Where It All Started, Part II

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Dawn Treader, Grandkids, Narnia, Wardrobe

This is the second half of my previous post, a tour through Narnia, now that we’ve been living with it for a couple years.  Picking up where we left off, let’s head through the Wardrobe into Narnia proper.

Because we were working with a floor plan as opposed to having an entire world, certain elements of Narnia were treated with some artistic license.  Our Wardrobe is in Cair Paravel instead of Spare Oom, and our Narnia is a combination of Lantern Waste and the “Dawn Treader.”  However, just like the original Narnia, we have our resident Aslan!

The window lets in light for playtime and has blackout curtains for nap time.

The boys’ side of the room gives a glimpse of the portholes in between the berths as well as the crown-embellished “sail” curtains made of drop cloths.

A large hunt cabinet with a dragon reminiscent of Eustace holds farm clothes for when the grandkids visit.

The quote over the door comes from “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and perfectly summarizes my hopes in creating Narnia in our attic.

The grandkids love staying in Narnia.  Whether it’s a new book to read, a dark berth for a nap, dress-up clothes in the Wardrobe, or simply room to let their imaginations run free, there’s always something here for them.  If it’s been a while since they’ve visited, they’ve been known to ask their parents when they can go to Narnia again.  We just love the fact that we’re making so many memories together!

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Where It All Started

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Aslan's Tent, Attic, Cair Paravel Library, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

This blog started with us creating Narnia in our attic.  It’s been a couple years since then, and Narnia is well-loved and well-lived-in by our three grandchildren.  Now that it’s not brand new, it seemed like a good time to revisit it and see how it’s worn, so to speak.

Heading up the stairs–Aslan’s Tent is on the right, the rest of Narnia on the left.

The door to Aslan’s Tent.

I like to say that Aslan’s Tent is done in Rococco-Morocco style.

I had the builder add a small window at the top of the stairs to give a sneak-peek at Narnia, and I think the Gothic touch fits Cair Paravel.

Unlike the books, our Wardrobe is located in Cair Paravel because, after all, this is a floor plan in a house–not an actual world!

Although the books never mention it, I’m sure there was a Library in Cair Paravel, because every castle must have a library.

Around the corner of the left-hand edge of the above photo is the door to The Lodge.

Inside, The Lodge should meet the approval of any dam-building rodent!

Across Cair Paravel is Spare Oom, which is more in its craft mode now (meaning a mess) than its guest room mode.  But it does clean up nice.

Word Press seems to have choked on all these photos, so I’ll wait for the next post to go on through the Wardrobe into Narnia proper.

 

The Wardrobe Gets Around

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Dawn Treader, Decor, Design, Narnia, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

My niece, who works in the computer field, just had a post on our Narnia project published on the Homeketeers blog.  Be sure to check it out!  (It’s published under her nom de plume.)  For anyone who’s new to the story of how we turned our attic into Narnia, my niece’s account is clear and concise–and a good way to find out about it without reading through about 75 posts!

Fun in Narnia

Tags

Aslan, Aslan's Tent, Grandkids, Narnia

One day last week Monique brought the grandkids for the day.  It was bitter cold outside; so much for pony rides.  For a while we read books and played with blocks downstairs, and suddenly Charis said, “I want to go to Narnia.”  So we did, and everyone had a wonderful time!

Riding Aslan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting on lots of bling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots and lots!

 

 

Playing peekaboo in the Ikea tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a hilarious game of “Ring Around the Lamp-post.”  (Note that the lamp-post is in focus.  The kids are just moving so fast they’re blurs!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Away around the lamp-post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charis couldn’t understand why Kol kept trying to be in front of her when she wanted to lead.  How do you explain to a 4 year old that even if she starts out leading, if she runs faster and catches up to him, then he’ll be leading?

But the hilarity of the game quickly dispelled any disappointment.  And it also made sure that everyone was going to be REALLY ready for their naps!  Even Monique got a nap in Aslan’s Tent–the parent’s bedroom one, not the Ikea one!

Decorating Hang-Ups

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Decor, Design, DIY, Grandkids, Kara, The Lodge

Sorry about the title, that’s my punning nature rearing its ugly head!  🙂

It’s been a little over a month since Narnia was ready to host guests, but the stairwell was still  bare, bare, bare.  First I was sick for 2 months, then I went to Dallas for 2 weeks.

