Making leaded windows.... so cool.

Welcome to Trimble Manor
'
I've finished the stonework on my front entrance.
  
 The bay windows provided  in this kit were pretty mundane.  The "glass" and window frames were not worthy of  Trimble Manor.

 Here is what came with the kit:

Thin sheets of acetate with diamond markings and thin strips of wood with blunt ends for the frames.

I'm going to upgrade these windows.

I have a roll of lead golfers tape which I've cut into thin strips sufficient to cover the white marks on the acetate.

Once I've stuck the tape to the surface of the acetate, I need to "work" it with my little stylus. I gently push it and shape it to create a more dimensional look.

 You can clearly see the difference after the tape has been worked.

 Next, I wanted to diminish  the silvery shine on these window panes, because aged lead windows would have more of a pewter color than silver. To do it, I used a black permanent marker to go over each strip of lead, one by one, immediately wiping it off with a damp Q-tip. This left a dull patina on my lead.

Next, as I did with my wooden windows, I created wavy old glass using the Triple Thick  gloss glaze carefully painted between each little diamond pane.
I made 12 of these windows.

 Next I made nice window frames using a beveled 1/2 molding found at Home Depot. Using my little mini miter saw, I cut the wood for each window AFTER I had painted and antiqued it.

  See here!

Add a window box..

Another substitution I made on this kit house, was the timber on the front and sides of the manor.

 Because this is a timber, plaster and stone building, I wanted the main timbers to look like they could actually support such a structure; they needed to look hefty and strong and as if they were cut with an ax , a mouse's ax of course.

  I want a slightly crook-edy and uneven look.

 The balcony that came in the kit was not my cuppa tea.
 Here it is before....

 I know the gingerbread is cute, but it isn't appropriate for my house, so I removed it. Maybe I will be able to use it elsewhere, for a fence or something.

Again, I want something more sturdy. I mean, what if a rat comes to visit and leans on that balcony? We don't want the entire railing to come crashing down, do we??!

 I made a better railing...
One that can't fail.

Even 3 mice could lean over this balcony at the same time!

  I ran out of window molding, need to take a trip to the store. In the meantime, I will finish the mortar work. Soon I will be plastering between the timbers.

For the love of a Duck

Ducks are the dearest of creatures and one of my favorite animals here in 

Hopalong Hollow.

Who can resist those smiling bills?

  We have 20 ducks here in the Hollow, and they have split into 5 separate families. 

 Ducks do that.
We have the Osterhout family, Fionna's family, the Swedish pond duck family, A lovely couple named Mia and Jangles (who only have eyes for each other) and last but not least, the Tiny Tinks,(2 little orphaned ducklings)

 Duck families are very particular about NOT allowing OTHER ducks to enter their "space". Nor do they leave their family for more than a short time.

The exception to this rule is during mating season, when all the males go around like marauding Vikings chasing WHICHEVER female they wish to mate.

 Naturally, this produces many little offspring, 

this year we had 11 babies.

The Little Osterhout ducklings, from last Autumn, grew into big white Pekins and produced 5 wee babes.

Females can be distinguished from males by their quack, ( which is quite loud and boisterous) and the lack of a curl in their tail. Females are also very deferential to the males, it is observed by a cute little bobbing up and down motion of the head at a sideways turn.  They begin this behavior at a very young age and it is often my first clue as to the sex of a duckling.  Often, female Pekins have a more pale, yellowish bill than the males.
 

 Males have a little curl in their tail called a Drake feather. Their quack is more of a raspy, muffled "Queek" and they are a bit larger than the ladies. Drakes are very protective of their hens, will sit near them as they lay eggs or nest, and will fight any outsider attempting to defrock them.

You can imagine the countless "duck fights" we have during the Mating season.

 Duck fights are not very serious, as they really have no weapons other than the rounded bill, which does no damage at all. It is more of a tussle than a fight, sometime involving 4 ducks at once! It can be very humorous to watch.
 

Other than the occasional spats, ducks are happy, busy, sociable, charming, silly, cute and faithful mates

I think that  Hopalong Hollow ducks would be perfect for the book cover of the garden book.

