Slow Down, Take Your Time, Learn Something

Since I'm just jumping back in to my mini world after a three week hiatus, I reasoned that I'd better sit for a bit, and reason everything through before starting. I walked through all of the steps in my head, then did what is always necessary for me in order to remember everything; I made a list!

First, I got the roof trim piece primed and painted. I explained in my Piss Poor Planning post that I'd need to hide the repair wiring behind it in order to tie the working lower level tape run into the non working strip which powers all of the loft lights.

While the roof pieces were drying (I figured why not do the right side too while I had the paint out), I made a pattern for the replacement wallpaper section in the living room. I used printer paper and blue tape to make the pattern. I will eventually need to install it, after the wiring is repaired. I kind of got a little OCD with peeling the old wallpaper off, and made a giant mess of the old paper fiber. Other than a sore finger from rubbing the paper fiber off of the wall, it went very well.

My tape run connections are completely hilarious! I literally fell out of my chair laughing when I looked at this photo! It is obvious that I attempted to connect everything using several different methods, and each one several times. 

The wires that are coming out from the wall were going to be a final Hail Mary before I came up with the roof piece idea. Now I'm just afraid to touch them! Not sure what will become of them, yet!

The funniest part is that when I get it all camouflaged up with paint and wallpaper, you'll never be able to tell. Hopefully. :0) 

The loft repair looks just as hideous! The good news is that the new connections work and that I have power through the entire tape run in the loft.

I was about to celebrate, and then two of the lights flickered off...

Deep breath... Calmly and logically figure out the problems and possible solutions. I refuse to get mad or give up, as this is just another opportunity to learn and become better. Right?

Here is where I digress for a moment. I believe we'll call this a teaching moment...

Dollhouse kits made with MDF are wonderful. They are sturdy, they go together nicely, and the surface for painting and wallpapering is ideal. However, if you are planning to use a tape wire system for lighting, it can be a bear!

MDF is extremely hard. I have broken two piercing bits trying to install brads and eyelets (the brass pieces that are used to attach tape runs together and insert lighting fixtures to). I have used the #55 bit to pre-drill the holes in the tape wire/mdf for plugs and eyelets. I have also used the brad tapping tool, all with little success.

The issue is that by the time you drill deep enough to seat the plugs, the drill bit has stripped away most of the copper, and what's left behind is not enough to get a good connection. Also, getting the plugs to seat flush to the mdf is very difficult. The little brad hammer is not aggressive enough to pound into the wood, and a bigger hammer destroys the fragile plastic and brass plugs. Trust me, I've tried everything.

What I'm finding that does work is to directly connect the fixture wires into the tape run using brads. First, I peel away a little of the plastic that covers the tape wire, wrap the fixture wires around the brads, pound them into the tape wire, then cover with electrical tape to secure.

I had originally installed several plugs and counted on just plugging in the fixtures. Now I am direct wiring in any of the fixtures that the plugs didn't work seamlessly for.

As with all mini projects, and this one in particular, you often have to adjust your plans. Usually, you learn something new, and it forces you to take a moment to reevaluate.

In my case, I get so excited about the next step and getting to the decorating part, that I tend to go too quickly. I may not take enough time to make whatever it is that I'm working on perfect. Later, I regret it and wish I had just slowed down.

I am grateful that I had this "problem" with the wiring because it forced be to replace a piece of wallpaper that was damaged in the installation, and to paint some of the wires coming from lighting fixtures to black. In the long run, I think it will look much better!

Here is a photo of my work area. Notice that the barn is upside down. I'm glad it will sit on the table like this! It makes redoing the wiring so much easier!

A New Month, A New Beginning

You know how it is when you get back from vacation? Reality, work, schedules, unpacking, laundry, paying bills... And while you're busy trying to get back in the swing you find yourself constantly daydreaming.

The beauty of the forest, the feel of a warm summer night with a light breeze and no jacket, a thousand stars, the peace and the gratitude. The nightly forest sounds your brain tries to identify, the chill and exhilaration you get when you can't place them. The best sleep you've ever had, even in the vulnerability of a tent.

