Christmas Fair

On Saturday we held our village Christmas Fair

The chidren loved the 'Unicorn'

and she enjoyed her day because as well as the children feeding her carrots

she hardly paused for breath eating the lush grass!

It was an excellent turn out, the hall was packed

there were lots of lovely things for sale

face painting, drawing and colouring

this sweet little boy was enjoying the lucky dip 

I didn't win anything in the raffle

but I did win a very nice duo of M&S hand wash and hand cream in the tombola. This was just two of the tables, there was another one to the right. People had kindly donated lots of lovely goodies. 

books, jigsaws and more

I love a glass of mulled wine

Over in the other hall some of my WI group ladies were kept busy serving sausage rolls and jacket potatoes with delicious fillings of chilli or coronation chicken and salad. Myself and other WI ladies took over at 2o/clock serving tea and cakes. I forgot to take photos of all the cakes!
Everyone agreed it was a triumph. The atmosphere in both halls was wonderful. We are a small community but when we pull together and share ideas and work we achieve excellent results. And as well as having a great time we raised money for charities. We haven't heard yet how much but I think it will be a lot. The money will be donated to our village hall, our church modernisation fund, the W.I. and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x

Lake View Kitchen

I bought Lake View in 2019, it had been badly constructed, neglected and needed (still needs) a lot of work to bring it up to scratch. In July 2019 I jokingly said "Check back in about four years!" and here we are way past that deadline. The kitchen has taken a LONG time. 

The first job was to make the cooker, it was in kit form so fairly easy to construct. The width of the cooker and the fridge dictated how wide the cupboards on the same wall would be.

Two cupboards to go each side of the cooker made with obeche wood which is easy to cut with a craft knife. I cut pieces for the sides, fronts, work tops and small pieces for detail

painted the sides and front, and stained the worktops.

For the long run of cupboards I cut a length of wood and started glueing the detail bits on then realised I only needed 5 cupboards!

After staining the worktop I cut out a square for the sink which is a McDonalds ketchup tub. I had to do it twice because the first time I put it too close to the edge which didn't leave enough space for the front cupboards to fit.

I painted the sides and front pieces, lightly stained the worktop and then  glued them all together. Making the tiny handles was frustrating. Finally I coated it all with varnish.  

Single cupboard, dishwasher, single cupboard, double cupboards

Work came to a halt one Sunday when everything went wrong. I wasn't happy with the end bit of the long worktop, it was cut across the grain and when it was stained it became too dark so I sanded it and decided to stain it with a lighter colour than the worktop. I made the fatal mistake of not putting the lid back on the stain, and yes, I knocked it over!!.... it went everywhere, thank goodness I was wearing old work clothes! Next I was attempting to make cardboard templates of wall cupboards but kept getting the measurements wrong,

and when I sliced a bit off the side of my index finger with my scalpel I decided to walk away and spend the rest of the day on the sofa watching iPlayer. I've done this once before. Once is an accident, twice is just downright carelessness.

After a long absence I went back into the craft room with renewed enthusiasm to get the kitchen units finished, BUT I decided I didn't like the colour 😟 not so much I didn't like it, it was just that with white walls and cream units the room would look very pale. I thought something a bit more colourful would look better! So more time spent removing all the handles, sanding the varnish off, masking the worktop, painting, sanding and more painting. 

I'm happy with the pale green.

Now to make the top units

LED's under each one

which presented a problem at the side of the house. The wires couldn't go through the side as they would be in full view, they have to go out through the back. 

I was going to thread them through the first cupboard, behind a shelf, through the second cupboard, the corner cupboard and out through the back wall. That would have been time consuming and very difficult in a small confined space, so I decided to mount the whole lot on card stock

then the wires could go through the back of the cupboards, through holes in the card, along the back of the card and out throught holes at the back. Also if there is a problem with the lights at a later date I can easily remove the whole unit.

Shelves, tiles and taps fitted

The top corner unit was easier than I thought it would be.

 

I measured the distance between the wall and the units

made a cardboard template

made it with wood

added a shelf and painted it.

I made more work for myself when I changed my mind about the splashback!

This was my first choice which is very nice but after glueing it in place it just didn't look right, there was too much white space and not enough tulips

I'm much happier with this one

The wine rack was a bit fiddly, it took a few attempts to get the shelves even.

I made a template out of cardboard, then made the outer casing in wood

the shelves

put it all together and incorporated it into the island unit. I'm checking this before publishing and I've just realised those cupboards on the right hand side won't work because of the wine rack!! Oh dear, I'm not doing it again, they can be dummy cupboards, miniaturists license 😄

Pieces for the island seating

This was difficult to construct. The pieces of wood that make up the unit are only 2mm thick which made it VERY difficult to hold them together after glueing. I made foamboard units to glue the wooden pieces onto. 

They are rough but they do the job of keeping everything in place. I had problems with the end pieces, trying to get them in the right place with the plinths in place too. Eventually I was happy with it glued in place with elastic bands to secure pieces that warped a bit and weren't quite making contact with other pieces. 

Sometimes, at bedtime, I check what I have done during the day to make sure everything is ok. Occasionally something isn't quite right and I have been known to re-do it, working into the early hours dressed in my jim jams!! (Not the chocolate spread jim jams, that would be wierd!) 

At last it was ready for the first coat of paint.

I expected problems with the seating cover. Achieving a tidy inverted corner that doesn't fray is tricky, but I found a very good video on youtube and was pleased with the result.

Putting it all together at last.

The seat was made with a piece of sponge glued to cardboard and covered with material. For the back rests I used wadding instead of sponge as they didn't need to be as thick. 

I made the cheese plant the same as the one in the Manor House lounge

Appliances and accessories added

I have three favourites

this gorgeous coffee maker

these lovely kitchen utensils

and this darling Japanese style teapot which was thoughtfully packaged in a solid plastic container, complete with a Werther's toffee!

Middle floor before

and after

The lounge and the top hall are the next areas to be done. I was hoping to get them completed before the end of the year, but I don't think that will happen because I can't make up my mind what sort of fireplace to have, or which furnishings! the only thing I am certain of is a reclining chair and matching footstool!

∼ Be safe and well ∼

Polly x