Take the Good With the Bad ( News )

My siding arrived last night!! Hoorah!!! and the walls of Garfield are almost complete with the prep-sanding and wiping them down. I ordered all I should need, plus extra, in one pop...560 strips in all, ready to cover the exterior of my house, EXCEPT...always an "except", they need sanding. All of the edges are feathered and rough and, being a neat freak, that's not good enough. I want the siding to be smoother than it is, so I'll sand some, glue them on, sand some more, glue them on. Everything about this baby has pretty much needed sanding. I resigned myself to that fact a long time ago. In the next few days, during my favorite TV shows and old movies, I'll be running an emery board across the edges. The actual broad sides are fine. I will be sanding for a few days before I start on the right Parlor wall.

In the same shipment is my newest experiment-corner guards, an architectural detail in so many Victorian homes. These are 4 3/4 inch long posts, described by Harry at Miniatures.com to be precisely 1/8" plus a hair wide. Size wise, they are perfect for the need, but I'll need to tweak them in some way to make them snuggle into the outer corners of the walls, to prevent injury to them when bumped into by the tea cart. I am in no way disappointed with these at all and I hope they restock them as I'll be wanting more, both for The Garfield, but also for The Alison, Jr.


I am so delighted being able to get back to my hobby, even though it does begin with the inevitable sanding.

Getting My Act ( Back ) Together

Finally, finally, finally, the last of Christmas has been crammed into it's boxes, everything back where it's supposed to be, and I've done the last of the cleanup and Christmas vacuuming!!! I absolutely am nuts about Christmas, but procrastinate about putting it back in it's boxes. Anyway, I can go back to work on The Garfield Manor, but first........................

I have to get the big table out from under the bed, move the house to it, so that I can use the smaller table to work on in the "spare" room. I have to get out my tools and other supplies and set up my working area all over again. Oh, how I wish I had a little world where I didn't have to put things up and hide them for neatness sake! And, I need to move the Alison, Jr. ( on a wheeled cart ) back into the dining room for the extra space in here.

According to the directions, it's time to put the small tower room together and, then, the roof, but, instead, I'm going to put on the siding, as it'll be so much easier and neater if the roof isn't in my way. I have a shipment of siding to arrive early next week and I want to be ready for it as soon as it gets here. I L-O-V-E how Gina ( http://www.moreminis.com ) just did a recap on applying siding and I've gone over it a few times and I feel like I'm ready.

Over the next few days, I'll be sanding down the tabs and slots, making sure that all the surfaces are as flat as possible and wipe them down, so there'll be no dust or debris to prevent the glue from holding properly.

Don't laugh....I am actually quivering with excitement about getting back to work on this baby. It's been almost 2 months since I last did anything other than show her off or sit and dream about the plans I have for her. I have truly, truly missed working on The Garfield and have felt that something was missing from my life.

WOW!!!!!! An Award...Twice!!!

I am delighted that 2 of my fellow bloggers have passed on this blogging award. It was truly unexpected...actually unheard of, until it came my way-twice. I thank you, Jodi ( http://minileapsandbounds.blogspot.com/) and Gina (moreminis@blogspot.com) and am passing it on. Now, I'm not really sure how this works, though I did read "the directions"-always important-which said I could pass it on to up to 15 people. Well, if I read that many blogs, I wouldn't have the time to do very much at all, but I do have a few favorites that I try to stop in on at least every week.

First, I'd like Sumaiya ( http://thegarfieldblog.blogspot.com/) to share in this and I think she's already received it from someone, but I would be remiss in overlooking her. Sumaiya has walked me through the steps of blogging, kindly holding my hand and encouraging me all the way. It was watching her own Garfield building that took me to her.

Next, I passing it right back to Gina,( http://moreminis@blogspot.com ) whose site I've been to so many times, since it is full of helpful hints and tips that have never crossed my mind. And her Victorian sites have filled my head with ideas for my Garfield.

I'm also passing it right back to Jodi, ( http://minileapsandbounds.blogspot.com/ )who also admits to being "obsessed" with minatures and whose site is so full of information.

Next comes Larry Marshall (http://woodnbits.com/blog/ ) who will most likely laugh that I think his head is so full of information and I would like to crack it open like a coconut so I could get to it.

For Doreen ( http://doreensminiatures.blogspot.com/ ) who actually just started her blog recently, but is already a favorite from e-mails at MCC.

And, Tiffany (http://minimischief.blogspot.com/ ) who gets her fingers into anything she sees and seems to make everything in her life fun.

I could go on and on, but golly, there's not enough hours in the day. I think it's important to note that, I'm sure, all of us started out with " Who's gonna read what I have to say?" and have been surprised when we find out there are many folks out there supporting us, not just our families, who are obligated to read our thoughts. I have days when blogging feels like homework and others where I can't shut up, but it took me a while to realize that I really did have some folks following my words and I feel honored, especially when I had to be talked in to it by Sumaiya, who went so far as to set it up for me, thank you, dear. I still am surprised by the support from others and this ( not so little, to me ) award just encourages me.

