Hello again. I'm afraid I have been seriously side-tracked by Doll's House Stuff this past couple of weeks. If you remember, back when I first tried needle-felting, I made some twelfth-scale dogs for my doll's house and others. So you already know that I'm slightly daft, and spend my time in worrying ways.
Well, just lately I decided that the miniature people in my life needed a holiday, so I finally got around to putting together the beach hut kit I've had sitting in a cupboard for a year. After getting the boring stuff out of the way (painting the walls, putting the thing together, persuading my dear husband to make reinforcing struts for the roof so it can be lifted on and off safely) it is at last time for the FUN STUFF - making accessories. Oh how I love an excuse to play with Fimo! First of all, though, I made this lobster creel. A little piece of Balsa wood for the base, two hoops of willow from my garden, a bit of fiddly micro-macrame and voila! What do you think? If you want to know the scale, the pretend green glass fishing float in the foreground is an ordinary small glass marble. The lovely rowing boat in the background was made by a splendid chap at forgetmenot miniatures. I will paint a name on her prow just as soon as I decide on one. Next thing to make will be some flowers to put in tubs on the verandah of the beach hut. I'll let you know how it goes.
In other news, the cherry tree that seeded itself in our garden has finally grown big enough to have a huge crop of cherries this year. And they taste as good as they look. 
We're picking them and eating them as fast as we can, but I guess the blackbirds will get a share as well. It seems only fair, as it was probably a blackbird that planted the cherry stone in the first place.
I have just been reading Neal Stephenson's wonderful Baroque Cycle.
One of the many, many storylines in this sprawling epic involves a boat that makes many long and arduous journeys, including one in which its hull is temporarily coated in gold (reputedly the gold of Solomon himself) as a way of smuggling it past various pirates and ne'er do wells.
The boat in question is a fine vessel called the 'Minerva'. Would this not be a fitting appellation for the sturdy vessel you have pictured?
Posted by: Ardbeg Dashper-Hughes | 12/08/2011 at 05:33 PM