When I was young and impatient and trying to accomplish something, the old people used to say ‘It takes as long as it takes.’ And I used to wish it would just hurry up and be done already.
Nothing has changed!
I feel I’ve spent quite a lot of time on making things this year but without ever having anything worth showing here. At last, though, (I hope) I have broken the back, so to speak, of the Lighthouse and a re-make of Granny Square’s caravan and my poor blog is long overdue a post.
I finally managed to sort out the lighthouse basement so that it can fit a bathroom, stairs, store cupboard and an impression of a further basement for water and oil tanks, which was a logistical nightmare! This really is the worst time of year for photos but here are some peeks.
And I decided to re-make Granny Square’s caravan. In this post “Really Random Thursday – the Blue Peter Edition” (shockingly long ago in 2014), you can see my first attempt at making a caravan for Granny Square. If I had realised how much would be involved in the re-make, I should have left well alone but it’s surprising how very confident you can feel about your practical abilities and crafting speed when new ideas come along…
So I binned the first one and, armed with a hat box, some sheets of plywood and copious amounts of paper, glue, card and paint, I set to work. And I have worked on it quite consistently but it seemed that for every half hour of actually doing something I had to leave a day for the glue to dry. After assembling and gluing the main structure (photos 1-3), it was very tenuously held together so I added several layers of papier mache. Then the finish was too uneven so I pasted sheets of water colour paper but they were too small and the joins showed too much so I finally invested in two large sheets of card before painting. It is not quite as even as I hoped but I don’t mind it looking a bit homespun so now I am going to move onto the finishing touches and I hope it will start to progress more quickly.
And I really hope it will be better than the old one so taking all this time has been worth it!
I hope you are keeping safe and well and taking time to do whatever you enjoy. Also that the lockdowns and grey days pass quickly…
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
RAINBOW HARE 
piecefulwendy
I’m still learning the finer art of slowing done, but I’m much better at it than I used to be. The projects we work on become more meaningful when we invest time in them, I think. With my current improv project, I’m trying to pace it out a bit more and just let it spend time with me a bit, rather than finishing fast. It’s more challenging than I expected! Your two projects are moving forward and looking good!
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Kim Sharman
Again, I think you are too hard on yourself, Janine. =) Your lighthouse and what you have done and will do to it sounds incredible. You certainly take the route of discovery and learning. I rather love Granny’s ‘old’ caravan, so I can only imagine how fabulous her new one will be. Sitting here in the sunshine with all the summery flowers smiling, I can only imagine how chilly it is over there. Take heart though, spring will knock at your front door, soon.
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Benta
I’m exciting to see the new caravan but the lighthouse is the one that has really captured my heart! It gets better every time I see it!!!
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