But I came home from Dallas eager to get going on all the things that hadn’t gotten done yet. One of those was to re-hang my family portrait gallery.

As you can see, my husband and I have a lot of ancestors!  His are on the left, mine on the right.

He has a couple on the landing, too, next to the antique mirror from the old Tivoli theater that Jim & Monique gave us one year.  I’ve always loved it there, but now I love it even more because it hints at special things upstairs.

We have four kids, too, so they take up a whole wall.  Their adult portraits used to hang right where the Gothic window is now, so they had to find a new home.

I like this wall–baby pictures with the kids’ mosaic self-portraits made in homeschool and finally their wedding  (or single hood) photos. It will be fun for the grandkids to see their parents as they head into Narnia.

The placement of the wall is particularly appropriate, right next to Aslan’s Tent (the parents’ bedroom).  While looking for light-blocking curtains at WalMart the other day, I found these and thought they might go in Spare Oom.

When I opened the package, the festoons of crinkly fabric and fringe cried, “Aslan’s Tent” as clear as day!  I think they are perfect across the doorway as a hint to the extravagance inside.

I finished the walls of Aslan’s Tent some time ago, but just got around to taking pictures.  After all the methods I researched for hanging fabric,  the one I finally used was ridiculously simple:  I put knots in rough hay twine and used upholstery tacks to “nail” the twine to the wall, then draped the fabric over the twine.  The “hairiness” of the twine helps hold the fabric in place, and the twine doesn’t stretch at all so there’s little sagging.  And my method is TONS cheaper than airplane cable!

I covered the metal door to the attic in a piece of red brocade Moroccan fabric and a yard of gold lace.  Thanks to a metal cafe rod and cafe rod clips, these are no-sew curtains, the best kind!

We finally got the armoire moved up, so guests have plenty of room to move in.

On the opposite side of the room, the same colors in an opposite arrangement drape the glass doors to the balcony with more no-sew curtains.  A batik reminiscent of “A Horse and His Boy” hangs beside the chairs.  I bought this for Herb in Africa in 1985, and it’s been waiting for the perfect spot ever since it left his office there!

The Moroccan curtains are there for a purpose–to hide the ugly brown room-darkening curtains.  As you can see, they do a pretty good job.  This is a great place for parents to sleep late while Didi and Mimi feed the kids breakfast downstairs.

I took my hang-ups over into the Cair Paravel Library, too.  A large ornate mirror throws back light that comes through the stained glass door.  Next to it are two brass-rubbings I did in London many years ago, never thinking that Queen Anne Boleyn and St. George killing the dragon would bring a Narnian flavor to my decor.  I’m probably the only one that knows they aren’t a King and Queen of Narnia!

About 15 years ago, I bought this painting from a street artist in Aix-en-Provence.  We watched him do it entirely with spray paint.  (Check out Urban Wallart for more things you can do with spray paint.)  We gave it to my brother-in-law, a science fiction fan, because it was a science fiction subject.  Some years later when he didn’t want it anymore, my sister sent it back to me, and I’m so glad she did!  Kara and I think it looks just like the castle of Cair Paravel by the sea–and I think the sea looks like it’s about to spill over the frame into the room.

I found the big gold frame for $7 at Unclaimed Baggage, and it was a perfect fit.  I love serendipitous surprises like that!

The Lodge got some attention, too.  While I was in Dallas I was near a Hobby Lobby (as opposed to being an hour away here), and I found some leather bracelet kits which work perfectly to hang my special walking stick towel bar.  What does it look like to you?

I think it looks exactly like a dragon with long squinty eyes, horns for ears, a little beard and a blunt nose.  (If you can’t see it, he’s looking to the right.)

This is a very nice dragon, and he’s perfectly willing to hold the bathmat.  I won’t have any mean dragons in our Narnia!  It’s a hang-up of mine!

Narnia: Ready for a Royal Visit

Tags

Aslan, Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Dawn Treader, Decor, Design, Grandkids, Jesus, Kara, Narnia, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

Here’s a glimpse upstairs after I finished getting Narnia ready for the first Royal Visit by the Grandkids.

