03 July 2011
General Course July 2011
08/07/11 13:10
Just prior to the course I had two cancellations owing to illness so the numbers were somewhat depleted on this course. We had a great time, however, and everyone did such a lot of great work and were really pleased with what they achieved.
We had two newcomers on the course this time.
Janet and Roy arrived with a large dollshouse they had bought from a friend who had made it for his children some years ago. They had rubbed down the house and painted the inside white but had no idea of how to proceed from there. Their purpose on coming to Tickhill was to electrify the house and we started on that on their first day. The house is to be done as a Georgian house so Janet and Roy had decided that they would like candle lights. I had some in stock but not enough for the whole of the house but that wasn’t too worrying as with the system I use it is very simple to add lights at a later date. I think they were both a bit sceptical when I said we should have the house lit (with the lights we had to hand) by that evening but were delighted when they saw it all lit up at the end of their very first day. From there, there was no stopping Janet or Roy. They worked together and decorated the outside of the house, put a couple of partitions in the attic and then began the decorating of the ballroom. They met at a dance and so the ballroom is highly significant for them. Having painted the walls, the next step was to make a fireplace to cover the one which was already in the house and impossible to remove although it was most inappropriate for their room. They did a great job of the fireplace which looked lovely with it’s warm glow, and then put in the parquet flooring. You almost felt you could dance the night away yourself, the room looked so inviting. I think Roy and Janet enjoyed the course and were delighted and amazed by how much they learned and achieved although Janet spent most nights, not sleeping, but planning what she was going to do next day....and the day after that... We’ve all been there haven’t we???
Norma has been on many courses at Tickhill and it was lovely to see her again.
She is a ve
Margaret has been on courses several times and has a very large house which is actually made up of two houses which are meant to sit back to back. This time she brought only one part and was to concentrate on getting her stairs installed as she had worried a lot about them fitting together. Poor Margaret spent what I am sure felt an age, painting the stairs and banisters but it was worth every minute - they looked so impressive when they were finished. She laid a Richard Stacey quarry tiled floor on the lower level which will be the servant’s entrance and it was amazing to see the results of all her hard work. Margaret and Norma will be coming back to Tickhill in August so she will take the next step to getting her house finished.
Elaine and Chris have been many times on our courses and we love having them here.
This time, Elaine brought her first room box. It was quite a large box and she decided to split it up into rooms which was a great way of designing a roombox rather than having just one square room. Chris’ mother gives Elaine a Christmas miniature every year so Elaine decided to create a Christmas scene in a comfy cottage. It was the first time she had actually done the building of the structure and she did a wonderful job. The sitting room was stencilled in stone with a large inglenook fireplace with stairs going up behind. The smaller room is a kitchen with an arch leading to a small porch area. Having built it all, which was no mean feat, Elaine lit the rooms which brought it all beautifully to life. I felt I could move in there tomorrow. I hope I get to see the finished article - often people finish their projects at home so I don’t get to see them but I am hoping Elaine’s won’t be too big for her to bring it back for me to see when it is complete.