...

It would make the whole thing much better than it is right now... The question is... Do I want to sacrifice this piece.  I am going to have to think on it for a couple of days...

Maybe I should work on a rug or a pair of socks for a while so that I can debate with myself over the sacrifice...?

Back to find something else to do until I decide.  It sure would look great out there!

Somebody push me in the right direction... I am on the fence!

See you tomorrow.

Kota Did It!

OK. I can't really blame the mess on Kota this time.  This is what happens when I decide to do stonework in the bedroom...

Kota was just taking a  nap. I made the mess...

 I finished the stonework on the top of the room box. I am still not sure that I like the flat roof.  I may have to do something to fancy it up.

Yes. Tessie is still asleep. I took the box top over to the bed and did the rocks over there. Every once in a while I could hear heavy sighs over there... They were alternating with loud snoring. 

Mostly, it was the snoring.  I don't think that I was disturbing her.  The noise was irritating me though....

 This is the finish that I am considering for the rocks on the bedroom. 

I like this finish and I think that it would go well with the interior.

I may have to think about it, but it is top on my list.

While looking for other things to consider for castle rooms, I thought of this birdcage.  I would probably make the back three panels the same rock work as the other two. 

I am thinking that it would lend itself to a library and maybe an observatory in the top dome. 

Just considering it. 

I am going back to work on the stonework on the bedroom now.

One thing at a time.

See you tomorrow.

Uncaged!

I found one of the old birdcages in the garage this morning.  I started painting it to use with the new wicker...

I didn't get very far. Tessie saw what I was doing and grabbed the paintbrush out of my hand and threatened..."Do you want me to paint you to death?"

I am not exactly sure how one gets painted to death, but I also don't want to find out how!

It came to the point where neither one of us would back down... Then Tessie said, "If we can't agree on what to do, maybe it isn't worth doing..."  She had a point.  Neither one of us was going to be happy for the rest of the day if I kept painting... And besides, I didn't want to get painted to death.  It doesn't sound like fun!

So I took one side of the cage in question and she took the other.  We carried it out to the garbage bin and tossed it in.  Tessie almost went in with it, but I caught her just in time.

The banana bread came out of the oven about that time.  I had a slice.

Tessie grabbed a knife and started chopping herself a piece.

When she chops, she doesn't mess around.

She took a whole corner out of it. She could barely carry it...

I cleaned up the kitchen and Tessie disappeared, bread and all!

I finished in the kitchen and went to look for her.  I figured that, where her new settee was, she would be.

I was right. She is currently ensconced in the chair.  She zapped it to the basket shop.  That is the closest room to the big TV in the bedroom.

She is now mesmerized by  one of my Korean Dramas on VIKI.  She is munching on banana bread and trying really hard to ignore Spike. He does like his banana bread.  I may have to make a tray for little people with lots of tiny slices.  They all seem to like it.  The only trouble is... When I provide enough food, the party starts.

I have a feeling I am going to be pulling  little people out of the punch bowl for the rest of the afternoon.

See you tomorrow.

Where Did the Sun Go???

This is what Tucson skies look like today.  Icky.  No sun, what so ever!  I took this photo out of the car window this morning... At a stoplight.

A friend of mine, over in England wanted a good book to read in a genre that she hadn't read before.  I suggested Lonesome Dove, a western.  She bit and started reading.  The she said that she had to look things up as she went.  She wanted to know what they meant by high chaparral.  The easiest way to tell her was show her a photo.  This is what the land between our house and town looks like.  I marvel at the people that went across this land in covered wagons, through this rough country.  Even worse, they decided to settle in the middle of this and carve out the town of Tucson.  It couldn't have been easy.  Anyway Beryl, this is for you.  Real high chaparral.  There are Mesquite trees, Palo Verdes, Greasewood, Choilla cacti... Also known as Teddy bear and jumping cacti.  If you get to close they drop little segments of their branches that stick to your clothes... I will have to take more photos to send to Beryl.  In another month, it will look completely different.  Everything will be in bloom and will smell wonderful.  OK.  Enough about real life in AZ. 

I had a dental appointment yesterday and that was not as good as running into Choilla cacti..

Today I am trying to talk myself into doing something to the observatory... I need to paint, but I don't like doing that when there is no natural light coming in . 

So... I started thinking about what is going to happen to the birdcage...

The more I look at it, the smaller the floor seems...

It is smaller than the observatory!  I am not sure that I want to work on something that size right after the other one...