(A word of explanation is in order about “Narnia.”  We call the whole upstairs “Narnia” because all the different rooms were actually in the real Narnia, and they are part of our whole Narnia theme.  We also call the Grandkids’ Dorm itself “Narnia” because you go through the Wardrobe to get there.  Hopefully the meaning of my use of “Narnia” will be clear from the context.)

Aslan’s Tent is the parents’ bedroom.  As you climb the red-carpeted stairs, Aslan’s Tent is on the right, across the hall from Cair Paravel.  It’s the only room that already existed upstairs.

There’s room for a sitting area in the corner of Aslan’s Tent near the French doors to the balcony.  (The large mirror is only here temporarily.)  I have plans to make Aslan’s Tent more Rococo-Morocco, but all in good time.

Step across the hall into Cair Paravel, soon to become the Library.  The doorway at left leads to The Lodge; the one on the right, to the landing between Cair Paravel and Aslan’s Tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other side of Cair Paravel will soon hold bookcases, and the reading area will move over next to the Wardrobe.

The stained glass door that leads into Spare Oom contributes to the castle ambience of Cair Paravel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s peek into The Lodge as we call the bathroom (in honor of the furry friends who led the Pevensies to Aslan).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was delighted to find this Amish-made towel tree in a local furniture shop.  I was also excited to find the Bed, Bath & Beyond shower curtain that ties in the colors of the river rock floor, the Brazilian cherry vanity, and the log walls.  Who knew furnishing a bathroom could be so much fun?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every bathroom in our house has to be set up for reading, so an antique hook and a Victorian-era hanger were pressed into service as a magazine rack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kara found this reproduction sampler (made in China) at a local antique store, and we laughed so hard I had to buy it.  That’s one of the best $10 I’ve ever spent!  Kara thought hanging it across from the shower would be the perfect touch.  In case you can’t figure out why, here’s what the motto says:  “When this you see remember me, and bare me in your mind.  Let all the world say what they will, speak of me as you find.”  (The answer appears at the end of this post.)

I had fun making this toilet paper holder from:  a lion’s head pull I spray-painted bronze; a key chain ring; a piece of leather rein; a curtain rod hook; and a piece of an old broomstick that Herb cut down for me.  The rein is permanently screwed to the dowel on the right while the curtain rod hook fits through an existing hole in the rein for changing rolls of TP.

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s take a quick peek into Spare Oom as we call my craft room.  It’s a great place to read by a window with a view or to stick an extra guest, as long as they don’t mind a crafty mess!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally–on to Narnia proper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aslan waits beside the miniature Christmas tree Kara decorated as a gift for her niece and nephew.

If you look behind you after you enter Narnia, this is what you see.  Some of the decorative features are (from left) a cross-stitch of Jesus and the children rescued from a junk shop along with the lion mirror (Aslan, of course!); an antique hunt cabinet with a dragon that we purchased from Kara; and next to the lion corbel, the quote that sums up our whole project, taken from C. S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

“I am [in your world],” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

(A future post will cover this vinyl wall words project.)

The berths on the boys’ side have fur throws for blankets and red velour spreads which can double as dress-up capes.

The dress-up capes on the girls’ side are purple.

At the foot of each bed is a crown hook for hanging pajamas or robes.  (A future DIY post will feature the hooks.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we turn out the lights, all is ready for the arrival of Charis and Kol, Daughter of Eve and Son of Adam, Queen and King of Narnia.

A Tiny Bit of Progress

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Decor, Design, Flooring, Kara, Lighting, Narnia, Spare Oom

Although I was still sick in bed last week, I could use the telephone!  I went surfing through the Yellow Pages and discovered that my favorite local cleaner for Oriental rugs, Interior Care, Inc., also does carpets.  A few days later a young man was here to clean the ferret-stained, dust-choked Aslan’s Tent along with a well-lived-in chair in the living room.

Herb and I had gotten the furniture out so every square inch of the carpet is now as clean and good as new.

Yesterday, poor Herb had a busy Sunday doing all the things I had (graciously) consented could wait till the weekend so he could study for his finals and write his papers.  The thing about “Honey-Do” lists is they just don’t go away quietly!

