Travel from Iowa

For the first leg of the trip , Laura will travel to Dubuque .

Excitement - waiting for Laura!

I don't know I mentioned this , but Althea has a twin named Laura. Laura left home 5 years ago to go west with the sisters' cousin Kate. While Kate went on further west, Laura met a man named Keller in Iowa and stayed to become the school teacher in a German speaking community near Davenport.

Laura is on her way home to be married!

Revisiting One Tray / One Project

I'm looking at my old posts to see which ideas really worked for me. We know they all worked to get me out of the mess in March , but which ones still work? This is one that does work for current projects if they are little.

Especially for quarter scale and littler, it is so easy to lose pieces for current work, so I've been using these little ninety nine cent wooden trays from Michaels, which work nicely, and even made a storage shelf for them. They are little enough that I don't tend to combine projects, which is death to organization. If I'm not working on a project, I can put the whole tray on a shelf instead of having to gather them again.

Today, sort through your projects. Are they really current or at a total standstill? Sort them into trays that are almost exactly the right size. Find a way temporarily get these out out of the way, but the trick is that you need to be able to find them almost immediately, and that the trays can't have anything you might need for other projects on them . I've got the system set up , but need to make a new rule for myself.

This is a small sink tray, which holds the big pieces I need to finish the 3rd floor of the inn.

Doll Collector Surprise

I don't reveal my doll and miniature interest (obsession,habit?) to just anyone. There is almost always a moment when you can just see the friend or acquaintance trying to mesh your hobby with what they already know about you.

I'm at a conference, and ate dinner with a woman who I knew shared my interest in history and Genealogy . I've always been interested in family traits and talents instead of just lists of names and places ( remember, I'm going to link my family member's Facebook page and Pinterest to their Ancestry.com profiles) and mentioned that there are a number of doll makers and collectors in my family. I had that moment of adding the doll part to what I know about her, when she told me that she restores composition dolls, and collects dolls from the 50's and 60's ! Both of us have jobs that are easy to get completely absorbed in - the dolls and miniatures are a complete and total escape . Then again, both of us like to be absorbed completely and thoroughly in whatever we are doing - so it actually makes sense, and really shouldn't be such a puzzle!

Exterior Stairs - what are they called?

I'm trying to Google to find more examples of these stairs, but can't figure out what to call them. Some variation of these will be on Gammage House, but I was hoping to find more variations.. This house picture was from an article on Providence, but it didn't say where it is.

I really enjoyed cutting these stairs. They will be fixed to the base/ basement rather than the house - remember that Gammage House is made in two parts , so that I can work easily on the kitchen and Althea's workroom. The stairs will have a front of course, and possibly a door in between. That's why I need a name for them to search ! Do you have ideas?

Victorian stoves

This is one of these times I would really like to take liberties with history- the stove I really love is from 1905. Remember that Gammage House is set right now in 1885.

An internet search yielded stoves I liked - one group is from an 1885 catalog. There isn't a lot of wall space in the kitchen right now, and I might have to create a niche for the stove. The fact that it needs to be near a chimney really complicates the issue!

I found a great site about Victorian kitchens . See it at Victorian kitchens

From 1885

Rhode island Historic Society vs Poplar Forest

Is there any chance that Historic Societies share information ? When I was in Providence, playing with some research about Izannah Walker and her friend , Emeline Whipple, I joined the Rhode Island Historic Society. Now I'm getting lots of mailings from Virginia Historic Sites. You would think that with so many places within easy driving distance , I would choose a character from Virginia to research, and have Gammage House set in Virginia. I think my fascination is due to gaining brand new information and also because I haven't found a character I'm as interested in as Izannah. I am thinking about Anne Spencer , a poet from Lynchburg Va, where I live, but think quite a bit has been done.

Darn, just as I was about to takeaway picture, I threw coffee everywhere, including on the brand new Rhode Island History magazine. Sometimes things just fly out of my hands!

Blog goals

When I saw the topic "blog goals" on another blog, my first thought was to run the other way. Surely I have enough goals in my life.

But second thought- I really have four goals.

1. To have fun, 2. To someday make someone forget the troubles of the day for a little while , 3. To learn about history , locations and events, but to pull it together and focus on year, one place, and one family's experience, 4. To spur me on to work on the house!

Right now I'm creating a page for each family member. Such fun to create characters and their lives.

The Gammage sister dolls - Parian or Stone Bisque?

The dolls I've built my story around - because it is turning into a story as well as a blog documenting progress on the house , are not quite half scale. The tallest is 3 inches, which of course would be a very tall 6 foot person. I bought all of them on Ruby Lane at various times - I've actually got my eye out for some small nieces and nephews , and I would love to find a gentleman who could be Papa's old friend. Some of them were listed as stone bisque , and others Parian. I don't really know much about the time period when they were made . It's time to research them - do you have any information?

Are they ugly? My kids would tell you that they are, without a doubt. Particularly Althea and Julia . They definitely are an acquired taste, and you wonder if little girls really liked them . I suspect that their tiny size made them constant companions for some small grubby hands . Julia looks as though she were kept carefully clean and treated carefully . Don't I wish I really knew their stories!

Althea is just so good natured!

The Behavior Analyst and the Dollhouse

I don't think I've disclosed this yet, but I work with students with Autism , and I'm a behavior analyst as well. I also don't know if you are aware that behavior analysts use their own strategies to change their own behavior. All the time! Example, I know that if I show you what I am planning to finish today, it is more likely that I will do it. So today, I will trim the windows in the basement kitchen , outside the kitchen and also the ship captain' room that Althea has converted into her workroom. Remember that this is the room that the sister's father , Josiah Gammage used to let other Shipmasters stay in so that they could avoid the commotion of the usual boardinghouses for sailers waiting for the next voyage.

If I finish that, I can pick a new project. I wonder if Flylady is a behavior analyst. She surely does know how to use antecedent strategies and rule bound behavior. Now I'm being silly!