Where It All Started

Tags

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!

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.

Ben’s Busy Day

Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Construction, Decor, Narnia, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

Ben’s busy day happened on Dec. 20, but I’m just now catching up after Christmas.  It was a long, busy day, and I’m grateful for everything he did because he got Narnia ready for company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He installed the brackets I had painted, turning the ordinary window in the wall into a Gothic-style arch.  It’s a suitably elegant peek into the curious world at the top of the stairs.

He mounted the lion drawer pulls on the closet door of Spare Oom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He mounted the antique French door knocker on the door of The Lodge so people can check to see if the bathroom is occupied.

He mounted my oil-rubbed bronze-painted lion head knocker inside The Lodge to serve as a place to hang a towel or a change of clothes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He drilled holes into the second lion knocker and mounted it on the wall by the sink to hold hand towels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He hung the driftwood mirror over the stone sink.

His final task in The Lodge was to enhance the river rock floor.  This seals and protects the stone as well as bringing out its natural color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day before, Ben had assembled the Wardrobe in Cair Paravel across the door of Narnia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this long, busy day, he finished installing the Wardrobe.  He attached it to the wall with straight metal braces; bent angle brackets to reinforce the side panels to the frame; carefully removed the drawer fronts from their dovetailing and braced the now “faux” drawer fronts in place; and finally, removed the batten trim from the Wardrobe so he could hinge the door in place.  (I have to darken the stain where the batten was removed.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the top photo of the Wardrobe, you can see the center braces that the drawers slid along.  Since this interfered with us stepping through the Wardrobe, Ben removed and preserved the center brace, replacing it with a brace behind each side panel (see above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a closer look showing how we can now step through the wardrobe while standing upright, something we could not have done had we kept the drawers and floor in place.  All that remains is to find step stools to help the kids climb over until they grow some more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to honor Ben with a photo at the end of the day because he did such a craftsmanlike job with the Wardrobe, respecting and preserving its status as an antique while making sure it would be sturdy and safe as The Wardrobe into Narnia.  Thank you, Ben, for a job so well done!

 

DIY Decor Project: Prime & Paint HVAC Vent Covers

Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Colors & Paint, Decor, DIY, Narnia, The Lodge

With a dark turquoise ceiling in Narnia, a sky blue ceiling in The Lodge and gold-glazed wall in Cair Paravel, I thought the standard white HVAC vents would look shockingly out of place.  After lots of research on the internet (some of which said you can paint HVAC vents with latex paint and some of which said you can’t), I decided to try.  Here’s what I did:

(1)  I lined the vent covers with foil.  I used heavy-duty foil torn off just at the width of the vent covers.  I folded one end into a point and “ironed” it flat with my fingers.  Then, with the help of a tweezers, I fed the foil point in between the stationary slats on the front and the moveable slats inside the vent cover.  I slid them into the fully open position that I planned to use once they were installed.

(2)  Once the foil was fed completely through the slats (note that this involved some delicate pushing and pulling through some tight spaces), I folded the excess foil around the back of the vent cover.

(3)  This is what each vent cover looked like from the front.  I felt it would be too complicated to try to paint the inner slats, and this way the most obvious part would get painted.

(4)  I lightly sanded the vent covers with 220-grit sandpaper to rough up the slick painted surface.

(5)  I used a clean paint brush to gently sweep away any particles left from sanding.

(6)  I chose Rustoleum Professional Primer because its sprayer works at any angle and because it specifies that it is for previously painted surfaces.  Some tutorials I read suggested “etching primer,” but when I bought it and read the instructions, it seemed to be exclusively for bare, unpainted metal.

(7)  I laid each vent cover out flat and sprayed lightly, being sure to get at every angle of the slats.

(8)  I took a piece of cardboard and poked all of the screws through it, leaving only the heads exposed.  Since they were all different, I labeled them to be sure I knew what color to paint them and so I could get them into their correct vent covers.  I primed the screws on the cardboard so that the threads would be kept clear of primer.

(9)  Each vent cover got two coats of primer (like the one above) to be sure all the white paint was completely covered.

(10)  I found the best method for painting on the latex paint was to use this 3/4″ artists brush which is fairly flexible.  Too stiff of a brush would leave definite brush marks in the paint.  First I painted the slats, and wherever paint went over onto the edges, I brushed it out in the direction I intended to paint the edge.  Once the slats were painted, I painted around the edges, not forgetting the tiny edge that would be noticeable once the vent cover was mounted.

(11)  Each vent cover and screw got two coats of latex paint except the yellow one which got one coat of paint and two coats of golden glaze (not shown).

