Apologies and Siding

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 29 June

After yesterday's wrestling match with the scissor steps, the air was a little tense in the shop last night. When I was having breakfast this morning, I overheard a quiet conversation between the Captain and Rose. She was telling him that he should appreciate all the work I've done on the Summerhouse and that I had even been the one to introduce them.
So it wasn't long after that an apologetic Captain came to see me and expressed his regret at making comments about what I should and shouldn't be working on. I was quick to forgive and there were hugs all around. After that, what else could I do but finish the wood siding? :) So after several hours of work, all of the wood siding is on! Yippee! 
Next, I think I will try putting on some of the brick paper and then it will be the metal strips with rivets on the edges of the wood siding. Until next time, have a great day all!
P.S. Rose later came by and confided in me that every time she thinks about the Captain Happy Pants comment, she starts to giggle. She said next time the Captain is in a foul mood, she's going to call him that. I'm not sure I want to be around when she does! LOL!

Tipsy Captain and Back Porches

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 06 June

The Captain took another header yesterday but didn't lose his head this time! Decided it was time to correct the situation. I took a look at the bottom of his shoes and he had worn his heels completely off. I might not be a cobbler, but I am pretty good with wood so looked through my stash and found some very thin pieces to work with. Traced around the heels of his shoes and cut out a couple of heels out of wood.  He is much more stable now and with a little black paint, he is as stylin' as ever.  The Captain is not about to lose his head again over Rose.....oh yes, that's the ladie's name! He's going around humming "Wild Irish Rose" now with a bit of a blush to his cheek. It's nice to see him happy again.

The Summerhouse is on it's way to having a balcony in the back. Went back and forth about whether to have a trap door with chains like the Neverwas Haul or a balcony with wrought iron. As you can see, the wrought iron won out! It's made from scrap wood and I want to put more of the gray siding down on it for floorboards. The railing was made with plastic wrought iron and my trusty little wire cutters. I cleaned up the cut areas with a craft knife and sandpaper and glued the side pieces on with E6000. I found that it sticks alot better when you let the pieces set for two minutes before sticking them together. Nothing like reading the instructions.........LOL! These are the brackets that will be supporting it underneath. So today I will be cutting more boards for the exterior and the floorboards then I can start on the metal strips with the rivets. It's another beautiful day in TN! Have a great day all!

Preparing the Way...

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 03 June

Painted the section of the house that the wood strips will be fastened to. I used Ceramcoat Hippo Gray for the first coat and was real disapointed with the coverage. For the second coat, I used Craftsmart Grey and was much happier with the finished results.Last night, I saw the Captain out on our back deck watching the sunset. He seemed in a pensive mood. He's eager to start on his journey with theSteampunk Summerhouse but doesn't really want to go alone. I know my mom won't part with the Lovely Marilyn, so maybe I can go over to Miniatures.com and buy her twin sister for the Captain. I could even steampunk her up! LOL! The Steampunk Family has agreed to be his crew on the trip and there has been much preparation going on. Talk about pressure to finish this! Yikes! So as is customary, I will close with a picture of the sunset that the Captain was gazing at. Have to go out and find a paint stick so I can assemble the scissor stairs...have a good day all!

Scrap Happy!

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 01 June

Yes, I am one lucky miniaturist! My DH gifted me with some great scraps and I am making good use of them. Cut them in half lengthwise and think these are going to work perfect! Also did some work on the scissor steps this weekend. So much time spent on a little stick! LOL! There had to be a hole in the center of each one that would fit a head pin so dug out my tiny hand drill and measured and drilled.I started to put the pieces together when I realized I need to cut the pieces for the steps as they are connected to the sides....(the shoulder bone's connected to the arm bone....)And of course, I have nothing one inch wide so will have to go out to DH shop and dig around. I think a paint stick will work well and I know we have some of those somewhere. So I have a nice little pile of sticks with holes drilled in them! LOL! Since I haven't done that yet, worked on the large wheels some more. You know me, detail, detail, detail! Noticed that there was a faint design on the outer rim and also a gear behind the wheel...never miss an opportunity to glue a gear onto something! LOL! I used a high tech method for the design on the rim...a yellow colored pencil. ;)Unfortunately today's projects include finally doing something with those bananas! Banana bread, here we come! The Captain approves: Just got a call from my SIL saying "Why don't you just put the bananas in the freezer and make the banana bread on a cooler day?" That's all I needed! The bananas are in the freezer! The Captain is going off for a good pout.

Wagon Wheels and Glad containers....

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 29 May

Dry brushed the black wagon wheels with FolkArt gunmetal gray metallic paint to make them look, well, more metallic! LOL! Then I found a Glad container and put all the wheels into it. Will keep the sawdust off that I'm bound to be creating making that set of scissor steps; but also keeps the Captain from messing with them. Though I did catch him with the hydraulic jack trying to pry open the lid.....he's persistent, I'll give him that. I was thinking about the steps and remembered that the wood I bought is 24 inches long. Instead of measuring and cutting each one inch piece, I think I will measure and mark the whole thing. Then I won't end up with any odd bits. Plus, I do have the extras I cut before I remembered to paint first....So I guess today's project will be cutting a humongous amount of little sticks! LOL! That's after I go do the WalMart thing and clean up the kitchen (that I should have done last night and didn't)...had that pointed out to me by the illustrious Captain who thought I should be working on his Summerhouse instead of ironing a few shirts. These little people will run your life if you let them, for sure. Got to go, hear sounds in the shop again, I think the Captain is trying to get into the Glad container....

