This show is written up more fully in Bentleys Blog but I wanted to record the few bits and pieces that were destined for Chocolat.
These are from True2Scale .
I have been wanting the pitcher and forsythia for ages. If you check out their site you will see the lovely Eiffel tower stand they do. I want to fit it in Chocolat somehow - it might happen; but I managed to resist for now. I didn't resist the lovely dishes and decals even though I have no idea whether they will fit the story!
The lovely cake boxes certainly have a home and pride of place.
At Ron's stall (Dollshouse Shop, Orlando) I returned four of my five Little Women for something else. I had decided before the show I wanted a better pretty pleater, which he kindly brought to the show for me. I added in these three cute cake stands. The red one is destined for the window display.
I bought this trio from Marie's Minis. The bowl of nuts was for Chocolat; I then remembered it is set in Lent so seasonally they are more suitable for the October setting of Bentleys. The hyacinth, though,is for Chocolat to help pin down the timing. The jug and bowl may just join my Little Women stock of Victoriana for an (as yet) undreampt of project.
From Feather Your Nest I got this little set for $34 (£21.45) which I thought was a good price as I had been looking at the stools in various places at around eight dollars plus. It was absolutely bought for Chocolat as there is something like it in the movie BUT as my project may be in the throes of veering away from the original it may end up in Starfish Cottage. I put a cup and saucer on it to give you a sense of scale.
For a few weeks now I have been talking to (emailing) the extremely patient and helpful Martin Butler of Small World Products Ltd discussing his great lighting system. He had read my article about my frustration with removing and replacing pins on the plugs which come with the round wiring system and suggested I might like his system better. I do before I even use it.
The solution to my frustration is his Power Centre (SW01&SW01S). This is the basic component of the system. It connects the wires from the lights and fires etc to the transformer/power supply via ten pairs of screw terminals. So instead of removing a plug, threading the wire through a hole in the house and reconnecting the plug to shove it in the wibbly wobbly power strip all you do is cut off the plugs, thread through your hole, strip the wires a little and and connect to a simple terminal. No more dancing round the room with plug pins in your teeth.
There is also a power centre with individual switches (as shown in this (bad!) photo) so you can turn things on and off individually at will if you want to.
This is a picture of the rest of the various bits of kit that I have as a starting point for Chocolat.
I'm not talking about it in detail here as I will do that when I come to actually use it, but I wanted to give you a heads up about it in case you are about to buy your wiring system for your house. Trust me - this is the way to go.
He has anything you could wish for any size project. You decide what you want to do and there will be a way to do it - simply.
This set was intended for my American house - hence the American plug in the picture, but as that has been kicked into touch, it will now move on to Chocolat.
I never thought I would say this...... I am actually looking forward to doing the wiring! Watch this space.
PS: for anyone who is a bit girly about this stuff - and that includes me - don't be put off by it looking a bit electrical/technical - it isn't it is just that most of us don't mess with stuff that looks like this. In a nutshell - you are replacing those nasty plugs and sockets with a simple bar of screws - open up a gap, insert the wire and screw it back down - just like you already do on the transformer connection - what could be easier?