Well, pass it on, ya'll, and keep up the great work, as I always am needing your advice, entertainment, and encouragement.

And, about the Garfield, which is, after all, what this blog is all about, I have an order in for siding that should be delivered about the time I get Christmas all packed back up in it's boxes, and the fun will continue in the blog in just a few days.

Getting the Itch Back

As you know, I've taken the Holidays off and concentrated on my big house. Now that Christmas is over, I'm wanting to get back into my Garfield and work/play with it, but I have to put up Christmas and that'll take another week or so.

Hobby ( Lobby ) wise, I made out like a bandit with over $100 in gift cards from family and friends that I plan to use only for the Garfield, though, if something comes up, I'll use it for non-dollhouse purchases. Many mini thanks to Sue, Angie, Cindy, Sean, and my darling hubby, Ed for making my Christmas merry for my miniature world. And, my friend, Lexie, gave me several pots and pans for a kitchen, though none of my houses have one. It's fine, though, and just confirms my thoughts of building the now unseen part of the Garfield in the future......my mind has it all planned, in fact, and there will be plenty of room in the future addition.

I have used one gift card already, but for my Alison, Jr. and not the Garfield. I needed a better diningroom set and found a nice one at HL that has made me smile more than the one I had made for it in the beginning. The chairs are what made me buy it....gold upholstered with the regal curl on the back. They'll tuck up very neatly under the trestle table. There is a tallboy cabinet to go with it.

The past few days, I've been just sitting next to Garfield, trying to decide what I want to do next. I should be putting on the roof, according to directions, but since I want to place siding on the exterior and make the tower have a fieldstone look, I need to do that first, so I guess a mail order is in order ( snicker ).

I hope you've all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a Happy New year, full of all the many good things everyone deserves. I'll let you know when I've actually returned to work on Garfield. For right now, I'm just babbling.

Back to Hobby Lobby

I made a second run on minis at Hobby Lobby on Thursday. It seemed like no one else had been there since my first visit on Monday. I bought all the little books, with intentions of changing their jackets to become "classics", grabbed some more baseboard and crown mouldings, and the last of the candle sticks.

Today, being Saturday, is the last day of their minis on sale and I'll make one more stop and grab everything left that striles my fancy. I'm hoping that last pack of wood floor planking is still there and some of the wall sconces.

Where are the mini people in my area?? Certainly not at Hobby Lobby. Today, when I make my final sweep through the minis, I will be greedy. I can't pass up such a good deal. Hobby Lobby doesn't offer sales on minis all that often, so, while everyone else is buying Christmas items, I'll be in the mini section cleaning them out. I'm ruthless............

Fun At Hobby Lobby

Hobby Lobby is having 50% off dollhouse miniatures this week and I was at the door at 0900 ready to get as much as I could. There were no other customers in the miniatures department or I might have shared, but, since I was alone, I went nuts.

I bought several different light fixtures, some trim pieces, spindles, candles, wall sconces, books, the white china ( I'll paint designs on those ), floor planking, cakes, mirrors, and I can't remember it all. Total was $75 at the discounted price.

But, since I'm not working on the house right now and all my toys and tools are put up, I had to just leave them in the bag and will open after New Year's.

So, today, instead of working in the dollhouse, I'm making pumpkin bread...working on loaves 5 and 6 right now.

I may go back later in the week and see if they restocked....hope so.

Tons ? of Trim!!!

I've spent the last few weeks on trim, trim, and trim. I had to wait a couple of weeks for Hobby Lobby to restock their baseboard and all they stocked were 2 packs, which I scarfed up.

There is so much work to do still, plus some fixes of things gone wrong. Somehow, water dripped down the Parlor wall, a "printie" which now I have to remove and repaper. Lots of those nasty words said there. It's hard to believe that with all that's been done on The Garfield, I am only halfway there. I plan on a stone look on the exterior tower with siding everywhere else. There is, of course, roofing and porch to do. I want plank flooring for the porch and stone look around the foundation.

Most of the crown moulding has to wait until the roof is added and fills in those gaps. I need to add trim around the ceiling of the staircase openings to give a cleaner look. I want, I want, I want.

But it's all going to have to wait now until after Christmas. That's right...I'm packing it up so that I can have some room to work during the holidays. I have all those things everyone has at Christmas to do and the dollhouse hours would eat that away. I'll be throwing a light sheet over the house to keep out the dust. I do have a small box of wood that I can work on if I like..sanding, mostly. I also have a list of "quick fix me" things that won't take a lot of time or attention if the bug hits me.Everything else is sorted out, reorganized and packed up until I finish with the Holiday.

I am loving this house so very much and every day is a new adventure. I have pages and pages of want to do's that grows and grows whenever I look at it. I still count my lucky stars for finding this jewel at Goodwill for only $40.

I doubt there'll be much to talk about while the house is "on Holiday", but I will add to the blog if something pops up. I'll let you know if there's anything worthy of being said and, of course, when I get back to work on it in January.

Until then, enjoy the Holidays with all your hearts. Act like a kid again and play with your toys and read Holiday stories.