Would you believe that the door bell just rang and it was Fed Ex with the contest kit from HBS!  It did and it was!

OK.  Saved by the bell!!!

The birdcage is going to live on the back porch for a while...

I did do a couple of drawings of it this morning... After figuring out how small the floor space really is, I may have to add it to another project as a front entrance.

There just isn't any room for furniture, but I still like it a lot.

.Meanwhile, I guess, if all else fails, I could go clean my workroom for a while... Didn't I just do that?  What happened?

Back to reality.  I need to check it......

Oh I just remembered. A new kit... Forget reality!

See you tomorrow.

Another Infernal Tower!!!

I didn't get much stitching done yesterday.  Had to go to the Wednesday Witches' Mini Meeting...

The more of the peacock blue I put in, the more I like it.  I think that Giac is right.  The gray is dull...

I am thinking a golden yellow color of some kind.  Still undecided..

I think that I am going to keep plodding along and finish the peacock blue first

Another "Here we go again!" situation popped up this morning...

I made my usual stop at Goodwill, on the way home from town.

I am now the proud owner of this...  Do I need another tower.  Did I want another tower...

Answer... Not until I saw this birdcage!  I love the shape. I am going to have to think about what it is to be. 

Maybe Tessie, Zar and Spike can come up with something...

I also found this book.  There is a method to my madness in buying this...   Last week, someone from Hobby Builder's Supply http://www.miniatures.com/Creatin-Contest-W1826.aspx  contacted me.  They wanted to know if I would like a free kit for  the contest that they run every year.  They know I don't enter, but I often buy the kit if it's something I can use.  I don't often enter any kinds of contests.  Just not my thing.

The kit that they are putting out this year is a good sized building and has a curved roof.  Very interesting.  All I have to do is talk a bit about the contest as I do the build...

I noticed that Brae over at Otterine's blog is also doing it... She always enters the contest, so she has to do two.  That's more than I want to do. 

I don't know how many bloggers they contacted.  It will be interesting to see how many people do it just for fun.

I will probably try to finish the cottage and observatory and then the next thing will be the HBS kit. They told me that they would probably be shipping them starting this week.(update, I was just notified that the kit has been shipped.) Thus the book.  The building looks very mid century mod to me. 

Good Luck to Brae and all of the other contestants. 

I am going to do mine at my leisure.  And you will get to come along for the ride.

See you tomorrow.

                                      

It's Time to Call it a Day......

The party's over....

I got up and finished the rug this morning.  I did the usual glue hem method that I use.  I simply smear white glue over the last rows on the edge, making sure that it covers a row or two of plain canvas.  Then I let it dry and trim it down.

I don't like rugs that are turned under.  Toooooo thick.

I still need to snip a few tails here and there, but otherwise it's done. 

Did I mention that I treated it so that it will be impervious to bug beer and other potions?  Let them spill their drinks.  I'm not worried.

Yes, that's bug beer that you see.  The weaver is a bit careless.  Not to worry.  The rug is fine.

How do I know?  As soon as I finished it and took the photos, Tessie grabbed it and shouted, "OK.  Party's over!  Everybody go home.  I need a nap!"

Then she proceeded to wrap herself in the rug and start snoring loudly. 

Since some of the attendees had already passed out or were close to it, I didn't bother to chase anybody out.  As long as they are quiet, they can stay where they are.

It was a good party, as Tessie's parties go.  No fights.  Just happy bug beer drinking and fortunetelling. 

I am not  cleaning up after this bunch.  Tessie can do that whenever she decides that she has had enough napping.  I am on to other pursuits. 

See you tomorrow...

"I Just Can't Wait Any Longer...."

That was Tessie about an hour ago... I made a mistake.  I put the signs on the side of the building before I finished the carpet...Bad move.

The sign was done on The Print Shop 15.  I simply did the lettering in a text box and added a frame.  Then I printed it on parchment paper.  After I cut it out, I added all of the gold with the same stuff that i did the front of the booth with earlier.

A party ensued as soon as the signs were in place.

Tessie was wandering around telling everyone that there would be two fortune tellers in residence for one day only....No waiting....Unless the junior fortuneteller disagreed with the head fortuneteller...Then....Well you know what happens when they disagree.  Poor Zofi.

You have to enlarge the first photo to see what the bottom says....It says, "your fortune is in your own hands".  Smart move on Tessie's part.  No guarantee that her predictions will come true if you screw it up yourself...

