The Ideas are Flowing

Since I decided to create a Tea Room in Pennethorne Manor, the ideas have been flowing. Today I received new wallpaper for the room. It's peel and stick, so I think I'm going to create templates out of cardstock, stick on the paper, and then adhere it to the walls. Tricky, very tricky . . .

I also f-i-n-a-l-l-y painted the edges of the board the manor sits on. Brian had routed the edges so it looks a bit more fancy than just a board that we plopped on top . . . even though that's about what we did! HA! I grassed the area a week or so ago and am happy with how it turned out. The manor doesn't look like its sitting on barren wasteland anymore. I'm highly anticipating getting the landscaping done and am currently searching for ideas. One of them is to create a knot garden. I found a great tutorial on youtube, so I'm ordering supplies and giving it a go. 

Brian also helped me situate the manor in the room it occupies. Since the ceiling slopes so much we had to position it in about the center of the room. It looks amazing when you walk in and see the manor and it's easy to get around the back to see the insides. There are just a few electrical outlets in the room, so this position also makes it easy to put the electrical components on the side next to the wall and to be able to plug it in. No tripping hazards here!

For the Tea Room . . .

Before painting the edges . . .

After painting the edges . . .

Knot Garden Inspiration!

Here's a link if you'd like to make your own boxwood topiaries and hedges . . .

Introducing . . .

I'm so excited to be adding another Lilli's Little doll to Pennethorne Manor. Her name is "Lucy" and she will be Rosemary's governess. Did I mention I love the color purple?!

Lucy Maud Montgomery (named after the famous Canadian author) was born in Toronto, Canada. A very bright and imaginative young lady, she found herself at odds with her conservative parents often. Despite this, she grew into a respectful young woman who is admired by all who meet her. She was educated at the Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, completing a two year teacher training program in just one year to earn her license.

Lucy has held several teaching positions with well-to-do Toronto families, leaving once the children outgrew needing a governess or young ladies who went off to marry (which she, herself, has never but has not ruled it out if the right sort of man came along). Lucy has an impeccable reputation and comes with the highest recommendations. 

In Victorian times, "high references" meant top-tier written or personal recommendations required for securing respectable employment, particularly for domestic service, governesses, and professional posts. These testimonials vouched for an applicant's moral character, sobriety, industry, and skill.

Governesses occupied a fascinating space as educated, well-bred ladies who earned a wage but weren't servants. That status on the fringes of society makes them very interesting indeed! A governess is a private educator employed by a household to teach, guide, and train school-aged children. Unlike nannies who focus on physical care and babies, governesses focus on core academics, foreign languages, and social etiquette.

If you’re only vaguely familiar with who governesses were in Victorian times and what they did, here’s a primer. They were often educated, respectable women who’d fallen on hard times, the daughters of parents who couldn’t afford to keep them at home until they married, or other down-on-their-luck widows armed with a good reputation. These women could make an income by educating the girls of a well-to-do middle- or upper-class families until their charges were married and became the mistresses of their own households. (From "The Governess Problem" by Julia Kelly.).

The family (especially Rosemary) are looking forward to welcoming Lucy into their home and have high hopes for Rosemary's education. As Lucy and Rosemary will be spending a lot of time together, they're likely to become the best of companions.

The family are highly anticipating Miss Lucy's arrival . . .

It's All in the Details

I spent the last few days painting a new sideboard for the Statuary Room. I used a burgundy spray paint and then brushed on gold. After it was dry I sanded it a bit to reveal the burgundy underneath, gave it a coat of varnish, and voila! a sideboard befitting the room. I also found one of the statues from the room in another box, but still no head bust for the one remaining pedestal. It's a mystery as to where it went . . .

This morning I worked on filling up the bookcases in the Smoking Room and the Study. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I'm thinking of turning the Study into Lady Pennethorne's Tea Room . . . hmmm . . .

I still have a massive amount of "littles" to fill up the kitchen and some other rooms. Work is progressing slowly as I don't have the energy to spend hours at a time. I've had a fibromyalgia flare up this week and it's been hot, hot, hot here in Portugal which explains a lot. Anyway, more to come!

New sideboard with statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

I'm pleased with how the Statuary Room is coming together.

Bookcase in the Smoking Room.

Bookcase in the Study.

The Study (but maybe Lady Pennethorne's tea room).

Inspiration for a Tea Room . . .