What to do

This is me,  I have not done any minis for so long, Somerset House is at a stand still, I still have not put up the railings, I have all I need except the desire to get it done.

I have been thinking about if I will finish Somerset House, or just store all the stuff from inside and pass the house on. I have no suggestions to what I would replace it with, or even if I will be without a house.  My dear hubby says "leave it where it is, you can always do it when you have the desire again", so that's what I have done.

I do feel guilty when I see the house each time I come into my office, but at this time I am getting so little pleasure from it. I went to a show earlier this year to bring back the mini buzz, but the show was so poor, not enough good makers.

Can you suggest any good sites, places to visit to fire it all up again................

Just a bit more

I have been working on the pavement tonight, I have painted the front, it will match the lower house colour when it's finished. I have added the ridge where I want to set the railings in, I have left a bit extra in front of the steps, this should keep the steps in place.
The side panel is in place, every where needs a top coat of paint.

I am leaning towards painting the pavement black to look like tarmac, it was invented in 1820's, but I worried the dust will get into it and spoil the look in time, I don't want heavy paving slabs or paper on top, which leaves me with tarmac or soil, neither is very inspiring. There is very little I can put on the pavement, lighting was gas and mainly next to the house or above the railings. Postboxes are Victorian, much later.

Can we fix it

This morning, we cut the board for the front of my house,so when these are put together, it will be the raised pavement, all we did was measure, cut and sand each piece.

I then glued the top to the front and added all the supports. It was a perfect day to glue the board, hot and sunny, so it set quickly, our garden table was the best place to work, in the shade. I put in loads of supports to keep the pavement straight.
The raised pavement looks good with the house steps, I have a hole each side of each step, for the shortened post, I have placed one post in the bottom hole for you to see.

The railings will stand at the back of the pavement, along with the gate. I am going to put a small moulding for the railings to stand in. That's a trip to the DIY store tomorrow. There will be steps going down to the kitchen door in front of the gate.

The view so far, This is exactly how I wanted my house to look, I have a courtyard, outside of the kitchen windows, I have not decided what to put in this area, maybe a seat and some flowers.
I still have loads to do, I have the side pieces to fit into place, I then have to paint all the new items, before I do, I want to go on the net to find out how the Georgian pavements were finished, were they dirt, paving stones, I'm not sure. I hope by the end of this weekend to have it all done and my railings in place.
When I want to look at the kitchen, I will just lift the steps and the pavement away from the house.

Home improvments

This is Montgomery Hall, as sold by Doll's House Emporium, it's the only kit I have brought, not the most expensive, but a price I could afford at the time. I knew I would change loads about it, I never have in my life followed instructions, almost always feeling I can improve on the design. I have always hated the pavement and steps on this house, but I loved the room sizes and layout.

I have my railings and post, and have been busy with them, I drilled two holes in the full length post and the railings fit into them, I will set the post into the pavement's. I have also taken 18 of the post ans cut them down, I have 9 steps from the pavement to the front door, I will drill a hole each side of the step and set these shortened post in.

The house below, is a Sid Cooke house and it shows the pavement I am trying to create, my railings will have post not pillars.

Later today I will mark out my board and then get Kev to cut it, I have to make the front board and pavement which will be in one piece each, and then each side. When I want to move the pavement to get into my house The whole piece will just lift off, leaving the kitchen in full view.

1st visitor

Somerset House has had it's 1st visitor all the way from North Carolina, when she arrived she moved straight in and has been staying there . Miss Isabella says's she is a distance cousin to the family.

She is using the yellow room, even tho it is not finished, she loves the french feel of this room, and liked the hat and bag left in there for her.

She has inspected the work being done in the attic space, I want to thank Connie for her giveaway. the doll was a extra she put into the parcel, you can read about the items Connie sent me here at my other blog.

The Tiger skin rug is coming along well, I have run out of two colours, but should get more and finish on Tuesday.

Next week I am going to have a giveaway for this blog, in March it will be my 3rd year anniversary, so watch this space.

Mini kits

I was reading Laura's blog at My Wee Life she has been making flower kits. Bonnie Lavish ones, I also love these kits, she said she needed some chocolates to go with them. So yesterday I went searching in my stash and found these below. I brought them at a show for an idea which was forming in my head, and it never got going. So Laura, I have left a message on your blog, or when you read this, send me your address, they are yours. Have fun making them.

My house is still the same, I am waiting for hubby to cut the board to make the attic's, once he has cut the back upright, I can them measure the sides and the roof. I have got out the maids bed so I can make her small room to size.

