We are sorted

Well here we are, Somerset house is now back where it belongs, it's not totally sorted, I still have things to place. Except for one small breakage everything moved Ok. Its very snug by my desk. I am having time off between Christmas and New year so I can place every thing. I am planning to do the attics first and get my maids bedroom in place.




I have had to downsize a bit, my last project a shop is now with a friend for her to work on. I have my shop and kitchen all sorted and lit again, which is a great joy to me. My desk space is about the same but my space in the office is shrunk, I now share my office with Kev my hubby.

We are still without the internet, SKY has decided we can manage without a phone line for another month, which is great service, I don't think so.
I am typing this in my work office, I have a great boss.
I wont be able to see your blogs until the new year, but I don look forward to seeing what you are all doing.

It's raining here has done so all day, a true grey day for our shortest day. We did have snow last Thursday but it did not amount to very much and did not last.

I wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a good New Year.

Update

My house and craft items are still in store, the resident cat is looking after it well.
We have our big house full of builders, plumbers and decoraters,
Only one more week of building work left.

I am enjoying keeping up with your blogs, I can check online whilst I'm at work.
We are planning to bring the house back on 22nd November.
see you all soon.

New House

Just a quick note, we are in the bungalow, all my dolls house things are still in storage until the builders have gone, but most important I have space for Somerset House and most of my room boxes. Our internet will be sorted soon, I have to check online in work, I am lucky I have a very understanding boss.

Hope everyone is well and I am enjoying reading all your blogs,

Normal service should be back within two weeks.

Just words

This is my last blog for a couple of weeks, Kev will remove and pack my computer for our house move in 5 days.
I have packed my craft room, I sit in an empty room, everything is in storage.
We wrapped my house in bubblewrap, and struggled to get it out the room and downstairs, my placid hubby muttering the whole time, I forgot how big and heavy the house was. Thank goodness in the new place it will be in a ground floor room. I did start to take photo's, but decided they looked too sad.
All my project room boxes have been packed and stored. I use cheap mansizes tissues to wrap all the accessories, and placed everything into tins, so they would not be crushed.
I can't make my mind up, for the unpacking of Somerset house is it going to be fun or the biggest chore going. I think I will be looking at old bloggs on here to check the layout of each room. I have decided not to change any rooms at this point.
My plan is to leave the craft room in storage for 3-4 weeks, by that time the big house should be straightish, them I will have time for miniatures. Well that's my plan.
For the next week it's cleaning, firstly this house and then the new bungalow, I say it's new but it was built in the 1930's.
I can't wait to be in, this move has dragged on for too long. So I sit here looking out the window at the garden, hopping the new owners will love it as much. I am looking forward to see what will grow in my new garden, I have loads of shrubs from this garden in pots.

I will follow yous bloggs from my work computer, and wee see you all again in our new adventure.

The best plans

Today we have confirmation of our move date,

16th October, so we are busy packing.

My mini house pack did not go well last Thursday.

I chose that evening because Kev was away and I could spend time doing the packing, I have saved some large tin's for all my accessories to go in.

I was very good and straight after my dinner, I went into my craft room, got the first tin down placed it in front of my house, took the lid off and there to my horror inside was the biggest spider I have ever seen. The lid was placed back on the tin, but I could not bring myself to pick up the tin. Fliss's hubby removed the spider in the tin to the garden on Friday evening, but no packing has been done.

I now keep an eye on our back door waiting for this big spider to come back in. Here in the UK there are people who say if you keep conkers in a room the spiders will not enter, so we have collected conkers to place in each corner of every room. Will keep you posted if it works.

And boy are the spiders big this year.

What a mess

We are busy here, just starting to pack boxes, my craft room is the first place I am tackling.
As yet we still do not have a moving date, but we have just signed loads of papers, so this week we should have a firm date.

I am packing my projects and house this Thursday, I am not looking forward to doing it, it's such a large job, once packed we will put it all into storage, so on moving day it will be safe.

Wish me luck.

The perfect workroom

This was my first miniature project,
I often forget this one, it's located in our sitting room,
everything else is on display in my craft room.

The display box was purchased from Doll's House Emporium, at the time it looked a perfect size. This is the only project at today's time. I wanted to create a perfect spot for my mini me. Most of the furniture was purchased from DHE at the same time as the box. On the coffee table is my mini sewing, I have also on the table a pair of working scissors and a thimble, my mum always wore a thimble when sewing.

As with my craft room, I have loads of things here which I love, I have put something from each of the craft's I enjoy. I have also added extras from my real life. I will always have a sewing machine, books of all types, pot plants including cati.

The two teapots on the shelves, were a present, they are made by Sally Meakins, who's work I love and the reflect my love of cat's, at the time they were given to me I had a black and white cat, Tom and a ginger cat, Tim. Tim is no longer with us, but he lives on in my mini worlds.

