In the words of Marianne Williamson...

... author of 'Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness and Making Miracles', "Every ending is a new beginning. Through the grace of God, we can always start again."

Thus we arrive at the ending of the Remembrance Day room box project and move on to a new beginning.

The only thing left for the Remembrance Day project is to add a beret for our elderly veteran but everything else is ready to go.

The remains of a time most of us were fortunate not to experience. We remain forever grateful to those who did. From the weathered canteen hanging from a post, to the forgotten binoculars, the Bible, and even the old photo a loved one, every item holds a story.

And so we move to the outside of the bunker where Marijke used her substantial talent to add the details necessary to show the passage of time. The sand bags become darkened with age and weather, dirt builds up in every available crevice which, in turn, allows the sprouting of grasses and weeds. I think Marijke has done a beautiful job of depicting this.

And above, as we've seen in previous posts, our elderly veteran walks the fields of distant memory, oblivious to the bunker lying beneath his feet.

With a poppy on his lapel, and the crest of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment on his pocket...

... our hero turns his back and moves on...

... leaving the secrets for another day.

And now we too move on, to our new beginning: Dorothy's Corner.

Here, in New Brunswick, The Moncton Dollhouse Miniatures Show and Sale is coming up the first weekend in May. Our little group from Fredericton will have a display table there and the Moncton Club has also invited us to join their members in entering a small item to be judged in a competition for visitors' "favourite" of the day. This year's theme for the judging is "hobbies". And so, Dorothy's Corner was born in my mind.

I started with a few small pieces of 1/4" MDF: an 8x10" base, a 6x8" side wall, a 2" wide front wall and a piece for the roof that would allow a small overhang. I bevelled the top of the side wall to accommodate the slant of the roof, and one edge of the roof to accept fascia boards along the roof line.

The intent is that these pieces will make a simple cross-section of a building to act as a backdrop for my little scene. Once I glued the front and side walls together, I applied boards and stud walls to the inside.

Then I painted the outside black, in case there were spots where the wall might peek through, and I started applying stones.

Once the rocks were complete, I realized I had taken them a little too far up the wall because the angle of the roof line would make the roof piece hit the rocks. So, plan B, I added a few wood pieces to the top edge to raise it a bit. Now the roof will fit fine. And so, it was on to the shingles!

I love the look of brown cedar shingle against rock walls so this is what I chose for Dorothy's Corner.

After the first two days, I have the wall and roof built.

But here's the thing - of course you knew there'd be a "thing", didn't you????

I have a birthday coming up next month, so I thought perhaps I could celebrate by having a little contest. I haven't decided yet exactly what the prize will be, but I will reveal it as soon as I have made up my mind. *smile* Actually - I think we should have two prizes and two winners.

One winner will be chosen from each person who leaves a comment on anything I post between now and my birthday (May 15th). I won't post everyday but, for each day I post and you leave a comment, your name will be entered one time.

The 2nd winner will be the first person who figures out why I have called this project "Dorothy's Corner" And no, I have never had a relative, loved one or pet named Dorothy so that eliminates those guesses. The answer is probably pretty obscure but I have faith that someone will figure it out before the end of the contest.

The contest will close on May 14th and I will announce the winners on May 15th. Good luck to all! TTFN!! - Marilyn

Time to tag out!

I think I've come as far as I can with our Remembrance Day room box, a.k.a. our WWI bunker. Louise, Marijke, Susan and I did meet last Wednesday as you can see here:

Marijke taking a break.

Louise and Susan working on some items of their own - I worked on the cookies. *smile*

So - I finished adding things to the inside and Marijke and I "planted" the overgrown field on top. Here is where it stands:

Someone forgot to take their Bible when they abandoned the bunker - and we can see a bent and wrinkled picture of their sweetheart still peeking out from the cover of the Bible.

An old backpack still hangs from a nail.