It only took about 15 minutes to found up everyone.  That included the time it took to get Zofi out of her spell.

I will probably add a few more things to the inside.  That can be done when I run across anything that has been hiding in the workroom.

As usual, it is getting louder as the morning goes on...I don't think it will stop any time before one or two in the morning....

Personally, I am going to close the bedroom door and let them carry on until they run down.

The workroom is on the other side of the house, so let them have their fun.

Who knows?  Maybe I will find a new project whilst rummaging around.

On second thought, I only have an hour or two of stitching left on the Gypsy rug.  Maybe I can find a quiet corner and finish that...

See you tomorrow.

It Was An Accident....Honest!!

I finished the right side this morning.  Now all I have to do is make some signs to go on the outside walls...

I used to have to make all of my signs with hand lettering...I am thankful that somebody thought to add that kind of thing to computers.  Lots of fancy lettering almost instantly. 

As for the inside, all I have to do is finish the rug and I will go all out and do a draped table with a puddled bottom....I haven't done that before. It will be more fun than trying to make an even hem on a round table, for sure.

If I get to it and work on the rug, It should be finished in a few days...The draped table won't take long.

But....Tessie is already nagging to have it finished.  I don't think that this was her favorite project...Once done, it will probably be neglected.

The fascination will wear of quickly.  I know.  The Terrible Two look engrossed in the Ouija board right now, but that's because I accidentally spilled one of the bottles of forgetfulness powder on the floor.  It really was an accident.  I didn't get the stopper glued in well enough...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I don't know how long it takes for that stuff to wear off, but I did spill the whole bottle.

It certainly is peaceful around here this morning.... Maybe I can get something done for a change.

Please don't sneak in and vacuum the rug when I'm not around.  Just let it wear off naturally...Please....

See you tomorrow.

Where's Zofi???

 At least I got an apology from Tessie for "disturbing the pieces".  Note the spelling...  Yes.  She was talking about the ruckus that she caused a couple of days ago, whilst throwing a hissy fit in my work room....

No offer to clean it up or compensate for the damage....Just a simple "Sorry about that."  Then she went on her merry way.  I guess I will be cleaning up after her, once again.

I have other things to put on the wall of the booth, but I needed a Phrenology chart, so I went to my handy dandy Bing images section....I am amazed at the number of different ones there are. There must be a lot of people that like reading bumps on heads.  Also interesting is the variations on what certain areas mean...

I printed one out for Junior  Tessie to use in the booth.  Don't ask....I haven't solved the mystery yet, but last night I looked in to see how it was going and....low and behold, Zofi and her gold table were nowhere to be seen!

Just now, when I typed Junior, Tessie stomped on my fingers and made me cross it out...

She then announced that she had paid a goodly amount and got back what was rightfully hers.

I didn't have the nerve to ask how much...She and Zar have spent the morning searching for ancestors with the Ouija board.  I am not sure what the purpose of that particular exercise is.  Rich relatives that may have left Tessie something to pay off the fortunetelling booth?

I am very pleased to report that the one thing that Zofi left behind is a success.  The Chinese lantern(metal) stuck to the book light(plastic) Is stuck fast and the light shines nicely through the silk panels.  I haven't installed it permanently yet, but it looks pretty good just as it is now.

Anyway, I don't have time to look for Zofi right now.  The kids are coming over for BBQ in a little while.  I will try finding her later.  I imagine that Tessie zapped her someplace to keep her quiet...Probably somewhere in the no man's land that I call a laughingly call a work room.

See you tomorrow.

Zofi! You Had Better Watch Out!

Not only is Tessie on the warpath....I think that I'm backing her up on this one...

Zofi found the gold leafing pen while I was sleeping...

When I got up, there was a strange purple light coming from my bedside table.....And there was Zofi, weilding the gold leafing pen on the base of the Chinese table...

It doesn't look bad in the photo, but in real life, the coat is uneven and the only thing that she didn't paint was the tabletop.

To add insult to injury, she left the cap off of the pen and now I don't have any gold leafing left that isn't brick hard.

Back to the strange purple light...I left a coffee cup on the table and Zofi put it to good use...Or maybe it was bad use.  I don't know yet.

She is pretty handy with a pair of pliers and Aleene's Jewelry glue.

She found one of my old chinese lanterns and proceeded to try to glue it to the book light.