Quack!

Here is Trudy's new family of five.

 P.S.  finished the "Seed Collectors"

My favorite garden guide... Fionna G

  This is the garden club.....

 

 And this is the garden,
 It's a wild and crazy cottage garden.

Here are a few of the creatures that dwell here...it's a very busy place

  and here is the garden guide,

You remember our garden guide, don't you? 
 Fionna Goosefeathers
Here:
http://hopalonghollowgazette.blogspot.com/2010/06/up-garden-paths.html

What would a Hopalong Hollowscaping Garden Book be without Fionna?

And Here:
http://hopalonghollowgazette.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-gardens-in-august-with-fionna.html

The lovely and knowledgeable Fionna Goosefeathers is giving a tour to one of the many garden clubs that visit her each Spring to learn the secrets of her lush and lovely cottage garden.
AND Here:
  http://hopalonghollowgazette.blogspot.com/2012/05/waddling-round-in-hollow-with-fiona.html

When I first drew her on this page, something seemed very wrong...

 I realized her neck was too fat and too short. Therefore, I had to erase everything from beneath her the chin down to her waist, and start over.
I do a lot of erasing.
Remember this: draw light till you get it right.

That's better... that's a goose neck.

 Everyone loves a cottage garden, at least we hope they do, and these little gardeners are no exception.

  I find it interesting to draw a garden, there is so much going on in the "background" the little spaces behind the leaves and blooms, so many shadows and values with bits and pieces.

 However, I find it very tricky to PAINT a floral background.  I am sure those who often paint flowers in watercolor have special methods and techniques for applying color to what is BEHIND those flowers, but I often feel quite lost when I am ready to paint  a garden piece like this.

The artwork in this picture  is difficult to "see" without the color.
I will add a few more insects... I have some fine models here.

Can you believe it??!! Aren't these super?

 I will tuck their images in the background, amid flowers and leaves,
for what is a garden without the smallest of creatures?

 I put the rhinoceros beetles in the foreground, just for Diane in N.C., a lover of fascinating insects.

 I first painted Fionna Goosefeathers for another book,here....

.

.

and Here:

http://hopalonghollowgazette.blogspot.com/2013/02/mona-lisa-of-goose-kind-part-2.html
Have a happy day!

Batch of buns and back to the drawing board....

Greeting friends!

I hope you are enjoying your June

Usually, by this time in the summer, we have dozens of wee babes waddling round the Hollow.

 BUT... this has been a bad year for babies. Not a single gosling egg hatched out of 21 eggs, poor Alice and Mathila...they tried so hard. No ducklings have hatched despite 3 sitting ducks. My peahen, although she sat on 3 eggs for over 30 days, only hatched one baby pea-chick which died the next day.

To top it all off, My favorite gander, whom I have had for 8 years, died of unknown causes.

 GEEEZ!

Okay, enough gloomy stuff, we get enough of THAT in this world.
Thank goodness for blogs, they are a wonderful escape. Now, I will keep it light.

Despite all the losses, our animal family is growing, as you can see below....

ALL NEW, but none are finished!
 
We did, however, finish the Dovecote, just need a bit more thatch roofing.

The top is for the doves, the bee-skeps open up to store seed and sunflowers,

which is put in the open bird feeder.

Doves are seed eaters, not bug eaters, else I would not have designed in this manner.

The 3rd shelf holds a bar bee hive for honey bees and beneath that is a feeder full of corn 

for my ducks and geese.

The bug haven stands at the end of the structure.

 The gardens are all weeded.

 I even had enough success with my Lavender to actually spare a bundle of it

without trimming it off all of the plants. I am very stingy about plucking flowers. I like to leave them in the garden for all to see. How about you?

I planted 24 Lavenders this year and all are producing blooms, although still youngsters.

 It is time to get back to illustration. There is a new book in the works which I actually started late last year. Thus far, 7 drawing are complete.

I am happy to get out the pencils once again. I miss my pencils when I am away from them for too long, for I love to draw!
So do tell, how are you spending your summer?