A Sad Day

 Hello Everybody.
Today's post is a very sad one for me to write. Yesterday, I got home from work to find my beloved budgie Buckley had suddenly died.

Last year, soon after my boyfriend had a motor bike accident( he was in cast for 5 months) we decided to get a bird that could keep him company while he recovered.

So we got Buckley the budgerigar.

I have always been a little frightened to hold a bird, but with Buckley it was different. He never bit me and most of the time he liked people's company.

He was a big talker and could say "Hello Buckley" (though it sounded more like "Heeeelllloooooo Buck weeeeeeeee!")and a few tunes. He particularly liked to talk to "his friends" on the television. He listened to a lot of music and would sing quite loudly if he REALLY liked it. My boyfriend and I often joked about his terrible taste in music!

He absolutely LOVED his mirror, having a big chat to his "Mirror" friends.

Buckley was just over a year old and his death was pretty horrible.
I will miss him heaps, and the house is far too quiet!

IndyPoppy

Adding a Basement.

Hello everybody.
Yesterday was a very productive day for my Victorian dollhouse as my boyfriend and I started making the first part of the basement.

After much investigation on Google I came up with the beginning of my design. The main part of the house will have a two (possibly 3) room basement that connects to the upper part of the house. As the house was not built with a basement in mind it is going to have to be adapted.

If you look at the base of the original house it sits on a 2-3 inch plinth. This plinth is integral as it allows the details of the veranda.

Ideally I wanted to try and use this plinth as part of the basement but with lots of thinking I couldn't make it work. So I created a separate room box of sorts to be the basement. I had pre purchased a set of stairs so they have dictated the height of the basement. (12 inch) The stairs have posed a little bit of a dilemma as they won't actually be going anywhere. I'm planing on making it seam like they go up to under the stairs of the top part of the house.

The next picture is the beginning of the chimney.  I have made it so that the fireplace and range can sit inside the alcove. After looking at many blogs they also inspired me to make it slightly bigger to allow for the wiring of the dollhouse to go through the chimney stack. I haven't attached it yet as it will need lots of work done on the inside.

 The stairs from the top of the house will run onto the top of the basement. I plan to make a detachable front that then has another set of stairs leading to the ground.

Phoenix Kitchener in its new home.

The next part I will build is a basement for the tower. The tower has been proving to be a difficult addition so I have changed some things with it. Instead of it being physically attached to the main house I will now have it so it can be placed side by side. I have also decided to add a back to it. I had thought that it would be strange to have a house that you can see all around but has an open area. The tower can then be slid across to see the contents of it.

So now some questions for you!

Q1 : Should I have windows in the basement? Many kits I have seen do...some don't. If yes...what would you suggest.

Q2: Should I use real bricks or brick stencil for the basement?

Q3: Should the doors in the basement be the same quality as the main house or should they be more simple to reflect the rooms being servants quarters?

I'd love to hear from you to see what you suggest..

IndyPoppy

Scrapbook Embellishments for the Dollhouse.

 Yesterday I went with my Mum to a nearby craft fair. Normally when I go I end up coming back with quilting items. This time I decided to go with miniature making in mind. I wasn't having much luck and decided to have a closer look at a scrapbook stand.

Finally I found something. These little items I thought would make fantastic miniature fretwork. I'm not entirely sure where I am going to put them, but I had thought I'd regret it if I didn't purchase them.

I loved these little corners and thought they would make great shelf supports. each one has a little Kookaburra (an Aussie bird) on them.

The last one I got a couple of packets of. I thought they'd make something but what? When I got home it occurred to me that they might make great pelmets to go over a window. They are a perfect size for it.

So readers what do you think? Do you have any ideas on what these could be used for? I'd love to hear what you would do with them.

IndyPoppy

Making Marmalade and someone who loves it.

 Hello everybody.
After a busy week I was surprised by my boyfriend who said "So are you going to that Doll Fair?" To my surprise he knew about a fair that I had completely forgot about and thought I'd missed months ago. Long story short....I got to go. It was held at Liverpool Catholic Club by "The Doll Collectors Club of NSW".

