I Sawed It In My Head First....

Yes, in this case, that is correct English.... I had to think about how to go about doing the sawing before I actually did it....It worked!!!

Sawing the house(annex) in half makes one feel very strong. Even when it is a mini house. It's a case of "I can do it if I want to and nobody is around to tell me not to! Ha!"

Tessie wasn't about, so I didn't have to ask permission. I just grabbed the keyhole saw and did it. I did do some measuring first to make sure that it would work.

I now have an inglenook for the bottom floor and a small storage cupboard for the weaving room.

Here's the outside. It fits perfectly under the eaves and measures five inches deep, from the outside wall where the windows were to the wall of the main house. The width is about eight inches. Just right for an inglenook. I do still have to cut a hole in the main building.

After making sure that it would work, I cut a hole for the fireplace opening in the wall, to match a fireplace surround that I cut from a layer of quarter inch thick foam core.

Did I mention that I filled in the holes where the windows were? I used 1/8" gator board for that.

Then I built out the bottom of the fireplace with another layer of foam core.

I curved the top of that piece and cut the opening to match the other one. The first layer reaches all the way to the ceiling and will continue up the inside of the storage space.

I will be doing some carving on the foam core to make it more smooth than it is now. Then I will cover it with egg carton brick or stone...No decisions yet.

I am being pressured to work faster....Tessie and friend are overseeing the job.

The space at the bottom will be filled in for stability.

I am continuing the diagonal design of the firebox on the outside of the house as well. I have not cut the curves in it yet, but I have given it more depth and all but the last layer that goes up to the roof have the firebox carved into them.

Now I need to cut the pieces to continue the chimney upwards, making it taller than the roof...Tall order.

If I can keep Tessie from climbing on it until I get it all glued together and Rufus from nipping at my fingers, I will start the stonework.

I feel like "The Little Engine That Could" right now...I thought I could saw a house in half and I DID! How about that?

See you tomorrow.

Another Reason to Finish Fast....

I am not getting a lot of mini-ing done this morning. I took the pieces that I did in illustration board for trial and cut them up further. I made it so that all of the pieces go with the grain lengthwise. Then I traced them onto a piece of 1/16" thick bass wood.

That breaks down to 13 separate pieces. I numbered them all so that I will know where everything goes.


I then cut them out with an Exacto. I can follow the wiggly lines better than with the saw. And the saw takes a bit of the wood away. Less accuracy. At least for me that is the case.

Here are all of the pieces thrown together so that you can see where everything goes. I plan to do some more carving on them as I put it together for real.

It is, as usual, going slower than I thought it would. Remember that making a piece in mini takes approximately 10 times the length that you expect it to.

I am still undecided on the trim and timber color. I need to mix up some dusty blue. The one that I bought was too bright.

The reason for finishing fast is a good one this time. While we were in Carmel, Tessie found a new friend....She named him Rufus. Don't ask me why...She usually gives pets names that start with the first letter of the animal that they are...Rufus?


She sprung him on me this morning and announced, "Casey. Meet Rufus....He is my new guard leopard. He will be helping me make sure that things run smoothly on this build."

I would love to know how she got him in the suitcase without my knowledge...Every time I put down the Exacto, he gives out a low growl or snarl. I have to cut this short.

He is waiting for me by the door....He's small, but he looks mean. I am not going to argue. Back to work!

See you tomorrow.