On Saturday, January 8th, I enlisted the help of my hubby, Zeb, and put together the basic shell for my dollhouse, Moggie Manor.

In other entries, I explained the history of Moggie Manor's soon to be, residents. But in this entry, and others like it, I will deal with the actual building and furnishing of the house. All entries having to do with the actual construction of the house will have the prefix "Builder's Entry" in their subject heading. Post entries that deal with family history, or current goings on in the lives of Moggie Manor's residents, will have the Prefix, "A History", in their subject headings. It is hoped that this will save time for those who are only interested in reading posts concerning construction of this house.

I also intend to keep a private list of expenses for the house..not only so that I can insure it against damage.

House fires are a distinct possibility, ...(the houses in my area are quite old, and in winter, especially when mice look for shelter from the cold, and like to chew at the wiring insulation), ...and spring up all over like wildfires. And although my house is well maintained..my immediate neighbor's house is not..it's a rat trap..think of the Kettle family, or the Clampetts....and if they catch fire, there's only a few yards' space between us.

In other words, I don't want to build my lovely miniature house only to lose it's value in a housefire. The sentimental value would be a bad enough loss,without adding insult to injury.

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So, the shell went together beautifully..flawlessly..thanks to the very efficient directions that came with the kit. Yes, it was a heavy kit, but well packed, and wonderfully pre sanded. The wood is amazing, so smooth and clean. No big gouges either. There was one piece that was slightly warped, but so slightly that I didn't need to do anything with it.

Before I assembled the house, I primed the interior, and also have been priming and painting the windows and doors.. In fact, I'm doing all the teeny stuff now, at the beginning of the house, so that as soon as I get the heavy work done I can drop in the windows, and mount the little doodads that are responsible for making the house a work of art. Then the exterior of house will suddenly spring to life all at once.

I am sooo excited to have this house shell done! Suddenly the whole project has become real! I derive a great deal of satisfaction, even looking at this house just as it is.

In the next few weeks, I will be priming the MDF parts of the house, and assemble them. I may work in fits and starts on the rest of the structure: after a round of building, my body goes into protest mode, and I need to give it a rest for a couple of days.

So you may see days of nothing happening, then BOOM, stuff goes up, all at once. One forum friend mentioned "Wow, you got a lot done, very quickly!" LOL that's not quite true..I've been sneaking up on this for weeks. So I'm not as prolific as you might think

That said, having just gotten the shell up, my body is in protest mode at this very moment.. so I'm going to do lighter work for a few days. Tonite I will do some posterboard patterns that I can use for cutting out wallpaper. I will get the measurements of floors, and cut patterns for them, too.

I'm planning to also put false walls against the back of the rooms. So I can cut those pieces now as well. It will shorten the depth of each room a wee bit, but the visual will be priceless. I will be able to place doorways and doors that will make it appear as if the house is much deeper than it really is..and perhaps in the future, I'll buy another East Side Town House, and do those other rooms, backing each house up against it's partner to make it feel like the house is HUGE. :idea:

The false walls will also allow me to place really nice hearths in each room..the one in the living room needs to be big enough that a witch or wizard can step in, and use it to travel to other locations in the wizarding world ( See Wikipedia's explination concerning long distance travel by floo powder).

I can also put a nice, large hearth with a cooker insert, in the manor's old fashioned kitchen..for house-elf Pook will be cooking for his family, as the one thing witches or wizards cannot do, is materialize food out of thin air..in Rowlings world, food must be grown, produced, and prepared as it is in the human world..an interesting twist that I didn't know until I read the very last book in the HP series!) It can be transported once it's processed, but it can't be produced out of thin air..which is why a hundred house-elves toil in Hogwart's kitchens, out of sight in the nether regions of the castle.

Tomorrow I'm going to be pouring over miniatures mags, and scouring the internet, to find exactly what I want in the way of wallpaper and floors. I have a mind to try a couple of the better quality floor papers, to get an inlaid look for the parlor floor.

Next week, when I am able, I'm going to order a curved staircase for the first floor. That way I can wheedle more space out of the parlor, instead of having to add the perfuntory broom closet or kitchen storage cupboard if I were to decide to cut a doorway from the room next door.

I love RGT's grand curving staircases. I have some bonus bucks from Ernie for buying my house kit from HBS..so that will cut down the cost of the staircase quite nicely..making it within reach of my precarious budget. A curved staircase will look sooo beautiful during the winter holidays, and of course, Tinntabula's cats will love using it as a perch.

So..that's where I am right now. Fun fun! What a wonderful way to start off my New Year! ;) WOOT!

J