Stone, Doors & Windows

Another weekend where a lot got done but not so many pictures of it.  I think I took ten pictures the whole weekend and some of them are duplicates.

To be fair my hands were pretty messy, between paint, grout and spackle.

So I started by painting the stone.  Of course this I forgot to take a picture of.  But while it was drying I made a couple attempts to age the stone floor.  I did one layer of paint, water and white glue.  The glue was so it would stick since I'd coated the stones with poly and if I sanded them I might go through the paint on the stone.

Here's the first layer.  Not bad.  But still a little light in some places.

Here's my second time around.

I think its a bit better.  It looks a lot darker in person than it does in the picture.

Because of how white the stucco grout looked I decided to use mortar for the outside bricks.

I like how it looks actually.  A bit darker, but it makes sense for the outside I think.  I tried the windows out in the wall but I'm not completely happy with the contrast of the wood and brick around the windows.

With the dark wood the brick/stone around the windows just blends into everything else.  So I got some paint and darkened it, then got a bit of spackle, mixed it with a touch of the mortar and added that to the top.

Between the slightly lighter grout and the darker 'stone' it pops a little more.

I like the look, though a slightly darker wash over the 'spackle grout' might be called for.  I think I'm going to leave it for a bit to see how I like it though.

I did a bit of work on the front door.  It's not easy to see, but I added a little bit of dark green to the 'leaves' of the tree and a slight touch of blue to the center that looks like a dragon head to me.  It probably won't show in the pictures but I know its there and it makes me happy.

I added 'strap' hinges and got the door installed in the frame.  But one of the hinges broke when I left the glue overnight.  I've ordered another set so I can replace the broken one and maybe add another to the middle for added support.

I need to spackle a bit over the joins of the walls inside around the bay window and the door alcove.  And I'm starting to measure for the beams and underside of the ceiling.  I need to make sure the upper floor will fit perfectly before I start to add the beams.  I do not want to get the ceiling all done and pretty and have to hack away at it in order to make the second floor fit.

And I'm checking the fit of my panels for the bedroom.  That line above them on the back wall is where I need to make a wall for behind the fireplace.  It'll be pretty thin and go all the way to the ceiling but all I need is the illusion of the wall.  The panels also go halfway over the door to the tower so I'll need to work on that too.

All the wood on the walls will have to be much lighter than the bedroom furniture or the ceiling beams or else the whole thing will look so dark we won't get to see much of anything.

I need to age the fireplace some too.  That'll wait until I get the wall built.  More things to add to the list.

The other thing I want to figure out is how much of the roof I want to make removable.  I'm not sure.  The roof beams will need to stay mostly in place or there won't be any sort of support.  Though I could use the magnets in the beams to help hold everything in place.  Really debating about all that.  I think it'll depend on how low my cross beams end up being.  Lots more thinking to do.

Hope everyone is have a good weekend.


Drill & Route out channels for lighting wires.
Finish shutters & interior trim for all windows on main cottage. 

Build Fireplaces & chimneys

Cut bricks and stone for outside of lower walls and tower.

(Test Magic Brik) - in progress

Add brick/stone to fireplaces.
Age fireplaces.
Bedroom mantle.

Plaster upper walls and third floor of tower.

Add timber to upper walls and third floor of tower. (testing)

Paint stone.

Add grout to stone and brick.

Ceiling beams on first floor.

Ceiling beams and roof support for lofted ceiling on second floor.

Ceiling beams and roof support for the tower.

Build furniture:

          Make sink

          Make curved table for tower room

          Make loom

          Adjust tables for lab

          Make stool

          Make telescope 1/2 done

          Make orrey 1/4 done

          Make tapestry

          Make rush mats

          Make bedding

          Make books & scrolls

          Make paper pottery

Furniture in place finalize lights.

          Make sconces

          Make candelabras

                 Standing Candelabra

                 2 small Candelabras
Add flooring

Plaster inside walls

Inside window trim & shutters

Build base for house.

Create 'slate' roof

Create front garden

          Make tree?

          Make stream?

          Make lake/river to go alongside house

          Make stone wall to go around garden

          Iron front gate.