Well, life intervened with my mini plans, as it often does, but I'm finally back to working on the oven wall. The little baker is very interested in what's happening. Today we got the alcove cut out. The little stove fits in there just right. The little baker likes the little stove. She says she can turn out all kinds of good Bohemian breads and pastries on it. We used a big emery board to sand down the rough edges.

This view shows the left side of the oven wall shortened and curved and the piece of bendable drinking straw that will do for a stovepipe. It will be painted shiny black to match the stove.

I rummaged around in the construction materials bin and found a handful of bricks, enough to brick the back of the stove alcove with some left over for the steps. The little baker and I had a discussion about how to finish off the steps. We debated between bricks or no bricks, but I think the bricks won. I told her they weren't glued in place so she'd better be careful how she stepped on them. She was careful, thank goodness.

We put the bricks away and painted the whole thing with gesso. There are some rough patches that need to be smoothed over with wallboard mud, and the whole thing will get another coat of gesso and the stairstep bricks will be glued on. When the glue dries, we can grout the bricks, do a little aging on them, and slide the whole unit in place. The little baker called in two of her male counterparts to see what progress we've made. The one in the middle found something to get excited about, but I ignored him. The one on the right just wanted to know if the stove will be hooked up in time for supper.

We have some paint samples in the construction materials box. I think one of them will make a nice pad under the stove. We haven't decided if the kitchen area will have flooring or not.

The little baker just called me over. She says she needs to have a name. "Little baker" just isn't doing it for her. She's thinking about what she wants to be called. I guess each of the elves deserved a name. ;)