I love lavender, it grows in my real garden, I would also love to have space to be able to leave sewing project's which are unfinished, ready for me to carry on, I always have to pack everything away.
The mini pictures above are of my real family, Kev and I are there, as is myself and my mum, Fliss and Steve on their wedding day, and Su is featured in a couple of shots.

This little silver handbag, is a silver charm, I brought it for Su on a weekend break together we had in London, It was her 21st and just the two of us have a couple of days away. It was purchased in Covent Gardens, we had a long browse in the market area, Su loved this little bag, after we had a great lunch. Su later passed this bag to me for safe keeping, it is the correct size.

Food for thought

Throughout the projects and house is food,
and here I wanted to show you some of the special pieces I have collected,
I'm not good with Filmo, so I enjoy shows where you can choose for the most delightful items.


These hang over my kitchen fireplace, waiting for cook to choose for the masters dinner.
The centre bird has real feathers.

The fruit has been brought from many different people and put together in this dish.
It sits on my desk, nowhere for it in my house, but each item a master piece.

This box of vegetables, fresh from the garden.

Turkish delight, my favorite,
I had to have a dish in my house, this sits on the table in the ball room

This chicken is on the kitchen table, it's not that fat, so it won't go far,
the feathers on it's neck are real, made by another local lady.

Plate of biscuits, left in the sitting room for the lady of the house
Most were made by me, very basic.

Ham, Pies and beetroot, all ready to be served.

Who broke the egg, fresh strawberries with shortbread.

Sweet pastries, freshly cooked, cooling ready for the main meal.

A day at the beach

It's a sunny day here in Hampshire, Kev and I took a trip to Hayling Island, along the coast, on his motorbike, we walked along the pebble beach, sat in the shade drinking coffee, now back at home I wanted to show you my mini beach house.



This was a project two years ago with a mini club, it's my first attempt and as with all project's, it's not finished. I like to look for items, I have tried to make it retro, as a child my parents never hired a beach hut. But along the coast where we live there are rows of huts and each sunny day people stay untill late making the most of the fine weather.


My two ladies, were given to me, I normally do not have dolls, but the young lady in her cosi finished the scene. The older lady is sat on the bench, she is resting with her dog, before walking back to her home. I chose the pale blue for the outside, most of the huts locally have to be painted dark green. There are loads of birds here, seagulls, ducks a blue tit at the feeder and on the other side of the hut is a swallow making a nest.


I love the front porch, it's very cluttered, but that is often the case, on the deck chair a book has been left. Underneath there are a box of tissues, Maltesers and a can of drink, the flip flops have been kicked off.

In each corner is a hardy plant,

This view from the top shows the treasures stored inside. beach toys, a blanket for if the day gets cool. On the sideboard food and a flask of hot coffee. I love the set of three flying birds on the back wall. The owners of the hut love all types of birds.

The sideboard has seen better days,
it should have been thrown away but found it way into the hut.

The bench was had made to fit into the hut,
the children have been to the shops and have rock for later.
The cat rug finishes the scene off.

I hope you like my beach hut, it was fun to make and I have enjoyed sharing my story with you.

Another busy weekend here, we are off to a car boot sale tomorrow morning,
selling loads of things we no longer use.
Tomorrow evening we are going to marwell Zoo,
with our daughters, Steve and Josh, its a twilight tour,

The Yellow Room

This is my final bedroom in the main part of the House, I am putting a maids room in the attic space, but that will be next year, after we move and I have more mini time.
This room belongs to the daughter of the house, she is an adult.
There is still much to be done and this is a work in progress.

As in the green room I have created the fire place on the back wall, it is another working fireplace, the door I have put on the side of the room, this opens unto the top hall. I wanted the bedroom's to be similar but not the same, I do not need so much space in here, so I could locate the door on the side. The floor again I have made and stained. I do need to add a picture rail, but again there will be no ceiling lights, there is a lamp in the back corner.

I will change some of the furniture in here, but not the chest of drawers below, these were made locally and are beautiful, the drawers are very fine, I already have items in storage in them.

The bed was made by the same craftsman as the drawers, I first had this in the master bedroom, but I feel it's better here, the blanket was purchased from e-bay, and the sheets are hankies.

The hat and bag are hand made, the hat was my first attempt and I will keep it, up close it's not that good, but we all have to start somewhere, the bag is a patterned piece of ribbon with a fringe, folded and glued, the handle is just fine cord, the fringe has been shaped.

The rug below is my own design, I have stitched it on 32hpi canvas, but I can not get it to stay square, I did not use a hoop whilst stitching.

The background paper I am using in these pic's is a wrapping paper, I have painted it white and use it for ceiling paper in the down stairs rooms.

I will show more pic's once this room is finished.

For my next blog, I want to show my beech hut.

Nothing happening

I have not been busy on the mini front, I am planning my packing of the house and room boxes, ready for our move, but we do not have a moving date yet, very frustrating!

I hope to do one last blog on my house, before the packing, my yellow bed room, but as I should be packing for a weekend away with Kev, Hubby, that will be early next week.

have a very good weekend, I look forward to reading your blogs.

