I saw the word gray when I was looking for fabric for the Alki Point. You know how a word that you've been writing the same way for years suddenly looks completely wrong? This was one of those moments for me, because I find myself using the alternative; Grey.

Of course I had to Google it and find out if I've been a complete dork all this time, or if there really were two grays/greys. Here's what I found:

Gray vs. grey

Gray and grey are different spellings of the same word, and both are used throughout the English-speaking world. But gray is more common in American English, while grey is more common in all the other main varieties of English. In the U.K., for instance, grey appears about twenty times for every instance of gray. In the U.S. the ratio is reversed.

Both spellings, which have origins in the Old English grǽg, have existed hundreds of years.¹ Greygained ascendancy in all varieties of English in the early 18th century, but its dominance as the preferred form was checked when American writers adopted gray about a century later. As the Ngram below shows, this change in American English came around 1825. Since then, both forms have remained fairly common throughout the English-speaking world, but the favoring of gray in the U.S. and grey everywhere else has remained consistent.

Some people make their own distinctions between gray and grey. You can find some interesting examples in the comments below. There is nothing wrong with these preferences, but they are not borne out in broader usage. For most people, gray and grey are simply different spellings of the same word.

Both spellings are used for the participles, grayed/greyed and graying/greying, as well as for most of the words and phrases involving gray/grey. For instance, grey area/gray area, referring to an area having characteristics of two extremes, is commonly spelled both ways. So is graybeard/greybeard, referring to an older man with a beard, and gray squirrel/grey squirrel (which refer to closely related types of squirrels on opposite sides of the Atlantic). There are at least a couple of exceptions, though: greyhound, for the breed of dog, always has an e,while grayling, which refers to several types of fish, always has an a.

So apparently, both ways are okay! Just remember to use both versions if you are searching for anything in that specific color family. BTW... Dork actually means "infected whale penis", so be careful using that word around fishermen! :0)

Now - on to to fun stuff! 

Today was all about spackling. I spackled walls and beams and door frames. I really like the cool and creamy feel of spackle, so it was a fun day for me! I got to squish and spread and glop and get completely messy knowing I was just a hand washing and vacuuming away from being clean again! Next time I am feeling a little anxious, I'm going to break out the Dap and just play in it for a while! Very therapeutic! 

I used the punch out doors from the kit as the pattern to make two tall transom type door sandwiches. The thinking is that one part will attach to the outside and one on the inside with the "glass" sandwiched in between. I am not going to make them opening doors. I am hoping to figure out a way to make the roof come off to access the inside. 

I got to pick out and order paint and fabric. I'm going with grey and white and pops of melon. What do you think?

Sample from Home Depot Again

Sample from Home Depot Again

Acrylic Grey Accent Color

Acrylic Melon Accent Color

Bedspread Fabric

Sofa Fabric

I received the cellfoam today. Boy that was disappointing. It was dented, all 4 pieces had a big chunk of the corner broken, and it was not at all what I was expecting. Think really thin, cheap disposable cooler foam. I thought it would be more like a pool noodle. It is going back, and I am just going to reinforce the exterior of the walls with cardstock. I probably don't need it - the 1/8" x 3/4" extender trim (to add height to the walls) seems to be very sturdy. 

Tomorrow will be filled with dust as I sand all of the spackled pieces smooth. Then, I'll prime all the walls and clean up the mess I've made again this week. My thoughtful daughter is coming here for the weekend with presents for me! No special reason. She's just awesome like that!

Sasquatch Chronicles

Line of 3 different sized tracks we found near Mt. Saint Helens 3-7-15

In my About Me paragraph, some of you may have noticed that one of the things I love are bigfoot podcasts. To some, that may sound like a ridiculous topic to be interested in. To others who, like Russ and I, spend countless days in the woods, you may also be looking for explanations to some really weird things you've experienced.

There are a lot of podcasts out there dedicated to cryptids - some, much more informational and realistic than others. I have one all time favorite, because I find the host, Wes Germer, to be completely grounded in reality - even though he and his brother experienced one of the most terrifying encounters that I've ever heard.

