Goodby 2020

Do not read if you are at all politically sensitive.

This post has nothing to do with anything I normally post, feel free to ignore it. This screed is me venting, if you are offended at the things I say here, too bad. 

Go away, I really don't need you as a follower and I am not interested in why I am wrong.  

You have been warned. Don't make me say "I told you so" It won't be pretty.

 

As we bid adiue to this Zeno's paradox of a year let us look back on and say goodby to, where we hoped we would be by now, as a society as well as goodby to the year that never ended as well.

I think it's a forgone conclusion that we are all, not where we thought we would be.

As I look back from my dining room table, in yoga pants hugging a cuppa, I am struck by all the things that haven't come to pass. As a child I was told the future would be a utopia. My parents insisted things would get better, My mother and I fought and protested for things to get better and they did, for a while. It was a dream, a fever dream as it turns out. Reality is cold comfort where I get to watch my children struggle for the basics and get smacked down again and again. They were supposed to be able to do better than I did. Watching them struggle to make ends meet in the most basic of ways, breaks my heart.

For a while we made incremental progress towards that future but for every step forward societaly we seemed to take 3 giant steps back governmentaly. Until the two were diametrically opposed and here we are, to the now. The now of not having gotten to Mars, no flying cars, no utopic nearing star trek society where everyone gets a seat, no equality of opportunity for people of color or women and in fact things seem to be going backwards. To the point of needing to protest the same god damned things Mother and I protested for in the 60's through the 80's. Say what you want about the hippy dippy 60's generation, their dream of everyone participates, with no strings and their willingness to protest for it, was a beautiful thing. Even if they had no follow through.

To say it has been a frustrating time is to understate it, bigley. And god, do I hate that there are things that will be said, for the rest of my life, that will point back to this fucking terrible administration. This illegitimate, corrupt, greedy, idiotic, ignorant, willfully stupid and yes, evil, administration. The whole thing and everyone in it is a bad actor. The fact that at least 48% of the nation thinks this is just fine tells me we are in for a very bad time, for much longer than anyone anticipates. Simply because these, ignorant neanderthals, will hold us back from the innovation we need to push forward, to the future that is just there.

Biden is a ray of sunshine but at this point I am so jaded on the possibility that a government for the people is even possible, I don't trust any of them. Especially not at this hour, when the pain and suffering of the last 4 years has been so perpetuated by the republican party and the pansies on the left, who say all the right things then think they can "Negotiate" with them. It smells like caving to compromise on anything and we the people always seem to get the short end. It is disheartening in the extreme to have tried to do all the "right" things in the "right"way to get ahead only to be told they weren't actually the right "right" things, were not enough, or to have the goalposts moved, again. 

I am sick of this shit!

I am sick of old white men who are so fucking afraid of sharing power, with Gasp, the other 60% of the population, the future and the fact that they are no longer the authority on everything, that they sabotage the entire country! I don't understand this mindset, that is so selfish, that they would destroy something rather than share. To what end? Who benefits if the world burns? That 48% of the population, that votes, is willing to tapdance into hell after them is frightening. and what the hell is wrong with at east 30% of the population who doesn't even vote? What the actual hell? 

I have never, in my life, been harmed by being kind,  by sharing what I have with someone, or by being polite. So what is up with this attitude of "Fuck you I've got mine" that seems to prevail over the country? I will never understand why this administration has not been condemned, in the strongest possible terms, by everyone unconditionally. Especially when you Know, if this was a democratic administration, it would have been pilloried and set on fire by now. These people need to be rounded up prosecuted, to the fullest extent of the law and if there are no laws to cover this, we need to make them so this NEVER happens again.

So Flora, tell us how you really feel.............. I told you you didn't have to read this, that I was venting.

I may even write it all down long hand and burn it, just to get rid of this sick feeling of trapped exploitation and gaslighting, that 2020 has invoked. It makes me want to punch people and that, while satisfying, is just not conducive to forward progress. I am just so tired of fighting the same damned argument we have had as a nation since 1864, please stop. It's boring.

My hopes are simple, A future where everyone, regardless of anything, gets to participate in society.

Where people are not, oppressed, jailed, beaten or killed for the color of their skin or the flavor of their gender. if we can just get that part right,  maybe we have a chance at the rest.