His Masters Bedroom

I finally have time to sit and blog, we are very busy with our big house, the sale is going through Surveys have been done and we are heading towards a moving date.
We have spent loads of time in the attic (loft) sorting 15 years of stuff ! we are sorting to remove most of it, car boot sale here we come.
I just wonder how many cardboard boxes are required to pack your life in.

I have gone up to the 2nd floor, where the main bedrooms are, my house has 5 floors including the basement and attic rooms. This enables me to show a balanced house with a variety of rooms, but on this floor I did want two bedrooms. The room above I call the green room and it is where the master and his wife sleeps. It is a simple room, lit by lamps and a small fireplace.

This view is of the back wall, the door to the room was on the side, but to make the most of the space I closed the gap and recreated a door at the back, which dose not open. I have used mount board along 3/4 of the back wall. I used two pieces to give me the depth required to fit the door and have a fire place with a deep fire. The mantle is much smaller, I have used the same design in both bedrooms. This also creates a recess in the corner of the house which gives a bit more character.
The bed was brought at a show, the green blanket was from e-bay, the sheet is a lace hankie and the small blanket is a coffee cup coaster. I made the pillow and mattress. I stained the bed to match the colours in the room. At some point I will make with ivory silk bed curtains.

I love this desk and chair, the desk legs are so fine, I have had this desk in many of the rooms but I like it here where the lady of the house each morning can answer any invitations.

This bench seat also have travelled around my house, It was made locally and I fell in love with it. I also love the trunk,something the husband brought back from his sea journeys, it is very useful I keep all the spare bulbs for the lights in it.

I have hand stitched two of these rugs one for each side of the bed. The pattern is from 1930's and I think perfect for this room.

Below is a fine blanket I crochet, I am pleased with the results, until I put it next to one Fliss has made me, but I pleased to have another piece of my work in the house.

45 and counting

Today I have signed on to view all your lovely blogs,
have been off work this week unwell,
and it's been great to see what everyone has been doing.
To my amazement I now find I have 45 followers, and almost 3,000 hits.
So the beautiful pink roses are for each and every one of you
Your sites bring a smile to my face, I love our little family.

My blog is my record of a house and my projects, I do print each blog and put it into a book so I can keep it with my house and pass on the two together. That's a hint to our kids, we want more grandchildren and a little girl would be very nice. We have Joshy who is almost 4 (not 3 1/2 ) who is cute and perfect in every way.

Here are my all time favorite flowers, a field with poppies, daises and cornflowers,
I love it when we drive throught the country side past fields, I always look at the edge not the crop, it's far more intersting.
I grew up in Somerset, and my mum would always put wild flowers in a jug on her kitchen window sill.

Hope you all have a happy, peacful and loving day

Sitting Room

Today I wanted to show you around my sitting room in detail, I am very please with the results.
The floor is herringbone wooden tiles as in the Hall, Ball and dining rooms, which I hand laid myself onto light card. The chandelier I got from e-bay, but they are common enough. The mirror I made by cutting 2 window frames and placing the decorative bits together and then stuck them to a mirror card. The paper on the ceiling is gift wrap paper which I have painted white. The fire place is in the style of Adams a famous designer of the time, the fire does light up.

Things to finish here, I want a better fire fender, and a companion set. I would like to stitch a rug, but I'm working on something big and non-mini at this point.

I also wanted to show you some of my finds, which sit in the room well
The bird cage below, with birds in is a Glen Owen, I just love the style

The furniture below has a second chair but I did not want to clutter the picture, it's a Bespaq and made beautifully, I fell in love with it, it was brought on e-bay, I do watch e-bay but I'm very careful so often what you buy is not the quality it seams, and in reality it's best to shop where you can touch the item and get a feel for it.

This table is my super find, I brought it second hand from my favorite dolls house shop, we are lucky we have three shops with in driving distance, but my favorite is here
The top is a tray, which could be used by the butler for serving tea, I love the wood on the top and the edging, both so perfect, unfortnatly I do not know who made this, it was part of a house sale.I have also added the tea set, this is a cheap set, and who knows one day I might get better.

I hope you enjoyed my visit, We have sold our big house last week and I'm spending time house hunting, so mini's will be on the back burner.

Down the pub

I've been out tonight, down at the pub, which is not normal for me I don't drink much.
This is a special pub, created by my friend Ann, whilst growing up, her parents owned a pub.
Ann has created in a room box a little taste of an English pub.

Ann has brought some wonderful people to place in the box, I do not like dolls in my house or room boxes, but Ann loves them, I think the lady below is wonderful, she was residing in our local dolls house shop, until on a day trip she followed Ann home. She looks very happy in the bar.

A view through the window, even the outside looks real, very "old world". I hope you enjoyed this blog, it has been nice to show someone else's work. Ann is picking up the computer, so hopefully she will be blogging soon.

Below is my beloved Roberts radio, it's over 30 years old, on the top is the mini radio, I love the paint splashes on the big green radio, such fun we had doing up houses along the way.