It has been very windy here, so because he keeps his motor bike in the garage, he has to use his saw to cut outside, looks as if I will have to wait until next weekend. Oh well, I have been so slow working on the house, I can't complain yet!

Not alot of change

I have to amit this is a sad sight, I have done so little on my house.

I did have a huge sort out of my cupboard, under the stairs, where I keep all my wood and tools, when we moved I just plonked every thing in there. I have found the two large boards to make the attic, which will be divided into three area's. But I need Kev to do the cutting, I am banned from using his electric saws, and for a very good reason.

Once he has cut the the boards I can then make them up to look something like this

I have loads of books to help me with the era, I do like every thing to be right, sometimes I think I should go with anything I like, but that's not really me on this project.

I still have loads to do, so sometime soon I should be able to show you progress,
fingers crossed it will be this month.

A mini day at last....

Yesterday I was feeling really good, 1st time for a while.

So I spent the afternoon inside Somerset house, I was able to plug in all my lamps, in each room I have placed a socket in each corner, this enable me to change lamps and to add things without having to go to the lighting controls at the back of the house, since I brought this system I have found this very use full. The rooms are all tidy since the house move, I have not changed anything around, just took out a few summer things. I am also pleased since the move I have resisted using this area to dump things and it's staying tidy.
One job I have to finish is putting the card bricks up the side of the house, I did get them out yesterday but did not start them, but I'm not going to pack them away, I have a plumber in tomorrow and will have a go whilst he is working in the sitting and dining rooms attaching our new radiators to our system.

Finished

Somerset House is now in it's permanent location, Ok it's just on the other side of my office. But we have refurbed the whole space and created loads of space. Our desks which suited the space in our previous house did not work at all well here. The house now is tucked back inside the office behind my side of our bench. I have storage space below and plenty of room to start working on it. I have checked all the lights and they are still working.

Kev replaced our two desk with a long bench placed on the window wall, we sit in the sunlight over our desk space. My view is only of my car parked on the drive and the road outside, but it's not very busy. We used a beech kitchen worktop, which comes in 3metre length which is just bigger than the space we put it.

Kev has his side with all his bits and bobs.

My side is packed, all my silly cows and two room boxes, I want to bring down my beach hut and put on the second shelf. I have found space to pack away all my stuff, the cupboard under the stairs houses all the wood and building stuff.

We each have loads of room to spread our work, and are very pleased with the results. Kev worked hard last week, but he's done a great job.

My first task is to rebuild the basement, I have all the pieces, so it should only take an afternoon. Then I would like to get my attic done, this I have to plan, the attic which came with the house was closed off, but I want a maids room and a day bedroom for the children, I also want some space to show the attic with things stored there.

Hot Planting

I am still not doing much to Somerset House

As you can see, I am not able to get to the front door at the moment. we have just had all new blinds put into our windows and I have had to remove the cati from my window sill.
I love cati and have loads, in our old house I had a porch full of them, here I have to find a place for them to live.

Fliss has just ordered another smaller house, she has stored her big house for now, so hopefully when that arrives I will work with her and then start to enjoy my house again.

We have been so busy on the bungalow, and will have the builders back for a couple of days next week, Kev is busy sorting things ready for their arrival.

I have just finished making Su's wedding cards, and soon we will be shopping for her wedding dress material, we already have a pattern.

I have a few health issues, and with so many things happening my mini world is at a stand still. But we did hear some good news another baby to come in our family.

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.

Journal

When thinking about this blog I searched for some old photo's, they were taken in my first year. The main difference to the layout is I have removed two sets of stairs and relocated the fireplaces to the back wall.

The rooms are very basic, I was still on my learning curve, top left hand is my butlers room., I had just brought my dining room furniture and in the process of making my floors.
Below the kitchen was well on it's way, I have a sink at this time and my beautiful light switches, both now removed. But Thomas the cat was in residence.

When I brought my dolls house, I decided I would make a journal and fill it as I did my building, add all the purchases from shows and build a good record. That lasted for 6 months tops, I would forget or be too tired and then I would try and catch up, so it lapsed.
Then I found blogging and wow, just what I wanted, but what happens in years to come when these sites change, so I have started printing all my blogs, I knew it was the correct thing to do when I went into W H Smiths and the clear pouch books and the files were all half price.

So on my shelf are two sets,
white for Somerset House and
purple for Poppy Patchwork,

I highlight each blog with any comments a few days after posting select print, tick the selected box and out it all comes from my printer. On occasions a picture is cut in half, then I copy into a word document , tidy it up and then print. I have found this site which also has suggestions for printing your blog. http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/2009/05/printing-my-blog.html
I would like to think sometime in the future someone finds a box in the attic and finds all my notes and they enjoy a coffee, if it is still allowed and reads what Nanna did.