First he got the plywood cut at Lowe’s for the Dawn Treader berths and carried all four very heavy pieces upstairs.  Halfway through, his foot slipped on the stairs, the plywood shot backwards down the stairs, and Herb went bounding stiff-legged after it, still hanging on.  He jammed his ankle, poor guy, and was limping badly by bedtime, but it’s “pretty good” this morning.

After the plywood was ensconced in a berth (because once the Wardrobe is in place, we’d never get it in there!), Herb started moving furniture.  I helped him move the dresser in, and he brought the antique twin beds from storage at Kara’s house and set them up.

Next, he brought the daybed over from storage in Kara’s house, and we set it up together.  The rest of Spare Oom is a wreck, but now I can figure out where to move the rest of the furniture and then start putting the room together.  Bit by bit it’ll get done.

This morning I began to feel a tiny bit human again, so I started on decorating Aslan’s Tent.  Obviously, we need a king-sized mattress so this is just temporary.  One thing I did do from bed with my wonderful iPad was research king bed sizes to learn that the base provided by our two twin box springs will perfectly fit a regular king.  I’m not buying a mattress online; I’ll let my “fingers do the walking” to find out where I want to try out and buy a mattress.

The quilt is one Kara doesn’t use any more; we brought the bedside table back from Morocco along with the mint tea pot; and we bought the pink tea glasses in the Arab Quarter of Marseilles before we left France in 2001.

For now I’m leaving the silk screen prints made by two of our once-little girls and the beautiful garland handmade by a friend, although I’ll switch to Moroccan fabrics on the door.  This larger bedside table is Moroccan, too, although I bought it for a song in an antique shop.  Both the tables were beautifully polished by High Point Antiques in Chattanooga.  Next, I’ll take them this little leather Moroccan lamp (a gift from our kids) to repair the curlicue that got knocked off.

This really IS the fun part!  I love decorating!

A Screeching Halt

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Colors & Paint, Construction, Dawn Treader, Decor, Kara, Mimi's Cave, Narnia, Permits, Spare Oom, The Lodge

During the week of Nov. 5-9,  I ran myself ragged trying to stain and poly the wood for the beam in Cair Paravel and the baseboards and berth trim in Narnia before Ben was ready to install it all.  In addition I was trying to stain the bathroom walls and door before he put the river rock tile down.

When I learned at the end of that week that the river rock tile (paid for and supposedly ordered more than two weeks earlier) had not arrived, it seemed at first like a blessing.  It meant I was able to finish the bathroom walls without trying to keep the stain off the river rock tile.  In fact, those pretty little pebbles caused a glitch that gummed up the whole works.

On Monday, November 12, I got a call that the tile had arrived.  Jon was here to finish painting, and I thought Ben would arrive soon to finish the trim (so Jon could finish caulking and painting) and install the tile.  Unfortunately, Stuart called to say he had picked up the river rock, but they was busy elsewhere and couldn’t make it back.  No trim, no tile, no plumbing, no final inspection, no Jon finishing painting.  Everything came to a screeching halt.

Jon’s daughter Becky put a coat of yellow over most of the primer in Mimi’s Cave while Jon glazed the ceiling in Cair Paravel, but he wasn’t at all happy with it.  Even mixed half-and-half with clear glaze to slow the drying time, the Valspar Metal & Patina Glaze rolled onto the ceiling very patchily.  I should have taken a photo, but I had gotten sick on Sunday and was so miserable I couldn’t be bothered.  THAT is pretty sick, when I can’t summon the energy to care about Narnia!

Finally Jon suggested he try wiping the glaze off.  Although some of it had dried a bit more than others, I liked the look better.  I know Jon still wasn’t satisfied, but Kara and I think that touching up a few areas will make it look perfect, especially with the way the leafy pattern of the light hits it.

In going back to read the directions for the glaze, I realize it is never suggested to simply roll it on.  This seems to be one place where my “sample board system” failed.  It rolled on fine on a 2′ x 2′ sample board, but it was a different matter trying to roll repeated sections on a large surface–especially overhead on (I hate to say it) not the best sheetrock job I’ve ever seen on a ceiling.   All Valspar’s suggested techniques are either additive or subtractive; in other words, wipe on or wipe off.  I’m sure that will be the clue to making the walls look great.

