Some progress

Today's walk was a little less painful. The muscles are beginning to get used to this and I did make the 10,000 steps by lunch time. I was not groaning as I laboured up the final hill towards home either. The feet were complaining this time so tomorrow I shall try putting my socks on inside out. Seems a little strange I know but the insides are of a rough cotton finish while the exteriors are smooth and this may (or may not) make a difference. If not then new socks may be needed. Wish I could afford new shoes but will need to save for those. The big bonus is that it really is beginning to work as I have shed almost a kilo. So I will not quit for something as minor as complaining feet. Get used to it feet I say.

Just before lunch I finished cleaning the final side and have begun scraping the old bits of cedar shingle and glue off the roof. I am still undecided about the windows. I was never happy with them but the thought of attempting to make new doors and windows with my less than basic wood work skills will prove a challenge at the very least. Any suggestions/opinions gladly accepted. I have also noticed as I cleaned away the siding today the the existing windows stick out somewhat. If left as they are the place would really need some sort of siding put on the make them sit properly. I think I may concentrate on the internal renovations next beginning with a coat of white throughout. Then the stair case needs to be reconstructed. After that I can see about the internal doors. They need some sort of work. Here again to replace or to adapt ? Whatever I will need doorknobs. Then the wall paper and floors. I don't think I will continue just now with this forward plan. Just getting this lot done will keep me occupied for some time ahead. Too many tasks ahead of me and I tend to feel discouraged. So as the title of the blog suggests - take small steps.

I did look out some floor coverings that I may use. This old one is the wall to wall carper I did for the master bedroom and I have washed it so it looks as good as new again. So this one is going right back in but with news curtains and bedspreads.

Then I found this one which I think is rather pretty and I just washed it out and reblocked it. So this will do quite nicely for the study. It  really is a pretty colour not as washed out looking as in this shot being a spring green background.

This next one was the one I was originally going to use in the study but now I think it will do nicely for the baby boys' room with blue curtains and spreads etc. So I will wash and reblock this one.  I wanted to do a William Morris rabbit design but it is too large for me to get down to scale and I cannot locate any other design I really like.

I have located a great design to adapt to the planned rug for the kitchen. Can't wait to start on it. However I really need to decide on the stair runners. Just realised there will be a small challenge in doing the rug as I need to do a mirror image of the rooster on one side. Still that will keep my tiny brain nimble.

No pain no gain

Feeling almost smug right now as it is just past noon and I really did achieve my 10,000 steps for the day. I was actually aiming for that amount before breakfast but I would need to walk almost twice as far as I have been doing the past three days. As I am almost crawling on hands and knees on my way up the hill to home each day and feeling the pain all the way it may be a week or two before I achieve that goal. I am hoping that all this pain means more than no gain but some actual losses of those pesky kilos and an ever increasing supply of energy. Sadly there is no evidence to support either hope but I shall press on with my self renovation project.

I am concentrating on the carpets I began last year. These will be completed during the next couple of weeks. I have almost finished the edging on one. Trying a new way this time and I am not entirely happy with the results but I am going to accept the less than perfect outcome. If anyone out there knows a foolproof method of completing a mini rug I would love to learn it.

Here is the almost complete rug no. 1

First step of all the Small Steps.

This is the Diary of a dollhouse renovation and is created as an incentive to keep me on track. Past experience has shown that project tend to stagnate and die a natural death without some incentives so this is the carrot to urge this particular donkey to the completion of the project. Not as exciting as Grand Designs but it  probably will not be without it's dramas either.

 Dad  built the house over 40 years ago when I returned from my first visit to the States with a collection of miniatures I had collected there. He and I spent many happy hours working on it, adding to it and as a result becoming totally immersed in the world of miniatures and were both there it the start of BMEA here in Brisbane. 

The house has been looking a little sad lately and it never was completely finished off. It was looking extremely sad and neglected and had been given some attention (with bad results) from a couple of Tonkinese cats. The first step was the gut it completely and get it ready for a new look. So at present it looks even sadder.

While I am working out a work schedule and purchasing and/or locating the necessary supplies I am getting myself in the correct frame of mind by returning to my favourite mini skills and knitting some clothes for the family and doing some new rugs to go in the refurbished house.

One of the twin girls, Allegra with the sailor outfit being made for her sister, Alexandra

The start of the rug for the twin's bedroom

I am looking forward to receiving the father of the house from the supplier in the UK. It is very hard to get male dollhouse dolls so I am hoping he will look as good as his pictures and then I can get to work making him some clothes. I need to seek out some material to make him a nice pair of jeans. So plenty to keep me going until I get myself into the right frame of mind to begin the actual renovations.

It has been fun so far and rather like Christmas as I have found I had some lovely wall papers stashed away and am having to make some choices among all on offer. I have also located many forgotten treasures and  lovely pieces of furniture for the refurbished house. I do have to make the beds for the twin's room and also one for the eldest boy. Still wavering on my options and I will keep you posted. For now back to the knitting.