First Impressions

Welcome to Somerset House, this front door I chose because it looked more regal than the one provided with the kit, it's bigger and the fan light over the door is very Georgian. the blue paint was a new colour in 1820, and as my owner was new money from shipping, he wanted to show off his wealth to everybody.

The picture below shows the inside layout of my house, on first look I have not made any major changes and it does look as it should.

The first floor hall, shown below, has had a complete make over, I did not want stairs going up, but needed something to allow access to the upper floors, so I removed all the furniture from the lower hall and took a photo, I then edited the photo and enlarged it to correct scale and pasted it on the first floor back wall, and now at first glance you think the hall goes further back and you can see the stairs going up. When I put the banister in it all came together. Both halls are painted the same colours.
The paints I use come from the B&Q range 1829, the range runs through 8 periods, and the paints are authentic, their trial pots are a good size to paint a room in our small houses. Companies like this help me to keep ever thing technically correct, in this project that's important, in my other projects I have more freedom.


I now have to second floor hall space free, I wanted to have a "bathroom", no plumbing yet so I would make a wash room, but it looked terrible, long and thin, no matter what I did nothing looked good. Then I have a bright idea, I would bring the wall forward and make the room smaller, I would have to put a door in the back wall, I had a spare working door, so I made a hallway behind, with a table and working lamp. Now I am pleased with the effect. I know my bath is wrong, but I am looking for a nice hip bath which won't cost me a month's wages.

Both piece's of furniture was hand made locally, the gentleman has passed on, but I love his work, all I need in here is a rug.
With regards to my lighting, I have a remote controlled system, which allows me to chose which lights and fire I want on. Kev brought it for a special birthday present, I let him think I had seen a piece of jewelry and when we agreed cost I brought this. He was not happy at first but now he knows it was the right thing to get, I love the system and change the lighting in the house to suit my mood.

The project so far

My thinking behind my house is to make it as correct as possible, but with a bit of artistic flair, it's not a project to be rushed, and in the following photo's, you can see the exterior as it is now.

The first thing you will notice, the front steps are balanced on a tin of varnish,This is to show how the steps will look, I wanted wide steps to my front door. I am going to have a raised pavement which the steps will attach to. I have spent alot of time designing and then redesigning the street level. I now want to build a raised pavement with a courtyard area in front of my kitchen windows. I may put a herb garden with a bench there, but I will make that choice once the street front is finished.





You can also see my basement with a garden above. I cut
the hole for the double doors to the ballroom, the wall
should be bare, no windows just chimneys. My chimneys
are at the back of the house running through each floor
into the attic. I am half way through placing brick fronts
on the side wall. It's a hard job and I can only do a few rows at a time, if I try to do too many, the glue does not set fast enough and the weight of the bricks above make the lower bricks slide or my line of bricks do not stay straight. I find about 1 hour is enough time for brick work, with the cutting to size it's a long job.

My garden is more a courtyard, I have ideas for the planting, the greenhouse was given to me by a friend, I use it as a back drop but I am not sure if it will stay there, I think it's a bit to modern for my house. I have been planning to make a high wall there with a tree hanging over into the garden, I could then have an arbour and a bench there. I do like my water fountain and the garden bench. I want to have a hedge along the inside of the wooden railings, these I will paint to make them look like stone.

I have a hedgehog and a tortoise in my garden and will want birds, I have a good collection of birds in my other projects, all made by Peter Clark, who also make's the brick fronts from heavy card.

As it should be

I brought my house from Dolls House Emporium in 2004, I chose this type of kit house because of the door and window fittings, it could be made to look real. Montgomery Hall has the Georgian look I love and the internal dimensions was perfect for my needs. I knew from the start it would not be made as the kit stated, I wanted to be able to create a special building, which reflected my love of the style and design of that period.

I wanted to make just one house to the best standard within my budget and true to the period, I chose 1810 for the year, this gave me time line which I could research.

From the start I knew the kitchen was too small and I would leave a wall out of the basement to create a kitchen worthy of a house this size. I had also decided I would not build the front of the house as the kit, the kitchen was hidden behind the front steps. I began to realise the kitchen was an important part of my house. I wanted to have windows in the front wall, so you had a glimpse of all the wonderful things inside.

So with all these things buzzing around in my head I started to build. I made the house without the front steps and roof. By putting the kitchen in the basement, I had robbed myself of a true basement, but with a clever one floor extension along side the bottom floor of my house, I was able to add a basement area, plus the added space above as a courtyard garden. I cut a double door into the ground floor room, to create french doors, things were coming together.