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11.12.09

Begin at the beginning part 2 - or - The On-going Tale of a Miniature Addiction

Having realised I was in fact a miniaturist and part of a wide community rather than believing the love of all things tiny was some sort of personality disorder that needed to be hidden, I proudly came out of the closet with miniature crochet hook in hand in 1976.  Proceeds from miniature crochet bought a scroll saw and a couple of books and I was on my way!  Nothing whatever could be bought at that time, certainly not furniture, not even basswood for the handywoman.   A cabinet maker was co-erced into putting some Heart Totara through his thicknesser and miniature furniture began to fill any moment spared from the demands of real life.

The following year brought with it the opportunity to go to night classes in joinery to build a 3 storey Georgian style dollhouse to  house the growing collection of furniture I'd been slowly making.  Unfortunately that dollhouse had to be left behind when life brought me home to Australia but all the "doings" came along and waited patiently for a new dollhouse home.  Patiently.................

Real life took some twists and turns so, unable to build another dollhouse myself, a friend entered into an agreement to build one for me - a tall narrow house along the lines of a Paddington Terrace house but with a balcony at the top.  Great excitement about 2 years ago when it arrived.
Patience?  it only took 30 years to replace that first dollhouse and worth the wait I might add.

   

The equestrian chap holding the shotgun is visiting while he waits for his new home in a stable.




6 comments:

  1. Ahhh, a closet fellow Kiwi :) LOL My husband calls us 'Kwozzies' (KiwiOzzies - cos there is no doubt that who we are is influenced by both countries). In fact I quite often use Kwozzie Miss as an internet username when everthing else I can think of is taken :) Oh and how I can relate to your problems of getting supplies in the old days in NZ, that's a huge part of the reason why I gave up mini-ing. I got so frustrated at having to buy mail order from England which cost the earth because of the exchange rate and took FOREVER to arrive. It was so hard to get books and so on too, and narry a magazine or person around for 'mutual inspiration' :(

    Can we please look inside that very very tall terrace house? (It reminds me of struggling up the steep narrow stairs to the 4th floor of a guest house in Dover. Being a person with a sympathetic and practical nature I felt sorry for the person doing vacuuming - LOL). BTW I live very near Paddington in Sydney and I'm sure my fellow bus passengers must wonder sometimes why I will stare so at a particular house - to the point of swivelling my head over my shoulder to get the longest possible look as we pass, sometimes almost to the point of injury. I couldn't possibly tell them I was just examining the style of the wrought iron work on the balcony, etc, and wondering where I could buy it in miniature - they would definately think I had some sort of mental disorder even tho we like to think ourselves that it is more of an interesting personality quirk whilst possibly still harboring suspicions about the men who build model railways ;)



    Are your sure that we just don't ALL have some sort of personality disorder???? te he

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  2. Ah, patience...all things come to those who wait...
    I first decided I wanted a dollhouse of my own after seeing Elizabeth Moss' three storey dollhouse when I was eleven. I finally got one for my fiftieth birthday. Various life happenings have held me up and I am just now getting properly underway with it. I'll be 59 next week. The mills of God grind at a lightning pace in comparison to my progress but I will get there in the end.

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  3. First of all, I'm not admitting to any disorder ;) It's everyone else who has the problems, not miniaturists, we enjoy our insanity!

    No Norma, not a Kwozzie, perhaps an Ozzwi? Spent a few years following my ex from Oz to N.G. and N.Z. Had my kids in N.G. What do you call kids who were born in N.G., lived in N.Z. long enough to sound Kiwi but spent most of their lives in Oz? Mixed up I guess ;)

    Yep, there are some pics of the inside of the dollhouse, not very good pics though. I'll put them up soon. I've done three photo sessions over 2 years and always end up with fake looking fuzzy photos. I think it's because I can't get light into the dollhouse properly even with a daylight lamp.

    Vicki, if there's a reward for patience you'll surely win!! That's a long time to wait for your dream.

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  4. Hey, I just noticed that your blog URL is not showing on your profile on my Followers list. Maybe you'd like to check it out...

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  5. Hmmm, being technically challenged I'm not sure what I have to do about the profile. I've made some changes, would you mind checking if it made my profile visible please Norma?

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