It was a great fair, especially for collectors of modern to antique dolls and bears. So much to see and a lot of tempting things. I restrained myself fairly well but did come back with a special item.

My first pictures today are of today's biggest, yet smallest purchase. This miniature teapot with cosy of my favourite bear come from artisan Win Garside. I had spotted her wares a couple of years ago and had regretted not buying one of her gorgeous teapot and cosy's.

So today when I spotted it I thought, "Yep, Paddington you are coming to my house!" For those who do not know this iconic bear I found a fabulous website that has heaps of information on him.  http://www.paddingtonbear.com/

My next pictures are of the recently painted Phoenix Kitchener. I'm really happy how it is coming together but I do need to do a few touch ups . If your wondering "what's cooking?" It's part of my marmalade making set I purchased on eBay. You will see more of it in the last photo.

Again, I couldn't resist adding to my Reutter Porzelain Set....I think they are salt cellars?


So to the Marmalade set...it was a bit of a coincidence that I found Paddington today as it goes really well with my new set. Paddington's favourite food is marmalade! So my next challenge will be to find a mini, probably 1/ 144 or 1/24 sized marmalade jar to add to the teapot.

 I was determined to have a jam making set of some sought in my house as it reminds me of the endless hours watching my Mum making jams to sell at her shop, Grandmar's Orchard and local markets. Mum preferred to make jams, jellies and sauces rather than marmalade as my grandparents owned an orchard that she could get the fresh fruits from. I find these days it extremely hard to eat fresh fruit as sadly it doesn't taste at all like the stuff my Grandparents used to grow.

Well I hope everyone has as lovely day as I did at the fair.
IndyPoppy

Gifts from the UK

 This week my Mum and her boyfriend returned to Australia from their 6 week holiday to the UK and France. Before Mum left she had asked me if there would be anything that I would like as a souveneir. Surprise, surprise....I said "anything miniature".  So six weeks ago, armed with a list of miniatures suppliers, they left. Mum sent a message suggesting they had visited the biggest Dollhouse shop ever, hinting that something great would be returning with them. Well it did.

Mum had visited a lovely shop called "Harlequin Dolls House Ship" in Southbourne and when there bought lots of great things to add to my victorian dollhouse. After speaking to the friendly staff, they chose several items to bring home.


The first two photos are of the wardrobe. Its has incredible detail that I almost missed seeing. In all the excitement of unpacking the gifts I neglected to look inside. As you can see there are several draws and compartments. All the draws open as well.

My next two pictures are of the bed. Again another surprise to be had as I again neglected to look under the covers to find a detailed mattress.

 Two bedside tables. The mat beneath the tables was also a gift.

 The next gift I almost didn't get. Mum's boyfriend said "what about this?" Mum wasn't sure if I would like it, but they purchased it anyway. I am so glad they did. Its a working 
(ok that doesn't indicate my excitement enough) ITS A WORKING HEIDI OTT GRANDFATHER CLOCK!!!!!!!!!  The details are incredible. It has metal weights and chains. And the face is also made of metal. I haven't got it going yet, but can't wait to see it working.

 The last item is a small globe for the gentlemen's study. I had been looking for one for ages, but the ones I had found looked far too modern. The best part is that it is a very old map. Australia is not even charted on it. It kind of looks like Antarctica and Australia are joined. A really nice detail.

 Now the last items weren't purchased at all. They were a gift from the lovely shop assistant at Harlequins. Included was a current Dolls House Emporium Catalogue, a Heidi Ott Catalogue and several Reutter Porzellan past catalogues. I'll be hanging onto these as they have several pictures of items that I have now put on my "wish list" and lots of inspirational photos.

I'm aiming to email the lovely shop keeper to thank her for the wonderful catalogues and for helping Mum and her bf with the purchases.

To my surprise my boyfriend also got a gift purchased from the same shop. But more on that in my next post.


Lastly in todays post I would like to thank everyone on their lovely comments posted on my last post. Indy my great dane has been doing so much better. She is back to her old self and received a positive report from the vet at her last visit. It was also great to hear some lovely stories about your loved ones.