A canvas canteen hangs on another post and a weather-beaten Red Ensign of Canada drapes from the back shelf. This is the flag Canada would have had in 1917. It still needs work so the edges end up looking more frayed than cut. It's really hard to reach it now to work on it!

Dust and dirt cover everything inside.

I then moved to the outside "yard" and added some more dirt and moss on the sand bags and around the area.

I received a comment from Adrian C. from Ontario - she's a very special and talented lady and one of my Camp Mini Ha Ha friends. She suggested the burlap curtain still needed work - perhaps a wire brush to make it look more naturally frayed and messed up. I didn't have a wire brush so tried using a variety of sharp tools to rough it up a bit more. It was a good suggestion but I wasn't very successful. It would have been easier if it wasn't already glued into the door frame.

Setting the box itself aside, I did a little work on the overgrown field that covers the bunker hidden below. Marijke did a great job dressing our veteran - including painting a little crest on his blazer pocket to represent the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment. She gave him a cane to help with the uneven footing in the rocky and bumpy field as he made his way through the very long grass.

Marijke and I planted the field with 100 poppies that she made (you can see her working on them at her blog at http://pulchinellascellar.blogspot.com/as well as all of the wonderful little items that brought the realism into the interior of the bunker.) She made the backpack, the canteen, the binocular case, the table, the enamel cup, the rusty can, the Bible and the candles. Louise made the chair and the helmet. Marijke and Louise also made the sand bags.

I added some cornflowers to the field to bring in another colour since there would probably have been a variety of wildflowers growing there. I made the cornflowers by cutting the dried flower tips of my spirea bush in my front yard. They were pretty fragile but I first painted them, with a very gentle touch, with a watered-down glue to make them a little more sturdy. Once dried, I gently painted them a vivid blue and "planted" them. I also added all of the rocks and dirt patches in the field. My grandson, Brogan, was kind enough to gather the rocks for me. Anything that allows him to get dirty without getting in trouble! *smile*

Overall, this is what it looks like now on the inside:

I tried to appropriately age and distress everything but I definitely don't have a lot of experience with the techniques required. I think it's time to pass the box over to Marijke to correct my messes and make it look like it should. So - while there is still a little bit of work to be done before we will be happy to call it "finished", you will be able to see the final project on Marijke's blog when the time comes. Be sure to follow it so you can see the end result.

We will display this project at a few places over the next few months but, in the fall, we are planning on donating it to the local military museum. We'll be sure to post the hand-over when the time comes.

I hope you've enjoyed this journey with us. Now it's time for something completely different! Stay tuned. TTFN!! - Marilyn

Underestimated once again!

Sorry - I really did think we would be finishing up the Remembrance Day/WWI bunker room box on Sunday. We had a great time but no, we did not get it finished. Marijke, Louise and I did work hard at finishing the bits and pieces but there's always more to do! We did have a nice visit from my daughter Shauna and a friend of hers who is the curator of the Military Engineers Museum at CFB Gagetown. Sandra was able to provide lots of good advice and direction when it came to historic details like the crest that would have been on our veteran's blazer, items that would have been found in the bunker, general terrain, etc.

We did a lot of prep work to get ready for making the poppy field and placing the items inside the bunker, talked a lot, ate some cheese, crackers, grapes and cake, and generally had a great afternoon. At some point at the end of the afternoon, somehow the subject of fascinators came up - I have no idea why or how. Anyway - I immediately went to my closet and brought out fascinators for each of us and my darling grandson took out picture. Aren't we just silly!

Since Sunday I have done a little more work. I glued some of the items into the inside of the bunker.

I added a few more details to the outside entrance area, such as bits of moss, extra sand and rocks, and Marijke added a few tufts of dying grass.

And then prepared the upper field which will be completed by the group on Wednesday (I hope and pray!!)

All in all, I truly believe that we can finish it off tomorrow by "planting" the poppies and wild flowers and adding our veteran to complete the picture. Fingers crossed for us, please! I'm ready to move on now *smile*. Until next time - TTFN!!! - Marilyn