Our Toemi Island Rock in Taipei Green

Unable to finish Cair Paravel because of the unfinished trim, Jon and Becky left sometime on Monday; I was flat in bed feeling ghastly.  Antibiotics rallied me enough to go to Stone Source on Wednesday and pick a grout color–which, of course, had to be ordered!  It seems I can’t do anything the easy way!  Then I collapsed into bed and was miserable for the rest of the week.  (Here is a link for our Taipei Green river rock showing what it will look like enhanced.)

I had expressed to Stuart my concern that by not getting tile and plumbing, we weren’t able to use our space at all due to restrictions in the Building Permit that forbid putting any furniture in or using the space at all until after the Final Inspection.  On Friday Stuart called with some good news:  He had talked to the building inspector and received a “temporary, provisional, verbal approval” for us to use the space, assuming we trust Stuart to come back and finish it.  Yes, of course we do!  So that was the good news . . .

The bad news was that the future guest bedroom (Aslan’s Tent) looked like this PLUS, covering any green carpet that showed, a box spring, numerous cans of paint and bags of supplies from Lowe’s and Ace.  In short, it looked like a hoarder’s house with absolutely no passage through!

Kara has been sick, too, but with company arriving Sunday night, we rallied our befuddled heads and wobbly limbs and set to work.  Herb furnished the manpower to move furniture, but Kara and I made every single object disappear into an appropriate and somewhat less visible space.  A heroic effort, if I do say so, myself!

We stacked craft supplies and Narnia decor in the closet of Mimi’s Cave which Kara has nicknamed “Spare Oom” as being a more Narnian name!  Several plastic bins of fabric and two air mattresses got tucked into what’s left of the attic.

Everything paint and stain-related went into the shower because it can stay there till after the floor is done–accessible, but out of the way.

You can tell we got tired at the end and stuffed a few hard-to-place items in the bathroom corner!  No wonder we were tired, such busy sick little rodents!

By late afternoon, Spare Oom was actually functional.

All it lacks is the daybed and some more storage pieces (that’s on my Christmas list, Herb!)

By Saturday evening, Aslan’s Tent was functional.

Just ignore the stained glass door leaning there for safe-keeping and think of it as a large decoration!

It’s not quite up to our usual guest room standards, but at least it’s clean!

Guests still have to go downstairs for the bathroom, but The Lodge hints at what it will offer once our works get un-gummed-up and everything gets finished.

Thanks to Herb’s cleaning and more organizing on my part, by Sunday afternoon we had the kitchen devoid of every sign it had ever been an atelier.

The living room was free of construction dust for the first time in a couple of weeks, inviting us to sit and enjoy a rerun of “Breaking Dawn, Part I” on Netflix before we go see Part II tonight.

The bad news (wait, didn’t we already have that?) is that Stuart is highly doubtful they will be back here to work at all this week, either.  I guess the silver lining to that is, I have another whole week to make up for being sick.  Once all the Thanksgiving cooking is done, there’s plenty of poly-ing to do on the Dawn Treader berths and a throne waiting in Spare Oom for it’s upholstery to be finished.

So I guess the Red Carpet for our guests will have to be Drop Cloth Carpet for a little while longer.  At any rate, something’s looking up:  When Kara told me today that she thinks I need a curtain for each of the Dawn Treader berths, I said, “Hmm, we could cut up drop cloths.  They’re kind of like sail canvas!”  My Narnia-Sense is working again–I must be getting better!

Do you Pin?

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Construction, Dawn Treader, Decor, Inspiration, Narnia, The Lodge

I’d heard of Pinterest, but hadn’t found a good reason to sign up. Then when I started to plan Narnia, Pinterest kept coming up on searches I did for different styles of decor.  Suddenly, Pinterest had become a valuable tool–and I joined the Pinterest community.

I use my “Narnia in My Attic: The Grandkids’ Dorm” board as a place to collect a wide variety of inspiration photos:

beds under eaves for the kids’ Dawn Treader berths

Moroccan interiors and Gypsy style for Aslan’s Tent (the parents’ room)

woodland style for The Lodge (bathroom)

It’s been extremely helpful in showing contractors, carpenters and others what I’m trying to achieve.  Even if there’s no internet service at a particular store, I can whip out my iPad (with my Pinterest board already open on it) and scroll up and down to save 1,000 words of explanation with a picture!

