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.

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 . . .

Three More Rooms

Today I was able to get the addition set up and all lights working. This part still needs some renovation work, but it's slowly coming together.  It's fun to get the rooms set up to see how much goes into each.  There's still room for more details!

From the bottom up are the new breakfast room, the smoking room and the top floor houses the statuary room. I seem to be missing one of the statues, but hopefully she's in another box still unpacked.

I can't believe how much work and how many hours goes into creating miniature rooms. Alas, it is a labor of love!

I have so many books to line the shelves with
 (that's a job for another day).

It's Coming Together

 After days messing with the lights in the Manor and finally getting them all to work [the fireplace wires in the parlor were shorting the line], I moved on to furnishing the Manor amidst several repairs to things broken in the move and dusting . . . and more dusting. Dusting a dollhouse is more difficult than dusting my real house, which I wish I could say I do often.

At any rate, progress has been made and everything should be on the up and up in a few more days. Then it's on to finishing work on the exterior that I didn't get around to before we moved. And then it will be on to landscaping. My hope is to make a huge tree for the front of the house and perhaps several smaller trees as well. I'd really like to find a fountain, so I'll be on the look out for that.

Anyway, that's it for now. Who knew playing with a dollhouse could be so exhausting?!!

Pennethorne Manor

The Conservatory

Rosemary's Room

The Boudoir

Lemonade in the Gazebo.

Bathroom

Wine Cellar

Parlor

Dining Room.

Main floor hall.

China and Silver room.

It's tea time in the kitchen.

The scullery.

Basement hall and Reginauld's office.

Third floor hall and Chapel.

This Little Light of Mine

 After much finagling and brain storming with dear hubby, we finally found the problem to my lighting woes. In the move, the wires for the fireplace in the parlor crossed and were causing a short in the system. With that repaired, voila! all the lights in Pennethorne Manor are now working! Color me happy!

With that taken care of, it was time for the cleaning crew to step in and give the Manor a good going over, inside and out. They did a pretty good job, but Reginauld will have the final say on that score.

I've ordered castors for the table the Manor sits on to make it easier to move around. They should arrive today. Once they're installed I can go ahead and finally furnish the Manor. The most fun part! I've also ordered a few new pieces because as you know, one is never finished with a dollhouse.

I couldn't resist putting one room together and I chose Rosemary's room. I'd forgotten some of the pieces I had which makes it fun and like a new experience. Anyway, more fun to come!

There's a Ghost in the Attic!

 Unbeknowest to the Pennethorne's and their staff, there is a ghost living in the attic of Pennethorne Manor!

You might remember BellaDonna from a previous project. Although I wasn't able to bring along her little cottage in the woods, I was able to bring her and her belongings. I've set her up temporarily in the Manor and am thinking of building her her own little cottage to haunt.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying bringing her out of the box she was packed in and situating her in the Manor attic. I don't know what it is about this doll, but I love her!

After playing a little more . . .

Lighting Issues

I put on my electricians hat and set about checking the lighting in Pennethorne Manor. I rewired the new dining room chandelier and rewired the chandelier in the main hallway that had come undone in the move. It was a relief when I plugged in the lights and they all worked!

The lights on the second and third floors all work, much to my relief, and the lights in the basement and sub-basement all work as well.

The only lights that aren't working are the outside balcony and porch lights, the gazebo light, and the conservatory chandelier. I tried everything I could think of and finally decided it was above my pay grade. So I contacted my friend Tracy who thought it might be oxidation on the wires connected to the tape wire. So, it looks like I'll have to resolder all the joints on this line. [Insert heavy sigh here].

To that end I've ordered a new soldering iron because the one I brought with me from the States, even plugged into a transformer, gets red hot. Scary, very scary. The new soldering iron will be here on Tuesday, so I'll get to work as soon as it arrives.

For now, I'll be reglueing things that have come off the house, like a window box and some bricks around the foundation. I was really hoping to be able to start pulling out the furniture and accessories, but it will have to wait. For now it's repair and clean in preparation for the family to return!

The family will be staying at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria in New York during the renovations and the staff will be staying in the village near the manor to oversee the work. Let's crack on!

If you'd like to catch up on the stories of the people at Pennethorne Manor, you might like this post . . .  

His Lordship Sterling Frederick Pennethorne III, Adelaide Elizabeth Gray-Pennethorne, 
and Rosemary Claire Pennethorne

Reginauld, Aoife, Edaline and Alyssa

305 Park Avenue, New York

The legendary lobby with its centerpiece ~ the 1893 World's Fair clock.

The offending line . . .