Well I'm off to read the catalogues. (It's probably the 4th time I have looked at them....but I might have missed something!)

Thanks you again Mum and T for the lovely gifts.
IndyPoppy

The Real World.

I have been absent from blogging for a couple of weeks for a "Real World" reason. Two weeks ago I got home to find my great dane Indy very sick. I was completely unsure of what had happened to her but she was barking and growling at me (which was very, very unusual) She seemed to also have lost her sight. After a rush to the vet, many things were ruled out including snake bite and poisoning. ( In Australia we have some very poisonous snakes and I have found several in our yard over the past few years) It ends up that Indy now suffers from seizures. Seeing any animal when they are sick is horrible and not knowing what to do is awful. After a very horrible weekend of seizures we thought we would have to make "the decision". We thought we should take her to the vet again and get his opinion. It ended up that Indy made a miraculous recovery (She even has her eyesight back!!!Amazing). She seems to be responding well to her new medication and we have changed our routines to fit into her medication regime. I know that I am very lucky to have a bit more time with her and will cherish the days and hopefully months that I'll get with her. Indy is turning eight this year, which for most dogs is young. But for a great dane...its old age...

During all the mayhem with Indy I received a late...late...late Christmas present. A voucher for a local home improvement store. I decided to get a Dremel kit to go with my Dremel. It has many items that could be used for many mini applications. I'm very interested in the carving attachment and wonder what I could use it for.



My last picture is of Indy with her new toy. I'm not sure how long Monkey will last. Usually Indy would destroy a soft toy in minutes. She also has problems with eating pillows and cushions. This toy has lasted a day. I'll give you an update soon...poor monkey.

So everybody, go give your cat or dog (or whatever or whoever is your pal) a great big hug or pat. Animals have such short lives, but they are so worth having as part of our lives!

IndyPoppy

A gift from Papua New Guinea plus a trip.

 Last Friday I flew from Sydney to Brisbane to meet my boyfriend who was returning from a work trip to Papua New Guinea. We spent the weekend looking a few local attractions before returning home on Sunday night.

I hadn't been to Brisbane since visiting the World Expo in 1988. Many years ago (I was in primary school at the time...he he)




On Saturday we took a ferry on the Brisbane river (unfortunately we didn't get to go on the paddle steamer...maybe next time) to South Bank. When we got there we were very suprised to find that they were  holding their annual "Buddha Birthday Festival" There was lots of things to see and do including a vegetarian food extravaganza. (I've never have seen so much veggie food) It was a shame that we had eaten so much earlier in a day as my boyfriend is a vegetarian and it is often incredibly hard to find nice foods for him when we eat out.

This picture shows the detail of one of the attractions at South Bank. This building was donated by Nepal to Brisbane after the Expo 88. I wish I could show you more as every part was hand carved. It was full of tourists all trying to take pictures so I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing without having 20 people in it. (This would be fabulous in 1/12th scale, but I can imagine 1000's of hours of carving)

Picture of the Buddha Birth Day Festival.

Vegetarian Stores.

Ice Cream  with a difference. I'd never had this before. Apparently its made with dried ice.

 This is a picture of my gift I received from my boyfriend from Papua New Guinea. I was so excited to receive it. Why a doll you may ask?...She's not dollhouse size? Well, I'm a teacher and I'm always looking for interesting things to use with my students. Last time my boyfriend bought me back some PNG currency and a Bilum (woven bag). This time he bought the doll. I'm hoping that I can now find a picture book to go with the doll as well. I love the fact that she is hand made and hand sewn. I've found that my students always get excited about an object that has a story to go with it (Even more exciting if it's from "far away")

 While I was at the Buddha festival I also found this wonderful marionette puppet. (I would love to make one in 1/12th for my dollhouse) I have a small collection of puppets and might show some pictures of them in future posts.

Now that my boyfriends back in Australia. I hope to do some more work on my Dollhouse. Or should I say....I hope he helps me with the dollhouse :)

IndyPoppy