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.