The final straight.....

I write this post on our way back to England, Butterfly to stay there for the summer, and I to do a quick turn-around, to head back to the Czech Republic by 14th June, just in time for the opening of Small Worlds for its second season.   I shall, of course, have another carload of stuff, hopefully including the woodworm-ridden house I spoke of in my last post.  

At the moment we are staying with our friends in Bonn, a necessary airlock between our two very different lives.   This morning we visited a delightful flea market at the local Waldorf School (better known as Steiner schools in the UK) and I had to keep my hands firmly in the pockets of my jeans otherwise our car would have been full to the brim of tempting toys.....

Time to review what we have been doing in Small Worlds.   As I looked back just now through the photos of the past six weeks I am amazed at what we have accomplished.  






Just to remind you - this is Small Worlds in last season's attire





Mostly we have worked separately on houses and Butterfly will be posting about her deeds on her own blog shortly.   I shall do the same, so this post will be mainly shots of how Small Worlds looks now, with details of work on the individual houses to follow in later blog posts.   To whet your appetite, I will reveal that four houses have been completely transformed and work on the 1920s department store is well under way......




In my last post I already showed the rearrangement of the green display counters - now, when you come into Small Worlds this is what you see 

Butterfly had the inspired idea of climbing the (new, very safe) stepladder for an aerial view






The area I think of as Triang Corner - although it also houses a Lundby house, and others, - has now been slightly rearranged and tidied up 

as has the room divider which shelters the Children's Corner 

The Children's Corner itself, which we have been using as a storage area during the past five weeks.......

...has been restored to a tempting play place ......

The large thatched cottage, which used to be on the far windowsill, is now sited by the entrance...







with a very ancient bookcase taking on a new life on the wall next to it.......

I shortly have to hasten to German ebay to try to secure a Mini Cooper to grace the garage of the Art Deco house so I shall leave you with some last shots of Small Worlds and the promise of more to come in the not-too-distant future - thank you for still being with me on this exciting journey!