Desperate Captain....

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 28 May

Alas, I am heeding the call of the laundry pile this morning. DH took the last undershirt out of his drawer so it is time to wash clothes! I am not complaining, at least I don't have to go down to the river and pound everything on a rock. I am so thankful that we have the machines to help us out with everyday tasks that used to be so time consuming and tiring. Now we have time to build our miniatures and chat with each other about projects....thank-you! thank-you!

Meanwhile, the Captain is not being very patient. This is what I found this morning: He had the wheels back on and was getting ready to load his luggage and be off! I wonder what was in that letter....

Under Construction....

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 27 May

The noise coming from the shop was indeed Captain Morin putting the freshly painted wheels on the Summerhouse.

I think Richard and Reginald from the steampunk family gave him a hand. Personally, I don't know how they managed it, but I did notice that my mini hydraulic jack is nowhere to be seen...I think these gentlemen look a little too innocent, don't you?

The wheels will have to come off so I can get started on the electrical. I have quite a few fixtures from over the years as I was always going to electrify something. Well, now is the time! So dug out the box, blew the dust off and here's what I found:

 Oh, I forgot, I also have headlights and tail lights too:

The headlights came from an old car kit and I think I'll ask DH to drill holes down through them on his drill press. I have to go to the truck dealer this afternoon cause he made a mistake on the paperwork, otherwise I'd be on this today! The letter has mysteriously disappeared so I am going to play it cool and hope this thing blows over. Once this build is complete, I need someone who doesn't have their head in the clouds! LOL!

Tuesday Morning...

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 26 May

Whew! What a weekend! We did yard work, traded in our car for a pickup and had company over for smoked ribs! Feeling not as young as I used to be! LOL! I hear noise coming from the workshop, I think Captain Morin is trying to put the wheels on His Summerhouse. If I don't watch it, he will be successful and drive off into the sunset! I hope he is being careful, still not sure how good his neck repair is going to hold. This will be a good test of the E6000 cement. Found a tiny letter on one of the miniature tables in the shop....I think the Lovely Marilyn has written to our beloved Captain. Is that the barest scent of perfume I smell!? Do I dare sneak and read it? The Captain does seem awfully pleased with himself. I will have to ask some careful questions later to find out the details....inquiring minds and all that.

   

Home Again...

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 22 May

Well, Captain Morin didn't much like traveling in my old make-up case. He couldn't believe I still had that old Samsonite thing from back in the 70's!

I insisted as I didn't want his head and body to part ways. He arrived in one piece, well, 2 pieces anyway and we headed straight for the shop. He's a tough old bird, totally resin to the core so I chose some E6000 Industrial strength adhesive for the repair. Be careful to have ventilation when you use this as it is quite fumey. So he is once again all in one piece and despite some grumbling about it taking me so long (I'm sorry, it's says to wait 2 minutes before you join the pieces...")he is now whole and in relatively good spirits.

I visit my mom on a regular basis, so he wants to make sure he can come along as he enjoyed himself immensely. Now that his head is back on, I'm getting pressure to work on the wheels for his Summerhouse. Says he wants to "follow the sun" or some such thing. But I have strawberries to slice, pound cake and potato salad to put together and some very ripe bananas to deal with so he might just have to wait until after this holiday weekend. Have a great weekend!

 

Oh No!

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 20 May

Oh dear, there's been a terrible accident! The Captain fell head over heels for the lovely Marilyn and he literally lost his head! Well, I think he's going to have to take it easy tomorrow and he will have to make a trip to the workshop when we get back home. He was looking forward to that torrid affair too! LOL!

Stowaway!

By Debra from Olde Cape Cod, 20 May

The trip to my mom's was uneventful until I was hanging up my clothes, and who's in my bag but Captain Morin! Since he got back from vacation a few hours early, he decided he'd like to come up to see if there were any new ladies in my mom's dollhouse! So he showed up in his uniform and shared mint juleps with the lady of the house and just was thoroughly enjoying himself.

After a tour of the garden, he had tea in the parlor and was shown a good time by all.

My mom and I are supposed to go shopping for the day tomorrow, but he assured me that he would be quite comfortable with the "Lovely Marilyn". I think if it wasn't for his Summerhouse, it would be hard to get him to come home! LOL!

Painting Wheels!

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Entry posted 19 May

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• steampunk
 
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Working on painting the wheels today. Black tires, silver rims. Playing the 

touch-up-the-black, touch-up-the-silver, touch-up-the-black game...I think 

they're finally done! LOL! Besides, tires are only going to get dirty anyway, 

right?

Some of the pictures of the Neverwas Haul have some color on the

"hubcaps" so will be considering that option too. Maybe only two out of the 

four. Still have a large wagon wheel to paint, then I will be dry brushing those 

with FolkArt Gunmetal Gray metallic so they look more like metal wheels. 

After all those are done, I'll be digging through my stash of electric lights to 

use. I purchased quite a few years ago and haven't put them to good use yet 

so I guess it's time. Captain Morin is still on vacation, so he hasn't been 

breathing down my neck to work faster...thank goodness! He did mention 

that it was about time I put his portrait on here before he left so I guess I'd 

better get on that!

I'll be going to visit my mom for a couple
of days, so everyone here have a wonderful 
Memorial Day weekend!