Drafting: I'm learning how to create technical drawings in FreeCAD with proper measurements and manufacturing details.

R&D: I do research on what machines we need, and use power tools to drill/saw holes in items upon request.

Somewhere, my grandfather is smiling down on me in pride. 2/

find and install an appropriate hanging light on the balcony ceiling, add handles to the front and balcony doors, and build a weather vane for the tower roof. But the roof is shingled, stained, and weathered, and all the trim is on, which is what really matters.

And the exterior is officially 99.9% done. I still have to cut, paint, and install some trim along the dormers (which has to wait until they're glued in because I need to remove them while I'm working on the bathroom and writer's office), install the lantern lights next to the front door...

Yeah, I really loved that combination of spring pastels.

I cannot wait to see how it's going to look when it's done.

Yeah, this house is exceeding even my expectations so far. :-D

The empty attic space needed its own decor as well. I sized various acanthus triangular decorations to fit the gable spaces and the area around the oval window, then designed fish scale shingles (a very period detail for PLs) that I could 3D print in strips and added those to the attic wall.

I continued to go through the architectural files and kept finding all kinds of bits that would look fantastic on the house, like little drooping acanthus leaves that fit in the borders I added to the column plinths on the porches when I designed my own porch and balcony trim.

The result has been stunning so far, especially with the "stained glass" windows (done with vinyl cut on a Silhouette cutter and glass paint). Lyndon took a look at it once I got the window decor and said wistfully, "I want to live in that."

As Lyndon said, real Painted Lady owners were shown a wide variety of potential elements that could be added to their house exterior and said, "Yes." PLs are ELABORATE. And now that I could print architectural elements in scale, I could make my Painted Lady as elaborate as I liked.

And then Lyndon bought me a Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D printer in January. I had fun printing things like shower stalls and apothecary cabinets for the house.

And then I found a pack of 1026 architectural and furniture elements on Etsy in STL format and snapped it up. Hoo boy.

The word "remission" was used, and both the oncologist and surgeon gave their blessing for jawbone regeneration next year if everything remains stable. That will give me enough bone tissue for implants, so I may be chewing on both sides of my mouth again in 2027!

I have plans, yes yes…

You have my ax. Both the bladed one and the string one.

Yup—follow the thread back up to see it.

@williamledbetter.bsky.social Hey, Bill, a jackalope in the wild!