For me, spending time in our beautiful Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a renewal for my soul. I feel nothing but gratitude for my life and the amazing beauty of the world we are privileged to live in. I have come back re-centered and ready to take on the challenges that are in front of me.

Today I empty coolers and wash all of the camp equipment to make it ready for the next trip out. I wash all of the bedding and clothing, I pay bills and prepare the house for our jump back into reality.

Tomorrow, I get to take on the barn wiring! I'm looking forward to the solution I know I'll find, and to seeing all of the lights lit up and working beautifully! I am grateful for all of it, in advance!

Proper Planning and Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance

I'll apologize in advance because today's post is most likely going to come out sounding defeated and whiny...

At the end of my last post I said it was time to make lighting fixtures and therefore, I was hoping to dream up some great ideas. Well I did have some great ideas. Some of them turned out great, and some were total failures...

I gathered things I'd been collecting like leftover dollhouse windows and real life spare lamp parts, beads and mini lamp kits. Here's what I came up with:

The window frames will become florescent garage lights, the lamp parts hanging shop lights and the spare light covers hanging fixtures. The lamp is obvious, lol!

The garage lights turned out great! I just added wood to the frames to make them deeper, cut plastic lenses from some packaging and sprayed opaque white on them, cut out back covers, added the strip LED lights and wired in the plugs.

The lamp part lights and fixture lights went very badly. I spray painted them and had them looking good, but the bulb and socket lights I used just kept shorting out on the metal parts on the lamps. I was able to pull them apart, retest the bulbs and sockets to make sure they worked, and salvage them for a future project. Next time I'll wrap them in electrical tape so there is no wire contact with the metal. I decided I really didn't need them anyway.

The real problems came after the light making trouble. I decided it was time to attach the loft to the base. This whole barn thing has been one problem after the other since the day I cracked open the box. The loft floor was warped, and the front piece I special ordered arrived too short. See previous posts for details.

Anyway, I could never get the warp out of the floor, even gluing, wedging and vice gripping it overnight. This caused the patrician walls to not seat properly, and now that I've attached the top to bottom there were significant gaps where the front loft met the front walls.

Aesthetically, I can add plenty of interior and exterior trim to hide the flaw. Functionally, in order to ensure the structure stability, I ran some nails wherever possible. Unfortunately and par for the course of this project, I managed to short out the wiring upstairs. Insert swear words here...

Tear out wallpaper section (second time), find where the power is interrupted, reattach new tapewire and reconnect. Still, no power upstairs. 

This is the point last night where I gave up in defeat and went to bed. I could not fall asleep thinking about it. I woke up at 3 am thinking about it, then again at 6am.

After repeating all steps and eliminating all other possibilities the decision is made to run a new section of tapewire up from the good connection point along the back of the left roof trim strip and tie directly into tape run in loft ceiling. Deep breath, we can do this. It's  not in the plans and delays everything else I wanted to accomplish but okay. I give in, lets do this.

Then I hold the roof partition piece in place and discover that with its angle, the top of the upstairs stairway looks ridiculously tight.

Then these words ring in my head: Proper Planning and Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance. 

It is at this point that I decide I am taking a break from the barn project. I need to step back, because up until now I have met every problem as an opportunity and stayed positive but this one is just too much. I need to refocus and recenter my mini chi.

One week from today Russ, myself and the two doggies are getting in the Jeep and getting lost in the forest for 17 blissful days! When I get back I'm sure I'll be completely centered and ready to address the barn project opportunities again.

And as always apropos, my Note from The Universe today said:

From here, of course, all earthly problems appear small - really small. That's because we know they're fleeting, they prepare you for the "best of your life," and you chose them, not wanting to obtain their rewards in any other way. 

But from where you are, of course, they can look gigantic. That's because they're often seen as permanent, limiting, and imposed upon you by chance, fate, or circumstance. 

Jodi, get real. See them from our perspective. 

To the best of your life starting right now, 
    The Universe