Craft room makeover planning....Part 1

Although it's been sunny today, it's been too cold to do much more on the patio project so I've been assessing what to do in my newly re-designated craft room.  It's a lovely, bright, sunny room but it's quite small so there's a definite limit to what I can achieve.

At the moment I have a long run of kitchen base units topped with a worktop along the back wall, plus my lovely upcycled bureau cabinet which is flanked by two matching painted tall bookshelves.  There are also two other bookshelves and my drop-leaf work table.   Quite a lot of furniture for such a small room.  I did used to have a tub chair in there too, which Small Dog immediately commandeered,  but that's now taken up residence in the dining room, freeing up a bit more floor space.

I want to get rid of the run of kitchen base units and replace them with a wall storage unit with individual cubby holes.  IKEA do one which is perfect and has a range of doors and drawers to fit in the cubby holes.  I can also lose the two bookshelves, as my books will fit in the wall unit.  The bookshelves can then be redeployed in one of the spare bedrooms.  

However, inevitably there has to be a complicated series of moves and counter moves before I can even think of progressing with my plan and as with most house-based makeover projects, it involves clearing the dining room which is once again performing as a storage unit for all the stuff from our caravan which is currently for sale.  The table is piled high with an assortment of caravan/camping stuff, as well as the floor space all around.... I can hardly even get through the doors to be honest.

So, I have a 10-point plan, which entails:

1. In the dining room, sort through all the camping stuff, decide what we want to keep and what can go, in order to clear the space.

2. In the workroom, empty the bookshelves and base units and move the stuff I want to keep through to the dining room.

3. Move the table into the dining room to completely clear the floor space in the craft room.

4. With the room mostly empty, apart from my bureau cabinet, CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!

5. While the deep clean is in progress, order the wall unit and storage boxes for same.

6. Build flat-pack wall unit in situ.

7. Install storage boxes, doors, drawers etc in wall unit.

8. Move all the stuff back into the room, storing it NEATLY in new wall unit.

9. Replace drop-leaf table.

10. Lay exhausted on floor in newly refurbished craft room with a glass of something suitably chilled within reach.

Patio attack.... Part 2

Due to an overabundance of April showers, progress on the patio has been slow going.  However I can at least see where I've been, as about 75% of the patio paving stones have been cleaned and I've been making progress on the outdoor seating gazebo.

This is what it looked like before I started... an undercover winter storage area for assorted 'stuff'.

After I'd cleared and cleaned the floor, I replaced last year's 'zen garden' scene on the fence at the end with a Mediterranean themed scene.  It will look much more convincing when I've added foliage garlands along the top and softened the sides with plants.

I finally finished the waterproof curtain panels for the sides of the gazebo, to add more protection from showers.....

I'm really rather pleased with them, especially as they took absolute ages to make as the fine nylon fabric was an absolute bugger to sew, but PP was somewhat less convinced.

Scene: Seating area of the patio after hanging the first set of curtains.

Me: *proudly*  There!  What do you think?

PP:*dubiously*  Hmmmmm..... I'm not sure

Me:*crestfallen* You don't like them then?  

PP:*thoughtfully* Looks a bit like a brothel.

Me:*incredulously* A BROTHEL???????? 

PP:*hurriedly* Well maybe not a brothel exactly.  More a...... *searching frantically for the appropriate word*

Me:*sarcastically* A bordello perhaps.  Or a bawdy house maybe.

PP:*floundering* No.... I didn't mean.....

Me:*hands on hips* A den of iniquity, a house of ill-repute, a cathouse...

PP:*placatingly* No...no.... more like a....

Me:*eyes narrowed*

PP:*carefully* Erm... like a Turkish harem.  All exotic and mysterious....

Me:*mollified* Hmmph... OK, I'll take that.  That's exactly the effect I was going for.

PP beats a hasty retreat indoors.

Anyway, undeterred, yesterday I hung the other pairs of curtains to complete the effect...

Still lots to do to finish the area but I did manage to give Zebby a good clean and touch up, and make her a new jewelled headdress and here she is re-installed on the wall of greenery.

Would jewelled earrings be too
much d'you think....?

