Scattered Thoughts . . .

It was another rainy, windy, cold day today so I was stuck indoors. I was feeling a bit worn out anyway so I probably would not have tried to tackle anything significant today anyway. Instead, I did some work on the dollhouse project. I'm in the finishing stages of this little project so any little bit I accomplish really makes a big difference in the appearance of the dollhouse. The "Georgetown" style is really becoming visible at this stage of the project and that is a relief and makes me happy. Sometimes projects can unknowingly morph into a different style. This project, however, really is identical to what I have always envisioned in my head... a Georgetown-style townhouse.  Today's task was to glue on all the little pieces of wood for the detailed cornice across the top of the townhouse. This was a bit tedious but well worth the trouble. I actually did contemplate just leaving this trim plain without all the little pieces but I knew I would be disappointed i

Even considering I had some poor health this morning (Sunday morning), I managed to get quite a bit accomplished on the dollhouse this weekend.  Let's start with the poor health... I spent far too much time in the bathroom late last night, sick as a dog... I was dying to sleep and was having difficulty keeping my eyes open but I was still sick and stuck in the bathroom... I thought I would be napping in the bathroom for a bit there. This morning, although a bit worn out and weak, I thought I was doing considerably better but I had more serious problems come on very suddenly while Sheila and I were at the grocery store.  I was worn out from the previous night's poor health spent in the bathroom but I thought that would be the extent of my problems. While we were passing the frozen food aisle, I started seeing 'sparklies' in my eyes... I was feeling weaker and more worn out... and my breathing was beginning to become shallow... I knew the process of anaphylaxis ha

I've spent some time painting the doll townhouse the past few days. What I've been envisioning in my mind has been taking form in real life... and now, in color! I'm really liking this paint scheme and I think it favors the Georgetown Townhouse style I was envisioning.  The traditional yellow walls with a nice (but non-traditional) stucco texture... the clean lines of white trim... contrasting black window shutters... and a welcoming red front entry door... this is all coming together very nicely and is very reminiscent of the traditional Georgetown style. I'm actually getting excited as this homemade dollhouse comes together. The yellow exterior paint has been a major problem though... I think I now have about six or seven coats of yellow paint on this dollhouse due to some errors in choosing the correct shade of yellow. The first shade of yellow I chose was a bit dull. The second shade of yellow I chose was so bright that it had a bit of a fluorescent tint

As it rains, sleets and snows outside, we have remained indoors all day. Some of the details for the dollhouse have arrived so I spent some time working on these details. I have two staircases to install but, first, I need to paint each of the staircases as well as all the balusters and railings. Today, while watching a couple of movies, I managed to put a coat of paint on all of this stuff. While I was painting all these tiny pieces, I was trying to figure out the best way to assemble all of this (and shaking my head, wondering why I got myself into all of this...)... the only thing I figured out is that this will be a frustratingly tedious task! I guess if I just take it one piece at a time, it will eventually get done. EDIT:  Sheila and I were just talking about these staircases. There is about a 95% chance that either Kenzie or Lukey will break the railing and balusters within a matter of hours so... I am now thinking that I'll eliminate the railings on the sides of

Everything laid out flat as I visually placed the doors and windows for appealing spacing.   The weather was beautiful the other day so I was able to pull some tools out of the shed to do some woodworking out on our front deck. I am trying to avoid doing any woodworking indoors because of all the sawdust it spreads. The project I chose to work on was the dollhouse. I had some 1/2" cabinet grade plywood available in our shed so I decided to use this for the dollhouse. Now that I've cut and notched everything to its basic shape, in hindsight, I could have used some thinner plywood. The doors I bought for this dollhouse were made for thinner walls so now I'll need to add some scale jamb extensions to the two doors. On the positive side, the five windows are made for 1/2" walls so I'm good to go with those. This townhouse dollhouse is beginning to take shape! I'm looking forward to getting it assembled. Clamped together for a dry fit... all the pieces

I am getting ready to start building a Georgetown-style townhouse (sans window shutters) that I designed... a dollhouse townhouse, that is! I don't think little Miss Mackenzie is able to read just yet so I am probably safe writing about one of my Christmas projects for this year.  Not long ago, I asked Kenzie if she would like a nice dollhouse to play with whenever she visits and her eyes lit up, a big smile came to her face like the Grinch thinking about a nasty thought, and she scrunched down with her little hands on her thighs like she was going to suddenly spring up and jump for joy. I suddenly realized that I had just inadvertently committed myself to building a nice dollhouse for Christmas! Fortunately, I already had an idea formed in my mind. I started sketching and kept things very simple which is difficult for me. My projects always seem to evolve into more detailed projects with many fine details. My sketches have remained quite simple though which is good news fo