(12)  Once the paint was fully dry, I sprayed each vent cover and all the screws with two coats of Crafts, Etc. “Triple Thick Clear Glaze” and let Ben install them.

The vent covers look great mounted–mainly because they’re not noticeable!  It remains to be seen whether my technique will hold up to the passage of heated and cooled air, but since we have a heat pump, the air is never really that hot as it comes out of the vents so I’m hopeful!

DIY Decor Projects: Transform a Door Knocker

Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Decor, DIY, The Lodge

These next few posts will deal with various DIY projects I’m doing to add the perfect touches to our Narnia decor.

First is to spruce up an antique French “hand” door knocker.

While on an exterior door of our former house, the brass accents got dull and got a few swipes of white paint from a careless paintbrush.

I used fine steel wool to gently remove the paint and to bring out the highlights while leaving the dark, antique patina untouched in the recessed areas.  Now The Hand is ready to hang on the Cair Paravel side of the bathroom door–a fancy way to teach kids to knock before entering!

These two lion head door knockers will go in The Lodge as a towel hanger on the door and another beside the sink.  (I bought the rusty ones because they were half the price of the weathered bronze ones which still wouldn’t have been the right color.)  I love these lions, but not what their rusty finish would do to my towels!  All the other hardware in The Lodge is oil-rubbed bronze, so . . .

First I went over the lions with fine steel wool to remove any loose rusty finish.  Then I bought a can of Rustoleum Oil-Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

I stuck the bolts in the holes of an upside-down clementine box to spray them.  Neat, huh?

I flipped the rings up onto the lions’ faces and sprayed a light coat from all sides, then let it dry.

Here’s the job halfway done.  When the paint was dry, I flipped the rings down and sprayed lightly from all angles, making sure not to miss the sides near the paper.

Here are the finished bolts and one lion.  There are tiny sparkly, coppery particles in this paint so that it catches the light and truly looks like oil-rubbed bronze.

Here’s a final look at the lions in different light.  This photo doesn’t do justice to their warm bronze patina.  I think they look amazing!

The final adaptation will be to mount one on the wall beside the sink.  Stuart says he can drill holes through one lion so it can be screwed into the wall.  The one to be mounted on the door won’t need any adaptation as the hardware that comes with them includes bolts with those antique-looking nuts to screw in on the opposite side of the door.

One project down!

Dear John

Tags

Decor, The Lodge

Dear John,

This is hard to say, but I must tell you what is in my heart:  I do not love you!  I love another.

I love another whom I cannot have.  His soul is too large to confine, and so I must set him free for another to love.  I may have bid him farewell, but he will always remain in my heart and in my mind.

Yes, you are here, John, and that must count for something!  I suppose I am grateful that Phil introduced us.  But you are simply not The One of my dreams!  There is something twisted and awkward about you.  I feel that deep down you are not quite clean and wholesome, as if little motes of filth were settling upon you.

Yet I am a realist, John, and I know that I need someone here with me.  If you are the one who is willing to stay, then I will accept you.  I will try to appreciate you and care for you . . . but I will always love another!

Yours truly,

Mimi

The Throne in Cair Paravel

Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Narnia, Permits, The Lodge

This post is dedicated to my college Roomie, Pat.  We have more fun (and more pun) together than two giggling college freshmen!

“When life hands you lemons, make lemondade,” says an old adage.  I had a chance to do that today, although everything started out great:  I felt well enough to be up for the first time in three weeks, and the plumber came!  Yes, Phil, the boss himself!

While Phil got to work in the bathroom, I started pre-coating the switch plates for the Dawn Treader berths with my fail-proof Charles Neil product.

Phil couldn’t believe how heavy the stone sink was!  I think he was sorry he came instead of sending his employees!  He drilled a couple holes and spent quite awhile under the sink with his head smashed up against the wall, but he finally got it done.

I am SO thrilled!  It’s exactly the way I pictured it!  And I must say, I’m pretty proud of the tung oil job I did on the Brazilian cherry countertop that Ben made out of 2 stair steps.  The technique was: evenly wipe a thin coat of tung oil on to the wood and let dry for 12 hours.  Buff lightly with fine steel wool, and repeat.  There are at least 7 coats on there so hopefully the wood will be adequately protected from water.  Phil said he recently built an entire floating dock out of Brazilian cherry–about $200,000 worth!  Well, I guess it will stand up to water, then!

Next came the shower.  (Each photo looks a bit different in color because of the camera settings I have to use depending on the angle.)  You can’t see the oil-rubbed bronze hardware in this photo, but trust me, it looks great!