If the weather co-operates over the next few days I might get the seating re-instated and sort out the planters.  Fingers crossed...

Clean sweep.... Take 2

I posted last month about our new cleaner and how lovely it was to have a sparkling house after her visit.  Buoyed by the sparkliness, I worked hard to maintain clear, clean surfaces in the kitchen, neatly plumped cushions in the lounge, and dust free corners in the hallway.

The following week we waited in fervent anticipation but a few hours before the scheduled visit, we had a message to let us know there was a domestic situation and she couldn't come that day, but would do so the next.  Fair enough... these things happen.

Next day, same thing, except she'd visit the following week instead.  Following week, another message saying she couldn't come.

Impasse.

Now, I can completely understand if she thought that coming for one hour wasn't cost effective, but we did explicitly ask her about that and she said it was fine.  

I can completely understand if she disliked us at first sight and thought our house was unbearably messy and dirty.  But that was the whole point of asking to her to pop in beforehand to meet us and see the house and what we wanted her to do.

I can completely understand that people do have things crop up which means they have to change their plans and reschedule stuff.

But I can't understand why stringing people along for several weeks in the sure and certain knowledge that you won't be going back at all, makes any sense..  It only serves to breed a simmering resentment and a distrust of the species in general.

So.  Back to the drawing board.  I contacted the other young lady we'd seen in our initial 'interview' process, but didn't hear back from her.  

Or so I thought.  Turns out she did respond but I didn't get the expected notification of her message on the community noticeboard thingy.   

Having sorted out the initial communication snaggings, we're expecting her this Thursday, so we'll see how that goes.  I can now understand why people become wedded to their cleaners if they're dependable and reliable.... clinging onto them through thick and thin.

I even bought a new spray mop.....  sheesh! 

Arachnophobia....

I did a bit more tidying up on the patio this morning... sweeping up leaves, stacking some kindling in the log store, in keeping with my gentle programme of short, low impact sessions.

I was carefully stacking the final few bits of twigs when I caught sight of a movement out of the corner of my eye, just level with my head.   It was, of course, a spider.  The log store is alive with them.

But not just any spider.  It was ENORMOUS!  Involuntarily I stepped back, stumbled over the bag and when I looked back it had gone.

Warily, I continued my stacking, alert for any movement amongst the twigs.  Then I spotted it again, on the other side.  So it was cunningly deploying a flanking manoeuvre, hoping to take me by surprise.  We surveyed each other for an uncomfortably long period of time but eventually I decided caution was the better part of valour, and retired from the field of conflict.  I carefully replaced the front cover and beat a hasty, but dignified retreat, back indoors. 

Scene: Sandra sits at her laptop, scouring Pinterest for ideas to further update the patio seating  area.  Small Dog slowly materialises and sits alertly on her lap.

Me: *joyfully* Oh, hello SD.  Am I pleased to see YOU?

SD: *nonchalantly* Yess.... ai eckspekt yue ar!  Aive kum to soooth yue aftr thatt unplessint inkouwnter with the spydr.

Me: *shuddering* Thank you so much SD.  Yes, that was definitely unpleasant.

SD: *warming to her theme* Ai doant liek them eethur.  Nastie skuttlen things with altoogethr too meny legs.  Ai had a veri trawmatick eckspeeriens with wun too.

Me:*carefully* Hmmm.... I remember.  You sniffed one up your nose when you were just a tiny puppy and were very wary of them forever after.

SD:*eyes narrowed* Thay yewst to go in my barskit sumtyms too.  

Me:*consolingly* Well, whenever that happened we'd get them out for you. 

SD: *probingly* So.... whot ar yue goen to doo abowt itt?

Me: *perplexedly* Do?  About what?

SD: *patiently* The spydr off korse.  Yue need to gett it owt of the logstoar.

Me:*clearing throat* Ah.  Well.  That's the thing SD.  There won't just be one.  I expect there's dozens... hundreds maybe.  They all live in there.  I can't possibly get all of them out.

SD: *aghast* WHOTT?  Yure jusst goen to leeve them aloan.  ORL of them???

