Inside the Carriage

This section introduced me to "Adding Brass Accents".

Sticking flimsy bits of adhesive Metal sheeting to the pieces that make up the Carriage Interior.

And constructing the Bench Seats, that are covered in adhesive Vinyl that didn't quite stick in places.

And no Train Carriage would be complete without Luggage Racks and Luggage. 

Stowaway Frog was more than happy to show that the Suitcases were Frog Size!

The Walls were decorated with Framed Paintings and Sconce Wall Lamps.

I chose to add Photos of All the Trains we have travelled on.

Next was to assemble the Carriage - This had a Curved Rear Wall/Ceiling with overhead lights and Window.

A "Deck Style" floor and (although you can't see it) Ventilation Grill at the back of the carriage.  

Now the fun begins - Adding the Lighting and Connecting the Motor ....

And it is here we meet the "Train Wreck"

Not one but 3 of my wires broke as well as the Motor Seizing.

I can get free replacement parts but can only do this ONCE so I have to pull most of the Gear assembly apart so I can order everything that may break in the process.

I have put it away until I can work out if it is worth pursuing considering it may never actually be turned on. It is a pity considering how much it cost (I actually subsidised the gift as it was out of DS#1's budget.)

And a fun project that was only supposed to take a few days to make has become something else I have to fix.

Book Nooks - Another New Hobby ?

DS#2 gave me a Train for Christmas.

Well, actually he gave me a 1940's Train Carriage - that I have to build!

I haven't been able to get around to making it so decided my Birthday was a Good Day to start.

It has a moving panorama that rolls across a back window so the first thing to make is the mechanism to house a Motor.

And I learned very early in the process that it wasn't going to be as relaxing as I had thought!

Basically the entire projects is made from Wood and Rubber bands!

The Motor sits in a cradle that attaches to the top of the Gear Mechanism.

More Gears and leavers are added.

(And I start to think of better ways to photograph each section - to make a more interesting Post...)

The First Section is finished.

This sits behind the Carriage Window so you can "Watch the Scenery roll past"

Time to Take a Break and Study the next section - 

INSIDE the Carriage.

Road Trip...

DSIL#1 - "I have a couple of Stamp Albums you can have - come for Lunch"

I must admit I could get used to having a view like this from my Kitchen window.

And the 'Couple of Albums' turned out to be BIL's extensive Collection of First Day Covers.  

Apparently, we now collect other peoples Stamp Albums....

So that is how we found ourselves having an unplanned weekend away in Ballarat.

 

Ballarat is only 90 mins from home but we decided to turn this into an early Birthday treat and stay overnight at the RACV Resort.

So, having nowhere to go but Home and all day to get there, we took the opportunity to visit the Creswick Woollen Mill.

We wandered into the past looking at the old tools, and weaved our way through a portion of the 100 meters of the World's Longest Picnic Rug

 (Guinness Record 6-10-2011)

We read about their advances in Fire Blanket Technology for the CFA

and walked past silent looms. 

(The blankets are now woven in Waverley Mills Launceston TAS and finished at Creswick.)

All that was left was to spend way too much time in the Mill Store.

Checking out the beautiful Woollen Blankets and clothing.

And who could resist a basket full of Alpaca Offcuts.....

Return to Sender ..... I wish

Have you ever ordered something on-line and it either takes FOREVER to arrive IF it arrives at all?

This week we had a parcel delivered that was clearly not ours.
The only similarity was that it was the same Street and Number.

I wrote on the envelope that it needed to be sent to SOUTH AUSTRALIA and put it back in the Mail.

This was a litany of errors starting with the sender not placing a Return Address AND leaving BOTH tracking labels on the Parcel.  

There was no way I could contact them.  I had the tracking numbers so I could see what was happening - just hope the recipient did too.

This parcel ended up in a loop of arriving at my place - going back to the mail sorting only to come back to me.

I tried to return it via the mail box and 2 Post Offices. On the 3rd visit, they took one look at me and the parcel, mumbled something about once the stamps are cancelled it can't be on-forwarded and decided to put it into a new envelope and try again.

I presume it arrived safely.  

Or it is bouncing around every other State in the Country that has the same Street Name as Ours.  

I will never know.

Cake Decorating

 At approx. AUD 110.00 per 1kg* Cocoa Butter is not my first choice for Cake Decorating but today's Workshop gave us the opportunity to try it out.

(With a HUGE Thank you to our demonstrator for supplying the Cocoa butter)

After having traced the provided Image onto our Plaques we then melted the Cocoa butter over hot water and coloured it with dusting powder.

(A small amount of Cocoa Butter went a long way!)

Then the fun began.

Painting our Christmas Bird. 

The Cocoa Butter flowed beautifully leaving a waxy finish which could be worked on indefinitely with a warm finger if needed.

By the end of the day, everyone had learned a lot and we had a table full of Christmas Robins.

I can imagine beautiful artwork on a cake using this medium.  

My only advice - Don't leave it near a heat source!

*Price & Image from Savour Melbourne

 (Home of The Chocolate Queen Kirstin Tibballs) 

May

May 3rd :
This tiny little ball of fluff is Logan.

The newest member of the Family - 

I think  DS#2 is going to have his hands full!

May 16: Happy Anniversary - 

This year we managed a Weekend Getaway to Healesville. 

Lunch at The Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice-Creamery and Dinner at RACV Banyalla Restaurant.

We were going to go to Healesville Sanctuary but Sunday's weather was so wet we doubted that even the Ducks would be out!

If Spring is time to clean the House, then Autumn must be the perfect time to clean the Computer...

19,961 Files taking up 93.32 GB.

And that was just so I could continue with the Great Photo Purge of  2024!

May 25

This giant Meccano Set is a Storage Hoist for DS#2's Garage.

In a perfect world with perfect conditions it may have 'just' taken a weekend.

but a solid week of work and a few headaches later, not only had the Christmas Tree and other rarely used items been hoisted up to the ceiling. 

He also had extra access ports into the roof 

(No more Tradies traipsing through the house!)

May 27

Our Street has been far from tranquil these past few months, with new Townhouses being built so lots of Tradies trucks as well as a regular Bus service.

But today they blocked off the street, brought in bigger trucks and replaced 3 Power Poles.

Time to say 'Good bye' to one of the more "Interesting" characters in our street.  

This piece of fun mysteriously appeared a few years ago and ... although we haven't named him he has been very much part of our street.

Sadly his Pole is one of those being replaced.

So that's a wrap from Our Place for May.

The Rest of April

Wouldn't it be nice If the only thing you had to worry about is where the next puddle of Sunshine was?

I think he has forgiven us for going away.

So with that, it is back to whatever passes for Normal around here...

What can we pack into the final 10 days of April?

1.  (DS#2) My new desk has arrived can I get help with assembling it?

It is VERY Beautiful  …

Are you sure this is going to be big enough?

2. (DS#1) The Hedge needs trimming - 

Can you help? 

Oh and Bring the Shredder...

(I still can't work out why he planted Pittosporum down the narrow sideway....)

3.  Between a Rock and a Hard Place. 

How come I can't grow Cyclamen but my Mother can grow them in the path?

4.  Time to check out the 'new' Coffee Shop! - Note to Self...

 Remember not to turn up on Mondays or after 3.00pm !

And here is something I have never tried before... (I hope it works!)

5.  Poor Buster - I know exactly how you feel!