I’m still keeping an old-fashioned binder of inspiration photos, too, but I’ve uploaded several of them to Pinterest.  That way all my resources are available in one place–and maybe someone else will like the ideas I’ve saved from years’ old magazines.  This inspiration photo for the Narnia ceiling was apparently unavailable on the internet, so I scanned it, posted it to my blog and then “pinned” it; numerous other people have “repinned” it, so I’m glad I put it up.

You can also pin photos directly from your computer, as I’ve done with this chandelier and many other things I’ve bought.  You never know what might help inspire someone who knows in their head what they want, but just can’t quite picture it.  You know, that old “I’ll know it when I see it” feeling!

So if you’re undertaking any kind of construction or decor project, consider creating an inspiration board on Pinterest!  Just click and get going!

A Room with a View

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Construction, Design, Floor Plan, Narnia

Today was the 13th day of construction, and what an exciting day!  LOTS of things happened, but the most exciting was the sight I saw as I came up the driveway!

Stuart was installing the window in Aslan’s Tent!  (That’s the parents’ bedroom, if you’re new to the blog.  But stay tuned for a change in plans . . .)  I laid down flat in the grass to get the shot above, but the one below shows a better view of how Stuart was supported up there.

Any way you look at it, that’s a pretty precarious perch!

While I was taking pictures, Herb got home and came over to admire Stuart’s handiwork.  Misty and Hero both came up to greet Herb.  I missed the Heroic greeting, but this tender one made me Misty-eyed.  (Forgive the puns!)

Awww!  Dogs are wonderful!  Okay, back to the Room with a View . . .

To give a better perspective, I walked around to the side of the house.  You can see the ladders holding Stuart’s “scaffolding” where they extend beyond the huge hedge in front of our bedroom.  The stakes holding the ladders in place are chunks of 2x12s that Stuart sawed into a point and drove into the ground with a sledgehammer.  That was a smart safety move since both Ben and Todd were hard at work inside.  (The window at the left of the photo is the master bathroom window.  Our front bedroom window is hidden behind that hedge!)

This photo shows our bedroom (on the right) with Aslan’s Tent above it in relation to the main part of the attic (on the left) where Narnia is located.  It’s above our study window (with the basement windows below in the bottom left corner).

As I backed down the hill to get a shot of the whole house (Narnia on the far left, Aslan’s Tent in the left dormer), Hero and Misty followed me.  They want me to point out that they are the faithful guardians of the house and the entire farm.  Zephyr wasn’t here because she was inside enforcing her Rules!  I found her when I went inside to see what things look like from there.

Here I’m standing in the framed doorway to Aslan’s Tent looking toward the new window.

I walk through the “doorway” into the little hall, and I turn to the left to look at the closet.  Once the back wall of the closet is done you won’t be able to see the rafters anymore, but for now you can still see the rafter marked “cut” that was in this post.

Wait a sec; let me back up and let you see the entrance to Aslan’s Tent better.

Now you can see where the door will be.  When you step through the door, the closet will be on your left in the little hall, and a few more steps will take you into the room.  Stuart is barely visible outside the window, still hard at work!

We’ve walked all the way across the room to the window and turned around to see where we’ve just come from.  The closet is that little area behind the shop vac (which I think looks a little like Artoo-Detoo).  We can now see where the bedroom walls will be, and if the door was in place, we could shut it and hide Ben getting ready to climb up the ladder.

We’ll get back to Ben on the ladder in another post about today, but since this is about A Room with a View, let’s go look at that view!

Don’t mind Stuart; he’s putting the vinyl siding back in place.  Not a bad view!  And would you believe, in all the thinking I did about this attic conversion into Narnia, it never occurred to me that there’d be a great view from this room!  I guess my imagination just couldn’t penetrate that plywood wall and studs that were in the way!

Stuart worked pretty late today getting us “dried in.”  (In case you aren’t up on your construction lingo, that means a rainstorm wouldn’t leave us wet inside.  The siding’s in place and the window can shut, complete with a child-proof latches to keep adventurous grandkids from opening the window too far!

About the time Stuart brought down the first ladder (it had already begun to descend when I got this shot in, so you get an idea how far up there he was), he got a call he said was from “The Boss.”  “I thought YOU were the boss,” I said, just as it hit me.  “Oh, THAT Boss!” I said.  Yeah, THE Boss!  😀