Me:*steadily* I suppose so.  It's fine if they just stay in there and mind their own business. 

SD:*steelily* Ai kannot bileev mai eers.  Thay will orl be meer inshes awai from yue when yure sitten owt ther.  Wotshin yue with ther bazillyun tinie ais.

Me:*uncomfortably* Hmmm.  Yes.  Well.  That's as maybe SD. But I can assure you I am most definitely NOT hunting around in the log store for spiders.  Besides, they catch bugs and mosquitoes....   *trailing off* 

SD: *triumphantly*  Hah!!! And werint yue komplaynen abowt them billding webbs insyd the gazzeebow.  And orl the remayns of ther vicktims droppen down on yure luvlie throws and kooshuns.   Knott to menshun SPYDR POO!!!  Yue kneed to akt!

Me:*startled* Blimey SD.  Well yes, if you put it like that.  I was thinking of just cleaning all the webs away and keeping the roof clear all summer.  Perhaps I need a Plan B.

SD:*confidently* Ai doant thinck bees wil helpp.  Hav yue konsidderd a lizzard?  Orr a kameelyon?  Eniwai.... aill leev it with yue.  Ai hav to go naow.  See yue agen sune.....

SD gradually fades away, leaving Sandra to ponder on her words.  And set about making a plan of action......

Two phobias for the price of one...!

Patio attack.....

This time last year we were anxiously waiting for the date for PP to go into hospital for her surgery.  During that period I was planning an upgrade of the patio behind the kitchen and dining room, hoping to create a sumptuously exotic seating area for her to recuperate and relax during her convalescence.

It was used constantly over the course of last summer, but mid-Autumn all the lovely cushions, rugs and throws were carefully packed away and the seating was swathed in waterproof covers for protection.  Since then it's been used as a covered storage area for logs and kindling for the fire and other assorted detritus.

Exhibit A...

Now that April is here, it's time to refresh the area and give it a thorough clean to remove all the winter mould, moss and muck.  And WEBS, more of which anon.

Exhibit B....

Yuck....! 

Jet washing is great fun for about 15 minutes, then it rapidly loses its appeal and becomes back-breaking drudgery.  15 minutes is as long as I can reasonably manage before I'm fit to collapse, and coincidentally is also the time it takes for the drainage gully round the edge of the patio to fill to overflowing, thus calling a halt to the task.  It then takes several hours for the water to dissipate down the soakaway, which isn't quite enough time for me to recharge my depleted batteries.  As a result, the cleaning process takes up to a week, in fits and starts, depending on the weather.

It's wet, dirty, exhausting work, not helped by the fact that the ancient grouting between the paving stones is on destruct and being blown out by the force of the water, revealing yet another horrible job.... re-grouting the various holes.

This morning I managed to jetwash just 10 paving stones, out of over 100, not counting the  the side passage, or the steps up to the top of the garden.  I reckon I can possibly manage one session in the morning and another in the late afternoon, so even with my parlous maths skills, I estimate it will take about a week to 10 days to complete the task. 

Of course there are many other things to do to return the area to a thing of beauty.  Last year I'd ordered some lightweight, waterproof fabric with the intention of making some curtains for the sides of the wooden gazebo to provide better protection from wind and rain showers.  However, as the material is so lightweight, it will billow and blow about like crazy, so I also bought some weighted tape for the hems to help keep them hanging straight.   What with one thing and another, I didn't get round to it last summer, but this week I set up my sewing machine and set to.

Needless to say, things didn't go exactly to plan.  The fabric is difficult to handle.... it's slick and slippery and slides around under the sewing machine foot.  Also, I don't have a special foot which would make installing the weighted tape easier, so I have to fiddle around with a piping cord foot which isn't quite right.  I've managed to complete 3 of the 4 panels and will tackle the final one this afternoon while I'm working up to another 15 minute session on the patio.

While I was out there earlier, I also discovered that 15 generations of spiders have colonised the wooden gazebo roof, building webs of such size and complexity that I might have to Dyson them.... the webs, not the spiders.  I plan to serve them (the spiders) with an eviction notice just as soon as I work up the courage to approach their lairs, which are festooned with the desiccated husk remains of myriad victims.  I do realise that these spiders are simply living their best lives, but I'd really rather they did it elsewhere, not a few feet above my head.