My wish for Peace to you all

Tiny House backyard

Time to work on the outside of the first floor

I am really proud of that bay window, 

yeah its a little chunky

and yeah, it's not even or straght 

but I made it from scratch 

myself.

Therefore it is awesome.

Here is the whole backside mostly done

Doesn't that little bit of brick foundation look real?

So cool when that happens!

So now I have all these bricks left over

I think I'll make a patio

Needed to place the greenhouse 

so I could judge where to stop

If you do this, brick by brick, start in the corner

Duh.

Here you can kind of make out the stair step pattern

This is almost as therapeutic as sewing together 2" blocks, almost.

Now it needs some grass 

I'm just a girl with a glue bottle today

all this miniature work is oddly satisfying.

 

I have a tendency to go overboard on new things and then 

 

never finish them when I loose interest or life pushes it aside

So getting this far is something

I have plans for a second floor 

 

and furnishings for the rest of the house

Lets see how far I get

For now I'm pleased with the backyard so far.

Everything needs some weathering 

It looks too newly painted

and It needs more plants

but so far so good

 

Tiny House Livingroom

 

The Living room needs help

 

 

 

 

I have discovered that yes

 I do need to cover that doorway with wall paper 

 

 

because you can see it from the front 

AND the window

I wish I'd figured that out  

BEFORE I glued the walls together!

It's not a difficult job but would have been faster to do if I hadn't

Glued everything together first. *Sigh*

 

 

 

 So here it is with some garden furniture for scale

 

It's very pink

 

And It needs furniture 

but I haven't decided how it should look

 

I haven't decided who lives here yet either

 

 

 

 

 

I think the who would inform the what 

 

but I haven't gotten that far yet

 

One down

 

the Kitchen floor

In the beginning there was a floor and some walls and a whole lotta parts

I thought I had taken more pictures at this stage but it was months ago now and I cant find them.

Waiting in the wings

 

Assembling after wall papering & flooring

with size appropriate graphics 45 

paper 

The ceiling

I also experimented with some of my paper cutting dies 

for the tin look on the ceiling and  walls 

This one came out quite well. Wiring is an acquired skill, I have obviously not mastered yet.

Rats nest

Though it is not as scary as it looks (really!)

this is 3 rooms worth that will run off the ceiling of the kitchen.

Inside wall wireing

The short hallway leading from the front room to the stair room is around enough of a corner it shouldn't be seen from any angle, I hope!

Because that is a nasty mess!

There is a lot of initial planning that has to be done here

Before I just start to "wing it"

And building out the walls and ceiling with cardboard, elmers glue and spackle is part of it

kitchen through the window

It looks ugly now but some sanding and wallpaper spiffies it up quite a bit!

Here are the done pictures of the assembled kitchen.

Left side

 

 

I'm a little chuffed because a few friends have suggested it looks like a real room!

Right side

 

there is a lot of baking going on here

I am really pleased with how this all turned out

Full frontal

 

 

 The trim looks good and despite not having a stove top

the kitchen looks like a workable space

 

Though something seems to be missing.

 

Here is the ceiling put on 

My wonky hinges

The refrigerator ! 

No wonder it looks strange that big empty spot needs to be filled with a fridge.

I cant find an appropriate one But I did find one on Bently house minis 

Ara is super detailed and very precise.

 

  She gives you a lot of really good advice and watching her make stuff is soothing.

 I got a ton of great ideas and lots of encouragement to try new stuff

.

From the stair room

she is well worth the watch.

 Her fridge is made for a 1:12 scale house, so I had to scale it down for my size.

I think I succeeded 

 

Looks pretty good in spite of those wonky hinges

 

Now on to the front room. Starting with the floor.  Those clamps are a life saver BTW,.

I could use s few little "C" type clamps I cant find any small enough

 

I'm also quite proud of this window.

 

 

I bashed the whole thing with wood, plastic I scrapped from a container 

and cardboard with its front panel ripped off

So now on to siding and maybe some paint for the garden side

 

This will take some thinking time.