Mind you, she had to tear it out of the booth, clamp it to my coffee cup and then get the glue on and the light in the right place before it all dried wrong.

I left it there.  I want to see if it works before I banish her back to the Witch's Warehouse.

She is now back inside with Mick, guarding the place.

She put my half finished rug under the newly painted table.  I do hope that the feet were dry.

She also found a copy of a Chinese snuff bottle that she seems to be thinking of using for a stand for one of her crystal balls...

I didn't tell her that she is being closely watched and may be zapped if she isn't careful.

Let her have her fun today....Later she just may pay the price!  The Terrible Two(and a half) are watching from above...

See you tomorrow.

Tessie Meets Her Match?

I permanently installed the front draperies this morning.

This is before all of the fancy work was added.  Awfully sedate.

Just wait....

I added a lot of the rayon ropes that I made and went through my jewelry findings for extras.  I tried beads, but didn't like them. 

This is what I ended up with.  Now for the inside....

That is what caused all of the ruckus this morning.

It seems that Junior thought that Tessie was going to spring for the interior fittings. 

Are you kidding?  The biggest skinflint in Arizona is not going to sell a shop and then come back and decorate for the new owner....We knew that there had to be a catch somewhere, when Tessie agreed to sell so easily.

There was almost a clawing and scratching argument before they were done.

Personally, I think that Junior was just lucky that Tessie didn't tear down the draperies and take them with her when she left.

About an hour later, Tessie reappeared.  Junior was ready for her.

It seems that Junior has been taking care of Mick, the jaguar that Tessie left to fend for himself when he got a bit testy with her one day.

Now he is Junior's guardian....No more Tessie.

I stood back and Zar had a ringside seat on the roof whilst the two went at it, once again.

I won't repeat all of the things that were said.  You don't want to hear that.

I will repeat Junior's final words though. 

It goes as follows...."OK.  I will pay for my own furniture and accessories, but the contract that we signed is null and void.  The establishment will, from this day forward be known as "Three Moons Fortunetelling".  Mick will be guarding the front door at all times....Sometimes he gets pretty hungry. Witches are his favorite food... And one other thing! STOP calling me Junior!  My given name is Zofi!"

I have never seen Tessie without an answer back before....However, she did turn to me and hiss...."Finish this quick!  I need a new project to run.  NOW!"

With that, she zapped away.  Zar and Spike disappeared at the same time.  I don't think that I want to go near my workroom for the rest of the day....I hear things being thrown around and feet being stomped.  I think I will tend to my knitting....

See you tomorrow.

Sold to the Highest Bidder....

This is the last of the curtains.  I pinned and sprayed it this morning.  With this one, the front opening curtains will be ready to install.

I decided that the front opening needed at least one panel that would calm the others down a bit.  After all, I haven't gotten to the trims yet...

I am still working diligently on the rug.

I am close to being done with the inner border....And I finished the second hat too.

I still have to make some decisions on furnishing...

However....The new owner may have something to say about that.

Tessie informed me late yesterday that she was "unloading the place".  She told me, "I have decided that I don't want to invest my time in reading tea leaves and stars and palms and bumps on people's heads...

Shortly thereafter, I caught her exchanging money for goods with Tessie Jr. 

Tessie got cash and gold pieces up front.  Junior has yet to get the deed...

I found out that there was an auction of sorts.  Zar was the other bidder.  It seems that was Tessie's way of getting a better price for the place.  He bid until Tessie gave him the signal and then dopped out when she was satisfied. 

It's OK though.  Junior is the niece of the also nameless straw into gold spinner at the top of the Witch's Warehouse.  I suspect that the gold will turn back to straw after a reasonable length of time.  Tessie had better spend it fast!

By the way. Notice the eerie light coming from overhead in the booth?  No magic involved.  I found a clip on book light with a bendable stem at Dollar Tree.  It is perfect.  Purple shade.  Clamps to the inside of the roof.  They claim that it will last for a year....Hey!  Not bad for a dollar.

I have to go chase Tessie down now and see if she will split the money with me for supplies and work....Probably not, but I can try, can't I?

See you tomorrow.

Busy Monday....

As usual, Monday is busy, but I had to stop and show you that the rug is going to fit. 

And the table is going to get painted, once again.  It keeps looking worse and worse.Or maybe we just need a different table...

One more curtain panel to go...

As for the rug, I am almost a quarter of the way around the outside now... I think that I am about half done...That's if you want to be realistic about it...