I also need to make a new floral headdress for the zebra, as its current one looks a bit forlorn and is very webby.  It's also slipped down over one eye and her face is covered in spider dinner droppings so she needs a good wash. 

Exhibit C...

Webby Zebby

Basically, everywhere I look there's stuff to do, so my estimate of having it all sorted in a fortnight is looking a bit optimistic, but I'd really like to have it ready in time for my birthday in 16 days time.

Better crack on then.....

 

Loose ends....

Just one week into my retirement and I'm still tidying up loose ends, the loosest of which has been the website.  My hosting package ends in a few weeks time but with impeccable timing, just one day before I was planning to close the 'store' page last week, they ended support for the website builder program I was using, leaving me high and dry with a working website I couldn't access or modify.

Well I say working.... it wasn't working well.  I knew the store was empty, as everything had been sold, but instead of showing items as out of stock, they were still available to buy.  And some people did.  Which led to some confusion on both their and my parts as I only had an email from PayPal saying I'd received a payment. I had no notification of what they'd ordered, or their contact.

Tech support was lamentable and still being unable to remove the store, the only solution I had was to refund the money paid and offer profuse apologies.  Thankfully everyone understood.

I have been trying for the past week to completely deactivate, or remove the website, to no avail.  It was like a cockroach surviving nuclear armageddon.

Finally, in desperation, I spent many hours yesterday deleting ALL of the back end files, one by one.  Checking back each time to see if the website was still there.  I got to almost the end of several thousand individual files before I got a blank screen.

Hallelujah!

So Tower House Dolls..... FINALLY..... is no more.

With the disappearance of the website, my sandra@towerhousedolls.co.uk address is now no longer working, so if you wish to contact me about anything doll-related, I have a shiny new email address….   sandramorrisdolls@gmail.com

The Tower House Dolls Facebook page has been renamed Sandra Morris Dolls and I will continue to write the occasional post here on my blog, as it contains the repository of my working life over the past 15 years, not to mention the many (mis)adventures of Small Dog, so I simply can’t bear to close it too.

As I prepare to set sail into the sunset of retirement I’m already revising my personal projects notebooks which contains years worth of ideas which I’ve never had the time to make.  I also, inevitably have several projects in progress which have been languishing for years which I’m planning to dust off and revisit.  

I have a small, dwindling cache of tiny undressed dolls to last me for a while, so I will likely have the very occasional special little doll or miniature available for sale, and if so, I will post details on my blog  and FB page, as well as sending out a newsletter.

I am also keeping the FB ‘Mignonette Doll Club’ running for the foreseeable future… as somewhere to share ideas and have a good moan when I mess something up.  It’s a private group so if you would like to join you’ll have to request it.

So, although Tower House Dolls is no more, I’m still going to be around.  There’s a very apposite saying “when your hobby becomes your business, it stops being fun”.   Certainly running a business involves lots of responsibilities, many of which I won’t miss.  Yes... accounts/taxes, I’m looking at you!

However I can truthfully say I’ve enjoyed most of it, even packing for fairs till the early hours and setting off at stupid o’clock to then spend hours setting up my stand.  All the many years I organised and taught classes and workshops for miniatures clubs or at my home(s) were a joy and I got to meet so many lovely ladies, many of whom remain friends to this day.

But now I’m looking forward to beginning a whole new chapter in my miniatures journey.

In the immortal words of somebody whose name I can't remember.... what could possibly go wrong? 

 

Last call....

Just a few boxes left.....

It's been a whirlwind few days since I released my closing sale list but I still have a few boxes left, including one complete Mignonette Toy Doll Box pack, 2 bumper fabric packs, 1 fabrics and trimmings pack, 4 games and paper ephemera packs and just one Yorkshire Terrier Pullalong Toy Kit.

You can view the PDF sale file HERE

I'm aiming to get remaining orders out before the Easter Weekend, so if you want to bag a bargain box please let me know as soon as possible.