That is the exact reason why Wes started Sasquatch Chronicles. When he called Fish and Game to report his incident, they basically acknowledged that these creatures are real, but would not go on record with anything. Some made fun of Wes and Woody, and some flat out call them liars. Wes wanted to create a safe place where people could come and share their experiences. Not surprisingly, some of these poor people are terrified and just need to share.

Wherever you fall on the Do Exist/Don't Exist scale, I think you'll find the witness encounter stories highly enjoyable. Wes puts out a free Sunday night podcast each week, and if you find yourself dying for more, for $7 a month you get one or two more episodes each week. I recommend starting with the oldest episodes. It's interesting to hear Wes' ideas of what these things might be (and why they behave the way they do) evolve over the past couple years.

Sasquatch Chronicles

I love to listen to them while I am mini-ing. At night though, when I'm listening, it is never next to the big window! Yikes! Someday, I might even post a few of the very strange incidences we've seen and heard out there!

Yeah! Finally Starting On Alki Point!!!

Photo courtesy of robcizek.com/the-best-things-to-do-in-seattle

Once used as Washington State Seal

The official translation of the word Alki, a name the Native American Chinooks of the area  gave to the peninsula long before it existed within the state of Washington, is "Bye and Bye" or "Hope For The Future".

The actual Alki Beach neighborhood is home to many old Seattle family homes, some great modern ones, some amazing restaurants and some magnificent views including the Seattle city skyline, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains.

We were lucky enough to live and raise our kids there for six years!

When I first saw the Greenleaf kit from their 2012 Spring Fling contest (the winner of the contest named it the Asahi Tea House) it immediately made me think Modern. This was new to me, because I never fantasized in that realm before! It reminded me of the spectacular modern homes dotted along Beach Drive. I knew that someday, I was going to fulfill this modern fantasy, but I didn't expect it to be so soon!

After putting the barn aside, I started getting my workspace (dining room) cleaned and organized. Boy it was nice seeing my table again! And being able to see into the kitchen! Even my son said "whoa" when he walked in. Sometimes you forget how big something is until it's gone!

I'm planning on combining two kits, side by side, and changing the orientation so that the lower roofed side will be the front. This should give me room for a small bath and kitchen, and a bed and living space combined. Think small and modern beach rental.

My friends at the Greenleaf forum have assured me that I am going to LOVE working on 1/8" plywood as apposed to 3/8" MDF. Anna from Sweden was also so kind when she took photos of hers in progress and made a .pdf of instructions for me! Hers is going to have a Steampunk theme!

I took out all of the pieces, familiarized myself with them, and then laid them out on the table. This really helped me to visualize what I needed to do to each wood panel to make this new arrangement work.

I measured the back wall and determined that with the floor height, once connected to the walls, it is less than 7" tall. I'm thinking that this is not going to work well, because it might be an issue with the 3D printed tiled shower stall I made. It is 7" tall. I had to guess the height before the kit came, and I was a little generous.

So, in researching how to add an inch or so to dollhouse walls, I came across Daphne's blog post from April 2012. She raised the height of her Primrose using the walls from a second kit, then covered them with 3mm cellfoam to keep them straight and add strength. Sounds reasonable to me, so I ordered the cellfoam from Amazon. Gotta love Prime. I'll have it by Thursday!

I'm going to add 1/8" x 3/4" basswood to the bottom of every wall, minus where a door opening is going to be, then glue, pin and laminate each exterior wall section in the cellfoam.

So in the meantime, I added some window openings to the left end wall (bedroom/bath wall). I used an engineers square (newly acquired) to mark and score the plywood, then just slowly scored, and scored, and scored until I had cut it through. It wasn't bad in terms of being my first time bashing 1/8" plywood, but man I used a lot of #11 blades. Good thing I had a new pack on hand!

The original kit has a three ply beam that you can see in the opening end, and the walls have a notch where it sits. Mine is no longer opening on that side, so I had to re-position the beams from both kits. I decided to center them on each of their walls, and made the new notches to accommodate them.

Tonight I'll figure out what to do with the walls which will now be the front of the house. I am thinking large windows and/or sliding doors. That's going to take some brain power, a little coffee and some sustenance. Maybe even some ice cream! :0)