Each of the stripes have 10 stitches....It repeats every five rows...50 stitches a repeat...

I resisted up until I realized those numbers above...I counted....

Are you ready for this?  Stupid rug will have 10,275 stitches in all!  Right now, I have other things to do....Real life jumps out at me once in a while....I have to get back to work...

See you tomorrow.

Another Curtain Call....

This morning, my friend Joan came over for a few hours of minis...A good time was had by all.

She found a new doll mold at Michael's for a dollhouse sized lady.  You push the poly clay in the mold parts and then you are responsible for the back sculpting....That's the hard part.

Between the two of us, with her doing the work and me making silly suggestions, she got two parts finished.  At one point, she said it looked like a character from "Planet of the Apes".  Shortly after that I suggested that she turn it into Gargamel from the Smurfs, so she wouldn't have to put hair on the head.....That should give you some idea of how it was going...I guess you had to be there to understand what fun we were having...

Anyway, I got another curtain pinned, sprayed and fitted.  Hey!  That's progress!

I now have only one curtain to go!

Tessie was standing by and when I said that she could try it out, she couldn't wait.  She brought in a ringer.  The gypsy that has been telling fortunes in the Witches Warehouse since day one.

 Since the gypsy has never had a name, Tessie has been calling her "Junior".  The explanation? 

Tessie explained with, "If we call her junior, it will be easier to change the name of the place...It's much easier just to add "Jr." than to print a whole new name.

Personally, I think Tessie just wants to keep her name on the booth, even though someone else is doing all the fortunetelling.

Junior is in trouble already.  She flounced in.  Turned her back on Tessie and announced, "Hi Zar.  My name is Tessie Junior and I will be reading your palm today."  She totally ignored Tessie...Zar grinned a lot. 

I walked away.  I didn't want to see any of the bloodshed when things erupted.  I am now going to work on the last curtain, with the door closed.

See you tomorrow.

More Curtains, More Rug...What Else is New?

Still plugging along on the curtains.  While they dry, I work on the rug....Notice I said "I". 

The Terrible Two only show up when photos are being taken now.  They are both as bored as I am with all of these pins and needles. 

They can run away.  I can't.

The first thing I did this morning was change the top piece inside.

I definitely like the orangish red better than the dark purple.  I am still not sure about the tie dye either...

I unpinned the top of the right outside curtain from the pin board and realigned it in the pin board, so that the bottom of the curtain didn't have to be made separately.

This is another one of those "cheating to win" things.

When the top half of the curtains is on the straight of goods, if you bend it to fit the bend in the building, You can just keep going if you work it right.

I wanted this to be one long piece so that it would drape well.

I can't glue it in until I get a couple of other front pieces cut and pleated.  This one goes behind the others, but this is the one that will be the most noticeable.

Now that I know that this one works, the rest will be comparatively easy to do.  This is the only one that bends in the corner at an odd angle.

I still have to pin and spray the puddle at the bottom.

I have been going back in time and watching Jennifer Garner in "Alias" on Netflix whilst I work this morning....Lots of dialog, and in English, so I can follow what is going on without much looking at the screen.

While the curtains dried, I got lots more of the rug done.  All of the gold in the motifs is finished and I am almost up to half the background.

I also cleaned the stove and several drawers in the kitchen....And....It's not even noon!  That's what I get for getting up at 4:30AM.  I think I deserve a nice afternoon nap now....

See you tomorrow.

Cloudy Skies...Headache Weather...

It's a warm, cloudy day here and my sinuses don't like it at all.  Most irritating.

I finished installing the back draperies this morning and I am not really sure if I like them.  the last two colors that I put in are not pleasing me...  Maybe it's just the dark purple at the top that really bothers.

I strung in a lot of the rayon ropes here and there.  I kind of like those.

This photo does give you a better view of the under, antique pulled work I love that part.  I imagine it took someone a rather long time to do that.  I am just glad that I could put it to use.

The piece that looks blue up in the left corner, is really more lavender. The only reason that I mention this piece is....See the nice fringe at the edge?  That is the selvage of the material...I didn't have to do anything at all to it. That's the way it came from the bolt.

Last, I did get more done on the rug.  All of the gold is done in the medallions and the three at the left are done, including the background.

I am still trying to decide on an outer border...I still have a few days to think about it.  It will take me that long to finish the inner portion of the rug.

Sorry this is short.  I am now on my way to find the aspirin bottle and a glass of water.

See you tomorrow.