Next it was time for my marvelous, one-piece, comfort height, easy-to-clean toilet.  As you can guess, “one piece” translates into as “heavy as all get out!”  Luckily, Herb was home so he helped Phil haul it up the stairs.  By the time they got it into the bathroom, they were panting and flushed.  (Okay, I’m going to point that one out to make sure you get it; now you’re on your own!)

That’s when I got the lemons!  There was N.O.  W.A.Y. that toilet could fit in that spot.  Nohow, no way!  What I wanted to say was, “CRAP!”  (And something else completely apropos that was definitely running through my mind!)  What I actually said was, “Bad word!  Bad word!”  It tends to shock contractors when homeowners say “crap” no matter how appropriate to the occasion.  I will say here that part of the blame lies with me for changing from 1×4’s to D-log siding, but I LOVE my logs WAY more than any toilet!  So it’s partly my fault this whole lovely toilet thing is circling the drain.  (Oh, sorry, that’s a tub pun.)

Okay, so let’s make lemondade:  Let’s put the toilet in our master bathroom!  No, have some more lemons:  It won’t fit!

Forget the lemonade; I made a desperate call to Stuart:  “What do I do with a $348 special order toilet that won’t fit in any of our bathrooms and that I can’t return to Home Depot?”  Stuart asked me to describe the toilet which I did with all my enthusiastic longing to own it, and he said he had just the place for it and will take it!  Wow!  Just like that!  You make great lemonade, Stuart!

With instructions from Phil that I need a toilet with a 10″ rough-in (I know, you construction guys are already laughing!), I dragged myself out to Lowe’s.  I told the helpful clerk I wasn’t picky, but I’d prefer a flat top and fewer filth-collecting curlicues underneath.  No problem, Kohler has just the thing, and it’s only $275.  Yikes!  It’s not even a fancy toilet, and there’s less material in it than in a 12″ size.  Yep, but if you’re dumb enough (I’m saying that, the clerk didn’t!) to need a 10″ rough-in, they’re going to take you for all you’re worth.  Okay, let’s make lemonade:  I’ll take it!  Well, no, you knew there had to be more lemons, right?  They can’t deliver it till Dec. 24?!!!  And when do they think I’ll get a plumber?  January, maybe?  And what about our final inspection and the family here at Christmas with no toilet upstairs?  And the stinky odor coming up from the drain?

So I’ll go to Home Depot and make lemonade.  After several tries to find someone who actually knew what 10″ rough-in meant, I ended up back with the lady who sold me the first toilet (and didn’t bother to mention the bizarre specs!)  Like we were in an outhouse, she thumbed through page after page in a catalog.  (Lowe’s has computers for this stuff!)  At least she assured me that they ship in 5 days.  Finally, she found two toilets, but it was pretty bitter lemonade:  One was $312 and one was $330.  I picked the “cheap” one.  Before she ordered it, I asked if she could confirm the delivery date online.  No, she said, they don’t do that, but I assure you it will ship in 5-10 days.  Wait a minute!  Did 5 just become 10?  “Uh, that’s 10 business days,” I told her.  “That’s two weeks.  That’s Christmas!”  Thank you, goodbye.

There’s one last chance to make lemonade:  The guy at Lowe’s told me that Ferguson, a private plumbing company ‘way across town, has 10″ toilets.  So I commandeered HD’s phone book and looked up the number since they would close before I could get home.  I sat in the truck with its toilet-free bed and called Ferguson’s.  Finally!  We’re making lemonade!  Yes, I was told, we have one in stock, but if someone comes in this afternoon and buys it, we will order you one.  “Oh, no!”  I exclaimed.  “I’m paying for it right now with a credit card!”  So I did!  So tomorrow I have to drive across town and get my very expensive, ordinary-looking, very sour lemonade toilet, BUT I WILL HAVE A TOILET BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

By that time I was totally wiped out.  In fact, I was pooped!  So I picked up some take-out Thai curry and headed home to relax (writing this post in my head with some help from Pat-inspiration.)

By the way, I saved the best for last.  Before he left, Phil asked where I wanted the toilet to go.  I think he agreed with Herb that since Stuart was taking it, his guys could huff the thing downstairs.  “All right,” I agreed, “but in case they need to come finish the floor, let’s put it on a piece of carpet out in the hall.”  And that’s what they did.

So there sits (Ta! Da! wait for it . . .) The Throne in Cair Paravel!  Please don’t choke on your lemonade!

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!