A Nice Day For Washing

Why hello again! I had taken a break from writing on this blog to move forward with Marybelle's room, and I have a few exciting updates that I will post later on. Even though the scullery is one of the few rooms that are about 99% finished, I had been bothered by something that I hadn't been able to put my finger on for some time now. I realized that through the window in the scullery, you could see the white wall behind it. To fix this, I added some greenery and an image of a landscape I cut out of a magazine.

Now at least those who are washing the dishes will have a lovely view!

I just have to find the perfect washtub for the scullery now, and a few more things to put on the shelf to the right.

At the very least, it seems to be a nice day at Lockwood Manor!

I am hoping to be back soon with an update on Lockwood Manor, so you see you then!

The Governesses

During the Victorian era, the governess for the Lockwood children was named Miss Leopold, and was not very well liked by the Lockwood children. She was a stiff, upright woman with a stern face, and always carried around her cane - not because she needed it to support herself, but because she enjoyed threatening to thwack children with it. Her bedroom was very reminiscent of herself; very stiff, upright, no-nonsense and formidable. It was very old-fashioned, with an iron bed, a pitcher and washstand, and old Victorian posters on how to bring up children. That was the old Governess, and that was the Old Governess's Bedroom. Now, it was being used as somewhat as a hideout for the Lockwood children: they used it as the pirate's ship, the headquarters of a spy agency, or whatever they pleased. They laughed over the old-fashioned posters that were hung about the room, and clambered into the imposing wardrobe to pretend they were in Narnia. In all, nothing that the Governess would have approved of.

That was her room now - and I need to construct it! There will be no accessories, because Miss Leopold has passed on, and after all, hasn't lived there for almost half a century. I will need to make a 'stiff and imposing wardrobe', an iron bed, a small table with a lamp that Miss Leopold used to write on, and a washstand with a pitcher and basin. I will also need to make (or rather, print out) posters from the Victorian Era on how to bring up children, because they rather seem like something Ms. Leopold would want. I will also need to make little books from the Victorian Era on education, dusty spelling books, musty arithmetic books, and crumbling reading books. Speaking of Victorian books, I am lucky to possess an original Victorian McGuffey's Eclectic Reader. I would take a photo to show it to you, but I would rather not sort through piles of crumbling books at the present. Anyhow, Miss. Leopold must possess McGuffey's Electic Reader. She simply wouldn't do without it.

But now we travel fifty years later, to the 1930s, with a New Governess and a New Governess Bedroom. Hence the name, the Old Governess's Bedroom and the New Governess's Bedroom. And the name of the new Governess? Miss Jessel. There are no reasons behind the choice of name, it just struck my fancy. Miss Jessel, oh the contraire, is quite the opposite of Miss Leopold. She's very kind and understanding, yet still stern enough to be a firm hand with the children. She lives in a room on the third floor, adjacent to the Old Governess's Bedroom and the Schoolroom (which I simply must construct! I have some terrific ideas for it, but we'll have to see if they can become reality. . .) Miss Jessel's room was updated in 1932, so of course, it's at the height of modern conveince. (No pitcher and washbasin for her!) I also possess a score of 1920s Educational Books (yes, I do have a collection of old books), which will be quite useful in the construction of Miss Jessel's room. It's also rather amusing to compare the 1920s teaching methods with McGuffey's 1860s teaching methods, which I suppose would the equivalent of comparing Miss Jessel with Miss Leopold. I'm going to have a lot of fun constructing these rooms - mainly becuase they can be such a different mix of styles. I will also make one of my favorite 1930s Fireplaces for Miss Jessel, but perhaps this one will be in beige or a light brown.

And we mustn't forget the schoolroom - I'm thinking that we need a door leading from the New Governess's Bedroom to the Schoolroom - and we'll pretend that there was once a door leading from the Old Governess's Bedroom to the Schoolroom, but they covered it up when Miss Leopold left (Probably much to the glee of the children she once governed, knowing how much they disapproved of her). I've found a bunch of terrific inspiration photos for rooms of Victorian governesses, but nil for photos of the 1930s governesses. I mean, what can I say? It was the Great Depression, after all. Did they have a governess for the children in Downton Abbey? It takes place around the 20s and 30s, doesn't it?

Above is an empty and rather derelict room in my dollhouse. In the center is a bed that could do for Miss Jessel, but I fancy something different for her. Also, the bed is a bit low for my tastes, so we'll just have to see.

Also, on a side note, in terms of actually progress (not just planning), I finished constructing the trim around the Nursery and the Scullery, so now I can thankfully say that their interiors are complete! (I would say that the Scullery is complete, but I have to finish the outside.).

And soon to come: I need to write some about the servant's room I've been working on for the Stable boy that lived there in the 1860s, but is now home to the Mechanic who fixes the Packard 120 that belongs to the family in the dollhouse! (Sneak Preview below!)

I've also gathered lots of good information from the vast amount of floorplans online of Bear Wood, a beautiful house designed by Robert Kerr. If you have the oppurtunity to look at some of the plans you can find online, I highly recommend that you do. I've also been eagerly awaiting the arrival of more roomboxes - about twelve boxes are coming there way! Also, I've been having a long debate with myself: Should I rename Lockwood Manor to Clarendon Manor? Clarendon sounds fancier, but then, over the years, I've devoted an awful lot of time to plans and papers (not to mention this blog) of the dollhouse, that all have the name Lockwood Manor. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Have a wonderful Halloween!

The Current Servant's Quarters

Well. . . . I thought today that I would take the time to complain about how dreadfully slow I am to work on the servant's rooms in my dollhouse. Today I have approximatly four finished. Yes, four. That might not sound too bad, but out of about thirteen or so, I'm afraid it is. The ones that I do have finished, however, used to be five until I went through the entire process of ripping out the servant's entrance. Don't worry about that, for I'm almost done with the staircase and have printed out replacement wallpaper! I will follow up with a post on how that's going. But for the servant's rooms that are indeed finished, includes:

The Scullery I chose the black-and-white image because you've already seen the color one, and I was having fun playing around with Google Photos.

Servant's Bedroom The bedroom of whom, is the question, but I do not have the answer.

The Butler's Pantry I think it needs something on the back wall! Keep in mind that the photo is outdated, it looks much better now.

Sara's Bedroom The bedroom belonging to Sara, the maid, who once had a very elaborate backstory behind her that I wrote up - I'll see if I can find it. I should really work on more of the servant's rooms. . . I Love Lucy, here I come! I'm afraid that lots of posts here may be about the servant's and their quarters, for they have been neglected for the past year - it's time for that to change! And I mentioned Sara's elaborate backstory - something about her aunt Mildred who kicked her out of her house and sent her to find work somewhere else, I believe! Hopefully the servant's rooms will be expanding soon - until then, stay safe and well!

The nursery all lit up.