Happy Father's Day!

Ah, Father's Day. The day that tie sales go through the roof. Have you ever pondered the tie? Why is it so synonymous with fathers, even when good ol' Dad may not even have had a job where a tie was strictly necessary? Somewhere along the line,  someone decided a tie is representative of "DAD", I suppose, and in the wake of this judgement, countless elementary school teachers since have had their charges draw out countless ties on  countless construction paper cards for good ol' dad, happy little types are taken to the shops to choose that brightly coloured "designer went nuts and the store purchaser really hates his job and is actively trying to sabotage the owner" tie that wouldn't have been worn by even the most struggling of Vegas comics trying to make up for the poorest material, and drawers fill up with so many ties that Dad can't wear them all in a life time even if he were to wear one a day, with no repeats including weekends, for the rest of his life.

On a side note,  Doctors  - who are thought to shower in their ties, because who can imagine their doctor without one - are moving further away from wearing this particular adornment because they tend to be little germ carry-alls (well, most Doctors, unless you are THE Doctor, in which case .....

...but I digress. No, I don't, any reason to reference The Doctor is a good reason. )

Anyway, the tie. It had its humble beginnings as a "I wear a scarf but if my nose runs I will use it because I don't have a sleeve" idea back with the Romans in 200 BC (gotta love those whacky Romans) , but evolved into a fashion statement as time went on, and also an indicator of status  - hence the term "power tie".  Barring the occasional fashion trend of women's ties,  this could be part of the reason the tie has been forever knotted to  Dad's neck - Dads are our real first glimpse of power - if mom yelling at us to " just wait until Dad gets home"  is any indication. A tie can tell you a lot about the wearer, about their personality, their wealth, and their style as well. If you don't believe me, go to the office Christmas party and look around - there will be at least one man who enjoys a good laugh, and you can tell because he will be wearing the festive novelty tie - the sillier it is, the less serious he is likely to be. If it is around his neck, then he knows when to tell the joke and when to stop. If it is tied around his head, it is probably time to lead him gently away from the bar, however. You get the idea, anyway.

Long live the tie. 

Still, I do wonder if ties will ever lose their Father's Day appeal. Maybe, maybe (k)not. 

Anyway, what DID I do this week?  Get stressed, mostly. No matter if you go on vacation to an exotic locale or not, you have a price to pay when you get back to your desk - if you can even see your desk for the work piled unceremoniously on top of it. What did I do mini-wise? Well, that is different. 

 As you may or may not recall, I had finished up last week with my shingles half-done. This is because the monotony of it all was making me go cross-eyed. Happily, at a mini-night out, I was able to complete most of the job, and finished up shingling today. 

I was very careful and have very lined-up roof shingles. I am pleased. Even though this was horrendously tedious, the look is effective. 

 The next task was to draw around where I was ultimately going to set the chimneys. PVC glue was added to the shingles, and I added sand to get a roughed looking shingle treatment. You can also achieve this look by using a wet dry sandpaper as well, come to think of it, although it can be murder on your box cutter.  At any rate, the now sanded roof has to dry overnight, to be completely ready to paint. 

 The roof with the chimneys glued down, as well as part of the back roof with its sanded treatment. I just used a decorative sand I had kicking around for ever, bought for a sand project at a time when they didn't have decorative sand in more interesting colours. Now you can find colours such as teal and - wait for it - sand. After I applied my decorative sand, of course,  I found my more standard railroad sand which isn't bright yellow, but then again, everything will be painted - no harm, no foul. 

I sanded my roof over a plate. This meant less sand getting everywhere, and easier clean up/recovery. 

The Washtub, pre-patina of the roof. It is kind of funky with the yellow roof, but as no self-respecting cottage owner would leave his roof so garish - well, maybe one or two, if he really wanted to meet all the more conservative neighbours - it will eventually get painted.  Once the patina is on, then just the inside roofs need to be painted,  a few things glued, and  interior decorating needs to be done.

 As I am nearing the home stretch with the Washtub (literally, I am on the second to last page of the book), and since I didn't have a lot to show today because I have to wait for glue to dry (#*$(^@ glue), I decided to try another little piece of furniture, as above "The Pedestal Table". 

 The pattern called for a washer base. Well, I forgot to go to the hardware store. Well, maybe "forgot" is a strong word. Maybe "you couldn't have dragged me there  today with a team of wild horses" is a better term. I have to admit, going into a giant box store looking for "a" washer wasn't going to happen. I didn't even have any in some of my old tool boxes, which is a surprise,  although I am sure I will find a  drawer full tomorrow when I am looking for something else. As I was too lazy to find a washer today, I raided my "bucket of buttons" instead. This is not my term, it is what is written on the package of buttons I had. Of course, they also call it "beading supplies" when they are clearly buttons, so there is no reasoning with some people. 

 Today I ventured into the dreaded "superglue" arena. Mostly again, because I didn't have much patience with waiting for craft glue to dry (*#&(^@ glue).  This of course does mean you have to work quickly and accurately, and try not to become too attached to your work. The second smaller bead (and actually a bead) was glued into the depression in the button to complete the base. 

 A length of paper clip was cut to about 1/2 of an inch in length, and was glued into the bead base. 

Beads were then added to the pole, and glued as they were added. Again, I just found it easier to use the superglue today. 

 To me, this could very easily be converted into a lamp base for 1:12 scale. 

 A few days ago, I came across the circle punch that I had purchased specifically for this project. I put it down somewhere. The Borrowers seem to have gotten hold of it for reasons only known to them, and quite possibly they will return it soon. So, without the tool I purchased, and not wanting to cut a circle by hand, I had a more interesting idea. A few months ago I bought some stickers on sale with an interesting pattern. They had little sparkles (mmm sparkles) on them, but I figured the shape could be useful. Today, they were. 

Again, this is reminding me of a lamp base in 1:12 scale. I glued two of the stickers together, and the stickers to the base, for a "fancy" table. I went about painting it to finish things up. 

 I will probably give it one more coat of paint, then distress it  and varnish it as I have with my other pieces. Depending on the beads used, this table could look very different indeed. 

Hopefully you have enjoyed my update, and also thought about your dad, and treated him to a nice day should you be lucky enough to be able to spend the day with him. Perhaps you should make dear ol' dad a salmon steak to celebrate...?

 (Check out this lady's fab nails, by the way, too cool!). 

Until our next chat, my fabulous friends...