Into Lilliput

My table when I started

So what started with a 1:24th scale room kit

 Has ballooned into several kits and a few

Other things here and there

 I started this shindig with the stairs

They just seemed so cozy, with the fireplace 

and all the snug little cubbies for chotchkies

In a nod to 2020, I found these tiny wine bottles 

and used my own fabric for the chair

Though looking at it it needs some trim.

I lovingly assembled them and all the 

little parts, then decided I needed real tiny bricks 

for the fireplace and it stalled, so I bought another kit

 This is your only warning! Tiny rooms are addictive.

A little bit about the kits you can find tiny room kits 

on amazon and ETSY 

they run from about $30 that are just a room, 

to $80 for the larger house kits

 I ultimately got 6 kits, most are single room kits

And I have now decided to kitbash 

a house from the pieces

Because the kits weren't fiddly enough by themselves

I'll feature the trailer first, 

since it's the only kit I have completed 

not just assembled the furniture and the accessories.

Sink, hot plate and oven

I have loved the delicate tiny work of putting the parts together!

I have been down and feeling very not creative since the virus hit us

and having these kits to work on has been a god send

To spend hours assembling all the tiny parts

A bit of mindless assembly

A cozy bed

 that takes all your attention

to make a cohesive whole, is just what I need to feel better

Even my Hubbs likes the results

The kits themselves come in a flat box

 full of lettered baggies of parts, 

a book of instructions and a few sheets for wallpaper 

flooring, books and pictures 

All of which you assemble yourself

It is very much a puzzle

hmm, that chandelier is wrong

  

Most of the kits also come with paint, glue and a few tools 

But you will need more

A pair of needle nose pliers is essential 

as is an exacto knife, a pair of snips and real tweezers

the ones that come in the box are a joke.

I also suggest clamps, big and tiny, 

A nook for eating and reading

 

I've been using binding clips for little things 

that need a bit of pressure until the glue dries 

 A pair of sharp scissors for precise cutting paper

Masking tape

 

 

All you need for a get away

 

 

Skills you will learn while making this kit

Time is relative, I can loose whole days

Patience. Because throwing things across the room,

when they are this small, is a disaster!

Electrical wiring is easier than you thought

Some new tools

 

 

For a dollhouse, that is.

 

 

 

My desk now

 

 

So now let the kitbashing start in earnest!

Victory!

 Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Win the Presidency!

Our first Female, African/Asian American vice president!

Today I am thankful and happy! 

The stress of the last 4 years will fade with time and the country will, hopefully start to move forward and heal.
Tomorrow will come and we will take care if it then 

but today we celebrate a win for the soul of the country.

Nothing ever gets "Done"

 Of all the things to think about, I have thought about this a lot through out my life. As a Mom, A Wife and a Maker, there are things around the house, that just never seem to get "Done".

I used to get frustrated with my Ex-hubbs because he could not understand why the house wasn't clean, enough for him. Never mind the three entropy with feet machines, AkA children. I dare you to keep a house clean when you have kids, I double dog dare you...o0! The vast pantheon of things that must be done every day to be considered a "good" housefrau are the most frustrating to keep up with, even with help. 

Lest you all think I am just here to complain about "Woman's work is never done" well, yeah, kind of. BUT I invite you to, myself included, to think about it in a different way. Maybe. 

Yeah, yeah, give me a break,  I'm still working on it. 

The different way is this, change your expectations. 

Stop expecting certain things to be "Done" 

Laundry, dishes, dust, sweeping, mopping, cat litter/dog walking, the dreaded vacuum, etc.

They won't ever be "Done"

EVER 

Stop expecting it to happen.

Even if you have a housekeeper to come and help, they, will, not, ever, be, "Done"

That's it.

No, really.

That's the sum total of my ground breaking philosophy so far.

Excited?

Yeah, I thought so. me either.

This is why I'm still working on it.

Vote!

 

 

The most important thing I have done all year!

 

Where is Alice?

So the rabbit was first though I'm still looking for a tiny pocket watch to put in his hand

  The Mock turtle came next, With her eternal tears

       Then came the Dodo, elegant and wise

The calm Griffons wisdom

 

looks like she just left

 The Caterpillars curiosity

 

 The doormouse in his pot

and the painting of the rose trees

More time and more tea

Flamingos for our game of croquet

 But where can Alice be?